Chapter 208 – The Final Destination of the Realm of Ji
Wang Lin frowned. His gaze fell on the giant turtle beneath the old man for a moment. The aura this giant turtle emitted was very similar to the giant dragon in the land of the ancient gods.
Most importantly, this giant turtle looked exactly like the giant turtle in the memories of the ancient gods.
“Xuanwu!!” Qiu Siping’s eyes suddenly widened, his pupils constricted, and his face suddenly changed color. He formed many different seals with his hands and sent them towards the statue in front of him.
Suddenly the whole boat started to turn so that it could surround the old man.
“Xuanwu…” Wang Lin stared at the turtle for a moment and pondered. In his memories, there was no Xuanwu, but a creature named Ti Shou.
This beast primarily feeds on spiritual energy. Its attack is a roar that, if heard by an ordinary cultivator, will cause their spiritual energy to go out of control, causing their body to collapse and become the beast’s meal.
The cursing old man took out a large, dirty gourd. After taking a deep gulp, he began cursing again. He didn’t even look at the boat Wang Lin and Qiu Siping were on.
Sweat beaded on Qiu Siping’s forehead. He carefully controlled the boat to slowly circle the old man. Only after flying far away from the old man did he finally let out a breath and turned to Wang Lin. He said, “Since that person can use a Xuanwu as a mount, his cultivation must be at an unimaginable level. It seems that the changes in this Sea of Devils have caused many powerful old fellows to appear. Fortunately, he didn’t disturb us, or we would have been in trouble.”
Wang Lin looked at Qiu Siping and said with a gloomy expression, “Maybe not.”
Qiu Siping was stunned. Wang Lin pointed with his right hand. Qiu Siping turned his head and saw the scene before him.
The old man stood on top of the giant turtle while cursing loudly.
Qiu Siping pondered for a moment and said one word, “Formation?”
Wang Lin didn’t bother with Qiu Siping. He walked to the head of the boat and looked around. When the boat was turning earlier, he had sensed something strange, like a fluctuation of power coming from the turtle’s legs.
After pondering for a moment, Wang Lin said, “This is not a formation, but a kind of restriction!”
Qiu Siping frowned slightly. He looked around and said bitterly, “With our cultivation alone, there’s no way this senior can force this restriction on us, right?”
Wang Lin did not speak, but continued to observe the area with his divine senses. This old man would not just stop them for no reason. It seemed that there would be trouble ahead.
The old man looked tired of cursing. He took another sip of the gourd and sat down. His gaze fell on the boat that Qiu Siping and Wang Lin were on.
The old man grabbed it with his right hand, and suddenly the boat flew toward him. Soon, the boat was only 10 feet away from him.
Qiu Siping immediately put on a respectful face and said, “Junior Qiu Siping greets senior.”
The old man blinked and said, “You know me?”
Qiu Siping was stunned and quickly said, “Senior…”
“I don’t know you, so how can you know me? If you don’t know me, then why are you calling me senior? Am I that old? Alright. Let me tell you about the things that happened when I was three years old. After I finish telling you about everything that happened in the past few thousand years, then you can say that you know me. When I was three years old…” As the old man began to speak, he continued to talk non-stop, causing Qiu Siping to be completely dumbfounded and unable to say a word.
After a long time, the old man finally stopped talking and took another sip of wine from his gourd. The gourd was now empty, and the old man’s mouth twitched as he muttered, “If I had known I would talk so much today, I would have brought more wine. Now that there’s nothing left, you two come with me to get more wine, and I’ll tell you about my experiences when I was 75 years old on my journey.”
Qiu Siping’s face twitched. He immediately took out some wine from his bag and said, “Sen… uh… junior has some wine, so there’s no need to buy any more.”
The old man’s face beamed and he moved his hand. The wine in Qiu Siping’s hand immediately disappeared.
Wang Lin remained silent the entire time. He couldn’t see the old man’s cultivation at all, and since he wasn’t good with words, it was better to leave everything to Qiu Siping.
Wang Lin had also been pondering why this person had stopped them. He felt that the reason was either divine punishment or the massacre he had committed. Of course, there was a possibility that the person this old man was addressing was Qiu Siping, but the moment the old man spoke, Wang Lin sensed that the person this old man was addressing was not Qiu Siping, but Wang Lin himself.
