Chapter 670 – Above Life and Death, There is Karma
Sun Tai revealed a complex expression as he looked at Wang Lin. He was speechless for a long time. Although his cultivation had fallen to the Soul Formation stage, his observation skill was still there. However, no matter how he tried, he couldn’t see through Wang Lin’s cultivation.
He was shocked. He thought of the weak Soul Formation cultivator back in the Celestial Realm that was forced to give up control of him. The weak cultivator that could only watch the battle between him and Zhou Yi. It was impossible to consider that that weak cultivator was the person before him.
Although the Wang Lin back then was fierce, he was still lacking in wit, and his cultivation level was simply too low. If not for Zhou Yi’s brand, he would have killed Wang Lin with one palm.
The Wang Lin before him was calm, but one gaze was enough to make his origin soul tremble. This vast different was something Sun Tai couldn’t accept.
The Wang Lin from back then had a lowly status and was only considered a pawn. None of the Ascendant cultivators considered him any threat.
However, the moment Wang Lin appeared, he immediately aroused the attention of the Ran family’s ancestor to the point of even being gifted a rank 8 pill. As for himself, he was only a guest of the Ran family and had lost all the glory he had in the past.
Back then, when Wang Lin faced a life and death situation, Wang Lin required him to help. If not for him, Wang Lin would have been killed by the Giant Demon Clan ancestor back then.
However, the person before him had a very high cultivation level. Also, the aura Wang Lin gave off told Sun Tai that Wang Lin had killed cultivators on the same level as him!
To have killed an Ascendant cultivator was a terrifying concept!
The strong contrast caused a very complex feeling to gush out of Sun Tai’s heart. The changes that happened in the past several hundred years to the person before him were heaven-shaking.
During his shock, his mental image of the weak cultivator who could only look up at him gradually disappeared. It was replaced with someone who was so powerful that he didn’t to speak loudly near them or even looked them in the eye. Even if he was made to become this person’s servant, he would have no complaints!
Wang Lind didn’t say anything, but he could more or less guess what Sun Tai’s mood was from his expression. He remained silent and calmly looked at Sun Tai.
Sun Tai stared at Wang Lin and whispered, “You… What cultivation level are you at now?”
Wang Lin calmly said, “Ascendant!”
Sun Tai wryly smiled. He didn’t believe Wang Lin was merely at the Ascendant stage. If Wang Lin was just at the Ascendant stage, he would still be able to feel something. From his view, even the Ran family’s ancestor couldn’t compare to this once weak cultivator.
He finally understood why the Ran family’s ancestor had gifted the rank 8 pill to Wang Lin through an auction.
“You still haven’t answered my question!” Wang Lin’s voice was very calm. His gaze left Sun Tain and looked outside the window.
This simple sentence made Sun Tai’s body shake, and a complex feeling appeared in his heart. This little cultivator from back then dared to talk to him like this, but sadly, just one sentence was enough to make his soul tremble.
Sun Tai bitterly said, “I… When I was transferred to the Allheaven Star System, I appeared neared planet Dong Lin. I lived there for almost a century, doing work for the Lu family. Only after that did I finally gain my freedom.
“The brand in my body was broken by someone from the Lu family. Just… I had no idea that the brand still existed.”
“Lu family?” Wang Lin’s eyes narrowed.
Sun Tai whispered, “The three strongest families on planet Dong Lin are Xu, Lu, and Liu!”
Wang Lin pondered and slowly said, “How strong are the three families? Is there anything special about plant Dong Lin?”
“Very strong; the three families are unfathomable. As for exactly how strong, my status wasn’t high enough to know. However, the families would only need to casually send out an elder to slaughter planet Ran Yun…
“As for what is different about planet Dong Lin, the only thing I can say is that it is a chaotic and bloody world.” As Sun Tai recalled the past, his eyes filled with fears.
When Wang Lin noticed this trace of fear, he secretly sighed. The once head elder of the Corpse Sect on planet Suzaku was gone. Even if he recovered his cultivation, he would never be able to climb any higher.
This was because he had lost the dao heart a cultivator should have. This dao heart was crushed by the century he had spent on planet Dong Lin.
Wang Lin suddenly asked, “Is there a Xiang family on planet Dong Lin?”
“Xiang family?” Sun Tai thought for a long time and shook his head. “As far as I know, there is no Xiang family. Of course, it may also be that my status was too low to know any secrets.”
Wang Lin pondered for a bit before looking at Sun Tai and saying, “You were the head elder of the Corpse Sect on planet Suzaku in the Alliance Star System, so you must know of certain matters. What kind of organization is the Corpse Sect?”
