Chapter 1388: Peak of the Cloud Sea – Is He the Venerable Master? (Second Update!)

There seemed to be an indescribable force in the dark, causing Wang Lin, after an unspeakable struggle, to also choose, or perhaps not choose, to transform into a long rainbow and depart.

If Daoist Blue Dream had not made Wang Lin experience the first choice, if the First Generation Vermilion Bird had not made Wang Lin endure the second trial, allowing his Dao Heart and his conviction to slowly reach the level of a Grandmaster.

More importantly, if he hadn't entered Si Mozi's memories and seen those scenes that were extremely similar to his own but chose completely different paths, perhaps Wang Lin truly would have chosen to stay… to become a slave to the Venerable Master… The Venerable Master's words struck Wang Lin's Achilles' heel!

Even after leaving the Fire Sparrow Clan's territory, even as the Fire Sparrow Clan behind him was engulfed by the impact of the Holy Land's collapse, a ring of fiery Qi waves blasted out in all directions, destroying nearly half of the Fire Sparrow Clan's tribes, with the blaze surging behind Wang Lin.

A muffled roar faintly echoed, shaking the Star Domain, but Wang Lin's daze was not awakened in the slightest.

His heart felt torn, and pain assaulted his entire body.

After an unknown period, the confusion in Wang Lin's eyes gradually dissipated, replaced by a dimness. His internal injuries had also reached a point where he absolutely needed to heal, otherwise, his cultivation would irreversibly regress.

Cultivating to his level, ordinary injuries were not a problem, but once severely injured, the seriousness of the injury was already astonishing. A slight carelessness could cause his cultivation to fall.

Fortunately, as an Ancient God, his Physical Body was extremely formidable in terms of recovery. This was the most obvious difference between Wang Lin and other Cultivators. With the same injuries, others might need a hundred years to recover, but for him, the time would be greatly shortened.

"Wan'er, trust me, I will personally awaken you… Then, we, along with Ping'er, will live as a family in a mountain village where no one knows us, silently spending our lives… I also want to teach Ping'er wood carving, to pass on Father's craftsmanship…" Wang Lin murmured. He suddenly missed home, missed the Star Domain of the Inner Realm. Although the Primordial Stars were vast, they didn't give him a sense of belonging.

Here, in the boundless sea of stars, he couldn't see the end. The dark Star Domain, with its dazzling starlight, offered no warmth, only coldness, and only the strong sense of loneliness that rose in Wang Lin's heart.

Wang Lin's life had passed two thousand years in solitude. He had grown accustomed to loneliness and solitude. The indifference on his face was not something he deliberately put on, but rather, after thousands of years of isolation, he slowly forgot other expressions.

All he knew was indifference… even smiles were very, very rare… The only constant in his eyes was the deep sorrow hidden beneath the indifference, an indelible sorrow that accompanied him throughout his life, bringing no joy.

In bitterness, Wang Lin's injuries worsened. He staggered a step forward, and with Shrinking the Ground into an Inch, he traveled an endless distance. In a Star Domain of the Primordial Stars, Wang Lin's figure appeared on an abandoned Cultivation Planet.

This Cultivation Planet might have had its past glory, or perhaps a Great Divine Ability Cultivator once emerged from it, but now, all that glory had vanished with the wind, turning into scattered sand and stones, and cities devoid of Spiritual Qi.

It was like an old man at the end of his road, gasping and struggling, unwilling to let out his last breath. At present, the eastern part of this Cultivation Planet was in the chill of autumn. The autumn wind gently blew, rustling fallen leaves. Their withered yellow color looked like age spots on an old man's face, exuding a desolate aura.

As the autumn leaves danced with the wind, through their withered yellow, a river could be seen in the distance. The river water gurgled, winding northward. Beside the river, a white-robed figure sat silently, allowing the withered autumn leaves to blow past him.

Wang Lin looked at the water. Some autumn leaves, perhaps the wind grew tired, scattered here when they were carried, causing a few withered yellow leaves to float on the river, getting soaked halfway before drifting into the distance.

Fallen leaves return to their roots, but those carried by the wind to this place, falling into the water, would never be able to return home in this lifetime, sent to an unknown destination. Perhaps after a few seasons, they would become part of the riverbed silt. If they had souls, these souls, perhaps carrying longing, would float out of the river and return to the home that gave them birth and nurtured them.

Wang Lin's reflection appeared in the river, clearly showing his face. His pale face, indifferent expression, and the sorrow in his eyes seemed to merge into the river, flowing far away with its gurgling sound.

"It's time to go home…" Wang Lin murmured softly.

Besides the Sealed Realm Grand Formation, there was another path home: the Rift in the ninth-rank Star Domain of the Cloud Sea, and the Jade Slip given by the mysterious woman.

That woman once said that Wang Lin needed to help her explore a certain place, and gave him this Jade Slip, informing him that by activating it in the Outer Realm, he could bypass the Sealed Realm Grand Formation and return to the Rift.

Wang Lin had studied this Jade Slip many times. It contained numerous Restrictions, some of which even he couldn't fully comprehend.

It seemed that many of the Restrictions within were by no means mastered by Cultivators of this realm, but rather came from another world.

