Chapter 2014: Dim Lights, Failure

Some members of the Ancient Clan believe that the Ancient Ancestor has not died, that the Ancient Ancestor is still here! More members of the Ancient Clan believe that even if the Ancient Ancestor truly died, their spirit remains!

It still protects the three lineages of the Ancient Clan. Otherwise, how can one explain the strangeness of the Ancient Ancestor's Statue in the Imperial City of these three lineages, and how can one explain the Ancient Ancestor's Gift every time?

How to explain the rings of light that surround the statue every time someone undergoes the Ancient Dao's Three Divided Souls!

During the Ancient Dao's Three Divided Souls, when the first Divided Soul occurs, nine Rings of Light will flash and surround the Ancient Ancestor's Statue. The second Divided Soul brings eighteen Rings of Light, and the third Divided Soul produces the ultimate twenty-seven Rings of Light!

At this moment, inside the Initial Ancient Imperial City, outside the Ancient Ancestor's Statue, eighteen Rings of Light enveloped it, emitting a gentle glow. Waves of ripples, like halos, spread in all directions, filling the entire Initial Ancient Imperial City and drawing the gaze of all the clan members present.

Song Tian stood a thousand zhang away from the Ancestral Temple, gazing at the vast eighteen Rings of Light above. He remained silent for a moment before turning and walking into the distance. He had come here three years ago to compensate for the events of the past and to restore peace to his heart.

Now, he had acted as Wang Lin's Protector for three years. Although he wasn't the only one acting as Protector during these three years, since Song Tian had come, he had made a decision in his heart: if Wang Lin truly encountered a crisis during this process, he would definitely intervene.

Now that the first Divided Soul was over, he felt there was no need to stay. Taking his steps, Song Tian did not look back, gradually walking away and returning to his Original Mountain, where he ignored the matters of this place and continued his meditation.

Wang Lin clearly sensed Song Tian's departure. He sat cross-legged inside the Ancestral Temple. The Primordial Spirit light projection condensed on his body was several times larger than before. As his Primordial Spirit grew stronger, Wang Lin felt that although his cultivation Realm had not improved, he was slightly stronger than before!

Given his cultivation, even a slight increase in strength was astonishing!

"If I can complete this Ancient Clan Tribulation perfectly and obtain the Soul Blood… then when I cross the Heaven-Treading Bridge again, I wonder if I can step onto the Fourth Bridge that I couldn't cross back then!" Wang Lin muttered.

Wang Lin took a deep breath, his eyes flashing with light, and he looked up at the light projection floating above his head.

"The first Divided Soul took three years. Especially in the final moments, it was almost like death. If my will hadn't persisted, I probably wouldn't have been able to achieve Fusion and condensation… This Ancient Dao's Three Divided Souls is related to will, but even more so… it's luck…" Wang Lin frowned. He now completely understood why few people perfectly complete the Divided Soul process.

Luck might descend once, maybe even twice, but three times in a row… that's extremely slim.

"Then the second time…" Wang Lin closed his eyes, and after a long while, suddenly opened them, confirming his thoughts again.

"Luck is certainly important, but if one possesses a powerful will that can transcend everything, it can also reverse the situation!" Wang Lin formed Hand Seals with both hands and suddenly pointed toward the light projection above. At the same time, his eyes closed again!

The moment his eyes closed, the light projection above his head violently shook, and fine Rifts gradually appeared on it. The Ancient Dao's Second Divided Soul thus began!

In the sky above the Initial Ancient Imperial City, Xuan Luo looked down, a smile on his face. He sat cross-legged and continued to act as Protector for his Disciple.

In his heart, the Dao Ancient Lineage needed him to guard it, but this Disciple, who would be weak during the Divided Soul process, also needed his protection.

Time flashed by, and three years passed.

The eighteen Rings of Light on the Ancient Ancestor's Statue within the Initial Ancient Imperial City seemed to have merged with the entire Imperial City. Many Initial Ancient Clan Members had even subtly grown accustomed to the presence of these Rings of Light.

Although they would still occasionally look at the Rings of Light, as time passed, all curiosity slowly faded away. All that remained now was speculation.

Speculating on how many years the person could last during this second Divided Soul.

Three years later, another three years!

A full six years passed, and the eighteen Rings of Light on the Ancient Ancestor's Statue remained the same, causing the sky above the entire Imperial City to lack the distinct change between day and night.

Even during the night, the radiance still illuminated the entire Imperial City.

When the tenth year of the second Divided Soul arrived, even some Initial Ancient children who were newly born and young felt that the sky above the Initial Ancient Imperial City had always looked this way.

Ten years of Divided Soul—this matter gradually spread throughout the entire Ancient Clan. People from the dao ancient Clan and the Extreme Ancient Clan occasionally came here to witness this scene personally.

Time continued to flow. Inside the Ancestral Temple, the light projection above Wang Lin's head shattered into countless invisible fragments when the tenth year arrived. He endured unimaginable pain, yet he persisted.

Those invisible fragments were slowly breaking apart. When they turned into dust, it would signify the second complete shattering of the Primordial Spirit.

