The young man gazed at his Master’s departing back as scenes from the past surfaced in his heart. After a long while, he kowtowed heavily several times, clenched his fists, and turned to leave.

"I, Chen Huan, swear here that I will destroy the Snow Domain Country in this lifetime!"

Wang Lin returned to the Ice Snow Tower with complex emotions. Although he had obtained a great treasure, he did not feel much joy; instead, he only felt a sense of melancholy.

At this moment, Wang Lin suddenly gained a new realization regarding the Life and Death Concept he had comprehended. What is life… what is death…

This question echoed in Wang Lin's mind for a long time.

The Late Stage Soul Transformation Cultivator of the Water Ink Sect, carrying the last radiance of his life, like a moth flying into a flame, detonated himself atop the Snow Immortal statue at the pinnacle of the Ice Snow Temple, leaving behind an indelible streak of bright red for this Ice Snow Temple.

Along with him, several Soul Transformation Cultivators who were besieging him also died in this self-detonation.

All glory had already drifted away with the wind…

His death was well-deserved; his death awakened those original Four Sects Alliance Cultivators who had been hiding and dared not show themselves.

In the blink of an eye, another year passed.

During this year, Wang Lin was constantly pondering the Concept between life and death. Gradually, his understanding of this Concept deepened. Throughout this year, he himself seemed to be undergoing a transformation.

Seeing mountains as mountains, seeing water as water…

Yet Wang Lin discovered that sometimes, these mountains were not mountains, and this water was not water. It was as if a layer of mist always covered his eyes, preventing him from seeing it, yet he could feel it, perceive it, but could not touch it.

This kind of realization could by no means be driven by time, but required an Epiphany.

Spring departed and autumn arrived; another two years of snow descended.

Wang Lin's research on the Ice Sculpture Puppet had also made some progress. Inside these Ice Sculpture Puppets, they were mainly sustained by Snow Meridians. With the rotation of forty-nine Snow Meridians, they could achieve an attack equivalent to a Core Formation Middle Stage Cultivator.

As for the Nascent Soul Stage, it required eighty-one Snow Meridians. However, within these ice sculptures, the more Snow Meridians there were, the more difficult the control became, and the greater the possibility of them colliding with each other. As long as there was one collision, it would cause the entire ice sculpture to collapse.

Precisely because of this, the difficulty increased several-fold with each additional Snow Meridian. Thus, the difficulty of eighty-one Snow Meridians could be described as astonishing.

This was also the reason why Nascent Soul Stage Ice Sculpture Puppets produced by the Snow Domain Country were extremely rare.

Additionally, the source for creating the Puppet Snow Meridians came from the Ice Snow Technique. Upon studying this technique, Wang Lin was quite astonished.

The Ice Snow Technique emphasized refining the heart. This technique used ice to replace bones and snow to condense the heart, achieving an Ice Snow Soul, thereby reaching the Realm of a heart as clear as ice.

It could be said to be mysterious and unpredictable, wondrous beyond words.

This was precisely why Snow Domain Cultivators were often capricious and acted according to their own nature. Within their Cultivation Technique, they emphasized the condensation of temperament. If one did not enter the mortal world, how could one achieve the purpose of condensing various thoughts?

The more Wang Lin studied this Ice Snow Technique, the more he could feel its terrifying nature. This technique could not be called a righteous path of the Dao, but was absolutely an unorthodox approach. Wang Lin even felt that, although it was different from the Cultivation Technique practiced by the Demonic Lord of Six Desires back then, it had the same effect with different methods.

Wang Lin did not wish to practice this Cultivation Technique, but instead slightly imitated it, changing the Snow Meridians into Blood Meridians, using blood in combination with the Life and Death Concept as a variation, thereby achieving the purpose of control.

In the blink of an eye, Wang Lin had stayed in this small town for three years. Added to the one year of wandering before that, a total of four years had passed.

Only one year remained until the ten-year deadline. Wang Lin could feel that the era of Soul Transformation had already arrived…

He did not know if the moment of Soul Transformation would trigger a massive upheaval of heaven and earth, but as the deadline approached, Wang Lin could increasingly feel that a Cultivator's Soul Transformation would be detected by all nearby Cultivators.

Therefore, on this day, Wang Lin walked out of the Ice Snow Tower and left.

Before he left, the Ice Snow Temple had already issued an immortal decree, summoning all Cultivators above the Core Formation stage to go to the temple for a sermon ceremony, because, of the thirteen Cultivators who had gone to the Vermilion Bird Country back then, one had returned. This person was the only successful one; he had already reached the Nascent Soul Transformation stage!

As for whether only one of these thirteen had truly succeeded, and whether there were some secret actions by the Vermilion Bird Country, that was unknown to outsiders.

Wang Lin's departure was silent and traceless. Even the Core Formation Cultivator who had been locked in the tower by him for three years lost the memory of being trapped under Wang Lin's Divine Ability, thereby regaining his identity.

At the border of the Snow Domain Country, Wang Lin turned back and took a serious look at this land. Decades of scenes flashed before his eyes one by one. Finally, he left a sigh and turned to leave.

Wang Lin's target was the State of Zhao; there, he would prepare for Soul Transformation!

