Chapter 183 – Sudden Change
The third trial isn’t true Nirvana, but rather a crack in space. However, the space within the crack is incredibly vast.
Wang Lin slowly underwent the third trial. As he moved forward, he would grab at the seemingly empty space around him, and each grab would give him another wandering soul to consume.
Wang Lin hadn’t felt the sensation of devouring souls for a long time. He calculated that it had been decades since he left the foreign battlefield.
However, thanks to the power of world law, he still remembers his time on the foreign battlefield like it was yesterday.
Xu Ligou and the second demon followed behind Wang Lin, feeling worried and afraid the entire time. They didn’t dare to breathe as they watched the ancestor, who was many times stronger than them, being swallowed without even being able to resist. They felt completely helpless.
Although Wang Lin’s great soul was condensed back then for the sake of a bit of knowledge of the Ji Realm, his ability to devour souls still remained, and as a result, he became a soul master.
As Wang Lin walked, he sent his Divine Sense out in all directions. Since this realm was like Nirvana, and was filled with wandering souls, there must also be soul devourers.
Wang Lin was not sure if soul devourers could devour each other. Unless it was a last resort, soul devourers would not attack each other, but would solve their problems symbiotically.
After flying for quite some time, Wang Lin had devoured many souls, but not a single soul devourer had contacted him. He pondered for a moment, then raised his hands, and the floating rocks nearby began to move towards him.
Soon, the rocks collided with each other and formed a large stone mountain. Wang Lin jumped onto the mountain, then he flicked his right hand, causing blue flames to appear from it.
Wang Lin’s eyes flickered. He placed his right hand on the rocky mountain, and the blue flames merged into the mountain. The mountain, which had many large cracks between the rocks, was quickly surrounded by a blue light that emitted a cold air. All the cracks in the rocky mountain were sealed by ice and tightly bound together.
Wang Lin released his right hand from the mountain, and the blue fire was absorbed back into his body. He took a deep breath. His Divine Sense Eye flickered continuously, and his right hand moved rapidly. After a moment, an illusory circle appeared, and he pointed it toward the mountain he had just created.
When the illusionary circle landed on the mountain, the entire mountain shone brightly, but it quickly returned to normal. Wang Lin took another deep breath. His right hand moved, and illusionary circles appeared one by one before him and merged into the mountain.
Soon, the mountain quickly turned into a miniature version of the mountain of restrictions.
Wang Lin nearly fell as he took a small step. He slowly began to move towards the mountain until he reached the center. He then formed another illusionary circle and stuck to the rock wall.
The entire mountain shook, and slowly shrank at a rate visible to the human eye, until it was the same size as the other floating rocks. Anyone who saw it now would be unable to distinguish it from the other floating rocks around it.
With Wang Lin’s body sealed within the mountain, he left a small portion of his soul within his body using the Divine Consciousness of the Ji Realm, and the rest of his soul left his body. This portion of his soul immediately formed an illusory body.
Now that Wang Lin’s soul was no longer within his body, no longer restricted by his physical form, his Divine Sense spread out in all directions. From a distance, you would see layers of Wang Lin’s Divine Sense radiating out, causing all the wandering souls nearby to emerge from the void, their faces pale with fear.
Soon, all the wandering souls received their orders. As Wang Lin’s Divine Sense spread further, more and more wandering souls sensed Wang Lin’s presence. Their faces paled and they began to scatter.
As soon as Wang Lin’s soul left his body, he returned to his soul-devouring form. He quickly swept through the void, and all the wandering souls he passed would greet him respectfully.
Gradually, Wang Lin sensed the presence of another enormous soul. It was another soul devourer, but this soul was in a very strange state, as if it were sleeping.
The large soul didn’t respond to Wang Lin’s Divine Sense at all. Wang Lin wavered slightly. He ignored the soul devourer and continued to expand his divine sense to bring more wandering souls under his control.
At that moment, Duanmu was sitting on another rock somewhere in the third trial with a bitter expression on his face. Next to him was Wang Qingyue with a cold expression on her face.
Duanmu and Wang Qingyue crossed the void tunnel together and arrived at the golden land of the first trial. In the first trial, they relied on Wang Qingyue’s Five Elements Escape Technique, allowing them to calmly pass the first trial and continue their journey to the mountain of restrictions.
The fact that Duanmu was able to cross the barrier mountain would surprise everyone who knew him.
A thousand years ago, he received a treasure from the treasure pagoda. It was a piece of jade with a single crack in it. According to his understanding, this jade had only one other use.
