Beyond Record and Memory

"When was my avatar refined?" Li Fan felt as though he had forgotten something of utmost importance. His brows furrowed tightly as thoughts raced through his mind. Yet no matter how hard he tried, he could not recall any memory related to it. Even scouring the records stored in the Dao Transformation Stone crystal within his mind proved completely futile. "And this technique of mine..." Li Fan suddenly realized something, and his expression turned grim. "Immortal Venerable Jicheng offered a reward of longevity treasures, with an opportunity to use the Yanfa Jade as the prize. *Wondrous Profound True Spirit Transformation* should have been deduced by the Yanfa Jade." "I have always acted with caution; I would never take such a risk in person. Therefore, I must have created an avatar back then to handle this matter." "Yet..." "How can I have no impression of it whatsoever?" "Is this again the doing of that Heavenly Venerable who makes people forget calamities?" Li Fan closed his eyes in contemplation and tried once more to recall, but it was still to no avail. "No, that's not right." After a long while, Li Fan opened his eyes with a thoughtful look. "Rather than saying I forgot, it would be more accurate to say that the avatar's past experiences were utterly erased." "If something never happened at all, naturally no trace of it would remain." "Just what could it be?" Fear of the unknown almost prompted Li Fan to immediately use [True Reversion], breaking free of this influence to uncover the truth. Yet he forced himself to hold back. "Regardless, I must record this first. Once this life comes to an end, perhaps at the summit of Mount Jieli I will remember what has vanished." "Still, this method of vanishing out of thin air from memory without one noticing is truly impossible to guard against. To prevent forgetting even this in the future, I must record it in advance." Thinking this, Li Fan prepared to find a blank jade slip in his storage ring to record what he had forgotten. "Huh? What's this?" Suddenly, he noticed three jade slips set aside in a corner of his storage ring. "When were these placed there? Why don't I have the slightest recollection?" Li Fan stared blankly for a moment. Then, his heart stirring, he took out the jade slips and inspected them one by one. Bizarrely, one of the jade slips was completely blank, bearing no records at all. Of the other two slips, one had only the single character "Dao" written on it. The other had only the character "Yuan." "Daoyuan? Yuandao? What does that mean?" Li Fan felt this term was remarkably familiar, yet could not recall where he had seen it. As if overcast by dark clouds, his mood grew heavy. "It's useless to dwell on it now." After the better part of a day, Li Fan finally broke free from the contagion of these intense negative emotions. He detailed the situation onto that blank jade slip—the fact that his avatar clearly existed yet went unnoticed, and that certain events had been forgotten. Then he carefully placed the three jade slips back where they had been. "Although I cannot temporarily recall what happened, going by the three jade slips I previously prepared as hints, I was aware of this matter." "I probably just underestimated the impact when it actually occurred, which caused all these preparations to lose their effect." "If I refer to that unknown event as 'it,' could it then be deduced..." "That once it occurred, not only memories involving it, but even all related records could not be preserved?" Having calmed down, Li Fan thought it over carefully and faintly deduced some clues. "Since I made preparations, it means its influence didn't exist from Anchored Year 1. Thus, at least once I perform True Reversion, I should be able to understand what happened." Thinking this, Li Fan felt a little more at ease. "Though discovering it for the first time feels rather bizarre, I've grown accustomed to the perils of this world, so it actually seems somewhat natural." Li Fan shook his head with a self-deprecating chuckle. Despite the unexpected turn of events, Li Fan did not forget his purpose in leaving the city: to test the effects of the *Wondrous Profound True Spirit Transformation*. He settled his mind, slowly clearing away stray thoughts, and began circulating the True Spirit Transformation. A power entirely distinct from spiritual energy, yet seemingly rooted in it, welled up from his limbs and bones in an instant, suffusing his whole body. Under the influence of this wondrous and unfathomable power, Li Fan felt as if countless ants were crawling throughout his entire body, causing unbearable itching and pain. Enduring the discomfort, Li Fan continued to run the technique, seeking to execute his first random transformation after mastering the foundation. The itching and pain steadily mounted. Every part of his body grew hotter and hotter. Just when Li Fan felt as though every single bone in his body was about to melt, he suddenly felt his whole body relax. All discomfort vanished in a flash, as if he had switched into a brand-new body... No, he truly had switched into a new body. Summoning a water mirror before him, Li Fan observed his reflection. It was a completely unfamiliar face. Moreover, the height, temperament, and that subtle impression given off at first glance were all worlds apart from Li Fan's true self. Were it not that every movement of the figure in the mirror corresponded precisely with his own, Li Fan would never have believed it was him. With a thought, he circulated the technique again. Before long, another face appeared in the secret chamber. Like someone who had received a toy he could not put down, Li Fan transformed repeatedly. With growing familiarity, each shift required less and less time. By the end, he could complete a transformation in practically a single breath. "The hundred transformations of the true spirit are truly wondrous and unfathomable. To my eyes, it borders on a divine ability!" Having finished testing, Li Fan could not help marveling. Presently, he had only achieved introductory mastery of this miraculous technique. Consequently, his transformed forms only possessed a cultivation at the Qi Condensation stage. However, he had already mastered all its core essentials, so what followed would merely be the steady, patient grind of daily accumulation. With the multitasking mastery of Spirit Unity with Dao Transformation, he was confident he would soon raise the True Spirit Transformation to match his own Golden Core realm cultivation. Looking at the disarray around the secret chamber, Li Fan used the Great Five Elements Oblivion Sword to erase all traces. Then, he quietly returned to Tianyu City. Hoping against hope, Li Fan searched within the Heavenly Profound Mirror for information regarding the terms "Daoyuan" and "Yuandao." As expected, after browsing for a long time, he found no suspicious leads, only ordinary fragments of text. "It seems I can only set this matter aside for now." Feeling helpless, Li Fan had to let it rest. "It is already mid-Anchored Year 29. The one-year preparation period for the widespread deployment plan of the Heavenly Profound Spirit-Locking Formation has arrived, so it shouldn't be long before I receive Ji Hongdao's summons." "Following him to lay down spirit-locking formations for grotto-heavens means that for quite a long time to come, I likely won't have much freedom." "Still, I have a hidden piece—the daughter of the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals' Chief Formation Master. Perhaps at a critical juncture, she can prove remarkably useful."