Memory Stone

Shi Yan's body uncontrollably transformed into the Beast God's true form, bathed in endless radiance.

"Ugh... aaaah..."

A torrent of information flooded into Shi Yan's mind in an instant. The sheer volume was so immense that even his soul felt saturated, and deep within his consciousness, a bronze rhombus mark slowly began to coalesce.

As the mark formed, countless streams of information surged into it, and Shi Yan gradually felt much lighter.

"The Inheritance Mark is forming..."

As the rhombus mark took shape in Shi Yan's mind, the Old Sage sensed that after so many years, a new existence had finally resonated with this two-story pavilion.

Shi Yan, meanwhile, was still struggling to adapt to the newly formed Inheritance Mark, curiously sensing the two-story pavilion that resonated with his mark in turn.

With the mark, he had become the second-level authority holder of this pavilion. The first-level authority holder was the Old Sage.

"You can feel it, can't you? This Guardian Tower was originally forged by the three First Ancestors and later refined and strengthened by successive generations of ancestors. It has long become an extremely precious treasure. Only those who gain the recognition of other Inheritance Mark holders and condense their own mark can inherit the Guardian Tower," the Old Sage explained to Shi Yan.

Shi Yan had already reverted to human form and nodded slightly.

The more precious a treasure, the harsher and more difficult its recognition process. As the inheritance treasure of the Three Saints Palace, the Guardian Tower's recognition wasn't difficult, but the conditions were stringent—it clearly required the approval of one's own people.

"Now that you have the Inheritance Mark, as long as I release my authority, you will fully inherit the Guardian Tower. However... before you fully inherit it, I need you to swear an oath," the Old Sage said, his two heads and four eyes all fixed on Shi Yan.

"Speak, Senior."

Shi Yan met his gaze.

"I want you to swear by your soul that you will never pass on the Three Saints Palace's inheritance to anyone outside of future Three Saints Palace disciples," the Old Sage said slowly. "If you refuse, I will have no choice but to kill you here. Rest assured, though I am but a phantom consciousness now, as the first-level authority holder of the Guardian Tower, killing a True God doesn't require much effort."

Shi Yan's heart tightened at this. He raised his hand to the heavens without hesitation. "I, Shi Yan, the 345th Wise One of the Three Saints Palace lineage, swear by my soul that I will never impart any inheritance of the Three Saints Palace to anyone outside it. If I break this oath, may my soul be shattered!"

"Soul shattered..."

"Soul shattered..."

"... "

Shi Yan's voice echoed through the River of Time and Space left by the First Ancestor. The Inheritance Mark in his mind seemed stirred as well—black threads slithered across its surface for a moment before vanishing from sight.

The faint, ominous power of those threads made Shi Yan shudder involuntarily. If he ever violated the oath, he would truly fall on the spot.

"You can feel it, can't you? If you break your oath, the power within the Inheritance Mark will directly shred your soul... This oath's killing ability may be useless against the ultimate beings, but even I would be easily slain by it," the Old Sage said calmly.

Shi Yan, however, was utterly unconcerned.

He was a lone wanderer. Whether the inheritance could be passed on meant nothing to him.

He chuckled lightly. "I'm sure Senior knows my background well. Passing it on is completely unnecessary for me."

The Old Sage smiled too, clearly aware of this, but still said, "This is just a safety measure for our Three Saints Palace lineage. It cannot be taken lightly. Moreover, this only applies to the core inheritance on the first floor of the Guardian Tower. As you can now sense, the second floor holds a vast collection of peripheral inheritances from other forces gathered by our ancestors over the generations. Those can be passed on as long as some not-too-harsh conditions are met."

"Mm, I understand." Shi Yan nodded slightly.

"Good. The matter of the Guardian Tower is settled. Let's go to the inheritance site within this River of Time and Space." With that, the Old Sage vanished.

Shi Yan's form shifted as well, arriving at the source of the River of Time and Space. As the current second-level authority holder of the Guardian Tower, he no longer needed the Old Sage to guide him.

"The source of this River of Time and Space is extremely hidden. Without the Inheritance Mark, one could spend endless ages searching and never find it," the Old Sage said as Shi Yan arrived.

Shi Yan nodded while observing the river's source.

It was a pitch-black, barren void, with only sixty-four points of starlight floating in midair. Upon closer inspection, Shi Yan saw that each point of light was a stone—sixty black stones and four silver ones.

"These stones are called Memory Stones, the best medium for storing inheritances from the Ancient Civilization. They can easily hold the complete memories of a super-strong expert," the Old Sage introduced. "The First Ancestor is the origin of our Three Saints Palace's Space-Time Lineage, so he left behind many inheritances. No other ancestor or outstanding disciple could match him—not even the 21st Ancestor, who was stronger in power."

"The First Ancestor's inheritance?" Shi Yan's eyes burned with fervor. Sixty-four complete inheritances—how priceless was that? Just one of them, if taken out, would drive the entire Universe Ocean into a dogfight, let alone the countless other inheritances.

The entire first floor of the Guardian Tower must hold tens of thousands of Memory Stones, right?

