251-258

Chapter 251 - Spiritual Retreat

Wang Lin spent the night condensing the evil aura around him. The only sound at night, besides the crickets, was the snoring of some of the men.

Gradually, the sun rose up in the sky and day replaced night.

Wang Lin opened his eyes. He stared at the east and took a deep breath. Two purple qi dragons, invisible to mortal eyes, entered his body. The two qi dragons cycled once through his body, then exited it.

The cycle continued. Wang Lin felt like his body was very light. It was as if he could just walk directly into the sky.

This kind of feeling was something that Wang Lin had never experienced in the past 400 years. It was very clear that only after reaching a certain relaxed state of mind could he feel this aura from the heavens.

In one night's time, the red substance around Wang Lin once again shrunk to 1/10th of its previous size. Wang Lin was in no rush. He knew that condensing this red substance was not something he could rush. He believed that it was something that will take a long time.

Early in the morning, the people woke up one by one and washed themselves. The old man walked out of the carriage and took a deep breath. He started to perform different types of movements.

After just one glance, Wang Lin was very shocked. Although this person's movements didn't have any offensive power, every move would strengthen the body. When used together, their effects were even better.

A while later, the old man stopped and let out a sigh. He hesitated for a bit, then walked toward Wang Lin.

When he got near, he smiled and asked, "Little brother, did you rest well last night?"

Wang Lin silently nodded.

The old man hesitated for a bit before asking, "I wanted to ask where little brother got that 100 year old willow leaf?" With that, his eyes were filled with a pleading look.

Wang Lin said, "I picked it up on the side of the road."

The old man thought about it for a long time. He bitterly smiled and said, "Little brother… you were very lucky!"

He chatted with Wang Lin for a while. No matter how he tried, he couldn't get any information out of Wang Lin. The old man secretly sighed as he turned around and left.

If we were to compare ages, Wang Lin was old enough to be the old man's ancestor. The old man's trick might work on someone new to the world, but it was nothing compared to what Wang Lin had been through.

While following the group, Wang Lin gradually adjusted himself and eventually became part of the group. Several days passed and within these days, that little servant girl would always come to talk to Wang Lin. However, she would always talk for a while, then her little face would become red. No one knew what she was thinking.

Wang Lin couldn't help but bitterly smile when he saw the light in the girl's eyes. He had seen that light in Li Muwan's eyes many times, so he knew what was going on.

However, Wang Lin knew that he was possibly too old to even be her ancestor, so there was always a strange feeling in his heart.

On this day, the capital appeared before them.

This rank 4 cultivation country's capital city was really gorgeous, but in Wang Lin's eyes, it was very plain with no color to it. If it wasn't for the swirl of spiritual energy, Wang Lin wouldn't even bother to look at it.

Wang Lin spread out his divine sense and the entire city appeared in his mind. In the capital, there were a total of nine swirls of spiritual energy. The things that were spreading out spiritual energy weren't cultivators, but towering, black pillars. The amount of spiritual energy released by the pillars depended on each pillar's size. There was one very large pillar at the center with the other eight pillars surrounding it.

These pillars were very large. Even the smallest would require at least ten people holding hands to make a circle around it. As for the biggest one, it would take over 100 people.

There were people cultivating inside each of the nine pillars. There was also a formation outside the pillars that prevented any divine sense from checking inside, but this formation was completely useless against Wang Lin. He could see with one glance that all of the people sitting inside the pillars were cultivators.

The most powerful was at the late stage of Core Formation and the weakest was at the late stage of Foundation Establishment.

Wang Lin was very interested in these strange buildings. As the group entered the city, Lu Xing noticed that Wang Lin was still staring at the nine black pillars, so he whispered, "Brother Wang, don't keep staring at them. If you are noticed by someone, there will be trouble."

Wang Lin rubbed the horse and asked, "Brother Lu, what are these black pillars?"

Lu Xing revealed a look of envy and whispered, "Those are immortal pillars. This place is my country's capital, so it's protected by immortals, which is why there are immortal pillars. The king recruited the best craftsmen in the country to craft these nine pillars as the immortals requested."

"Immortal pillars…" Wang Lin's expression was strange.

"There are immortals living inside the immortal pillars! My father once personally saw immortals fly out of them." Lu Xing's voice was filled with pride. It was if his father seeing an immortal was something that benefited him.

If he knew that Wang Lin, whom he had spent the past seven days with, was thousands of times stronger than the immortals that his ancestor saw, how would he feel?

It has to be said that if the cultivator that his ancestor saw was present, that person would have to respectfully call Wang Lin senior.

Wang Lin withdrew his gaze. He smiled, but didn't speak.

On a bridge between the northern and southern parts of the capital, Wang Lin said goodbye to Lu Xing's group. Although Lu Xing hadn't been together with Wang Lin for long, he was very fond of Wang Lin. He patted his chest and told Wang Lin that if he ever ran into any issues, he could go and find him for help.

As for Lao Er, who had to give up his horse for Wang Lin, he had completely acknowledged him after drinking together so many times.

Lu Xing also said that if someone bullied Wang Lin, he would personally get his boss to act.

Finally, the old man walked out of the carriage. Behind him was a young lady with a white veil over her head. Next to her was the pretty servant girl.

Seeing that Wang Lin was about to leave, the servant girl's eyes were filled with melancholy.

The old man talked a bit with Wang Lin and the lady with the veil over her head smiled. She didn't join in the conversation. After bowing, she turned around and left without a word.

The servant girl exchanged a few words with the lady. She then took a little pouch and walked up to Wang Lin. She handed him the pouch and said, "Sister wants me to thank you. There are ten pieces of gold here. This is the consultation fee."

Wang Lin didn't refuse. It had been over 400 years since he had touched the mortals' currency.

Wang Lin clasped his hands and turned around.

It wasn't until Wang Lin was already far away that the servant girl sighed and returned to the carriage. The group passed over the bridge and entered the southern section of the city.

Wang Lin pinched the ten pieces of gold with his hand as he walked through the capital. This truly was the capital. There was an ocean of people and all sorts of vendors selling stuff on the streets.

Shortly after, Wang Lin's eyes slightly lit up. In this capital of the mortal world, he saw many cultivators among the mortals.

Although the highest level cultivators were only around the 12th or 14th layer of Qi Condensation, it was something that was very rare to see in other countries.

After pondering for a while, he thought of the black pillars. He guessed that this was what one could call a speciality of a rank 4 cultivation country.

Wang Lin walked casually through the streets until it was afternoon. It was clear that some of the shops weren't for mortals as they sold magic treasures for cultivators.

There were restrictions outside of these shops that prevented mortals from entering.

The mortals of the capital seemed to know of this as no mortals would walk into these shops.

As Wang Lin passed through, he would walk into shops to check them out. Suddenly, as he walked out of a shop, there was shouting from one direction. He looked over and saw a messy old man being beaten up.

The old man's wails were coming out non-stop. His voice was shrilling. At the same time, laughs resounded as mouthfuls of blood were coughed out by the old man. It seemed to follow a rhythm; every time the man punched him, he would cough out a mouthful of blood.

After the man punched the old man several times, he stood up and cursed, "Old thing, don't come to my shop again. I'll beat you up every time you come. You're already this age and still so foolish." After he finished speaking, he spat at the old man.

A middle aged man standing next to Wang Lin sighed. "That old man gets beaten up every day just to see the female servants change. Is it worth it? Ah!"

Wang Lin was stunned. He looked at the old man before turning around to leave.

But before he took more than a few steps, he turned around and saw the old man proudly walking toward Wang Lin as he wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth.

Wang Lin dodged to the side and his eyes became cold.

The old man walked past Wang Lin. He didn't stop, but then suddenly turned around. His face was filled with surprise as he carefully examined Wang Lin and said, "Little brother, I see that you are filled with talent and energy. You don't seem to be a mortal!"

Wang Lin frowned. With his divine sense, he could easily see that this old man was only a mortal without any cultivation. This old man's body also contained many wounds. It was clear that they were the result of constant beatings.

Wang Lin didn't have any interest in this person, so he turned around and left. If this old man kept bothering him, Wang Lin wouldn't mind helping him go to hell.

The old man revealed a look of pity as he shook his head and said, "If there is no way to give you pointers, then you might never reach the Soul Formation stage. Sigh."

Wang Lin suddenly stopped. All of the pressure in his body suddenly released. He turned around and stared at the old man. "Who are you?!" he asked.

The old man didn't feel any discomfort toward Wang Lin's pressure. He placed both of his hands behind his back, looked into the sky, and with a voice filled with age said, "You don't need to know who I am. You just need to know that I can help you reach the Soul Formation stage."

Wang Lin's eyes lit up. No matter how he looked at this old man, he was merely a mortal, but the old man was able to instantly tell what his cultivation level was. The only possibility was that this old man's cultivation level was far above the Soul Formation stage, so when the old man hid his cultivation, Wang Lin wasn't able to detect it.

Wang Lin frowned and asked, "How can I reach the Soul Formation stage?"

The old man looked at Wang Lin and said, "I'm already old. The moment I get hungry, I can't remember anything. I know a very good restaurant. Let's go there and talk while we eat." He licked his lips while his stomach growled of hunger.

