Chapter 1647: Taking Responsibility!
Wang Lin smiled bitterly and looked at the startled Situ Nan. He then picked up a wine jug from the ground and took a big sip.
"This is what I learned from the memory of that celestial... You know the Lord of the Sealed Realm? Not me but the previous one. He came from the Ancient Celestial Realm, he doesn't belong here...
And those celestial imperial concubines I met in the Ancient Star System and the mysterious Seven-Colored Daoist...
"These people all came from the so-called Immortal Astral Continent. That continent is tens of thousands times bigger than the Inner and Outer Realms combined. That is their hometown. We are merely in a cave that belongs to the sect master of the Seven Dao Sect, the Seven-Colored Celestial Sovereign!
"The sky we see is the ceiling of the cave. The earth we see is the ground of the cave... The so-called Inner and Outer Realms are merely the inner and outer parts of this cave.
"Would you believe all of this? Then what if I told you that even the dao we cultivate, the Heavenly Dao, is something the Seven-Colored Celestial Sovereign stole and raised here? It is because of the Heavenly Dao he is raising that life appeared, that you and I came to be.
"Would you believe all this...
"If there was no Heavenly Dao, if the Celestial Sovereign hadn't stolen it, then no life would've appeared in this cave. It is just a cave...
"When you know all of this, would you become confused, would you not wonder what we live for? Why do we exist and what do we exist for?
"And then there is the divine retribution. The Heavenly Dao is being raised by the Celestial Sovereign, and all living things here exist because of the Heavenly Dao. He created divine retribution so that it could kill anyone who tried to change the plans of the Heavenly Dao...
"What is a heaven-defying cultivator? This is a heaven-defying cultivator... Like how a mortal farmer plans everything out and then plants their crops. There will always be things that don't grow to your intent, so you change it.
"However, over time, tenacious weeds pop up among these crops. They grow too fast and they can't be changed. They will try to destroy the plans; they are the heaven-defying cultivators!
"The role of the divine retribution is to kill the weeds that arbitrarily appeared! I am one of those weeds... Except the divine retribution can't destroy me and was destroyed by me!
"I destroyed the divine retribution and retrieved my own fate. I also learned the secret of this world... Since you asked, I will tell you all of this, but will you believe it?"
Situ Nan pondered, in a daze. After a long time, he sat down and continued to drink wine, but he didn't say a word. There was struggle in his eyes; he didn't believe it but also believed it.
If it was anyone else, even if it was his teacher, Qing Lin, he wouldn't believe it. It was simply unthinkable, and no one would choose to believe it.
However, the person who said it was Wang Lin, his brother. He understood Wang Lin, he basically watched Wang Lin grow up. How could he not believe Wang Lin?
"Everything is just a cave... Then what is the battle between the Inner and Outer Realms..." Situ Nan subconsciously raised his head and looked at the sky. Fear slowly appeared in his eyes.
He seldom felt fear, but when he heard Wang Lin's terrifying words, fear appeared in his mind. He feared that if this was all true, then what did he count as? Was his happiness true happiness?
He was just a puppet doing a serious performance set up by the heavens. Being observed and played with by a mysterious existence... It was like when he looked at the ants on the earth. Watching the ants struggle and survive...
Wang Lin silently pondered for a moment and softly said, "I have my guesses about the war between the Inner and Outer Realms, but I don't fully understand it. However, I have a plan, and three years from now, I'll know everything about this war!"
"Cave..." Situ Nan revealed a bitter smile and lowered his head. He looked at the wine jug in his hand and began to murmur.
"We watch the sky and want to know what is behind the sky... When we have a high enough cultivation level to go past the sky and enter space, we think space is the end, but we don't expect space to be inside a cave... Wang Lin, if what you say is true, what do you want to do... I think you should already have an answer."
Wang Lin had been drinking wine, but he didn't feel drunk. The wine was like life and turned spicy in his mouth. More than 2,000 years of his past continued to replay in his mind.
"My cultivation had three stages. The first stage was to help others... The second stage was confusion and irritation, I yearned a mortal life...
"I originally thought I would spend the rest of my life in the second stage until I had a high enough cultivation level to awaken Wan Er. Then we would pass the remaining years together and close our eyes together.
