Li Muwan's voice was filled with gentleness, a gentleness that was as deep as the sea. When it entered Wang Lin's ears, it caused Wang Lin's heart to feel calm and gentle. His old face seemed to become a little younger at this moment. He looked at Li Muwan and forgot about the passage of time.
Li Muwan's words were engraved into Wang Lin's heart in his dream. He could not forget it, or perhaps it overlapped with the life in his dream. The valley that he had lived with her for many years appeared before his eyes.
Flowers bloomed and withered in that valley. Day after day, year after year, only the two of them remained, their eternal figures. The sound of the zither filled the air, intoxicating people and making them unwilling to wake up.
Wang Lin did not want to wake up.
In that valley, he looked at Li Muwan's beautiful face, white hair, and withered bones. That cruel scene seemed to tear his heart apart, causing him to feel pain and sorrow.
He remembered that he held Li Muwan's corpse and let out his strongest mournful cry towards the sky.
"Even if the heavens want you to die, I will take you back!"
That voice echoed in Wang Lin's mind at all times. It came from the dream and merged with all of Wang Lin's strength.
"In this dream, let me stay with you until the end of time …"
Li Muwan tightly hugged Wang Lin, as if she was afraid that Wang Lin would leave. Tears flowed down her face as she softly murmured, saying it again and again and again … She could not tell how many times she had said it.
Wang Lin raised his withered hands and gently stroked Li Muwan's black hair. His expression was gentle as he nodded.
After this woman died, her shadow became deeper and deeper in Wang Lin's thousand years of loneliness and memories, until she became everything to Wang Lin.
Whether it was Liu Mei, Li Qianmei, or any of the beauties that Wang Lin met later on, none of them could replace her shadow. They could not enter Wang Lin's heart.
Wang Lin knew that his heart had already died that year, that month, and that day when he held Li Muwan in his arms and roared at the sky.
The seven colors in the sky were missing one color. I will use my entire life to find her … Wang Lin raised his head and looked at the sky. There seemed to be a white bird circling in the sky, and he softly asked himself, "Are you willing to cut it off … Can you cut it off …"
On the 31st year after they left Zhao, Wang Lin and Li Muwan sat on a rock. Thousands of kilometers below the mountain, there were countless cultivators sitting. Wang Lin held Li Muwan and smiled as he comprehended the heavens with her.
Gradually, Wang Lin's words became less and less. From once a year, he would only speak once every few years.
"Fate is surnamed Void, this is karma.
If you understand, you can achieve dao … "On the 32nd winter after he left Zhao, as snow fell from the sky, Wang Lin stood up from the rock. His body was very weak, and he could feel that his life had reached its end. There was only one last step left, and even if he didn't want to, he would die.
This dream was very real, very real. In this dream, he was a mortal.
Death was a kind of ending, the end of a dream, but it was also the beginning of everything.
Li Muwan was still very young. She gently held Wang Lin and stood with him on the rock, never leaving him.
Liu Mei stood in the distance, silently looking at Wang Lin and Li Muwan. The confusion in her eyes grew deeper and deeper, until it became an indescribable pain that caused her to lower her head.
"Do you still remember where home is …?" Wang Lin's voice was filled with the vicissitudes of life.
There were tears in Li Muwan's eyes as she nodded her head.
"Take me there," said Wang Lin as he stroked Li Muwan's hair. His aged face revealed two thousand years of longing.
Li Muwan bit her lower lip as she held onto Wang Lin. She leapt into the air and broke through the void with him. Under the gazes of countless cultivators, they disappeared into the distance.
Then, he disappeared into the horizon, disappearing from everyone's sight. It was as if he had never appeared, never arrived.
The wind blew past Wang Lin, causing his hair to dance behind his head. His hair fell on Li Muwan's face and intertwined with her hair. The black and white anchored each other, as if they would never separate.
Li Muwan's gaze was gentle. As they moved forward, she would occasionally look at Wang Lin. Her face was filled with warmth and attachment.
Wang Lin looked at the land under his feet as the wind whistled past. He looked at the volcanoes, the plains, the jungles, and even the capital cities of the mortal world. He looked at the mortals that were like black dots on the ground.
After an unknown period of time, the color of the ground under their feet gradually turned emerald green. Gradually, an endless mountain range appeared. Within the mountain range, there was a hidden valley.
That valley was his second home in his dream, other than the country of Zhao.
It was his and her's home.
The beam of light landed on the ground, and the countless plants and trees down below began to move. The leaves rustled, but quickly calmed down. Li Muwan supported Wang Lin as they appeared in the valley.
The valley was vast and empty, filled with weeds. Among the weeds were a few wildflowers that emanated a fragrant aroma.
"We're home …." Wang Lin's expression was one of absent-mindedness as he looked around at the valley. A sense of longing and sorrow rose up from his soul. As he looked around, the sorrow filled his heart, and his gaze came to rest on Li Muwan.