Fortune Restaurant was one of the most luxurious restaurants in the capital. The old man walked in with this head up and his chest puffed.

It seemed it was beneath the old man to eat in the main hall. After he entered, he walked directly into the private room. When the server saw the old man, his expression became strange, but when he saw Wang Lin walking behind the old man, he quickly went out to serve them.

Wang Lin frowned very hard. He felt like there was something going on here.

The old man seemed to be very familiar with this restaurant. He ordered a bunch of dishes that Wang Lin had never heard of. The table was covered with food and the old man started to eat as if he hadn't eaten in days.

Wang Lin didn't say a word as he drank wine. His gaze swept past the old man and became even colder.

After the old man had eaten for a while, Wang Lin coldly said, "I'm listening."

The old man grabbed piece of pork shoulder and took a big bite as he said, "This. Wait until I finish eating this piece."

After that, the old man ate the entire pork shoulder in a few bites. He let out a burp as he rubbed his hand on his body and said, "The Soul Formation stage requests one to comprehend the heavens, but I believe you already understand that. In addition to this, you must form a domain. Do you know what a domain is? Little guy, once you comprehend what a domain is, you aren't far from the Soul Formation stage. As for the domain… once I use the restroom we will talk more." The old man suddenly touched his stomach and stood up with a bitter face.

He seemed to be afraid that Wang Lin wouldn't let him go, so he let out a loud fart. An awful smell filled the room.

The old man let out an embarrassed smile and quickly left.

Wang Lin waved his hand and a gust of wind appeared to blow away the stench in the room. At the same time, his divine sense was locked onto the old man. The old man's series of actions were very suspicious, but what he said about Soul Formation matched with what Wang Lin knew. These were things that mortals couldn't possibly know.

With a look of doubt, a cold light appeared in his eyes as he stood up. He noticed the old man leaving the restaurant through the back door and quickly blending into the crowd.

Wang Lin's body disappeared from the restaurant and reappeared outside. His eyes were cold as he casually followed the old man.

He only saw that the old man had somehow found the time to change clothes. He was picking his teeth with a small piece of wood. After he picked out a piece of meat, he threw it away and picked at his teeth again.

As the old man walked, he suddenly stopped and looked at a middle aged man that was wearing a purple robe. His eyes lit up as he let out a smile and quickly walked toward the middle aged man.

The middle man turned around and frowned at the old man. He then proceeded to ignore the old man.

The old man suddenly said, "Little brother, I see that you are filled with talent and energy. You don't seem to be a mortal!"

The middle aged man was stunned. He turned around and looked at the old man with cold eyes…

The old man revealed a look of pity as he shook his head and said, "Unfortunately, if there is no one to guide you, you might never reach the Core Formation stage."

The middle aged man's eyes lit up as he asked, "Who the hell are you?"

The old man shook his head and said, "Who I am is not important. How about we find a place to relax? While we relax, we can talk."

Wang Lin's face became very dark. That middle aged man was also a cultivator, but his cultivation level was only Foundation Establishment. It was very clear that this old man had learned these things to rip off cultivators.

But that old man was still alive, so this matter didn't seem simple. Unless Wang Lin was the first person he had ever scammed, the old man wouldn't be alive today.

If a cultivator was played by a mortal, then no matter who it was, they wouldn't let the old man off easily.

What was most curious about all of this was that this old man seemed to have the ability to see through someone's cultivation instantly. If the person was a Foundation Establishment cultivator, he would say Core Formation. If the person was a Core Formation cultivator, he would say Nascent Soul, and if the person was like Wang Lin, who was at the Nascent Soul stage, he say Soul Formation.

Wang Lin followed this old man the entire afternoon. He wanted to see what exactly this old man's secret was.

In one afternoon's time, the old man had tricked a total of four people, including Wang Lin. What was interesting was that he only asked for food and drink. The worst it got was a trip to a brothel.

But the three others, including the purple robed man, didn't have any intentions of looking for revenge. It seemed the old man's words had some kind of magical effect on them.

The more Wang Lin saw, the more shocked he was. The old man seemed to have a very good understanding of how to break into the next realm of cultivation. He could just casually say a few things and enlighten them.

As a result, none of them believed that he was a scammer. Instead, they felt as if they had met a senior, so they became very respectful.

After a while, Wang Lin began to ponder. Then, he withdrew his divine sense and stopped following the old man. This old man was too mysterious and Wang Lin felt that it was better for him to not dig too much into it.

The old man was holding a woman in his arms inside a brothel. As Wang Lin's divine sense withdrew, his eyes lit up. He faintly smiled as he looked at Wang Lin's direction and muttered, "Nascent soul, and the mid stage of Nascent Soul. Should I help him?"

As he was thinking, the woman in his arm called him with a flirty voice. The old man threw Wang Lin out of his mind and went to enjoy himself.

After he stopped thinking about the old man, Wang Lin pondered for a while. He went to a remote area in the west side of the city and rented a shop for eight pieces of gold. After he cleaned it out a bit, he moved in.

If he wanted to reach the Soul Formation stage, then he must first transform into a mortal to experience mortal life and comprehend the heavens. This was a method that Wang Lin had thought of to break past the Nascent Soul stage. He calmly looked at the shop, then sat down cross legged in the back room and began to experience the world of mortals.

The current Wang Lin was camouflaged inside the populated mortal capital city as he calmly began to comprehend the heavens and life and death. He was fully preparing himself to break past the boundary of the Nascent Soul stage and into the Soul Formation stage.

Chapter 252 - Magic Treasure

The shop that Wang Lin rented wasn't on the main street, but to the side. If one didn't look for it, it was very difficult to find, but Wang Lin didn't mind. After a night of cultivating, the red substance around him condensed even more.

When morning arrived, Wang Lin opened the door of the shop. Like a mortal, he cleaned the shop up. Then, his body moved and disappeared from the shop.

When he returned, his bag of holding contained quite a few large trees that he had pulled up along with their roots.

He cleaned the bark off the trees and turned them into wood blocks. Wang Lin began to recall his childhood, when his father taught him how to carve.

These memories gradually filled his mind. Wang Lin pondered for a long time. He then grabbed a large, square block of wood. With a gentle wave of his hand, the square block of wood was cut into ten pieces.

Gradually, as Wang Lin carved, he seemed to gain something he had lost 400 years ago. With every stroke, he seemed to return to his childhood, back to when he lived in that small village.

At that moment, the spiritual energy in Wang Lin's body began to move. It became deeply ingrained within the statue he was carving.

Time flew by and night arrived again when Wang Lin regained his senses. He looked at the block of wood in his hand. The block of wood had turned into a wood carving. The carving was that of a middle aged man with a kind smile.

The middle aged man wore a coarse robe and his hands were filled with rough lines.

Although this wood carving was very rough, it seemed to be alive. Waves of spiritual energy spread out from the carving. As Wang Lin stared at the carving, he began to feel pain in his heart.

His right hand gently rubbed the carving as he muttered, "Father, your son misses you greatly…"

After pondering for a long time, Wang Lin moved the wood carving to the side. He picked up another piece of wood and wholeheartedly began to carve again, stroke by stroke.

The night began to get cold, but going a day without sleep was nothing for Wang Lin. Back when he was being chased, he would be running for days.

The moment the sun rose, the carving that Wang Lin was working on took shape. This wood carving was shaped like a middle aged woman. Her loving eyes looked into the distance as if she was waiting for her child to return.

He placed the two wood carvings next to each other and let out a long sigh as he took out another piece of wood and began to carve.

Time slowly passed. Wang Lin kept on carving and only took breaks when he became extremely tired.

In the blink of an eye, a month had passed. The number of things in Wang Lin's shop gradually increased. The shelves along the wall of the shop were filled with wood carvings that looked alive. There were males and females, young people and old people, and all in various poses.

These wood carvings were all residents of the village that was Wang Lin's hometown. In a way, Wang Lin had revived them.

In this month, Wang Lin didn't have a single customer, but he didn't mind as he was immersed in carving. He even stopped cultivating.

One day, Wang Lin held a half-completed wood carving in his hand. This wood carving, for some unknown reason, released a primal aura. If any cultivator from the Sea of Devils saw this carving, they would immediately recognize it as a dragon.

This dragon was the first spirit beast that Wang Lin met when he was with Li Muwan.

While he was carving, the bell rang as the door was pushed open by someone. A very strong looking boy carefully looked inside.

The boy saw Wang Lin and was startled, but he was immediately in awe after seeing all of the carvings in the room. He asked, "Uncle, did you carve all of this? They are so pretty! Can you give me one?"

Wang Lin let out a smile and put down the carving in his hand. He grabbed a wood carving from one of the shelves. This was the carving of a person, a person that Wang Lin was very familiar with named Wang Hao.

The boy before him looked similar to Wang Hao back then.

After the boy received the wood carving, he let out a cheer. He held it in his hands like a treasure and said to Wang Lin, with a crisp voice, "Thank you, uncle! I'm from the iron workshop across the street. Goodbye!" With that, he ran out of the shop and shouted, "Mom! Look! Uncle gave me this!"

