"What?"
Yang Lujia looked at the black Quill resting upon the cover of his Ink Manuscript. Then he looked toward the translucent vellum floating beside it.
The blue gemstone at the center of the Quill released another faint light.
[I am the Eternal Quill.]
Yang Lujia remained silent for several breaths.
He had spent fifteen years believing the Eternal Quill was a System attached to him. It appeared through translucent vellum, gave him information, and possessed several Authorities he had not yet completely understood.
Now, it was telling him that it was also his Ink Imprint.
"You are sentient."
[Correct, Host.]
"Since when?"
[The Eternal Quill possessed awareness before entering the Host's Ink Manuscript.]
Yang Lujia's eyes narrowed. "So you did not gain awareness because of me."
[Correct.]
"You already possessed it."
[Correct.]
Yang Lujia looked at the Quill more carefully.
Its feather remained completely still, but the pressure surrounding it made it difficult to treat it as an ordinary Ink Imprint.
"Why did you write yourself into my Ink Manuscript without my permission?"
[Existence determined that the arrangement was efficient.]
"That does not answer why you did it."
[The Host's Ink Manuscript was compatible.]
"Many things can be compatible. That does not mean you can claim them."
The vellum remained silent.
Yang Lujia continued. "You cultivated my body for fifteen years."
[Correct.]
"Without my knowledge."
[Correct.]
"And without permission."
[The Host was an infant when the Eternal Quill encountered him upon the War Battleground.]
Yang Lujia paused.
That part was difficult to argue against.
He had only been an infant. He could not speak, move properly, or understand what was happening around him. Even if the Eternal Quill had asked for his permission, Yang Lujia would not have been capable of providing it.
"Fair," he eventually said. "At least regarding the beginning."
[The Host's acknowledgment has been recorded.]
"I did not say the remaining fifteen years were acceptable."
[The Host's objection has also been recorded.]
Yang Lujia sighed.
The System—or the Eternal Quill—possessed an irritating habit of recording concerns instead of properly addressing them.
He looked again at the black Quill.
According to Zhuquan De, a Blank Imprint allowed anything to be written upon it because no foundation had previously restricted it.
However, that also meant something else.
A Blank Imprint did not automatically protect its owner from another existence deciding what should be written first.
In Yang Lujia's case, the Eternal Quill had occupied that empty foundation.
'Claimed may be more accurate than tainted.'
The Eternal Quill had not harmed him in any way he could confirm. Every Authority it awakened seemed specifically suited to him. Even the autonomous inscriptions inside his Ink Manuscript had been drawn from his own memories, knowledge, and identity.
Still, convenience did not erase the questions surrounding it.
Where did the Eternal Quill come from?
Why had it selected him?
What did it gain by becoming his Ink Imprint?
Yang Lujia opened his eyes. His awareness returned to the Trial Ground.
The examination continued without interruption.
The children still approached the testing papers one after another, while their families waited behind the marked boundaries. None of them knew that they had died during a discarded sequence of events.
Yang Lujia looked through the participants again. Lin Diyu was not among them.
"It seems Lin Diyu truly is no longer here," he confirmed once again.
[Correct, Host.]
"So you were telling the truth about returning him to his point of origin."
[Correct.]
"That does not mean I trust everything else you said."
[The Host's suspicion has been recorded.]
"Stop recording it."
The vellum disappeared.
Yang Lujia looked toward the children.
Seeing them reminded him of the destruction that had occurred only a short time ago.
The children did not remember it.
For them, the Trial of Ink had never been attacked. They did not remember the explosions, the bodies, or the people screaming for their families.
Lin Diyu remembered.
The Eternal Quill had confirmed that he was one of only three people who retained awareness of the discarded events.
Zhuquan De likely had not known about the exception when he used the Page of Time.
Or perhaps Reality and Existence had concealed it from him because Lin Diyu had already become connected to the Origin Manuscript through Emergency Preservation.
Yang Lujia could only ask his grandfather when they met again.
The evaluator's voice reached the platform. "Clear Imprint! Stone Fortress! Passed!"