Sun Tai let out a sigh and bitterly said, “Although I was the head elder of the Corpse Sect on planet Suzaku, there are still a lot of things I don’t know. I just know that the Corpse Sect was one of the two great sects of the Alliance Star System.
“The sects I’m talking about are real sects; not those that only exist on one planet. These sects extend across the alliance. There are numerous powerful cultivators in them, and their strength even extends into the inner part of the Cultivation Alliance.
“Rumor has it that the ancestor of the Corpse Sect is someone with very high status in the alliance. This is why the Corpse Sect has existed for so long.
“As for the other large sect that can contend with the Corpse Sect, it is the Four Divine Sect. To be accurate, planet Suzaku is regarded as a distant branch of the Four Divine Sect. The first generation Suzaku was rumored to have come from the Four Divine Planet.
“The Four Divine Planet is only a branch of the Four Divine Sect. If you think about it, you can be considered an outermost disciple of the Four Divine Sect.”
Wang Lin’s eyes were very serious. After all, his time as cultivator was relatively short, so there were a lot of secrets he didn’t know about. Now that he heard this, he felt like he had a new understanding of the Alliance Star System.
After pondering for a bit, Wang Lin looked at Sun Tai and asked, “What is your status in the Ran family?”
“I’m only a guest of the Ran family, and I’m spending my retirement at the Whole Treasure Pavilion. The Ran family’s ancestor only took me in because I have some skills in alchemy and treasure refining.” Sun Tai’s eyes were filled with depression. He hesitated and said, “You… You shouldn’t have taken that rank eight pill. It was a trap set by the Ran family ancestor. Four years ago…”
Sun Tai explained everything he knew from four years ago. It was roughly the same as what Sun Xi had told him.
At this moment, the sky outside was darkening. It was already sunset. The light from outside landed on Sun Tai, making him look even older, as if he was in this twilight years.
Even a sliver of death aura appeared when the sun hit his body. Although it was vague, Wang Lin’s domain was life and death, so he was immediately able to see through it.
Wang Lin withdrew his gaze and calmly said, “You don’t have much time left…”
Sun Tai bitterly nodded. “Indeed, not much time left. I can feel I have around twenty years left.”
“You can go back. If I’m still on planet Ran Yun in 20 years, I’ll personally send you off.” Wang Lin closed his eyes.
Sun Tai pondered for a long time before standing up. He looked out the window and softly said, “You… Can you promise me something?”
Wang Lin didn’t open his eyes and calmly said, “Speak.”
“If you really send me off in 20 years, please take my ashes back to the Alliance Star System’s planet Dark Moon. There is a mountain that pierces into the sky. I remember there being a village at the foot of the mountain. Please send my ashes back there.”
Wang Lin let out a sigh, then he opened his eyes and nodded at Sun Tai.
Sun Tai revealed a smile of gratitude. At this moment, he was like a mortal old man who wanted to return to his roots after he died and not become a foreign ghost.
He took out a bag of holding, slowly put it down, and said, “Here are some celestial jades. I been saving them for the day when I recover my cultivation, but after seeing you, I feel like I don’t need them anymore. There are also records of my alchemy and treasure refining experiences. Take them as my thanks for sending his old man home.”
Sun Tai walked out while looking at the sunset. The orange light from the sunset accompanied Sun Tai as he walked further and further away.
He had met an old friend and really didn’t know what kind of mood he was in. As Wang Lin looked at Sun Tai’s figure, the all-powerful head elder of the Corpse Sect that had fought with Zhou Yi and stolen the female corpse slowly overlapped with this figure.
Even after he left, he didn’t ask what happened to the child he released back then. Perhaps he really had given up on everything and just wanted live his last 20 years quietly.
Giving away his bag of holding was him loosening a knot in his heart. It meant that he had given up on recovering and had given up on everything, including the unwillingness he felt for the hundreds of years he had spent here.
It was because of Wang Lin that he ended up with such a fate, but also because of Wang Lin that he was relieved of the pain in his soul for hundreds of years. If there was karma, this was it.
His only request was to for him to return to his roots, for Wang Lin to send him back to the small village under the sky piercing mountain…
The sun setted and Wang Lin closed his eyes. Life and death, karmatic cause and karmatic effect are only separated by just one thought, much like Yin and Yang, true and false.
This was the way the world was.
“Karma is a path after the life and death domain. It can be said that karma is the root of life and death; it is because there is a karmatic cause of life that there is a karmatic effect of life.” Wang Lin felt a hint of enlightenment, but everything still felt foreign. It was as if he could see it but not touch it.