Chapter 1157: Peak of the Cloud Sea, Venerable Master (First Update)

Wang Lin held the Jade Slip, his Divine Sense carefully sweeping over it.

"Three years have passed… Second Senior Brother is dead, Third Senior Brother is also dead… They became Lost Ones, wandering aimlessly here… Four days ago, I saw them, but they no longer recognized me and walked past me… I can't let things continue like this, I must find a way."

"This is my sixth year here. I found a Jade Slip with a Restriction called 'Years' left on it. I must learn it…"

"Junior Martial Uncle left. He went deeper into this place. He told me there was a voice calling… This is my eleventh year here… The Years Restriction, I've begun to grasp it slightly."

"How long has it been… It should be thirty years. The attacks of the mark Bearers came again. I clearly saw Junior Martial Uncle among them… They took Sixth Junior Brother, they took Fifth Junior Brother…"

"The Years Restriction was finally understood by me. In a valley, I, along with the remaining fellow disciples, set up a true Grand Formation of Years Restriction. Ninth Junior Brother sacrificed his Lifespan to reinforce the traces of years within this Formation. Before he died, he made me promise to return his bones to the Heaven-Breaking Sect… I agreed, but can I do it…?"

"The Years Restriction Formation protected this valley. This place became my home… But I didn't find the warmth of home; all I felt was watching familiar faces gradually become strangers."

"I can't continue like this, I must find a way, I must save them!"

Wang Lin remained silent, looking up at the skeleton before him. The content of this Jade Slip ended here. His gaze fell upon the second Jade Slip, and he reached out to pick it up, his Divine Sense entering it.

"A hundred years have passed. There is no day or night here, so the exact time cannot be calculated, but judging by the strength of this Years Restriction Formation, it should be a hundred years. Yet, why do I feel as if a thousand years have passed… Thirteenth Junior Brother destroyed his Physical Body, his Dao vanished… He couldn't bear this prison-like existence."

"Those around me have either become Lost Ones or mark Bearers, leaving only me, Sixteenth Junior Brother, and Fourth Junior Martial Uncle. I know we are sinners, perhaps this is punishment, but I am unwilling! Unwilling!"

"Today is a day that can never be forgotten. This is my 130th-plus year here. The Rebellious Ones appeared for the first time. Fourth Junior Martial Uncle transformed into a Rebellious One…"

"Everyone is gone, only Sixteenth Junior Brother and I remain… But I've thought of a method, a way to save them. I must try it, even if it means death! After bidding farewell to Sixteenth Junior Brother, I walked out of the valley."

"I brought back Second Senior Brother and Third Senior Brother from among the Lost Ones, and all the fellow disciples who had become Lost Ones… I entered the depths of the mountain range here and found Fifth Senior Brother and Sixth Senior Brother, who had become mark Bearers, in that mist, bringing them back. I then went to the deepest part of this place again; I am very familiar with the path there…"

"I found Second Junior Martial Uncle and brought him back."

The Jade Slip ended here. Wang Lin put down the Jade Slip in a daze, pondering for a long time over everything it said, then picked up the third Jade Slip!

"I have been here for over three hundred years. I've been to every place I could go. I discovered a type of bead that can actually Seal the Divine Abilities of the Rebellious Ones! I don't know what this item is, but to save Fourth Junior Martial Uncle, I searched most places and found some."

"This is my fourth time entering the deepest part of this place. I know Fourth Junior Martial Uncle is there… Facing those powerful Rebellious Ones, I used the beads to Seal all their Divine Abilities… After searching for several years there, I finally found Fourth Junior Martial Uncle… It's just… I didn't expect him to be here too. I failed… I was pierced by a seven-colored nail that embedded itself in my body… This nail is very strange; it melted immediately upon entering my body."

"I finally escaped. In a blur, I returned to the valley. My consciousness gradually dissipated, and a frenzied thought constantly surfaced in my mind. This frenzied thought made me want to kill all living beings I saw… But here, the only living being besides me was Sixteenth Junior Brother."

"I chased Sixteenth Junior Brother out of the valley, gave him my identity token and the Beast Bone Pill Formula, telling him to leave the valley and re-enter after ten years… Sixteenth Junior Brother left… I sat in this valley, gazing at the seven-colored sky outside the valley, awaiting the final onset of madness."

"Second Senior Brother, Third Senior Brother, and all fellow disciples, if any of you awaken and see my Jade Slip, you will know all that has transpired here over these past few centuries… Also, those strange Stone Beads, I once collected many. On them, I vaguely detected a clue: these Stone Beads were not formed naturally but were refined by someone. Their size and weight are identical, without the slightest difference… It's as if someone, a long, long time ago, was constantly producing these Stone Beads here with a special Divine Ability…"

"My consciousness is becoming increasingly blurry, but I have a feeling, as if a force is pulling at my Primordial Spirit… I don't know why, but at this moment, my consciousness suddenly became clear. A crazy thought squeezed into my mind and emerged… Perhaps, I should do this… If I succeed, I won't go mad, I will… undergo Rebirth!"

