Chapter 263 – Will die within 100 years
The sky was getting dark, and by the time the large-eared cultivator and the little cultivator arrived at Wang Lin’s shop, it was already dark. However, there were lights coming from the sides of the street.
Xu Tao woke up in a haze. After hesitating for a while, he quickly got a bearing of his surroundings and got up. When he saw Wang Lin, he immediately knelt on the ground with an excited expression on his face, unable to say a word.
Wang Lin’s expression remained the same. He didn’t even look at Xu Tao as he said, “I saved your life to repay your 16 years of commitment. You can leave.”
Xu Tao hesitated for a bit before kowtowing a few more times and whispering, “Thank you for your kindness. I’ll remember it forever!” With that, he took a deep breath, stood up, and opened the door to leave.
Just at that moment, Wang Lin frowned and said, “Xu Tao, come back. Also, don’t bother closing the door.”
Xu Tao’s body shook as he quickly came back and looked at Wang Lin with a confused expression.
Wang Lin took a sip of the wine in his hand and plainly said, “Stand to the side. We have guests.”
Xu Tao’s expression slightly changed as he stood next to Wang Lin. His eyes trembled as he looked at the door.
Shortly after, one could hear soft footsteps closing in. Soon, a large-eared cultivator walked in along with the little cultivator that Wang Lin had let go earlier.
Xu Tao immediately revealed a look of terror. He was able to immediately recognize that the large-eared cultivator was the one forcing the king to hide inside the palace. His heart was immediately in chaos, but after looking at Wang Lin, he forced himself from taking a step back.
After the little cultivator entered the the shop, he immediately laughed and shouted, “Master, it is him who injured me!” The little cultivator turned around and was surprised to find that his master wasn’t looking at the person, but at the wood carvings surrounding them.
Wang Lin still hadn’t talked. He was casually drinking wine. He only looked at the two of them once before withdrawing his gaze.
The large-eared cultivator carefully looked at each wood carving before his attention suddenly focused on two carvings. These two carvings were the middle aged man and old woman from the White Cloud Sect.
The large-eared cultivator looked for a long time, then let out a smile. He didn’t behave like a stranger at all. He waved his sleeve and sat across from Wang Lin.
“Fellow cultivator, how about letting me have a drink?” The large-eared cultivator gently took out a cup.
Wang Lin looked at the person and threw the jug of wine forward. The large-eared cultivator caught the jug and poured a cup. When he drank it, his eyes revealed a strange light and he said, “Delicious!”
Wang Lin chuckled, “Since you like it, then I’ll gift you the rest of that jug.”
The large-eared cultivator let out a laugh. He didn’t refuse the gift. He poured himself another cup and drank it. After a long time, he let out a sigh and said, “Fellow cultivator’s cultivation level is higher than mine. Using the mortal world to turn into a mortal, I admire you.”
Wang Lin waved his right hand and a jug of wine appeared in his grasp. He took a drank and said, “Fellow cultivator is using your disciple to turn into a mortal by using the emotion of a teacher and parent to comprehend the heavens. The result is the same as mine, so there is no need to admire.”
The strange light in the large-eared cultivator’s eyes deepened as he looked at Wang Lin. He nodded and said, “It seems I was not mistaken. After hearing from my disciple, I guessed that there was someone else who was at the same realm as me, someone else attempting to reach the Soul Formation stage in the capital.”
Wang Lin silently smiled.
The large-eared cultivator faintly smiled. “Fellow cultivator, how about we have a competition and see which one of us will reach the mythical Soul Formation stage first?” he asked.
Wang Lin faintly smiled at the large-eared cultivator and said, “If I gain a sense of competition in my heart, I’m afraid that I’ll never reach the Soul Formation stage in my life. Fellow cultivator, your words are very vicious.”
The large-eared cultivator let out a laugh as he waved his sleeves and clasped his hands. He said, “I didn’t expect to meet a cultivator of your caliber here. Good! My name is Zhou Wutai. What should i call you?”
Wang Lin picked up the jug of wine, took a drink, and said, “Wang Lin!”
Zhou Wutai smiled and said, “Fellow cultivator Wang, you will definitely reach the Soul Formation stage within 100 years. I will congratulate you early today!”
Wang Lin’s expression was calm as he said, “Fellow cultivator Zhou is speaking prematurely. From my point of view, whether fellow cultivator Zhou can reach the Soul Formation stage is uncertain, but that disciple of yours will definitely die within 100 years.”
Zhou Wutai’s eyes lit up, but he remained silent.
The little cultivator wanted to give Wang Lin a vicious look, but seeing that his master seemed very familiar with him, he suppressed his anger. He let out a snort and thought that Wang Lin really didn’t know any better. This was the first time he had seen his master talk like this to anyone. On top of that, not only was this person not grateful, he even spoke such vicious words.
Even Xu Tao felt that Wang Lin’s words were a bit too much. He became even more cautious, afraid that the large-eared cultivator would become enraged.
But what surprised him was that after the large-eared cultivator finished pondering, not only did the large-eared cultivator not get mad, he displayed a bitter smile.
