Facing Zhou Yan's inquiry, Lee Ran fell silent.

He raised his head, gazing at the vast night sky, his expression on the face even turning somewhat blurry.

Zhou Yan looked at Lee Ran, only to find that this familiar person seemed to become very unfamiliar, like something very familiar suddenly becoming very strange, giving rise to a feeling of not recognizing him.

Zhou Yan was slightly dazed, because this familiarity and strangeness seemed to impact his heart, making him feel as though he grasped onto a crucial point, yet this crucial matter seemed beyond his reach.

It was like clearly knowing a direction existed, but unable to find this direction.

At this moment, Lee Ran sighed and said, "It's not just you; even I am suddenly a bit lost, not knowing why I exist here. Wasn't I supposed to come here to pass down an inheritance to you, to guide you onto the path of the Heartless Sword Dao?"

Lee Ran murmured to himself, seemingly also filled with the uncertain and bewildering factors of the future.

It was as if Zhou Yan's inquiry suddenly made him lose his direction.

"So for your question, I cannot give you an answer. Perhaps, as long as you step onto the path of the Heartless Sword Dao, some matters will eventually surface."

"As for this current version of me, I am merely a fragmented Void Soul. The memories I carry and the abilities I possess are all defined by my True Self and cannot contain much information. And the various results encountered during the process of nurturing you will only feedback information back. Now that you have completed the ultimate purpose and meaning of my existence as this fragmented Void Soul, I indeed have no reason to exist."

Lee Ran directly confessed this matter to Zhou Yan, telling him everything.

That is to say, he fundamentally could not provide the answers Zhou Yan sought.

Moreover, not only that, Lee Ran's words even caused some impact on Zhou Yan's perception, causing a certain extent of deviation in the direction he was about to find.

Then, Lee Ran turned into strands of unique energy, like the peerless Inner Strength gathered by a Martial Artist, merging into Zhou Yan's body.

In that moment, Zhou Yan felt his realm directly transform, advancing from the Sword Realm all the way up, reaching Sword Beginning, Sword Qi, Sword Origin, and even the Sword Intent Realm.

Zhou Yan directly possessed the will of the Sword Dao, the majesty of the Sword Dao.

Each realm had the barrier of the Three Realms, yet to ascend twelve major realms in such a fleeting instant was an indescribably mighty enhancement, but Zhou Yan felt not the slightest excitement.

He had a thought in his heart that it all felt too insignificant.

At least compared to the realm of the Lei Yan King, it was truly too weak.

However, even though Lee Ran's Void Soul was only infinitesimal, only a billionth of its original size, it should not have simply elevated the realm this much, without reaching Sword Soul, and even Sword Spirit or the Void Realm, it was insufficient.

But why does the realm stop advancing at the Sword Intent Realm?

Lee Ran's Void Soul shattered and disappeared before Zhou Yan's eyes, truly vanished, never again to interfere with Zhou Yan's future path.

Yet Zhou Yan felt that the burden he bore had invisibly increased.

But what this was, he did not know.

"To me, it feels like I've lost something important, yet I'm unable to grasp anything, but I know, if I never find this thing, I will only fall into unimaginable disaster."

"What is this disaster? What consequences might it trigger?"

"Did I awaken the memories of the past life within the Cold Pond and fall into passivity, or did the inheritance of Xingyi Fist taught by my brother fall into passivity?"

Zhou Yan sat down here, unaffected by Lee Ran's departure, yet deeply troubled by his inability to know the piece he lost.

Under these circumstances, Zhou Yan pondered for a long time, even causing the blood in his veins to boil and surge, his black hair broke free from its tied band due to the immense aura, flying wildly.

But ultimately, Zhou Yan couldn't figure out what he had lost.

Yet he had the invisible feeling that this world was more like a prison.

It's like he was originally supposed to leave the prison, yet appeared back within it again.

"Like Zhou Lingyi can't find the meaning of life, how am I any different in not finding the value of existence? Am I Lee Sha? Am I Zhou Yan? Is my father Jiang Shang of the Jiang family? Or the dejected Zhou Wangchen? Is my mother Li Suniu? Or the 'courtesan' from the rumors?"

"All of this feels familiar, but is this familiarity from the deductions of a past life or the blood ties of this life?"

Zhou Yan had too many questions in his heart, but ultimately thought of nothing, for these questions were terrifying, leading to complete loss, memory disruption, not knowing of this life and the past one.

"Thinking too much is useless, perhaps all of these are just emotions. Heartless Sword Dao is not only heartless but also devoid of thoughts. In this way, as long as one is strong enough, finding the result is enough, why scrutinize the process?"

Eventually, Zhou Yan settled into the endless chaotic thoughts, then quietly gathered his mind, his emotions gradually calmed, as Lee Ran's fragmented memories and Lee Sha's past life's memories slowly merged.

