Chapter 2088 - Suddenly Looking Back
Immemorial God Realm, at the center of the circular continent, stood the seven-colored snowy mountain, and two figures were standing on it.
They were Wang Lin and Li Muwan.
They stood there, looking at the bridge not far away, and softly spoke to each other.
Wang Lin’s gaze was gentle as he looked at Li Muwan. He had waited for this for a long time, and now, after thousands of years, it had finally happened.
The seven-colored snow that fell no longer had a sorrowful feeling. It was completely different from the scene Wang Lin had seen inside the ancestral temple.
Wang Lin softly said, “It is a long story. Wan Er, once we leave, we will find an ordinary place, then I’ll spend a lifetime telling you the story… And Ping Er and his wife, Qing Yi. You will definitely love them.”
Li Muwan nodded lightly. She looked at the man before her, and he looked the same as before, only there was hidden trace of time on his face.
She could imagine what kinds of hardships and what kind of price Wang Lin had paid in order to awaken her.
“Now let me take you to trample the heavens together…” As Wang Lin looked up at the bridge not far away, his eyes shined the brightest they ever had in thousands of years. There was no sorrow in his eyes.
He pulled Li Muwan’s hand. After she awakened, he had never let go. He was afraid that once he let go, he would never find her again.
Their two figures gradually walked onto the Heaven Trampling Bridge, toward the end of the bridge that was connected to the illusion.
Li Muwan also held Wang Lin’s hand and didn’t want to let go for the rest of her life. She felt the warmth coming from his hand that made her heart feel warmth and peace that crossed thousands of years.
Their figures gradually arrived at the end of the bridge. Just as they were about to enter, Wang Lin stopped and waved his left hand at the ground.
This wave caused three rays of light to fly toward the earth.
The first ray of light was half a compass. It flew toward the earth and caused the circular earth to rumble. The half-illusory part of the earth became real and the countless trenches and mountains shined brightly. After it was complete, it began to activate.
The second ray of light was a giant pointer. It rapidly descended and fused with the seven-colored snowy mountain. The pointer swept across the earth.
A powerful aura spread out from the earth and rumbled across the world.
The third ray of light was a bead, a white bead, the Heaven Defying Bead!
It floated in the world and emitted a soft light. Its appearance caused the entire place, the Boundary Compass, to become complete.
Wang Lin softly said, “Withdraw!”
The moment he spoke, the earth rumbled and shrank rapidly, leaving behind large amount of fog. A moment later, the continent disappeared, the seven-colored snowy mountain disappeared, everything in the world except the bridge Wang Lin and Li Muwan were on disappeared. Everything was gone - it had all turned into a palm-sized compass!
The compass hummed and floated above Wang Lin’s left hand and continued to rotate. It shrank once more, and what appeared in Wang Lin’s hand was the Heaven Defying Bead!
The Heaven Defying Bead was the most critical part of the Boundary Compass, and it looked no different when the Boundary Compass was complete.
Holding the bead, Wang Lin looked back. He could not see the sky or the earth, only the void. At the end of the void, he saw a figure.
It was Gu Dao.
Gu Dao stared at all of this dumbfoundedly. He saw the only bridge that existed in the void and the two figures on the bridge.
“This is the answer…” Gu Dao muttered, revealing a complicated expression.
Wang Lin smiled faintly and waved his right hand. A vortex appeared behind Gu Dao, and inside the vortex was the Immortal Astral Continent. Gu Dao silently pondered for a moment before he bowed at Wang Lin and disappeared into the vortex.
After he left, Wang Lin pulled Li Muwan, who had also seen the figure but asked no questions, toward the end of the bridge and disappeared into the illusion.
After Wang Lin departed, the bridge turned into specks of light and disappeared into the void here.
This place was a paradise-like garden. In the distance, there was a pavilion, and there was a stone table and two stone charis. On the stone chair next to the table sat someone with their back to Wang Lin. This person was wearing a grey robe and had grey hair, but Wang Lin was unable to see his appearance.
There was someone standing behind this person like a servant.
Wang Lin pulled Li Muwan out of the void and arrived at this garden-like place. When Wang Lin entered with Li Muwan, the servant turned around. He looked at Wang Lin and smiled.
Wang Lin looked at this servant, the servant looked a bit old, but he still immediately recognized this person.
Wang Lin slowly said, “Ling Tianhou.”
“I am and also I’m not.” The servant shook his head but didn’t speak. The person who had spoken was the grey-robed man who had his back to Wang Lin. He turned around and smiled at Wang Lin.
The grey-robed man looked at Wang Lin with a smile and said, “This must be Madam Wang, indeed a good match for Fellow Cultivator Wang.”
Li Muwan remained calm and didn’t speak. She stood beside Wang Lin and calmly looked at the grey-robed man.
Wang Lin looked at the grey-robed man and suddenly smiled. He pulled Li Muwan toward the opposite side of the old man and he waved his sleeve. An overlapping shadow appeared on the last remaining stone chair, turning it into two. He sat down together with Li Muwan.
On the table between him and the grey-robed man was a board. The black and white pieces on it were scattered - it was obviously a bad situation.
“Your avatar left after playing half the game. I’ve waited for so many years, and you’ve finally arrived. Let us continue.” The grey-robed man smiled as he picked up a black piece and placed it on the board.
“You are the guardian?” Wang Lin glanced at the board and looked at the grey-robed man.
The grey-robed man looked up and smiled “I’m and so are you.”
“The All-Seer is the treasure spirit, and I left a strand of divine sense on him. That was the grey-robed All-Seer you saw.” The grey-robed man looked exactly the same as the All-Seer. However, the feeling he gave off was different. As he had said, he was the grey-robed All-Seer.
