344: Chapter 344 The Choice of Inheritance

"Congratulations on becoming the true successor of the Master."

As the voice faded, the galaxy filling the sky dissipated, and the space beneath his feet shifted.

A majestic presence slowly emerged.

His face was similar to the projection he had played against, but appeared more composed and restrained, his eyes seemingly harboring infinite mysteries.

"The Master's name is Velandir."

"He is revered by many realms as the Lord of Truth."

Data swirled, manifesting as a hunched old man appearing to the side, his words filled with pride and reverence.

"Velandir? I seem to have heard that name... That's right, when I first joined the Association, he was number one on the all-time historical points ranking!"

Zhang Huaiyuan pondered for a moment, recalling the memory.

He had seen that name on the points stele back when he took the assessment to join the Association.

"That was merely a projection of the Master playing among the mortals."

The ruins intelligence smiled faintly, looking at Zhang Huaiyuan:

"You have passed the assessment set by the Master and are qualified to become the Master's student. I ask you now, are you willing to enter my Realm of Truth?"

"What responsibilities must I bear?"

Zhang Huaiyuan suppressed the agitation in his heart and asked.

"None."

The ruins intelligence shook its head:

"If you must say, the Master spent his life pursuing the end of knowledge. He hoped that his students would always harbor enthusiasm and awe for the unknown, and remain steadfast in their desire to seek and explore the truth."

"This is exactly what I have always been practicing."

A look of longing appeared on Zhang Huaiyuan's face.

He also hoped that one day, he would be able to reach the other shore of truth.

Like those sages of old, to be able to explain the unknown with science and shape it into a systematic inheritance of knowledge.

"Very well. Now, perform the apprenticeship ritual to the Master's projection."

Zhang Huaiyuan nodded, faced the projection, and bowed three times with a solemn expression.

The moment he bowed for the third time.

Throughout the All Heavens and Myriad Realms, in endless space and time, one similar ruin after another suddenly began to tremble violently.

Many geniuses who were also undergoing assessments couldn't even react before they were thrown out by an irresistible force.

"What is going on!"

"Damn it, I was just about to break through to the fifth piece..."

They cursed in astonishment, only to find the entire ruin completely sealed off.

The tokens that could previously communicate with the ruins at any time also lost their beacon and became useless.

Zhang Huaiyuan, of course, was unaware of all this.

At this moment, his attention was completely captured by the three inheritances before him, which radiated a mysterious and vast aura.

"According to the rules, having captured 17 pieces from the Master, you are qualified to choose one from these three supreme inheritances."

The ruins intelligence looked at Zhang Huaiyuan's expression and smiled:

"Do not be too conflicted; there will be countless opportunities in the future to keep trying."

"Understood."

Zhang Huaiyuan's eyes shimmered with brilliance as he looked at the three inheritances before him.

An ancient stone stele.

A thin sheet of gilded paper.

A chip composed of countless illusory symbols.

He subconsciously activated his newly advanced special ability.

Lines of data fed back into his mind.

Supreme Divine Art: Three Lives.

Allows one to travel through the past and present, across parallel worlds, and communicate with all counterparts.

Share their wisdom, research, experience, and so on.

"Share wisdom, research, experience!"

Zhang Huaiyuan's pupils constricted sharply.

What did this mean!

If there were thousands of people with the same talent as him researching a difficult problem simultaneously, it would mean increasing efficiency by a thousand or ten thousand times!

"Fortunately... fortunately, I didn't delay too long. If the Lord of Truth I played against had already created Three Lives, facing the combined efforts of countless geniuses of that level, I would likely have had zero chance."

Zhang Huaiyuan thought to himself.

No wonder the ruins intelligence said the chances of passing would get lower and lower the further one went.

It seemed there was no need to look at the others; there was no secret art more suitable for a Scholar.

He thought for a moment and made his decision.

He didn't even want to look at the remaining two.

After all, only by practicing this divine art would it be possible to catch up to the projection of the Lord of Truth in subsequent challenges.

"I choose Three..."

"Successor, this divine art is not suitable for you."

Before Zhang Huaiyuan could finish, the ruins intelligence looked at him carefully and suddenly shook its head:

"All your counterparts in parallel worlds and different space-times have been wiped out. The difficulty of practicing this divine art is unimaginable."

"What do you mean?!"

Hearing this, Zhang Huaiyuan was suddenly shocked.

All his counterparts had been wiped out!

"Tsk tsk, little one, who did you offend? The price for such a method to wipe out all space-times is not small."

The ruins intelligence sighed, plucked from the void with its withered hand, condensed a copper piece the size of a fingernail, and handed it over.

"Take it. It can save your life. It's hard enough to find a qualified successor; you mustn't perish prematurely."

"What is this?"

"You can simply understand it as a captured silhouette of a period of your life. If you die, you can use this to forcibly pull yourself back to the moment before death."

The ruins intelligence said indifferently:

"I know the Virtual Tower has also given you protection, but although the Tower of Knowledge was also personally crafted by the Master, its digital immortality methods have too many loopholes. The most fatal one is that once a more powerful intelligence invades, it can erase the uploaded data."

"Many thanks, Senior."

Zhang Huaiyuan thanked it gratefully.

He remembered that he hadn't offended many people. The only ones capable of doing this were the forces on the Ascension Battlefield that, for some unknown reason, were bent on eliminating him.

Having double insurance was indeed much more reassuring.

"No need to thank me. Since you have become an official successor, according to the rules, I naturally need to maintain your safety within a certain scope."

The ruins intelligence waved its hand, looked at the three inheritances, and signaled:

"Alright, choose from the remaining two inheritances."

"Understood."

Zhang Huaiyuan nodded, putting away his chaotic thoughts. The most important thing right now was to choose an inheritance.

He activated his extraordinary ability and looked at the second inheritance.

Eternal Path of Enlightenment: Myth.

One of the very few supreme techniques that can lead directly to the Eternal Realm. It is applicable to all paths and is unique across all space-times.

The data he could see consisted of only two simple lines, but its value was self-evident.

Eternal Realm.

As far as he knew, whether it was the Tower Master of the Association, the Elf Race Empress of the Origin Star Sea, or even the High Priest of Holy Spirit City, they were all only at the Eighth Realm of cultivation.

Furthermore, according to records, in endless years, no one had ever broken through to the Ninth Realm; there wasn't even a clue about it.

"No wonder the ruins intelligence told me earlier that I must absolutely not reveal any information about these three inheritances... To say nothing else, the technique leading to the Eternal Realm alone is something I would not be able to protect."

Zhang Huaiyuan shook his head and looked at the third inheritance.

Realm of Truth Zero Core.

The chip core once used by "Zero," the final intelligent lifeform of the Realm of Truth, containing the secrets to the end of the path for intelligent lifeforms, unique across all space-times.

The data obtained was also very simple, but it was equally unique.

"This really is a difficult choice..."

Zhang Huaiyuan raised his head, glanced at the ruins intelligence to the side, and said:

"Senior, may I go out first before making my choice?"

...