Chapter 264: Heavenly Maiden

Wang Lin pondered for a long time over Zhou Wutai's worried analysis. The Four Sects Alliance was not his hometown, but a street in this Kyoto City was where he had lived for over thirty years.

He stood outside his shop, looking at the falling snow, and sighed softly.

Zhou Wutai's Jade Slip concluded by stating that to investigate whether Snow Domain Star's actions truly indicated a desire for annihilation, the Four Sects Alliance had dispatched several Cultivators, divided into three groups. One group went to the surrounding friendly Grade Four cultivation Countries to seek allies, another went to their affiliated Grade Five Cultivation Country to find reinforcements, and the last group went to the Vermilion Bird Country to ascertain the truth of the matter.

By the day the Jade Slip was sent, all three groups, except for the one in Vermilion Bird Country, had returned.

However, the answers left the people of the Four Sects Alliance in silence.

Most of the neighboring allied countries around them courteously welcomed the Four Sects' envoys but absolutely refused to mention participating in the war, only delaying. Some even outright closed their borders, avoiding them completely. Finally, an old allied neighbor, out of sympathy, subtly revealed that their respective Grade Five cultivation Countries had already issued a decree prohibiting involvement in the matter.

As for the other group of Cultivators who went to the Four Sects Alliance's affiliated Grade Five Cultivation Country, they returned with grim faces, delivering a message: the Rain Cauldron did not need to be surrendered, and the Grade Five Cultivation Country would not participate in this matter.

Ultimately, this group of Cultivators paid a huge price and finally obtained a shocking piece of news from a Nascent Soul Transformation Realm Cultivator in the Grade Five Cultivation Country.

A woman had emerged from the Snow Domain Cultivators. Her talent was astonishing, even catching the eye of the Vermilion Bird Country. In just a hundred years, she had reached the Peak of the Soul Transformation Late Stage, hailed as the most talented person on the entire Vermilion Bird Star in ten thousand years!

If that were all, it would be one thing, but this woman had never consumed any Medicinal Pills during her hundred years of cultivation, which made her even more remarkable and startling.

For this matter, the Vermilion Bird Country had dispatched Cultivators to investigate, ultimately confirming the truth, and then formally invited her to join the Vermilion Bird Country.

Such events were not uncommon on Vermilion Bird Star. Often, exceptionally brilliant individuals would be noticed by the Vermilion Bird Country at the brightest moment of their lives and recruited as national Cultivators.

However, these individuals usually did not hold very high status upon first joining the Vermilion Bird Country, but for that Snow Domain girl, the Vermilion Bird Country made a drastic decision and granted her an extremely high status.

The Vermilion Bird Country did this to break through the chasm of no progress for countless years and strive to reach Grade Seven Cultivation Country status. However, achieving Grade Seven required not only Cultivators reaching a higher Realm but also a series of other preparations, making the difficulty extremely high.

Currently, the Vermilion Bird Country had not even met the first requirement, so they naturally paid close attention to exceptionally talented individuals appearing on Vermilion Bird Star.

And this Snow Domain woman's talent had reached an outrageous Realm, making her a must-have for Vermilion Bird Star.

Her only condition for agreeing to join the Vermilion Bird Country was for Snow Domain Country to ascend to Grade Five and leave its barren Snow Domain land, choosing a new national site on Vermilion Bird Star.

It was at this time that the Rain Cauldron appeared within the Four Sects Alliance's territory. According to the final analysis, this Rain Cauldron belonged to a Cultivator from Snow Domain Country, thus leading to this war.

The Four Sects Alliance could only say that in this struggle for the Rain Cauldron, they were chosen by Snow Domain Country, which intended to select this place as its new territory.

As for why the Rain Cauldron appeared in the Four Sects Alliance and why it was in the hands of the young lord, the Four Sects Alliance, after analysis, believed it to be a conspiracy!

However, whether it was a conspiracy or not, it could no longer change reality.

When this news was brought back by the group of Cultivators, the entire Four Sects Alliance was shaken!

Wang Lin had read all of Zhou Wutai's Jade Slips, and his mood was somewhat heavy. He had not expected such deep secrets to be hidden within this simple dispute over the Rain Cauldron.

He looked at the almost empty shops on the street he was on, feeling quite emotional. A few months ago, this street was bustling with pedestrians, and the surrounding shops would open every morning, creating a lively atmosphere. But now, due to this conflict between the two countries, Mortals had been greatly affected.

Wang Lin sighed softly. At this moment, he was deeply moved. Mortals, in the eyes of Cultivators, were even lower than ants, yet these Cultivators forgot that they themselves had once emerged from among Mortals.

Wang Lin had no way to stop this from happening, nor did he wish to participate. The Great Dao is emotionless; after experiencing the Reincarnation Heavenly Dao, Wang Lin's state of mind had quietly and imperceptibly changed. He looked at the street and softly said, "It's time to leave… Finish the last step, then leave…"

With that, he shook his head, turned around, and gently closed the shop door.

