Chapter 281 – Honor
There was a very bright and handsome young man wearing black, leather clothes standing on a flying sword. He looked different from other cultivators from Xue Yu, which was very refreshing.
The female disciple’s eyes suddenly lit up and she shouted, “Senior apprentice brother is back!”
As for the second disciple, his face suddenly became gloomy, but that was replaced by a happy expression in a flash.
Wang Lin could tell from the memories of the Core Formation cultivator that he really liked the eldest disciple. This eldest disciple had some blood relations with the Core Formation cultivator.
The eldest disciple could just barely be considered a genius. It took him 100 years to reach the peak of the Foundation Establishment stage and was only one step away from the Core Formation stage.
But according to the Core Formation cultivator’s memories, the reason he liked this eldest disciple was because of the disciple’s looks. He planned to marry his eldest disciple off to the female disciple of another late stage Core Formation cultivator to form an alliance.
After only a quick glimpse of this memory, Wang Lin no longer paid attention to it. The sword came close and arrived before the ice tower. The eldest disciple knelt on the ground and said, with a clear voice, “Disciple greets master. I was lucky and managed to find the hiding place of those Four Sect Alliance remnants!”
Wang Lin’s expression was calm, but this heart suddenly skipped a beat. He did remember seeing in the Core Formation cultivator’s memory that he had sent his eldest disciple out because a mortal reported to that they had seen someone that didn’t look like they were from Xue Yu.
So the Core Formation cultivator sent out his eldest disciple to check up on this matter.
This kind of thing wasn’t uncommon in the past few years. No matter how powerful the remaining Four Sect Alliance cultivators were, after years of being under this bizarre snow, they had all weakened greatly.
Although this was the case, Xue Yu couldn’t be careless. Normally, when this type of thing happened, it would be reported to the Divine Temple of Ice and Snow. They would then send someone to deal with it.
The temple was extremely keen on this. If the report was given today, they would send someone out tomorrow.
Wang Lin pondered for a bit, then calmly said, “Lead the way.”
The eldest disciple was startled. When this happens, his master normally never deals with it personally. However, he knew not to ask, so he only nodded and led the way.
The other two disciples looked at each other and followed behind. After all, their master was going personally. If they didn’t go, then there might be trouble in the future.
So they forced themselves to follow Wang Lin.
The four of them formed a four point beam of light and flew into the distance. After a short while, the eldest disciple stopped. He pointed at a snowy mountain and said, “Disciple used the flying ice sculpture and personally saw that a person disappeared here. I believe they have a hiding place here.”
Wang Lin’s divine sense swept the area. Although his expression was calm, his eyes became focused.
“The three of you wait here!” After leaving that order, Wang Lin flew forward.
His divine sense found that below the snowy mountain there was a restriction, and inside it were two souls. One of them was only at the Core Formation stage, but the other one was very strange. Sometimes it was Core Formation, sometimes it was Nascent Soul, and sometimes it was even Soul Formation.
This phenomenon had only one explanation and that was this person’s Nascent Soul and cultivation was about to scatter, meaning it was extremely unstable.
Wang Lin’s body landed on top of the snowy mountain and sank into to mountain. He was closing in on the restriction.
He soon arrived at the restriction. As long as it was a restriction, he wasn’t afraid of it. It took only one look to see through this restriction’s structure. He sent out two restriction rings. The two restrictions soon started to fuse.
Wang Lin stepped through the restriction and went inside.
As soon as he entered, he saw a sword move and more than 10 sword qis attacked him.
Wang Lin’s gaze was calm. His right hand seemed to randomly point in the air and he whispered, “Life.”
The life and death domain suddenly gathered on Wang Lin’s fingertip. This gentle point contained the way of the heavens and was filled with mysteries.
A gasp came from the swords. They then started to circle around Wang Lin’s finger.
The swords were emitting a light as they underwent a change. Now the spiritual energy they released was several times more powerful than before.
However, the divine sense was completely erased by the power of the domain.
Wang Lin’s eyes lit up as he looked at the terrified young man who was too scared to speak.
Behind the young man sat an old man on an ice bed. This person’s eyes were closed and his face changed between red and green.
After a flick Wang Lin’s finger, all of the swords suddenly fell to the ground with a ring.
The young man regained his senses. His face was filled with grief and indignation. He clenched his fist and shouted, “You guys destroyed my home, and now you’ve chased us here. Do you guys have to kill us all? You will kill us today, but someday there will be someone who will destroy Xue Yu.”
This person’s voice was filled with resentment that was now engraved in his bones.
After looking at the young man, Wang Lin’s gaze fell on the old man.
The young man blocked Wang Lin’s view. He watched Wang Lin for a bit, then, after pondering for a while, he suddenly knelt to the ground. He bit his lower lip hard until it bled and said, with a bitter smile, “Please don’t kill my master, kill me instead! I am the Water Ink Sect’s junior sect head. If you capture me and bring me back, you will definitely be rewarded. As long as you let my master go, then I’ll willing to go with you. If you don’t, you will only be able to get my corpse.”
Although Wang Lin’s eyes were calm, his heart was slightly touched. He slowly looked at the young man and then at the old man. Then he slowly said, “Why do you want to exchange your life for your master’s?”
The young man was silent for a very long time before responding with a bitter smile. “Master could have left a long time ago if it wasn’t for me dragging him down. It was all because he tried to save me…”
“Huan Er, quickly get up. This person is not a Xue Yu cultivator.” The old man on the ice bed slowly opened his eyes.
The young man was startled, but his eyes suddenly lit up and he became very excited. He ran to his master’s side and said, “Master, you… you’re awake!”