"My consciousness seemed to leave this place, extending to a strange Starry Sky… I saw… a person, a middle-aged man in black robes. He had a circular mark between his eyebrows… He said his name was Venerable Master…"

Wang Lin's face was pale. He gasped, subconsciously taking a few steps back, staring at the Jade Slip in his hand and the skeleton, his eyes filled with disbelief.

"Venerable Master…" Wang Lin was not unfamiliar with this name! In Immortal Emperor Qing Lin's Immortal Cave, he learned that among the Outer Realm people, there was a powerful existence named Venerable Master!

At that time, it felt as though this Venerable Master was very distant from him, a powerful expert from the same era as Qing Lin, and a long time had passed since then.

However, Wang Lin never expected to see information about the Venerable Master again in this Cloud Sea Star Domain, within this Seven-Colored Realm, and in the Jade Slip from this valley!

Closing his eyes, Wang Lin's mind couldn't help but recall the two mysterious Cultivators, one old and one young, who appeared when he and Qing Shui fought the Moon Gazer in the Void Realm, causing the Void Realm to collapse!

These two were people from the Outer Realm! If not for the appearance of the Heaven Defying Bead, he probably would have been captured alive by them!

"That old man called me Venerable of the Sealed Realm after seeing the Heaven Defying Bead…" Wang Lin opened his eyes and let out a deep breath. The information he gained from these three Jade Slips churned in his mind like a raging sea, unable to settle for a long time.

"This Seven-Colored Realm is related to Heavenly Fate Child, and to the Venerable Master… Especially that seven-colored nail entering the body, it can indeed drive people mad, making them want to kill all living beings they see… Senior Brother Qing Shui once said that before the Immortal Realm collapsed, he was in seclusion meditating, but suddenly went mad, and even he didn't know why… It's the same madness!!

And the Old Vermilion Bird Saint Emperor once said that after Senior Brother Qing Shui went to the Cultivation Alliance, he went mad again… What kind of secret is hidden within this? It must be greatly related to that Venerable Master!

Heavenly Fate Child, Qing Shui, Sima Mo, Venerable Master…" Wang Lin fell silent.

After a long while, he sighed, looking complexly at Sima Mo's skeleton. The skeleton was here, with no signs of damage around it, which was enough to show that Sima Mo ultimately did not go mad!

Since this person did not go mad, then the thought in his mind related to the Venerable Master must have succeeded!

"I didn't expect this to be the spatial Rift that the Heaven-Breaking Sect discovered back then… and also the place where the Beast Bone Pill Formula first appeared! But why did that beast bone and Jade Slip end up outside… Could it be that the Sixteenth Junior Brother mentioned by this person eventually left here, causing the Jade Slip and Pill Formula to reappear in the Cloud Sea Star Domain…?"

"And the 'he' mentioned in this person's Jade Slip… who is it… According to what he said, their Heaven-Breaking Sect originally didn't know about this spatial Rift, but found this place because they listened to his words… And Sima Mo, after hundreds of years here, actually saw that mysterious 'he' again in this place!" Wang Lin rubbed his eyebrows. The more he knew about all this, the more confused he felt.

He looked up at the nine Immortal Caves sealed by rocks on the valley wall. Wang Lin swayed and arrived outside the first Immortal Cave. Gazing at the rock, his eyes flickered. After a long while, he extended his right hand and placed it on the rock, gently releasing the Yuan Power within his body.

Suddenly, a rumbling sound echoed as the rock slowly moved aside, opening up.

The moment the Immortal Cave's rock opened, a smell of ancient decay wafted out. The Immortal Cave was not large, only ten zhang in size. In mid-air, a grey light flickered, and ten beads, each the size of a baby's fist, floated.

Each bead had a dim rune mark, flickering occasionally, but the light of the flicker was also grey, making it hard to notice without careful inspection.

The instant he saw these beads, Wang Lin's mind trembled. He immediately recognized them as the very beads Cang Songzi used to cast his Divine Ability to summon Rebellious Ones!

"The content on that Jade Slip is indeed true!" Wang Lin's eyes flashed. He reached out to grasp one of the beads in the Void Realm, bringing it into his hand. His Divine Sense spread out, examining it carefully. Upon closer inspection, Wang Lin's face suddenly changed drastically! His mind was violently shaken, like thunder rumbling in his ears!

When Cang Songzi had previously taken out the beads and attacked, his speed was extremely fast, and during the battle, it was inconvenient to be distracted. Wang Lin had only glanced at them, not having the opportunity to examine them as meticulously as he was now.

"Heaven Defying…"

First update delivered.