However, Wang Lin was, after all, a Great Master in Restrictions. Although he couldn't fully understand them, he still discerned from it a 70% chance that this Jade Slip could transport him back to the Rift!

Clutching the Jade Slip, Wang Lin didn't activate it but put it back into his Storage Space. To activate the Restrictions within this Jade Slip required a certain level of cultivation, which was secondary. Most importantly, given Wang Lin's current state, he would not allow himself to appear before that mysterious woman whose allegiances were unknown.

After a moment of silence, Wang Lin looked up at the azure sky and murmured to himself.

"Is he, after all, the Venerable Master…"

He had severely injured the middle-aged man in the seven-colored flames, and this person had also admitted to being the Venerable Master. But after calming down, Wang Lin couldn't help but feel suspicious.

This person's cultivation fluctuated, sometimes high, sometimes low. He could contend against the Vermilion Bird Origin Spirit, he could use the Divine Ability 'Fishing the Moon from the Well,' and he also possessed the 'Four Great Emptinesses' technique. He knew about Si Mozi and even knew Wang Lin's name. According to analysis, he was indeed the Venerable Master, notorious for his endless schemes.

"His cultivation is fire, and he can manifest a seven-colored Vermilion Bird, so he should be the Third Generation Evil Bird… But is he really the Venerable Master…?" The reason Wang Lin previously judged the Third Generation Evil Bird to be the Venerable Master was because he had analyzed that among the Primordial Stars, the Venerable Master's Origin was the most mysterious; no one knew which race he belonged to!

Besides this, there was another point: back in the Demon Spirit Land, Wang Lin had encountered someone whom he later learned was the Venerable Master's Disciple! This person's technique was precisely a fire technique!

Moreover, that fire technique was by no means something ordinary Cultivators could Cultivate to such an extent; it was clearly on the verge of grasping the Origin.

All these factors led Wang Lin to a bold conjecture. Coupled with various clues, Wang Lin concluded that the Third Generation Evil Bird was the Venerable Master!

It was precisely because of this that the Venerable Master's sect knew the truth about the Land of Falling and dared not act recklessly!

But now, having personally seen the Venerable Master, Wang Lin began to have doubts.

"Qing Lin once said that the Venerable Master Cultivates the Origin of Primeval Power! But this person, from beginning to end, did not use any Divine Ability related to Primeval Power… And most importantly, the Venerable Master, who had cultivated for tens of thousands of years, had extremely deep cunning and had schemed against the Inner Realm multiple times. The middle-aged man who admitted to being the Venerable Master didn't seem to possess that kind of ruthless hero's aura… And he didn't feel immensely powerful…"

Wang Lin frowned. After a long while, still without an answer, he sighed softly, no longer pondering the matter. Instead, he took out the remaining Medicinal Pills from his Storage Pouch, swallowed them all, and sat there, closing his eyes to meditate.

The autumn wind blew, and Wang Lin's figure slowly blurred, seemingly merging with the surrounding river and autumn leaves. Even if a Cultivator came here, they wouldn't notice a person sitting by the river.

Time slowly passed, and in a blink of an eye, three days went by. During these three days, the injuries to Wang Lin's Primordial Spirit did not improve, only ceasing to worsen, but his Physical Body's injuries had mostly recovered.

Excluding his Divine Abilities, the power a six-star Ancient God could unleash was equivalent to 50% of his full strength when healed. Wang Lin knew time was pressing. His severe injury to the suspected Venerable Master would certainly stir up a great disturbance in the Primordial Stars, especially since he carried the Primordial Pursuit Order and had left the Land of Falling. Someone would surely come to claim his life.

As for the Land of Falling, its periphery was likely sealed by those with ill intentions the moment he left. If he rashly rushed back, he would definitely not be able to enter the Land of Falling; he would only be throwing himself into a trap!

So he seized every moment to recover his cultivation as quickly as possible.

But on this day, as Wang Lin was meditating, he suddenly opened his eyes, a cold glint flashing through them. He inexplicably felt a sense of dread, a premonition that came from the depths of the unknown after reaching a certain level of cultivation!

"Something's wrong!" Wang Lin stood up, his gaze sweeping around, his expression growing even gloomier. At some unknown point, the surroundings had become utterly silent, and even the autumn wind had vanished.

It was night, and a bright moon hung in the sky. Moonlight fell on the ground, allowing Wang Lin to clearly see fine ripples on the river surface, as if trembling, spreading out in waves.

The autumn leaves that had fallen onto the river at some unknown time also formed circles, slowly rotating.

Without hesitation, Wang Lin took a step forward. The heavens and earth twisted, and ripples echoed. With this step, his body should have dissipated, but in that instant, just as his body was about to merge into the heavens and earth, the sky vibrated with a roar. As the colors of heaven and earth changed, a massive Rift suddenly swept into existence.

A majestic pressure descended upon this ordinary, abandoned Cultivation Planet. Furthermore, from within that Rift, a large hand swiftly extended, reaching directly for Wang Lin, who was about to merge into the heavens and earth!

Having killed less than five hundred, drunk less than five jin of blood, with a sword pointing to the sky, can you be content? I need monthly votes!! Keep exploding!