Wang Lin took a look the old man. He clasped his hands and said, “Junior greets senior of the Water Ink Sect.”
The old man coughed a few times as the red and green colors on his face became even stronger. With Wang Lin’s life and death domain, he could clearly see the heavy death aura around the old man. He was near his end.
The old man raised his head. He looked at Wang Lin and slowly said, “Little friend, I’m too injured to greet you, so I hope you will forgive me. What has little friend come here for?”
Wang Lin let out a sigh and said, “Senior’s hiding place has been found by the cultivators of Xue Yu, so it is best you leave now!” With that, he pondered a little and then took out a bottle of pills. He pushed the bottle toward the bed.
“Senior’s injury is too serious for this bottle of pills to cure, but it can at least ease the pain of losing your cultivation. This should allow senior to leave this place. The world is big, so there might be other chances to recover you cultivation.”
The old man let out a faint smile. He didn’t even look at the pill and said, “Little friend, I don’t know what sect you are from, but if I wanted to leave, I could have left back then. Even now I can leave, even if it means speeding up the loss of my cultivation, but do you know why I haven’t left?”
Wang Lin pondered and then gently shook his head.
“This is my home! I was born here, and when I die, it will be here too!” Although the old man’s voice was soft, there was a hard to describe aura within it.
Wang Lin looked at the person and no longer spoke. He clasped his hands and turned around to leave. His original plan here was not to kill but to give a helping hand.
After all, he had spent more than 30 years in the Four Sect Alliance and personally saw the invasion of the Xue Yu cultivators. Although it was outside his power to change anything, he would still help when he could.
The moment Wang Lin turned around to leave, the old man looked at the bottle of pills and sighed. His right hand suddenly moved and took out a fan with only two feathers remaining.
“Little friend, I gift this treasure to you for the pills you’ve given me.”
After Wang Lin caught the fan, his expression changed. He had a deep impression of this fan. It was used by that woman when she was surrounded by the Four Sect Alliance’s killing formation. He remembered that after she died, this fan was taken away by a late stage Soul Formation cultivator.
He turned around and carefully looked at the old man. This person was one of the late stage soul Formation Cultivators that was in the killing formation.
All of the glory of the past was now a distant memory…
Wang Lin left with a complicated state of mind. The three disciples all didn’t dare to speak; they only silently followed him.
Soon after Wang Lin left, the two came out of the snowy mountain and looked at the direction Wang Lin disappeared to before leaving.
At the border, the old man hit the formation to create an opening. He split half of the pills with the young man. He then looked lovingly at the young man and said, “Go. You have to rely on yourself in the future because master can’t protect you anymore.”
The young man’s eyes were filled with sadness, but before he could say anything, the old man waved his sleeves and pushed the young man through. Then the protection formation returned to normal.
The young man stared at his master from the other side. His eyes were red and his voice cracked as he shouted, “Master!”
The old man let out a laugh and swallowed all of the pills in the bottle. His spiritual energy rapidly climbed back to its peak, though it was just temporary.
He waved his sleeves and his body moved. His target was the Divine Temple of Snow and Ice at the center of Xue Yu.
Even if he dies, he had to die in his home country. Even if he dies, he must die protecting his country!
All of the glorious moments of the past had become distant memories…
The one that falls in the fire must be that immortal phoenix… Even if it must burn its wings, it will still fly in the heavens…
Closing one door is like loving a world.
Memories of the past will now be forever distant.
The sand in the wind no longer filled the space of dreams. The whimper of the powerful flute is now only an echo in the desolate land.
Closing off one door is like cutting off one space and time.
The glorious past only remains in the descent’s songs.
Yesterday’s song no longer resonate the same way. The whispering complaints can’t find its matching music.
Opening a window is like hugging a ray of sunlight.
Today’s dream became the future empire’s hope.
Even the ordinary you and me need to have exciting displays. Pursuit without regret to feel the might of the world.
Opening a window is like welcoming a wave of spring wind.
The burst of nothingness awaken what was once lost.
The one that fell in the fire must be that immortal phoenix… Even if it must burn its wings it will still fly in the heavens.
Chapter 282 – Returning to Zhao to Reach the Soul Formation Stage
The young man looked at his master’s back as he left. A scene of the past entered his mind. He kowtowed to his master before clenching his fist and leaving.
“I, Chen Huan, swear that I’ll wipe out Xue Yu!”
Wang Lin returned to the ice tower with a complicated state of mind. Although he had obtained a powerful treasure, he didn’t feel happy. He only felt a sense of melancholy.
At this moment, Wang Lin suddenly gained another bit of insight of his life and death domain. “What is life… what is death…”
This question echoed in Wang Lin’s mind.
The late stage Soul Formation cultivator of the Water Ink Sect used the last of his cultivation to fly up to the snow fairy statue at the Divine Temple of Snow and Ice. Like a moth flying toward a flame, he exploded on the statue, leaving behind a red mark that they couldn’t get rid of.
Along with him, several other Soul Formation cultivators were killed in this explosion.
All the glory was now gone with the wind…
In his death, he died at the right spot. His death awakened the Four Sect Alliance cultivators that hadn’t dared to show their faces.
In the blink of an eye, another year passed.
Throughout this year, Wang Lin kept thinking about the life and death domain, and he gradually gained more insight. His own being had undergone a transformation in this past year.
Looking at a mountain as a mountain, looking at a river as a river.