Later, he conducted extensive research and discovered that the purpose of this jade was to destroy all restrictions. As a result, Duanmu’s determination to return to the Land of the Ancient Gods was rekindled.
He knew his cultivation was inferior to the others. Back then, thanks to his luck and caution, he was able to save his life. He knew his limits well and had decided never to return, but when he learned of the jade’s usefulness, his heart was touched.
Still, he was extremely cautious and hesitant because he couldn’t even pass the first test without mastering the Five Elements Escape Technique.
Duanmu pondered this for a long time and gave up on studying the Five Elements technique. Learning it would require him to devote all his time, and even if he did, he wasn’t guaranteed to pass the first test. There were also attacks from large monsters to consider.
He clearly remembered one of his experiences in the ice world.
Therefore, Duanmu sought out his friend Wang Qingyue to travel with him. Wang Qingyue was a master of the Five Elements Escape Technique, and after Duanmu told him that the first trial required the Five Elements Escape Technique, he decided to give it a try. After all, if what Duanmu said was true, the temptation was too great.
To reassure Wang Qingyue, Duanmu took out his jade slip. Upon seeing the slip, Wang Qingyue immediately recognized it as a long-lost ancient weapon, dispelling any doubts he had.
However, he was very cautious and didn’t immediately agree. He wanted to wait until the Land of the Ancient Gods opened before making a decision.
Duanmu didn’t mind. He had already made up his mind. If Wang Qingyue wouldn’t leave, then he would trade this jade with the Six Desires Demon Sovereign for some magical treasures.
However, he still had to prepare in case Wang Qingyue decided to leave. He had passed the first and second trials without any problems, but the third trial was the problem. After all, it was the third trial that had forced them to use the inheritance to create a tunnel for their escape a thousand years ago.
As for the strange creatures in the third trial, if there were only one or two, he wouldn’t be afraid. If there were eight or ten, as long as he paid a little attention, he wouldn’t worry. Even if there were hundreds, relying on his cultivation, he could still survive. However, if there were thousands, even if he were a god, he wouldn’t be able to do anything.
These creatures were extremely strange. They were immune to almost all spells. Only the true fire within a person’s body could force them back. However, if there were many of them, there was no way to track them all. If they landed on a person, they would drain their spiritual energy, and if too many landed on them, the only way left was death.
As a result, he sought out a magical treasure that protected the soul. However, this type of magical treasure was too rare. Although he managed to collect a few, he was still unsure about the third trial.
It wasn’t until he went to Nandou City and heard someone talking about the Death Spell that he suddenly remembered he had heard of it before. The Death Spell was a spell that specifically attacked the soul. It was an evil spell. He was overjoyed, because if there was a way to gain the help of someone with this ability, then there was a chance of passing the third trial.
He then began searching, until he found Wang Lin. The initial journey was very peaceful. Duanmu believed that as long as they worked together, the first three realms would be no problem, especially after he learned of the candidate chosen by the Six Desires Devil Sovereign to pass the third trial. Duanmu was confident that as long as there was no internal strife, reaching the Land of the Ancient Gods was only a matter of time.
Although the Land of the Ancient Gods had four realms, from the inherited treasures, they discovered that the fourth realm was simply a teleportation array that transported one to the body of the Ancient God.
The teleportation array moved everyone based on the time it took to pass through the first three realms. The shorter the time, the closer one was to the Ancient God’s body. It was even possible to teleport directly to the Ancient God’s meridian. Once inside the meridian, not only would there be dried, condensed Qi Linq Beads, but there would also be residue from many medicines. According to the inheritance, the residue of the Soul Transformation Pill would be among the residue of the medicines.
To the ancient gods, it might just be a remnant, but to them, it counted as a true Soul Transformation Pill.
Unfortunately, his plans were ruined by a giant dragon in the tunnel, causing everyone to scatter, especially Wang Lin, who charged into its mouth. Afterward, a red dragon appeared. This series of events shocked Duanmu and caused him to panic. In the crisis, he had to give up searching for Wang Lin and immediately fled with Wang Qingyue.
In fact, he was the fastest person to pass the first and second trials, and even reach the third. However, on the third trial, his face looked sour.
Without Wang Lin’s Death Spell, even though he was able to keep himself alive with the treasures he had accumulated over the past thousand years, it would have been impossible to dive deeper to find the entrance to the fourth realm.
As a result, even though he and Wang Qingyue were the first to enter the third trial, they were trapped here, unable to proceed.