The old man opened the bottle. He took a whiff of the wine and said, “This is a fine wine made from Can Yun fruit. Not bad. Young man, you’re a good match for this old man. How about you become my disciple?”
Wang Lin’s mind began to race. This old man wouldn’t say this without reason. There must be some hidden meaning behind it.
Qiu Siping was truly dumbfounded this time. If this guy had been long-winded before, now he seemed completely insane. Who would accept a disciple like this?
Qiu Siping suddenly felt like something was gripping his throat and was speechless. After a moment, he smiled bitterly and said, “Senior, I…”
The old man’s eyes turned and said, “What? Not happy? Then, do you, yes, you, want to be my disciple?” The old man turned to Wang Lin and smiled faintly.
Wang Lin’s expression was calm. He already knew the old man would bring this matter up to him and respectfully said, “Junior already has a sect.”
“What sect?” The old man’s face was still full of smiles, but from Wang Lin’s gaze, he could already see a hint of coldness in the old man’s eyes. He immediately confirmed his guess that this old man’s target was himself.
Wang Lin’s expression remained the same and he replied respectfully, “State of Zhao, Heng Yue Sect.”
The old man stared at Wang Lin seriously, his smile growing colder. He said, “In three days, you killed thousands of Core Formation cultivators. You’re very bold!”
As soon as those words came out, Qiu Siping’s face suddenly paled. He took a few steps back and stared at Wang Lin with an expression of disbelief.
Wang Lin’s expression remained calm, but his heart was pounding, and countless thoughts were racing through his mind. After considering everything the old man had said and his tone, Wang Lin took a deep breath. He became even more respectful and said, “Junior is willing to accept you as his teacher.”
The old man was stunned. After staring at Wang Ling for a long time, the coldness in his eyes gradually disappeared. Then, he laughed and waved his hand. A restriction landed on Wang Lin’s forehead, then he said, “Good! You’re truly clever! This old man will take you as his disciple. Then, come with me.”
After the restriction landed on Wang Lin’s body, it immediately turned into a giant lotus, using Wang Lin’s channels as roots, his blood vessels as branches, and his blood as nutrients.
Wang Lin’s expression didn’t change at all and he said, “Disciple already has plans with Qiu Siping, to help him with something, so I hope teacher will give me a few days’ time.”
The old man’s gaze fell on Qiu Siping. Qiu Siping struggled slightly. He gritted his teeth and said, “Senior, this is true. I would like to ask Senior to accommodate you.”
The old man rolled his eyes and said, “I’ll give you a month. After a month, go to any treasure-refining pavilion in any city and tell them my name, Sun Dian, and I’ll know.”
After that, the old man looked at Wang Lin and laughed. He tapped the turtle with his foot and disappeared in the blink of an eye.
Qiu Siping pondered for a moment. He stared at Wang Lin with a terrifying gaze. He didn’t ask anything about the old man, but said in a heavy tone, “Brother Wang, I will speed up the boat so that we can arrive in two days. I will leave the matter of the restrictions in the cave to brother Wang.”
Wang Lin nodded his head. He immediately sat at the stern of the boat and pointed his finger at his brow. Demon Xu Ligou and the second demon came out and hovered around him.
At the same time, he patted his bag of holding, and the prohibition flag emerged. This time, under his control, the prohibition flag surrounded his body.
Shortly after, a cold voice came from the black mist. “Fellow cultivator Qiu, I will be in closed-door cultivation for two days, so please don’t disturb me.”
Qiu Siping readily agreed. After seeing the black mist, he turned around and focused his attention on controlling the boat to speed up.
After two days, the boat arrived at a remote mountain. He turned around and looked at Wang Lin. After pondering for a moment, he sat down and waited for Wang Lin, rather than bothering him.
After a few hours, the prohibition flag around Wang Lin began to move. It soon shrank back to the size of a small flag and was put away.
Wang Lin’s face was a bit pale. The lotus prohibition the old man had placed on him wasn’t very strict, so he had already broken through some of it. However, to completely remove it, he needed more time.
But in these two days, Wang Lin had truly understood this boundary. This boundary acted as a tracker, and from Wang Lin’s understanding, its reach was extremely vast.
