Rathom instinctively covered his left ear. The small round bead had just flown to his ear and quickly sank into it.

  Yes, it sank in just like that. Soon, a small bump seemed to appear near his ear, like a tiny birthmark that had always been there. After waiting for a moment, the lights suddenly flickered back on, signaling that the power supply in the exhibition hall had been fully restored.

  However, what followed was a sudden commotion behind him, which grew louder and louder.

  "The item is gone..."

  "The item was stolen..."

  Almost everyone was talking about the same thing. Soon, the news that all the ancient artifacts from this excavation had disappeared spread throughout the hall. A few more observant individuals immediately took out their portable sensors, recording the scene in front of them and connecting to the net to transmit what had happened here. The atmosphere in the hall immediately grew tense, as groups of staff rushed in to maintain order. But it was clear—the thief had already escaped.

  As Rathom left the exhibition hall, his expression was not good. It wasn’t just because of the mysterious bump on his ear that made him feel uneasy, but also the strange feeling it gave him.

  However, the one thing that comforted him was that the vast majority of people were encountering such an event for the first time. While some people were excited and red-faced, there were also many who looked pale with shock. Rathom’s reaction clearly resembled the second group of people, so after his identity was verified and the security checks passed, he returned home safely.

  As for why he passed through the checks so smoothly, Rathom honestly had no idea.

  When he got home, his parents still hadn’t returned. Rathom casually gave the robotic maid an order before heading to his room. For some reason, he suddenly felt extremely tired, so he didn’t even eat dinner and just went straight to bed.

  While sleeping, an unknown wave of energy slowly spread from his ear and gradually entered his brain cortex, linking with his brainwaves. However, in his sleeping state, Rathom didn’t feel anything until the next morning when he woke up naturally.

  He opened his eyes and lazily lay in bed. Last night, he seemed to have had a dream—a dream that felt both surreal and strangely real.

  In the dream, he was a mage. Yes, a long-extinct and now forgotten title: a mage, and not just any mage, but a necromancer.

  In the dream, he was immensely powerful, to the point that he could traverse the universe. However, even the mightiest beings meet their end one day, and his life eventually came to a close due to some reason. So, he sealed his power inside a memory stone, leaving it for someone worthy.

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  According to his dream-self, the memory stone could only be unlocked by someone whose brainwaves exactly matched his own. And that person, in this lifetime, was Rathom, whose brainwaves perfectly aligned with his dream-self.

  The dream ended there, leaving behind a few inexplicable spells and a strange cultivation method in his mind.

  Rathom didn’t know what the spells were, but he felt a deep curiosity about this cultivation method.

  By the time human society had advanced to the modern era, one thing had become clear: humanity harbored untapped potential. Since entering the space age, countless methods for developing human potential had emerged like bamboo shoots after rain.

  After tens of thousands of years of experimentation, human potential had developed along two main paths: one physical, the other mental.

  It’s hard to say which path was more advanced, but aside from a few rare individuals, most humans practiced both. It was only through the combination of the two that one could achieve the greatest safety.

  The information Rathom received in his mind told him that this was a method for cultivating mental strength. If he remembered correctly, it didn’t belong to any of the publicly available methods in the net.

  Of course, the net only recorded the most basic, popular versions. True advanced methods were never available to the general public, and Rathom, without a doubt, was one of those ordinary people.

  He muttered the cultivation mantra in his mind, and without hesitation, he began to practice. He half-lay in bed, his eyes half-closed, in a posture that seemed like normal meditation, but its true essence was worlds apart.

  It felt as if a century had passed, yet it was only a blink of an eye. When Rathom finally woke up, everything before him felt different.

  His mind was clear, and it seemed as if he had experienced a qualitative improvement, filling him with confidence.

  He turned over, glancing at the clock on the wall and was surprised to find that only two hours had passed.

  The voice of the intelligent robot calling from the door reminded him that it was time for breakfast. Stepping out of his room and into the dining area, his parents still hadn’t come back. Perhaps he had grown accustomed to this life.

  He picked up his knife and fork, beginning to eat the hearty breakfast in front of him. After biting into a piece of bread, he suddenly had a strong craving for jam. Looking up, he saw a jar of jam at the corner of the table. Just as he was about to stand up to grab it, he suddenly had a strange thought.

  Instinctively, his gaze sharpened, and the small jam jar seemed to move slightly.

  Rathom’s eyes widened in shock, but just as his mind wavered, the jam jar immediately stopped moving.

  His hands, holding the knife and fork, trembled slightly. The sight he had just witnessed filled him with intense astonishment.

  “Oh my god, could it be that I’m still dreaming?” he muttered to himself, almost unable to believe what he had just seen.

  If what he saw just now was real...

  Suddenly, an overwhelming sense of joy flooded his heart.

  Taking a deep breath, Rathom lowered his head and whispered softly, "Calm down, calm down..."

  But his heart was pounding like a drum, and it was impossible for him to keep calm.

  Slamming his hand on the table, an idea suddenly flashed in his mind. With his eyes half-closed, the mysterious mantra appeared again in his head. In the blink of an eye, Rathom had completely calmed down.