Chapter 329: Unwillingness

These Top-Grade Spirit Stones were called Sub-Top Grade.

After seeing the description within this Pill Formula, even Wang Lin, with his self-control, couldn't help but be moved; this method was far too vicious!

His heart stirred. According to the description in the Pill Formula, every Sub-Top-Grade Spirit Stone contained an extremely faint Bloodline, which could only be discovered by looking with the Primordial Spirit after one's cultivation reached the Soul Transformation stage.

He slapped his Storage Pouch, took out his Top-Grade Spirit Stones, and scrutinized them one by one with flashing eyes.

"I didn't expect that all the Top-Grade Spirit Stones I possess, except for one, actually have a Bloodline…" Wang Lin pondered briefly, then his body moved, and he vanished from the spot.

Ten days later, Wang Lin and his group appeared outside the Ancient Teleportation Formation on the border of Chu Country.

When using the Ancient Teleportation Formation this time, Wang Lin wasn't sure if it was a hallucination, but the moment the Formation operated, he faintly seemed to hear a sigh, subtle and indistinct, carrying a sense of relief.

This sound came from within the Top-Grade Spirit Stone.

They returned to the valley next to the Immortal Relic Land in Chu Country. The place was unchanged since they left. Lyu Fei and Tie Yan stopped a hundred miles away, continuing to meditate and condense the Spiritual Power within their bodies, striving to reach Perfection sooner.

Wang Lin's life settled back into normalcy. Every day he regulated Li Muwan's body, while Li Muwan studied the Grade Six Pill Formula. Many Spiritual Plants listed within it were already extinct, so Li Muwan's job was to find substitutes.

She wasn't afraid of death, but she didn't want to leave Wang Lin. In order to stay by Wang Lin's side forever, she poured all her energy into this Pill Formula.

Occasionally, when she looked up, she would see Wang Lin sitting in meditation not far from her. Whenever this happened, her eyes would show tenderness, but within that tenderness was deep unwillingness and attachment.

Li Muwan sighed softly in her heart.

After a month of searching for Pill Formula substitutes, Ouyang Zi was also summoned by Wang Lin. Unfortunately, the last Grade Five Alchemist in the Cloud Heaven Sect, Tian Yunzi, had died years ago after failing his Soul Transformation Breakthrough. Otherwise, if the three of them studied the Pill Formula together, the process would certainly be much faster.

Ouyang Zi was an Alchemy fanatic; he lived his life for pills. Seeing the Grade Six Spirit Pill now, it was as if he had found the pursuit of his life, and he immediately went into a frenzy, studying the substitutes for the one hundred and thirty-seven Materials in the Grade Six Returning Essence Pill, as well as the separation and combination of their medicinal properties, almost day and night.

Whenever a substitute Medicinal Material was found, Liu Fei and Song Qing of the Cloud Heaven Sect would immediately search for it and deliver the Medicinal Material.

If they encountered something the Cloud Heaven Sect did not have, they would purchase it at a high price from sects in other countries.

If that still didn't work, they would trade for clues regarding the Medicinal Materials, and Lyu Fei and Tie Yan would go collect them.

Time flew by. Two years later, only three out of the one hundred and thirty-seven Materials for the Grade Six Returning Essence Pill still lacked substitutes.

During these two years, Ouyang Zi worked tirelessly, forgetting sleep and food, completely immersed in the Grade Six Pill Formula.

As for Li Muwan, over these two years, her appearance slowly showed signs of aging, and her complexion was no longer snow-white but slightly gray.

Even two years of continuous infusion of Spiritual Power to regulate her body could not stop the Heavenly Dao Reincarnation that precedes the end of Lifespan. Every time Wang Lin saw Li Muwan's continuous aging, his heart felt like it was being sliced by a knife.

The unwillingness in Li Muwan's eyes grew even stronger.

On this rainy night, a fine drizzle began to fall outside the valley. After Li Muwan fell asleep, Wang Lin stood alone in the rain, gazing at the distant deep mountains, the pain in his heart growing sharper.

"Wan'er's body is getting weaker and weaker. If she forcibly forms a Nascent Soul, I fear her Physical Body will die immediately before the Nascent Soul is even fully formed. At that point, the incomplete Nascent Soul will only dissipate, making it impossible even to extract her Soul…"

Wang Lin stared blankly into the distance, letting out a sigh. His figure dejected, he took a Wine Gourd from his Storage Pouch, took a large gulp, and sat leaning against the Stone House.

This wine was Fruit Wine. There wasn't much left in Wang Lin's Storage Pouch, and every time he drank it, he remembered the scene of Da Niu delivering wine when he was young.

"Uncle Wang, you came to the Capital City to do business, planning to earn a lot of money so you can go back and marry a wife, right?"

"When Uncle earns a lot of money, I'll go back and marry a wife."

The scene from the past flashed through his mind. Wang Lin finished the entire gourd of wine in a few gulps. His eyes showed determination, and he looked up at the sky.

Just then, a low, excited shout suddenly came from Ouyang Zi's room where he studied the Pill Formula. Immediately afterward, Ouyang Zi hurriedly walked out. He paused when he saw Wang Lin in the rainy night, but quickly rushed forward a few steps and excitedly said, "Sect Master, I have found substitutes for the last three medicines!"

Wang Lin's eyes narrowed as he looked at Ouyang Zi.

Ouyang Zi quickly took out a Jade Slip and handed it to Wang Lin, saying, "These three medicines are already extinct, but I found thirty-four types of Medicinal Material. When combined, these Medicinal Materials can serve a function. Although the effect won't be as strong as the original, the difference won't be too great."

