"How did it feel?"
The question came from the guide, C-3.
Li Fan gave a slight nod.
"The Golden Era. It lives up to its name."
Half of this statement was to avoid revealing any cracks in his facade. The other half was genuine sincerity.
Indeed, if one spoke purely of "survival," the cultivators living under the rule of the Myriad Immortals Alliance and the Five Elders Council today had it far easier than in most periods of history.
Even the difficulty of obtaining a suitable cultivation technique was not much greater than it had been for rogue cultivators in ancient times.
Yes, once you entered the Myriad Immortals Alliance, you were a beast of burden for life. But at the very least, if the penned-in beasts of burden didn't court death themselves, living a little longer wasn't out of the question.
In other eras of the Xuanhuang World's history, short-lived cultivators might not even have had the qualification to become beasts of burden.
As for whether life itself was more precious, or so-called freedom was of higher value... That was another serious topic that one could debate for eternity.
Li Fan had no intention of dwelling on it.
What concerned him was that just now, as the one hundred-plus threads of divine sense, baptized by The Eras, were about to dissipate within his sea of consciousness... they were absorbed by the Dao Transformation Stone manifested by his cultivation of the Unity of Dao Transformation and Mind.
Those things he had experienced within The Eras, details that had rapidly blurred after the experience ended, were slowly becoming clear again.
Within the blue Dao Transformation Stone, faint, independent scenes could be seen gradually taking shape.
They looked, surprisingly, somewhat similar to The Eras itself.
What is this?
Li Fan's heart gave a slight jolt.
That human figure I vaguely saw after The Eras experience ended... it likely wasn't an illusion.
It seemed like a method to implant a brainwashing notion into the minds of all cultivators viewing this exhibit.
However, I possess a Dao Transformation Stone myself, so not only was I immune to this brainwashing attempt, but also...
While continuing the tour of the Museum of Divine Treasures under C-3's guidance, Li Fan diverted a portion of his focus to examine the changes within his own Dao Transformation Stone.
Perhaps because all Dao Transformation Stones under heaven originated from that original Mother Dao Transformation Stone, sharing the same source and lineage, the Dao Transformation Stone crystal in Li Fan's sea of consciousness had spontaneously absorbed all the scattered divine sense threads.
Now, drawing upon the memory imprints of The Eras preserved within those divine sense threads, it was attempting to reverse-engineer and reconstruct, one by one, the simulated worlds from Li Fan’s own memories.
Unfortunately, the Dao Transformation Stone he possessed was clearly lacking. Its grade was too low, its computational capacity severely limited.
When Li Fan tried to observe these reconstructed worlds more closely, he realized they were nothing more than hollow frameworks.
The scenes did not unfold smoothly. Instead, they lurched forward in fits and starts, skipping across stages of development.
Their scope was likewise restricted, confined to the specific fragments tied to his memories. Beyond those boundaries, the world dissolved into warped, shattered reflections, like a broken mirror.
Li Fan watched for some time.
Gradually, he noticed that these worlds were expanding both in time and in space, but at an excruciatingly slow rate.
Constrained by the Dao Transformation Stone’s simulation power, the progress was almost imperceptible. If this was truly the limit of the Dao Transformation Stone, then even after a hundred more lifetimes, Li Fan might still fail to make any meaningful headway.
But he had not forgotten: within Yi Xin’s tomb lay a fixed Dao Transformation Stone. With every simulation cycle, he could absorb it. And each absorption would further strengthen the crystal within his mind.
By then... perhaps I could recreate The Eras myself?
The thought had barely formed when Li Fan frowned.
But even if I did, what purpose would that serve?
Suddenly, a spark flashed in his eyes.
“Senior C-3,” Li Fan said, turning to the docent, “a question just occurred to me. You mentioned earlier that, during the experiments, one million blank souls were fed into The Eras.
“So within The Eras that is currently in operation... do genuine souls still exist?”
