209: Which one am I?

"Tong Ge," Lin Chuping took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the churning Qi and blood and the urge to curse, his voice instead taking on a strange calmness, even a hint of a gritting-teeth smile.

"Now, can we have an open and honest chat? About those… um, 'arrangements' made by the bigwigs who set up this 'practice session'?"

He deliberately emphasized the words "practice session" and "arrangements."

The System was silent for a moment, the code stream on the light screen still flowing rapidly, but it seemed to lack the previous urgency: [Host authority insufficient...]

"Insufficient authority?"

Lin Chuping scoffed. He simply sat cross-legged on the edge of the squirming, unsettling "living tissue." Although the golden light around him still protected his body, his posture seemed much more relaxed, yet his eyes were as sharp as an eagle's.

"Alright, then I'll talk, and you listen. You can correct me if I'm wrong, or… continue to remain silent?"

He pointed to the core below, which appeared to be dormant but exuded a cold, majestic will:

"First, this thing, it's not some 'wild monster' that accidentally snuck in, is it? It was deliberately released by the 'higher-ups,' and the placement was so precise, right in the core area of my sphere of influence, perfectly positioned at the junction of Great Yan and the Ten Thousand Mountains… This kind of move, who but a bigwig could pull it off?"

System light screen: [...]

"Second, you said 'a few slashes will always be useful,'"

Lin Chuping continued to analyze, his pace unhurried, his logic clear.

"At first, I thought you were tricking me into a suicide mission. But now it seems… you didn't completely lie to me? That full-power strike of mine just now, although the effect was disappointing, the unpopped prompt you gave was very useful."

"What does this mean? It means the essence of my power (Incense Divine Power) can indeed cause an 'effect' on it, but the magnitude isn't enough to break its defense? Like… um, water dripping through stone, as long as there's enough water for long enough?"

System light screen: [...The target possesses extremely high 'Law resistance' and 'energy absorption' characteristics. Conventional attack efficiency is extremely low. But the Host's power essence… has 'theoretical' suppressive properties.]

(This answer was more "substantive.")

"Theoretical suppressive properties?"

Lin Chuping seized on the keyword.

"Meaning, the method is right, but the power is insufficient? Alright, then the third question, and it's crucial!"

His gaze burned as he stared at the light screen in his Sea of Consciousness. "The 'higher-ups' are using me as a 'practice' subject; they wouldn't really want to watch me polish the earth with a nail clipper for ten thousand years, would they? What do they want me to 'practice' out of this 'practice session'?"

"Or rather, what 'method' do they hope I use to deal with this 'punching bag'? There must be some hints, right? Since it's a 'practice session,' there should be 'guidelines' from the 'coach,' shouldn't there?"

This time, the System's silence lasted even longer.

The code stream on the light screen was no longer chaotic warnings, but transformed into deep purple runes, imbued with a certain ancient, majestic aura, slowly circulating as if communicating with a higher-level will.

After a long while, a line of text appeared on the light screen, the font ancient, carrying an undeniable meaning:

[...Observe...the...situation...]

[...Borrow...power...]

[...To...break...the...'shell'...must...seek...'gaps'...]

The information was extremely concise and cryptic.

But Lin Chuping's eyes suddenly lit up! Like a torch ignited in the dark!

"'Observe the situation'… 'Borrow power'… 'Seek gaps'?"

He repeated softly, his brain working at an unprecedented speed.

Combining all the previous fragments of information—this Extraterrestrial Demon infant was a "practice tool" thrown down by the gods; it was extremely powerful itself, with high Law resistance; his Incense Divine Power had theoretical suppressive properties but insufficient power… "I understand!"

Lin Chuping suddenly saw the light, slapping his thigh (though slapping the cold, slimy "living tissue" sent a shiver down his spine). "'Situation'! It's the 'situation' of this world! And also the 'situation' of its own existence!"

He looked excitedly at the System.

"Tong Ge! Is that it? The 'higher-ups' didn't throw it down for me to just hack at it, they want me to learn to 'see'! See how it clashes with the Laws of this world! See how it erodes the earth veins! See the 'gaps' that arise on its impenetrable 'shell' because of its incompatibility with the native Laws!"

"As for 'borrowing power'…"

Lin Chuping's gaze swept across the entireRift Valley, over the contaminated and twisted earth veins, over the faint scent of the reverse-flowing Forgetfulness River coming from the direction of the Netherworld, finally settling on the location of the Lord Chu Ping Temple at White Tiger Cliff.

"…I'm not borrowing my own power, nor your power, but the power of the 'great cosmic force' stirred and eroded by it! The power of the backlash generated by its own 'indigestion'! And even…"

A glint of mad, shrewd light flashed in his eyes.

"…The power of the 'mark' that the 'higher-ups' must have left on it for positioning or restriction when they threw it down?!"

The deep purple runes on the System's light screen flickered violently a few times, finally settling into calm, neither confirming nor denying.

But the atmosphere of tacit understanding grew stronger.

"Hahaha! What a 'practice session'!"

Lin Chuping burst into laughter, the previous frustration and powerlessness swept away, replaced by an excitement and desire for challenge in the face of a high-difficulty puzzle.

"So, it's teaching me how to be a 'four ounces to move a thousand pounds' lever! How to be the spark that ignites a powder keg!"

He stood up, the golden light around him once again becoming condensed, but no longer the previous wildness, rather a restrained, insightful sharpness.

He no longer looked at the hard core, but spread his perception like a spiderweb, carefully feeling the subtle Law distortions, energy blockages, and… faint traces of repulsion and resistance originating from the world itself, all within the entire rift valley space due to the presence of the Extraterrestrial Demon!

Lin Chuping licked his somewhat chapped lips, his eyes gleaming like a hunter's.

"Tong Ge, one last question, am I the first Host you've found?"