However, Wang Lin noticed that sometimes a mountain isn’t mountain and a river isn’t a river. It was as if there was another layer of fog blocking his eyes. He couldn’t see it, but he could feel it. When he reached out, he couldn’t touch it.
This type of thing won’t go away with time. He would need a sudden burst of insight to get past the fog.
Autumn passed and spring came. Two more years in this icy world passed.
Wang Lin was able to make some progress regarding the creation of the ice sculpture puppets. These ice sculpture puppets relied on snow blood veins to maintain themselves. A puppet with 49 snow blood veins could achieve a Core Formation cultivator’s power.
To be as powerful as a Nascent Soul cultivator, one would need 81 snow blood veins, but with these ice sculptures, the more veins a puppet has, the harder it is to control. And if two veins touch, the ice sculpture will explode.
Because of this, the difficulty increases exponentially with each additional snow blood vein. Thus, one can see how difficult putting 81 blood veins into an ice sculpture is.
This is why there were so few Nascent Soul ice sculptures produced by Xue Yu.
In addition to this, the snow blood veins come from the Icy Snow Tactic. Wang Lin was amazed by this technique.
This Icy Snow Tactic emphasizes refining the heart. This technique uses ice as the bones and snow as the heart to form an ice and snow soul to reach the state of a clear heart.
It can be described as very mysterious and unstable.
This is why Xue Yue cultivators are all impulsive and have personalities that can change drastically on a dime. The goal was to follow their will and do as they pleased to refine their hearts to the point of being impenetrable to outside influences.
The more Wang Lin studied this technique, the more clear he became about its true terror. This technique couldn’t be considered a righteous path at all; it was definitely a side path. Wang Lin felt that this technique was very similar to the Six Desire Devil Lord’s cultivation method.
Wang Lin wasn’t willing to practice this technique. He merely imitated it by changing the snow blood veins to pure blood veins. He used blood to work with his life and death domain to gain the ability to control the carvings.
In the blink of an eye, Wang Lin had already stayed in this small city for three years. Adding on the one year he had spent traveling, four years had passed.
Only one year left until 10 years was up. He could feel that the time for him to reach the Soul Formation stage was coming.
He didn’t know if he would trigger divine retribution when he reaches the Soul Formation stage. However, as he got closer to it, he realized that when he reaches the Soul Formation stage, it will create a disturbance that will alert everyone.
So on this day, Wang Lin walked out of the ice tower and left.
Before he left, Xue Yu had sent out a decree for all Core Formation and above cultivators to gather at the temple to receive a Dao lecture. The reason was that one of the thirteen cultivators that had gone to Suzuka had returned. He was the only person that had succeeded in reaching the Soul Transformation stage.
As for whether only one of the thirteen succeeded or if Suzuka had done something, it was not something for outsiders to know.
Wang Lin silently left without anyone knowing. Even the Core Formation cultivator that Wang Lin had trapped had lost his memory and regained his original position.
At the border of Xue Yu, Wang Lin turned around and carefully looked at the land. Scenes of the past several decades passed through his mind as he let out a sigh and left.
Wang Lin’s goal was Zhao. He decided to reach the Soul Formation stage there.
As for why Wang Lin was going to Zhao to break into the Soul Formation stage, one reason was that it was a remote location. The other reason was because he felt a longing for his home after talking to that late stage Soul Formation cultivator from the Four Sect Alliance.
Everyone has a home. Does he have one…
Zhao could be considered home and there was a woman waiting for him on the other side of the Sea of Devils. That place could also be considered home…
So he decided on Zhao to complete the cycle of being born there.
Before he returned home, he went to the town to check on Da Niu and saw that Da Niu had opened up another ironworks shop. His wife was not young anymore, but she was clearly pregnant again.
Wang Lin let out a smile as he looked at them. That new life was growing by the day…
When he left, he left a bit of spiritual energy inside Da Niu’s wife. That bit of spiritual energy could guarantee the mother’s and daughter’s safety. The new life was a girl.
Da Niu still didn’t know that the uncle Wang he had always wanted to see again had come to see him. Da Niu’s only regret at death was not that Xiao Niu was not here to see him off but that he never got to see the uncle the Wang who had watched him grow up again. That mysterious person who opened a shop, who he always pulled customers for, and who managed to sell a carving for 10 pieces of gold.
He gave those two wood carvings to his daughter and they became family heirlooms.
Wang Lin flew toward Zhao. 40 years ago, he walked the same road when he had just reached the Nascent Soul stage. Today he was going back through the same road, but this time he was about to reach the Soul Formation stage and was choosing a location to do so.
The Wang Lin now and the Wang Lin then were as different as heaven and earth.
He passed through one ancient transfer array after another. On this day, he was in a strange land where clouds filled the sky and rain began to fall.
The rain began to fall harder and harder until it seemed like water was being poured down. Wang Lin looked at the sky. It had been a long time since he had seen rain this heavy. He couldn’t help but think back to when he was in the same room with Zhang Hu back at the Heng Yue Sect. The rain poured while lightning and thunder fell from the sky.
At this moment, rays of lightning flashed across the sky like silver snakes. They looked very beautiful.
Wang Lin’s body slowly landed on the ground. He didn’t even use a technique to block the rain. Instead, he waved his hand at a nearby tree and the leaves on the tree gathered to form a leaf umbrella.
Wang Lin walked in this foreign land with his umbrella. He was only two ancient transfer arrays away from reaching Zhao. In an area 40,000 kilometers to the east was where the ancient transfer array was located.
The sound of rushing rain filled the forest and gave the whole area a certain charm, especially the old temple in the distance. This temple was clearly deserted. Its original red paint was now dim and some parts were even damaged,
Even the brass rings on the door had rusted. There are patches of green on the temple’s side.