A strong brown light spread from the testing paper.
The image of a large stone fortress appeared above it. Several walls formed around one another, while a heavy gate closed at the center.
The child standing before the table appeared different from most of the participants.
He was only around twelve or thirteen years old, but his body already possessed the muscles of an adult cultivator. The children beside him looked much smaller whenever they stood near him.
The boy placed both hands against his waist and laughed.
"This is what you call a genius!"
Several children looked up at him.
Their expressions showed genuine admiration.
"You can all follow me after we enter the sect!" the boy continued. "I will protect everyone!"
The younger participants immediately became more excited.
Yang Lujia watched from the platform. 'Is he trying to form a group before he has even entered the sect?'
The boy continued explaining how they should address him after becoming disciples.
Yang Lujia twirled a long strand of hair around his middle finger. 'A cult may be more accurate.'
Still, the Stone Fortress Imprint was useful.
It likely strengthened defense, physical endurance, and the ability to establish protective areas. Depending upon the scriptures the boy cultivated, he might eventually become capable of protecting large groups of people.
Several Junior Scribes were already interested.
Yang Lujia briefly considered evaluating him through the Disciple Acceptance Authority.
However, he stopped himself.
The Authority had only recently awakened. Using it repeatedly in front of so many people without understanding how it functioned would be careless.
More importantly, Yang Lujia wanted to test something else first.
"Eternal Quill."
The translucent vellum appeared again.
[The Host's inquiry has been recognized.]
"Can I alter another person's Ink Imprint?"
[Even with the Host's cultivation at the Thirteenth Page, Ninth Verse, directly altering an Ink Imprint would be extremely difficult.]
Yang Lujia looked toward the boy with the Stone Fortress Imprint.
"What about reducing its quality by one level?"
[That is possible.]
Yang Lujia's finger stopped moving around the strand of hair.
"What would be the consequences?"
[The complete result cannot be provided.]
"Why?"
[The alteration would affect several future events that have not yet occurred.]
"You cannot reveal the future."
[Certain information involving the future is restricted.]
"That means some Pages can actually see it."
[Correct.]
Yang Lujia leaned slightly against the side of his seat.
"And here I thought I was already unreasonably powerful."
The Eternal Quill did not respond to the comment.
[Does the Host intend to use the full authority of the Thirteenth Page to reduce the quality of the Stone Fortress Imprint?]
"No."
The answer came immediately.
If reducing an Ink Imprint required strength at the Thirteenth Page, then the Narrative Debt attached to it would likely be far greater than the result justified.
The child had also done nothing deserving of that kind of interference.
"Cancel it."
[No alteration has been made.]
Yang Lujia shifted his attention toward the remaining participants.
A young girl stood several places away from the testing table.
Her clothes were simple, but the way she stood made her appear as though she had been raised inside a powerful household. She remained calm while the children around her continued talking, and none of their movements appeared capable of distracting her.
More importantly, something beneath her ordinary appearance felt unusual.
Yang Lujia could not explain why.
"Can you examine that girl's Ink Imprint?"
[Confirmed.]
A brief pause followed.
[The Ink Imprint exceeds the Clear classification.]
Yang Lujia's gaze remained upon her.
"A Deep Imprint?"
[Confirmed.]
None of the Junior or Senior Scribes had reacted.
Even the Chronicle Lord continued watching the testing table without paying any special attention to her.
The girl had not yet been examined, but Yang Lujia suspected that revealing a Deep Imprint in front of the entire sect would create several problems for her.
"Can you conceal it?"
[Clarification requested.]
"Make the testing paper identify it as a Clear Imprint."
[From whose observation does the Host intend to conceal the Ink Imprint?]
Yang Lujia frowned.
"What do you mean by whose observation?"
[Someone beyond the visible participants is observing the Trial of Ink.]
Yang Lujia's expression immediately became serious.
"Who?"
[The observer has concealed his presence.]
[However, the concealment is insufficient against the Host's available Ink Sense.]
"I cannot sense anyone."
[The Host has not attempted to activate Ink Sense.]