Chapter 1147: Life Is But a Dream
Faced with his opponent, Wang Lin neither attacked nor defended himself. Instead, he reached out with his right index finger and tapped the center of his forehead, as if he wanted to kill himself.
On his fingertip, a colorful light flashed.
The colorful light landed on Wang Lin's forehead and then, everywhere around him started to shake. Regardless whether it was the pavilion on top of Penglai or the space outside the pavilion. Even the white-robed middle-aged man was shaking too.
Other than Wang Lin himself, the entire heaven and earth appeared to be shaking as reality turned into an illusion.
As the shape before him continued to twist, no one knew what they were looking at. Wang Lin's expression was emotionless as he tapped his forehead with his right fingertip. Colorful, bright light started to flash.
Instantly, it became hard to differentiate reality from illusion in his surroundings. Amidst the blurred chaos, a figure appeared to be lying there, with his head rested in his palms.
One could only see the outline of this figure. In the figure, many colorful lights flashed. They changed rapidly and unpredictably. They were chaotic and yet, brimmed with an odd, intoxicating aura.
Following Wang Lin's action, the person woke up from his dream. He slowly opened his eyes.
As he opened his eyes, he looked in front and saw a purple-robed youth with long, flowing white hair before him.
The youth was naturally Wang Lin. At this time, he was not fighting with anyone. Nor could the Heavenly Gods-Sealing Banner and the Cang Heaven Spell Blade be seen around him.
Then, Wang Lin closed his eyes as if he was falling asleep too. However, his right finger tapped his forehead and a colorful ball of light flashed.
Wang Lin's supernatural awareness started to react vigorously as if he had woken up from a slumber.
The person looked at him. His eyes became brighter and brighter and light shone from it.
"This illusory realm is good and very suitable for cultivation. The only disadvantage is that it will combine with my powers, allowing others to enter," mutter the person. Yet, the voice was that of a woman. "However, this person's understanding of reality and illusion is deep indeed."
Then, the woman looked at Wang Lin and said, "Celestial Sect of Wonders? I have heard of them. They have grown strong over the years and originally, I thought they obtained the Celestial Mountain Yingzhou only. Now, it appears that they have obtained Penglai too. With these two mountains, if they possess Fangzhang, they will rule the Ying Sea."
Then, the woman sighed, "I need to move, but nowhere else is suitable for me. Where can I go? There are dragons in the Black Sea, the Netherworld Sea is too violent and without a gate to the Starry Sea, I can't enter. All I can do is to hide in the Void Battleground first. The best is if I can find a Middle World or an Outer Realm."
The woman scratched her forehead in distress. She looked to the side and noticed that in the chaotic void, there was a Golden-Feathered Great Roc, who was severely injured. However, right now, he was asleep too, lost in a blissful dream.
"Wake them up first and send them away," said the woman, shaking her head. She appeared before Wang Lin and lightly tapped him.
The light on Wang Lin's right index finger sought to resist, but it soon faded.
Wang Lin suddenly opened his eyes and looked at the woman, who appeared blurry. He swept his surroundings with his supernatural awareness and then inspected his surroundings. He stared at the Golden Feathered Great Roc and realized that there was nothing else. Finally, he turned back to the woman.
"The Dream Holy Woman, Ning Wan'ge?" While he appeared to be asking a question, Wang Lin was sure of his conviction as he stared at the woman.
The woman nodded his head, "Yes, I am Ning Wan'ge."
Wang Lin lifted his head to look at the blurry space around him. This was a huge illusion within the Ying Sea and its powers were extremely strong. It should be one of the strongest illusions in the Ying Sea.
The Ying Sea was also known as the Sea of Illusions. There, illusions were everywhere and one could barely defend against them.
It was not uncommon for Immortal Soul Second Level and Third Level cultivators to die in the Ying Sea, much less Immortal Soul First Level cultivators.
By obtaining the Celestial Mountains Yingzhou and Penglai, the Celestial Sect of Wonders could tap on their powers and see through many illusions. However, if they could not obtain Fangzhang, then the most powerful illusions were still dangerous to them.
Even Lin Feng had to be cautious, much less Wang Lin. If the more junior disciples entered Ying Sea, they would have a low chance of survival.
This dangerous illusion before Wang Lin was hard to understand and one could easily venture into it without realizing.
However, as the most powerful disciple under Lin Feng and the one with the deepest understanding of illusions and reality, Wang Lin only succumbed to this illusion because Ning Wan'ge combined her own powers with the illusion, strengthening it. Wang Lin was only able to break free after much struggle.
Ning Wan'ge said quietly, "When I do my closed-door training, my powers would combine with the illusion. This is a disadvantage but also a self-defense mechanism."
Wang Lin's face betrayed no sign of a smile as he stared at her and said, "The dream you just created, can you find out what others are thinking and their memories?"
