Even in Death, a Romantic

Li Fan's divine sense wandered through the blank divine soul. As time elapsed, the soul body gradually dissipated, and the size of this blank space steadily shrank. Yet even at the very end, when the space became exceedingly small and everything within was right before Li Fan's eyes, he still could not detect the slightest presence of the soul covenant mark. "Truly, 'looked at but not seen, listened to but not heard'!" Amid his sigh of lament, the divine soul vanished completely. Undiscouraged, Li Fan immediately drew out another divine soul and began his attempt anew. ... Day after day passed, and in the blink of an eye, the year Anchor 26 was already half over. Through five assessments, Li Fan's theoretical test results for the Heavenly Profound Spirit-Locking Formation had all been top-tier. Yet in the trials of identifying the soul covenant, his results were consistently bottom-tier. This caused Ji Hongdao's gaze toward Li Fan to carry an involuntary hint of regret. Li Fan, however, remained as calm 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 previously imagined. That seemingly substantial golden glow from the outside was likely an illusion created by the clustering effect." Three hundred and twelve was the number of divine souls Li Fan had already consumed. While not exceptionally large, it was certainly not small either. Even so, Li Fan's progress remained sluggish. In the tests, his identification accuracy was merely around five in ten thousand. Practically no different from blind guessing. Meanwhile, it was rumored that some cultivators had already reached an astonishing accuracy rate of ninety-nine percent. "The gap between people is truly vast." Shaking his head inwardly, Li Fan deftly extracted another divine soul and plunged straight in. "Hmm?" Having observed over three hundred souls of Five Elders Association cultivators, Li Fan noticed the difference the moment he entered this soul. Unlike the white, empty expanse inside other divine souls, here, there surprisingly remained remnants of the cultivator's memories from life. Stubbornly resisting the cleansing, it had formed a reef of red stone standing resolute within the divine soul. Approaching slowly, Li Fan observed the cluster of red before him. Inside the red sphere of light, images shifted continuously, too obscure to discern specific details. However, he could faintly tell that it was just a short fragment of memory playing on a loop. Li Fan recalled Ji Hongdao's earlier instructions: "The cleansing of emotional memories in these Soul-Gathering Pearls was carried out in batches simultaneously." "Some cultivators possess naturally resilient divine souls, and if they harbored something they couldn't forget even in death, it's perfectly normal that they weren't cleaned completely." "If you occasionally encounter a fish that slipped through the net, do not panic." "Though memories remain, after having undergone the cleansing, their aggressiveness is virtually zero. You can explore these memories without worry." "Thus, for you, it is instead a rare opportunity." "It is entirely possible to obtain cultivation techniques, secret arts, or even confidential intelligence on the Five Elders Association from these remnant memories." "You are not required to hand over any memory information obtained from these souls either. Consider it all your own fortune, so do not feel any psychological burden." ... 'The risk should be low, but I cannot leave myself unguarded against any mishaps.' After a thought, Li Fan severed the connection between this strand of divine sense and his true body. That way, even if some accident occurred, he would at most lose this single wisp of divine sense. Conversely, if there was truly no danger, once he obtained the contents of the memory, he could still bring the gains back to his true body. Having made his preparations, Li Fan's strand of divine sense began attempting to make contact with the red cocoon of light before him. It felt as if he had entered another person's body, unable to move or speak. He could only observe and experience the surroundings from the other's perspective. A few fragmented images flashed rapidly before him. These were gaps caused by the memory cleansing. "Fellow Daoist... care for some banned books?" A furtive cultivator produced a bizarrely shaped jade slip and held it out before his eyes. "Scram, scram, scram!" the cultivator he possessed said impatiently. ... "Fellow Daoist... want a banned book? Absolutely thrilling, you won't regret it," another cultivator asked in a hushed tone. The possessed cultivator pondered over it again and again, but still declined. ... "Fellow Daoist, care to look into this banned book? Miss it and you'll regret it for the rest of your life." "Jointly created by the Storytelling Elder and the Wondrous Pen Immortal—an immersive, completely authentic experience..." The possessed cultivator hesitated for a long time before asking quietly, "What's the price?" ... The memories that followed began to turn vivid and coherent. It had to be the memory that had left the deepest impression on this cultivator during his life, the one he found most impossible to forget. 'Just what shocking, scandalous content is in this banned book to make him unable to forget it even after death?' Li Fan couldn't help but perk up with anticipation. ... In a dark cave, a campfire leaped and flickered. He was resting against the wall. He seemed heavily injured, his blood and qi churning violently within. Outside the cave, there appeared to be a corpse. A young woman's voluptuous body pressed tightly against his. Slender thighs rubbed against each other, and the young woman's jade hands groped continuously over his body, attempting to undo his clothes. (Good heavens, jumping straight into something this steamy?) (This must be the content of the banned book? Looks like that scalper wasn't bragging—truly immersive, completely authentic.) (It's almost like an Eternal Lingering Thought. The only difference is that here, one can't move freely, only passively experiencing the sensory information through this body.) Just as Li Fan's consciousness was pondering, a voiceover narration suddenly surfaced: [Qin Shou courted Senior Sister Zhao repeatedly and was rebuffed time and again. Humiliated and enraged, vile intentions grew in his heart.] [Soon after, taking advantage of Senior Sister Zhao leaving on a mission, he tailed her in secret. Upon reaching a remote mountain forest, he caught her off guard and launched a sneak attack.] [Caught unawares, Senior Sister Zhao was gravely injured. Worse, she was poisoned by Qin Shou's Yin-Yang Joyous Union Powder, gradually losing her sanity...] [At this critical juncture, you happened to arrive.] [Denouncing Qin Shou's despicable actions, you engaged him in battle.] [Alas, you were no match for Qin Shou; failing to play the hero and save the maiden, you were severely wounded instead.] [In the moment of crisis, relying on a talisman sword obtained during an earlier expedition, you successfully repelled Qin Shou and fled to this cave with Senior Sister Zhao.] [You thought you were safe, but unexpectedly, Qin Shou tracked you down by unknown means.] [As Qin Shou pressed in step by step, despair painted your face.] [Right then, Senior Sister Zhao suddenly awakened and, with the very last ounce of her strength, struck Qin Shou dead. Afterward, she lost consciousness completely.] ... The narration smoothly recounted the sequence of events. Yet before Li Fan even had time to reflect, he was stunned by the thoughts reverberating incessantly within the memory. "Senior Sister Zhao?" "Senior Sister Zhao!" "Is it her?" "How could it be?!" These were the thoughts belonging to the soul's owner, echoing through the memory like rolling thunder. Unable to endure the torment, the body he inhabited slowly began to stir. Parting the young woman's hair, it revealed a face of peerless beauty. Her brows were slightly furrowed, her face flushed with crimson. "Senior Sister Zhao... It's her... How dare they... It really is her..." The cultivator's lingering thoughts echoed ceaselessly. Even this entire memory space trembled continuously. "Master of the Dadao Sect, one of the Five Elders Association's five Longevity Heavenly Venerables..." "How dare they... No wonder it's a banned book..." "Worth dying for..." The book's protagonist slowly slipped Senior Sister Zhao's clothes off.