“Just like how the Seven-Colored Realm was originally created by your avatar. It was later found by the treasured spirit and used by it. I was also very curious, but now I see that reincarnation is so simple to you.
“Those imitation Heaven Defying Beads in the Seven-Colored Realm were created by your slaughter avatar when tried to find out what the one missing thing was. Those dao scriptures were all just your life experiences.
“Walk the path of the true dao… The ‘true’ in that line refers to one’s true self in reincarnation. The meaning of this line is for all life forms to search for their true self so they can walk out of reincarnation.” The grey-robed man revealed admiration in his eyes as he spoke.
“I don’t have a name. If I’m the first in the Defying Earth Realm to reach Heaven Trampling, then you are the second. Other than you and me, no other life form could trample the heavens to arrive at this place.
“Aside from that avatar of yours…” The grey-robed man said with a smile.
Wang Lin silently pondered for a moment. He still hadn’t let go of Li Muwan’s hand as he looked at the grey-robed man and asked, “Did you create the Boundary Compass? Did you seal the treasure spirit inside?”
“The fourth step, Heaven Trampling, is the limit of the Defying Earth Realm, but in the vast universe of the four realms, there are some who have reached the fifth step… Or the sixth step… Before I came here, this board already existed.
“Let’s play, it’s your turn…” the grey-robed man whispered.
Wang Lin silently pondered for a moment and then smiled. He raised his right hand. There was already a white bead in his hand. He held this white piece and put it on the board.
The moment the white piece landed, the board suddenly changed. The white and black pieces all began to move as if they were trying to divinate something. When Li Muwan looked over, all the black and white pieces had fused into only two pieces.
One black, one white.
The white piece was on Wang Lin’s side and the black piece was on the grey-robed man’s side.
“Do you understand?” Wang Lin looked up at the grey-robed man.
The grey-robed man pondered for a moment before he let out a sigh and nodded. “...I understand.”
Wang Lin smiled as he stood up and pulled Li Muwan. He didn’t look back at the two people or the board, but stepped forward with Li Muwan, and the two of them disappeared from this place.
After he disappeared, the white piece on the board slowly became illusory and eventually disappeared, as if it had followed Wang Lin.
Wang Lin left with Li Muwan.
On the Immortal Astral Continent, no one other than Gu Dao knew what had happened inside the Immemorial God Realm.
Wang Lin sat down on a calm mountain in the Ancient clan. Li Muwan sat behind him and gently looked at him. Wang Lin remained here for several days.
He seemed to be waiting for something, Li Muwan didn’t know what, and she didn’t want to know. As long as she could be beside Wang Lin, she was already satisfied. However, there was still a question in hear heart, but she wanted to wait for Wang Lin to awaken up to ask.
Another three days passed. At the dusk of this day, while the sky was dim, Wang Lin opened his eyes and looked at the sky.
At this moment, a man wearing black with long, black hair appeared outside the Immortal Astral Continent. His body was filled with slaughter and destruction. He stood outside the Immortal Astral Continent and his indifferent eyes fell on the Ancient clan, where he saw someone looking at him.
His appearance was the same as Wang Lin’s!
After pondering for a moment, the black-robed man rushed into the Immortal Astral Continent. He turned into a ray of black light and flew toward the Ancient clan. He rushed toward the mountain Wang Lin was on and arrived before him.
When he saw Li Muwan, his indifferent gaze became gentle.
“You didn’t have to come.” Wang Lin looked at his slaughter avatar.
The black-robed man silently pondered, then he raised his hand to break a strand of his black hair. When he loosened his hand, the black hair fluttered and gradually turned white.
The moment the strand of white hair appeared, Wang Lin raised his right hand and a strand of white hair appeared as well. However, the moment this strand of white hair appeared, it gradually dissipated.
The man in black looked at Li Muwan once more. He closed his eyes as he became black gas and erased his own consciousness to fuse with Wang Lin’s body.
Wang Lin absorbed all the black gas and the slaughter avatar appeared in his body once more. He looked at Li Muwan and suddenly understood why the slaughter avatar had chosen to dissipate his own consciousness and fuse with him after gaining independence.
“For me, it was 500 years… for him, it was countless reincarnations…”
“What are you looking at me for?” Li Muwan smiled.
Wang Lin suddenly asked, “Did you see him?”
“Who?” Li Muwan was startled. She hadn’t seen anything just now.
“Nothing. Let us leave. Don’t you want to see Wang Ping and his wife? Let us go to a place where no one knows us and begin an ordinary life…” Wang Lin stood up and smiled.
“Not going to cultivate?” Li Muwan blinked and stood up next to Wang Lin.
“Cultivation is in the heart. After finding my true self, everywhere is the same.” Wang Lin smiled as he held Li Muwan. The two of them turned into a ray of light and disappeared into the dusk.
“Wang Lin, after the game ended, you said ‘did you understand…’ I don’t really understand it… What is there to understand?” Li Muwan’s gentle voice echoed.
The two of them gradually flew away and disappeared into the horizon.
They didn’t see that at this moment, in the corner of Blackstone City, not far away from this mountain, a woman in white had her back to the lights of countless homes. As she looked at the ray of light flying away in the sky, tears flowed down the corner of her eyes. The tears flowed across her cheek and dripped onto her clothes.
“Forget it, let’s forget everything… The fish in the previous life also watched the bird fade away inside the water…” the woman murmured. Her eyes were hazy. The fish in the water seemed to be crying, but the tears melted in the water, so the bird could not see them.
“In the previous life, we were a bird and a fish, but in this life, we are not…” A soft voice suddenly appeared behind the woman.
The woman’s delicate body suddenly trembled. She suddenly looked back and saw the figure smiling at her...