Seeing Shi Yan's fervent gaze, the Old Sage smiled, proud of the Three Saints Palace's greatness and might.

After a moment, the Old Sage waved his hand. Among the sixty-four Memory Stones, the four silver ones flew before Shi Yan. "Among these Memory Stones, the silver ones hold the most fundamental inheritances of our Three Saints Palace, while the black ones are secondary. You are new to the Three Saints Palace; too many inheritances at once would be like biting off more than you can chew. These four inheritances are the most basic and core of our Space-Time Lineage. Focus on these for now."

"Alright."

Shi Yan nodded in agreement. The Old Sage surely knew the Three Saints Palace better than he did, and his recommendation should be the most suitable.

"Senior, what should I do?" Shi Yan asked, looking at the four silver stones before him.

"Wrap them in divine power."

Shi Yan controlled his divine power to envelop the four Memory Stones. The moment his power touched them, ancient, complex patterns emerged on the silver stones.

Immediately, a vast amount of information began to flood his mind. Unlike the overwhelming surge of the Inheritance Mark, this time it seemed consciously controlled, staying within Shi Yan's absorption limit.

This allowed him to absorb the First Ancestor's inheritance with relative ease.

Even with Shi Yan's current will and cultivation level, it took a full half-day to absorb the colossal amount of information.

The Old Sage watched silently the entire time, observing Shi Yan as he received the inheritance.

He had waited far too long for this moment. Before Shi Yan appeared, he had even doubted whether he would see the next master of the Three Saints Palace before the world itself perished.

This moment was the ultimate purpose of his phantom consciousness's existence.

After a long while, Shi Yan slowly opened his eyes, his gaze filled with shock.

"This... this... Was the First Ancestor really not the ultimate powerhouse of the Ancient Civilization?"

From the Old Sage's words, Shi Yan learned that the First Ancestor of the Three Saints Palace's Space-Time Lineage was merely a Saint-level Existence (Chaos Realm), not a God King (Universe God). Yet how could a being only at the Chaos Realm create such a cultivation method?

The four inheritances Shi Yan had received were divided into two Secret Techniques and two guidance paths.

The two Secret Techniques were, first, a life-saving escape technique called "World-Crossing Shuttle." Once activated, seventeen phantom images of the caster from different time nodes would shuttle through time and space alongside the true body, with speed skyrocketing.

The more divine power consumed, the faster the shuttle. With Shi Yan's current divine power reserves, expending seventy percent of his divine power could increase his speed a hundredfold—this was also the minimum divine power consumption threshold for this technique.

However, according to the First Ancestor, this Secret Technique was only useful up to the Eternal Grade. Once the Inheritor stepped into the Eternal True God level, they would naturally have better life-saving methods.

But what those methods were, Shi Yan couldn't see. There was no way around it—in the Universe Ocean, content above the Void True God level was invisible, and hoping to see Eternal Grade content was nothing but a dream.

As for the other Secret Technique, it was a divine power combustion art called "Countercurrent." It was somewhat similar to the little fellows at the Undying level burning their Undying bodies, but it was clearly countless times stronger.

"I'm afraid it's at least comparable to the Duan Donghe lineage's divine power combustion Secret Technique 'Severing Extinction,' or even stronger?" Shi Yan speculated inwardly.

Still, this move wasn't all that useful for him. After all, his divine body wasn't much larger than an ordinary True God's, and he didn't have that much divine power to burn. It could serve as a trump card for critical moments.

"This divine power combustion Secret Technique is considered a necessary method for any decent force in the Ancient Civilization."

Seeing Shi Yan's stunned expression, the Old Sage said with a chuckle, "Of course, the divine power combustion Secret Technique passed down by our Three Saints Palace lineage is among the very top tier. But you are a Law True God with limited divine power reserves, so this technique isn't too crucial for you. Still, you must master it diligently."

"I understand." Shi Yan nodded in acknowledgment.

The Old Sage then continued, "As for life-preserving Secret Techniques, our Three Saints Palace inheritance only has this escape method, 'World-Crossing Shuttle.' But you should understand that whether it's the Time Dao or the Space Dao, both are top-tier at preserving life.

For instance, cultivating the Space Dao to a later stage allows one to refine true avatars, each avatar counting as a life. This Secret Technique is already cultivable at the Saint-level realm. Additionally, the Space-Time Dao has many other life-preserving means, which you've likely experienced yourself."

"Indeed."

Shi Yan felt a deep resonance. When it came to preserving life, the Space-Time Dao indeed dominated most paths. That was precisely why the Three Saints Palace's Secret Technique inheritance contained few life-preserving methods.

Techniques like the Duan Donghe lineage's "Undying River" were absent entirely. The reasoning was simple: an enemy capable of making even a Space-Time Dao cultivator unable to escape could also follow causal links, soul connections, and the like to annihilate the Life Imprint residing in the Undying River.

After all, a mere trace of a Life Imprint had far weaker resistance compared to a complete soul.

"In short, put some effort into these inherited Secret Techniques, but focus your attention on those two guidance paths." The Old Sage instructed Shi Yan, "Those two guidance paths are the true essence of our Space-Time Lineage."