Wang Lin had not seen many temples in his life.
Looking at the temple, Wang Lin walked inside. This was an ancient temple. There were no statues of gods inside; only a half-petal praying pad.
As he looked at the temple, he looked toward the door and then he returned to looking at the temple. Once he finished looking, he stood at the door and enjoyed the view of the rain.
After a long time, shouts came from a distance. A few large men wearing rain cloaks came while yelling.
“This damn weather. Once it starts raining, it never stops.”
“There is a temple ahead; let’s hide in there for a while. We can continue our travel once the rain lightens up.”
As they were talking, they saw Wang Lin inside the temple. They all paused and looked at each other before silently walking toward the temple.
When they walked past Wang Lin, one of them took a step toward Wang Lin and seemed to have tried reaching toward him with his right hand for a gentle pat. However, another person from the group let out a grunt and pushed that person to stop him.
That person turned his head and let out a snort before silently entering the temple.
The five of them took off their rain cloaks, set up a fire, took out some food, and began to loudly chat with each other. However, every now and then, their gazes would turn to Wang Lin.
Wang Lin gently shook his head. These five mortals had ruined the special mood of this night and wasted the atmosphere. He let out sigh. Just as he raised his feet to leave, his gaze suddenly locked onto the forest in the distance.
He saw a man with long hair wearing a thin robe taking big strides toward the temple. Although the man looked very slow, after taking one step, he was suddenly next to Wang Lin, walking into the temple.
As he passed by Wang Lin, the man gasped and suddenly stopped. He carefully looked at Wang Lin, revealing his white teeth in a gentle smile, and said, “I didn’t expect to meet a fellow cultivator in such a small temple. My name is Mo Zhi. You are?”
Chapter 283 – Insight
Wang Lin’s expression was calm, but he was very alert. This person was very strange. There wasn’t a sliver of spiritual energy in him and he looked like a mortal at first glance, but how could a mortal see through his cultivation? Wang Lin calmly clasped his hands and replied, “I’m just someone from the mountains. No need for a name; just call me Da Niu.”
The large fellow looked at Wang Lin with a curious gaze and laughed. “Brother Da Niu, why don’t we sit down and talk in this rainy night?”
Wang Lin faintly smiled and nodded before sitting cross legged on the ground. He waved his right hand and a gourd of wine appeared. He took a drink.
After the Four Sect Alliance was destroyed Wang Lin’s stock of this fruit wine had decreased, so he drank it a lot less often now.
That large fellow let out a laugh, sat down, and said, “Brother Da Niu’s cultivation is really shocking. If I’m not seeing this wrong, you’re close to obtaining your domain.”
Wang Lin’s heart skipped a bit. He became even more cautious of this person, but on the outside, he just quietly chuckled and dodged the question.
At this moment, one of the men next to the fire laughed loudly. “What in the world are you two talking about? We can’t understand a word of what you are talking about. Obtaining your domain? Are you two crazy?”
Mo Zhi faintly smiled and said, “Sir, your use of the word ‘crazy’ is excellent. If one isn’t crazy, why would they try to understand something like the laws of the heavens? If one isn’t crazy, why would they try to become an immortal? One must want something in order to obtain it. That is the truth.”
The man next to the fire frowned and scolded, “He really is crazy. I didn’t understand a word.”
Mo Zhi smiled and shook his head. He looked at Wang Lin and asked, “Did brother Da Niu understand?”
Wang Lin let out a faint smile and said, “Your words are too mysterious. I don’t understand, but I think the word ‘crazy’ is not good. Instead, the word ‘eat’ is better.”
Mo Zhi’s eyes lit up and he laughed. “Good! ‘Eat’ is a very good word! If us cultivators lost the urge to eat, then how could we go down the right path and complete the Dao of the heavens?”
Wang Lin took a drink and silently smiled.
Mo Zhi looked at Wang Lin, then his eyes suddenly showed confusion and then were filled with void. Wang Lin’s eyes met his and his heart skipped a beat. He then quietly moved his hand over his bag of holding.
After a long time, the confusion in Mo Zhi’s eyes slowly disappeared. “Just now… where were… we at?”
Wang Lin brows furrowed as he stared at Mo Zhi.
At this moment, one of the men next to the fire, the one who had been listening in on them, laughed. “He really is crazy,” the man said.
Mo Zhi let out a sigh and smiled at Wang Lin. “Forget it. Since I forgot, I forgot. My name is Mo Zhi. What is your name?”
Wang Lin’s brow furrowed even harder. After a while, he shook his head and let out a faint smile as he said, “Da Niu.”
Mo Zhi nodded. He looked at the rain outside and said, “The rainy night is beautiful in its mood and endlessness. The plants silently absorb the water and the scent of death on them quietly disappears. This is the beauty of the rain and the taste of life.”
Wang Lin turned his head to look outside the shrine. The sound of the falling rain slow came inside and the sound of thunder would occasionally light up the outside for an instant.
The fire inside the shrine flickered in the night, causing the shadows in the shrine to flicker as well. It was as if this was the border of life and death. The flickering of light seemed to also contain some hints of the life and death domain.
Light is death, darkness is death, the flickering light represents the exchange between life and death.
Wang Lin whispered, “What is life?”
This question had confused him for a long time.
Mo Zhi withdrew his gaze. He pointed at the fire and faintly smiled. “This fire is life.”
Wang Lin pondered as he looked at the flickering light and asked, “Why?”