Afterward, Zhou Yan picked up his own Evil Slayer Sword, carefully sensing it before slinging it diagonally across his waist.

He was still young, still immature, but his heart gradually matured because of this, filled with a unique temperament and strength.

...

"Xingyi, Canglong Sword."

"Xingyi, White Tiger Sword."

"...Xingyi, Thunder, Law, Supreme Dao, my Heartless Sword Dao from the past life reached an extreme but became emotional and couldn't transcend."

"Brother Lee Ran cultivated Xingyi to the supreme level, and even that was not enough, being schemed against by the Void Thunder Tribulation, leaving his soul body severely injured. Then there must be flaws in this Dao."

"In those years, I realized the Divine Punishment Power of Ancestor Thunder and died in a great battle with Jiang He, later being schemed against and suppressed by an unknown strong figure, erasing subsequent memories. Even the Divine Punishment of Thunder was ultimately futile."

"Within my bloodline lies the Heavenly Vault of the Jiang family."

"I have my own Condensation of the Devouring Technique, Demon Heart Body."

"So... I will fuse everything, refine twelve Battle Bodies, and directly open the Thirteen Souls mode. From the beginning, I will cultivate like this, opening the overlay of Battle Bodies, as if thirteen people were cultivating simultaneously."

"The Thirteen Souls, after mastering one Dao each, will start exchanging, forming a unique Fusion Dao."

"In the past life, I failed. Battles dominated by combat power but lacked real capabilities."

"Now, the most important thing for me is instead to create a Dao."

Zhou Yan muttered to himself and then closed his eyes deep in thought. The lifelong memories of Lee Sha's former life, the various technique memories taught by Lee Ran, his judgment on the unknown, and his insights into Xingyi, along with the Heavenly Vault of the Jiang family, Zhou Yan began deriving and calculating a brand-new Cultivation Technique.

"Ancestor Dragon Emperor Venerate Sword Dao."

Zhou Yan created a direct name for this cultivation method, and then began combining Xingyi Dragon Form, Lee Sha's signature ability Thunder Flame Sword Dao, Purple Flame Technique, and Xingyi Dragon Soul, Sky Vaulting Sword Dao, etc. In Zhou Yan's derivation, it surprisingly became not so difficult and fused quite effortlessly.

Of course, this is just the First Layer of the Cultivation Technique.

This technique consists of Thirteen Layers, with each Battle Body capable of opening the subsequent layer, and the Thirteenth Layer is the overlay of all previous twelve Battle Bodies.

This Dao, which Zhou Yan realized here, took merely one night to outline the rudimentary Cultivation Method of the First Layer.

Zhou Yan was somewhat shocked by his immense intelligence, feeling that this deduction seemed too easy. Yet recalling Lee Sha's existence as the invincible Lei Yan King, Zhou Yan became relieved, considering that with the awakening of Lee Sha's memories from that life, a certain degree of variation occurred in his soul.

"Nowadays the Thunderflame Sword Body and the Emperor Qi Sword Body coexist, which is a problem. The Emperor Qi Sword Body, with a unique Qi Column, has the Tai Chu Seal's shackles of Heavenly Dao Rune, unable to condense the Sword Soul, but can be resolved with the Soul Slash Supreme Dao. However, the current state is too weak for such an approach."

"Yet, the Soul Slash Supreme Dao can forcefully break the Sword Soul's condensation, thereby forming a unique shackle. The Emperor Qi Sword Body will become the sovereign. If the Constitution governs the progression of the soul body, in the future achieving the Ninety-nine Supreme might just be unattainable."

"Huh, why do I think of the Ninety-nine Supreme Realm?"

"Could this be the part of Lei Yan King's experience that I can't recall?"

Thinking this, Zhou Yan naturally resolved some inexplicable problems. Understanding these issues, he felt much lighter.

But he didn't know the source of this lightness and these unknown thoughts.

Thinking further would lead him back to the unknown lost things, hence agitating and suppressing his mood.

Therefore, at this point, he decisively chose to cease further contemplation.

Zhou Yan once again gathered all thoughts, practiced Ancestor Dragon Emperor Venerate Sword Dao for a while, and by then the sky revealed a pale white. Remembering his father, he sheathed his sword and headed towards his family's location.

Along the way, Zhou Yan's emotions were serene, neither thoughts nor concerns weighing on him, with his heart remaining void and tranquil.

Yet, as he approached near his family, an unexpectedly youthful boy appeared, haughtily glaring at Zhou Yan, breaking his inner silence with a cold rebuke.

"Zhou Yan, do you know that you're already late? Your matter of forcefully cultivating by squeezing potential—"

"Get lost!"

Zhou Yan's cold gaze swept over the young boy. The boy was his cousin Zhou Xian, with whom he had a rather close relationship but was rather naive and frivolous in his actions.

With Lee Sha's memories awakened in Zhou Yan, he had again chosen the Heartless Sword Dao, so he no longer held any brotherly affection.

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