Wang Lin stood up and walked to the entrance of the shop. He saw a man and woman come out of the shop across the street. The two looked lovingly at the boy. The man took the wood carving and his eyes suddenly lit up. He walked toward Wang Lin with the wood carving and said, "Little brother, kids don't know too well. How much for this carving?"

Wang Lin shook his head and said, "I gave it to him. It is only a piece of wood."

The boy's father hesitated for a bit. He looked at Wang Lin and smiled. "You just arrived here, correct? I haven't seen you before."

Wang Lin smiled and nodded.

The boy's father smiled and said, "Little brother, if you don't mind, come over for a meal. I have homemade fruit wine that is much better than those from those restaurants."

Wang Lin felt a very strange feeling in his heart. This was a feeling he hadn't felt in 400 years. After hesitating for a bit, he nodded.

The boy's mother was a very kind woman. Although she was very young, she was very patient and mild. From looking at them, Wang Lin could tell that they were a very happy family.

Their child was cute and the couple loved each other.

Inside the iron workshop, there was a square table with a few homemade dishes on it. Even though Wang Lin didn't need to eat anymore, he still picked up his chopsticks and ate a few bites.

While drinking the homemade fruit wine that the man was so proud of and eating a loving homemade meal, Wang Lin's mind became even calmer than it was when he was with the caravan. The spiritual energy in his body moved in a way that it never had before.

This wine was indeed very good wine. It had a good aftertaste.

Since this day, a new essential entered Wang Lin's life: the fruit wine. The boy would come almost every day to watch Wang Lin carve, and every time he came, he would bring a jug of fruit wine.

Gradually, Wang Lin's shop was filled with wood carvings and a majority of them were beasts. He had carved out almost all of the beasts he had met in the past 400 years. However, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't finish the carvings of those high quality spirit beasts and desolate beasts.

There were large amounts of spiritual energy gathered within each carving. Mortals couldn't feel it, but if any cultivator were to pass by, they would be terrified.

That was because the power of the spiritual energy in these carvings wasn't weaker than any low quality magic treasure. Some of the spiritual energy in these carvings matched mid quality magic treasures.

How could these still be considered wood carvings? These were obviously magic treasures made of deadwood.

Chapter 253 - Carving of a Dragon

Life is like a bowl of water. In its blandness, there's a barely noticeable sweetness. Wang Lin felt like his soul was being cleansed by this life without killing.

He forgot his identity as a cultivator and his 400 years of killing. He had truly blended into the mortal world and was experiencing the bitter and the sweet aspects of mortal life.

Every morning, Wang Lin would get up and open the door to his shop before beginning to carve. His shop was already filled with countless wood carvings.

All of the neighboring shops gradually found out that the shop Wang Lin was residing in had changed hands. Everyone had very good feelings toward this quiet and elegant young man.

As time passed, Wang Lin gradually began to have customers. Although they couldn't see the spiritual energy in the wood carvings, they could see how intricate the carvings were. Over time, Wang Lin's shop gained a bit of fame in the area.

In the blink of an eye, one year had passed. In this year, Wang Lin never saw that old man again. Although he would occasionally think about the old man, those thoughts gradually faded.

He was completely immersed in carving, searching for that long lost joy.

In Wang Lin's shop, the most common carvings were these lifelike carvings of beasts. All of these beasts were creatures that mortals had never seen before.

In fact, even if cultivators were to come, they would barely be able to recognize them. After all, this place was too far from the Sea of Devils. The world was large and there were many different type of beasts, so there was no way for one person to know them all.

At the moment, Wang Lin held a square piece of wood in his hand. He moved his hand and a turtle shaped beast gradually emerged from the piece of wood.

Looking at the carving in his hand, he put down his carving knife and picked up a jug. Just as he was about to drink from it, he realized that there was no wine left.

At this time, Da Niu would normally come to watch him carve and bring along a jug of wine.

Sure enough, before long, Da Niu, who had grown a head taller in the past year, walked into the shop. Da Niu was that boy, and although he was only 12 years old, he was very tall.

His body was much stronger than it was one year ago.

After he entered the shop, he let out an unhappy sound as he sat down next to Wang Lin. He said, "Uncle Wang, you should go to my house some time and talk with my dad. He is always making me learn the art of ironworks, but I don't want to learn. If anything, I want to learn uncle's carving skills." With that, he placed the jug of wine next to Wang Lin. His eyes narrowed as he stared at the incomplete carving in Wang Lin's hand.

Wang Lin laughed and took a gulp of the fruit wine. This fruit wine was sweet with a hint of spiciness, causing his belly to heat up. This wine had became a daily essential to Wang Lin over the past year.

Da Niu looked at the carving. Confused, he asked, "Uncle Wang, what animal are you carving now? Why does it look like a turtle?"

Wang Lin rubbed Da Niu's head and said, "This is not a turtle, but a creature called Zhong Gu. Although it looks like a turtle, it is far more powerful."

Da Niu uncertainly nodded. In this past year, he had seen all kinds of animals inside Wang Lin's shop, and every single one of them were ones he had never seen before.

Wang Lin held the carving knife and began to carve the creature's features stroke by stroke. This turtle-looking creature was in fact a rare, mid quality spirit beast in this Sea of Devils. If it became angry, normal cultivators wouldn't be able to withstand its strength at all.

But Wang Lin had killed many of these types of beasts and he has consumed a lot of their cores. Thus, its image completely formed in Wang Lin's mind and his hand didn't pause for a single moment.

Half an hour later, Wang Lin poked hard at where its eyes were supposed to be. At that moment, the carving seemed to have come to life.

The beast looked into the sky. Its eyes revealed a hint of frustration and fear. Its mouth wide was opening as if it were letting out waves of silent roars. An invisible aura that's impossible for mortals to detect spread out from it.

But as the aura spread out, Wang Lin touched it with his right hand and the aura disappeared.

Wang Lin took a deep breath and casually put the carving on a shelf. In this past year, Wang Lin found that he could only carve up to mid quality spirit beasts. As for high quality spirit beasts, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't complete the carving.

Every time he tried to carve a high quality spirit beast, he would lose control during the last few strokes, causing the carving to shatter.

Wang Lin understood that this was because his cultivation level wasn't high enough. After all, a high quality spirit beast was the same as the Soul Formation stage for humans.

Da Niu's eyes revealed a mesmerized look. In this past year, he had come to watch Wang Lin carve every day. He gradually became addicted.

In this past year, he secretly tried to carve with a carving knife, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't carve anything decent. Now that he saw Wang Lin easily finish a carving, he couldn't hold it in anymore and asked Wang Lin.

Wang Lin pondered a little. He raised his head and said to the boy, "Carving requires comprehension. If you want to learn, then you must watch me for 60 years. After 60 years, you can carve on your own."

Da Niu stuck out his tongue and said, "60 years… but I've seen the carpenter in the southern part of the city. He is only 40 years old, but his carvings are pretty good too."

Wang Lin drank a gulp of wine and said, "I'm different from him."

Da Niu's eyes were filled with confusion. He clearly didn't understand the meaning in those words.

At that moment, loud noises suddenly came from outside. Da Niu ran outside. Not long after, he poked his head back in and said, "Uncle Wang, the Xu family's eldest son came back. He is followed by more than ten carriages and a lot of people. He looks very cool."

With that, he ran out again.

Wang Lin didn't mind. He picked up another piece of wood and began to recall the scenes from the Land of the Ancient God, of that large desolate beast that left a deep impression in his mind. He hesitated for a while, then began to carve again.

Time slowly passed. More than an hour later, the door to the shop was opened by someone. Da Niu happily came in. Behind him was a very sturdy looking young man. The young man looked around at the carvings and his eyes lit up.

Da Niu quickly walked next to Wang Lin. He made a few expressions and whispered, "Don't try to sell them for too much!"

With that, he quickly turned around and loudly said, "Master Xu, this is the shop I was telling you about. Look at these carvings. They are in no way inferior carpenter Zhou's products. How about buying a few?"

Wang Lin smiled. This Da Niu obviously saw that Wang Lin hadn't had many customers in this past year, so when a rich person came by, he pulled that person to Wang Lin's shop.

The young man named Xu looked around the shop and his eyes became even brighter. He was very different from Da Niu. He had seen a lot, especially after becoming confidant of Lord Nan's son. He could tell with a glance that the quality of these carvings was several times higher than the famous carpenter Zhou's carvings.

Although carpenter Zhou's carvings were also very lifelike, they were still missing something. After pondering a little, he finally understood. The one thing that carpenter Zhou's carvings were missing was "life"!

One seemed almost real and one seemed almost alive.

A one word difference made them miles apart.

The young man named Xu's eyes were shining as he walked up and picked up a carving. This carving was the dragon that Wang Lin had carved one year ago.

The dragon's body was coiled, its head was facing the sky, and every scale on its body was expertly carved. What shocked the young man named Xu the most was that when he held the carving, he felt like it was alive. Terrified, his right hand suddenly loosened and the carving fell to the ground.

Da Niu already knew the expression on the young man's face and he also knew that when someone touches the carving, they experience a mysterious feeling, which was why he mostly looked and rarely touched them.

With a thud, the carving fell to the ground. Good thing it was made of wood, because falling to the ground occasionally won't break it.

