[Nourishing Life Master].
With a heavy, lingering sigh, the silence of the library was finally shattered. Lu Yang tucked away the memory fragments, having finally digested the backlash from the experience.
The forbidden knowledge within those fragments was now his.
The Immortal Nexus as a Dao Cauldron, the Ancestral Dragon as the herb, and a Supreme Celestial Pill that leads straight to Paramita... Even without the specific technical details, the sheer weight of those concepts was staggering.
Lu Yang shook his head, a trace of melancholy flickering in his eyes.
"Pity. He failed in the end."
At the end of those memory projections, the First-generation Master of Pill Cauldron Peak had made grand, sweeping declarations. Yet, judging by the outcome, he had clearly failed. It was the classic case of a mantis trying to stop a carriage.
After all, the Saint Sect's Ancestor was still alive and well. If Lu Yang hadn't intervened in the previous lifetime, the man would still be standing at the absolute apex of [Paramita], completely unscathed. No matter how many tricks or how much raw brutality the First-generation Pill Cauldron Peak Master possessed, his cultivation realm was fixed. How could he possibly hope to trade blows with a Dao Lord?
Besides, the Ancestral Dragon was still alive!
That was the ironclad proof of his failure. He claimed he would use the Ancestral Dragon to refine a pill, yet the dragon lived on. If that wasn't a failure, what was?
"But still..."
Lu Yang looked back at the Old Dragon Lord's memories. "Unlike me, the Old Dragon Lord seemed to have absolute faith in the First-generation Pill Cauldron Peak Master."
"He truly believed in the existence of the Nascent Soul Pill."
"The Pill Cauldron Peak Master vanished after his grand declaration. The Old Dragon Lord clearly gave him something, but the relevant memories were excised."
"To keep the secret?"
"Makes sense. 'Success through secrecy, failure through leaks.' If the Pill Cauldron Peak Master wasn't an idiot, he would have found a way to hide the truth. His methods must have been incredibly sophisticated."
So sophisticated, in fact, that even [The Book of a Hundred Lifetimes] couldn't settle the experience.
However, this wasn't the first time Lu Yang had encountered such a situation. Wasn't it the same with Hong Yun? He was clearly intertwined with the "False History" of the World Honored One's enlightenment.
Yet, the settlement only ever produced the "Real History."
"...Wait."
Lu Yang narrowed his eyes. "The effects are so similar. Could it be the same method? Did the World Honored One have a hand in this?"
It was possible.
This was the World Honored One, after all. What was deleting a few memories of a low-level cultivator to him? The fact that he hadn't just stepped on them with a giant foot was already "sparing the feelings" of the lower realms!
Furthermore... that was the First-generation Master of Pill Cauldron Peak.
Strictly speaking, the World Honored One is his Senior Brother. They were both working against the Saint Sect's Ancestor. It would be perfectly natural for him to help out in a situation like this.
Lu Yang's curiosity was piqued.
The Old Dragon Lord's memory was a literal treasure trove. It was just that there was so much forbidden knowledge that he couldn't swallow it all at once; he had to be careful not to choke.
"Fine. There's no harm in chewing slowly. I've got plenty to eat. Besides, I hold quite a bit of forbidden knowledge now. Maybe other memories have unlocked for me. Let's check..." Lu Yang rubbed his hands together and dove back into the torrent of the Old Dragon Lord's reminiscence.
Then, he found it.
"There really is more!"
This particular memory fragment was buried extremely deep in the Old Dragon Lord's timeline, very close to the "Origin"—back when the Old Dragon Lord was still young.
"I almost missed it."
"No, that's not right!"
Lu Yang snapped to attention, a chill creeping down his spine. It wasn't that I almost missed it; it's that I was almost made to ignore it!
With his cultivation, how could he possibly overlook such a vital clue?
The reality was that he had seen the memory fragment unlock, but he had subconsciously dismissed it. This was blatantly abnormal. Was someone tampering with the memory?
"No, it's not the memory... it's the history itself."
