This was the legacy Jiang Taiyu—and indeed the entire Jiang clan—held in the utmost regard, passed down by none other than the Human Sovereign Heavenly Emperor.
If Lu Yuan gave up so easily, he would likely never get a second chance. Standing in this boundless expanse of white, the anxiety that had gripped him earlier gradually gave way to calm. Throughout his life, he had encountered countless challenges.
He had faced ever-stronger foes, yet in the end, he had overcome them all. Had that been accomplished through sheer combat strength and cultivation alone?
Certainly not; it had also been forged by an unyielding will. Since the Jiang clan had helped him enter this place with such great hopes—and according to them, the power to reverse the dire situation lay within—Lu Yuan had all the more reason not to surrender.
Without lingering on idle thoughts, he began to step forward slowly, opening his heart to sense his surroundings. As before, his divine sense could perceive nothing.
The scenery around him remained utterly unchanged—a vast, featureless expanse of white. Even the passage of time seemed impossible to feel. Indeed, someone as powerful as Lu Yuan could not gauge how long he had been inside.
When he opened his eyes again, a sudden thought struck him: had a year already passed since he arrived?
Realizing his divine sense was useless here, Lu Yuan decided to count his steps. He stood up, calm and composed, and moved forward pace by pace.
He intended to use this clumsiest of methods to track time while probing the secrets of the realm. Yet before long, Lu Yuan was startled to find that he had forgotten time once again. He had simply blanked out, and when he regained his focus, it felt as though several years had slipped away.
In an environment entirely devoid of any sense of time, an uncontrollable irritation welled up inside him once more. It was not a weakness in his will; rather, this place was simply too bizarre. Everything was an endless void of white, with virtually nothing to anchor the senses, and the passage of time was utterly imperceptible.
Though he possessed tremendous power, no matter how he channeled it, nothing around him was affected in the slightest. The only constant was the quiet realization that, with a single thought, he could leave.
With every passing moment, that impulse grew increasingly irresistible.
*No, my mind is being manipulated,* Lu Yuan thought, pinpointing the problem. The white expanse before him seemed capable of amplifying stray inclinations, preventing him from remaining truly composed. Without speaking, he took a deep breath and fought to steady his mind.
At the same time, it occurred to him: since this place had been left by the Human Sovereign Heavenly Emperor, could items associated with him have some effect?
Lu Yuan immediately reached out to the Ancient Heavenly Emperor Token within him. It had aided him countless times, particularly at pivotal junctures, so he wanted to see what might happen. Wisps of purple light soon manifested around his body. Yet unexpectedly, nothing else changed.
All around him remained an unchanging sea of white. Where was the problem? Could it be that he, too, was unable to unlock the legacy left by the Human Sovereign Heavenly Emperor?
Lu Yuan felt somewhat bewildered. Normally, no matter how arduous a path was, as long as he could see some sign of progress, he would resolutely press on. The real torment lay in having no gauge of progress whatsoever.
For a time, he fell silent, uncertain of what step to take next.
He had exhausted virtually every means at his disposal, yet the outcome remained entirely unchanged.
What was he to do? Anxiety crept back into Lu Yuan's heart—for what felt like the countless-th time. Under the present strain, he found it nearly impossible to suppress. If this legacy was meant to be a grand opportunity, perhaps it was simply never meant for him.
The sudden thought surfaced, followed by the conviction that he ought to depart. After all, it felt as if he had already spent nearly ten years here. Swirling with conflicting impulses, Lu Yuan was on the verge of turning back.
Yet at that very moment, he forcefully suppressed the urge. Sitting cross-legged on the spot, he exhaled a breath of turbid air and summoned the Ancient Bodhi Tree within his mind, completely fusing himself with his innate spirit.
If this place constantly spawned the impulse to surrender and walk away, he would do the exact opposite and persevere to the end.
If thoughts could not be stopped, so what? Lu Yuan directly invoked the Ancient Bodhi Tree, relying on the tree of wisdom to regain total serenity. In short, he was going to pit himself against this space today.
Sure enough, once he channeled the Ancient Bodhi Tree, the stray thoughts in his mind were steadily purged. His entire being calmed completely, approaching a state of true, absolute focus.
Anyone in such a state might assume that this white world would finally show some change, yet it remained identical to before. Lu Yuan seemed to realize this, but he paid it no heed.
Maintaining his unwavering focus, he simply set about cultivating his innate spirit, disregarding whatever happened in the outside world. Time flowed on ceaselessly, and even Lu Yuan had no notion of how much had slipped by.
In this space, the passage of years could never be felt; even with a conscious effort to tally them, it made no difference. Had this been before, he would surely have grown anxious and sought alternative methods, but now, Lu Yuan remained exceptionally calm.
Eventually, a streak of white began to tint the hair at his temples. At the Heavenly Position Immortal realm, living thousands or even tens of thousands of years was nothing out of the ordinary. For gray hair to appear meant several millennia at least must have passed. As time went on, the white strands multiplied.
Then wrinkles crept onto his face. Even the vitality coursing through his veins began to show signs of decline.
If white hair and wrinkles could be illusions, what of the decay of his vitality? It meant his lifespan was truly nearing its end.
Lu Yuan could naturally sense this, yet his innate spirit remained seated beneath the Ancient Bodhi Tree. He knew that the moment he entertained any stray thoughts, he would likely choose to leave in the next breath. After all, when lifespan itself was reaching its end, who could truly withstand the urge?
Thus, Lu Yuan ignored it all entirely. Sustained by the absolute focus of the Ancient Bodhi Tree, only one conviction remained in his mind: even if he had to die, he would die in this place.
He gave no thought to anything else. In this state of absolute resolve, after who knew how long, Lu Yuan realized that his life had truly reached its end.
Chapter 518