Chapter 169: Learning Restrictions

After obtaining the Top-Grade Spirit Stone, Wang Lin had considered returning the way he came. However, at the first trial, the situation was critical. If he had turned back without Old Man Meng leading the way, it was uncertain whether he could safely return to the starting point. Even if he managed to go back through great hardships, if the area restricted return, then a dead end awaited Wang Lin. He certainly wouldn't be lucky enough to pass the first trial again.

Wang Lin's personality was such that he was unwilling to gamble easily; he couldn't afford to lose.

However, according to Wang Lin's analysis, since Old Man Meng and the other three were ultimately able to return a thousand years ago, it likely meant there was a Teleportation Formation here for returning. Otherwise, Old Man Meng and the three others probably wouldn't have dared to come here to challenge the trial.

Unfortunately, the Jade Slip left by Old Man Meng contained no information about this place, and the Legacy items they obtained were not in Old Man Meng's possession.

Wang Lin's eyes flickered. He believed that if he could get his hands on these Legacy items, he would definitely find a way out.

After carefully surveying the surroundings, Wang Lin walked forward. Not long after, he suddenly stopped, staring at a patch of rocks in the distance, from which waves of spiritual energy emanated. Wang Lin observed for a moment, then slowly retreated a few steps and walked to the side.

The sky was dim, like a heavy stone pressing down on one's heart, making one feel suffocated. Wang Lin breathed a sigh of relief only after cautiously passing through the gaps between two Restrictions on the side.

He glanced down; he had only covered less than thirty zhang, yet it had taken him several hours. Every step, he had to be absolutely sure before daring to take it.

Looking up again, the massive mountain peak stretched endlessly. At this rate, Wang Lin wondered how many years it would take him to reach the summit.

He sighed inwardly. If passing the first trial here relied on luck, then this second trial required complete self-reliance. Wang Lin was silent for a moment, his expression somewhat grim. With his current Core Formation cultivation, it was too dangerous here, but retreating would still entail the same level of danger.

To survive, he could only grit his teeth and move forward. Wang Lin pondered for a moment, his eyes flickering. He did not continue forward but instead retreated a few steps, returning to the two Restrictions he had just passed, carefully re-entering them, and walking down the mountain.

At the very bottom of the mountain, where the Restrictions first appeared, he stopped and squatted down to carefully examine this Restriction.

This was a patch of messy weeds covering dozens of zhang. There were many such patches at the foot of the mountain, but the higher one went, the fewer they became. At first glance, this place seemed unremarkable, but upon closer inspection, one would find that the weeds, though seemingly disordered, actually contained a strange rule.

Wang Lin stared intently, gazing at each weed in this patch for a long time. After each observation, he would take out a Jade Slip and record his insights within it.

It took Wang Lin three days to meticulously record every single weed, every orientation, and every pattern in this area. He wanted to find a method to unlock the Restriction from this.

Wang Lin knew that if he tried to force his way through, there would be no hope of reaching the peak. It was simply an impossible task.

Moreover, the higher one ascended this peak, the greater the power of its Restrictions would surely be, and the fewer passable routes there would be. It was highly possible that there would be no path at all. If that happened without prior preparation, it would certainly be a dead end.

To overcome this calamity, he had to Master the Restrictions of this mountain. The deeper he understood and researched them, the greater his chances of survival. There was no other way.

That's why Wang Lin retreated from above and began to meticulously study the first Restriction.

This Restriction is different from a Formation. A Formation uses specific means and methods to form a Spell of varying power. The things involved are incredibly complex; even a lifetime of research often only allows one to scratch the surface.

A Restriction is actually a type of Formation, but this kind of Spell is more flexible. It can change in myriad ways according to the caster's will and thoughts. Simply put, a Restriction leans more towards Divine Thought.

Great Divine Ability users can often set up Restrictions with a single thought. Even after thousands or tens of thousands of years, as long as their Divine Thought remains, the Restriction will still operate.

Some Restrictions can even form new consciousnesses from the Divine Thought within them to maintain their operation, even after the caster dies.

It can be said that, apart from the caster, very few people can truly fully comprehend all its variations. There are two ways to break a Restriction: the simplest is to forcibly break it, a method that requires extremely strong cultivation and is not something ordinary people possess.

The second method is to study it. Once you understand the manufacturing principles and rules of the Restriction to a certain extent, you can naturally break it.

Wang Lin was using this second method.

After engraving this first Restriction into a Jade Slip, he began to study it. Fortunately, when he was a Soul Devourer, he had a thorough understanding of basic Formations, so studying Restrictions now was not completely baffling.

