The wait was incredibly tedious and painful, especially when you had entrusted your entire safety to someone else.
Fortunately, this ordeal was nearly at an end.
Through his own senses, along with a flood of information from the outside world, Leilin knew that the time of his birth was fast approaching.
During the long gestation period, he had even felt the intrusion of a transcendent energy.
It was a pure white positive energy, brimming with healing and vitality-enhancing properties.
With his scant few prior experiences, Leilin immediately recognized what it was — "A Blessing spell from the priests of the gods? Excellent! Very good!"
This Blessing spell was highly beneficial for a fetus's growth, and Leilin naturally accepted it without the slightest hesitation.
What pleased him even more was the realization that a household able to repeatedly request a priest's blessing was certainly no ordinary commoner's. With a better environment, his chances of being born safely increased considerably.
Moreover, a noble birthright could provide him with a far better starting point.
After all, opportunities afforded to those at the top were invariably greater than those available to those at the bottom — this was an almost unassailable axiom.
Just as Leilin was turning these thoughts over in his mind, he felt the outer amniotic sac rupture, followed by a flood of rank, fleshy smells that filled his mouth and nose.
"He's coming out..."
Meanwhile, inside a grand manor, the screams of a woman and a chorus of panicked voices erupted from the master bedroom at its very center.
On the vivid crimson carpet of plush velvet, the young nobleman from before was pacing back and forth in extreme agitation.
His fingers had gone white from clenching too hard.
"Don't worry! He is blessed by the gods and will surely be born safely..."
Beside the young man stood a priest clad in white robes, speaking in gentle, reassuring tones. At his cuffs, threads of gold glinted in the light, and pinned to his chest was a distinctive holy emblem.
It was shaped like a thick tome adorned with mysterious symbols — a badge signifying that this priest was in fact the Bishop of the God of Knowledge for this entire region.
Under normal circumstances, given his rank, there would have been no need for him to come in person. However, this noble family were devout followers of Oghma, the God of Knowledge, and served as a pillar of the Church's support in this region. With the direct heir about to be born, his presence was only natural.
"Thank you, Bishop Tabris! The Faolan family will forever follow the teachings of the God of Knowledge…"
The young man barely managed to suppress the anxious look on his face.
At that moment, a resounding cry rang out from the bedroom, freezing the young man's expression in place.
In the next instant, several maids and matrons filed out with congratulations: "He's here! He's here! A healthy young master!"
"What? Let me see!"
The young man's face was flooded with elation as he took the baby from the matron's hands. The stump of the freshly cut umbilical cord still marked his little belly, but his limbs were thick and sturdy. His blue eyes were as deep as the ocean, carrying the moving force unique to new life.
At that moment, the baby was wailing at the top of his lungs, leaving the young man at a complete loss.
"What a strong child! The Lord shall surely bless you!" Tabris wore a warm, benevolent smile. A soft glow of white light passed over the baby's head, its divine power of soothing gently lulling the infant into a deep sleep.
"Please allow me to donate one hundred gold coins to the Church, as an expression of my humble reverence!"
The young man spoke to Bishop Tabris, and the words immediately made the bishop's expression freeze — before his smile grew even warmer: "The Lord shall surely take note of your devotion. I will personally bless the child afterwards…"
Originally, the bishop had intended to personally conduct the baptism and even serve as the baby's godfather, thereby deepening the ties with the Faolan family even further.
But now? With one hundred gold coins, things seemed perfectly fine — after all, that was a very considerable sum.
"Nobles are cunning and greedy. They would never completely shut off all their escape routes…"
Tabris suddenly recalled the teachings he had received in his past and gave the young man a long, searching look. But he felt not a shred of anger.
After all, ever since he had devoted the rest of his life to great Oghma, the emotion of anger had rarely surfaced in him again.
The great God of Knowledge taught its followers and priests that one must always maintain rational thought — and anger was, in fact, reason's greatest enemy.
And so, Tabris continued to carry himself with impeccable grace. After exchanging a few more warm words with the young man, the bishop finally took his leave.
Just before departing, the bishop seemed to suddenly remember something and asked: "Oh! I have yet to ask — what is the young master's name?"
"Lei Lin! Lei Lin Faolan — it's the name his mother gave him!" The young man said this with great delight.
