Chapter 263: Heavenly Dao is Merciless

"For example, all the Star Domains near this Vermilion Bird Star are nurturing Rain Cauldrons. Before long, Rain Cauldrons will appear one after another." The old man looked at Wang Lin and said leisurely.

Wang Lin's gaze was calm as he slowly said, "When is the day the Heavenly Dao opens?"

The old man laughed heartily and said, "What, are you interested? Actually, with your cultivation, going into the Immortal Gate, although dangerous, as long as you are careful, you don't need to worry too much. After all, within this Immortal Gate, there are great restrictions on strength. The higher the cultivation, the greater the restraint."

Wang Lin looked up at the old man and asked, "Why is that?"

The old man picked up the wine pot, drank the last mouthful of wine, and licked his lips. He said, "The Ancient Immortal Realm is already fragmented, existing as countless pieces. The Heavenly Laws within it are completely chaotic, which is the key. If a magic power fluctuation above the Soul Transformation Late Stage appears within it, then that small part of the Immortal Realm fragment will immediately collapse. Of course, depending on the size of the Immortal Realm fragment, there are some places that can withstand higher levels of magic power fluctuations. Therefore, any Cultivator with profound cultivation, after entering, unless they are seeking death, will limit their magic power fluctuations to the Soul Transformation Stage."

Wang Lin was silent, several thoughts flashing through his mind. After a long time, he looked up at the old man and said, "Senior, your late-night visit is probably not just to tell this Junior these things, right?"

The old man chuckled, his laugh carrying a hint of mischief. He said, "Young man, this old man is here to tell you that I'm leaving. Before I go, you must first carve me a wooden sculpture, so I can give it to Xiao Cui of the Red Dust Pavilion. When she misses me, she can look at it and think of me. Alas, a man as handsome as I, who only appears in legends, naturally has countless beauties missing him." As he spoke, he showed a rather emotional expression, but within that expression, there was an undisguised look of triumph. From time to time, he glanced at Wang Lin, clearly waiting for Wang Lin to praise him a few words.

Wang Lin was silent. After a long time, he picked up a piece of wood, made his right finger into a knife, and quickly began to carve.

However, just as he carved out the general outline, the old man snorted lightly and said with dissatisfaction, "No clothes!"

Wang Lin's finger paused, and he gave a wry smile. After a moment of hesitation, he wiped his right hand across the piece of wood and then began to carve again. This time, his fingers did not stop but moved like the wind. Before long, a naked old man, gaunt and resembling a monkey, was carved onto the wooden sculpture.

This wooden sculpture, except for the raging, violent Concept that wasn't depicted, was basically identical to the old man himself, very lifelike and vivid. Even the wrinkles on his face were precisely reproduced.

The old man immediately snatched it, held it in his hand, and looked at it for a long time, his brows furrowing tighter and tighter. Finally, he glared and said, "What is this? It's not like me at all! Do I, this old man, look like this in your eyes? You've carved a monkey, a monkey, do you understand?"

With that, the old man threw the wooden sculpture aside and stared intently at Wang Lin, saying word by word, "It's not like me!"

At this moment, the old man's eyes did not show playfulness, but an unprecedented seriousness, within which a hint of ferocity flickered.

Wang Lin immediately sensed something was wrong. The surrounding spiritual energy of heaven and earth seemed to be changing according to some pattern at this moment, and a sense of danger suddenly surged in his heart.

Wang Lin had been speculating about the old man's cultivation for decades, but now, his assessment of the old man's cultivation increased again.

He glanced at the old man, picked up a piece of wood, and this time, his right hand moved like the wind, carving out a wooden sculpture in half the time it took before.

The person in this wooden sculpture was handsome and dashing, elegant and unrestrained, especially those bright, piercing eyes. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to call him an peerless beauty. However, his appearance was too far from the old man's. Anyone not blind could tell that he was definitely not the same person as the old man.

As soon as the wooden sculpture was finished, the old man snatched it again. He stared at the sculpture, his eyes gleaming, and laughed heartily, "Excellent! This is me! Good, it's so lifelike! Young man, you carve well. I'll lend you that Straw Hat Magic Treasure for a while!"

The old man looked at the wooden sculpture with great delight, growing fonder of it the more he looked. After stuffing it into his bosom, he gave Wang Lin a highly appreciative look and said, "Just carve like this from now on. It must be truthful, right? Although this sculpture of yours has a slight, tiny difference from this old man's current appearance, the difference is small and can be completely ignored. Most importantly, this wooden sculpture is almost identical to how I looked when I was young!"

As the old man spoke, he stood up, about to leave, but suddenly turned back and said, "There are still ninety-nine wooden sculptures left. Don't forget them after you reach Soul Transformation. Otherwise, no matter where you go, this old man will find you."

Watching the eccentric old man leave, Wang Lin picked up the wooden sculpture of the old man he had carved earlier, glanced at it, smiled faintly, and casually placed it on a nearby shelf.