After Qiu Siping saw Wang Lin emerge from the black mist, he stood up and said, “Brother Wang, below us is where the cave is.
Wang Lin nodded and looked down. Suddenly he left the boat and floated in the air.
Qiu Siping formed a seal with his right hand and used a technique on the boat. The boat shrank to the size of his palm and he put it away.
After doing so, he immediately descended. After looking around, he landed on some stone steps. He placed his right hand on a black stone and sprayed golden core energy onto it. The black stone began to glow.
Qiu Siping waved his hand and the stone floated into the air, then his hands formed many seals and the black stone floated towards the mountain while shining.
As the black stone floated towards the mountain, ripples appeared on the mountainside and began to spread.
From within the ripples of water, a semicircular hole appeared in the mountain.
Qiu Siping took a deep breath and looked at Wang Lin.
Wang Lin pondered for a moment. His divine eyes lit up. After staring at the ripples for a while, he formed three illusionary circles and directed them toward the ripples.
As the circle landed, ripples began to ripple. Bumps appeared on the mountain. These bumps sometimes grew larger and sometimes shrank. They were very strange.
Wang Lin didn’t even blink. His hands moved, creating one illusionary circle after another.
Just at that moment, one of the bulges in the ripples suddenly shattered. Wang Lin’s eyes lit up and he sent one of the illusionary circles toward the location where the bulge shattered.
However, after that, more lumps burst open. Wang Lin quickly sent out illusionary circles one by one, and they all landed where the lumps burst open.
As time passed, more and more of the lumps began to burst. Wang Lin was gradually unable to keep up with the rate at which they were bursting. Qiu Siping had always been anxious, and upon seeing that Wang Lin couldn’t keep up any longer, he couldn’t help but feel worried. He patted his bag of holding and ten black stones flew out.
Soon, both of his hands began working on the stone blocks. Soon, he aimed one of the black stones at one of the broken mounds, and Wang Lin was too late to send the illusionary circle there.
He revealed a pained expression as he pulled out the black stone, but soon became serious. His hands continued to move. Whenever Wang Lin couldn’t keep up, he filled the gap with black stones.
After Wang Lin saw this, his eyes lit up. He deliberately slowed his pace slightly, forcing Qiu Siping to use the black stone to fill in the gaps.
Finally, all ten black stones were used, and Wang Lin’s hands suddenly accelerated, sending out dozens of illusionary circles. An explosion erupted from the ripples of water, splitting them in two, creating a gap leading to the entrance.
Qiu Siping’s expression became excited and he charged into the crack. Wang Lin’s eyes lit up and he followed closely behind him.
The hole wasn’t large. Inside the cave were four stone doors. After Wang Lin entered, he saw Qiu Siping standing in front of one of the stone doors with a terrified expression on his face.
Wang Lin ignored Qiu Siping and stared at the stone doors. After examining them, he discovered that all four doors had restrictions. His gaze landed on the door on the left and discovered that the restriction on that door was the easiest to break through.
He pondered for a moment. His hands began to move, forming an illusionary circle, and he threw it at the door.
Suddenly, the stone door vibrated and slowly opened. Wang Lin looked into the room and his eyes suddenly widened.
The stone chamber was completely empty, except for a circular array in the center. This array looked extremely old, but upon closer inspection, Wang Lin discovered that the materials used to create it were still in good condition.
And Wang Lin could immediately see what this array was. This was an array that could instantly transport people millions of kilometers away!
Qiu Siping turned his head and looked at the array. He said flatly, “This is an ancient transfer array. When my master discovered this cave, he also discovered the transfer array. Although the transfer array is kept in top condition because it’s inside the cave, activating it requires a high-grade spirit stone. I’ve never heard of anyone possessing a high-grade spirit stone in the Sea of Devils, so I’ve never opened this transfer array.”
Wang Lin didn’t speak, but he was secretly very excited. It had to be said that after leaving the ancient land of the gods, one of his main goals was to find the ancient transfer array, but he hadn’t been able to find much in Qilin City.
His original plan was to research ancient transfer arrays and find them himself and repair them. However, with this transfer array in front of him, he didn’t need to do any of that.
The only pity is that he doesn’t know where this transfer arrangement is leading.