"Lei Lin, is it? A fine name — I shall remember it!" The bishop took his leave with elegant grace, and the young man could hardly wait to rush into the birthing chamber to comfort his utterly exhausted wife…
Yet neither of them noticed that the baby, who had been lying quietly asleep in his cradle the entire time, suddenly opened his eyes in that very instant, his pupils brimming with delight.
Such an emotion appearing on a newborn infant was jarringly out of place, so the baby quickly shut his eyes once more.
*The
He was quite satisfied that his name in this life was still Lei Lin. He had even gone so far as to use a touch of psychological suggestion on his mother's body while still in the womb to make it happen.
*Now then — is this my family in this life? The surroundings look rather impressive!* With just that fleeting glance a moment ago, the environment around him had already largely registered in his mind.
Expensive goose-down carpeting, a crystal chandelier gleaming in silver, soft bedding draped in rich red brocade, massive curtains embroidered with a pattern of green narcissus flowers, and finally several respectful maidservants and matrons — all of it told Lei Lin that he had been born at least into a minor noble household, and quite possibly something more.
After all, not every noble's newborn could warrant a regional bishop making a personal visit to offer blessings and protection.
Just then, a fresh burst of noise drifted in from outside — his father, the noble, was receiving friends and relatives who had come to congratulate the family.
His mother beside him had already drifted off to sleep, and on the surface, Lei Lin appeared to have done the same.
But deep down, his heart was growing even more excited.
"Chip!" Lei Lin drew a deep breath.
『Authorization confirmed! Host access unlocked. Initializing program…』 The familiar mechanical voice sounded, and immediately a cascade of blue virtual lines was projected directly before Lei Lin's eyes.
*Just as I hoped — the Chip came through with me too!* A look of wild elation shone in Lei Lin's eyes.
The Chip had originally been fused with his soul as one, and when his true spirit had split off, it had naturally carried a portion of the Chip's capabilities with it.
*No — for the Chip, this is merely a sub-program that was separated out, but it still possesses most of its original functions!* Lei Lin was beside himself with excitement.
Originally, with his extraordinary knowledge and foundations, he could have risen rapidly in the World of Gods even with nothing to his name. But if he added the Chip's formidable storage and analytical capabilities on top of that… Lei Lin could hardly begin to imagine the wonderful life that lay ahead…
*Unfortunately… this is the World of Gods. The influence of the deities pervades every aspect of existence. Even I can't afford to perform too conspicuously… In fact, for now I still have to behave just like any other infant, or I'll be questioned — even accused of heresy or demonic possession…* Lei Lin's mood was somewhat heavy. For those deities, ensuring the purity of noble bloodlines was an incredibly important matter.
The bishop who had come today wasn't merely here to act as a nanny. At the very least, Lei Lin had already detected numerous magical traces around the room — things like [Detect Evil] and [Soul Ward].
If he hadn't used the seventh-tier Otherworld Reincarnation Technique, undergone the baptism of the World of Gods' origin, and had his soul rendered no different from any other native's, his identity would have been discovered long ago.
And when that happened, this noble status wouldn't be able to save him in the slightest.
"Of course, being a native comes with its own drawbacks! My current strength has been completely reset... a total blank slate. I can't even begin cultivating right away — I'll have to climb up through this world's power system from scratch..."
Having been washed clean by the world's origin energy, all traces of Lei Lin's former
More critically, even though he had memorized numerous advanced Meditation Methods, not a single one of them could be practiced.
After all, those were the paths of Wizards. Even if Lei Lin were to re-gather Spiritual Power following those Meditation Methods, this foreign energy from another world would immediately be detected by the deities — ending up just like the Soul Seed from last time.
"Still, in the world of the deities, there must surely be ways to utilize Spiritual Power as well... I don't need to rush. I just need to grow up gradually, and eventually I'll have my chance..."
Lei Lin consoled himself.
[Ding! Surrounding individual scan complete. Establishing World of Gods racial database!]
At that moment, the Chip had finished its first scan.
"Then... using the average human data from the World of Gods as the baseline, establish my database!"
Lei Lin issued the command immediately.
Whether it was his previous measurement methods or the standards of the Star Illusion Clan, neither was remotely suited to the actual conditions here.
The former was far too low, while the latter started at Morning Star — far too advanced. Re-establishing data standards had become the most urgent priority.
[Ding! Task confirmed! Initiating subject data scan! Generating database!]
The Chip faithfully executed Lei Lin's command.
Soon, a three-dimensional image of an infant materialized before Lei Lin's eyes, accompanied by detailed statistical data.