Wang Lin currently had no plans to participate in the Immortal Gate matter. If his cultivation truly reached Soul Transformation, then a trip would be harmless, but to think of it now was too early.

As for the war between the Four Sects Alliance and the Snow Region Cultivators, Wang Lin thought for a moment and decided not to participate. Such matters involved too wide a scope; a slight carelessness could lead to severe consequences.

Thus, Wang Lin's life returned to peace. The heavy snow across the entire Four Sects Alliance gradually lessened after a month. The light of Cultivators' Magic Treasures in the sky became more frequent, and occasionally, some Cultivators could be seen seemingly repairing something.

Wang Lin observed for a while and confirmed that these Cultivators were forming a Formation in the sky, whose purpose was to stop the snowfall.

At the same time, in addition to the Formation in the sky, a large number of Cultivators from various sects and cultivation Families began to travel through various cities and plains. Their job was to clear the snow.

Clearing snow with magic power was largely ineffective; the snowflakes had a strange sensitivity to magic power fluctuations. Thus, these Cultivators loosened their bodies, which had not been so intensely active for a long time, and began to clear the snow by hand.

Since the Cultivators had already taken action, Mortals naturally wouldn't be left out. The Mortal Emperors within the Four Sects Alliance had clearly received the Immortal Elders' decree. Thus, large numbers of Mortal soldiers began the arduous task of clearing snow.

Due to the vastness of the Four Sects Alliance, not only were Mortal armies clearing snow, but even the common people in the cities were forcibly conscripted to participate in the snow clearing.

Da Niu was one of them.

As for the elderly in their twilight years, they did not escape this matter. However, at the word of the Prince who had always shown him filial respect, no one came to disturb Wang Lin.

This snow-clearing work lasted for several months. Da Niu had already been conscripted to the south. The entire capital, and indeed all cities within the Four Sects Alliance, had become much emptier. Except for those of noble status, everyone was conscripted to various places within the territory to participate in snow clearing.

In this snow clearing, even women and children were forcibly conscripted. Before Da Niu left, Wang Lin, out of thirty years of sentiment, gave him a small wooden sculpture and told him to keep it close to his body.

As for his wife, Wang Lin also gave her a small wooden sculpture.

The purpose of this wooden sculpture was to emit warmth, preventing the body from freezing.

In the early stages of this battle, which was originally between Cultivators, the Mortals of the Four Sects Alliance were the first to suffer. These Mortals didn't even know the reason for the snowfall. To save their homes from the snow disaster, they stepped into the merciless wind and snow without hesitation.

Throughout the Four Sects Alliance, at regular intervals, there would be a massive snow peak piled high like a mountain. All the snow was piled under these snow peaks, slowly increasing in height with the actions of some Cultivators with great Divine Abilities.

In the fields, all the crops were unharvestable, completely submerged by the heavy snow.

Every day, countless Mortals froze to death. Every day, some houses were crushed by the heavy snow… This was a disaster.

On this particular morning, Wang Lin walked out of his shop, looking at the streets that, although cleared, still had snowflakes. In the sky, the wind and snow, though slightly weaker, still persisted.

A few days ago, the big-eared Cultivator Zhou Wutai sent a Jade Slip, which did not again invite Wang Lin to join the Four Sects Alliance, but instead informed him of all the recent actions and measures of the Four Sects Alliance, as well as a shocking secret.

After the nationwide snow clearing, the accumulated snow within the Four Sects Alliance had significantly decreased, but countless towering snow peaks had appeared.

In addition, the vast majority of Cultivators within the Four Sects Alliance had been invited by the Four Sects Alliance to join them in confronting the upcoming great war.

However, Zhou Wutai also raised a point of confusion. According to the past customs of the Snow Region Cultivators, they would never continuously snow for several months like this. Generally speaking, they would only do so for a maximum of ten days, and after ten days, they would arrive.

This was because great wars between Cultivators were always restrained as much as possible to avoid disturbing the Mortal Realm. This was a regulation of the Vermilion Bird Country.

Yet, four months had already passed, but the wind and snow high in the sky had not lessened at all; it was merely concealed by the Formation.

This phenomenon had only one explanation, Zhou Wutai anxiously informed in the Jade Slip: the Snow Region Cultivators intended to destroy the Foundation of the Four Sects Alliance, to wage a war of annihilation!

On the Vermilion Bird Star, wars of annihilation were extremely rare, as the sole Level Six Cultivation Country, the Vermilion Bird Country, would intervene. However, such wars had not been entirely unheard of.

In the Four Sects Alliance's ancient texts, it was recorded that there had been a total of four wars of annihilation on the Vermilion Bird Star. Three of these wars occurred in Level Four cultivation Countries, and one occurred in a Level Five Cultivation Country.

However, without exception, behind every war of annihilation, there was the shadow of the Vermilion Bird Country. This meant that this incident was very likely due to the Snow Region Cultivators somehow moving the Vermilion Bird Country, and thus, with its tacit approval, they launched this war of extermination.