The young man named Xu's face turned red and he said, "Master Wang, what animal is this? Why does it look a bit like a snake to me?"

Before Wang Lin replied, Da Niu puffed his chest and said, "This is a dragon! Do you know what a dragon is? It is an immortal creature!"

"Dragon…" The young man named Xu remembered that name and asked, "For how much are you selling this dragon carving?"

Wang Lin casually smiled and said, "10 pieces of gold."

The moment Da Niu heard this, he secretly sighed and thought that it was over. He had brought quite a few people to this shop in the past year, but every time people heard the prices, they would shake their heads and leave.

But he couldn't believe that the young man named Xu only frowned and put 10 pieces of gold down on the table. The young man took off his coat, wrapped it around the dragon carving, and quickly left.

Da Niu stared dumbfoundedly at the ten pieces of gold on the table. His eyes shined as he muttered, "Incredible, a single wood carving can sell for ten pieces of gold. My dad can only make one piece of gold with one month of work, and even that is rare."

After muttering to himself, he made a decision. It was only 60 years. He will do whatever it takes to learn this art. Once he has it mastered, he won't have to worry about money for the rest of his life.

The current him didn't think about how it would take 60 years before he could create carvings. Even if he didn't have to worry about money, that was only in 60 years.

The young man named Xu left the shop and quickly went home to say goodbye to his parents. He didn't even eat the dinner his parents prepared and quickly took all of the people and rushed back toward Nan Palace in the east side of the city.

Chapter 254 - Never Seen It Before

Wang Lin grabbed the gold on the table and casually threw it into a small basket without looking.

As for the carvings in the store, aside from the ones of his parents and loved ones, he didn't care about them at all. These thing were only tools in his eyes. Tools to help him calm his heart and comprehend the heavens.

He believed that when he can carve a statue of a Spirit Forming cultivator or spirit beast, his cultivation will have a breakthrough.

Da Niu left the shop in a trance. As he walked, he kept muttering to himself, but no one knew what he was muttering about.

Wang Lin took a gulp of fruit wine and continued to immerse himself in carving again. As he carved, wood shavings fell to the ground and the block of wood took shape. A powerful aura came from the carving, but the aura couldn't spread and was trapped inside the carving.

With every stroke of his carving knife, the aura became even stronger. Slowly, the shape of a large dragon appeared on the wood, but Wang Lin's carving knife began to hesitate.

He pondered for a long time and then let out a sigh. The carving knife disappeared from his hand. With his left hand, he casually tossed the incomplete carving into a large box. Inside the box were more than a dozen incomplete carvings.

If one looked closely at these carvings, they would see that they were various people and spirit beasts. Hunchback Meng, Ancient Emperor, Six Desire Devil Lord, high quality spirit beasts, and even desolate beasts…

Although these carvings were all of different things, the one thing they had in common was that they were all carvings of people and beasts above the Soul Formation level.

In this past year, Wang Lin had tried multiple times to carve a person or spirit beast that was at the Soul Formation level, but they all failed. If he forced himself to complete the carving, then the carving would turn into dust.

He pondered a little with his eyes closed. Suddenly, a red substance about one palm thick appeared around him.

The red substance was the evil aura that had been condensed a lot by Wang Lin this past year. Wang Lin was very satisfied with the result. He actually didn't forcefully condense the evil aura, it just naturally happened thanks to his actions.

Wang Lin believed that in just one more year, he will be able to compress this evil aura to its limit. Getting rid of this evil aura won't raise his cultivation level though.

But Wang Lin always believed that if he just lets this evil aura disappear, he will regret it in the future. It was the instinct of a cultivator that knows that they might need something in the future that made Wang Lin decide to condense the evil aura.

Da Niu's father's voice came in from outside. "Brother Wang, your sister in law has made a few good dishes today. Come over and eat, then us brothers can drink a few cups."

Wang Lin's eyes suddenly opened, revealing an ancient light. The light slowly disappeared and Wang Lin went back to being a normal person. He held the jug, walked two steps, then hesitated for a bit before grabbing some gold from the basket, and walked out.

As for that young man named Xu, he was currently sitting in his carriage. His heart was pounding as he held the package in his hands. His eyes were filled with excitement.

He didn't think that his visit home to see his parents would allow him to meet a person that could create this kind of wood carving. It can be said that the king's only hobby was to collect these kinds of things.

Whether it was made of stone or wood, it didn't matter what kind of material. As long it was a sculpture, the king liked them.

And the prince was a very filial son. If he brings this to the prince, he will be well rewarded. Thinking about it, the young man named Xu took a deep breath.

This team of more than ten carriages moved quickly through the capital, but he still wished they could go faster so he could return to the palace sooner.

After a long time, the carriage stopped. The young man named Xu quickly opened the door and rushed into the palace.

In the eastern courtyard, the young man stopped before a very elegant building and said, "Prince, Xu Tao wishes to meet you for an important matter."

After a while, a lazy voice came from the building saying, "Xu Tao, didn't you go home to visit your relatives? How come you're back so early? If there is anything, we can talk tomorrow."

Xu Tao was able to vaguely hear some charming and tempting voices from the palace. He hesitated for a bit. Normally, it would really not be a good time to bother the prince, but he was very confident with the item he was holding. He clenched his teeth and said, "Prince, I really do have an important matter. When I was on my way home, I found a wood carving. If the king saw this wood carving, he would definitely be happy."

Silence came from the building. After a while, a dissatisfied voice came from inside. "Come in then, but if this item isn't as good as you say, then you're losing this month's pay."

Xu Tao quickly walked into the palace and saw a giant bed covered by a veil. A slightly pale young man sat at the edge of the bed. His eyes were slightly gloomy.

Xu Tao placed his coat on the ground, then carefully opened it up, revealing the dragon carving within.

The moment the young man saw the wood carving, his eyes suddenly became sharp. He stood up and quickly walked up to the wood carving. He reached out and grabbed the carving with his right hand.

Just as Xu Tao was about to warn the youth, he suddenly heard the youth yell. The youth waved his hand and the wood carving disappeared. He said, "Good! Xu Tao, you have done a great service!"

With that, he slapped a broken looking bag that hung on his waist. Suddenly, a wave of purple gas came out of the bag and surrounded the youth. The gas dissipated and the youth was now wearing a purple robe.

The moment the purple gas appeared, a breeze blew through the room, lifting up the veil a bit. Two charming screams came from the bed as the veil revealed two beautiful bodies.

Xu Tao's eyes involuntarily looked over. He swallowed hard and averted his gaze, not daring to look.

The young wasn't a mortal, but a cultivator; however, his cultivation level wasn't high. He was only at the 8th layer of Qi Condensation.

He looked at Xu Tao and noticed Xu Tao's gaze. He laughed and said, "Mei Ji, come out. Today, you belong to Xu Tao."

A charming response came from the bed as a beautiful figure walked out of the bed. She leisurely walked over, grabbed the dumbfounded Xu Tao, and left with him through the side door.

The young man's eyes lit up and he quickly left the palace.

The youth walked straight to the Central Palace. When he was outside of the doors, he heard bursts of song and music along with his father's laughter coming from inside.

Outside the hall stood rows of guards. When they saw the prince, they all dropped to one knee. The young man quickly walked past them and into the main hall.

Inside the hall were two small tables with a cultivator sitting behind each one. The cultivators were wearing different colored robes, one black and one green.

The cultivator in black's eyes remained closed. He had no interest in music and dance.

The green robed cultivator was smiling as he watched the singers and dancers perform.

Above the main hall sat a very handsome middle aged man. The middle age man was very majestic and had the look of a ruler.

After the young man entered the hall, the middle aged man laughed and said, "Why are you not having fun in the Pink Palace? Why did you come here to your old man?"

The young man first respectfully greeted the two cultivators, then looked at the middle aged man and said, "Father, please look at this." With that, he took out the dragon carving and placed it on the ground.

At that moment, the green robed cultivator, who was looking at the performers, suddenly locked his gaze on the carving. The middle aged man's eyes also lit up. He waved his hand and all of the performers quickly scattered and left.

The green robed cultivator suddenly stood up and walked up to the wood carving. He carefully looked at the carving, took a deep breath, and said, "This is…" He already had a guess in his heart, but he wasn't sure.

The black robed man, who always had his eyes closed, opened his eyes and slowly said, "This is a wood carving."

The green robed man before the wood carving was startled. He then wryly smiled and said, "Senior apprentice brother, I know that this is a wood carving. I'm referring to what this is a carving of."

The black robed cultivator that was addressed as senior apprentice brother pondered for a bit and slowly said, "I have not seen it before."

The green robed cultivator bitterly smiled. He was used to this senior apprentice brother's strangeness.

The middle aged man stared at the wood carving and smiled. "Two immortal elders, is there anything special about this carving?"

The green robed cultivator near the wood carving grabbed the wood carving. He suddenly felt an ancient aura come at him. This aura was very powerful and caused him to be shocked. With his mid stage Foundation Establishment cultivation, he felt as if his foundation was about to collapse. Horrified, he quickly let go of the carving.

His senior apprentice brother waved his sleeves and the carving flew into his hand. This cultivator's face suddenly turned pale as his core became unstable. It took a long time before he was able to control the fluctuations in his core again.