Qiu Siping pointed to one of the rooms and said, “The stone room on the left is a storage room that used to contain many books, but I’ve already taken them all.” After that, he formed a few seals with his hands and pressed them on one of the stone doors.
Suddenly the stone door opened, revealing an empty room.
“This room contained the remains of an ancient cultivator, but they are no longer there. My master refined those remains into pills.” After that, he once again opened another door, and that door was also empty.
Qiu Siping glanced at Wang Lin and said slowly, “My teacher and senior brother are in the room on the right. Once the room opens, we will take one Nascent Soul each. My teacher’s Nascent Soul will be yours, and I will take my senior brother’s. Senior Brother Wang, I know we had some misunderstandings when we first met, but I believe that, during our journey here, those misunderstandings have been resolved.”
Wang Lin said calmly, “If your conclusion is wrong and the two Newborn Souls are not in Gui Xi, then what?”
Qiu Siping shook his head and said, “Brother Wang, you can rest assured that the two of them are in Gui Xi, but I have prepared something, just in case.” After that, he took a deep breath and took out a stick of purple incense. He lit the incense and a whiff of sandalwood scent filled the room.
“Heart-Confusing Fragrance?” Wang Lin’s eyes lit up, and he immediately realized what it was. This Heart-Confusing Fragrance was an ingredient for pills. When combined with other medicines, it could calm the heart and help fight external demons. However, if used alone, especially on someone under demonic attack, their injuries would worsen, and the demons would receive external assistance.
Qiu Siping nodded and said calmly, “Yes, Brother Wang can rest assured now. However, this restriction is dangerous, so Brother Wang must be careful.” After that, he took a few steps back, making room for Wang Lin.
Wang Lin stared at the door for a moment, then moved his right hand and sent an illusory circle toward it. However, as the illusory circle landed on the door, a beast’s head appeared. The head roared and tried to swallow Wang Lin.
Wang Lin’s expression remained the same. He slapped his storage bag, and the prohibition flag appeared. He growled, “Eat!” A giant hand reached out from the flag and dragged the beast into it.
Soon, Wang Lin’s hands continued to move, and illusionary circles appeared one after another, landing on the door. Each time a circle landed, another beast head would appear. Gradually, the number of beast heads increased, but the restriction showed no signs of breaking.
Qiu Siping frowned slightly. He pondered for a moment, then took out four more black stones. He looked at them with a pained expression. After stroking them briefly with his hands, he threw them in four directions, and the stones landed on the stone door.
Qiu Siping shouted, “Brother Wang, I can only hold the beast’s head for 10 breaths! Hurry!”
Wang Lin’s eyes lit up. He held the prohibition flag in his hand and waved it. Instantly, hundreds of thousands of prohibitions on the prohibition flag shot out and struck the stone door.
Wang Lin wasn’t confident that he could break the stone door’s barrier in a short time, so he decided to use the second method, which was to force it open.
Thousands of bans landed on the door and countless beast heads struggled to come out, but the 4 black stones on the door released a soft light that prevented the beast heads from coming out.
As the barrier hit the door, a series of sudden tremors began, causing dirt and dust to fall from the cave ceiling. It felt like the entire cave was about to collapse.
As the door was opened by the restriction flag, two dim yellow lights flew out of the room and tried to get out of the cave.
But just at that moment, the two yellow lights began to slow down and begin to sway. They grew dimmer and dimmer, as if they were about to disappear.
This is the Aroma of Heart Confusion that begins to take effect.
Wang Lin’s eyes lit up. As the two dim yellow lights shot out, he saw that within the yellow lights were two nearly transparent Nascent Souls.
Judging by the fading of their colors, they looked like they would collapse at any moment, and, with the help of the Heart-Confusing Fragrance, they had reached their limit.
Wang Lin and Qiu Siping moved almost simultaneously. Wang Lin moved a little faster and held the older Nascent Soul. Without a word, Wang Lin stormed out of the cave.
As Wang Lin exited the cave, it began to collapse, and a series of earthquakes occurred. Qiu Siping also immediately left the cave. After exiting, he clasped his hands at Wang Lin and quickly left, as if afraid Wang Lin would act against him.
Wang Lin held the Nascent Soul. He touched his forehead and the demon Xu Liguo came out. When Xu Ligo saw the Nascent Soul, his face was filled with greed.