Mo Zhi faintly smiled as he looked at the fire and said, “I don’t know why it is life, but I have constantly heard mortals say ‘live fire, live fire,’ so I think fire must be life.”
“Crazy!” This time, all of the men next to the fire looked at the two as if they were some strange creatures.
This fire is life… Wang Lin felt like he had gained some clarity, but he still hadn’t fully understood it. He remained silent for a moment and then asked, “What is death?”
Just as Mo Zhi was about to speak, his eyes were filled with confusion and void again. After a long time, he regained his senses and looked around in a daze.
“What were… we talking about… before?”
Without waiting for Wang Lin to speak, one of the men around the fire said, “He just asked you what death was.”
Mo Zhi looked at Wang Lin apologetically. He hesitated for a bit and said, “I believe brother also knows what my name is. May I ask for your name?”
Just like before, before Wang Lin could respond, another man next to the fire responded, “His name is Da Niu.”
Mo Zhi’s eyes became even more apologetic as he said, “Ever since I obtained my domain, my memory has been a mess. I hope brother Da Niu can forgive me.”
Wang Lin’s expression remained the same, but his heart was shocked. He hesitated for a bit before asking, “What domain did brother Mo comprehend?”
Directly asking someone their domain was somewhat taboo, but Mo Zhi didn’t seem to mind. The confusion in his eyes became even stronger and he said, “Forget domain…”
“Hey, you haven’t said what death is yet. Continue what you were saying; it was getting interesting,” one of the men next to the fire hurried Mo Zhi.
The confusion in Mo Zhi’s eyes became even stronger as he said, “What is death… death is to die. If a person dies, then it is death, and if the heart dies, then it forgets… that is death.”
Wang Lin’s heart shook. That sentence was like a gust that blew away a lot of the fog that had left him confused.
Death was to die. If a person dies, it is death. If the heart dies, then it forgets…
Mo Zhi’s confused eyes were filled with wisdom as he looked around before pointing at a puddle outside with this right hand. He muttered, “The water falling in this puddle today is life. Tomorrow, when there is no water falling, then this puddle is death. Dead water is water without life and flow.”
Then his right hand casually pointed again and this time it was on the men next to the fire. The void in his eyes became even stronger and he said, “Today they can enjoy, be angry, be sad, or be happy. That is life. In the future, they won’t be able to enjoy, be angry be sad, or be happy, and that is death.”
His hand suddenly moved and pointed at a praying mat. He said, “This shrine was alive when the statue of the god was here. Now that it is without it, it is dead!”
Speaking of this, he stood up, pointed at the sky, and said, “These raindrops are born in the sky and die on the earth. What’s in the middle is their life. I look at this rain not for the sky, earth, or the rain itself, but the raindrop’s entire life… this cycle of life and death.”
Wang Lin was touched. He stood up and respectfully bowed toward Mo Zhi.
Mo Zhi faintly smiled. He then took a step and left the shrine like a meteor. His faint voice came from the distance and said,
“Brother Da Niu, you either understand it or you don’t… know your limits.”
Wang Lin stared at the rain. After a long time, he let out a smile.
At this moment, the men around the fire were all confused. They felt like they understood a bit, but when they thought about it carefully, there seemed to be a layer of fog blocking their eyes.
“Fellow brother, what did that person mean?” One of them couldn’t help but ask. Everyone else’s gazes turned toward Wang Lin.
Wang Lin shooked his head and said, “You guys… won’t understand…”
With that, he took a step and left the shrine. He walked in the rain and looked up. This raindrop was born in the sky. Then he looked at the ground. This raindrop dies on the earth.
What’s in between is the raindrop’s entire life.
This is life and death!
Fire is life because it has life, this is what they mean by “live fire.”
Death is to die. If a person dies, it is death. If the heart dies, then it forgets…
Wang Lin was walking between the heavens and earth when he suddenly felt something in his heart. He managed to grasp a bit of the truth behind life and death. He originally needed one more year of cultivating his domain to reach the Soul Formation stage. However, his comprehension suddenly grew, and after a short while, he was already at the state to reach the Soul Formation stage.
It could be said that at this moment, if Wang Lin wished to, he could immediately reach the Soul Formation stage.
But this was obviously not the place to reach the Soul Formation stage. Wang Lin suppressed the urge to break through and flew even faster.
“I believe brother Mo’s domain is heart’s death, and this results in his memory loss. To forget everything, leaving only the Dao.” Wang Lin took a deep breath. This Mo Zhi was a genius.
The insight he had gained in the shrine on that rainy night allowed Wang Lin’s mentality to finally reach the level of Soul Formation. At this moment, he was worthy of reaching the Soul Formation stage and had the domain of a Soul Formation cultivator.
The Soul Formation stage is where the strength of cultivators begin to vary greatly.
This is because once cultivators reach the Soul Formation stage, their focus of cultivation changes from their bodies to their minds. Their basis is their understanding of the heavens and their strength is how well they can control that power.
The domain is the most important insight for cultivators above the Soul Formation stage.
According to the difference in understanding of the heavens, the domains obtained are different too. In other words, there are countless domains out there, but that doesn’t mean that there isn’t a difference in strength between the domains.
Although the domains are very close in strength when they reach their extremes, the starting points are very different and can definitely affect future cultivation.
Therefore, at the Soul Formation stage, the strength of cultivators vary greatly. If one only obtains an ordinary domain, even though they are gods compared to Nascent Soul cultivators, they will be lagging behind among fellow Soul Formation cultivators.