The higher the cultivation level you have, the more affected you would be by Wang Lin's carving, but if you were a mortal, then the effect would be small.

The black robed man slowly said, "This object is not a normal carving. The creature that is carved is almost exactly the same as the dragon in the ancient record of our sect."

The green robed cultivator said, with a strange expression, "Senior apprentice brother, didn't you say earlier that you've never seen it before? How come you are saying it is a dragon now?"

The black robed cultivator looked surprisedly at the green robed cultivator. His eyes were filled with astonishment as he said, "Junior apprentice brother, I finally understand why your cultivation hasn't had a breakthrough yet…"

The green robed cultivator's face twitched. He didn't say anything.

The black robed cultivator sighed and said, "I have never seen the beast that is carved, but I never said I didn't recognize what it was."

The green robed cultivator's Dao heart wasn't stable enough, so he coughed out a mouthful of blood. After a long time, he calmed himself and bitterly laughed. He felt like he really couldn't deal with this senior apprentice brother of his at all.

Chapter 255 - Robber

It was night and there was no moon.

Wang Lin lied on the bed in the back of the store. There was a jug of wine beside him. He picked up the jug and took a drink. Wang Lin could feel that in this past year, he has managed to get rid of his mentality as a cultivator and has become more like a mortal.

Take this for example: he rarely cultivates at all now, but that would have been impossible before. In those 400 years of escaping and killing, he almost always had his spiritual energy surging in his body and would use any spare time he could find to raise his cultivation level. His life was filled with deadly schemes and life threatening dangers. If he was a bit less careful, he would have died.

He had never before lied down like this and slept. He spent most nights cultivating.

That type of life was very exciting and filled with passion, but it was filled with regret. It had no balance. That life was missing something.

Now, there were no conflicts in Wang Lin's life. Although it was a bit boring, it was cleansing Wang Lin's soul.

Wang Lin felt very strange when he first noticed this feeling, but he gradually accepted it and continued living the life of a mortal.

He picked up the jug and downed a gulp. Then, he suddenly frowned.

At that moment, two cultivators arrived outside his store. Their two bodies floated toward his shop like ghosts. One of them waved his hand and Wang Lin's store's main door silently opened.

The two of them quickly entered. The door was closed by the wind.

Inside the shop, the two's eyes lit up as they looked at all of the carvings inside the shop. Their eyes were filled with terror, but that terror was soon replaced with endless greed.

"There are so many magic treasures!" One of the cultivators sucked in a cold breath of air. He grabbed one of the carvings and looked at it. His body trembled and he quickly threw the carving away.

The greed inside his eyes became even stronger. He waved his hand and all of the carvings on the shelves entered his bag of holding.

The other cultivator squatted down and searched through a box in the corner. Then, he let out a shout as he held an incomplete carving. His expression became strange as he felt a sweetness in his throat and coughed out a mouthful of blood.

He quickly threw away the carving in his hand and backed up as if the carving was an ancient beast.

In fact, it was no surprise he couldn't withstand the carving. This was an incomplete carving of Six Desire Devil Lord. Although it was incomplete, the spiritual pressure inside the carving was that of a late stage Nascent Soul cultivator. With this person's Core Formation cultivation, there was no way he could withstand it.

Good thing he quickly let go and the spiritual pressure of the carving hadn't truly awakened. He wouldn't have lost only a simple mouthful of blood otherwise.

As the wood carving fell, it was caught by a giant invisible hand, which placed it in Wang Lin's hand. Wang Lin walked out of the back room. He casually put the carving on a shelf, then took a gulp of wine and said, "That is a total of 4,520 gold. Pay up."

When Wang Lin appeared, the two suddenly stopped and stared at Wang Lin with horrified expressions.

In particular, the cultivator that was just injured by the spiritual pressure in the carving. His face was pale and his forehead was covered in sweat.

In their eyes, Wang Lin's appearance was too strange. Before the two of them entered the shop, they used their spiritual energy to check the inside. Although there was one person in the back room, it was only a mortal.

But now, the mortal in their eyes appeared silently before them. It was as if a bolt of lightning had just struck them, causing them to be terrified.

Adding to the wood carving magic treasures, even if the two of them were dumb, they would have realized that the person before them was a senior they couldn't afford to mess with.

The two of them looked at each other and respectfully said, "Greetings, senior. Juniors are disciples of the White Cloud Sect. Juniors have been rude and hope senior will forgive us."

Wang Lin plainly asked, "Do you have 4520 pieces of gold?"

The two of them looked at each other. They were cultivators, so if it was spirit stones, they would have some, but they really didn't have much gold used by mortals right now. Of course, if they were given time to prepare, they would be able to prepare 4000, or even 40,000.

Wang Lin realized what the two were thinking and sighed. He waved his hand and the bag of holding containing the carvings flew into his hand. He casually swiped his hand across the bag of holding and the owner of the bag forcibly swallowed a mouthful of blood.

The respect in the cultivator's eyes became even deeper as that swipe wiped out his divine sense from the bag.

Wang Lin shook the bag and all of the carvings flew back to their original places without any error. It was as if they were never moved in the first place

"Go back. When you come again, bring enough gold." With that, Wang Lin waved his hand and the bag of holding flew back to the cultivator. Then, the two of them were pushed by a powerful force toward the door.

When they were about hit the door, the door opened and the two of them were pushed out of the store.

This one push pushed them more than 10 kilometers before they finally stabilized themselves. Their eyes revealed unimaginable horror and shock. In their eyes, that youth's cultivation was too powerful for them to measure.

The two pondered a little and thought themselves to be very lucky. With that, they quickly left. These two cultivators were the two from the palace.

They noticed the abnormality in the carving, so they went and found Xu Tao, who was enjoying himself, and found out about this store. But after what just happened, they were simply too scared to have any more ideas about that store.

The two of them didn't know that Wang Lin had already left his divine sense on them. If they had any malicious thoughts about Wang Lin, they would be killed immediately.

In fact, if the two of them knew about Wang Lin, then they would feel extremely lucky. If it was the Wang Lin from one year ago, the only result of that situation would've been death.

Wang Lin sat inside the store. He drank a gulp of wine and sighed. "I haven't killed anyone in a year." With that, he walked back to the back room and went to sleep.

Time quickly passed and two years passed by. This was already the third year that Wang Lin had been at the capital.

Da Niu grew even taller and sturdier and more neighbors moved in. The Kong Fabric shop's owner died due to illness and the shop was sold to someone else.

Da Niu's parents' faces gained some light wrinkles. Although they were still young, they couldn't avoid the passage of time.

It is worth mentioning that during these two years, many of the neighbors had come to Wang Lin to talk about marriage, but they were rejected by Wang Lin each time.

The Xu family's second son had already gotten married and had a healthy baby. Xu Tao came back to pay his respects to Wang Lin. He gave Wang Lin 100 pieces of gold, saying it was from the prince.

Actually, in these two years, during each new year, Xu Tao would bring a lot of gold and silver. As for this matter, Wang Lin didn't reject him. He accepted it all.

Autumn passed and winter came. The sun came and went. During these past two years, Wang Lin saw the birth of the young and the death of the old. He felt very wistful.

In these two years, he had only cultivated twice. He no longer cared about his cultivation level and rarely checked it anymore. As for the red substance, only a thin layer remained. The rest had been condensed into three red beads, which were stored in his bag of holding.

According to his analysis, when the 4th bead is created, the red substance will be all gone.

The two cultivators from back then had only come once in these two years. After handing over a large amount of mortal gold, they took three wood carvings.

In these two years, Wang Lin's store had gained some fame in the Western part of the city. Although there weren't a lot of customers, it was still much better than his first year.

However, the most common visitors to Wang Lin's shop weren't mortals, but cultivators. Six out of ten people that came would be a cultivator.

Every cultivator that came would buy wood carvings with mortal gold. In these two years, he sold quite a few wood carvings and had gathered a lot of gold and silver.

The fact that there was someone amazing in the western part of the capital gradually gained some fame among cultivators.

Wang Lin's heart was still calm. What he wanted was still to experience the life of a mortal. The store was just a tool to experience it and the wood carvings were the same.

It was about to be a new year and the capital had become very lively. Wang Lin walked out of his store and sat down outside. His eyes were filled with longing.

This was the 3rd new year he had experienced since he arrived at the capital. Each time, this experience was different, except for one thing: the regret he felt toward his childhood.

Da Niu ran out from the ironworks shop from across the street with fireworks in his hand and happily played with them. Upon seeing Da Niu, happiness appeared in Wang Lin's eyes. Wang Lin had watched this kid grow up from an 11 year old kid to a 14 year old youth.

Last year, Da Niu was unable to refuse his dad anymore and began to learn ironworks. However, whenever he had time, he would come and watch Wang Lin make wood carvings.

Although Da Niu didn't come as often, the one jug of fruit wine a day never stopped.

Playing with the fireworks, Da Niu ran toward Wang Lin and sat down on the cold bench. He didn't seem to mind the cold. He winked at Wang Lin and said, "Uncle Wang, I heard from my dad a few days ago that shopkeeper Lu from the east side of the city wanted to marry his daughter to you. Why didn't you agree? I have secretly seen her before and she is very beautiful."