"Heh, naturally, they do," C-3 replied, seeming unwilling to elaborate further on the matter, offering only a simple answer.
Li Fan pondered this, then pressed on abruptly. "You said a vast number of souls are continuously undergoing the baptism of The Eras. Have any ever been able to realize that the world they inhabit is illusory, not real?
"After all, no matter how close it is to reality, there must ultimately be some difference from the real world, right?"
C-3 shot Li Fan a sudden glance. He looked around, lowering his voice. "When I took over from the previous C-3, he told me an story.
"About thirty-nine years ago, The Eras stopped operating for a period of time.
"The entire Museum of Divine Treasures was sealed at that time, and no one was allowed in or out.
"Nobody understood why back then, but rumors later spread that, supposedly, one of the million souls within The Eras had inexplicably vanished.
"They searched the entire museum but never found it.
"The matter was eventually dropped.
"As for whether it truly escaped or disappeared due to a malfunction..." C-3 left it at that, saying no more.
Li Fan nodded slowly.
If something was possible, then given a sufficiently large sample size, it could be considered inevitable.
A million souls, cycling through one life after another repeatedly.
There would always be one lucky individual who discovered the truth of the world they inhabited.
Li Fan wasn't particularly surprised by this.
He had merely confirmed one thing from C-3: The Eras' true purpose might not be brainwashing. But rather, to select and cultivate true geniuses.
A person's ultimate achievements could not be judged solely by innate talent. Providence, temperament, willpower—all these factors had a combined influence.
Often, so-called geniuses perished before they could fully grow to maturity. Meanwhile, those utterly unremarkable individuals might make it much farther in life.
In the real world, nurturing cultivators required immense cost. There was a high risk that the cultivator would die, rendering all the earlier investment wasted.
Within The Eras, however, there was no need to worry about this at all. In fact, selection through The Eras might yield even better results.
True, periods like the Dark Ages, the Wasteland Era, and other dark chapters in Xuanhuang World's history, were incredibly dangerous with extremely high mortality rates.
But conversely, if a soul could accomplish great deeds or alter history during such times, it would be sufficient proof that they were extraordinary.
Li Fan believed that over the long years of The Eras' operation, such individuals would not be few in number.
Select them, give them physical bodies, apply brainwashing and restriction arcane arts to ensure unquestioning loyalty, then cultivate them into absolutely loyal hounds and enforcers for the Myriad Immortals Alliance.
Just the thought of the power these cultivators wielded was frightening.
At the Myriad Immortals Alliance headquarters, and during the construction of the Tianxuan Soul-Locking Array, Li Fan would often see black-robed cultivators with unknown affiliation within the Myriad Immortals Alliance.
Their faces were invariably expressionless. But the dangerous aura they subconsciously exuded, and the bloodshed they could not fully conceal, always sent a chill through Li Fan's heart.
Li Fan suspected these individuals were most likely cultivated through The Eras.
A brilliant method indeed. And for me, perhaps once the quality of my Dao Transformation Stone is sufficient, I can use the recorded past to temper myself.
As the saying goes, heroes shape their times, but times also forge heroes.
Li Fan did not consider himself particularly exceptional. He was just an ordinary man, struggling to survive in the perilous Xuanhuang World, fortunate to have Return to Truth to rely on.
Based on his experiences from several lifetimes serving as Grand Preceptor in Great Xuan, and the lessons he had distilled, he could perhaps handle himself adequately when dealing with Nascent Soul cultivators and those of lower realms.
But when facing those ancient monsters who had survived from the calamities of antiquity all the way to the present day, he would likely find himself stretched thin, still too green.
More importantly, in the presence of such true powerhouses, he might not even get the chance to use Return to Truth.
When contending with them, besides cultivation level, intellect and experience were paramount.
By repeatedly experiencing the historical fragments within his mind, an imitation of The Eras, he might be able to shore up some of these deficiencies.
***
The Museum of Divine Treasures housed countless precious artifacts.