"Right now, the third stage has appeared..." Wang Lin put down the wine jug and stood up, allowing the mountain wind to blow at his white hair. As he looked at the sky, the confusion in his eyes was replaced with a determined and unyielding gaze.
"I have cultivated for my entire life, but I never recognized it in my heart. But today I, Wang Lin, will enter the third stage of my cultivation on planet Suzaku that gave birth to me. I want to cultivate!
"Situ, back then I grew tired of cultivation, but after today, that thought will never exist again in my heart. I want to cultivate, I want to become stronger, I want to leave this world, I want to see if the people of the Immortal Astral Continent really have three heads and six arms!
"Even if I die and turn to dust, so what?" Wang Lin waved his right hand. He then leaned back and drank half a jug of wine.
Wang Lin wiped the corner of his mouth and laughed.
"I, Wang Lin, have lacked one word in my life. This word is 'responsibility!' I lack responsibility, I can't support the sky myself!
"The title of Lord of the Sealed Realm belongs to me, but it was given to me by others because I did a few things and because the Inner Realm needs a Lord of the Sealed Realm! But I'm really not qualified to be called 'Lord of the Sealed Realm!'
"I was originally tired of cultivation; I had been cultivating for others, so how could I bear the honor of Lord of the Sealed Realm? The me from before couldn't carry the responsibility at all.
"Before, I was even childish enough to really think I was the Lord of the Sealed Realm. I fought with my life against the Outer Realm for my hometown, for the Inner Realm... I thought doing this meant I was the Lord of the Sealed Realm!
It never occurred to me that many people were doing the same. Almost all the Inner Realm cultivator were doing this. I merely had a higher cultivation level, so I managed to reach today...
"However what do I count as? Why should I hold the respect of the Inner Realm? What we should respect are the fellow cultivators that died. Those that bled for the Inner Realm and died!"
"I had never thought about those things, but today, I thought about them. I understand the responsibility of this title. It is not just to resist the invasion of the Outer Realm but to take the cultivators here out of this world, out of this cave. To have the determination to destroy any enemy that gets in the way!
"Before, I didn't have this determination and responsibility, but after today, I will! This perhaps is my dao, my final destination..." Wang Lin drank the rest of the wine and threw the wine jug off the mountain. It flew off in an arc and disappeared from Wang Lin's eyes.
At this moment, the sky dims. The sun sets in the west and rises in the east. Turn around to see Mount Nan, the sound of the scattering birds echoing. The world of mortals cut off by the clouds!
"I'm going to kill the Celestial Sovereign! If I kill him, I can get our life back. Kill him and the clouds will open! But before that, Situ, I'm going to guard the border for three years!"
Wang Lin waved his sleeves and stepped toward the sky. He moved like a ray of light and appeared in the sky. Wang Lin looked down on the earth, and the first thing he saw was his statue that pierced the sky!
The statue of him held up the axe and glared at the sky. For the first time, Wang Lin felt the unspeakable momentum from the statue.
This momentum would never look back, and anything that tried to block it would be blown away. It was a shocking momentum that no one could stop!
This momentum was the Lord of the Sealed Realm that understood commitment and responsibility. One who had questioned themselves and understood the might of the Lord of the Sealed Realm!
If the heavens stood in the way, the heavens could break. If the earth stood in the way, the earth could collapse. Any enemy would be destroyed. For the first time, Wang Lin saw the familiar aura he saw from Daoist Scattered Spirit on the statue! The spirit and determination Daoist Scattered Spirit held!
With one step, Wang Lin arrived on top of his own statue. He stood there, facing the wind, facing the red sunset as he looked at the world.
"Fellow cultivators on planet Suzaku. Are you all willing to follow me to Allheaven and battle the Outer Realm cultivators?"
Wang Lin's mighty voice turned into a monstrous wave that echoed across planet Suzaku, and the cultivators that were waiting for Wang Lin all opened their eyes. Their bright eyes revealed the same determination.
"We are willing to follow!" Roars came from countless locations on the planet, forming a powerful shockwave. At the same time, rays of light flew up from the earth toward Wang Lin's statue.
Those rays of light contained cultivators filled with killing intent. They had been humiliated for so many years. They had lost countless friends, and those that survived were willing to give it their all!
They only needed one voice and they would be willing to fight with everything, even if it mean giving up their lives!
Warriors will be born when a kingdom was about to perish. This is a saying from old times, and the Inner Realm was experiencing this!