Time slowly passed. Ten days later, Wang Lin stared at the spot, then suddenly reached out with his right hand. Instantly, the surrounding flower patch swayed. Just then, Wang Lin, as if he had long known the changes in the flower patch, swayed almost simultaneously with it.

He moved left at times, right at others, with both forward and backward movements interspersed. At first glance, his right hand seemed to move without pattern, but upon closer inspection, one could see that the rhythm of each sway was exactly the same as that of the flower patch.

Within a few breaths, the frequency of Wang Lin's right hand's swaying had already exceeded a certain limit, as if countless Clones of his right hand had suddenly appeared. Afterimages began to emerge, with one afterimage appearing just as another quickly vanished.

Ten breaths later, Wang Lin's expression was focused, sweat gradually dripping from his forehead. He suddenly retracted his right hand, and instantly, a red light flashed out from the weeds, chasing after Wang Lin's right hand.

As Wang Lin retracted his right hand, it swayed again. With his swaying, the red light grew weaker and weaker, finally disappearing completely.

When he withdrew his right hand, he had lost all sensation in it. Wang Lin's eyes flickered as he stared at the weeds, which had now returned to normal, showing no signs of anything unusual.

The function of this Restriction was to powerfully kill enemies. Once one entered it, they would be immediately killed. If a Cultivator with a certain level of cultivation resisted the killing move and tried to rush out, then a red light would appear, pursuing them relentlessly.

After several days of research, Wang Lin already had some understanding of this Restriction. The previous action was merely a slight experiment. Wang Lin had attempted similar experiments no less than ten times in these past few days.

From the first time, when he could only hold on for three breaths before having to immediately retract his hand and almost being injured by the red light, to now being able to hold on for ten breaths and having the red light dispelled when it pursued him, Wang Lin believed that with more time, he could hold on for even longer.

This also meant that if he were to fully step into this Restriction now, although he couldn't break it, he could safely survive within it for ten breaths. And if he left within those ten breaths, even the red light wouldn't be able to stop him.

Wang Lin's eyes showed excitement. Although this Restriction was only the simplest one on this mountain, Wang Lin believed that he had found the right path. If he persisted, passing this second trial was not impossible.

Moreover, if Wang Lin's initial purpose in studying Restrictions was to pass this trial, now he had another goal. The more he researched, the more the marvels of Restrictions piqued his interest. Before this, Wang Lin had never imagined how powerful a force he would possess if he mastered Restrictions.

For example, with the Restriction in these messy weeds, although Wang Lin can now pass through safely, he cannot set it up himself. The main reason is that he has not yet fully researched it. Once he truly finishes researching it and makes it his own, then setting up the same Restriction will naturally be effortless.

Although its power might not be as great as this Restriction, its strangeness would be no less.

Wang Lin took a deep breath, a hint of excitement in him, and immersed himself in the study of Restrictions. Time slowly passed, until a month later, Wang Lin suddenly put away his Jade Slip and, with a flicker of his body, entered the messy patch of weeds.

The moment he entered, the weeds here suddenly swayed, and wisps of red mist abruptly emerged from all directions. The weeds on the ground violently shook in an instant, transforming into Sharp Weapons that all flashed out and disappeared into the red mist.

At the same time, whistling sounds came from all directions, and Sharp Weapons, like a curtain of rain, poured out, all targeting Wang Lin.

Wang Lin's expression was calm, his eyes serene, completely unfazed by the pouring Flying Swords. He walked forward as if strolling through his own garden, and countless Flying Swords instantly closed in on him.

Wang Lin, unhurried, casually waved his right hand. This seemingly slow movement, for some unknown reason, actually landed before the Flying Swords reached him. If an outsider were here and witnessed such a scene, they would surely be moved; this was clearly an art of interweaving that could only be mastered by someone who had explored this Restriction to its limit.

Wang Lin didn't understand any art of interweaving; he just knew that his hand would definitely be faster than the Flying Swords. Thinking this, it naturally became faster.

As he waved his right hand, he drew a circle in mid-air. This simple action was something Wang Lin had only mastered after much study and contemplation. Although it was a simple circle, in its execution, Wang Lin's right hand changed through almost a thousand movements, all in one smooth, uninterrupted flow.

Once the circle was formed, the pouring Sharp Weapons immediately slowed down, suddenly transforming back into individual weeds and scattered leaves, dancing around Wang Lin.

Wang Lin's expression remained calm. From the moment he stepped into the weeds, his footsteps had not paused for a single breath; he continued to walk forward, and this remained true now.