Guided by C-3, Li Fan took a whirlwind tour, browsing the Xuanhuang World's collection of treasures one by one.
Apart from the Golden Era, the museum had several other sections.
Where Heroes Abound, primarily collected items related to cultivators who had left their mark on the Xuanhuang World's history.
Carnage: Originally just an unremarkable iron blade. After the Great Reformation descended, its wielder slaughtered an untold number of cultivators with this weapon.
Blood dyed the blade a dark crimson, and its baleful aura lingered even after millennia, refusing to dissipate.
Its master survived endless slaughter. Yet, lamentably, this vicious weapon was found inside the belly of a subterranean exotic beast. Its master had been digested down to the hand bones, which still clutched Carnage with a death grip of bitter resentment.
Banner of Ten Thousand Skulls: A foul-smelling artifact refined from ten thousand skulls. These skulls all came from members of the same sect: the Soul-Sealing Sect. The very cultivator who forged the Banner of Ten Thousand Skulls was also a disciple of the Soul-Sealing Sect.
When the great calamity arrived, he slaughtered all his fellow disciples and refined them into this artifact, an act of utmost savagery. Sadly, even such a figure ultimately failed to survive the Dark Ages. This artifact became another's trophy.
After being passed down for a thousand years, it finally ended up with the Myriad Immortals Alliance.
...
The Seas Change into Mulberry Fields section displayed the myriad topographical changes the Xuanhuang World had undergone over millennia, leaving Li Fan utterly dumbfounded. Transformations like those of the Congyun Sea, where mountains became seas, were truly commonplace.
There were heavenly rivers crashing to earth, great mountains splitting into deep valleys, and even two entire provinces merging into one within a single day and night. It left Li Fang sighing at how little he had seen of the world.
...
The Myriad Techniques in Contention section displayed the myriad cultivation techniques that had appeared throughout the history of the Xuanhuang World. Of course, only related introductions were shown; the specific contents of the techniques themselves were not visible.
Even so, Li Fan was utterly captivated, unable to tear himself away.
...
Li Fan was utterly immersed, unaware of the passage of time in the world outside.
As those objects that were countless beyond measure, spanning untold millennia, unfolded before him as though crossing time and space, the image of the Xuanhuang World within his heart finally grew vivid and alive.
It was no longer an empty abstraction, but a reality burdened with the full weight of history.
Before he realized it, he had arrived at the very center of the Museum of Divine Treasures.
At its heart lay a vast, deliberately cleared space.
There was nothing there, save for a single human skull.
C-3 pointed toward it and said, “This is the skull of the legendary first cultivator to be infected by the Immortal–Mortal Miasma. I honestly don’t know what’s so precious about it that the Curator insisted on placing it here—”
“Hm? What’s wrong with you?”
C-3 turned toward Li Fan, surprise flickering across its face.
Li Fan’s eyes had snapped shut without warning, as though he were enduring unbearable agony. His entire body shook violently, sweat pouring from him in uncontrollable streams.
“Are you all right?”
As Li Fan’s condition continued to worsen, an unspoken unease rose in C-3’s heart.
Li Fan forced a strained smile and shook his head slightly, signaling that he was fine.
Yet he did not dare open his eyes.
They had already gone completely bloodshot.
[Discovered absorbable item: Eternal Remnant Will]
[Proceed to absorb?]
[Discovered absorbable item: Eternal Remnant Will]
[Proceed to absorb?]
[Proceed to absorb?]
[Proceed to absorb?]
The prompt from Return to Truth echoed endlessly within Li Fan’s mind, like a system gone mad.
With each repetition, the voice grew louder, more insistent, threatening to drown his consciousness entirely.
At the same time, an indescribable hunger surged up from within him, a ravenous craving that gnawed at his reason itself.
He had felt this hunger once before, when he encountered Reverend Tian Yang’s Eternal Remnant Will.
But this time, its intensity was a hundred times, a thousand times greater than what he had felt before.