Chapter 1980: Flickering Lights, Raging Fury! (Part Two)

The woman in the Phoenix robe let out a soft sigh. She truly disliked such lively scenes, especially Wang Lin's gaze, which made her feel uneasy and simultaneously caused a pang of pain in her heart. She couldn't tell what exactly was going on.

But every time she tried to think about it in detail, it only brought more confusion.

Gently rising, a phantom immediately materialized beside the woman in the Phoenix robe. After respectfully offering a wine cup, it floated behind her, following her out of the main hall and, amidst the clamor of voices, arriving in front of Wang Lin's table.

Wang Lin sat there, head bowed. In this short period, he had already drunk seven or eight pots of wine. He raised his head and looked at the woman standing before him. Wang Lin's vision seemed to blur again.

"You…" The woman looked at Wang Lin, softly about to speak.

"Do you know how to play the zither…" Wang Lin said bitterly. After speaking, he shook his head in self-mockery, stood up, picked up the wine pot, clinked it against the wine cup in the woman's hand, drank the entire pot, and abruptly turned, transforming into a long rainbow that shot toward the sky.

The scattered droplets of wine flew, and one fell onto the woman's face. It was very cold.

"Wan'er… where exactly is your soul!!" In the sky, Wang Lin's figure sped away, but this voice faintly reached the woman's ear.

This voice was sorrowful. Not only did she hear it, but also a portion of the people on the square and the platform, as well as the Dao Ancient Emperor in the hall. The smile at the corner of his mouth deepened as he held his wine cup and took a light sip.

He did not see, nor did Wang Lin, nor did anyone present see that upon hearing the words "Wan'er," the woman in the Phoenix robe trembled abruptly. Struggle and confusion appeared in her eyes, but the struggle quickly vanished, leaving her expression vacant.

Turning around, the vacant woman walked back into the main hall. Behind her, the bustling splendor shone brightly once more.

"Wan'er… I am willing to overturn the entire Starry Sky, just to set your reflection straight…"

Wan'er, I dyed the entire Azure Sky red with fire, just to give you a reason not to close your eyes again.

Wan'er, I shook the entire world with thunder, just so you could hear my voice.

Wan'er, I walked tens of thousands of miles, walked through realm after realm, just to search for your breath.

Wan'er, I entered the demonic killing Dao, defied Heaven and killed Immortals, overturned Heaven and Earth, and stood before you with a desolate and lonely back, just to make you open those eyes that bring me peace.

Wan'er, where exactly is your soul!!!

Tears streamed from Wang Lin's eyes. Within this brightly lit Dao Ancient Imperial City, and within this world, he silently walked forward. His figure was lonely, desolate, and revealed his helplessness.

His sorrow lay deep within his heart, perpetually covered by indifference and survival, rarely showing itself. But this time, after seeing that familiar demeanor, Wang Lin could no longer hide it or deceive himself; his tears flowed down.

As he walked silently, his tears dropped, falling onto a rooftop somewhere unknown. The clamor from the Imperial Palace could still faintly be heard, but Wang Lin was unwilling and didn't want to listen now. He only wanted to be alone in a deserted place, quietly counting his memories.

He returned to the Dao Ancient Hall, back to his own wooden house. Inside the wooden house, Wang Lin closed the door and sat there blankly. He had no desire to Cultivate, nor did he care to look at the Great Heavenly Venerate Sun in the underground Immortal Cave. He gazed at the colorful world outside the window for a very long time.

"What does it matter… that I possess heaven-reaching cultivation…"

"So what… if I have Heaven-Defying willpower…"

"Even if I am the Guardian of the dao ancient lineage, I still cannot find Wan'er's soul…" Pain appeared on Wang Lin's face. He had always been unwilling to ponder this question, constantly using the increase in his cultivation to numb and deceive himself, telling himself that only this way could he possess the hope of finding Wan'er's soul.

He had deceived himself for several thousand years, but now, upon seeing Song Zhi—who bore a resemblance to Wan'er—for the first time in the Imperial Palace, he could no longer control his memories and thoughts.

Time slowly flowed by. Wang Lin locked himself in the wooden house, enduring the heart-gnawing pain. Scenes from the past flashed before his eyes. At this moment, he could only rely on memory to keep himself from being lonely… just like the Old Ancestor of the Donglin Sect, who was accompanied only by memory inside his isolated Dead Sect.

"In this world… there is actually someone whose demeanor is so similar… but she is not Wan'er, she is Song Zhi… the woman I once saw outside Black Stone City…" After a long time, Wang Lin forcibly suppressed the pain and memories in his heart. He did not want himself to become weak, as that would be useless for finding Wan'er's soul.

Letting out a deep sigh, Wang Lin closed his eyes. When he opened them again after a moment, his gaze held calmness, though deep within that calmness, sorrow still lingered.

"Song Zhi…" Wang Lin muttered, raising his right hand. With a sweep, overlapping phantoms immediately appeared outside his body. The Five Elements True Bodies materialized one by one, enveloping the central Gold Origin light cluster. Within the cluster, a blurry phantom seemed faintly seated—this phantom was the True Body that the Gold Origin was about to condense.

Forcing himself to calm down, forcing himself to stop thinking about this matter, and telling himself that Song Zhi was not Wan'er, Wang Lin looked at the Gold Origin light cluster, his expression haggard. He closed his eyes again, preparing to rely on cultivation to stop reminiscing.

