Two hours later, the illusory scene gradually faded away from the people on the merchant ship and from Wang Lin's eyes.
The mortal sailors were all silent. They still had a lingering fear in their hearts.
They couldn't forget what they saw in the image, especially when the volcano erupted. Pieces of burning rocks scattered in all directions. Among them, there was a large group that was heading straight for them. It was as if they could rush out of the image and land on the ship.
What they saw with their real eyes made it so that they couldn't tell what was real and what was fake. But, they knew that this was the anger of the sea spirit.
Wang Lin leaned against the wall of the ship as if he had lost all his strength. Two streams of tears flowed down from the wrinkles on his face and soaked his clothes. He looked at where the image disappeared, and at this moment, his mind was completely blank. The only thing that remained was the image and the delicate figure in white.
"Is this real … or is this fake … is this also a dream …" After a long time, Wang Lin lowered his head and looked at the sea in a daze.
Time passed. One month, two months, three months … on the ninth month at sea, Wang Lin saw the true anger of the sea. On that night, dark clouds covered the sky above the sea. Thunder roared and bolts of lightning crossed each other. There were even several bolts of lightning that seemed as if they wanted to strike the sea. The sky and sea were shrouded in a terrifying flicker of light and darkness.
Every time the lightning crossed, it would illuminate the sea. In that brief moment of light, one could see the waves surging and the violent crashing of the sea, as if it wanted to compete with the heavenly thunder!
Strong winds howled and a massive amount of seawater was blown onto the ship. In this dark night, every sailor was filled with fear. It was as if they had gone crazy between life and death. They constantly controlled the merchant ship and struggled under the wrath of the sea.
Everyone bowed in their hearts, wanting to leave behind their last words. They didn't know if they would be able to see the next sunrise.
The sea breeze raged, thunder rumbled, lightning crossed, and huge waves surged.
In the middle of the night, Wang Lin stood on the boat and tightly held onto the long pole beside him. His body seemed to be out of his control and was swaying violently. As the wind blew, his clothes were completely soaked and his white hair dripped with seawater. However, Wang Lin's eyes were as bright as the sun!
He looked at the fury of the sea, at the unmoving waves, and his eyes grew brighter and brighter. His heart expanded infinitely until it could encompass the entire world.
"This is the Power of Heaven and Earth, this is the true truth!
This is the ruthless All Creations! "
Wang Lin let out a long laugh. His ancient laughter echoed through the heavenly thunder and the tsunami. Even though it was weak, it revealed the vastness of his heart.
He looked at the mortals struggling in this life and death crisis. He looked at the merchant ship shaking violently as if it could be swallowed up at any moment. As he watched all of this, Wang Lin could feel the unwillingness of the people on the ship!
However, this unwillingness was still a bit weak. Compared to the wind and the tsunami, it was simply insignificant.
As the wind and the waves became even more intense, a huge wave crashed into the ship. There was a loud cracking sound as the mast of the merchant ship was broken by the wave and fell down. One of the crew members couldn't dodge in time and was hit by the wave. Luckily, he wasn't seriously injured. He struggled to get up and continued to pull the ropes to fight for his survival.
However, the merchant ship was like a lone leaf in the fury of the sea. It had no strength to fight against the roaring sea. As the waves crashed into it again and again, the entire ship emitted an unbearable sound, as if it was about to collapse.
An aura of despair filled the ship and entered everyone's heart. Wang Lin no longer held onto the mast. Instead, he ignored his old age and joined the sailors to do their best to fight against the raging sea.
"Don't give up, we still have strength …" A middle-aged crew member laughed bitterly as he held onto the rope tightly. He let down a sail and allowed the waves to hit him. In that moment of life and death, he sang a song that all crew members who went out to sea were familiar with.
"Don't give up, we still have a dream …" A young man who wasn't even 20 years old wiped away the sweat on his face and shouted. It was as if he was trying to find the courage that was about to dissipate.
"Don't be discouraged, we still have a tomorrow …" More and more crew members, in the midst of the storm and the roaring of the world, their voices reverberated one by one, gradually merging together to form the most powerful voice of life!
"Don't give up, we still have a future …"
"Don't close your eyes, we still have to look at the blazing sun …" "The world is vast and mighty, but it cannot cover up our cries for life. We go to the sea to live, why should we fear death!
The wrath of the sea spirit can terrify us, it can drown us, but it cannot stop our song! "
All of the sailors roared out this song that had been passed down since ancient times in the Suzaku Sea under the bombardment of the waves!
