Chapter 2025: Flickering Lights, Happiness and Responsibility (Fourth Update)

In the northeast direction of Shanyue Continent, there is an endless mountain range. Beneath this mountain range, not far from the main road, lies a village like a peach orchard.

There aren't many people in the village, only a few hundred, mostly hunters who rely on hunting wild beasts in the dense forests of this mountain range for a living. This wasn't originally a village; in the earliest days, it was just a desolate plot of land where hunters rested.

No one knows which year, but a group of officials fleeing from the capital, bringing their families, arrived here. Slowly, as time passed, it became what it is today.

At the west end of the village, there is a house with a fence around it. In the yard, some chickens and ducks are kept. A teenage girl, dressed in patched burlap clothes, is holding a winnowing basket and feeding these poultry.

Wafts of cooking smoke rise from the chimney, indicating that breakfast is being prepared inside the house this early morning.

"Mom, I dreamed again last night. I dreamed of becoming an Immortal again," the girl said happily to the house while feeding the poultry.

"You child, you're so old, why are you still fantasizing about becoming an Immortal? When your mother was your age, I was already married to your father," a gentle voice came from inside the house.

"That's because my dad is the best hunter in the village! I heard there were quite a few people who wanted to marry him back then," the girl giggled, her expression very cute. Her appearance wasn't particularly beautiful, but she had a pure and lovely temperament.

"Who told you that, you little rascal!" A young woman walked out of the house. Her clothes were simple, but they couldn't hide her beauty. At this moment, she glared, feigning anger, a spatula still in her hand.

Just as the girl was about to speak, hearty laughter and words came from outside the main door.

"I said it." The main door was pushed open, and a sturdy middle-aged man walked in. He carried a bow and arrows on his shoulder and a dead small beast, but there were dried bloodstains on his leg, whether from the small beast or himself was unclear.

"Dad!" The girl's face lit up with surprise, and she quickly put down the winnowing basket and went forward.

"Wow, it's a leopard beast! Its fur is so beautiful, this is great," the girl's eyes shone, and she jumped with joy.

"Why were you gone so long this time? Usually, you're back in two or three days." The young woman also hurried over, helping the middle-aged man take down the small beast and the bow and arrows.

"The girl said she wanted a good fur coat, and I encountered this leopard beast on the way. I was delayed while tracking it," the man said with a smile, stroking the girl's head.

"What happened to your leg?" The young woman immediately saw the bloodstains on the man's leg and quickly bent down to look. There was a shallow scratch there.

"It's nothing. With Little White, the wild beasts in these mountains can't take my life." As the man spoke with a smile, a black shadow suddenly darted in from outside the main door and pounced on the girl, constantly licking her with its large tongue. It was a large black dog.

However, it looked astonishingly like a fierce tiger.

"Little White learned to roar like a tiger in the mountains again this time. Sometimes I really don't understand if it's a tiger or a local dog…" The man glanced at the local dog and smiled wryly.

"Little White is so good, so obedient." Hearing this, the girl pushed away the large black dog and stroked its fur.

The local dog looked very much enjoying itself, even flopping over to expose its belly, letting the girl scratch it like an itch amidst her laughter. In comfort, it let out a series of gurgling sounds that also sounded like a tiger.

Amidst this laughter, the family didn't notice a white-robed figure floating in the sky. Wang Lin looked down at them, watching their happiness, especially the girl's smile, and a smile also appeared on his face.

"Little White… I almost forgot it was also brought here and Reincarnated, but I didn't expect… it actually Reincarnated as a large dog… and judging by its appearance, it has already gained sentience and possesses considerable cultivation." As Wang Lin smiled, the local dog lying on its back enjoying itself on the ground suddenly shifted its gaze, as if it had seen Wang Lin in the sky, revealing a stunned expression.

That expression instantly turned to fear. The large dog blinked, and even its gurgling sounds stopped.

"Oh? It recognized me?" Wang Lin looked at the local dog, at the fear in its eyes, and his smile grew wider.

However, the dog's abnormality didn't attract the family's attention, because the girl was currently looking at her father, speaking intimately.

"Dad, I dreamed again last night. I dreamed of becoming an Immortal."

"En, being an Immortal is good. My girl will definitely be an Immortal in the future," the man laughed.

"I don't want to be an Immortal at all. I always feel like I've been an Immortal for a lifetime in my dreams, but I wasn't happy, never happy. On the contrary, now is great! I'm just dreaming, anyway, I don't want to become an Immortal.

I want to be with Mom and Dad forever," the girl said with a hint of seriousness.

Her words made Wang Lin pause, his eyes complex. He glanced at the girl's happy smile, then at the peaceful mountain village. After a long time, Wang Lin took another deep look, then flickered and disappeared into the sky.