Wang Lin accepted the Jade Slip, swept it with his Divine Sense, and instantly memorized the contents.

"These Medicinal Materials are rare. The Cloud Heaven Sect only has four types; the others will likely have to be obtained from Grade Four cultivation Countries," Ouyang Zi said solemnly.

Wang Lin stood up, grasped the Jade Slip in his hand, and with a flash of his body, vanished from the spot.

The moment he left, inside the Stone House, Li Muwan opened her eyes, a hint of unwillingness showing within them.

You will never see what I look like when I am most lonely, because I am only truly lonely when you are not by my side… Two streams of tears traced down the corners of Li Muwan's eyes. Fine wrinkles had already appeared on her forehead. At this moment, she looked ten years older than she had two years ago.

Wang Lin did not waste much time on this trip. Seven months later, he returned to Chu Country with a look of exhaustion on his face.

In seven months, Wang Lin did not rest, traveling across almost all the Grade Four cultivation Countries and some Grade Five cultivation Countries.

Finally, he managed to collect all the Medicinal Herbs, either by purchasing, trading, or seizing them.

During these seven months, he experienced several battles. The two most dangerous ones occurred in the Grade Five cultivation Countries. One was against a Soul Transformation Middle Stage Cultivator who mastered the special Concept of Oblivion. Although Wang Lin ultimately won their fight, it was a narrow victory.

The terror of the Concept of Oblivion left Wang Lin with lingering fears.

The other time was against a Soul Transformation Late Stage Cultivator. Although this person's Concept was ordinary, he was on the verge of Soul Transformation Perfection. His Concept, though common, exhibited manifold variations in his hands.

Wang Lin analyzed afterward that this person's strength was slightly superior even to Hong Die's. Wang Lin ultimately drew with this person.

The experiences of the seven months made Wang Lin realize that in the Vermilion Bird Country, Hong Die was not the strongest among the Soul Transformation Cultivators; rather, there were some Hidden Experts. Although these people had not reached Nascent Soul Transformation, their strength was formidable.

Especially those who possessed special Concepts, they held impressive strength.

Returning to Chu Country, Wang Lin did not stop and quickly rushed toward the valley.

Inside the valley, Wang Lin swept his Divine Sense and saw that Lyu Fei and Tie Yan could now enter about one mile, enduring immense pressure while condensing Spiritual Power. Their cultivation had improved compared to before.

Wang Lin's figure appeared outside the Stone House. The moment he pushed open the door and entered, his body involuntarily trembled. What he saw was a back view.

This figure had long hair, but half of the long hair was already gray and white… Wang Lin's heart ached. He stepped forward, stood beside Li Muwan, and looked at her originally beautiful face, which was now much older.

"Wan'er, I'm back. I've retrieved the Medicinal Materials," Wang Lin said softly.

Li Muwan smiled faintly, said nothing, but gave Wang Lin a deep look, whispering, "Don't leave again. Stay with me more. I don't have much time left…"

"You won't die!" Wang Lin looked at Li Muwan and said seriously again.

Li Muwan bit her lower lip, nodded gently, leaned against Wang Lin, and closed her eyes, her eyelashes trembling.

Wang Lin's return caused Ouyang Zi to immediately immerse himself in Alchemy. Refining a Grade Six Spirit Pill was his lifelong pursuit and dream. At this moment, it was as if he had ignited his mind and consumed his Soul.

He personally calculated for a long time before determining the substitutes for almost all the Materials. These more than one hundred original Materials were replaced by nearly a thousand Materials under his analysis and calculation, involving the characteristics of each Material and the duration of the refining process.

Without profound Alchemy experience, refining this would be impossible.

Even Ouyang Zi dared not be careless in the slightest. He wasn't doing it for Li Muwan, but purely for himself, to complete a dream of his own. He told himself more than once that in his lifetime of Alchemy, he could fail countless times, but this time, failure was unacceptable!

The refining of the Medicinal Pill continued without pause. As the Alchemy deepened, Ouyang Zi's temper grew increasingly volatile; sometimes, when Wang Lin asked a question, Ouyang Zi would be quite impatient.

This wasn't because he didn't fear Wang Lin, but rather due to his nature—his personality was to forget all worldly matters and single-mindedly dream of refining High-Grade Spirit Pills.

Wang Lin didn't take Ouyang Zi's irritability to heart. On the contrary, he believed that among the people of the Cloud Heaven Sect, only Ouyang Zi was the most likely candidate for Soul Transformation.

Because he was fully dedicated to pills, he was better able to use this to comprehend the Heavenly Dao and obtain a certain Concept.

However, his cultivation remained stuck at the Nascent Soul Middle Stage without progress. If he could reach Nascent Soul Late Stage Perfection, then Soul Transformation would not be a major obstacle for him.

Days slowly passed. In the blink of an eye, three years went by. Ouyang Zi's Alchemy was still incomplete. He seemed stuck at a certain stage, and his temper grew increasingly volatile, with his roaring sometimes audible.

Since Wang Lin returned, he accompanied Li Muwan every day, watching helplessly as she grew older, her black hair turned completely white, and the Death Qi grew thicker. If Wang Lin had not continuously supplied Spiritual Power to her body over the past few years, Li Muwan would have long become a dried skeleton, dust in the changing world… Another three years passed. Ouyang Zi's Alchemy had a Breakthrough. Although not complete, it was close, and a rich Medicinal Fragrance occasionally drifted out from his Alchemy Room.

Li Muwan's body was now extremely weak. She could no longer walk and spent the entire day lying in bed, quietly gazing at Wang Lin. The unwillingness in her eyes grew thicker and thicker.