Wang Lin snorted. Xu Liguo suddenly trembled and revealed a terrified expression. He obediently took the Nascent Soul and returned to Wang Lin’s consciousness.
Afterward, Wang Lin looked at the collapsed cave and then looked in the direction Qiu Siping had left. He blinked a few times as he pondered. Eventually, he gave up on the idea of chasing after Qiu Siping and killing him, because, after all, his soul could only accommodate one powerful Nascent Soul at the moment. If he added another one to it, there was a chance he would lose control and be possessed by the devil as well.
Wang Lin’s eyes lit up. He was extremely excited. After devouring this Nascent Soul, he should be able to break through to the Nascent Realm. He calmed himself down and immediately left.
After traveling for a day, Wang Lin stopped in the middle of the desert. He had intentionally taken a very deserted flight path. He looked around and saw that, within a 10,000-kilometer radius, there were very few people and wild beasts. He stomped his foot, and his body immediately sank into the ground.
He stopped after reaching a depth of 2,000 feet. He then dug a cave and sat cross-legged. He pointed his finger at his brow, and the demon Xu Ligou emerged.
Wang Lin looked at Xu Ligou, Xu Ligou obediently took out the Nascent Soul that was about to collapse and stood aside, staring at the Nascent Soul.
Wang Lin didn’t even look at Xu Ligou. He closed his eyes a few times, then reopened them with a determined expression. He opened his mouth and swallowed the Nascent Soul.
As soon as the Nascent Soul entered his body, the ancient god’s tactics immediately went to work like a huge millstone. As the Nascent Soul dissolved, it released a massive amount of energy that filled Wang Lin’s body.
Wang Lin immediately stopped the ancient god’s tactics, preventing him from using all this power to refine his body. As a result, under his control, this powerful spiritual energy moved through his body and toward his core.
The core suddenly expands and darkens in color. It continues to grow in size, until cracks appear on its surface.
Signs of the New Soul slowly appeared in his body.
But!
At that very moment, the Ji Realm within his consciousness activated without his control. It quickly left his consciousness and moved through his body toward his core.
Wang Lin opened his eyes sharply. No matter how hard he tried to control his Ji Realm, he couldn’t control it. The moment his Ji Realm landed on his core, it exploded.
After the explosion occurred inside Wang Lin’s body, the spiritual energy released by the explosion of his core collided with the spiritual energy of the Nascent Soul he was devouring.
The impact of the two spiritual energies sent all of that energy out of Wang Lin’s channels as they swept through his body.
Wang Lin’s body was sent flying by the explosion. He coughed several times and coughed out blood, his face instantly turning pale.
He struggled to sit up. Wang Lin’s eyes were droopy, and he remained silent. After a long time, light returned to his eyes, and he closed them. After examining his body, he burst out laughing. After laughing so hard for so long, no matter how one listened, there was a hint of sadness.
Wang Lin’s eyes turned red as he muttered, “Ji Realm Soul… Ji Realm Soul… Ji Realm Soul…”
The core inside his body did not explode completely, but shrank to the size of a thumbnail.
Wang Lin had already suspected that the Ji Realm would hinder him from reaching the Nascent Soul. Although he hadn’t been sure before, he had just confirmed that the greatest obstacle to reaching the Nascent Soul was his Ji Realm.
Wang Lin’s success was due to his Ji Realm, and his downfall was also due to his Ji Realm, but what Wang Lin really wanted to know was why this happened. Why his Ji Realm went out of control and attacked his core when he was trying to reach Nascent Soul.
He took a deep breath sadly and began cultivating to restore his body.
After three days, Wang Lin opened his eyes. After leaving the cave, he immediately set off to find the city.
After half a month, Wang Lin had visited almost every city in the area, but, of course, he did not go to any of the Treasure Refining Pavilions.
In those cities, he didn’t even find a trace of any information about Ji Realm.
In his confusion, he suddenly remembered Qiu Siping’s cave. Inside the cave were many books, some written on bamboo, indicating their age. Those books would be destroyed by fluctuations in spiritual energy, so they couldn’t be stored in jade.
Thinking of this, Wang Lin immediately moved toward Qiu Siping’s cave.
