Chapter 69

In the deepest part of Li Yao's brain, in the endless abyss of the sea of memories, a massive vortex composed of countless memory fragments was spinning wildly, endlessly tearing at Li Yao's soul!

“I am Ouye Ming, and one day, I will become the master of the Hundred Refinements Sect!”

“I, Ouye Ming, swear to all the gods and demons of the ten heavens, eight desolations, six directions, and four corners, that I will slay every disciple of the nine great demonic sects, leaving no one alive, not even the chickens and dogs!”

“The divine sword Jinghong, the war saber Tuzhao, and the long spear Shihun—I have finally refined these three divine weapons capable of slaying transformed spirit old monsters!”

“Elder Ouye, Ancestor Ouye, please refine a magical treasure for me. I am willing to pay ten floating mountains as compensation!”

“Boom!”

In a daze, Li Yao didn’t know how long the massive memory vortex had been spinning. Suddenly, he heard a deafening explosion, and the entire vortex burst apart.

Strangely, it condensed into a peculiar tree-like structure deep within his brain.

This “Tree of Memories” was composed of tens of thousands of crystal-clear memory fragments. Each fragment shimmered with a vivid image, recording a clear memory of Ouye Zi’s life!

Starting from the “treetop,” it was the memory of Ouye Zi’s early days in the Hundred Refinements Sect, when he was a lowly servant, brutally trampled by the Giant Spirit God.

As time passed, the memory fragments gradually extended downward, becoming the memory of Ouye Zi as a blacksmith’s assistant, hammering day and night in the forge.

Further down, it was the memory of Ouye Zi refining low-level flying swords.

Later, it was the memory of the demonic invasion and the bloody battles on all fronts.

Until the “roots” of the tree, it became the memory of Ouye Zi becoming the master of the Hundred Refinements Sect, achieving fame and glory, and震慑ing the entire world.

All the memory fragments were divided into three distinct colors.

The early memories, from Ouye Zi’s entry into the sect to his promotion to a blacksmith’s assistant, were all shimmering with a dazzling light, appearing very lively.

The memories of Ouye Zi as a blacksmith’s assistant in the forge lost their shimmering light but were still colorful.

These two parts of the memories accounted for about one-tenth of all the memory fragments.

The remaining eight-tenths of the memories were in black and white.

The last part of the memories was completely shrouded in a black mist, indistinct.

“What is this?”

Li Yao’s consciousness floated in front of the massive “Tree of Memories,” utterly astonished.

He never expected that Ouye Zi’s entire life would be completely displayed before him in such a bizarre way, allowing him to see everything without any obstruction.

“I understand… Although Ouye Zi’s soul-snatching failed, his soul was so strong that it didn’t dissipate at the time but instead lay dormant deep in my mind, waiting for the right opportunity to attempt a second soul-snatching!”

“However, for some reason, that mutated giant-eyed ape launched a powerful mental attack on me, directly piercing through my brain domain and completely shattering Ouye Zi’s soul into countless ‘memory fragments’!”

“Yes, yes, that mutated giant-eyed ape was extremely intelligent. Enraged by having its head cut off, it used its last bit of life force to gather this irresistible mental attack, clearly intending to kill me directly or at least turn me into an idiot!”

“Unexpectedly, it hit Ouye Zi’s soul, resulting in both monsters being severely injured, but I benefited from the situation!”

“But how should I use these memory fragments of Ouye Zi?”

A thought struck him, and Li Yao’s consciousness floated to the top of the Tree of Memories, carefully searching.

He soon found a memory fragment where the Giant Spirit God was teaching Ouye Zi a particular move from the “108 Hands of the Cloak of Chaos Hammer Technique.”

Li Yao focused intently, staring at the memory fragment.

Suddenly, he felt his consciousness being pulled by a powerful force, and everything went dark. He reappeared on the large training ground of the Hundred Refinements Sect.

Without a doubt, it was the exact day shown in the memory fragment!

The ferocious Giant Spirit God stood before him, shaking his hammer-sized fists and roaring, “You bunch of pigs, listen up! Today, I’m teaching you the 47th move, the Heart-Piercing Hammer! The key to this move is the word ‘pierce.’ The crucial point is to aim behind your target!”

“For example, if your enemy is standing half a foot away from you, you should treat it as if they are a full foot away, and aim behind them to deliver all your power, piercing through their body and completely destroying their internal organs! Come, come, watch closely how every muscle in my body moves!”

Li Yao’s eyes widened as he watched the Giant Spirit God demonstrate.

The “Heart-Piercing Hammer” was one of the more complex moves in the “108 Hands of the Cloak of Chaos Hammer Technique.”