Lu Yang took a deep breath, forcing himself to remain calm despite the shock.
That era of history was severed. Therefore, any memory associated with it becomes nearly impossible to perceive.
"I only found it because I possess the forbidden knowledge that 'History was Severed.' I also have a strong karmic connection to the information in this fragment. Combined with my personal affinity for karma, I was able to catch a glimpse of it."
It was hidden so thoroughly.
Given the Old Dragon Lord's age, this fragment was likely from an era even more distant than 129,600 years ago—a memory from the Golden Age of Cultivators!
The Buried Era!
Lu Yang could clearly hear the thumping of his own heart. Inexplicable emotions surged within him, taking a long time to settle.
"I have to see what this is!"
He gathered his focus, ensuring his mental state could withstand the weight of this forbidden knowledge, and plunged headfirst into the fragment.
The Dark Void.
Every living being that entered the Sea of Light and left the protection of the World Realm could connect their consciousness to this indescribable expanse of boundless darkness.
The [Sea of Bitterness] did not reach this place.
The Great Karmic Net could not touch it.
This was the perfect safe house. Every individual who entered the Dark Void received a private, exclusive space that no one else could invade.
However, with the right methods, multiple people could gather here, making it the most clandestine meeting room in existence. Any conversation held here could not be detected, calculated, or even recorded. Traces only remained in the memories of the participants.
Lu Yang surveyed the surroundings with interest.
It looks exactly like the place I go before a restart in [The Book of a Hundred Lifetimes]. No cause, no effect, no origin. I wonder if this place is a natural phenomenon of the Sea of Light or something left behind by some supreme being...
Just then, a voice rang out.
"...Are we all here?"
Lu Yang looked up. A Daoist emerged from the darkness of the void. His features were blurred, and only his voice drifted through the space: "The six of us are gathered."
Lu Yang froze.
Only six?
That's not right. This should be before the War of the Dao Lords. Su Sui should still be alive, plus the Ancestral Dragon... there should be at least seven.
Who wasn't invited?
The memory fragment continued to play out.
"Then let us begin."
A second voice spoke. "We have debated [Heavenly Dao] versus [Paramita] twice now. Things shouldn't happen a third time. We must reach a conclusion today."
"Is a conclusion even necessary?"
A young, energetic voice spoke up. "It has to be [Paramita]. For cultivators like us, reaching this stage means seeking transcendence is the only true path!"
Before the words could even finish echoing, another voice cut in:
"Ancestor, we all know you're a good person. You don't want to involve the low-level cultivators."
"But at a critical moment like this, you have to harden your heart. Besides, establishing the [Heavenly Dao] won't actually do anything to the low-level cultivators. They're too weak to matter."
"As for 'transcendence'... it's utterly meaningless."
"You and I both know that there is nothing beyond the Sea of Light. Constantly raising your stature will only result in getting lost in the eternal silence of the Dark Void."
"We suffered for that mistake before. If our respective lineages hadn't passed down our foundations—our 'Foundation of Existence'—allowing us to find our way back at the critical moment, we would have all been lost to eternal silence by now. Under these circumstances, how is building [Paramita] any different from a death sentence?"
"And to take a step back..."
"Even if you actually build [Paramita] and light up the Dark Void beyond the Sea of Light so we can raise our stature without getting lost, it still wouldn't be true transcendence."
"Because your foundation would still be the Sea of Light."
"Compared to that, the [Heavenly Dao] is far superior."
"Unify the Five Heavenly Destinies. Use destiny to drive Yin and Yang, command the Five Elements, and grasp the very foundation of the world... it is feasible. Daoist Su Sui's achievement is ironclad proof."
"After all, even a Dharma Body can command Yin and Yang."
"Commanding the Five Heavenly Destinies will surely be even easier!"
"Once we grasp the [Heavenly Dao], we will all be Lords of the Heavenly Dao. We will be omnipotent within the Sea of Light. As the Sea of Light continues to expand, we will only grow stronger."
"That is the one true path!"