Ning Wan'ge shook her head and said, "You fell into a dream because of me. Everything that you dreamt of was because of your own imagination. What you think about in the day, you will dream of it at night. As for what you dream about, it's dependent on you."
"I cannot find out what others are thinking. All I can see is the content of your dream. As to why will you dream that and what you are thinking about in a dream, I do not know."
"What you dreamed may not have happened in real lie. It's a reflection of what goes on in your mind. Furthermore, it's just one of the possible permutations, not necessarily the strongest one."
Ning Wan'ge looked at Wang Lin and asked, "You know that you have entered the Ying Sea and hence, you naturally think about it. If I did not guess incorrectly, the three things you deem the most important are your sect's interests, your fellow disciples, and your parents."
"Hence, in your dream, your junior was first caught by the enemy. Then, the enemy sought to take over Penglai and Yingzhou and at the same time, threatened to kill your family."
"In your heart, these are the three things you do not want to see when you are in the Ying Sea. Hence, these three things caused the strongest reaction in your heart, which later manifested in your dreams."
Wang Lin's eyes narrowed as he stared at Ning Wan'ge. Ning Wan'ge looked at him and said, "The middle-aged man in white robes is a manifestation of your enemy. He is not any particular person but instead, an amalgamation of all of them."
"Everyone you viewed as an enemy, or someone whom you hate, leaves a deep impression on you. Every despicable trait, to you, is manifested on that person."
Wang Lin's gaze flashed as he said nothing.
The middle-aged man was good at concealing himself. He had supposedly spent much time in the Ying Sea, biding his strength, while no one knew about him. Yet, his powers were extraordinary.
This first characteristic was from the Emperor of the Dead.
When these parents threatened his parents and forced him to try and save Yingzhou, this crossed Wang Lin's bottom line. To him, this action would incur his greatest wrath.
This characteristic stemmed from the Great Void Sect's kidnapping of Shi Tianhao's parents, which triggered a strong sense of enmity from Wang Lin. At the same time, he despised this action in particular.
At the same time, when Zhang Lie used Fang Ting to threaten Yang Qing, he earned Wang Lin's enmity too. While Zhang Lie was no match for Wang Lin, this action left a deep impression on his mind.
This person was brutal, and his magic treasure was formed from human souls. His spells were similar to those of the Samsara Sect and the Emperor of the Dead, which could check Wang Lin's attacks. Hence, he was viewed as a nemesis.
His 'enemy' reflected his foes who had left the strongest impression on him.
As he cultivated, Wang Lin had fought many enemies and killed many of them. However, the one who had left the deepest impression on him was the Advanced Nascent Soul Stage Hall of the Dead cultivator, who threatened to cultivate his entire family, when he went back to visit his family members.
This was the most dangerous battle Wang Lin had ever fought and he almost died from it. In the end, he was able to assure their safety.
The battle that had left the second-deepest impression was during the Anti-Celestial Sect War. Then, as he fought Shi Tianfang, the leader of the Samsara Sect, he was able to finally ascend to the Immortal Soul Stage and successively protected his sect and family members.
His next biggest enemies were Shi Tianyi and Sikong You.
The Great Void Sect was another enemy Wang Lin paid attention too. The white-robed middle-aged man's spells appeared to be from the Hall of the Dead, yet they incorporated some elements from the Great Void Sect too.
The world of the dead behind the black doors resembled the Great Void Sect's Shen Heaven Holy Paradise, other than its aura of death. Also, his black mirror was mystic, hard to see, and hard to describe, which resembled the Great Void Sect's Cheng Heaven Great Void Celestial Light.
Other than that, there were other traits on the white-robed middle-aged man, some clear and some not so clear, that made Wang Lin hate him.
They all came from his former enemies or some of his present enemies. Combining the lot of them, his mind was finally able to form someone like this man.
Wang Lin looked coldly at Ning Wan'ge. Ning Wan'ge's expression was blurred, but she appeared to have frowned.
She understood Wang Lin clear. To her, it's not a matter whether Wang Lin trusted her or not. She already knew too many secrets of the Celestial Sect of Wonders.
They did not need to discuss Wang Lin's own problems. Many also would have guessed that the family members of their sect's disciples were on Yingzhou.
Information that the Celestial Sect had obtained Penglai, on top of Yingzhou, was top secret. Till now, only Lin Feng and a few other disciples knew about it.
The Celestial Sect of Wonders did become more powerful since the end of the Scramble for the Ying Sea. Even if the news did spread, its impact was not that big. Yet, for this sort of top-secret information, it was for the best that the Celestial Sect of Wonders announced it themselves, rather than being forced to reveal this fact.
Ning Wan'ge said, "I don't want to be embroiled in this. All I want is to be left undisturbed and cultivate alone. After today, I will leave the Ying Sea."
Wang Lin said coldly, "We can talk about everything else, but first, return my Fifth Junior and our disciples."