Wang Lin smiled. He rubbed Da Niu's head and said, "Uncle already has a wife."

"Ah? Really? How come I have never seen her?" Da Niu suddenly stood up. His face was filled with shock.

"She is in a very far away place, waiting for me. One day, I'll go and find her!" Wang Lin's voice was gentle as the image of a woman appeared in his mind.

Da Niu let out a mischievous smile. He said, "I understand. Uncle Wang, you came to the capital to make money so you can go back home to get married!"

Chapter 256 - Coldness

Wang Lin smiled and said, "That's right. Once uncle has made a lot of money, he will go back and get married."

Da Niu was about to speak when his father called him. Da Niu responded and said to Wang Lin, with a bitter smile, "I have to do ironworks again." With that, he helplessly returned home.

From inside the ironworks shop came a few shouts from Da Niu's father. Wang Lin took a sip of the wine and continued to sit outside. Slowly, snow began to fall and this year's first snow silently appeared.

The temperature suddenly dropped.

The snowflakes hit Wang Lin's face and quickly turned into ice water. Wang Lin raised his head and looked at the dim sky. He raised his hand and casually closed it. All of the snowflakes started to gather toward him.

Wang Lin took a deep breath and released his right hand. The snowflakes immediately scattered and drifted in all directions. This happened so quickly that none of the mortals noticed it as they quickly walked through the streets with their heads down.

As the sky darkened, there were less and less people walking around. Soon, there was no one left on the street. Even all the shops had closed down due to the cold. Everyone had gone home to their families to gather around the stove.

This type of warmth, besides the physical warmth, also warmed the soul. This type of warmth from being with the family could expel any coldness.

Slowly, sadness filled Wang Lin's eyes. The coldness that the snow brought was really nothing to him, but at this moment, when he looked at all of the lights coming from the shops and his shop being the only one dark one, a sliver of coldness appeared in his heart.

This coldness wasn't anything a fire or technique could help get rid of. This type of coldness came from comprehending the heavens and was a must to experience life.

In order to turn into an immortal, one must first turn into a mortal.

Although it was easy to turn into mortal, how could it be that easy? Right now, Wang Lin was experiencing loneliness. He knew that he needed to keep experiencing it.

This loneliness was nothing compared to years later, when everyone he knows dies one by one until he is the only one left. That is true loneliness

Wang Lin began to ponder. After a long time, he stood up. It seemed as if he had just aged a lot. He slowly picked up the chair, went back into the shop, and slowly closed the door.

After a long time, a fire lit up inside the shop. Although this fire looked like all the other shops' fires, this one was hollow, and a deep sense of loneliness hid inside it.

Wang Lin sat next to the fire. It was very warm inside the shop, but his heart became even colder. After pondering for a long time, Wang Lin took out a wood carving and put it beside him.

This was a carving of his father.

Looking at the carving, the coldness in Wang Lin's heart lessened a bit. He then took out the carving of his mother. Then, he gradually took out carvings one by one and placed them near the fireplace.

There were carvings of males and females, young people and old people. All of them were residents of the small village.

Looking at these carvings, Wang Lin let out a smile. Although this smile was filled with satisfaction, if anyone were to see the smile, they would have said, "How is that a smile? It is clearly a silent cry."

The fire flickered, sometimes lighting Wang Lin's face, sometimes making it dim. When the light reached the wood carvings, they gave off a strange feeling.

He gently grabbed each carving as the coldness lessened in his heart. Although the coldness lessened, his sadness grew.

Wang Lin muttered to himself, "Can't let it go, can't let it go…" In his early years of cultivation, he couldn't let go of his family. Even now, he still couldn't let them go.

But this type of feeling was different from back then. In order to turn into an immortal, he first must turn into a mortal. If he had let go of all of his emotions toward his family, then there would be no way for him to turn into a mortal.

Every Soul Formation cultivator was strong not only because of their cultivation, but also because their hearts hid a tiny bit of emotion deep down. They used this bit of emotion to break through the Nascent Soul stage and reach the Soul Formation stage.

It was because of this emotion that Wang Lin didn't meet with any difficulty turning into a mortal and gradually began to feel like a mortal.

At the moment, he was immersed in thoughts about his parents and silently experiencing this feeling. The spiritual energy in his body started to wildly surge again. This spiritual energy gradually came out of his body. Slivers of spiritual energy came out from all of the wood carvings in the room and swirled along with Wang Lin's spiritual energy.

Gradually, the swirl of spiritual energy spun even faster and expanded to outside the shop.

When the snowflakes fell on the roof of the shop, they began to swirl as well. They soon turned into swirls of snowflakes and flew off into the distance.

The snow started to come down harder and harder. Gradually, Wang Lin began to awaken and when he awakened, a crack had appeared on some of the wood carvings.

Although these wood carvings gained a crack, their spiritual pressure became even stronger. Even their quality increased.

Wang Lin took a look and took a deep breath.

He stood up, then pushed opened the door. A cold wind mixed with snow hit his face. He looked up into the sky and whispered, "Soul Formation, I, Wang Lin, will obtain it, no matter what!"

The snow started to fall even harder and a thick layer of snow started to gather on the ground. At this moment, the door to the ironworks shop opposite of Wang Lin suddenly opened. Da Niu and his father were about to leave when they saw Wang Lin standing there. They couldn't help but be startled. Da Niu ran through the snow, making crunching sounds with each step. He arrived next to Wang Lin and shouted, "Uncle Wang, did you know we were going to come?" With that, he entered the room and sat next to the fire.

Da Niu's father carried a wooden basket and smiled, "Brother Wang, you're not busy?"

Wang Lin faintly smiled as he moved aside and said, "I'm not busy. Come and talk inside."

Da Niu's father entered the room. He looked at the carvings in the room and revealed a look of envy. He placed the wooden basket on the ground, then rubbed his hands. He wanted to say something, but didn't know how to start.

At that moment, Da Niu, who was next to the fire, saw the carvings of Wang Lin's parents and suddenly shouted, "Uncle Wang, how come I have never seen these carvings before? Did you make them recently?"

Wang Lin closed the door. He then sat down and said, "I made them a while ago."

Da Niu carefully looked at the wood carvings and asked, "Uncle Wang, who are these carvings of?"

Wang Lin's eyes revealed a look of nostalgia and slowly said, "They are my family."

Da Niu was startled and no longer kept asking. He walked to the basket and opened it up. Inside were three plates of exquisite dishes and two jugs of fruit wine.

Wang Lin took a look and let out a faint smile as he looked at Da Niu's father. He had known this man for a long time and this was the first time Wang Lin had seen him like this. Clearly, Da Niu's father had come to ask for his help, but didn't know how to ask.

Wang Lin said, "Brother Ceng, if you have anything to say, just say it."

Da Niu's father hesitated for a bit. He rubbed his hands and awkwardly said, "Nothing, nothing."

Da Niu looked at the dishes in the basket. He swallowed hard and his hand reached in. When he noticed his father giving him the look, he quickly pulled his hand back out and disgruntledly said, "It is only borrowing some silver. What's so embarrassing about it?"

Da Niu's father's face suddenly turned red and he scolded his son. "Little brat, wait until we are home."

Da Niu stuck out his tongue and said, "Since father won't say it, I'll say it. Mother wants to buy the shop next to ours to make our shop bigger, but doesn't have enough money."

Da Niu's father let out a sigh. He looked at Wang Lin and helplessly said, "Brother Wang, your sister in law thinks our shop is too small and limits the business we can do. She saw that old Li's shop is for rent, so she wanted to immediately rent it."

Wang Lin faintly nodded. He picked up the jug of wine from the basket and drank a gulp, then said, "How much do you need?"

Da Niu's father hesitated for a while and said, "The shop is pretty big and we have to pay two years' rent at once, so it would be 50 pieces of silver… er… 30. 30 pieces of silver is enough."

Da Niu pouted and whispered, "Mother clearly said 80 pieces of silver…" Before he could finish, his father shot him another vicious stare.

Wang Lin nodded. Without a word, he stood up and walked into the back room. There was a basket there filled with gold and silver. Wang Lin casually picked up some gold and placed it before Da Niu's father.

When Da Niu's father saw the piece of gold, he was startled and quickly said, " I don't need this much. Brother Wang, quickly take it back. I only want to borrow 30 pieces of silver." From his point of view, there were at least ten pieces of gold in front of him, far more than he needed.

Wang Lin picked up the jug of wine and smiled, "Brother Ceng, I'm not lending you this money. This is money for wine. From now on, I'd like to buy a jug of your fruit wine every day. That money for 10 years of fruit wine is worth it."

Da Niu's father hesitated for a bit. His face revealed an excited expression. He said, "Brother Wang, this…"

Da Niu rolled his eyes and said, "Dad, just take it. Uncle Wang can sell one wood carving for 10 pieces of gold."

Da Niu's father stared at Da Niu again. He picked up the jug, took a large gulp, then said, "Brother Wang, what's 10 years or 8 years? As long as you live here, I'll send you a jug of wine every day!"

Wang Lin chuckled. Looking at the father and son before him, his heart was no longer cold. He now felt a tiny bit of warmth.