As he moved, the weeds and fallen leaves scattered, not daring to obstruct his steps in the slightest. Just like that, Wang Lin walked all the way, and just as he was about to exit, several red lights suddenly flashed out from the surrounding red mist. As soon as these red lights appeared, Wang Lin's eyes flashed, and he raised his right hand, palm facing the sky, and fiercely grabbed.

Immediately, all the red lights seemed to be caught by an invisible large hand, shattering into pieces with one grab. Although they quickly reassembled, they fell at his feet, transforming into a path of red light that stretched all the way outside the Restriction.

Wang Lin's expression was normal as he stepped onto it and walked out of the Restriction.

After exiting, he almost wanted to let out a long howl to the sky. After all this time, he had finally completely mastered this Restriction. His interest in Restrictions had now reached an extreme. Turning around, Wang Lin's eyes flickered, and he suddenly sneered, causing a ripple within this Restriction with his right hand.

Immediately, the Restriction changed, and the direction of the weeds within it instantly shifted. If one looked closely, they would find that it was even more complex than before.

"If anyone passes by behind me, they'll have to be careful!" Wang Lin murmured to himself. He had just added another layer to this Restriction, based on his understanding of it.

In other words, anyone who stepped into this Restriction again, no matter how they tried to break it, would encounter the second Restriction he had set up. Caught off guard, they might very well meet their demise.

Of course, if they used the same method as Wang Lin, the difficulty of their research would also increase severalfold.

Wang Lin sneered, glanced around, and suddenly moved, walking towards another patch of grass below. After modifying the Restrictions in this manner, all the grass Restrictions around the mountain peak had their difficulty increased by him.

After doing all this, Wang Lin pondered for a moment, still feeling it wasn't vicious enough. So, he blocked all the gaps between the surrounding Restrictions. This way, to enter this mountain peak, one would have to step into a Restriction.

Having completed all this, Wang Lin lifted his feet and walked upwards.

At this moment, on the mountainside of this peak, Demonic Lord Six Desires stared with flickering eyes at a dense cloud of mist ahead. This mist had been drifting here for three days, remaining motionless for three days. No matter what Spell Demonic Lord Six Desires cast, he couldn't make it disperse.

His expression was slightly gloomy. Beside him, the young man who had always followed him stood there looking bewildered, staring blankly at the mist before him.

Demonic Lord Six Desires' gaze swept over this person and then looked behind him, a sneer appearing at the corner of his mouth. Along the way, the first trial he entered was the Glacier Land. He was already extremely familiar with this Glacier Land. Although he didn't have the Ancient Emperor's Ice Wind Shield, he had made preparations for a thousand years, so how could he be lacking?

At that time, he had boasted to everyone that he could lead them through the latter half of the first trial, the Frozen Land. Given his status, to utter such words, his confidence must have been absolute.

Indeed, this was the case. Five hundred years ago, he had obtained a treasure that allowed him to cast Water Evasion Technique, which had a similar effect to Wang Qingyue's Earth Traveling Boat.

Thus, with his cultivation and understanding of the Glacier Land, there were no setbacks, and he easily led the young man beside him through.

As for the Road of No Return between the first and second trials, he didn't expend much effort either. Although he had nearly died the first time he walked this stone bridge, his Demonic Technique of Six Desires had now reached the Transcendent realm. What he feared least were various emotional fluctuations and desires; he had researched them to the extreme.

Thus, the Road of No Return was like child's play to him, easily passable. If it weren't for protecting the young man's safety, he wouldn't have spent any time at all.

Although protecting one person slowed their progress somewhat, the outcome remained the same.

What truly concerned him was this second trial. This second trial was called Forbidden Mountain, meaning the entire mountain peak was composed of Restrictions. The higher one went, the more complex and powerful the Restrictions became.

When the four of them first came here, they barely made it through by closely following the powerful Cultivators of that time. However, they suffered heavy casualties, the vast majority of whom were forced by those powerful Cultivators to test the Restrictions' power and were brutally killed in front of them.

If Demonic Lord Six Desires hadn't come with his Master, he probably wouldn't have escaped death either.

Fortunately, his Master was the main force in breaking the Restrictions back then. He had dedicated his life to studying Restrictions and Formations, researching and breaking them all the way. He finally stopped about a hundred zhang from the summit, utterly unable to proceed. So, he did the opposite, setting up another Restriction on top of the existing ones there. With the two mutually restraining each other, and after transmitting a message to a few other powerful Cultivators, they ambushed a Soul Transformation Middle Stage Cultivator. Using his flesh, blood, and Spiritual Vein, they forcefully opened a passage that led for a hundred zhang.

This passage could only exist for less than three breaths of time. Within these three breaths, all the survivors rushed forward, and ultimately only a small portion successfully reached the summit and entered the third trial. The others all perished.