But the instant his eyes closed, Wang Lin suddenly snapped them open, a monstrous radiance bursting forth from his gaze, and his expression showed astonishment!

"Something is wrong!!!"

"I saw Song Zhi outside Black Stone City before. At that time, she didn't give me the slightest feeling I just had. At that time, she was very ordinary, very common; although she possessed tranquility, she was definitely not the way she was just now in the Imperial Palace!!"

Wang Lin's body shook.

"If she had been the way she was in the Imperial Palace back then, it would have been impossible for me not to notice. When I was outside Black Stone City, I should have had the same feeling, I should have sensed that familiarity!

But at that time, I had no feeling whatsoever. So why, upon seeing this woman again in the Imperial Palace, did I have that sense of familiarity!!!

Something is amiss here!!

The Dao Ancient Emperor spent several hundred years selecting a concubine, finally choosing one. But Song Zhi does not possess peerless beauty, so why would the Dao Ancient Emperor select her… What kind of concubine has this Dao Ancient Emperor been searching for over these hundreds of years… Why is the difference in Song Zhi before and after so huge? Why did I feel nothing before, yet feel so much in the Imperial Palace!!

Why did I feel agitated and irritable upon entering the Imperial Palace, and why did I feel killing intent when looking at the Dao Ancient Emperor? Why did this feeling of agitation instantly vanish after Song Zhi appeared!!!"

Wang Lin abruptly stood up, his body trembling, his eyes shining brightly, enveloping the entire wooden house. His hair moved without wind, as if a hidden power was about to burst forth uncontrollably!

"But, I checked this woman with my Divine Sense before, and saw no clue whatsoever. Everything about her was normal; only the demeanor sensed by my Divine Sense gave me that familiar feeling… Why is this happening…" Wang Lin's heart trembled. He could hear his own heart beating faster and faster—a sensation extremely rare for him over thousands of years. It was a mixture of excitement, hesitation, confusion, and bewilderment; a shock he could not believe or confirm.

In his heart, a flame seemed to be suppressed. Under constant repression, it was faintly nearing the point of explosion!

"Hundreds of years of selecting a concubine… the stark difference in Song Zhi before and after… what secret is hidden here, a secret that makes me so frantic!!!" Wang Lin's expression was contorted, barely restrained. He wished he could immediately rush into the Imperial Palace, capture the Dao Ancient Emperor, and search his soul for answers!

But he… couldn't!!

He was Xuan Luo's Disciple. Xuan Luo was the Guardian of the dao ancient lineage, and Xuan Luo had bestowed great kindness upon Wang Lin, treating him with the affection of a Master!! If he went to the Imperial Palace to capture and kill the Emperor without any evidence, he would not be able to forgive himself, and he would be unable to face the Master who had shown him such great kindness!

Wang Lin's eyes flashed. Raising his right hand, he grabbed at the Void Realm, and immediately a black Jade Slip appeared in his hand!

This Jade Slip emitted a strange, dark glow, as if one glance would draw one's mind inside, making it impossible to escape. This Jade Slip belonged to the Old Ancestor of the Great Soul Gate, that generation's Prodigy of the Mourning Race who calculated everything for his clan, finally removing his heart and brain, begging for forgiveness, seemingly weighing whether conscience or calculation was more important, and kneeling before Wang Lin's statue as if asking Wang Lin himself!

"This Jade Slip can help you deduce a future change once…" The echoing words from when he obtained the Jade Slip surfaced in Wang Lin's mind.

Without hesitation, he fiercely crushed the Jade Slip. After muttering a few incantations, he spread open his right hand. The shattered Jade Slip transformed into countless black Qi, which abruptly formed a small black figure in Wang Lin's palm. It looked at Wang Lin, knelt down, and kowtowed nine times!

The moment it kowtowed, Wang Lin's mind roared. He saw the Immortal Cave Realm, and he saw a crystalline hand taking Li Muwan's remnant soul from among the Heavenly Dao's myriad beings!

He saw a blurry phantom, covered entirely in seven colors, inside a secret chamber. It was pinching a bead between two fingers, and inside that bead was Li Muwan's remnant soul, trembling with closed eyes!

He heard this blurry phantom whispering something to the startled man in imperial robes standing before it.

He saw the man in imperial robes looking overjoyed. After taking the soul, he spent hundreds of years continuously selecting concubines for Fusion, but all failed. Finally, he saw a familiar woman—this woman was Song Zhi—who successfully underwent Fusion with the soul.

He saw the man in imperial robes inside the palace pinching the woman's cheek with his right hand, causing the unconscious woman to weep in pain.

And the voice coming from the mouth of the man in imperial robes!

That man in imperial robes was the Dao Ancient Emperor!!

"Ye Dao!!!! I will kill you!!!" Wang Lin violently opened his eyes, which were bloodshot. His hair wildly whipped around as he let out a roar powerful enough to tear apart the Nine Heavens and obliterate imperial authority!!

This roar contained a madness, a determination, and a fury that dared to destroy Heaven and Earth, disregard his own life and death, and abandon everything!!

This was the most violent roar of life Wang Lin had ever uttered since birth, powerful enough to make Heaven tremble!!

This was Wang Lin's raging fury!!

Raging fury, begging for monthly vote!!!!