Thoughts that did not belong to him at all lingered in his mind.

Before awakening this talent—

Kanzaki Rei had never even noticed these thoughts weren’t his own.

They had all seemed natural.

Ordinary.

Entirely reasonable.

Only after awakening this talent—

Did he suddenly realize—

His thoughts had been mixed with so many implanted ideas.

When?

Who did this?

Rei did not immediately suspect Lottie.

Instead, a thought surfaced—

Lottie would never harm me.

Rei watched that thought drift through his mind.

It was completely alien.

Not his.

And yet it was there.

Influencing his thinking.

"Lottie..."

No anger arose.

His emotions were calm as still water.

No matter how he tried—

He couldn’t hate her.

He already knew it was Lottie interfering.

Yet his heart held no rejection.

I have to cast these thoughts off.

With that resolve,

Rei calmed himself.

Following the meditation methods he had learned,

He quieted his spirit.

There were countless meditation arts in this world.

And they had uses everywhere.

Warriors used meditation to regulate breath and qi.

Mages used it to accelerate mana recovery.

Healing casters used meditation to partially restore their daily healing formulas.

Meditation—

Was the regulation of consciousness and mind.

And consciousness and mind often affected one’s state—

Which in turn affected strength and growth.

A distracted mage

Could never learn as deeply as a focused one.

Stillness...

Meditation...

Expel distracting thoughts.

Attempt to uproot those baseless ideas.

But even as Rei closed his eyes and meditated—

Those thoughts felt deeply rooted.

He could see them.

He knew they weren’t his.

And yet—

He couldn’t drive them out.

Worse—

Even knowing they weren’t his,

He was still influenced by them.

Like someone trying to lose weight,

Knowing they shouldn’t eat high-calorie food—

Yet unable to restrain themselves.

Knowing something shouldn’t be done—

Yet lacking the discipline to stop.

I made an agreement with Lottie. According to that agreement, I should help fulfill her wish.

With Lottie’s help, I can thrive smoothly in this world.

Divine Artifacts are important to me. Investing in a true god is worthwhile, and she promised me artifacts in return.

If Lottie truly becomes Moonstar, then I’ll be Moonstar’s first disciple. In all this world, no one would dare provoke me.

Some of those thoughts—

Were absolutely not his.

And some...

He suspected he had already been influenced by.

The mind was not black and white.

It could be subtly altered.

Hearing another’s words—

One’s views and beliefs could shift without notice.

He had thought about these matters for so long.

Perhaps those hidden thoughts

Had already changed his original thinking long ago.

If I keep letting these thoughts influence me...

Am I still myself?

The more he considered it—

The more terrifying it became.

But...

What should I do?

These thoughts could not be rejected at all.

If not for awakening this talent—

He never would have been able to distinguish them.

They were like seawater mixed into freshwater.

Felt identical.

Impossible to separate.

And even after discovering them—

They still influenced his actions.

For example—

Even now,

He felt no hatred toward Lottie.

Not even the slightest desire for revenge.

But the good news—

He could see them now.

And what could be seen

Could be guarded against.

"Ansu."

Whoosh—

Rei turned toward Ansu—

And what he saw startled him.

Beneath that withered, deadwood-like exterior—

Was a powerful, sculpted body like a warrior.

Dark skin like ancient Egyptian pharaohs.

Mystic markings covered it.

Ansu had secrets too.

And apparently—

Secrets even Ansu himself had never thought about.

"Kid."

"You’re giving off an even more unsettling aura now."

"You really advance absurdly fast."

"Tier 6 Cryptic Scholar..."

"At your age, you may be the only one in history."

"So this is the spirituality brought by the Highest Leaf..."

"How envious you make this old man."

Rei’s voice was calm and cold.

"Why all the sudden pleasantries?"

"Ansu."

"What’s with the form beneath your shell?"

"You’ve never mentioned it."

Ansu froze slightly.

Then chuckled.

"So you noticed."

"It isn’t really worth mentioning."

"I simply never thought of it."

"Sealed beneath this outer skin..."

"Is merely my original corpse."

"The me you see now is the me reborn in this era through reincarnation."

"But naturally..."

"I wouldn’t casually discard the corpse from my first death."

"Corpse?"

"You’re a spirit body now." 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

Ansu’s soul resided in his sea of consciousness.

A physical body shouldn’t even be able to enter it.

Ansu smiled.

"Must soul and flesh truly be separated?"

"Spirit and body are one."

Ansu was deeply versed in the path of the soul.

And Rei’s Ten-Thousand Battles Absolute Body talent also unified body and spirit.

So Rei could agree with that.

"Kid."

"What you wanted to ask wasn’t that, was it?"

Rei smirked coldly.

"You can read minds too?"

Ansu snorted.

"I’ve lived too long."

"I won’t claim I understand you..."

"But when someone raises their ass, I can tell what shit they’re planning to take."

Rei said flatly,

"I do have something to ask."

"You remember Lottie."

"I’ve realized many thoughts in my mind were planted by her."

"They won’t go away."

"How do I remove them?"

After hearing Rei’s description,

Ansu stroked his chin.

From the pavilion in the sea of consciousness,

He looked up into the boundless stars.

Thinking.

Countless thoughts flickering through him.

Then—

"No way."

"With your current attainments in mental arts..."

"You can’t contend with Lottie’s control of the mind."

"In fact..."

"The fact you returned from meeting her and still maintained yourself..."

"That alone means you were incredibly fortunate."

"Honestly..."

"I don’t think she holds much malice toward you."

"If she truly wished to control you..."

"One thought would have been enough."

"With your current horizons..."

"You can’t imagine how powerful a true god in full prime is."

"A complete Tier 9 Class Ascendant."

"So-called God-Tier Talents..."

"Are merely the threshold to becoming a Tier 9 Class Ascendant."

"You have God-Tier Talents."

"So do others."

"What makes you think talent alone gives you an advantage over them?"

Then Ansu paused.

"But..."

"You possess the power of reincarnation."

"If you die and reincarnate..."

"There is a chance you could escape this mental influence."

Though only a chance.

That thought flashed through Ansu’s mind—

And Rei caught it.

Ansu continued,

"Of course..."

"You have another choice."

"Ignore the mental influence."

"Let it remain."

"Until you become an existence not far beneath Lottie herself."

"Or..."

"You talk to Lottie again."

He chuckled.

"He who tied the bell must untie it."

"Have her personally withdraw the mental control."

"That would be far easier..."

"Than searching for your own antidote."

...

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