If Wang Lin really wanted to reach the Soul Formation stage quickly, he could have done it when he was able to carve the first statue of the White Cloud Sect’s Soul Formation cultivator. However, that domain was not something he had made himself. It was the same as following in someone else’s footsteps. Even if he had reached the Soul Formation stage, he would find it very difficult to break through in the future, resulting in a very low chance of reaching the Soul Transformation stage.
Since it was not a domain he had formed himself, it would be very difficult to even fully comprehend it, not to mention transcend it…
Chapter 284 – Peeling the Top
In truth, there are two ways to reach the Soul Formation stage. The first method is to follow someone else’s footsteps and copy their domain. This method is much easier than the second one, but the difficult part is that not many Soul Formation cultivators are willing to display their domain. Only peak Nascent Soul cultivators in large sects are given the privilege to see them.
The second method is to completely rely on yourself to try to comprehend the heavens to find your own domain. This method is very difficult. It requires a lot of perseverance and luck to succeed, but once you have found your own domain, you will be much stronger that those that went with the first method.
In general, only those who can’t obtain their own domain after trying for a long time choose the first method. After all, there is a huge difference in power between the two methods.
This gap is something that is almost impossible to close, whether it is at the start, or far in the future.
However, not many people can comprehend their own domain, so a majority of cultivators choose the first method.
This is why some Soul Formation cultivators are killed and others can live on peacefully. The messenger back in Zhao chose the first method, which is why he decided to run after seeing Wang Lin’s magic treasure.
However, nothing is absolute as there are cultivators who choose the first method who manage to break through to the Soul Transformation stage, but there are simply too few of these people, and they are very weak among Soul Transformation cultivators.
Thus, the people who choose the first method focus on obtaining pills to raise their cultivation level, but how could pills that contain celestial spiritual energy be so easy to obtain?
Wang Lin flew in the rain until he arrived at the ancient transfer array. The transfer array lit up and his body disappeared.
This time, Wang Lin didn’t stop at all and used his full speed to move to the next transfer array.
One month later, waves of spiritual energy shot up in a valley at the edge of Zhao. As the spiritual energy disappeared, a young man walked out.
It was Wang Lin!
Looking at the land before him, Wang Lin felt a burst of melancholy. Zhao wasn’t very big. With just his divine sense, he was easily able to see everything that was happening.
After Wang Lin’s killing spree, the cultivators of Zhao had weakened greatly, especially with the deaths of several late stage Nascent Soul cultivators. This was a huge blow to Zhao. In these past few decades, all of the sects’ doors were closed.
Among the cultivators of Zhao, rumors of Wang Lin were still being spread even now. Countless cultivators were still terrified by the stories, and those that saw Wang Lin would still wake up in the middle of the night covered in cold sweat.
As for the Heaven’s Tower in the middle of Zhao, it was still empty.
After pondering for a while, Wang Lin flew toward where the former Heng Yue Sect was, which was now the Xuan Dao Sect’s home.
He entered the cultivation world here, so he will reach the Soul Formation stage here too.
When his figure appeared outside of the Xuan Dao Sect, he saw white fog covering the entire sect. Even the little passage up the mountain was blocked. The Xuan Dao Sect had long closed its doors and no longer communicated with the outside.
Wang Lin let out a sigh. Instead of making a commotion to force people to come out, he disappeared. When he reappeared, he was already at the back mountain of the Xuan Dao Sect.
The back mountain where he went through four years of closed door cultivation was still there. There were a few cultivators around, but their expressions were very lethargic and depressed.
How could they notice Wang Lin’s presence? Wang Lin found the cave he had cultivated in back then and walked into it.
There was no one inside the cave. Once Wang Lin went inside, the rock at the entrance slowly fell.
Wang Lin sat cross-legged inside the cave and examined its interior. Familiar memories entered his mind. He let out a sigh and began to cultivate.
Ten days later, Wang Lin finished tuning his body. His hand formed a seal and he pressed it on his stomach. The color of his face changed between red and green and his body soon split into two.
His original body came out of his avatar with a head of white hair over his shoulders, a grin, and a purple star that released an evil light.
This original body’s cultivation level was still at the late stage of Core Formation. nove(l)bi(n.)com
His Ji Realm hadn’t evolved, so his original body’s cultivation level still couldn’t improve.
Even though he could boost his Ji Realm to the Nascent Soul level when he was fused together with his avatar, there were still limitations and drawbacks, so it was not a long term solution.
As for his avatar, it was about to reach the Soul Formation stage. After fusing with his original body, this avatar’s one flaw of only having 30 years to live disappeared, so now it was no different from his original body.
At this moment, he was about to reach the Soul Formation stage, and if he was still fused with his original body, it would interfere with the process of breaking through.
Wang Lin began to ponder. If his original body’s cultivation stayed the same, then there would be too many drawbacks. He had already started to consider this matter several years ago but couldn’t make a decision. However, his understanding of the life and death domain had increased greatly, especially after the event at the shrine.
His hesitant heart finally made a decision.
His original body couldn’t walk the same path as his avatar, so the Ji Realm had to be separated from it.
The road of the ancient god was the path that the original body should’ve walked. Wang Lin pondered for a little while before both of his bodies sat down. Both bodies formed seals with their hands, causing green smoke to slowly surround them.
The first thing he needed to do was shatter the cultivation of his original body.
Slivers of spiritual energy spread out from the original body. There were traces of pain on the original body’s face, but he was determined to continue. Finally, drops of blood oozed out of the original body’s pores.
This red liquid didn’t stick to the body. It formed beads of blood around it. Gradually, the number of these beads of blood increased.
