Nine hundred and ninety-nine streams of Dust-Washing Light could not erase Lu Yuan's memory of the sword—what an astonishing feat! Normally, a single stream of Dust-Washing Light suffices to cleanse a memory.
This means Lu Yuan’s memory of the sword was thousands of times more profound than an ordinary memory, perhaps exponentially more so. The Ancient Sword Master!
Shaking the heavens and the earth! And now, with that mighty roar, Lu Yuan was demanding the Sword-Forgetting Stele return his memories.
To demand memories back from the Sword-Forgetting Stele—how could such a thing be possible! This had never happened before; countless individuals, wounded by love, came here to erase memories, only to regret it later, unable to retrieve even a trace.
To recover a memory was a thousand, ten thousand times harder than making a stone statue weep or a stubborn rock nod—the difficulty was unimaginable. Get them back!
Could they really be recovered? Upon the Sword-Forgetting Stele, Lu Yuan permeated his consciousness into the monument.
His vast and resolute consciousness seeped inch by inch into the Stele. Such a formidable consciousness collided head-on with the Dust-Washing Light with a resounding boom!
The consciousness actually clashed with the Light, and with a loud crash, the Dust-Washing Light dissipated first! This was possible!
How powerful must that consciousness be? Lu Yuan hadn't possessed such power initially, but the Dust-Washing Light had scoured out the deepest memories of the sword from his soul, causing his massive potential to erupt instantly.
His consciousness became purely focused, immense, and utterly resolute, achieving this shocking feat. After shattering the Dust-Washing Light, Lu Yuan’s consciousness delved further into the Sword-Forgetting Stele.
“Sword-Forgetting Stele, give me back my memories! If you refuse, when I become a Civilization Realm master, I will utterly destroy you.
If even the Civilization Realm cannot destroy you, then in the Epoch Realm, I will annihilate you completely,” Lu Yuan roared. At this, the numerous onlookers nearby—including Tong Yun Chou, the Copper Saint Emperor’s Scion, and the Desolate Saint Emperor’s Scion—couldn't help but laugh.
What was Lu Yuan doing now? Threatening the Sword-Forgetting Stele!
Yet, the Sword-Forgetting Stele possessed no sentience of its own; its ability to erase memories was merely an expression of the Will of Heaven and Earth. Threatening sentient beings was normal; threatening non-sentient animals was unusual and rarely effective; threatening plants was even less effective, and threatening Heaven and Earth itself—like threatening the air or the wind—was utter nonsense.
And what Lu Yuan was doing now was precisely that—utter nonsense. This was too hilarious.
What was the point of threatening something lifeless like the Sword-Forgetting Stele? This Lu Yuan had clearly gone mad.
No normal person would ever do such a thing. But in that very instant, a tremor seemed to run through the world, and the clouds and winds shifted drastically.
The entire Sword-Forgetting Stele underwent a monumental change. A beam of light was drawn upwards from its base.
As this light passed through the Stele, fragments of time flickered into view—they were clearly scenes from Lu Yuan’s life before the age of ten. These memories instantly integrated back into his mind.
“So, my name is Lu Yuan.” “Keep returning them!” Lu Yuan roared again. Following his command, streaks of multicolored light appeared, surging from the base of the Stele toward Lu Yuan.
Immediately, various memories flooded his mind: the memories related to the Sword Sect were restored; he recognized the Supreme Elders below; the memories of Mount Hua also snapped back into place; his struggles in the Jin Kingdom largely returned to normal; and finally, memories concerning love were also reintegrated. As the light flowed, memories were reassembled one by one.
All the emotions, all the events, all the years, were restored. The events flashing across the Sword-Forgetting Stele were incredibly rapid, too fast for the bystanders to clearly perceive, but Lu Yuan, immersed within it, saw everything with perfect clarity, experiencing the joys and sorrows of the past few decades.
The people nearby were utterly astonished. This actually worked!
Their shock stemmed from one thing only: everyone had found it utterly ridiculous when Lu Yuan threatened Heaven and Earth moments ago, treating it like threatening the wind or the air. But now, Lu Yuan had definitively proven that threatening the Sword-Forgetting Stele—threatening Heaven and Earth—could indeed be effective.
This could only mean one thing: the Heavenly Dao had recognized Lu Yuan’s limitless potential for growth. Heavenly Dao itself, from above, was somewhat intimidated by Lu Yuan.
Therefore, when Lu Yuan demanded his memories back, that aspect of the Heavenly Dao represented by the Sword-Forgetting Stele dutifully returned them. This was profoundly mysterious, truly beyond description.
Reflecting on Lu Yuan’s words—that if he reached the Civilization Realm he would destroy the Stele, and if not, he would reach the Epoch Realm to destroy it—could it be that Heaven and Earth acknowledged Lu Yuan’s potential to reach either Realm? This seemed highly unlikely.
Reaching the Civilization Realm was notoriously difficult. There was a common saying in the Central Heavenly Dynasty: only by achieving the Civilization Realm could one surpass the Epoch and achieve longevity equal to Heaven; every Civilization Master could also create a civilization, and the number of Civilization Masters appearing at any given time in the Central Heavenly Dynasty rarely exceeded one hundred.