That night, Da Niu's father drank a lot. Two jugs were clearly not enough. Da Niu served them on the side and it wasn't until the 10th jug that they had drank enough.

Finally, Da Niu's father passed out from drinking, but his hand tightly held onto the gold as he was being carried back by Da Niu.

Before they left, Da Niu quietly said to Wang Lin, "Uncle Wang, we have a lot of this wine. My dad won't let me tell other people, but in truth, there are many large pots of wine in the basement of our house, and it is said that there are even more buried deep down. If it wasn't for the fact that father refuses to sell the wine, mother wouldn't have made him come here to borrow money."

Chapter 257 - It's You!

After sending off Da Niu and his father, Wang Lin sat down next to the fire and suddenly felt very regretful. Ten pieces of gold was a large amount of wealth for mortals, but to immortals, it was like dirt that they wouldn't even bother to acknowledge.

He quietly sat inside the shop, picked up a piece of wood, and his hand began to move as he started to carve again.

Time passed and another three years went by. Da Niu's shop's size had almost doubled in size and, as his mother thought, their business did get better. However, as business got better, Da Niu had less free time as he had to do ironworks with his father.

Only after the shop closed would Da Niu drag his tired body along with a jug of fruit wine to come and watch Wang Lin carve.

Da Niu's body, perhaps due to all the ironworks he had done, had become even more sturdy. The 17 year old young man didn't feel cold at all while only wearing a thin shirt.

However, the wrinkles on his parents had gradually increased.

Wang Lin's appearance was also different from six years ago. He no longer looked like a young man, but a middle aged man as wrinkles appeared on his face.

This was deliberately caused by Wang Lin himself. After all, if someone didn't change at all in six years, then it would be a very incredible thing for these good and honest neighbors.

In the past three years, Xu Tao began to come even more often. He would come every month with gold, silver, and the intent of drawing Wang Lin to their side. And every time, he would point out that this was all given by the prince to pay respects to Wang Lin.

Wang Lin didn't have any interest in this prince. He came to the capital with only one purpose, and that was to experience mortal life so he could have a breakthrough in his cultivation.

Considering his cultivation level, he was too lazy to get involved with mortals' power struggle.

In the late autumn of this year, wind blew the leaves off the willow trees on the street, causing the leaves to fly far away and making them leave their branches.

One could see leaves all over the street. Wang Lin casually walked out of the shop wearing thick clothes and a leather hat. If at this time anyone from Zhao or Chu were to show up here, they wouldn't be able to recognize Wang Lin at all. This person was Wang Lin, who had stirred up the entire country, killing thousands, and whose hands were stained with blood.

Even the cultivators that had fought him wouldn't be able to recognize him.

The current him looked no different from a mortal. This apply only to his appearance. It was his spirit too. Even deep down in his bones, he was the same as a mortal.

After six years of transforming into a mortal, he had completely become a mortal. The current him looked a bit old. Although his back was still straight, he looked no different from any other middle aged man on the street.

The only little thing that made him different from mortals were his eyes. There was a clear distinction between black and white in his eyes, plus a hint of light, making him seen unlike a mortal.

In the last three years, Wang Lin didn't cultivate once and the last of the red substance had been unwittingly completely condensed by him into a bead, which was put away in his bag of holding.

He opened the shop door and the chilling autumn wind blow into his face. Wang Lin tightened his collar, closed the shop's door, and walked into the distance.

At this moment, a rather sturdy young man walked out of the shop across the street. He was carrying a bucket of broken charcoal. After he came out of the shop, he saw Wang Lin and smiled. "Uncle Wang, are you going to that show again?"

Wang Lin turned around and smiled. "Da Niu, bring me a jug of wine.

The young man nodded. He quickly threw the charcoal to the side and walked into the shop. Shortly after, he ran out with a jug of wine. His eyes were filled with care as he said, "Uncle Wang, at your age, you shouldn't drink as much. Just drink a little to warm your body."

Wang Lin nodded with a smile. He patted Da Niu's shoulder, then turned around and left.

Da Niu felt bitterness in his heart as he looked at Wang Lin's back. In these six years, the omnipotent Uncle Wang had aged a lot. He still remembered the Uncle Wang from 6 years ago, who was filled with vigor and whose eyes shined like the stars.

One by one, lifelike wood carvings would take shape in his hands.

He still remembered when Uncle Wang said that once he makes it big, he will go back and marry his wife. However, in these past six years, Da Niu had never seen Uncle Wang's wife, so he never asked about it again.

Da Niu let out a sigh and returned to the shop. He had also grown older, so he was now the main worker in the ironworks shop. Even after the shop had closed, there were many things he had to do. The habit he had of watching Wang Lin carve every day couldn't continue any longer.

Every few days, he would find some time to accompany this lonely uncle Wang.

There was a chill hidden in the late autumn wind. Wang Lin slowly walked forward. After a while, he arrived at an inn at the corner of the street. Just as he entered, the waiter, a very bright boy with a towel over his shoulder, said, "If it isn't shopkeeper Wang. Please come in!"

After Wang Lin entered the room, he took off his hat and smiled. "I don't have any silver to give you as a tip. No matter how friendly you are, it won't help."

The waiter let out a smile and said, "Look at what you're saying. The shopkeeper already said that the first seat by the east window is reserved for you." With that, he quickly walked a few steps toward a table. He wiped it with the towel that was on his shoulder and bowed before leaving.

Wang Lin sat down at the table. Soon, the waiter brought a few dishes and a small charcoal stove with a pot of boiling water on top. Wang Lin placed the jug of wine in the pot of water to start warming it.

Occasionally, he poured himself a cup to drink. He just sat there, watching people enter the inn. Gradually, more and more people entered the inn. After about 30 minutes, performers came out from the back of the inn and the guests all started cheering.

Among the actors, there was a female that looked very pretty. Most of the guests in the inn were here to watch her.

This woman's eyes were very beautiful. Her long sleeves danced as she began to sing.

The woman's voice was very attractive, causing all the customers in the inn to shout in praise. At this moment, the mood reached its climax.

Wang Lin smiled as he watched the woman sing. He had been spending his days like this for more than a year.

Not long after, a fat middle aged man wearing thick clothes came out from the back and sat at the same table as Wang Lin. When he arrived, the waiter quickly brought out wine for him.

The middle aged fat man quickly poured a cup and drank it. He looked at Wang Lin and said, "Shopkeeper Wang, this…"

Wang Lin picked up the wine jug. He took a sip and said, "Shopkeeper Lee, I'm not here today to collect rent, so you can relax."

The middle aged fat man smiled and said, "Business is not good lately. Having a lot of customers today doesn't mean much. I just spent a lot of money hiring this group to perform here. This business is not easy."

Wang Lin smiled. He didn't say a word. He only quietly watched the performance. This fat man was named Lee, but as for his first name, Wang Lin still didn't know it. Two years ago, this guy came to Wang Lin and pledged his shop to borrow 20 pieces of gold from Wang Lin. To this day, he still hadn't paid Wang Lin back, so this shop now belonged to Wang Lin.

In this past year, he saw Wang Lin come in every day. This made him feel very nervous, so he often came to check on Wang Lin's intentions.

As the pretty actress's eyes scanned the crowd, all of the guests cheered. Just at that moment, a very perverted voice outside the inn said, "Hey, this little darling sure sings well. She lured me here from the northern part of the city."

After that was said, an old man wearing a grey robe walked in. This old man's hair was a mess, his face was covered in bruises, and there was a large footprint on his chest.

The moment he walked in, he started shouting. The waiter frowned and said, "Where did this beggar come from? There is no money for you today!" With that, he walked up to push the beggar away.

The old man stared at him and said, "You dare to touch me? If you touch me, then I'll lie down here and not get up today. I'm here to listen to the music!"

When Wang Lin saw the old man, the light that hadn't shone in his eyes for years suddenly lit up. This old man wasn't just anyone. It was the old man that cheated a meal from him six or seven years ago.

The shopkeeper of the inn, who was sitting next to Wang Lin, walked up. He rummaged through his pockets for a bronze coin. He tossed the coin at the old man and said, "I gave you money, now leave. You are ruining the mood."

The old man picked up the coin and bit it. He smiled at the waiter and said, "It's real. Harder than gold. See, your shopkeeper knows what to do. Hmph, hmph." With that, he threw the coin into the waiter's hand and said, "A pot of tea!"

Then, his eyes swept the area. His gaze landed on Wang Lin and he walked over. It was not that he recognized Wang Lin, but that the only available seat in the inn was next to Wang Lin.

The waiter was shocked. He looked at the bronze coin and then at the shopkeeper. He had seen a lot of beggars, but this was the first time he had seen a beggar that would bite a bronze coin and then use it to buy tea.

The middle aged fat man's face twitched. He pulled up his sleeves and was about to throw the old man out when Wang Lin raised his hand and said, "Forget it."

The middle aged fat man immediately paused. He hesitated for a bit, muttered a few words, turned around, and went into the back room.

The old man let out a mischievous smile. He looked at Wang Lin and said, "You…" Just as he said that word, he was suddenly startled and stared at Wang Lin. He carefully looked at Wang Lin and a strange expression appeared on his face as he said, "It's you!"

