Li Fan’s divine sense drifted through the blank soul.
As time wore on, the soul continued to dissipate, and the space within it shrank steadily.
But even at the very end, when it had dwindled to almost nothing and everything inside lay right before his eyes, Li Fan could find no trace of the Soul Contract.
Truly, “look but see it not, listen but hear it not!”
With a sigh, this soul completely vanished.
Li Fan was not discouraged. He immediately extracted another soul and began the next attempt.
The days passed one by one. In the blink of an eye, more than half of Anchor Year 26 had gone by.
Across five assessments, Li Fan consistently scored at the top on the theoretical construction of the Tianxuan Soul-Locking Array, and just as consistently at the bottom when it came to identifying Soul Contracts.
This caused Ji Hongdao to look at Li Fan with a trace of unavoidable pity in his eyes.
Li Fan, however, remained as steady and unhurried as ever.
On this day, Li Fan examined the Soul-Gathering Pearl in his hand. Only about a third of the golden light remained.
Three hundred and twelve... Not as many as I initially imagined. The seemingly solid golden light visible from the surface was likely an illusion caused by a clustering effect.
Three hundred and twelve was the number of souls Li Fan had already consumed. While not an exceptionally large number, it was certainly not small either.
Even so, Li Fan’s progress remained slow. In the tests, his identification accuracy rate was only around five in ten thousand, basically no different from blind guessing.
And it was said that some cultivators had already achieved an astonishing accuracy rate of ninety-nine percent.
The gap between people is truly vast.
Shaking his head inwardly, Li Fan skillfully extracted a soul and plunged his divine sense into it.
Hmm? Having observed over three hundred souls of Five Elders Council cultivators, Li Fan sensed something different the moment he entered this one.
Unlike the other soul interiors, which were blank and empty, this one still contained lingering fragments of the cultivator’s memories.
They had stubbornly resisted the cleansing, transforming into a reef that stood firm within the soul.
Slowly drawing closer, Li Fan observed the mass of red light before him.
Within the red glow, scenes constantly shifted, their exact contents unclear.
However, one could vaguely discern that it was just a small fragment of memory, playing on a loop.
Li Fan recalled Ji Hongdao’s previous instructions.
.....
“The emotion and memory cleansing for the cultivator souls in this batch of Soul-Gathering Pearls was conducted en masse.
“Some cultivator souls are innately tenacious. If they also have something they could not forget even in death, it’s perfectly normal for the cleansing to be incomplete.
“If you occasionally encounter a few that slipped through the net, don’t panic.
“Although memories remain, having undergone the cleansing, their aggressiveness is nearly gone. You can relax and explore these memories without fear.
“So for you, it’s actually a rare opportunity. It’s possible to obtain some techniques, secret arts, or even confidential information about the Five Elders Council from these residual memories.
“There’s no requirement to hand over any information obtained from the souls’ memories. Consider it entirely your own fortune, so don’t feel any psychological pressure.”
.....
The risk shouldn’t be great, but one must still take precautions to avoid a mishap.
After a moment’s thought, Li Fan severed the connection between this strand of divine sense and his main body.
That way, even if something went wrong, the worst he would lose was this single strand of divine sense.
Conversely, if there truly was no danger, he could still bring any acquired memories back to his main body.
Preparations complete, this thread of Li Fan's divine sense began to attempt contact with the crimson cocoon of light before him.
Immediately, he was unable to move or speak, as if he had entered another person's body. He could only observe the surroundings through the other's perspective.
Several images flashed rapidly before his eyes. However, there were numerous gaps between them, removed by the cleansing process.
A shifty-looking cultivator sidled up to him, slipping a strangely carved jade slip over.
“Fellow Daoist... interested in some forbidden texts?” he asked in a low voice.
“Scram,” the possessed cultivator snapped, clearly annoyed.
...
“Fellow Daoist... forbidden texts for you? It’s top-tier stuff. You won’t regret it,” Another cultivator murmured as he edged closer.
The possessed cultivator gave it serious thought, but in the end, still shook his head.
...
“Fellow Daoist, how about this forbidden text? Miss it, and you’ll regret it for life.
“Created jointly by Singing Book Elder and Marvelous Brush Immortal, it is fully immersive, unbelievably lifelike...”
This time, his host hesitated for a long moment before finally whispering, “...How much?”
...
The subsequent memories began to grow clear and coherent. This was likely the most profound, most unforgettable memory from this cultivator's life.
What earth-shattering content could be in this forbidden text, that it remained unforgettable even after his death?
Li Fan couldn't help but feel a surge of anticipation.
...
In a dark cave, light from a campfire danced and flickered. He seemed severely injured and was resting against the wall, his internal blood-qi churning violently.
Outside the cave, there appeared to be a corpse.
A lithe, graceful young woman's body was pressed tightly against him. Her slender legs rubbed together, her jade-like hands constantly roaming over his body, trying to undo his garments.
Well now, starting off with something this intense?
This must be the content of the forbidden text? It seems those peddlers weren't exaggerating. It’s truly immersive, absolutely realistic.
It's almost like an Eternal Remnant Will. The only difference is that here, I can't move freely. I can only passively experience the scene through this body's senses.
Just as Li Fan's consciousness was pondering this, a voice started narrating.
[Qin Shou pursued Senior Sister Zhao repeatedly, but was rejected every time. Humiliated and enraged, he conceived a malicious plan.]
[Not long after, seizing an opportunity when Senior Sister Zhao went out on a mission, he secretly followed her. He trailed her to a remote area deep in the mountains, then ambushed her when she was off guard.]
[Senior Sister Zhao was caught completely unprepared and suffered severe injuries. Worse, she was drugged by Qin Shou with Yin-Yang Union Powder, gradually losing her reason...]
[At this critical moment, you happened to arrive.]
[You denounced Qin Shou's despicable actions and engaged him in battle.]
[Unfortunately, you were no match for Qin Shou. Your attempt to rescue the beauty failed, and you were also gravely wounded.]
[At the crucial moment, relying on a talisman sword you had obtained from a previous expedition, you managed to repel Qin Shou and escape with Senior Sister Zhao to this cave.]
[You thought you were safe, but unexpectedly, Qin Shou, using some unknown method, actually tracked you here.]
[Qin Shou advanced step by step, and you wore a look of utter despair.]
[Just then, Senior Sister Zhao suddenly awoke. Summoning the last of her strength, she struck Qin Shou down, then fell into complete unconsciousness.]
The narrator calmly recounted the chain of events.
Yet Li Fan had no time to ponder, for he was stunned by the thoughts echoing incessantly within the memory fragment.
(Senior Sister Zhao?)
(Senior Sister Zhao!)
(Is it her?)
(How is this possible?!)
These were the thoughts of the soul's original owner, reverberating through the memory fragment like thunderclaps.
The body he now inhabited, unable to bear the torment, slowly began to move.
He gently brushed aside the hair of the young woman beside him, revealing a face of breathtaking beauty.
Her brows were slightly furrowed, her cheeks flushed crimson.
(Senior Sister Zhao... it's her... they actually dared... it truly is her...)
The lingering will of the cultivator echoed without end.
This entire memory space trembled violently.
(The Master of the Great Dao Sect... one of the Five Elders Council's Eternal Heavenly Venerables...)
(They actually dared... no wonder the forbidden texts...)
(Worth dying for...)
The protagonist of the memory fragment slowly began remove Senior Sister Zhao's garments.