At that time, the Six Desire Devil Lord was also flying around the third trial, searching for the exit to the fourth realm. Whenever a wandering soul attacked him, he would wave his hand, and a blue light would shine from the young man’s body. The wandering soul would surrender to the Six Desire Devil Lord and attack the young man.
However, after the wandering spirits entered the young man’s body, they disappeared without a trace. On the surface, there was no change in the young man’s body.
The Six Desires Demon Lord relied on this method as he traveled. Although there were some scares, there was no real danger. The worst moment was when he encountered a group of thousands of wandering souls, but with a wave of his hand, the young man’s body flashed, and all the wandering souls immediately flew to him.
He looked down at the body he was holding and smiled coldly. Although he had fallen into that junior’s trap and been struck by lightning, causing his entire cultivation level to permanently drop by one stage, dropping to the early Soul Formation stage, with the treasures he had prepared over the past thousand years, he would definitely break through to the fourth realm this time.
After thinking about it, his heart pounded, his blood rushed, and his eyes burned. What was the point of losing a single cultivation stage compared to obtaining a Soul Transformation Pill from the body of an Ancient God? After obtaining the Soul Transformation Pill, he could become a YingBian stage expert. At that time, let alone the Sea of Devils, even in the Vermilion Bird star system, as long as he didn’t offend the Vermilion Bird Empire, he could do whatever he wanted.
After thinking this, he quickened his pace as he searched around. The inheritance treasure from the Land of the Ancient Gods was in his hands. Originally, his master had owned it and had gathered people to search this Land of the Ancient Gods.
His master died on his third attempt and left him a treasure. He planned to use this treasure to open a tunnel to leave this place, but at the most critical moment, he attracted the attention of a creature far more powerful and different from the others around him, resulting in his master’s death.
Six Desire Devil Lord was horrified after witnessing his master’s death, and immediately fled into the tunnel to escape.
At this time, there was another person in the third trial, the Ancient Emperor. He sat cross-legged on a rock with four flags revolving around him and a pagoda the size of his face above his head, emitting a harmonious light.
In the outer area of the pagoda’s light, if one looked carefully, they could see countless wandering souls crowding around the edges of the light, staring greedily at the Ancient Emperor.
However, not a single wandering soul was willing to enter the light of the pagoda.
The Ancient Emperor looked bitter. As he left the second trial, he was chased by a flash of purple lightning. Relying on his life-saving treasure, he was able to survive, but the treasure was destroyed, and his cultivation dropped to the late Nascent Soul stage.
After entering the third trial, he didn’t dare to go too deep. He set up base on a rock in the outer area, trying to restore his cultivation base to the Soul Formation stage. With his current Nascent Soul cultivation, if he were in the first or second trial, he could protect himself, but here, in the extremely dangerous third trial, there was no way for him to survive.
What really annoyed the Ancient Emperor was that the whirlpool leading to the third test was initially motionless, then suddenly moved him to a very unfavorable location.
He was teleported to the middle of the third test. If he didn’t make this pagoda immediately, he would be attacked by wandering souls.
At that point, he was out of options. He could only keep the pagoda’s light burning, leaving him completely trapped there.
Thinking of this, his face filled with hatred. He blamed the mysterious person for causing all this. His hatred for him was immense.
However, he was still confused about the identity of the mysterious person. According to his analysis, it should be that child Wang Lin, but he refused to believe that he was forced into this miserable state by someone from the younger generation.
Speaking of Wang Lin, he was currently spreading his Divine Sense, sweeping through the entire third trial. Besides him, there was only one other soul devourer, and its number was far fewer than in the Outer Battlefield. It seemed like there were many because the area was much smaller.
Furthermore, Wang Lin had discovered the entrance to the fourth realm. The entrance wasn’t in the center, but in the northwest. Numerous souls were wandering around the entrance, accounting for nearly a quarter of all the souls in the realm.
Meanwhile, all the wandering souls under his control had sent him messages using a special method. They had followed his instructions and found the Six Devil Desire Lord and the Ancient Emperor.
What surprised Wang Lin was that the wandering soul also found Duanmu and Wang Qingyue.
Wang Lin pondered for a moment, then sent his Divine Sense toward the Ancient Emperor. According to a wandering spirit, the Ancient Emperor currently had the lowest cultivation base and was trapped in his current location.
After a while, Wang Lin’s soul appeared at the end of the pagoda light above the Ancient Emperor’s head after following the wandering souls under his control. He stared at the pale-faced Ancient Emperor and began to ponder.
