this infinite world

Operations involving the soul are naturally not that simple.

In fact, in this world built on the foundation of the soul, this is also a "technical skill" that requires both talent and reverence.

As we all know, the soul has its own weight. For an ordinary life, rashly devouring the soul of another is tantamount to taking on a life that does not belong to oneself. The surging memories, emotions, and obsessions are enough to instantly overwhelm the fragile self-awareness, causing the devourer to lose itself among countless fragments of personality, and ultimately even unconsciously assimilate into the behavior of the deceased.

Only those with an unbreakable will like steel can hold fast to their true selves amidst the torrent of the soul, remaining unmoved by external memories.

After all, the soul itself is neither good nor evil. Like power, it is inherently pure, yet it manifests entirely different colors depending on the will that carries it. This is why those powerful figures who have left their mark on the world, regardless of whether their actions are defined as righteous or evil, praised as noble or condemned as despicable, all share one characteristic…

Without exception, they were all people with deep-seated obsessions and iron wills.

Even the strongest person with the most unwavering will must adhere to some basic principles, because no one wants their soul to be tainted by the colors of others.

But... Yang Yun is different; he came down from the toilet to fry fish.

Therefore, the memories of the Dragon Hunter Armor, which would be unbearable for ordinary people, were nothing more than a gentle breeze to Yang Yun. He could categorize and digest them completely in the blink of an eye, without causing him any harm. In fact, after copying all the memories within the Dragon Hunter Armor's soul, Yang Yun casually flicked out a bit of green light, which instantly stabilized the flickering soul fire, causing the Dragon Hunter Armor's soul, which had just escaped one danger only to fall into another, to stabilize and improve. Even the light it emitted became much more stable.

If any powerful beings from the Dark Souls world were present here, they would surely be stunned speechless. After all, Yang Yun's method of extracting memories without harming the opponent's soul, and even healing the opponent's soul, was not only unheard of, but at least a closely guarded secret among gods... However, the way he did it so casually was unprecedented.

"I see, so that's roughly the situation. I'm in such a late hour..."

Yang Yun naturally wouldn't care about such trivial matters. As he learned about Lothric City, the Dragon Slayer Armor, the Pus of Man, the Pilgrim Butterfly, the Angelic Faith circulating in the city, and a series of other pieces of information, this young man, who was new to the city and didn't even know where he was in time, finally understood where he had arrived.

The memories of the Dragon Slayer Armor are naturally quite long, but they are also exceptionally useful.

The true owner of this armor has long been forgotten by the ages, leaving only a vague silhouette in some of the oldest legends. He once stood shoulder to shoulder with two giants who illuminated the age—one was Gwyn, the eldest son of the Sun King who once wielded lightning; the other was Ornstein, the leader of the Four Horsemen, who pierced the throats of countless dragons with his dragon-slaying spear.

In the most glorious years of that Age of Fire, three warriors at the pinnacle clashed with their weapons and swore a blood oath known as the "Oath of Gold and Stone." That oath was as unbreakable as gold and stone, its brilliance illuminating the entire sky, symbolizing their friendship with one another.

However, time, which can dilute everything, is the most terrifying thing in the world.

Such a long period of time is enough for stories to become legends, and legends to become myths. Just as the sun at noon eventually sets, even Anor Londo is no longer the most powerful nation in the world. The rising Lothric has taken Anor Londo's place, becoming the center of this world. And the once unbreakable oaths, with the retreat of the gods and the collapse of dynasties, have been buried under the dust of history, tens of thousands of years ago. "So much time has passed, and the rise of Lothric signifies that the rule of the sun god race has been shaken..."

As Yang Yun examined the memories in his mind, he pondered, "So, as the First Flame burned, not only the rule of the Sun God Clan, but also the energy level of the entire world began to decline..."

It's impossible to expect a silent suit of armor to clearly record the passage of time. Whether it's ten thousand years or tens of thousands of years, it has all quietly passed in this world. The era Yang Yun is in now is immeasurably far removed from the epic saga of linking the fire in Dark Souls 1.

Looking back to the end of the Age of Fire, as the First Flame waned and the world faced the threat of plunging into darkness, the first generation of undead heroes embarked on a journey, throwing into the First Flame the powerful souls of ancient times: the Tomb Lord Nit, who wielded the power of death; the primordial fire of Izalith, which gave birth to chaos; the immortal pale soul of Seath, the white dragon; and even the fragments of the Four Lords of Londo, which originated from the soul of Gwyn… one after another, these powerful souls, symbolizing ancient times, were poured into the First Flame as fuel to sustain the world.

It was these ancient, incomparably powerful souls that sustained the glory of that era and allowed the world to continue to exist amidst the raging flames.

However, a world that needs to burn the "past" to maintain the "present" is bound to decline in power.

...Well, while the saying "the older, the stronger" doesn't apply to most worlds, it certainly does in this world where the flames are fading. Those ancient stars that once shone brightly in the starry sky of history have fallen and turned into embers that maintain basic light. How can the souls born in later generations compare to that glorious era when gods walked the earth and the power of the primordial king's soul was still intact?

However, Yang Yun was concerned about something else entirely.

“Since the stronger the First Flame burns, the higher the energy level of the Dark Souls world, and the stronger the powerful beings in this world, it means that the enemies that Chu Hao and the North Ice Continent team encountered in the 'past' would inevitably be much stronger than those in my timeline…”

Looking down at the Dragon Slayer Armor in front of him, and thinking that, given the nature of the main god, he would definitely send the Arctic team to the time when the story takes place, that is, when the story of "Dark Souls 1" or "Dark Souls 2" takes place... The more Yang Yun thought about this, the more strange his expression became.

If, without a master, a group of dragon-hunting armored warriors controlled by the Pilgrim Butterflies could instinctively unleash combat power approaching the fourth tier, then how strong would the powerful beings of the Fire Age be?

The Four Knights of the Kingdom, Neto the Graveyard King, the Old Witch, Sith the White Dragon, Manus the Lord of the Abyss, Karamit the Black Dragon of Calamity...

Fourth order beginner? Fourth order intermediate? Or fourth order advanced?
"Oh no, if this happens..."

"Could it be that the Arctic team can't even leave the Firelink Shrine?"

Yang Yun muttered to himself. (End of Chapter)