Chapter 2042: The Missing One in the Dimming Lanterns

What is the Primordial God Realm!

This is a question possessed by almost every cultivator on the Immortal Astral continent, passed down through generations. Even the Great Heavenly Venerates have no answers to what kind of existence the Primordial God Realm is, where it comes from, and many other questions.

Although many people have entered the Primordial God Realm, after returning, they themselves could not clearly describe what kind of place it was.

Wang Lin looked around. The sky was red, with no stars, no sun or moon, yet a soft light existed. The earth was a circle.

Here, his Divine Sense was restricted, unable to spread and envelop the entire continent. He could only see nearby crisscrossing mountain ranges and extremely long Rift chasms.

Walking on this earth, Wang Lin was silent. Confusion and familiarity flickered in his eyes as he walked forward silently.

Stopping before a chasm Rift ahead, Wang Lin lowered his head to look at the earth's fissure. The Rift was perfectly straight, without the slightest curve, as if cleaved open by a sword.

Faint wisps of black Qi emanated from within the Rift, rising into the air before vanishing. Looking into the depths of the Rift from here, it was pitch black, seemingly containing nothing.

Wang Lin was silent for a moment, then took a step forward, crossing this enormous Rift and walking toward more distant places. Time slowly passed, and after an unknown duration, Wang Lin saw more Rifts, more mountain ranges.

Most of those Rifts looked similar, all perfectly straight, as if cleaved by a sword's edge.

"A circular earth…" Wang Lin murmured. His eyes flashed, and his body slowly rose into the air, gradually ascending toward the sky here. As he flew higher and higher, the outline of the earth beneath his feet seemed to shrink. When Wang Lin stood at the zenith of this sky, he lowered his head, looking at the land below. The sense of familiarity in his eyes grew stronger.

This circular earth, with its deep chasms and Rifts, was arranged in a very regular pattern. Combined, they made the circular earth look like a Compass.

A giant Compass, with the Rifts as its markings, and the intersecting mountain ranges naturally forming ancient, weathered runes.

"A Compass… a wheel without a pointer… Or perhaps, this Compass earth is not complete either; it is missing half." A strange light appeared in Wang Lin's eyes. Looking at the earth, he gradually saw that this circular continent seemed illusory on one half, vaguely feeling somewhat unreal.

In silence, his gaze swept over the earth, finally focusing on the very center. There stood a mountain, a towering peak that pierced the clouds, yet drifted with colorful snowflakes.

Looking at that mountain, a complex emotion surfaced in Wang Lin's eyes. He had seen this mountain before—in the Ancient Ancestor Temple, during the Divided Soul of the Ancient Dao, he had glimpsed it in the ethereal.

In the Ancient Ancestor Temple, within the illusory vision, he had seen a figure on this mountain, holding a body, howling mournfully at the sky, questioning heaven and earth. But now, in his sight, on that mountain drifting with colorful snowflakes, there was no figure holding a corpse. Instead, there was a familiar person sitting cross-legged there, currently looking at him.

His appearance seemed both old and not old, his entire body suffused with a colorful glow, his eyes filled with excitement and fervor—exactly like the Heavenly Fate Child, like the Immortal Venerable of Seven Colors, like the dao ancient Imperial Preceptor!

Behind this figure, behind this mountain, there was a bridge. One end of the bridge connected to the earth, while the other end merged into the sky, forming a huge arc.

The appearance of that bridge looked almost identical to the Heaven-Treading Bridge. Where it connected to the sky, Wang Lin faintly seemed to see, behind the blood-colored sky, a blurred illusion.

Within that illusion, there seemed to be two figures, indistinct and impossible to discern clearly.

This scene was identical to the illusion he saw beyond the Ninth Bridge on the Heaven-Treading Bridge.

"You've finally come!" The Heavenly Fate Child looked at Wang Lin and laughed heartily.

Wang Lin withdrew his gaze from the bridge and looked at the Heavenly Fate Child. Without speaking, he walked forward step by step. Moments later, he stood on the mountain drifting with colorful snowflakes, watching the colorful snowflakes fall on his body and around him. Wang Lin sighed softly.

"I have waited for this day for a very, very long time, Wang Lin. All of this is just a dream of yours, but when you come here, your dream will distort!" Amidst his laughter, the Heavenly Fate Child raised his hands and swept them outward forcefully.

With that sweep, the circular continent immediately erupted with a deafening roar. Amidst the roar, dense, extreme black Qi erupted simultaneously from the many Rifts on the earth. This black Qi swirled and soared into the sky, heading straight for this mountain.

In an instant, the black Qi covered the blood-red sky. Before Wang Lin, behind the Heavenly Fate Child, this black Qi coalesced, forming a gigantic figure.

The figure was extremely tall, as if propping up the heavens and earth here. From a distance, this shadow seemed to wear loose black robes covering its face, but Wang Lin could still recognize that its appearance was the same as the Heavenly Fate Child before him.

"Wang Lin, even if you were a Heaven-Treading realm powerhouse in your previous life, within this Boundary-Defining Disk, I am the supreme existence! Of the entire Immortal Astral continent, this place is the only one where I can devour and fuse with you!

