Chapter 403: Memories Hidden in the Pavilion

"How does it feel?"The guide, Bing Yin, asked from beside him. Li Fan nodded slightly."A truly Beautiful Era, living up to its name."

His reply was partly a cautious acknowledgment to avoid revealing anything, and partly genuine. Indeed, if one considers merely "living," cultivators under the rule of the Myriad Immortals Alliance and the Council of Five Elders now find it far easier than in most historical periods. Even acquiring a suitable cultivation method isn't much harder than it was for rogue cultivators in ancient times.

Although joining the Myriad Immortals Alliance means serving like livestock for life, at least these 'farmed' individuals, if they don't seek their own demise, can live for a longer time without issue. In other periods of Xuanhuang World's history, short-lived cultivators might not even have had the privilege to become such 'livestock.' As for whether life itself is more precious, or if so-called freedom is superior, that remains another eternal and serious topic.

Li Fan had no intention of dwelling on it. What concerned him was that the hundred fragments of divine consciousness, recently purified by the Eras, were about to dissipate in his sea of consciousness. Instead, they were absorbed by the Dao Transformation Stone crystal, which he had condensed through practicing the Dao Transformation Divine One secret art. The details of experiences from the Eras, which had rapidly blurred after the trial ended, slowly began to sharpen again. Within the blue Dao Transformation Stone, faint, independent scenes were gradually taking shape, appearing somewhat similar to the Eras themselves.

"What is this?" Li Fan felt a slight tremor in his heart. "The figure I vaguely saw after the Era experience ended must not have been an illusion. It seems to be a method for implanting brainwashing thoughts into the minds of all watching cultivators. However, I possess a Dao Transformation Stone myself, which not only immunized me against this brainwashing, but also..."

As he continued touring the Divine Treasure Museum under Bing Yin's guidance, Li Fan diverted a portion of his attention to examine the changes in his Dao Transformation Stone. Perhaps because all Dao Transformation Stones in the world originated from the initial mother stone, sharing the same source, the Dao Transformation Stone crystal in Li Fan's sea of consciousness spontaneously absorbed all the scattered divine consciousness. Furthermore, it was reverse-engineering the Era imprints contained within the divine consciousness memories, attempting to reconstruct the inferred worlds from Li Fan's memory.

Unfortunately, it seemed Li Fan's Dao Transformation Stone lacked sufficient quality and had limited computing power. When he tried to carefully browse these worlds, he found that they were currently just empty shells. The scenes were not continuous; they developed in jerky, fragmented jumps. The scope was also limited to the small corners touched upon in his memories. Beyond those areas, the view was a distorted, shattered mirror.

Li Fan observed for a while. He found that these worlds were incrementally expanding in both time and space, albeit at a very slow pace. Limited by its inferential capabilities, the progress was almost imperceptible. If the Dao Transformation Stone were only capable of this, Li Fan might not make any substantial progress even after a hundred more reincarnations.

However, Li Fan hadn't forgotten that there was a fixed Dao Transformation Stone in Yin Yin's tomb. With each reincarnation, he could absorb it, thereby strengthening the Dao Transformation Stone crystal in his mind. "At that point, perhaps I could recreate the Eras myself?" "But what would be the use of that?"

Suddenly, an idea sparked in Li Fan's mind, and his eyes glinted. "Senior Bing Yin, I just thought of a question. You mentioned earlier that a million blank divine souls were once put into the Eras for experimentation. So, are there still real divine souls present in the Eras that are currently running?" he asked the guide.

"Heh heh, of course there are," Bing Yin replied simply, seeming disinclined to elaborate on the matter.

Li Fan mused for a moment, then pressed further, "You said such a large number of divine souls constantly undergo the purification of the Eras. Have any of them ever realized that the world they were in was illusory rather than real? After all, no matter how 'fantastically real' it may be, there must still be differences from the true reality, right?"

Bing Yin suddenly glanced at Li Fan. He looked around, then lowered his voice. "When I took over from the previous Bing Yin, he once told me an unverified anecdote. About thirty-nine years ago, the Eras stopped running for a period. The entire Divine Treasure Museum was sealed at that time, with no one allowed in or out. People didn't understand why, but later there were rumors that one of the million divine souls within the Eras had mysteriously disappeared. They searched the entire museum but never found it. The matter was eventually dropped. As for whether it truly escaped, or vanished due to a malfunction..." Bing Yin ended his statement there, saying no more.

Li Fan nodded slowly. If something is possible, then with a large enough sample size, it becomes inevitable. A million divine souls, constantly reincarnating and repeating. There would always be a fortunate one who would discover the truth of the world they inhabited. Li Fan wasn't surprised by this.

He had merely confirmed one thing with Bing Yin. Perhaps the true purpose of the Eras wasn't brainwashing. Instead, it was to select and cultivate true geniuses. A person's ultimate achievements couldn't be judged solely by talent. Luck, disposition, willpower, and other factors all had a combined influence. Often, so-called geniuses would perish prematurely before they could fully develop, while seemingly unremarkable individuals might go much further.

In the real world, cultivating cultivators requires significant cost and carries the risk of accidental death, rendering all initial investments fruitless. However, within the Eras, there was no need to worry about this at all. In fact, selection through the Eras might even yield better results.