The Initial Ancient Sovereign, this elderly man, seemed to have given up some unrealistic thoughts. He gradually stopped paying attention to the Rings of Light on the Ancient Ancestor's Statue and instead guided Jidu to slowly inherit his throne.

There were less than forty years remaining until Jidu's enthronement. For Mortals, forty years is half a lifetime, but for members of the Ancient Clan, forty years, though still lengthy, is not far off.

Another three years passed while Jidu slowly mastered the many secrets of the Initial Ancient Lineage.

Wang Lin's second Divided Soul had already been underway for thirteen years! Moreover, half a year ago, a tremendous pressure suddenly emanated from the Ancestral Temple. While enveloping the surroundings of the Ancestral Temple, it also generated a strange power. This power prevented any Divine Sense from probing and also blocked people from entering!

Xuan Luo, on the Sky Canopy, watched the Ancestral Temple below with worry. Even his Divine Sense could not penetrate that strange power. He could even sense that even if he personally tried to walk in, he would be unable to step inside the temple due to this power.

This power belonged to the Ancient Ancestor, belonging to that drop of Ancient Ancestor Soul Blood!

Just as such a change occurred at the Ancestral Temple, on the Original Mountain, Song Tian, who had intended to ignore the matters of the Ancestral Temple, suddenly opened his eyes, a trace of surprise and doubt appearing in them as he looked toward the Ancestral Temple.

The thirteenth year passed, and the fourteenth year arrived.

Amidst the strange power permeating the area, Wang Lin's aura had vanished without a trace. No one knew if he was alive or dead; even the will he had released during his first Divided Soul could not be sensed.

The only sign that Wang Lin might not be dead was the eighteen Rings of Light outside the Ancient Ancestor's Statue, which were still present.

No one knew that the numerous invisible fragments that had previously existed outside Wang Lin's body in the Ancestral Temple had completely turned into dust half a year ago, having fully split apart.

However, after splitting, the phenomenon of being unable to achieve Fusion occurred. Over the past half year, Wang Lin relied on his immense will to forcibly attempt Fusion several times, but he never succeeded.

His will had slowly diminished due to these forced Fusions, becoming extremely faint and imperceptible. Inside his body, there was no vitality; only this small amount of will stubbornly continued to attempt Fusion again and again.

Large numbers of light spots constantly appeared on his body. These light spots slowly condensed together, faintly revealing a light projection outline, but then they became unstable again, collapsing with a bang and exploding outwards, causing the light spots to dim one by one and vanish without a trace.

This was the thirteenth time!

Wang Lin, devoid of consciousness and awareness, relied on his meager will to initiate the fourteenth Fusion. As large numbers of light spots appeared outside his body again, the fourteenth year slowly passed by.

The fifteenth year arrived.

On the day the fifteenth year arrived, the eighteen Rings of Light outside the Ancient Ancestor's Statue underwent an astonishing change. This change drew the attention of all the clan members in the Initial Ancient Imperial City and caused an uproar among the clan members who had almost grown used to the Rings of Light's existence.

Even the Initial Ancient Sovereign, who had stopped caring about the matter, suddenly walked out of his Sleeping Palace, looking at the distant Ancient Ancestor's Statue and drawing a sharp breath.

Jidu flew away, looking up nervously in mid-air, unconsciously clenching his fists.

Song Tian, on the Original Mountain, stood on the Summit of Ox Horn Peak, gazing intently, filled with surprise and uncertainty.

They saw that one of the eighteen Rings of Light outside the Ancient Ancestor's Statue rapidly dimmed at this moment. After the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, it suddenly collapsed, turning into countless fragments and dissipating.

As a result, only seventeen Rings of Light remained outside the Ancient Ancestor's Statue!

"The Divided Soul Ring of Light shattered, what… what is the reason for this!!"

"Could it be that this person failed the second Divided Soul and died? Otherwise, the shattering and dissipation of a Ring of Light would never happen!"

"I remember now! I once heard that this Ancient Dao's Three Divided Souls is not an endless process, and there is a time limit for each Divided Soul. Could it be that this person reached the time limit during the second Divided Soul!"

Waves of discussion echoed throughout the Initial Ancient Imperial City.

"He actually reached the time boundary for the second Divided Soul. If Wang Lin doesn't complete the Fusion before all eighteen Rings of Light dissipate, he will suffer Soul Flying Away and Spirit Scattering!" Song Tian took a deep breath, looked at the Ancestral Temple, and frowned.

Xuan Luo, on the Sky Canopy, instantly changed expression upon seeing this scene. Given his status, he naturally recognized the reason for the Ring of Light's disappearance at a glance. Without the slightest hesitation, he flashed down from the sky and rushed straight toward the Ancestral Temple.

Song Tian had known about Xuan Luo's arrival long ago but had never pointed it out. Although he saw his figure now, he hesitated for a moment and did not stop him.

They saw Xuan Luo instantly arrive outside the Ancestral Temple and step in without hesitation. But the moment he stepped in, a tremendous force instantly bounced back, emitting a muffled roar. Xuan Luo's body shook, and he was actually unable to enter, being forcefully blocked outside.

At this moment, the second, third, fourth… up to the eleventh Ring of Light on the Ancient Ancestor's Statue shattered in succession!