Chapter 2000: Flickering Lights, Passing Years

Gazing at Li Muwan in the coffin, seeing her eyelashes tremble and her glistening tears, Wang Lin's expression was gentle. He wiped away Li Muwan's tears; the teardrops clung to his finger, not yet fallen, crystal clear like glass.

He brought the tear on his fingertip to his lips and sucked it in. It was bitter and astringent, but once it melted into his heart, a hint of sweetness subtly emerged.

It was an indescribable taste. Wang Lin gazed at Li Muwan for a long, long time. He didn't care about the passage of time, but simply kept looking at Li Muwan's delicate face, as if eternal… Until one day, Wang Lin's heart slowly calmed. He closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, his gaze was filled with decisiveness and resolve.

Bending down, Wang Lin's face touched Li Muwan's pale lips. He seemed to murmur into the ear of the woman in the coffin, speaking words that only he himself could hear.

After a while, Wang Lin flicked his right sleeve, and the coffin containing Li Muwan transformed into a crystalline light, vanishing without a trace. In the secret chamber, only Wang Lin remained, sitting there quietly by himself.

On the wall not far away, there was an oil lamp. This lamp was very mysterious; without external force, it could burn for thousands of years without extinguishing. At this moment, it flickered, emitting an alternating bright and dim light.

It cast Wang Lin's figure from behind in a shimmering, indistinct way.

As Wang Lin sat cross-legged, his left hand made a grabbing motion in the void. Immediately, a golden light flashed, and in his hand appeared the Immortal Emperor's Soul. This Soul had its eyes closed, and despite being enveloped in golden light, it exuded a strong sense of decay.

Looking at this Soul, Wang Lin hesitated slightly, but then gritted his teeth and spat out a blue flame. The blue flame was his Soul Fire, and after enveloping the Immortal Emperor's Soul, it began to burn fiercely.

"Whether this Soul can be used by me depends on whether its cursed art power can be dispelled. This process will be very slow…"

Wang Lin looked at the Immortal Emperor's Soul enveloped by his Soul Fire, then after a long time, he withdrew his gaze, closed his eyes abruptly, and slowly began to breathe. His breathing was long and faint, almost imperceptible, and his entire body remained motionless.

Time flowed by; three years passed in a blink of an eye.

For three years, no one disturbed Wang Lin. In this secret chamber, he remained motionless, immersed in his breathing. Within his body, his cultivation and Ancient Clan power circulated perfectly. However, the wisp of Immortal Ancient Fusion power formed in his body on Ancient Dao Mountain still hadn't completed a full cycle; at this moment, only a very small part of it had circulated.

The Immortal Emperor's Soul, being refined by his Soul Fire, hadn't changed much, but the decaying momentum within its Soul had subtly slowed down.

Wang Lin gave no thought to the outside world. The area outside his secret chamber was guarded by many attendants, prohibiting anyone from entering.

During these three years, Prince Jidu did not leave, but rather made arrangements within the palace. Occasionally, people would arrive from outside, hold secret discussions with him, and then depart in haste, filled with excitement and respect.

For three years, Prince Jidu, come rain or shine, no matter how important the matter he was involved in, would personally come to the outside of Wang Lin's secluded cultivation chamber every morning. He would gaze at the chamber with fanaticism, stay for half an hour, and then respectfully depart.

On this day, three years later, Wang Lin, who was immersed in his secluded cultivation and breathing in the secret chamber, opened his eyes for the first time. The moment his eyes opened, two brilliant flashes of light flickered and vanished from them.

His body immediately manifested an overlapping phantom. The Five Elements True Body stood up from Wang Lin's cross-legged form, walked to the opposite side, and sat down cross-legged.

The Five Elements True Body, with all its Five Elements Origin complete and having achieved Major Achievement before condensing into a True Body, especially after merging into one, made the Five Elements reach Perfection, demonstrating Wang Lin's extremely strong Origin.

This was almost the limit, unless it advanced further, making the Five Elements True Body become a True God!

After the Five Elements True Body sat cross-legged, it closed its eyes, and together with Wang Lin's main body, immersed itself in breathing. Time flowed, and another three years passed.

This was already Wang Lin's sixth year of secluded cultivation. An overlapping phantom once again appeared on his body. With a murderous aura coiling around it, Wang Lin's Slaughter Thunder True Body walked out from Wang Lin's main body, its black hair fluttering, and sat down cross-legged in another direction with a cold expression.

The scene in the secret chamber at this moment was very peculiar: three Wang Lins with identical appearances sat in a triangle, all with their eyes closed, breathing.

As for the Immortal Emperor's Soul, after six years of refinement, the decaying momentum within its Soul had slowed down even further. Perhaps one day, when the decay completely stopped spreading, Wang Lin would be able to slowly refine it.

Years passed without a trace, and another three years went by. On this day, the ninth year of Wang Lin's secluded cultivation, a third overlapping phantom appeared on Wang Lin's main body. This phantom was not yet able to condense into a True Body. After appearing, it transformed into a blurry ball of light, floated out from Wang Lin's body, and stopped about a zhang behind him.

Wang Lin opened his eyes and looked at his three Origin Bodies. In these nine years, Wang Lin had pushed his cultivation and Ancient Clan power to their current Peak. At the same time, he had also allowed these three Origin Bodies to reach their respective current Peaks.