Five days later, Wang Lin arrived. He didn’t care if Qiu Siping was there. If he tried to stop him, Wang Lin would kill him without hesitation.
Although Qiu Siping received a Nascent Soul, the formation of a Nascent Soul took more than half a month, so Wang Lin was not worried about Qiu Siping at this time.
Wang Lin went into the ground and found the cave. Regarding the restrictions in the cave, it was not a problem for Wang Lin. After breaking through everything, he entered.
Wang Lin observed the cave with his divine senses and found that Qiu Siping was not inside. He walked towards the room containing all the books. Regarding the room’s limitations, it only took Wang Lin three hours to break through and enter.
After entering, Wang Lin took a deep breath and calmed his heart before starting to look through the books.
Among these bamboo books, most contained information about restrictions. After scanning them, Wang Lin put them away, as none of them contained the words Ji Realm.
Wang Lin’s heart felt heavy as he continued to look. Suddenly, his gaze fell on a bamboo stalk. This bamboo looked very old and even showed some signs of damage.
After taking it, Wang Lin opened it and his body trembled. He brought it to the table and opened it slowly.
Most of what was written on the bamboo was about prohibitions, but, on the back, was carved a series of small words.
“In the world of cultivation, changes in spiritual power can occur, resulting in something called the Ji Realm. I have studied the Ji Realm for many years and have passed down my research to future generations.”
“This mysterious power known as the Ji Realm, in my opinion, should be a divine technique! Only a divine technique has the power to instantly kill a cultivator in the same realm!”
“Many other researchers believe that the final evolution of the Ji Realm is the Nascent Soul stage, but after reading some historical texts, I discovered a very interesting phenomenon.”
“First of all, I would like to say that, in the historical texts, there is no direct indication of who possessed the Ji Realm, but, from the context of the documents, I managed to find traces of several cultivators with the Ji Realm.
“Among these people, some stop at Core Formation, some stop at Nascent Soul, and some stop at Spirit Severing. It could be said that there is no pattern and it all depends on each individual.”
“Actually, all the breakthroughs in my Ji Realm research are thanks to one person. I won’t name this person, but this person is the first Ji Realm cultivator I’ve ever met!”
“His cultivation level is Nascent Soul.”
“This person wanted to break through Nascent Soul and achieve Spirit Severing, so he came to me for help, but, in the end, I still failed…”
Wang Lin was immersed in the text, reading it word by word. After a long time, he revealed a very confused expression.
According to the records in the bamboo book, Wang Lin immediately realized that the limit of his Ji Realm was Core Formation, otherwise his Ji Realm would not have gone out of control when he tried to form his Nascent Soul.
As a result, his cultivation would be stuck at the late stage of Core Formation with no chance of breaking through in the future. Wang Lin found this unacceptable!
If his cultivation could not break through this level, then his 400 years of suffering would never be released, Situ Nan would never awaken, and everything he had done would stop here.
Teng Hauyaun would still be alive and would never be able to take revenge. He would also never be able to return to the state of Zhao because Teng Hauyaun would not let him go.
All his dreams were shattered at this moment.
His success came from his Ji Realm… his downfall also came from his Ji Realm…. Wang Lin clenched his fists and showed an extremely unwilling expression.
If he wanted to reach Nascent Soul, he would have to unleash his Ji Realm. The only way was to unleash all of his Ji Realm’s power so he could reach Nascent Soul.
This was a very difficult choice. The person who left the message in the bamboo book had given the Nascent Soul cultivator he was helping one idea: to waste his cultivation.
As his cultivation dispersed, his Ji Realm would also disperse, allowing him to start cultivating again and make breakthroughs.
The Nascent Soul cultivator ultimately did not choose that method.
Now, Wang Lin was faced with this difficult decision.
If he didn’t release his Soul Realm, he wouldn’t be able to break through. Everything he tried to form his Nascent Soul was blocked by his Soul Realm. However, if he gave up, all the cultivation he had worked so hard to achieve over the past 400 years would be wasted. Furthermore, he was currently in the Sea of Devils, an extremely dangerous place, where he might die before his cultivation reached its current level.
After a long time, Wang Lin’s eyes showed a determined expression. He took a deep breath and put away the bamboo as he slowly walked out of the cave.
The first thing he had to do was to completely remove the lotus binding on his body.