Every time Demonic Lord Six Desires recalled this incident, he couldn't help but feel some lingering fear. Now, his cultivation had finally reached the Soul Transformation Middle Stage, and only then did he dare to come here to explore.

The smooth progress through the first trial and the Road of No Return had filled Demonic Lord Six Desires with confidence. He believed he was lucky, and the key figure for passing the third trial was in his hands. Based on Demonic Lord Six Desires' years of analysis, this person would definitely help him pass the third trial, though the cost would be this person's life.

However, Demonic Lord Six Desires didn't care about this at all.

What he cared about was how to traverse the hundred zhang distance after reaching a hundred zhang from the summit. Although he had made preparations over the past thousand years, he only had a fifty percent certainty in his heart whether it would actually work.

Over these thousand years, he had spent a vast amount of mental energy, focusing on researching the art of Restrictions. Furthermore, with his extraordinary memory, he had memorized most of the Restrictions in this second trial one by one. After a thousand years, he finally gained confidence. Along the way, not a single Restriction could stop him; he easily deciphered all of them, though after each one was broken, he immediately restored it to its original state.

And he added some Restrictions to them, his purpose, in fact, was the same as Wang Lin's.

However, the Restrictions on this Forbidden Mountain became more complex the higher one went. Even for Demonic Lord Six Desires, his speed couldn't help but slow down, often requiring extensive research before he could take another step.

For example, this cloud of mist in front of him, he remembered it wasn't there before, but now it appeared, making him feel surprised and suspicious.

As for Wang Lin, after walking several tens of zhang, the weeds gradually thinned, revealing slightly dark mountain rocks beneath. Wang Lin carefully observed for a long time, then took out a Jade Slip again and began to record.

The Restrictions on these mountain rocks were completely different from those in the weeds. The weeds formed Restrictions based on the direction and orientation of the grass blades, combined with some mysterious rules.

But these mountain rocks were different. Besides some rock patterns, there was nothing unusual about them. If not for some Spiritual Power fluctuations emanating from them, it would be impossible to determine that there were Restrictions here.

Wang Lin circled around and found that all the surrounding areas had similar Restrictions. If he followed the passage gaps he had passed through before, he could indeed get through, but Wang Lin's current interest, compared to simply passing through, leaned more towards thoroughly researching these Restrictions.

He knew deeply that passing through here was simple, but if he wanted to ultimately reach the summit, he would have to put in a great deal of effort on Restrictions.

With this thought, Wang Lin began his meticulous research.

Time passes quickly in the mountains; seven years went by in a flash. On this day, Wang Lin stood on a prominent boulder on the mountainside, taking a large gulp of spiritual liquid. At this time, in these seven years, half of his hair had turned white.

His tireless, all-consuming research into Restrictions kept his mind constantly calculating, and his hair had already started turning white from the roots four years ago.

However, his Divine Sense also strengthened through this continuous research, and even his cultivation unknowingly reached the Core Formation Middle Stage. He was one step closer to the extreme realm's endpoint, the Nascent Soul Stage.

His gaze became sharper, and his entire demeanor had undergone a completely different change from before. If the Wang Lin of seven years ago was a block of Profound Ice, difficult to melt even after ten thousand years, giving off a cold, gloomy, 'strangers beware' feeling, then now, in addition to all that, there was also a profound, unfathomable aura.

This feeling originated from his eyes, which seemed to encompass everything, occasionally flashing with sun, moon, and stars. If Duanmu Ji were to see Wang Lin again at this moment, he would surely not believe his eyes, for this was clearly the Eye of Divine Sense, only possessed after reaching a certain level of attainment in Restriction techniques.

Wang Lin's eyes were forged through sheer effort. In these seven years, he had encountered countless Restrictions, each requiring a vast amount of time and mental energy to carefully study and ponder, and several times he nearly perished within them.

Especially some Restrictions, which were clearly added by someone else. Fortunately, Wang Lin was always cautious; upon noticing, he immediately recognized that these Restrictions were distinctly different from those inherent to the mountain. After studying them, Wang Lin understood in his heart that the person above him must also be an expert in Restrictions.

Judging by his Restrictions, his attainment in this area was clearly much higher than his own.

However, Wang Lin showed no fear. His interest in simply passing through this second trial, the Mountain of Restrictions, had greatly diminished. In his view, this place was clearly the most perfect location for progressively learning the art of Restrictions.

Such a place is truly rare to find in ten thousand years; its Restrictions progress from simple to complex, from easy to difficult, truly an invaluable treasure trove!—

It's cloudy and raining outside today. I sat there for a long time, and when I got up just now, I almost couldn't. My body is really too weak.