Now, he was confident that he could fight the Great Heavenly Venerate Dao Yi at his Peak without falling into a disadvantage. He even faintly felt that he could suppress Dao Yi!

"Among the Great Heavenly Venerates, the Immortal Clan's Dao Yi is the weakest. With my current cultivation and combat power, although I still can't compare to Jiudi, I am close to Wufeng… Even with Song Tian, the Great Heavenly Venerate of the Primeval Lineage, whose strength is comparable to Master Xuan Luo, I have the power to fight, though the outcome is unknown.

This is still without using my strongest Clone." Wang Lin's expression was calm, his eyes thoughtful. After a while, he looked at the Immortal Emperor's Soul floating not far away, being refined by his Soul Fire.

"Burning it with my Soul Fire indeed has some effect, but it's slow. I don't know when it will be completed." Gazing at the Immortal Emperor's Soul, Wang Lin withdrew his gaze after a long time.

"The Five Elements True Body doesn't need to be considered for now. Its completion in the Dao Ancient Imperial City back then raised my cultivation to the Empty Tribulation Realm Great Perfection, which shows that my past conjectures and analyses were correct!

If I want to further increase my cultivation, the next step is this Slaughter Thunder True Body…" Wang Lin's gaze fell on the Slaughter Thunder True Body, and a strange light appeared in his pupils.

"The materials needed for this True Body's Major Achievement, Master… he took me to many places in the Ancient Clan back then and obtained enough items…" Wang Lin sighed lightly, his gaze withdrawing from the Slaughter True Body and looking in the direction of the Dao Ancient Lineage, as if his eyes could penetrate the walls of the secret chamber and see the not-so-young elder in the back mountain of the dao ancient Hall in Dao Ancient Imperial City.

After a long time, Wang Lin withdrew his gaze. His decision to enter secluded cultivation this time meant he was prepared not to emerge until his cultivation increased. He absolutely had to raise his cultivation, not only to possess the strength to defeat the Great Heavenly Venerate Song Tian, but also to have the ability to disregard the Ancient Dao power within this Ancient Clan.

Only then would he have the confidence to make the Great Heavenly Venerate Song Tian choose Jidu as the Imperial Venerate, and only then could he enter the Ancestral Temple.

And most importantly, within the Primordial God Realm, he would have the power to break through all mysteries and the unknown purpose of the dao ancient Imperial Preceptor.

"The attitude of the Great Heavenly Venerate Ancient Dao is very strange… He hasn't sought me out because of the Dao Ancient Lineage matter, but only one's own strength is the key to solving all problems. One cannot entrust one's life and death to the whim of another." Wang Lin looked at his Slaughter Thunder True Body, his eyes gleaming.

His path of cultivation was completely different from others; it was a path he had explored and walked himself, and only he could guide himself to proceed step by step, to see what level he could reach.

"This Slaughter Thunder True Body was condensed from special Origins. Among them, the Thunder Origin has long become a True Body, but the other four are only at Major Achievement.

Slaughter, Silence, Primeval, Restriction…" As Wang Lin murmured, he suddenly raised his right hand and pointed at the Slaughter Thunder True Body. With this指, the Slaughter Thunder True Body suddenly trembled and slowly split apart before Wang Lin.

The True Body was immediately enveloped by lightning, and as arcs of electricity pulsed, four masses of mist separated. As soon as one of these masses of mist appeared, the secret chamber immediately became frigid, and a frantic killing intent permeated all directions.

This was the Slaughter Origin.

There was also a mass of mist, within which countless mysterious runes flickered. As the mist wriggled, more and more runes appeared. This was the Restriction Origin.

As for the remaining two masses of mist, one emitted light, while the other was pitch black, representing Primeval and Silence respectively.

"Only when all four of these Origins condense into True Bodies and then fuse, allowing this Slaughter Thunder Body of mine to reach Major Achievement, can my cultivation advance further from Empty Tribulation Realm Great Perfection!

This step might be Heavenly Venerate, or perhaps Ascendant Heavenly Venerate, but it's also possible that it's neither, but rather entering an unknown Realm… Perhaps, the Great Heavenly Venerate Realm!" Expectation gleamed in Wang Lin's eyes. According to his understanding, the so-called Heavenly Venerate and Ascendant Heavenly Venerate were merely Cultivators at Empty Tribulation Realm Great Perfection, categorized as such because taking that step to become a Great Heavenly Venerate was too difficult.

In reality, whether Heavenly Venerate or Ascendant Heavenly Venerate, fundamentally, they were all Cultivators at Empty Tribulation Realm Great Perfection.

Wang Lin's eyes flashed. After a brief moment of contemplation, he suddenly raised his right hand and waved it towards the ceiling of the secret chamber. With this wave, the ceiling of the secret chamber immediately underwent a strange transformation, actually turning into a sky.

Blue sky, white clouds, clear skies for thousands of miles, but no sun.

Without hesitation, Wang Lin grabbed the Primeval Origin and waved it towards the ceiling that had transformed into a sky. This mass of Origin went straight to the ceiling, merging into the illusory sky, emitting ten thousand rays of light, like the sun!

Wang Lin looked up at the ceiling that had become a sky. Under his gaze, this sky actually began to operate. This operation was like the changing rules of heaven and earth. Gradually, as if an entire day had passed, the Primeval Origin that had transformed into the sun became the setting sun, slowly disappearing.