He had briefly practiced it in a dream, but had forgotten it completely upon waking.

Today, he wouldn’t miss the chance to see it again.

The Giant Spirit God took a horse stance, roared, and the air around him formed a giant human shape. Pebbles scattered, and his legs sank deep into the granite!

At the same time, his muscles writhed like countless snakes, and a tidal wave of power surged to his right arm. He punched out, and the air crackled with seven consecutive explosions!

Seven circular ripples appeared in the air where his fist passed!

“When the Heart-Piercing Hammer is perfected, it can tear the air and produce explosions. I can tear the air seven times, but the true experts in our sect can tear it seventeen or eighteen times with a single punch, with the power even penetrating massive rocks and turning them to dust!”

The Giant Spirit God said proudly, then glared at Li Yao and roared, “Ouye Ming, come here, I’ll teach you properly!”

Li Yao’s heart skipped a beat, and his mind oscillated. Somehow, his body felt light, and his soul shot out of Ouye Zi’s body, transforming into a translucent figure floating in the air, watching “Ouye Zi” walk towards the Giant Spirit God, about to be brutally trampled.

“So, this memory fragment is completely under my control. I can not only embody Ouye Zi and personally experience his memory scenes but also observe his life as a bystander!”

This discovery made Li Yao extremely excited.

The Giant Spirit God’s punches were lightning-fast, clearly not a demonstration but an excuse to take out his frustrations on Ouye Zi.

Li Yao frowned, thinking, “These punches are too fast, I can’t see them clearly. How can I learn by stealth? If I could rewind and play it in slow motion, that would be great.”

As soon as this thought arose, the scene blurred, and time rewound by more than half a minute, returning to the moment when Ouye Zi was called forward by the Giant Spirit God!

Moreover, the movements of the Giant Spirit God and Ouye Zi became abnormally slow, and every punch and muscle movement was crystal clear to Li Yao.

“So, the key to the Heart-Piercing Hammer is that the leg muscles must also move with the body’s rotation. This Giant Spirit God doesn’t explain it clearly, clearly keeping it secret!”

Li Yao whistled, and what thrilled him even more was that he discovered he could freely control the time and speed of the memory fragment.

Li Yao watched the slow-motion replay seven or eight times, then merged with Ouye Zi’s body and experienced it from Ouye Zi’s perspective three or four more times, finally mastering the Heart-Piercing Hammer and integrating it into his very bones!

“This memory fragment has been fully digested and absorbed by me, and I won’t forget it again. But how do I get out?”

As soon as this thought arose, the surrounding scene collapsed, and Li Yao’s consciousness reappeared in front of the massive Tree of Memories.

“Could it be that all these memory fragments can be freely observed, learned, and absorbed by me?”

Li Yao’s soul trembled violently, and he let out a long cry, ecstatically rushing towards a middle-period memory of Ouye Zi—his memory of refining the divine sword Jinghong!

“Once I learn how to refine supreme divine weapons, I can walk with my head held high, not just in the Federation, but in the entire Tianyuan World!”

Li Yao shouted and charged forward, but heard a “clang,” and a black ripple appeared on the memory fragment, nearly shattering his soul, and he tumbled backward.

“What’s going on?”

Li Yao was dazed and in excruciating pain, rubbing his head and shouting, “Why can’t I enter this memory?”

He didn’t give up and circled around a few more memory fragments, cautiously trying several times, but he couldn’t find a way in.

After trying over a hundred memory fragments, he discovered the pattern.

All of Ouye Zi’s middle and late-period memories, which made up nine-tenths of the Tree of Memories, were in black and white, shrouded in black mist.

These memories contained the remnants of Ouye Zi’s powerful soul, which he couldn’t easily explore at his current strength.

Only the shimmering and colorful memory fragments could be freely traversed by him.

However, there were differences between the two types of memory fragments—shimmering memory fragments were completely under his control. He could choose to be a “participant” or an “observer,” speed up or slow down the flow of time, and even replay the memory repeatedly.

In the ordinary colorful memory fragments, he could only observe as a bystander, watching Ouye Zi’s memories flow by, unable to control them.

Li Yao thought for a long time and seemed to understand the principle.

“In the early stages of his cultivation, Ouye Zi was just an ordinary person with a weak soul, so I can freely explore his memories. But as he grew stronger, his soul became more powerful, and by the time he became a master, his memories contained boundless power, which I can’t easily probe at my current strength!”

“However, as my strength gradually increases, my soul will also grow stronger. One day, I will absorb all of Ouye Zi’s memories, making them completely my own!”