Li Muwan also looked around. After a long moment, a happy smile appeared on her face.
"Wang Lin, let's not think about whether or not this is a dream. Let's stay here for a while, okay?"
"Okay."
Time slowly passed. The weeds in the valley had all disappeared, and a simple log cabin appeared in the middle of the valley. Year after year, the beautiful sound of a zither echoed in the sky above the valley.
Amidst the sound of the zither, Wang Lin sat off to the side, holding a walking stick in his hand. He looked even older than before, and his face was covered with wrinkles. Brown spots could be seen on his skin.
Those were the spots of an old man.
Each spot was like the growth rings of a tree, imprinted with the marks of time.
He wore the same white robe as before, and had a smile on his face as he listened to Li Muwan's zither music. He looked at the woman sitting in front of him, playing the zither with both hands.
The woman was no longer as young as she had been when she first arrived. She was now like him, an old woman.
This was caused by Li Muwan's magical divine ability. She didn't want Wang Lin to grow old and look at her young self. She wanted to be with him, like mortals, counting the white hairs on each other's heads as they lived out the rest of their lives.
How could Wang Lin not know what she was thinking? He didn't stop her, but he gently looked at his wife.
His wife.
There was a kind of love that didn't care about each other's age or appearance. All they cared about was the soul that moved in that one glance.
There was a kind of love that didn't care about the passage of time or the separation of yin and yang. All they cared about was the longing in that one dream.
There was a kind of love that was like this. Amidst the sound of the zither, under the setting sun, the two old people in the valley silently looked at each other. The smile of the old man was the smile of the old woman.
He looked at her as she played the zither. It was as if there was nothing else between the two of them in this world besides each other. It didn't matter if the sky fell or the earth cracked, it didn't matter if the sun and moon alternated, it didn't matter if the weather changed. Everything was insignificant in front of these two old lovers.
One year, one year.
That white bird never appeared again, as if it had left the dream.
Under the gazes of each other, amidst the sound of the zither, Wang Lin and Li Muwan experienced the revival of all things in spring, the fluttering willow catkins in summer, the enveloping sun, and the rustling of leaves in autumn. The shadows of the two were swept away.
Together, they went to see the rain and snow, and they went through winter after winter that wasn't cold.
This year was the 35th year since Wang Lin left the State of Zhao.
This year, Wang Lin felt the call of death. He understood that one day, if he closed his eyes, he would never be able to open them again, and he would walk out of this world of dreams.
That day was getting closer and closer.
In the autumn of this year, the sky was filled with withered leaves. The leaves were blown into the valley and slowly rolled on the ground. One of the leaves was blocked by Wang Lin's body.
Wang Lin leaned down and struggled to pick up the leaf in his hand that was covered in age spots.
"Fallen leaves return to their roots … Wan Er, I'm going to leave … Send me on my last journey and accompany me to the State of Zhao. Take Big Fortune and we'll go to the city of Su. We'll go there to complete the last date with myself in my dream.
"Back then, he didn't come, but this time, he will definitely come."
Li Muwan's white hair was filled with reluctance and attachment as she supported Wang Lin out of their home. They turned into a ray of light and flew toward the other end of the sea, toward the continent where the State of Zhao existed.
This was a dream but also not a dream. It was created by Wang Lin's spell borrowing the Dao Fruit. The decades inside the dream were the same as outside the dream.
Outside the dream was the Cultivation Alliance, the four major star systems, and the final battle between the Inner and Outer Realms!
During these decades, the war between the Inner and Outer Realms had reached a boiling point. The Outer Realm army spread the news of the death of the Lord of the Sealed Realm and launched a crazy invasion of the Inner Realm.
The ancient barrier that Qing Lin had borrowed had collapsed more than 30 years ago. Countless Outer Realm cultivators had rushed in, and there had been many battles. Both sides had suffered heavy casualties and blood covered the star system. The smell of blood was unimaginable, and the four major star systems of the Inner Realm had become a hellish world.
In this increasingly cruel life and death situation, many of the third step cultivators in the Inner Realm gave up on the Cloud Sea and Summoned River. They gathered all their power in the Luo Tian and Brilliant Void to make their final struggle.
During those times of despair, the rumor of the Lord of the Sealed Realm's death was deeply rooted in everyone's hearts. Even though Shimizu had turned into Wang Lin, more than 10 years ago, Shimizu had been seriously injured by Heaven Void God and had almost died.
As a result, the news of the Lord of the Sealed Realm's death could no longer be stopped. It was an irreparable blow to the minds of the Inner Realm cultivators.
One month ago, the Brilliant Void also faced a difficult choice. Should they give up and go to Luo Tian to defend or should they stay in the Lord of the Sealed Realm's hometown, Suzaku, and fight to the death against the Outer Realm?