With the little cultivator’s cultivation level, he wasn’t able to notice the battle between the large-eared cultivator and Wang Lin. As for Xu Tao, he was only a mortal, so there was no way he could feel how dangerous this exchange was.
Although the large-eared cultivator seemed gentle ever since he entered, his intent was evil the entire time. Every word he had spoken and every action he had taken were filled with ill intent.
Originally, he wanted to stir Wang Lin’s competitive side. If he had succeeded, then he wouldn’t have to ever bother with Wang Lin anymore because, in order to reach the Soul Formation stage, one must turn into a mortal to comprehend the heavens, which requires a calm heart. Once Wang Lin’s heart becomes competitive, then he will be stuck and will never reach the Soul Formation stage.
Even if Wang Lin one day manages to get rid of this blockade, it would be countless years later. This showed just how devious the large-eared cultivator was.
Although his plan was foiled by Wang Lin, the large-eared cultivator didn’t give up. He continued to congratulate Wang Lin on succeeding within 100 years. This was yet another trap for Wang Lin.
Although the old man from before said the same thing, it was very different from when the large-eared cultivator said it. The old man was at a much higher cultivation level and the Wang Lin back then wasn’t at an important bottleneck. So instead of creating a mental block for Wang Lin, it boosted his confidence.
The difference was that now these words came from the large-eared cultivator. Although they were the same words, the meaning was completely different.
If Wang Lin really took it to heart, then as the years pass and he doesn’t reach the Soul Formation stage within 100 years, he will never have another chance unless he gains a sudden enlightenment to get rid of the curse in his heart.
Seeing that the large-eared cultivator kept trying to attack him, Wang Lin finally retaliated.
He first said that whether the large-eared cultivator will reach the Soul Formation in 100 years was uncertain. This was a slightly modified version of what the large-eared cultivator said, but the result was the same.
However, this wasn’t the important part of Wang Lin’s retaliation. His final sentence was the real retaliation.
Within 100 years, that little cultivator will definitely die! This one sentence pointed out the basis of the large-eared cultivator’s and the little cultivator’s master-disciple relationship.
The large-eared cultivator, Zhou Wutai, was turning into a mortal by comprehending the relationship of master and disciple. Using this desire to move his thoughts, he accepted a disciple. He would use love to educate a son, kindness to give him favor, his heart to love him, and the tragedy of losing his disciple to enter the Soul Formation stage. Everything that the large-eared cultivator had done so far was for the sake of this master-disciple relationship.
When he finally feels his own domain and is about to enter the Soul Formation stage, that is the day when he will act and personally kill his disciple. He must kill the disciple that he had poured his heart into and then use the sadness from it to finally enter the Soul Formation stage.
His path appeared to be filled with emotion, but was ruthless, yet within that ruthlessness, there was emotion. This method was not something a normal person could go through with. At least it not something Wang Lin could do.
That’s why his last sentence was the real counter attack. First of all, it stated that the disciple will die within 100 years, which brought up the 100 year time limit again. Secondly, it exposed the true ruthless nature of the large-eared cultivator and brought up the sadness that he will feel in the future. At the same time, he also left a faint mark in the little cultivator’s heart.
The large-eared cultivator, Zhou Wutai, bitterly smiled as he looked at Wang Lin and stood up. He clasped his hands, then hesitated for a bit before saying to Xu Tao, “Tell your king to deliver the item to the temple within three days and I’ll let this go.” With that, he looked at Wang Lin once more before turning around to leave.
The little cultivator was completely startled and quickly followed his master. He felt like today was extremely weird because master didn’t act like normal and didn’t get revenge for him.
At the same time, he couldn’t help but think of Wang Lin’s words, that he will die within 100 years. Thinking about it, he couldn’t help but shiver. When he raised his head, he saw his master gently looking at him and his heart couldn’t help but feel warm.
“Fu Er, there is no need to think about it so much. Why did you put the candy away and not eat it?” The large-eared cultivator’s voice was gentle and filled with reassurance.
The little cultivator’s eyes became red as he answered, “Disciple has decided to keep it forever.”
The large-eared cultivator smiled as he rubbed the little cultivator’s head. He silently smiled as he led the little cultivator and they walked out of Wang Lin’s street.
Wang Lin sat inside the shop. He was lost in thought. After a long time, he let out a smile and decided not to think about it too much, or else it would mess with him as he approaches the end of the road of turning into a mortal.
At the moment, Xu Tao was completely frozen. Originally, he just thought that Wang Lin was an expert. How could the wood carvings he had made cause the two immortals in the palace to be so shocked otherwise?
He then carefully observed and found that Wang Lin’s shop didn’t have anything happen to it. The two immortals became silent and never talked about the carvings again.
Even his royal highness had ordered him to gift Wang Lin during the new year every year. Because he had done it for more than ten years, when he was met with danger, the first person he thought of was Wang Lin.
But he never would have imagined that Wang Lin was powerful enough to force the person who forced the king to hide inside palace and the immortals to not dare to come forth to give up so easily.
It has to be said that a few days the ago, his highness wished he could have handed over the Rain Ding to save his life.