Chapter 258 - Trashing Sects

Wang Lin faintly smiled and said, "Senior, we haven't meet in seven years and you are still the same."

The strange expression on the old man's face became even stranger. He stared at Wang Lin for a long time before letting out a sigh. There was a hint of praise in his eyes as he said, "You turned into a mortal… you really turned into a mortal!"

Wang Lin picked up the jug from the stove, poured a cup, drank it, and said, "Junior is only struggling in the mortal. How could I be as relaxed as senior, who is enjoying playing in the mortal world?"

The old man took a deep breath. He took the wine jug, poured a cup, and said, "I have seen many Spirit Forming cultivators, but you are the first to be able to turn into a mortal in six years."

Wang Lin didn't speak. His heart didn't waver as he let out a faint smile and watched the performance.

The old man stared at Wang Lin. After a long time, the praise in his eyes became even stronger. "It is not that the flesh and blood is similar, but the soul is. Young man, if you can experience a domain, then I can promise that you will reach the Soul Formation stage within 100 years," said the old man.

Wang Lin turned his head, took a drink, and asked, "What is domain?"

The old man was about to speak when his eyes suddenly turned. He said, "Look, I'm already old. When I get hungry, I can't remember anything."

Wang Lin seriously looked at the old man and smiled. "Senior, you can take your time enjoying the performance. Junior will leave first." With that, he stood up and left the inn.

The old man was startled. Suddenly, his eyes lit up and he muttered, "Interesting."

Wang Lin carried the jug and slowly walked down the street while stepping on leaves. He returned to the shop, opened the door, and walked in.

After he took one step inside, he heard the old man's voice say, "Not bad. So you spent six years turning into a mortal here."

The old man mysteriously appeared behind Wang Lin and entered the shop with him. He looked around and his eyes gradually revealed a look of surprise.

Wang Lin wasn't surprised at the expression the old man made. He sat down and continued drinking wine while watching the old man.

"Dragon, Flame Spider, Heaven Noise Beast, Zhong Gu, Eight Claw Blade Beast, Ti Lun… tsk tsk. Not bad, young man. You managed to bring most of the beasts from the Sea of Devils here." The more the old man looked, the more surprised his expression became. Finally, his gaze landed on a wooden box in the corner of the room. He waved his hand and all of the carvings inside that box flew out one by one.

These carving were all incomplete products.

The moment the old man saw these incomplete products, his eyes became serious. He carefully looked at each one before taking a deep breath. He then looked at Wang Lin and slowly said, "I really underestimated you. I never would have thought you have had such experiences. You wouldn't have been able to make these carvings of Soul Formation Cultivators or Desolate Beasts unless you have personally fought them."

Wang Lin faintly smiled. He didn't say anything. He only quietly drank his wine. It was as if what the old man said had nothing to do with him.

After pondering for a while, the old man put down the carving he was holding. He turned toward Wang Lin and asked, "What is your name?"

Wang Lin blandly answered, "Wang Lin."

The old man nodded. He waved his right hand and his aura completely changed from an old man's to someone with a very commanding presence. Although his appearance hadn't changed at all and there was no spiritual energy coming from his body, he suddenly became very mysterious and hard to see through.

The spiritual energy in Wang Lin's body moved due to the stimulation and his eyes lit up. At that moment, Wang Lin couldn't see through this old man's cultivation. The light quickly disappeared from his eyes as he took a sip of wine and said, "Senior, my old house really can't withstand your power. Please restrain yourself."

The old man snorted. "Kid, experience it for a bit. This is a domain!"

With that, the aura around him suddenly moved and a sense of rage surged through the shop. What was odd was that not a single tile of the building was damaged and none of the aura left the room.

At that moment, the inside and outside of the shop were like two worlds cut off from each other.

This aura of rage spread into the surroundings and Wang Lin's spiritual energy involuntarily started to resist this aura. As soon as his spiritual energy started to move, it was pulled by this raging aura. It was instantly assimilated by the raging aura and became very violent as well.

Under this raging aura, a trace of terror appeared in Wang Lin's eyes. The spiritual energy inside his body no longer listened to him. He even had a feeling that his own Nascent Soul had been assimilated by this raging aura. At that moment, it felt as if his 400 years of hard work had become a tool for the old man to attack him with.

"This is my Raging Domain. I used this domain back then to reach the Soul Formation stage. Under this domain, all spiritual energy is assimilated by my domain and is controlled by me." There was a sliver of madness inside the old man's voice. After he glanced at Wang Lin, the domain disappeared. It was as if the domain had never been there at all.

In these short few breaths, Wang Lin became covered in cold sweat. His hands were still shaking as he grabbed the jug and took a big gulp of wine. It took a long time before the spiritual energy in his body settled down.

Wang Lin pondered for a while, then asked, "Why have none of the Soul Formation cultivators I met before displayed this kind of domain?"

The old man was startled. He scratched his head and embarrassingly said, "This… I forgot. Also, I lowered my cultivation level to Soul Formation, but still used the Soul Transformation stage to activate the domain, so it was a little too powerful… In truth, Soul Formation cultivators aren't able to display their domain like that because only a sliver of their domains are present in their techniques, so their domains are not detectable. Hehe, sorry."

Wang Lin wryly smiled and looked the old man. He muttered to himself, "Domain…this is domain…"

The old man's eyes turned. He revealed a shifty look on his face and whispered, "Turning into a mortal to experience your own domain and using that domain to break past the Nascent Soul stage into the Soul Formation stage. This is something every cultivator must experience when they wish to break past the Nascent Soul stage. Kid, do you want to experience other people's domains? This is very beneficial to you."

Wang Lin's eyes lit up. It has to be said that although experiencing other Soul Formation cultivators' domains was very dangerous, the benefit was very large.

He looked at the old man. He didn't immediately agree. He slowly asked, "What price do I need to pay?"

The old man's eyes narrowed. He hit his chest and said, "Price? There is no price that needs to be paid. With me around to protect you in this rank 4 cultivation country, we can walk side ways and it would be fine."

Wang Lin didn't say a word, but silently looked at the old man.

Gradually, the old man scratched his head in embarrassment and said, "This… I can tell that these carvings are pretty good…this…"

Wang Lin decisively said, "Ok, I can give all of these to you."

The old man rolled his eyes. He angrily hit his chest and said, "What would I want your low quality magic treasures for? Only those half finished carvings are worth looking at, but I have no use for them. So, let me say it directly: look at how handsome, bright, and dominating I am. Does your heart not move? Don't you think I make a very good model for a carving?"

When the old man started speaking, his face was a little red, but the more he spoke, the more excited he became. He even puffed out his chest and hit it.

Wang Lin was startled. He nodded and said, "Okay, but my cultivation level is currently not high enough. Only after I reach the Soul Formation stage can I make your carving perfect.

The old man immediately became happy and quickly said, "There is no rush, there is no rush. You must make it perfect. Oh… I want nude a carving, so you must make my carving perfect. That's it, gotta make more than one. 100! Yes, 100!"

The old man was immersed in his fantasy. He thought that the next time he goes to the brothel or meets a beautiful woman, he would give them a carving of himself and then they would remember him for the rest of their lives.

He especially thought of all the beautiful women holding a carving of himself. He became very excited at all these beautiful images in his mind. The more he looked at Wang Lin, the more pleased he became. He grabbed toward Wang Lin and moved. In the blink of an eye, the two of them disappeared from the shop.

When they reappeared, they were already in the clouds 100,000 plus kilometers away from the capital.

Wang Lin spread out his divine sense and was terrified in his heart. He estimated that they had traveled 100,000 kilometers. This power was too terrifying. It caused the hairs on his body to stand up.

It has to be said that late stage Nascent Soul cultivators can only teleport 1,000 kilometers away. Although he didn't know how far late stage Soul Formation cultivations could teleport, it couldn't possibly be 100,000 kilometers.

Under Wang Lin's analysis, not even Soul Transformation cultivators could easily teleport this far. More importantly, this old man carried him as well. As a result, Wang Lin dreaded this old man even more.

The old man was currently panting. Even for him, traveling 100,000 kilometers was not an easy task. However, when he saw Wang Lin's shocked face, he proudly raised his chin, pretending to be regretful, and said, "Alas, I'm old and my body is a lot worse than it used to be. This teleportation only moved us a mere 100,000 kilometers. I'm ashamed." Although the old man said this, even a mortal passing by could've seen the intense pride on his face.

Wang Lin silently pondered.

After a long time, the old man was still panting heavily. The pride on his face gradually disappeared as he angrily asked, "Kid, have you seen anyone teleport this distance before?"

Wang Lin calmly said, "Never."

"After seeing how powerful I am, you don't even let out a fart?" The old man's eyes widened. It was like he used all his strength to drink milk in a brothel and this kid had no reaction at all.

Wang Lin looked looked at the old man with a strange expression and said, "Senior's cultivation is something junior has never seen before. I admire you!"

The old man snorted and boasted, "If there is an opportunity, I'll give you a chance to experience a one million kilometer teleportation." With that, he pointed at the air in the distance and said, "That is the White Cloud Sect. Let's go, this old man will take you to go trash that sect."