Chapter 1566: Dominating the Inner Realm, Karma Arises from Emptiness (Second Update)

Wang Lin withdrew his gaze from the birds flying further and further into the sky, looking at the dead volcano. After a long, long time, he turned and slowly walked away with old steps.

This day marked the nineteenth June since he left the State of Zhao. It was also the fifty-seventh year since he became intoxicated by two cups of wine beside the official road inn back then.

This year, Wang Lin was not yet eighty.

Besides the Fire Scorching Country, there were other countries on this continent, but Wang Lin did not visit them. The Fire Scorching Country was the last place he traveled.

Here, in a mountain outside the Sect where Li Muwan resided, there was a dilapidated house. It was built by a mountain guard who knows how many years ago, and now it was deserted.

Wang Lin lived here.

From this position, he could see Li Muwan's Sect gate in the distance and feel Li Muwan's presence.

"What is Karma? Don't think about it, don't ponder it. Watch the sunrise and sunset, watch the rain and snow fall, watch the seasons change. Don't worry if all this is real or fake, don't worry about the confusion between life and death. Just quietly live out the rest of your life…"

With each sunrise and each sunset, whether the morning sun rose or the evening sun set, there was always an old figure on the distant mountain at the horizon, sitting on a large green stone, silently gazing at the mountains in the distance.

"All Karma in the world, if you say it is a cause, it is a cause; if you say it is an effect, it is an effect… Why be so persistent? Why seek the ultimate truth?" Wang Lin's expression was peaceful. Year after year, his figure seemed eternal, always sitting there, looking at the mountains ahead.

He did not eat food, nor did he have any. He forgot hunger, forgot everything.

Wang Lin looked at the heavens and earth, his smile revealing a meaning unfathomable to mortals. Year after year, he saw many Cultivators fly out from the distant Sect, and among these Cultivators was Li Muwan.

"This world, this starry sky, all of this is formed by the convergence of various Destinies. This is the Arising of Conditions…" Wang Lin smiled, days feeling like years, years like dreams.

Time flowed, and in a blink of an eye, seven years passed. During these seven years, Wang Lin enlightened many things, comprehending the heavens and earth on that green stone.

During these seven years, Li Muwan's Sect naturally discovered Wang Lin. Gradually, elders from her Sect arrived and were deeply moved upon seeing Wang Lin's current state and his occasional self-talk.

Gradually, on this mountain, beside the green stone, Wang Lin was no longer alone. Instead, old men and Cultivators sat cross-legged around him.

No Cultivator who came here ever left again.

They calmly surrounded Wang Lin, as if listening to the Dao.

Year after year, more Cultivators, as if drawn by a call spreading within their hearts, came here from the Fire Scorching Country, from all directions, from various cultivation Countries and cultivation Sects.

Among these Cultivators, some had not yet reached Foundation Establishment, some had reached Nascent Soul Transformation, and one even flew through the air, his cultivation having entered Soul Transformation. However, regardless of their cultivation, in Wang Lin's eyes, as he sat on the green stone on the mountain, none of it existed.

No matter their cultivation, on this mountain, there was only one place to settle, no more, no less, no contention, no争抢, just sitting there silently, listening to Wang Lin, who might only speak once a year.

When Wang Lin did not speak, they seemed to enter a meditative state, as if an invisible force here guided their thoughts to pursue a comprehension of the heavens and earth.

"Destiny converges and eventually becomes an effect, this is Karma. In my decades of searching and comprehending, I've realized that between cause and effect, there actually exists something else: this something is Affinity.

If there is no Affinity, there is no Karma." Wang Lin's face held an inexpressible smile as he spoke again this year.

On this mountain, more and more Cultivators sat cross-legged. Eventually, there was no more space even at the foot of the mountain. Within dozens of miles around Wang Lin's mountain, there were only Cultivators sitting cross-legged.

Almost all the Cultivators on this continent, over these past few years, followed that strange feeling and came here. Gradually, within hundreds of miles, countless Cultivators could be seen, sitting there, facing Wang Lin, as if worshipping him.

Gradually, more Cultivators crossed the great sea from other continents or arrived via Teleportation Formations. Among them were Nian Tian and Dun Tian of the Soul Refining Sect, as well as a large number of Soul Refining Sect Disciples.

There were also Cultivators from the Snow Domain, led by that indifferent woman, who all followed that feeling and came here, silently sitting cross-legged in a spot, listening to the Dao.

In the arms of that indifferent woman, there was already a baby girl who seemed to never grow up.

The Four Countries Alliance, Zhou Wutai, and all those familiar faces from Wang Lin's dreams also arrived one by one.

Yun Quezi, still looking disheveled, sat on the ground in the distance.

