Chapter 455: Erased Memories

The life of the Heartless Sage was bitterly harsh.

One could say that the Heartless Sage's experiences were not far from Lu Ye's.

He spent his entire life pursuing love.

Yet, the more he pursued it, the further it slipped away.

He didn't even grasp what love truly was, for he had never experienced it.

In contrast, Lu Ye in his previous life had indeed known love—eight women, some awed by his power, some who shared every moment with him, some whose lives he had saved. In a thousand ways, those women had once loved him.

For instance, when Shangguan Huanling first met him, her heart skipped a beat, and her cheeks had flushed with shyness.

Yin Qingcheng, too, had gazed at him with unwavering devotion, hopelessly smitten with him.

Lu Ye's tragedy lay in betrayal, in his inability to love properly, or perhaps in falling for those who didn’t deserve it—ultimately leading to a life of sorrow.

The Heartless Sage was different.

Love had always eluded him!

As a child, he was snatched away by foes. By the time he grew into a youth, he had cut them down and returned home.

The suffering he endured during that time made him believe that love awaited him upon his return—only to find his family had already moved on, raising another in his place.

He believed he was a genius in cultivation, but the wounds from his vengeance left him broken, unable to progress further.

At that point, everyone saw him as worthless.

Even his childhood betrothed, who had once adored him, had moved on to love another.

He spent his life seeking love, yet it was as if fate had scripted it—no one loved him, no matter how low he bowed. Love just wasn’t in the cards for him.

He could have left, turned over a new leaf, but he had unwittingly adopted the same bullheadedness as his hated foes.

His heart overflowed with love, yet there was no one to give it to, no one who needed it.

The Heartless Sage’s life was a joyless grind, weighed down by fixation. Yet perhaps it was precisely this that made his eventual letting go so absolute.

Now, the Heartless Sage’s Dao of Heartlessness was eating away at Lu Ye like a wildfire.

It devoured everything—his Dao, his body, his soul, his will, his consciousness… all of it was under assault.

Countless memories surged through his mind.

Scenes flashed by in a blur.

Yue Hongling, Bai Qiulan, Chu Ling, Shangguan Huanling, Vermilion Bird, Jiang Die, Yin Qingcheng, An Li.

These eight women had woven into the fabric of Lu Ye’s past.

"Husband, this is all for you. Do you like it?"

Suddenly, Yin Qingcheng’s voice echoed in Lu Ye’s mind.

She was thrilled—her plan had finally succeeded. With the Heartless Sage’s Dao now within Lu Ye, she could pull the strings. Under her control, she could make him forget Shen Xitong, forget his child, forget those seven women.

When the dust settled, she’d be the only one left.

She would become Lu Ye’s sole companion.

And based on her understanding of Lu Ye, he would never surrender so quickly, especially to protect the memories belonging to Shen Xitong.

He’d clench his teeth and hold firm.

By then, the power of the Heartless Sage would crush his soul, snuffing out his lives one by one.

Everything was going according to her plan!

Victory was practically in her grasp!

Lu Ye was chillingly calm now, yet the power of this single tear was stirring overwhelming turbulence in every aspect of his being.

The Heartless Sage’s final tear before achieving enlightenment—one could only imagine the depth of emotion it contained.

He resisted stubbornly, his Dao heart creaking under the pressure. Every Dao he wielded crumbled before the Heartless Sage.

The Dao Enlightenment Tree appeared above Lu Ye’s head, releasing the power of the Guardian Dao to protect him. But in an instant, the tree’s leaves rained down in droves.

The Guardian Dao itself cracked under the assault.

By now, the Dao Enlightenment Tree had fully merged with the Guardian Dao. The collapse of the Guardian Dao meant the tree itself was suffering severe damage, yet it had no intention of retreating.

The tree would sacrifice everything for its master—even its own life.

But then, the Soul Banner and the stone sword suddenly flew out.

The banner and sword forced the Dao Enlightenment Tree back.

Within seconds, the tree had withered to a sickly yellow.

"Let me go! I have to save my master!"

The Dao Enlightenment Tree struggled desperately, but the stone sword and the Human Emperor Banner refused to let it pass.

"The master... forbids it..."

The Human Emperor Banner spoke to the Dao Enlightenment Tree.

"No! He’s in danger! I’d rather die protecting him!"

"Don’t make things harder for him..."

The tree shuddered violently.

Yes, it couldn’t act recklessly.

Without orders, it couldn’t charge in recklessly, or it might become a burden. It had to keep its cool!

The tree kept a desperate watch over Lu Ye, poised to dissolve into Dao energy and return to him.

Lu Ye was on the brink.

A Sage’s power was unreal!

Even in his past life, he’d never seen the peak of the Sage realm.

The system’s calculations still hadn’t found a way out. That tear’s power was overwhelming—but he could still sacrifice a piece to save the game.

It was time to sort through his memories.

Let this emotion-severing power first purge unwanted feelings.

"My love, don't struggle. You're no match for the Heartless Sage's power right now. I neglected to mention, the deeper the memory, the more painful it will be to resist."

At this moment, the Heartless Dao launched its full assault on Lu Ye's mind.

And Lu Ye was already prepared for this.

Large fragments of memories merely began to blur upon being affected, like candles guttering in the wind.

"Husband, let me see which memories hold the foremost place in your heart."

At this time, Yin Qingcheng saw the first image.

It was a celestial palace!

The palace was magnificent yet cold, perched high in the sky, dazzlingly radiant, breathtaking in its beauty.

Within this immortal palace, beneath a giant peach tree, a maiden danced with sword in hand, her movements graceful, the falling petals swirling with her movements, a vision of matchless beauty.

The moment she saw this memory,

Yin Qingcheng froze.

This scene, this girl—she recognized them instantly, for this was the Forgetful Immortal Palace, the first time she and Lu Ye had met.

That girl, who else would it be, if not herself?

Lu Ye stood on the steps, watching the dancing figure without a word, quietly drinking in the sight.

But when Yin Qingcheng saw Lu Ye, she instantly frowned, her eyes flashing with cold light as a Sword Light shot toward him, charged with lethal intent.

However, this strike was casually batted away by Lu Ye.

As the memory unfolded, Yin Qingcheng saw the power of the Heartless Sage begin to surge toward this segment.

Because this was clearly an emotional memory!

That time, Lu Ye had been invited to the Forgetful Immortal Palace to refine pills and save lives. For Origin Stones, he'd take any job going.

But a portion of the medicinal ingredients was missing. After some thought, Lu Ye thought the Fate Peach Tree in the Forgetful Immortal Palace could serve as one of the ingredients, so he set out to claim it.

There, for the first time, he encountered Yin Qingcheng.