The original body’s face became even more pale and his cultivation level started to drop from the late stage of Core Formation.
Ten days later, the original body looked older and his cultivation level had dropped to early stage Core Formation. The beads of blood had already formed a red ring around the original body.
Then, with a crisp crackling sound, the original body’s core shattered and turned into even more powerful spiritual energy that raged through his body like a group of runaway horses. Just at this moment, the avatar’s eyes lit up and it pointed a finger at the original body’s brow. The spiritual energy inside the original body seemed to have found a release point and poured out from the brow.
This spiritual power gathered at the avatar’s finger. Soon, all of the spiritual energy condensed into a silver liquid.
The original body suddenly grew much weaker, but its eyes were still calm.
Then, slivers of spiritual energy came from the original body’s flesh and bones. This spiritual energy moved to the original body’s dantain and slowly formed a ring.
This was the foundation of a cultivator, which was also the symbol of a Foundation Establishment cultivator.
This ring slowly became more solid and became even brighter and brighter. This time, the avatar pointed at the original body’s dantain. The original body shook as the ring shattered into spiritual energy and gathered at the fingertip of the avatar.
Then the original body’s cultivation level dropped rapidly. 14th layer of Qi condensation… 13th layer… 12th layer… 8th layer… 6th layer… all the way until the 1st layer!
At this moment, all of the spiritual energy in the original body disappeared. His whole body suddenly fell over, leaned against the wall, and began to breath rapidly. However, this entire time, its eyes were still calm.
In those eyes, a bolt of red lightning flashed.
The avatar took a deep breath. This time, his finger pointed to the spot between the original body’s eyes. Suddenly, that ray of red lightning flew out. Just as it was about to leave through one of the walls, the avatar let out a roar. His hand moved and rings of light trapped the red lightning. He reached out to grab it. The red lightning struggled for a bit before finally giving up and stopped moving.
The avatar grabbed the red lightning and morphed it into a drop of blood before putting it into his bag of holding.
This drop of blood was the Ji Realm!
The original body gave up its cultivation to force the Ji Realm out, completely turning it into a magic treasure-like existence.
Shortly after, the original body barely managed to sit up straight and closed his eyes. At this moment, the avatar flicked the spiritual energy from the foundation ring into the original body. Then the liquid formed by the core was also sent into the original body.
The boundless spiritual energy surged through the original body, but that body had no intentions of cultivating again. Instead, the original body started using the ancient god’s tactic. Under its power, all of the spiritual energy was absorbed by the body’s flesh and bones.
During the process of absorbing the spiritual energy, bits of a red substance entered the original body from the red ring.
This process lasted a long time…
At this moment, Wang Lin’s original body and avatar walked down two very different paths. The original body was focused on refining the body, walking down the path of the ancient gods.
The avatar focused on the inside, walking down the path of the heavens.
Both were Wang Lin’s bodies, without any difference, but before he reaches a certain point, his two bodies can’t be fused together for a long period of time.
But once he fuses, his power will increase several fold.
Chapter 285 – Point of Transformation
A series of changes were happening within the original body. In truth, the original body had already met the requirements to become a one star ancient god. As a result, it was already walking on the path of the ancient gods, but due to Wang Lin’s indecision before, it caused that path to be incredibly difficult.
But after the enlightenment in the old shrine, he was able to understand the mysteries of his life and death domain. As a result, Wang Lin decided to have his original body walk the path of the ancient gods.
Wang Lin looked at his original body, which was currently cultivating. He opened his bag of holding and took out several blood drops filled with killing intent and then pointed at the original body’s brow. The blood drops flew into the original body one by one.
The original body’s white hair immediately turned red and his killing intent reached its peak.
At this moment, the original body seemed a bit similar to Te Sen from the land of the ancient god.
After a long time, the original body finished absorbing all the spiritual energy and opened his eyes. His eyes had no pupils, they were only two masses of red. Combined with the red hair, he didn’t look human. Instead, he looked like an ancient demon.
Wang Lin and his original body both let out a faint smiles. However, their smiles would shock anyone who saw them. The original body’s smile was filled with the sense of being far above others, while the avatar’s smile was filled with bloodlust.
Wang Lin slapped his bag of holding and took out several hundred bottles of pills. This was a large majority of the pills Li Muwan had given him back then. The moment those pills appeared, the original body opened its mouth. All of the bottles broke as the pills flew into its mouth, turned into spiritual energy, and moved through its body.
The ancient god’s tactic worked frantically inside his body to absorb all of the spiritual energy from the pills. Gradually, the original body became even harder and had a slightly metallic sheen.
Finally, golden threads came out of the original body’s pores and his clothes all disappeared as well.
The number of golden threads increased as more pills entered his mouth and the ancient god’s tactic operated. Finally, the golden threads intertwined and formed a golden cocoon.
Waves of pressure came out of the golden cocoon. The beating sound of a powerful heart come from inside the cocoon.
However, no one but the avatar could hear this sound.
The avatar stared at the golden cocoon the original body was in and sat down to guard it.
13 days later, the beating inside the golden cocoon became even louder. It was like a beating drum. Finally, when that sound reached its peak, a crack appeared on the golden cocoon.
More and more cracks appeared and the cracks grew larger and larger. Finally, the cocoon was covered in cracks and a very blinding purple light leaked through them.
Crisp crackling sounds came from the golden cocoon , then large chunks of the cocoon’s shell fell off. Then a bronze-colored arm reached out from inside the golden cocoon.
Subsequently, his original body walked out of the golden cocoon. His red hair that looked like flowing blood was behind his shoulders and the two purple stars on his forehead slowly rotated in a circle.