Indeed, the Great Dark Era and the Wasteland Era, the darkest periods in Xuanhuang World's history, were extremely perilous with exceptionally high mortality rates. But conversely, if a divine soul could achieve something significant during such a period—accomplishing great deeds and altering history—it would undeniably prove their extraordinary nature. Li Fan believed that over the long years the Eras had been in operation, such beings must not be few.

Selecting them, then re-embodying them and imposing brainwashing and absolute loyalty spells, would cultivate them into utterly devoted loyalists and enforcers for the Myriad Immortals Alliance. The power of these cultivators was truly frightening to contemplate.

During the construction of the Myriad Immortals Alliance headquarters and the Sky Profound Spirit-Locking Array, Li Fan often encountered black-clad cultivators whose affiliations within the Alliance were unknown. They were invariably expressionless, but the subtle aura of danger and uncontainable bloodlust they exuded always sent a chill down Li Fan's spine. Li Fan suspected that these individuals were very likely products of the Era cultivation.

"This method is truly brilliant," Li Fan thought. "And for me, perhaps once my Dao Transformation Stone reaches sufficient quality, I can use past history to hone myself." As the saying goes, heroes create circumstances, but circumstances also forge heroes.

Li Fan didn't consider himself particularly outstanding. He was merely an ordinary person relying on his 'True Return' ability to struggle for survival in this perilous Xuanhuang World. Based on his experiences as a Grand Tutor in the Great Xuan for several lifetimes, and the wisdom he had accumulated, he might still handle interactions with cultivators at the Nascent Soul stage and below with ease. However, when eventually facing those ancient monsters who had survived the calamities since ancient times, he might find himself stretched thin and appear rather naive. More importantly, in the presence of these true powerhouses, he might not even have the chance to use his 'True Return' ability.

To contend with them, beyond cultivation, mental fortitude and experience were also extremely important. By continually experiencing the historical fragments in his mind, which mimicked the Eras, Li Fan might be able to compensate for his shortcomings in these areas.

The Divine Treasure Museum housed countless artifacts. Under Bing Yin's guidance, Li Fan browsed through the precious collections of the Xuanhuang World, taking a quick look at each. Besides the Beautiful Era zone, the museum also featured several other areas.

The "Heroes' Pride" area mainly showcased items related to cultivators who had left their mark on Xuanhuang World's history. One such item was "Mountain of Corpses, Sea of Blood": Originally just an unremarkable iron blade, after the great cataclysm, its owner wielded it to slaughter an unknown number of cultivators. So much blood stained its surface that it turned dark crimson, and its murderous aura, even after thousands of years, still lingered. After endless slaughter, its owner successfully survived. However, tragically, this ferocious weapon was discovered inside the belly of an underground beast. Its owner had been fully digested, leaving only his hand bones, which still clutched the Mountain of Corpses, Sea of Blood in defiant reluctance.

Another exhibit was the "Ten Thousand Heads Banner": a foul-smelling magical artifact crafted from tens of thousands of heads. All these heads belonged to members of the same sect, the Soul Sealing Sect. The creator of the Ten Thousand Heads Banner was also from the Soul Sealing Sect. When the great catastrophe descended, he slaughtered all his fellow sect members and refined them into this artifact, an act of extreme brutality. Unfortunately, even such a figure ultimately did not survive the Great Dark Era. This artifact then became someone else's spoils of war, circulated for a thousand years, and eventually came into the possession of the Myriad Immortals Alliance.

The "Vast Changes" area displayed various topographical transformations of the Xuanhuang World over thousands of years, leaving Li Fan speechless. Changes like those in the Cloud Sea, where mountains become oceans and vice-versa, were truly commonplace. Heavenly Rivers had plunged to the earth, high mountains had split into deep valleys, and even two entire provinces had merged overnight. Li Fan couldn't help but lament his own provincialism.

The "Myriad Laws Contention" area showcased various cultivation methods that had appeared throughout Xuanhuang World's history. Naturally, only descriptions were available; the specific content of the methods was not visible. Even so, Li Fan was utterly captivated, unable to tear himself away.

Li Fan was immersed, unable to extricate himself. He lost track of time. As these astronomical, millennia-old artifacts appeared before him, transcending time and space, the image of the Xuanhuang World finally came alive in his mind. It was no longer an empty concept but was imbued with the weight of history.

Slowly, he finally arrived at the central area of the Divine Treasure Museum. The most striking feature was a large empty space in the center, containing nothing but a single human skull.

Bing Yin pointed to the skull and said, "This is the skull of the legendary first cultivator infected by the Immortal-Mortal Blight. I don't know what makes it so precious, but the curator specifically ordered it to be placed here...""Hmm? What's wrong?" Bing Yin looked at Li Fan beside him with some surprise.Li Fan's eyes had suddenly closed, and his entire body trembled violently as if he were in extreme pain. Unstoppable beads of sweat dripped from him."Are you alright?" Seeing Li Fan's condition worsen, Bing Yin couldn't help but murmur with concern.

Li Fan managed a difficult smile and shook his head slightly, indicating he was fine. Yet, he still dared not open his now bloodshot eyes."Absorbable item detected: Eternal Remnant.""Absorbable item detected: Eternal Remnant."The prompts from 'True Return' echoed in Li Fan's mind as if out of control, growing louder and louder, threatening to overwhelm his consciousness entirely. He also felt an indescribable hunger that was actively eroding his sanity. This hunger had appeared before when he encountered True Person Tianyang's Eternal Remnant, but now, the intensity of this desire was hundreds, even thousands, of times greater than it had been then!