"Oh, right, Oden," Lu Yuan said, suddenly remembering something. "Could you tell me more about the Sea of Knowledge? I'd like a quick explanation."
"No problem." Oden gathered his thoughts, but instead of explaining, he asked, "What do you understand about the Sea of Knowledge?"
Lu Yuan thought for a moment. "An ocean containing more knowledge than anywhere else in the world. It doesn't exist in this world, and it's both dangerous and full of opportunity."
"And?" Oden asked.
"There might be Immortality hidden inside it. That's about it, I think. And some creatures native to it."
"You've got a small part of it right," Oden said slowly. "The Sea of Knowledge is, at its core, a prison."
Lu Yuan froze. "A prison? Why? Shouldn't it be a repository of knowledge, something like a library?"
Oden smiled. "You didn't think the knowledge in the Sea of Knowledge went there on its own, did you? That its purpose is to collect knowledge whenever someone dies or someone discovers something new?"
"Isn't it?" Lu Yuan asked, puzzled.
"Of course not. The knowledge didn't enter on its own. A particular being gathered it there. The sea imprisons many, many things, not just knowledge. Knowledge related to Taboos, everything concerning Transcendence, perhaps even beings that have attained Immortality—they're all submerged in it."
"What it imprisons is the very foundation of a being. Can you imagine that?" Oden continued. "Every piece of knowledge and every trace connected to a Taboo Entity is gathered up and locked away in the Sea of Knowledge. All information about him is erased from the real world. He sinks into that boundless sea forever, with no chance of ever awakening."
"They never die, either. This method greatly suppresses the ability of Taboos to regenerate. That's why, when it was first