His eyes were no longer red and had darkened a lot, but if one looked closely, it looked as if his eyes contained seas of blood.
The original body managed to reach the second transformation of the ancient god after absorbing his original body’s cultivation and countless pills.
The amount of spiritual energy needed for an ancient god to undergo transformation now was countless times the amount required before.
After the original body appeared, it silently pondered and looked at the avatar. The avatar slapped his bag of holding and took out a flying sword. He pointed at the original body and the flying sword flew at it.
The original body didn’t block; it let the flying sword attack it. At the moment of impact, there was a sound of two metal objects colliding. Sounds of two metal objects hitting each other continued and even sparks appeared.
The original body casually reached and grabbed the flying sword. It tightened its hold and, with a crack, the flying sword broke into pieces and became useless metal.
The original body and avatar both let out smiles of satisfaction. After pondering a little, the original body sank into the ground and disappeared.
According to the memories of the ancient god, if a baby ancient god hasn’t been tested at the center of the planet, then he will never become a true ancient god. When Wang Lin decided on this road, he had already made his decision.
The original body continued to sink into the earth until it reached a point where the pressure would be too powerful even for cultivators. However, with the help of the ancient god’s tactic, the original body didn’t feel anything and continued to descend.
Even Wang Lin wasn’t sure how far it had descended, but his original body still hadn’t reached the center of Suzaku. He made a rough estimate and believed that he was 1/6th of the way there.
However, this was already the limit of the original body. If he were to continue to descend, his body would collapse.
After all, in ancient times, the adult ancient gods would surround the baby ancient god in a drop of their blood to provide for the baby and help protect the baby from the powerful pressure at the center of the planet.
The original body sat down cross-legged and began to quietly cultivate… Unless the avatar encounters a life and death situation, it wouldn’t move; it would continue to cultivate.
Aside from that, the only movement the original body would make was go down toward the center of Suzaku to complete the way of the ancient god, but the path to become a real ancient god was simply too hard.
The ancient gods went through three losses and seven trials. Every single time was a life and death test. It would be impossible to complete it all without spending a very large amount of time.
What is even more unbearable compared to all of this is the solitude…
One must cultivate in solitude, endure the solitude, and finally, enjoy the solitude.
Also, the disappearance of the ancient gods weighted on Wang Lin’s heart like a giant rock. In ancient times, after Tu Si died, some unimaginable things happened that caused the celestial realm to be destroyed, the ancient celestials went extinct, the ancient gods went extinct, and this even affected the ancient cultivation world, causing the cultivation union to appear.
Although all of those things were very distant from Wang Lin, once someone learns that Wang Lin was cultivating the path of the ancient gods, those things might not be so distant anymore.
Therefore, Wang Lin could not let anyone know that he had an original body following the path of the ancient gods.
Otherwise, there would be disaster coming his way!
After the original body left, Wang Lin’s avatar looked up while inside the cave. His gaze seemed to be able to see through the cave walls and saw the sky above it.
Wang Lin softly said the two words, “Soul Formation!”
He stretched out his arms as his life and death domain began to slowly spread. It covered the entire back mountain, it covered the Xuan Dao Sect, and continued to spread.
Slowly, the life and death domain continued to spread until it covered all of Zhao.
He slowly closed his eyes as he comprehended the laws of the heavens and the life and death domain.
At this moment, whether it was the mortals or cultivators, everyone felt something in their hearts. The mortals could only experience a mysterious feeling, but all of the cultivators began to panic.
The expressions of the few Nascent Soul cultivators in Zhao greatly changed and they flew out from their various sects to check what was going on. However, with their cultivation levels, they would only feel and not locate where it was coming from.
Not to mention them, even the few remaining Nascent Soul cultivators in the Xuan Dao Sect didn’t know that the source of this feeling was in their back mountain.
At this moment, Wang Lin felt what everyone was feeling. The feelings of panic and daze, confusion and shock, and all these various other feelings were laid out before him.
Gradually, the clouds disappeared until there were no clouds or wind in the entire country of Zhao. Only a sense of peace was left. In this peace, all of the mortals and cultivators affected by the life and death domain calmed down.
In the mortal world, from the king to the peasants, everyone seemed to have lost control of themselves as they bowed toward one direction.
This was even true for cultivators, no matter what cultivation level they had reached.
As the sense of calmness spread, a few of the Nascent Soul cultivators noticed that this heavenly change was coming from the Xuan Dao Sect.
The Xuan Dao Sect was now empty after the few Nascent Soul cultivators ordered everyone else to leave. All of the disciples of the Xuan Dao Sect were now kneeling outside the sect.
These Nascent Soul cultivators were all very nervous as they had a guess as to what was going on. That guess was that there was a guest reaching the Soul Formation stage here, but this guess was too unbelievable and it caused them to be very nervous.
Although they had never experienced these kinds of changes in the heavens before, they had read about them in ancient records. It was a bit different from the records, but this kind of change could only happen when someone was reaching the Soul Formation stage.
At this moment, one question appeared in the remaining Nascent Soul cultivators’ minds.
Who the hell was reaching the Soul Formation stage here? Why did this person choose to do it here… could this person be someone from Zhao?
This speculation from the people that vaguely understood what was happening caused them to become extremely excited. This type of excitement was something they had never felt before.
Wang Lin sat cross-legged inside the cave, and at this moment his body was emitting a rainbow colored light. In this light, Wang Lin had the air of an immortal.
Gradually, a little person that looked exactly like Wang Lin flew out from his forehead. This was his Nascent Soul.
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