Li Fan's divine sense wandered within the blank divine soul.
As time passed, the soul gradually dissipated, and the size of this blank space continuously shrank.
However, even when the space became extremely small, and everything within it seemed within Li Fan's reach, he still couldn't perceive the existence of the Soul Covenant imprint.
"This is what they call seeing without seeing, hearing but not understanding!"
With a sigh, the divine soul completely disappeared.
Undeterred, Li Fan then extracted another divine soul and tried again.
...
Days passed, and in the blink of an eye, more than half of the anchored 26 years had elapsed.
After five assessments, Li Fan consistently scored well in the theoretical tests of the Tianxuan Soul-Locking Array, but he consistently scored poorly in the Soul Covenant identification test.
This made Ji Hongdao look at Li Fan with a trace of regret.
However, Li Fan remained as calm as ever, without any haste or panic.
On this day, Li Fan examined the Soul Gathering Bead in his hand.
The golden light was now reduced to about one-third.
"Three hundred and twelve..."
"It's not as many as I imagined. The substantial golden light on the surface seems to be an illusion caused by the collective effect."
Three hundred and twelve was the number of divine souls Li Fan had already consumed.
Although not particularly many, it was definitely not a small number.
Even so, Li Fan's progress remained slow.
In the tests, his accuracy in identifying the Soul Covenant was only about five in ten thousand.
It was essentially no different from guessing blindly.
It was said that some cultivators had achieved an astonishing accuracy of ninety-nine percent.
"The gap between people is really too big."
Shaking his head in dismay, Li Fan skillfully extracted a divine soul and plunged into it.
"Hmm?"
Having observed over three hundred divine souls from the Five Elders' cultivators, Li Fan immediately noticed something different upon entering this particular divine soul.
Unlike other divine souls, this one wasn't a vast, empty expanse but still retained the memories of the cultivator's life.
It stubbornly resisted the cleansing, transforming into a cluster of red reefs that stood within the divine soul.
Approaching slowly, Li Fan observed the red mass before him.
Within the red mass, the images constantly changed, making it difficult to discern specific details.
However, it could be vaguely identified as a short segment of memory repeating in a loop.
Recalling Ji Hongdao's instructions, Li Fan thought, "The emotional memories of the divine souls in these Soul Gathering Beads were cleansed simultaneously."
"Some cultivators naturally have tenacious souls, and if there's something unforgettable even in death, it's normal for them not to be completely cleansed."
"Occasionally encountering some fish that slipped through the net is not a cause for panic."
"Although the memories are still lingering, the cleansing process has reduced their aggressiveness to almost zero. You can boldly explore the memories."
"So for you, it's actually a rare opportunity."
"From these remaining memories, obtaining some cultivation techniques, secrets, or even confidential information from the Five Elders' organization is possible."
"You don't need to submit the information obtained from these memories. Consider it your own fortune, so don't feel any psychological pressure."
...
"The risk should be minimal, but precautions should still be taken to avoid accidents."
After thinking about it, Li Fan severed the connection between this strand of divine sense and his main body.
Even if something unexpected happened, at most, he would lose this strand of divine sense.
On the contrary, if there was no danger, after obtaining the content of the memories, he could bring the harvest back to his main body.
Prepared, Li Fan's divine sense began to try to contact the red cocoon in front of him.
It felt like entering another person's body, unable to move or speak.
He could only use the other party's perspective to observe the surrounding events.
A few fragmented scenes quickly flashed before him.
It was due to the incomplete nature caused by memory cleansing.
"This friend... do you want to ban forbidden books?"
A suspicious cultivator pulled out a peculiar jade slip and handed it over.
"Get lost!"
The possessed cultivator replied impatiently.
...
"This friend... want to ban forbidden books? Absolutely exciting, it's worth watching."
Another cultivator secretly asked.
After careful consideration, the possessed cultivator still refused.
...
"This friend, take a look at this forbidden book? You won't regret it for a lifetime after reading."
"Sung Shuweng and Miaobi Xian teamed up to create it, providing an immersive and absolutely authentic experience..."
The possessed cultivator hesitated for a long time and whispered, "What's the price?"
...
The following memories began to connect clearly.
It should be the most profound and unforgettable memory of this cultivator's life.
"What shocking content does this forbidden book contain? It made him unable to forget even after death?"
Li Fan couldn't help but feel excited and anticipatory.
...
In a dark cave, the campfire leaped continuously.
He leaned against the wall to rest.
It seemed like he had suffered serious injuries, and his qi and blood surged violently.
Outside the cave, there seemed to be a corpse.
A graceful young girl's body was tightly pressed against him.
The long thighs rubbed against each other, and the girl's jade hands constantly groped on him, trying to untie his clothes.
(Good gracious, is it going to be this intense from the start? This should be the content of the forbidden book, right? It seems that those two sellers just now weren't exaggerating. It's an immersive and absolutely authentic experience. Almost like Eternal Reminiscence, the only difference being that here, it seems impossible to move freely; you can only passively experience the contact scenes with this body.)
Just as Li Fan's consciousness was contemplating:
A voiceover suddenly appeared.
[Qin Shou pursued Senior Sister Zhao many times, repeatedly rejected. Out of frustration, he harbored malicious intentions.]
[A short time later, when Senior Sister Zhao went out on a mission, he secretly followed her. They arrived in a remote deep mountain, where he ambushed her while she was unprepared.]
[Senior Sister Zhao, caught off guard, suffered severe injuries. She was also affected by Qin Shou's Yin-Yang Union Powder, gradually losing her sanity...]
[At this critical moment, you happened to arrive.]
[You denounced Qin Shou's despicable behavior and fought against him.]
[Unfortunately, you were not Qin Shou's match and ended up seriously injured in your attempt to save the beauty.]
[At a critical moment, relying on a talisman sword obtained in a previous adventure, you successfully repelled Qin Shou and brought Senior Sister Zhao to this cave.]
[Thinking that it was safe, unexpectedly, Qin Shou somehow followed. He pressed closer step by step, and you showed a look of despair.]
[At this moment, Senior Sister Zhao suddenly woke up, fought with the last bit of her strength, and killed Qin Shou. Then she completely passed out.]
...
The voiceover narrated the cause and effect of the matter vividly.
However, before Li Fan could ponder, he was stunned by the incessant reverberation of thoughts in the memory.
"Senior Sister Zhao?"
"Senior Sister Zhao!"
"Is it her?"
"How is that possible?!"
These were the thoughts of the owner of the divine soul, echoing continuously in the memory, like thunder.
The body he was in couldn't withstand the torment, slowly starting to move.
He lifted the hair of the girl beside him, revealing an unparalleled face.
Eyebrows slightly furrowed, the face flushed.
"Senior Sister Zhao... it's her... how dare... it's really her..."
The lingering thoughts of the cultivator continued to echo.
The memory space also kept trembling.
"The Lord of the Great Dao Sect, one of the Five Elders, the Supreme Venerable..."
"How dare... no wonder it's a forbidden book..."
"Even if I die, it's worth it..."
The protagonist in the book slowly removed Senior Sister Zhao's clothes.
(End of this chapter)