Chapter 3956: Half A Master Of The Virtuous Calamity Daoist?

The recording remained still for several breaths after Zhenyu’s revelation about the Scion of the Expanding Void.

Lin Mu could see that the elder had much more to say, and judging from the way his expression had changed, the information he had uncovered over those thousands of years had gradually changed his understanding of the entire Mad Demon Depths.

"The experiment concerning longevity was merely one of the many things that person researched," Zhenyu finally said. "I initially believed it was the most important thing he had done. After all, I had come here because of it, and I had spent thousands of years trying to understand it. Eventually, I realized that I had been looking at a single branch of an enormous tree."

The illusion beside him changed again, displaying fragments of different formations. Some were incomplete and some appeared damaged. Others were so strange that Lin Mu could barely understand what they were supposed to accomplish.

"There were many experiments here," Zhenyu continued. "Some were successful. Some were failures. Some were abandoned before they could be completed. I have no idea how many there were originally, because the Mad Demon himself seems to have cared very little about preserving everything he created."

Lin Mu’s eyes narrowed as that statement made the Mad Demon seem even more frightening. Someone who could casually leave behind experiments that were profound enough to become major inheritances had clearly reached an astonishing level of understanding.

"The longevity experiment itself has enough profundities to be considered a true legacy," Zhenyu said. "Yet I eventually came to suspect that the creator didn’t think of it that way. It may have been an experiment that failed to meet his expectations. Perhaps he discovered some flaw and simply moved on to another project."

He gave a bitter smile. "Imagine that. Something that trapped me for thousands of years might have been something he considered a failed experiment."

Lin Mu couldn’t help feeling a little speechless. If the Mad Demon truly regarded something like the longevity formation as a failure, then the things he considered successful could be even more extraordinary.

Zhenyu continued, "I don’t know what happened to him after that. I don’t know whether he abandoned the Mad Demon Depths intentionally, whether he died somewhere else, or whether this place was simply one of countless locations where he conducted his experiments. I spent too much time trying to understand what remained here."

His eyes lowered. "And I was trapped here while doing so."

Lin Mu listened carefully as the elder had already explained how he had become connected to the formation, yet there was something else that interested Lin Mu more.

Zhenyu had spent thousands of years using that connection to obtain fragments of information from the formation itself. If the Mad Demon had left behind information intended only for himself, then Zhenyu had essentially stumbled upon a hidden archive.

"Every time my connection deepened, I discovered another fragment," Zhenyu said. "Some were meaningless without context. Some were damaged. Others were things I could barely understand. I spent centuries piecing them together." The elder’s expression suddenly became more complicated. "And eventually, I learned something that I never expected."

Lin Mu immediately focused.

"It concerned someone from the Righteous Path." The illusion behind Zhenyu changed and a familiar crest appeared.

Lin Mu’s eyes widened. "The Virtuous Calamity Daoist."

Zhenyu nodded as he had expected such a reaction from the viewer. "The man who became one of the great legends of the Righteous Path was, in a manner of speaking, half a disciple of the Mad Demon."

Lin Mu’s expression froze and for several seconds, he simply stared at the recording. The statement was so unexpected that even Xukong remained silent.

Zhenyu continued. "I found fragments concerning their relationship. It seems the Virtuous Calamity Daoist encountered the Mad Demon long ago, during the period when he was still young. At that time, the Mad Demon did not formally accept him as a disciple. There was no grand ceremony, no master-disciple oath and no official inheritance."

The elder shook his head. "He merely pointed out a direction."

Lin Mu’s eyes narrowed.

"He gave the young Virtuous Calamity Daoist some pointers." Zhenyu’s voice carried a trace of disbelief even after thousands of years. "But those pointers were apparently enough."

The illusion showed a younger figure studying various principles.

"The Virtuous Calamity Daoist was already talented. He possessed the foundation and the will required to advance. The Mad Demon simply showed him something that he had been unable to see on his own. From there, the man followed that path and eventually reached heights that few could match."

Lin Mu’s mind immediately began connecting the clues and everything suddenly felt connected.

"It all makes sense." Lin Mu’s eyes widened.

He finally understood why the clues surrounding the Virtuous Calamity Daoist had led him here. He had initially thought he was simply following traces left behind by the Daoist himself. But the truth appeared more complicated.

What he was seeing was the traces of the person who had influenced the Daoist in the first place!

The Virtuous Calamity Daoist had apparently taken what he learned from the Mad Demon, developed it according to his own understanding and eventually created his own path. The crest could have been his way of marking what he had inherited.

The spatial methods could have originated from those early teachings. And if the Virtuous Calamity Daoist had obtained even a fragment of the Mad Demon’s knowledge or treasures, then the possibility of a hidden vault suddenly became far more plausible.

Xukong finally sighed. "To think that foolish child was behind the rise of the Virtuous Calamity Daoist too, even I did not expect this."

Lin Mu’s expression became thoughtful. "Senior, wouldn’t the Mad Demon’s actions have been considered extremely unorthodox? Some of what he studied might even have been considered evil. Surely the Virtuous Calamity Daoist wouldn’t follow someone like that."

Xukong remained silent for a moment. "That depends on which version of the Virtuous Calamity Daoist you’re talking about."