Wang Lin devoured the souls here, and his soul grew immensely. Although its level wasn’t the same as before, in terms of quality, his soul far surpassed his original. After all, his soul wasn’t an ordinary one, but a Ji Realm Soul.
When he arrived, the Ancient Emperor’s eyes flashed and he stared coldly at Wang Lin. Although he could only see a dark void, he could clearly sense a soul that was very different from the other souls around him.
When the soul arrived, all the other wandering souls scattered. If he looked closely at the shadows, he could see their faces pale with fear.
Upon seeing this, the Ancient Emperor’s heart skipped a beat. He immediately took a pill to ensure he had enough spiritual energy to maintain the pagoda’s light.
Wang Lin stared at the Ancient Emperor within the light. He sent a message through his divine sense, and the ten wandering souls suddenly charged forward. Although their faces were filled with fear, they still charged into the light. The moment they touched the light, they were met with intense resistance. They couldn’t even get within five feet of the Ancient Emperor before green smoke appeared on their bodies, forcing them to retreat.
However, the light from the pagoda was dim.
Wang Lin’s soul sent out another message. This time, all the wandering souls nearby, over ten thousand of them, condensed into shadows and stared at the pagoda.
The Ancient Emperor’s heart pounded. This was bad. He immediately gestured with his hand and sent a wave of light into the pagoda. With each wave of light, his face grew paler. After the last wave, his face turned chalk-white, and his cultivation base dropped to the mid-Nascent Soul stage.
At the same time, all the wandering souls coordinated into a wave and began attacking the light. However, all the wandering souls began to smoke and were only able to reach within ten feet of the Ancient Emperor. The distance to the Ancient Emperor was still very far.
The Ancient Emperor laughed heartily. He had already given it his all. The number of wandering souls was simply too great for him to contend with. Even the seniors from a thousand years ago were consumed by these wandering souls. How could he, who had already damaged his cultivation to this extent, hope to survive? He was afraid of running out of Linq Qi and being unable to keep the pagoda running, only to be overrun by the wandering souls.
From beginning to end, Wang Lin didn’t move. He knew that if they were outside, the Ancient Emperor would be able to kill him with a flick of his finger. However, here, he was a soul devourer and could manipulate wandering souls. Their roles had reversed.
Of course, if he attacked directly now, he would be no match for the Ancient Emperor. Even though he was a soul devourer, he was still too weak.
However, just like the soul devourer’s ability, this wandering soul’s ability is to devour life force. Even if someone’s cultivation base is high, if too many wandering souls attach themselves to them, they will be unable to resist.
If one knew enough about wandering souls, they would know that if even one of them appeared in the mortal world, it would cause a catastrophe. Of course, it had to be a complete wandering soul, far more powerful than a demon like Xu Ligou.
The third trial in the Land of the Ancient Gods was, in fact, a death trap. Only a few had successfully passed this realm. The Land of the Ancient Gods had existed for countless years, and the Six Desire Devil Lord’s master was not the first to enter the third trial. Many had entered before, but like him, they all died in the third trial.
The souls wandering there cannot be easily destroyed, and their numbers are immense. Even if a soul is consumed, as long as a single shred of it remains, it can be resurrected. It’s an endless cycle.
The reason Wang Lin felt at home here was due to his experience and some special encounters he had while on the foreign battlefield. With all of that, he could act as if he were the boss here.
If only his body hadn’t been destroyed by Teng Huayaun, if only Situ Nan hadn’t willingly put his Nascent Soul into a deep sleep so that Wang Lin’s soul wouldn’t be destroyed, if only he hadn’t accidentally entered the rift of the foreign battlefield, if only he hadn’t started devouring souls until he became a soul devourer… if only any of those things hadn’t happened, and Wang Lin had still been able to reach the third trial, he wouldn’t have the status of a king here that he did now.
All those pale-faced wandering souls were just food for Wang Lin, but without this food, in the Ancient Emperor’s mind, he was just a brilliant Core Formation junior. If it weren’t for the various circumstances restricting everyone here, all they would have to do was lift a finger to kill Wang Lin.
It’s just that in this world, there are too many unpredictable things, such as under special circumstances an ant can kill an elephant, and even a light straw can still crush a camel. Some things in this world have no proper explanation.
We can only say that everything changes, and nothing lasts forever. Just like how Hunchback Meng, who was supposed to die in the first trial, appeared in the third trial with powers similar to Ancient God Tu Si, and how he died in the first trial is inexplicable. Starting from the third trial in the Land of the Ancient Gods, things became increasingly confusing and strange.