The reason he returned to the State of Zhao for Soul Transformation, besides it being remote, was another reason: Wang Lin had felt a sense of home from that respectable Late Stage Soul Transformation Cultivator, a feeling he had not experienced for a long time…

Everyone has a home; does he… have one?

If one really speaks of a home, the State of Zhao could count as one. And then there was the State of Chu on the other side of the Cultivation Devil Sea; there, a woman was waiting for him. Perhaps, that place could also be considered a home…

Therefore, he chose the State of Zhao to undergo Soul Transformation there, to resolve the Karma of his birth in that place.

Before returning to the State of Zhao, Wang Lin went to the town where Niu was in the neighboring country. He saw from afar that in the town, Niu had opened an ironware shop. His wife, although not young anymore, was already pregnant again.

Wang Lin watched this scene with a smile; that new life was taking shape day by day…

When leaving, Wang Lin injected a strand of spiritual energy into Niu's wife's body. This spiritual energy could ensure the safety of both mother and daughter; the newly gestating life was a girl.

Niu never knew that Uncle Wang, whom he had always wanted to see one more time, had already come to visit him. Until his death, Niu's only regret in his heart was not that he hadn't seen Little Niu come to see him off, but that in this life, he could never again see Uncle Wang, who had watched him grow up. That strange person who ran a shop, for whom he often brought customers, charging ten gold coins.

Those two wooden carvings, after he died, were given to his daughter and became the Zeng family's heirloom.

Wang Lin flew all the way toward the State of Zhao. Forty years ago, he had traveled the same road. That time, he had just entered the Nascent Soul Stage. Today, following the same path, he returned to the State of Zhao; this time, he was about to undergo Soul Transformation, choosing a place to prepare.

This coming and going, the difference in Concept was like heaven and earth.

Passing through one Ancient Teleportation Formation after another, on this day, while Wang Lin was flying over a strange land, the sky suddenly slowly dimmed. Dark clouds covered the sun, and wisps of rain fell from the sky.

The rain grew heavier and heavier, almost forming a curtain of rain. Wang Lin looked up at the sky; he hadn't seen such heavy rain in a long time. He couldn't help but think back to the time at the Hengyue School, inside the room with Zhang Hu, when lightning and thunder flashed outside, and a torrential downpour suddenly fell.

At this moment, streaks of lightning flashed across the sky. Amidst the rumbling, silver snakes danced wildly, which was truly beautiful.

Wang Lin's body slowly descended. He did not use any Spell to disperse the rain, but as he descended, he waved his right hand at the surrounding trees, and immediately, leaves gathered together to form a leaf umbrella.

Holding the umbrella, Wang Lin walked through this strange mountain forest. After passing two more Ancient Teleportation Formations, he would be able to return to the State of Zhao. Forty thousand li to the east of this place was the location of one of those Ancient Teleportation Formations.

In the mountain forest, the sound of the rain was rustling, possessing a quite moving charm. Especially not far ahead, there was an old temple. This temple was obviously abandoned; the original red-painted doors had already dimmed, and there were some damaged spots on them.

Even the copper nails and copper rings on them were covered in dark rust, and on their edges, there was a faint hint of green.

Temples were something Wang Lin had not seen much of in his life; one could even say they were extremely rare.

Looking at this temple, Wang Lin stepped inside. This was an ancient temple, with no Buddha inside, only half of a base that looked like a flower petal.

While observing, Wang Lin turned his head to glance at the temple door, then stopped paying attention. After observing the surroundings, he stood by the temple door, gazing at the rainy night outside, comprehending a faint, elusive Concept.

After a long while, bursts of shouting came from the distance. Several burly men wearing straw rain capes were seen walking quickly toward the temple, cursing and swearing.

"This damn weather, once it starts, it never ends!"

"There is a temple ahead, let's go in and take shelter. We can continue our journey after the rain lets up a bit!"

As they were talking, the few of them saw Wang Lin inside the temple from afar at a glance, and their footsteps couldn't help but pause. They looked at each other, all stopped talking, and walked toward the temple.

When passing by Wang Lin, one of them took a side step, and his right hand seemed to strike Wang Lin gently, but the next moment, someone beside him gave a soft shout and pushed this person, neutralizing the attack.

That person turned his head and snorted softly, then stopped talking and walked into the temple.

The five people inside the temple took off their straw rain capes, lit a bonfire, took out some food, and while eating, talked loudly, but their gazes occasionally swept toward Wang Lin.

Wang Lin shook his head slightly; these five vulgar people had broken the Concept of this rainy night, vainly wasting such an atmosphere. He sighed softly and lifted his feet, about to leave, when suddenly, Wang Lin's expression stirred, and his gaze landed on the distant mountain forest.

A burly man with long hair, wearing a thin shirt, was seen walking here step by step. This person's pace was not fast, but Wang Lin had a feeling of Shrinking the Ground into an Inch. A moment ago, this person was still in the distance, and the next moment, he had already walked past Wang Lin and entered the temple.

The moment he passed by Wang Lin, the burly man gave a soft exclamation of surprise. After stepping into the temple, his footsteps stopped. He looked at Wang Lin carefully, revealed his white teeth, and smiled gently: "I didn't expect to see someone from the Dao world in this small temple. I am Mo Zhi, and Your Excellency is?"

—— Since everyone is asking for Soul Transformation to happen quickly, then let it happen… It is soon…