"Perhaps, this kind of life is what she truly desires…"

That night, the girl had another dream. In the dream, she seemed to have another name, Zhou Ru. Beside her was a black tiger named Little White, whom she always liked to bully, making it stand on its head… She also had an uncle, who was like her dearest relative.

In the dream, her uncle asked if she wanted to leave with him. She was silent, thought for a long time, and then told her uncle, who was like her dearest relative, that she wanted to stay here… That night, the local dog also had a dream. It dreamed of becoming a tiger, dominating the Vicious Beast world, served by countless female tigers, female Vicious Beasts, and so on… it was very enjoyable.

It also dreamed that a white-robed man appeared before it. The dog recognized this man; it was the annoying fellow who had captured it back then. This man gave it some delicious Medicinal Pills, patted its head, and then left.

"When one day Zhou Ru wishes to pursue her dream, you shall awaken her memories…" After that person left, this sentence lingered in the local dog's mind, never fading.

In the Central Continent of the Immortal clan, the vast Ancestral City, due to its immense size, constantly displayed a scene where day and night alternated simultaneously. At this moment, the location of the Ancestral City's imperial palace was shrouded in darkness, yet it wasn't completely black, as numerous lights flickered within the palace.

The entire imperial palace was silent.

A lonely figure emerged from the darkness, gazing at the imperial palace below. The figure stood there for a long time, then stepped down. The scattered lights within the imperial palace flickered as this person descended, becoming more hazy, as if different spaces were overlapping into shadows.

It wasn't until this person stepped onto the square of the imperial palace's main hall that the lights slowly returned to normal.

Wang Lin looked at this place. He had nearly died here back then and was unable to take the Madman with him, only watching him transform into a mountain, becoming the existence that suppressed the Outer Realm Spirits of the seventy-two continents, eternally sleeping.

"When I left back then, I made an oath: when I return here again, I will awaken the Madman! No one will be able to stop me!" Wang Lin murmured, stepping onto the ground.

With this step, the ground of the entire imperial palace subtly trembled, unnoticed by anyone. This tremor was not of the true ground here, but of the overlapping space.

Wang Lin's surroundings blurred, and his figure flickered and disappeared. When he reappeared, he was at the location of the underground palace!

The entire underground palace was hazy, much the same as when he had come before, but of the many mountain peaks on the ground, only one remained now.

This mountain pierced the sky, incredibly majestic. Standing outside this peak, Wang Lin felt the Madman sleeping within the mountain.

Inside and outside this mountain peak, there were countless Restrictions and Seals. Even with a Great Heavenly Venerate's cultivation, breaking them would often take a very long time.

Wang Lin raised his right hand and waved it towards the mountain peak. Immediately, the mountain roared, and the peak visibly collapsed at an astonishing speed. Large amounts of rubble fell off, and in a blink of an eye, it rapidly shrank from its majestic size. All the Seals and Restrictions within it vanished into thin air with Wang Lin's wave.

As the mountain peak collapsed, the Madman's body was revealed. He lay there quietly, eyes closed, sound asleep. On his body, there were fluctuations of a Great Heavenly Venerate's cultivation.

Wang Lin walked forward, came to the Madman's side, squatted down, and looked at the sleeping Madman. He raised his right hand and pointed it at his glabella. With this touch, the Madman's body suddenly trembled.

Wang Lin closed his eyes, and his Divine Sense spread out, entering the Madman's body through his finger to awaken him.

Time slowly passed, and half an hour elapsed in a flash. Wang Lin opened his eyes, revealing a complex expression. He looked at the Madman, remained silent for a moment, then slowly spoke.

"If you truly decide this, I choose to respect it… You… take care." Wang Lin stood up, sighed inwardly, and stepped towards the sky, disappearing within this underground palace.

After Wang Lin left, the Madman opened his eyes. He looked at the spot where Wang Lin disappeared for a long, long time.

"I've been muddled my whole life… mad my whole life… but I am still a descendant of the Immortal Ancestor… Lian Daozhen is already dead. If I leave again, the Immortal clan will… have no Emperor.

I also want to leave here, leave the Immortal Astral Continent, but since I have the Legacy of the Immortal Ancestor, I have a backbone that I should bear… This is my responsibility.

I understood this during my sleep." The Madman sat up, a rare look of determination in his eyes, and muttered bitterly.

"Protecting the Immortal clan, passing down the Legacy through generations. When one day I no longer need to force myself for responsibility, Wang Lin, I will come find you…" The Madman stood up. He wore an imperial robe and an emperor's crown. His expression no longer held any trace of his former madness, but instead possessed the majesty of an Immortal Emperor.

The fourth update is complete! Fellow Daoists, do you still have monthly votes??