Each and every one of their voices revealed a sense of fear, an unyielding will, a desire for life, and a fearlessness towards death. When Wang Lin's old body heard these shouts under the Thunder, his eyes shined even brighter.
"This is a defiance!
This is a defiance against the heavens!
Life and death, life and death, this defiance is born from life and death. It is because of unwillingness, because of unyielding, that there is defiance!
If there is no unwillingness, if there is no unwillingness, then there is no life and death. Life is life, death is death … I understand! "
Wang Lin was startled. Karma, life and death, true and false, he had always been confused, unable to see through them. But at this moment, as he heard the sea song, he felt as if he had been enlightened and his entire being was enlightened!
Life and death!
Like a mountain, life was life, death was death.
Life was not life, death was not death.
But in the end, after understanding everything, life was still life, death was still death!
Everyone had a fear of life and death, and it was because of this fear that it could evolve into two directions. One was to follow, the other was to defy!
To follow life and death was the first realm of life and death!
But if it turned into defiance, then life was not life and death was not death. This was the second realm!
People often said that they could see through life and death, but in truth, they could not see through life and death. It was impossible to see through life and death. At most, they could only look down on life and death!
Under that defiance, they could look down on life and death. Only then could they say the heroic words, "What joy is life? What fear is death?"
This was the determination to put him to death, but this was definitely not seeing through him!
The third realm of life and death was also the principle that Wang Lin was pursuing. This final realm was also not seeing through, nor was it transcendence, but a sentence!
This sentence filled Wang Lin's mind, but he could not say it. It was as if there was a barrier that prevented him from saying it.
Amidst the wind and rain, those words that looked down on life and death and those words that refused to yield echoed from the Ladle Sea Ballad. Gradually, the Sky Thunder disappeared and the lightning went far away. The wind and waves on the sea also slowly subsided. A long night passed by until the sun rose in the sky. Cries of having survived a calamity continued to spread from the ship.
Wang Lin looked at them and revealed a smile. He sat at the bow of the ship and looked at the rising sun. He saw the white bird flying in the sky and letting out cries.
It wasn't until the 11th month of sailing that a continent could be seen at the end of the sea. When the people on the ship saw the continent, bursts of joyful cries came from the ship.
After waving at the crew that had been with them for almost a year, Wang Lin left the merchant ship at dusk with the song from a few months ago and arrived on this strange continent.
There were many mortal countries here, as well as many sects and cultivators that he had met before.
Among the many countries, there was one called the country of Hou Fen.
On this continent that was separated from his hometown by the sea, Wang Lin's expression was calm as he walked step by step into this strange world. He looked at the strange mountains, the strange water, and the strange faces he met along the way.
Even though he had never come to this place in his life, his name had spread to many places in the past decade, including this continent.
Although it wasn't as famous as it was in his hometown, Wang Lin didn't care about any of this. He was like a traveler that traveled through mountains and rivers and visited many countries and cities.
In the blink of an eye, three years passed.
It had been 19 years since he left the country of Zhao.
Wang Lin's body wasn't as strong as it was in the past, and he felt tired. He held a walking stick in his hand, but he still persisted and walked step by step.
He went to many sects, and saw many Immortal cultivators. He also saw many of the nobility and emperors of the mortal world. Gradually, his name became known to countless people in this strange land mass.
No matter what country, no matter what sect, everyone knew of an old man named Wang Lin. He was a grand scholar that traveled around the world as if he was looking for something.
As he grew older, he began to speak less and less. However, there were times when he didn't need to speak. He only needed to use his eyes, which seemed to contain the wisdom of the world, to look at people, and they would be lost in the world, not knowing when they would wake up.
In the autumn of the 19th year, Wang Lin arrived at a place filled with volcanoes. When he arrived, one of the volcanoes was erupting. It was very far away, but Wang Lin could see the billowing black smoke in the sky.
A heat wave came from far away and landed on his body. Wang Lin raised his head and looked at the black smoke in the sky. His ancient eyes revealed a hint of gentleness that had never been seen before.
He saw a white figure walk out from the black smoke. It was a woman with black hair that draped over her shoulders. She was very beautiful, and she seemed to be collecting something from the erupting volcanoes. She held a jade bottle in her hand, and as she turned, she saw Wang Lin in the distance.
This gaze was unforgettable to Wang Lin and made his body tremble. It was as if he had waited for this gaze for more than 1,000 years. It was as if he had waited his entire life for this gaze. It was as if he had come here to wait for this woman, and now he was looking back.