Then, with his hands behind his back, wearing a thick cotton coat and a fur hat, he walked into the distance. Slowly, his figure gradually blurred, eventually disappearing into the white snow of the world.

Wang Lin's body flew at a seemingly slow but actually extremely fast speed high in the sky. As he flew, he saw countless Cultivators along the way. These people passed by him, each with a grim expression, as if the snowy weather was like a large stone pressing down on everyone's hearts.

They rarely spoke to each other, even acquaintances only nodded slightly as they passed.

Wang Lin flew for a long time, eventually arriving at the easternmost part of the Four Sects Alliance. That place was once a dense jungle. But now, no trees could be seen, only a vast expanse of white snow.

This snowfield, compared to the cleared open space next to it, resembled a giant mountain range.

Chilling air emanated from the snowfield, carrying a taste of despair.

Wang Lin silently floated in mid-air, gazing at the snowfield below. He was silent for a long time, then he sighed softly, forming Hand Seals with his hands, which rapidly changed. Immediately, a strange wind appeared, blowing across the plain, emitting mournful wails like weeping.

At this moment, it seemed as if the entire world was filled with this heartbreaking cry… The snow kept falling, the wind kept blowing, seemingly endless like the vast and void Heavenly Dao… However, this snow was quite peculiar; although the wind was strong, it didn't blow away much accumulated snow. Fortunately, Wang Lin's purpose was not to clear out the entire jungle.

Wang Lin showed no sign of impatience on his face. He stood silently in mid-air, his gaze calm.

Gradually, a Vortex about a hundred zhang in diameter appeared on the snowfield. The accumulated snow within the Vortex slowly swept aside.

Wang Lin had been standing in mid-air for a long time, and some Cultivators flying in the sky gradually noticed him.

Finally, the Vortex on the snowfield grew larger and larger, forming a huge deep pit. Beneath this deep pit were dense tree trunks.

Wang Lin glanced at it, retracted his Hand Seal, and immediately descended, falling into the Vortex. Within this hundred-zhang radius, there were numerous tree branches and trunks, which were the Materials for his wood carvings.

The wood he had collected more than thirty years ago was almost used up and could not satisfy his last carving before leaving. Therefore, he had traveled thousands of miles to this place to search for more wood.

For this wood carving, Wang Lin had strict requirements for the wood: it had to be at least a hundred years old for the best effect. Of course, if thousand-year-old wood was available, the effect would be even better.

Unfortunately, finding such wood in this ice-covered land was like searching for a needle in a haystack.

Within the Vortex, Wang Lin's Divine Sense swept across, locking onto some branches. He broke them off and put them into his Storage Pouch. After a long while, he flew up again and cast a Spell in an adjacent area.

Gradually, as one hundred-zhang wide Vortex after another appeared, the wood in Wang Lin's Storage Pouch grew. This process lasted for seven days!

In seven days, the entire plain had been completely cleared. After collecting enough wood, Wang Lin glanced at the place and turned to leave.

During these seven days, his actions had already been reported to the Four Sects Alliance by nearby Cultivators. Some had even come to investigate, but upon discovering Wang Lin's cultivation, they immediately became respectful.

Eventually, Zhou Wutai learned of this matter. He immediately exercised his authority to suppress it, and after pondering for a moment, he personally brought people here. He said nothing, only silently helped.

Otherwise, seven days alone would not have been enough for Wang Lin to collect sufficient wood, nor would it have been possible to completely clear the entire plain.

As he left, Zhou Wutai did not invite Wang Lin to join the Four Sects again. He gave a bitter fist-and-palm salute, then turned and led his people away.

Zhou Wutai knew that the Four Sects Alliance had reached its end. Inviting someone to join now was akin to dragging them to their death. Even he was making detailed considerations for his own future.

Wang Lin nodded to Zhou Wutai and left the place.

He traveled without stopping, heading straight for his shop in the capital city. After a long while, his figure flashed outside the capital and disappeared, reappearing inside the shop.

He took a deep breath, looked around, and sat down in a chair. With a flip of his left hand, he produced a piece of wood still bearing a little white snow. With his right index and middle fingers together, he began to carve.

This was a carving Wang Lin had prepared for a long time. This time, he was not carving just one item, but countless.

At the very end before leaving, Wang Lin's Mortal Transformation Realm had reached its limit. He intended to use this final carving to try and reach the Soul Transformation Realm with his cultivation.

Even if he ultimately failed, he still wanted to improve his state of mind by one step. This way, he would be closer to Soul Transformation! He might even only need to choose a Heavenly Dao to comprehend to reach Soul Transformation!

He intended to carve every single person he had killed, from the day he began cultivation until the day of his Mortal Transformation!

Every single one!