And so on, even Teng Hua Yuan, Immortal Master Huang Long, Xu Fei, Zhou Rui, and even Wang Zhuo, appeared in the distance at some unknown time, sitting cross-legged, gazing at Wang Lin on the green stone at the mountain peak.

Finally, even Vermilion Bird Son arrived, breaking through the air. He remained silent above Wang Lin for a long time before walking to an empty spot and sitting down.

"That Liu Mei and I could meet and form Karma was due to this Arising of Conditions…"

"My connection with the Soul Refining Sect is also due to the Arising of Conditions."

"Whether it's Hong Die or anything else in the world, Karma is like this. Even this dream world now is the same. Affinity, Affinity, Affinity…"

"This Affinity is an external force. Because of its change, there is a cause. After the two combine, an effect appears. Like a man and a woman, after being together, they will have children. The man and woman are the cause, they come together under Affinity, and the child born is the effect." Wang Lin smiled, letting out a soft sigh.

At this moment, from his gaze, a person walked out of the Sect in the mountain. This person was still as she was years ago, dressed in white, with long black hair draped over her shoulders, her expression gentle—it was Li Muwan.

"Come." Wang Lin looked even older, but upon him, an aura resembling the heavens and earth appeared, as if through years of comprehension, he had become the heavens, become the earth.

Extending his right hand, he beckoned to Li Muwan. Wang Lin's eyes showed tenderness, and even his voice contained a hint of longing.

Li Muwan's expression showed confusion, but an indescribable feeling spread from her heart, making her feel that Wang Lin was very familiar, so familiar, as if this familiarity was etched into her Soul, carved into her bones, and had entered into Reincarnation.

Even after thousands upon thousands of Reincarnations, even after drinking thousands upon thousands of cups of Meng Po soup, she would not forget! However, there was a mark like a Seal in her thoughts, preventing her from remembering all this, as if to sever her from him.

Unconsciously, she walked to Wang Lin's side, was taken by the hand by Wang Lin, and sat beside him, together with him, under the gaze of countless Cultivators within hundreds of miles, on the green stone.

"However, Karma, arising from conditions, will ultimately disappear from the world. This is Emptiness of Nature. The reason it is called disappearance is because it first existed; without existence, there is no disappearance. If there is no disappearance, then it is Emptiness of Nature… which I understand as the end of a certain Karma.

But whether it is formed or unformed, whether it exists or not, it is not an end, but becoming empty…"

With a smile, Wang Lin's left hand touched Li Muwan's glabella.

This touch seemed to contain no power, but the moment it landed, the Seal in Li Muwan's thoughts that had been blocking her suddenly collapsed, causing Li Muwan's body to tremble. She became the first person in this woven world to awaken her memories.

"Wang Lin…" Li Muwan's eyes welled up with tears, and two streams of tears flowed down. She stared blankly at Wang Lin's aged face, raising her hand to gently caress it, her tears increasing.

Yet in those tears, there was a sense of happiness and warmth; she didn't care about Wang Lin's old age at all, holding him tightly.

"I do not exist, all of this does not exist, therefore, there is the word 'disappear'… Within this, lies truth and falsehood, life and death… Karma, truth and falsehood, life and death, in reality, are all Arising from Conditions and Emptiness of Nature… There is another line; if I say it, this dream will end…" Wang Lin looked at Li Muwan and spoke softly.

This dream was sleepless; from the time the young man from the State of Zhao got drunk at the inn, more than sixty years had passed until today.

Outside this green stone, at the foot of this mountain, within hundreds of miles, even thousands of miles, Cultivators became more and more numerous, until finally, everyone who had even a single encounter with Wang Lin in the dream appeared. They sat quietly, silently gazing at the green stone on the mountain peak, gazing at the two people on that stone.

Time seemed eternal; who knows how long passed. Wang Lin held Li Muwan, and they sat there, watching the sunrise and sunset together, counting the years together.

"Karma cannot be severed; it is inherently empty… Karma is simply Karma. Conditions arise and gather, then scatter into Emptiness of Nature." Wang Lin's voice echoed through the heavens and earth, transforming into countless willow catkins. These catkins came from unknown places, yet knew where they were going.

They drifted in the sky, slowly dancing, dense and numerous, floating downwards, landing on every Cultivator within a thousand-mile radius, as if they had found the record of their lives.

Two intertwined willow catkins slowly drifted down before Wang Lin and Li Muwan. Their intertwined appearance was as if the two of them were holding hands, never to be separated.

"That day, you watched me close my eyes, and your sorrowful appearance was imprinted in my heart the moment I closed them… In this dream, I want to accompany you, watch you leave, watch you wake up… I am still in the dream, waiting for you…" Li Muwan looked at Wang Lin, her eyes filled with gentle water, caressing Wang Lin's wrinkled face, softly murmuring.

Today, the second update! One more chapter is being written. Tomorrow is my birthday, I hope to receive blessings from all Fellow Daoists.