The young man woke up and checked his surroundings. His mana spread out around him to sense everything within a 100-kilometer radius. His mana could directly compensate for any senses that could not be used that far.
He found no danger within the radius and narrowed it down to shift through information. His mind could not process everything within such a large radius. The initial sweep is a quick check of safety. It shrunk to 10 kilometers. He was in a peaceful city. It shrunk to 1 kilometer. At 1 kilometer he was confused and lost at what he saw. He shrunk it to the building he was in. It was a residential area of carbon-based humanoid life forms.
But there was noxious flux in the air. How could they all still be so calm if they were in a pernicious realm? Pernicious realms are sealed off as soon as they are recognized. He thought all the ones in his range had been dealt with. Maybe this was outside his regular range of activities. He did not know what realm area he was currently in.
There are countless worlds and realms there is no way he could have been to or seen or even heard of all of them. Regardless it was highly unusual for an assimilated realm to be left if it is pernicious.
He set it aside for now.
By this time he'd flexed each muscle in his body and confirmed its capability. He wasn't too surprised at making it through once again. Cui Xuefeng could not count the number of times he'd cheated death. No matter how impossible it had seemed; it didn't surprise him.
This entire process took no more than a second. In the time it took to blink an eye, Cui Xuefeng had already perceived his temporary observable safely, surveyed his surroundings, examined the native creatures, and confirmed his physically able state. He didn't bother running through the treasures that could put his body in such a condition. It must have used his strength to reform his body. He didn't even want to see how sad his status was at the moment. He had to hide before someone found him. He needed to obtain more information about his current situation.
He smoothly rose from the bed. His tall and slender figure cut an appealing silhouette in the unlit room. As he left the bedroom and slipped into the hallway bathroom a voice rang in his ears. He nearly ignored it before he realized what it said.
[Welcome, Adventurer. Congratulations on your awakening.]
[You have been registered to the rankings.]
The face in the bathroom mirror was unfamiliar. It was a young man with skin like a baby's bottom. It was beautiful and elegant. He was about 178cm tall with strings for limbs. Cui Xuefeng, the experienced warrior with a hardened body and soul looked at his weak form and felt threatened. His guard spiked. He put out a danger detector for a few kilometers again.
His current mana could not maintain much more on top of keeping a recess for a fight. This is usually a safe percentage Cui Xuefeng uses regularly. However, at this time it made him feel blind. It was only detecting danger within a narrow scope. His lowered mana and weak body made him a perfect target for all his enemies as well as any non-enemies.
Once the worlds connected there is no one you can consider to be on your side. Everyone has the potential to be an enemy when survival is on the line.
He was in a high-risk situation once again. However, there always seemed to be a way. Cui Xuefeng turned his attention to the words on the floating semi-transparent screen in front of him. He was more than familiar with this. Although he'd never directly interacted with it. It was common for the capable in the realms to have access to it. Therefore this 'cheat' became widely known among the masses. Researchers and enthusiasts have broken it down piece by piece. Cui Xuefeng wasn't overly familiar with it, but he did have a basic understanding of its components and general use. For example:
'Open History' He ordered in his mind.
[Installation Complete.]
[Manual mana use]
[Manual mana use]
[Manual mana use]
[Command: Open History]
It only showed the last 5 lines. He scrolled up with a mental command.
[(involuntary use) Manager Only Item: Memory Delete and Rewrite Returner Scroll]
[Sub Action(Memory Delete and Rewrite Returner Scroll): Return]
[Sub Action(Memory Delete and Rewrite Returner Scroll): Memory Delete]
[Sub Action(Memory Delete and Rewrite Returner Scroll): Memory Rewrite]
[Manual mana use]
[User Identified.]
[Recognized Awakening.]
[Establishing Connection.]
[Initializing…]
[Installation Complete.]
[Manual mana use]
[Manual mana use]
[Manual mana use]
[Command: Open History]
He had never seen such a short history. His eyes narrowed. What was a manager's item? What is involuntary use? This scroll seemed to be the reason he was out of place. He didn't end up falling into a treasure pool or anything, his mind had been rewritten. This 'return' meant a place he'd been before.
Cui Xuefeng looked at his face in the mirror. It had been too many years. He didn't remember what he used to look like. He must be a teenager at this time. Meaning the carbon-based creatures are humans. His own kind.
He had long since cut off the instinctive need to continue one's bloodline. Yet when the possibility came up again he couldn't help but pull open his pants and look down.
"..."
Cui Xuefeng's attention moved to a girl in the doorway. She had a strange look on her face. She stared into his eyes and slowly reached out to the doorknob and pulled it shut.
He looked back down his pants, ignoring the intrusion. He didn't recognize this, either. Another limb had been removed somewhere along the line. Appearance-wise, it seemed to be functional.
"Return" must have been when his mind was sent back. "Memory Delete" was removing the person he was when he was at this point in time originally and "Memory Rewrite" is putting the future him into the past him.
This made him wonder whether not being able to remember his family and current time was partly due to this memory wipe. Considering 'time' has stepped foot in this area, it's the chicken and egg controversy's turn to rear its head. It also begs the question of how much was deleted. At what point did his memory require deleting? Is there a cut-off? Maybe when he learned meditation or his first mental control skill? Maybe none of it? How much of it had simply worn away with time?
The foremost question he held was: Could he get it back?