The Epoch Realm was even more legendary; in lore, only one Master of the Epoch would emerge in an entire epoch. Did Lu Yuan possess the potential to become the Master of the Epoch?
This was terrifying! Incidentally, the position of the Master of this Epoch had long been coveted by many Civilization Masters; whoever achieved that title would be invincible within the Central Heavenly Dynasty.
In previous epochs, there had been Masters of the Epoch, but these masters never manifested in the world of their current epoch. A deep killing intent flashed in the eyes of the Desolate Saint Emperor’s Scion; Lu Yuan had to die.
The Copper Saint Emperor’s Scion and Tong Yun Chou felt an even greater desire to kill Lu Yuan; they shared an intuition that if Lu Yuan lived, he might well destroy the Copper Civilization. The Law Saint Emperor’s Scion internally acknowledged that Lu Yuan’s potential was immeasurably vast.
This was because Lu Yuan was an Ancient Sword Master. As for Yun Xiuxue, she was already weeping tears of joy that Lu Yuan had returned.
On the Sword-Forgetting Stele, a figure in blue robes floated gracefully. Lu Yuan stood on the Stele, the sensation of having recovered all his memories feeling incredibly strange.
He looked up to see that the tribulation clouds, which had loomed hundreds of thousands of feet above, had completely dissipated. Heaven and Earth had acknowledged his small, sovereign world of the sword, and he would no longer be suppressed by the heavens.
Finally passing this tribulation, Lu Yuan let out a long breath. This trial had nearly cost him his sanity, almost turning him into an idiot.
Letting the Sword-Forgetting Stele descend, Lu Yuan exchanged clasped hands with the Supreme Elders and Sovereigns of the Sword Sect. This time had been dangerously close, but thankfully, they had passed the ordeal.
On his way past Feng Mingyue, she said, “Lu Yuan, remember the Wind Spirits are coming to the Wind Civilization on the day…” “I will remember,” Lu Yuan replied, waving his hand as he reached the Sacred Speed Ship and pulled Yun Xiuxue into his embrace. No words were spoken, nor were they necessary.
Silence spoke volumes. After a long pause, Yun Xiuxue suddenly grew bold and kissed Lu Yuan’s lips: “My first kiss wasn't mine, but your second one is.” Their lips met, and a faint fragrance drifted into Lu Yuan’s nose.
At this point, the gathered onlookers began to disperse. In truth, if the Law Saint Emperor’s Scion hadn't been present, the Desolate Saint Emperor’s Scion would have desperately tried to attack, but being less powerful than the Law Saint Emperor’s Scion, he suppressed the urge to kill Lu Yuan and left quickly, as did everyone else.
The Law Saint Emperor’s Scion returned to the Law Ancient Civilization, while Yun Xiuxue returned to the Sword Sect with Lu Yuan. This experience had been one of great shock followed by great joy, leaving her wanting only to stay by Lu Yuan’s side, fearing he might vanish if she let go.
The journey back to the Sword Sect was aboard the Sword Ship, with more than ten people inside. Usually shy, Yun Xiuxue disregarded her reserve this time and clung to Lu Yuan.
Lu Yuan fully savored this moment of tranquility, while the scenery rushed by outside. During this quiet time, Lu Yuan also noticed that his Sword Heart had become clearer.
His mind had been clouded by various dust, but this trial at the Sword-Forgetting Stele had essentially polished his spirit anew, granting him a subtle feeling of Sword Heart Illumination. The core of his Sword Heart was now utterly bright.
Lu Yuan vaguely sensed a location not far from his consciousness and immediately investigated, discovering it was none other than the Sword Realm. He realized traveling to the Sword Realm wasn't always easy; one could only enter during occasional, special circumstances.
He wondered about the reason this time, only to see an inscription appear at the gate of the Sword Realm: "The Ancient Sword Master may traverse the Sword Realm at will." Ancient Sword Master? What was that?
Of course, being able to traverse the Sword Realm anytime was an excellent thing. He could only walk through a portion of it, but even that section allowed him to see many ancient swords.
By observing the swords in the realm, he could infer the sword techniques used by their original owners, thus learning countless new skills. His Myriad Manifestations of the Void Sword Dao grew stronger the more sword techniques he learned, making unrestricted access to the Sword Realm incredibly beneficial.
But what did "Ancient Sword Master" signify? Lu Yuan also discovered that his consciousness could reach another location out in the void.
The name of this place was even more shocking. "Tomb of the Ancient Sword Master!" Tomb of the Ancient Sword Master!
These five characters were imbued with a legacy of antiquity mixed with an air of arrogance that looked down upon the world. Lu Yuan gasped in surprise, his curiosity about the Ancient Sword Master intensifying.
He immediately tried to send his consciousness into the Tomb of the Ancient Sword Master to understand what it meant to be an Ancient Sword Master, but his consciousness could not enter. He could not decipher what an Ancient Sword Master was, nor what the Tomb of the Ancient Sword Master represented.