Here, your dream will distort. From now on, I will be you!" The gigantic figure let out a low roar, its voice rumbling and echoing around.

"Previous life…" Wang Lin looked at the Heavenly Fate Child, then at the phantom behind him, his expression calm.

"It seems you haven't remembered yet. No matter, I will let you understand everything before you die!" That Heavenly Fate Child stood up, took a step back, and merged with the massive black shadow. Lifting the black robe covering his face, he revealed his eerie countenance.

"The Immortal Astral continent does not exist. It is merely an illusion you conjured from a dream. In reality, this place is a void, merely a part of the Dust-Reversal Realm."

"A void…" Wang Lin fell silent.

"Don't believe it? You, who haven't recalled the memories of your previous life, seem utterly pitiful to me! Wang Lin, I tell you, the cosmic firmament contains four great realms. This realm is the Dust-Reversal Realm! Each realm possesses a supreme treasure. The supreme treasure of the Dust-Reversal Realm is the Boundary-Defining Compass, also the only Void-Extinction treasure!

This Primordial God Realm is the Boundary-Defining Compass of the Dust-Reversal Realm!" The eyes of the gigantic figure transformed from the Heavenly Fate Child revealed intense excitement.

"As for you, in your previous life, you were the strongest person under heaven, a cultivator of the Heaven-Treading realm. You should have dominated the Dust-Reversal Realm, but in order to resurrect a woman, you borrowed the Boundary-Defining Compass from its guardian, intending to use it to revive your wife!

You even used your self-created Dream Dao technique, personally dispersing your true self, recreating Reincarnation, attempting to make the dream come true, to resurrect your wife within Reincarnation, reversing the changes of heaven and earth!

Even I was quite shocked by such a crazy action and idea of yours!" The Heavenly Fate Child looked at Wang Lin, his words echoing.

"So that's how it is. Then, who exactly are you?" Wang Lin closed his eyes, opened them after a moment, looked at the massive figure, and spoke slowly.

"I am the guardian of the Boundary-Defining Compass. You snatched this item from my hands back then! I have a Disciple; you should know him. His name is Mo Zhi!" The Heavenly Fate Child said leisurely.

Wang Lin remained silent.

That Heavenly Fate Child's eyes flickered almost imperceptibly. He raised his right hand and swept it out. A portion of the black Qi within his body suddenly dispersed, forming a black Vortex in the sky. Gradually, scenes seemed to emerge within that black Vortex.

"If you still don't believe it, you can see for yourself! You can judge the truth or falsehood of these scenes yourself."

Within the black Vortex, Wang Lin saw another version of himself, holding a corpse, howling mournfully at the sky.

He saw that version of himself, in a past countless years ago, after failing to resurrect Li Muwan—the sorrowful expression, the angry voice, and the frenzied eyes.

"Even if heaven wills your death, I will snatch you back! I will shatter this sky, blast open this earth! I will sink into Reincarnation, extract every trace of you from it, and recreate life after life…

If I still do not succeed, then I, Wang Lin, will never awaken, immersing myself with you in that Reincarnation, until eternity…"

Wang Lin watched the scenes within the Vortex. Those past events surfaced in his mind, as if these memories had always existed, but he had simply forgotten them.

"Earlier, to make me come here, you told me that Li Muwan could be resurrected here. Is that true or false?" Wang Lin was silent for a moment, then looked at the Heavenly Fate Child and spoke slowly.

"It can be true, or false! The Boundary-Defining Compass is the only Void-Extinction treasure of this Dust-Reversal Realm. It can change everything. However, you won't have that opportunity." Seeing that Wang Lin remained calm to this point, showing no signs of consciousness distortion, the Heavenly Fate Child felt some hesitation within. Hearing Wang Lin's words now, he hesitated, not acting rashly. He vaguely felt that something seemed off.

"What is that bridge?" Wang Lin raised his right hand, pointing at the bridge connecting heaven and earth behind the figure composed of black Qi that was the Heavenly Fate Child.

"The Heaven-Treading Bridge of the Boundary-Defining Compass, also the true form of the Heaven-Treading Bridge sensed by all living beings in the Dust-Reversal Realm when their cultivation reaches a certain level." The ominous feeling in the Heavenly Fate Child's heart grew clearer, but he couldn't figure out what exactly had changed.

"Are you hesitating and guessing why my consciousness hasn't distorted, like the moment of blurriness when a sleeping person is about to awaken?" Wang Lin smiled slightly, looking at the Heavenly Fate Child, speaking calmly.

The Heavenly Fate Child's expression changed abruptly. His massive body suddenly retreated several steps, staring at Wang Lin. After scrutinizing him carefully, an incredulous look appeared on his face.

"You… No, even if you already knew the memories of your previous life long ago, as long as you come inside this Boundary-Defining Compass, you will awaken from the Dream Dao!!

In the previous several times, you always awakened at this step. This time cannot be different!"

"You are not the guardian, but the missing one…" Wang Lin looked at the Heavenly Fate Child and slowly spoke.

The moment his words were uttered, the Heavenly Fate Child's heart suddenly skipped a beat.