A tremor seized Liu Jinbiao, a fear that clawed at his very soul, mingling with the immediate terror in his eyes. It was as if this scene, this encounter, was not the first. A ghost of a memory, long buried, stirred within him. “How do you know my…my Deceitful Path! Who…who are you truly?”

Wang Lin merely took a draught from his wineskin. “You told me yourself.”

“Impossible! My master is the Celestial Venerate Gu Ya! If you dare harm me, you shall be utterly destroyed, body and soul! Besides, I have never seen you before. I have never deceived you. Why…why do you seek me out?” The dread in Liu Jinbiao’s eyes deepened, his words tumbling over each other in a confused jumble.

“Could it be…” Liu Jinbiao’s gaze, filled with a strange hope, locked onto Wang Lin. “Could it be you are one who walks the same path?”

Wang Lin set down the wineskin. “You are called Liu Jinbiao. I am Wang Lin. Does that name awaken anything?”

“Wang… Wang… a name so familiar…” A flicker of confusion crossed Liu Jinbiao’s face, followed by a desperate struggle. He seemed lost in a strange trance, his body wracked with shivers, his features contorted in pain.

*He cannot break the seal himself,* Wang Lin thought with a sigh. *Zhou Yi could not, nor can he. Are there any who possess the strength to shatter the bonds and reclaim their memories?* Unable to bear Liu Jinbiao’s torment, Wang Lin raised his right hand and gently touched the center of his brow.

A deafening roar filled Liu Jinbiao’s mind, a cacophony akin to a million thunderbolts unleashed at once.

His vision blurred, and fragments of his past centuries flashed before his eyes: his relentless pursuit of the Deceitful Path…

“I am the Great Immortal Jinbiao, an immortal without peer! Remember that! From now on, that is how you shall address me. I am Liu! Henceforth, I am Liu Jinbiao! A name of untamed power!”

“Once one achieves immortality, even the chickens and dogs of their household ascend to the heavens! Hahaha! I myself conceived that saying! With that maxim, I shall make a fortune in this Da Sacred Continent!”

“Alas, this place is no longer suitable. I must journey to the Da Sacred Continent…”

“Being reborn, I naturally returned to the form of a young boy! Mortals such as yourselves could never comprehend such matters!”

“Hmm, this mortal is quite intriguing. Kneeling before an immortal, yet he seeks not immortality but the power to become a king? Very well… such a request is easily granted!”

“Perhaps in a past life, I was a great charlatan. How else could I possess such innate understanding of deception and trickery?”

“You, sir, with your shifty eyes and devious demeanor, are surely no saint. What is your name? What? You believe you should be called Xu Liguo? There is no ‘should’ when it comes to names! Very well, I shall bestow upon you a destiny. Journey to Zhongzhou. Yes, Zhongzhou. This immortal has foreseen a great opportunity awaiting you there.”

“This humble immortal has descended to the mortal realm for the first time. Your ancestors must have possessed great virtue. I shall dwell here in your home and perform rituals for your benefit.”

“Hmph! Though I am but seven years of age, I have already deceived nearly everyone in this village. It seems I must seek greener pastures…”

“Oh, little brother, that candied fruit looks delicious. Might I have a small taste, please?” The final memory was of himself at four years old, scheming to swindle a sweet treat from the neighboring child.

These fragments swirled within his mind, a tempest of noise that pulled his memories into a vortex, threatening to consume his very consciousness. Amidst the growing roar, another lifetime began to emerge.

He saw himself enduring a life of arduous cultivation, striving to become powerful. He saw himself developing the Deceitful Path and, armed with a powerful artifact, becoming nearly unstoppable…until he met his match in a cultivator named Wang Lin.

For countless years, he followed that man, his heart filled with trepidation, until the wheel of reincarnation turned.

He remembered his friend, Xu Liguo, who, despite their uneasy beginning, became a true companion.

The two lifetimes merged, until Liu Jinbiao’s vision cleared. He stared, dumbfounded, at the wine-drinking figure before him. After a long silence, tears streamed down his face.

It was all so unreal, like a dream. He had closed his eyes in the Realm of the Caves, and when he opened them, the memories of that dream were both elusive and indelible. Yet the confusion that lingered vanished the moment he saw Wang Lin.

“M… Master…” Liu Jinbiao’s voice was thick with emotion. In all his lives, in all his deceptions, he had never felt such profound, soul-stirring excitement.

Wang Lin smiled, a genuine warmth spreading across his face. He looked upon Liu Jinbiao and laughed, extending the wineskin. “A drink to celebrate our reunion here, in the Immortal Astral Continent.”

With trembling hands, Liu Jinbiao took the wineskin and drank deeply. The fiery liquid burned a path down his throat, transforming into a comforting heat that coursed through his veins.

“I believed that, in the Realm of the Caves, my Deceitful Path had reached the perfection of the second step, allowing me to deceive even myself into believing any falsehood,” Liu Jinbiao murmured, staring at the wineskin.

“But this reincarnation, this dreamlike existence, has shown me the true nature of the second step. Had I understood this sooner, I could have tricked myself into believing I was a saint reborn, and perhaps this path would have continued.” Liu Jinbiao shook his head, his intense gaze returning to Wang Lin. He rose and bowed deeply.

“Why do you bow?” Wang Lin asked, a smile playing on his lips.

“I bow in gratitude for your gift of rebirth.”

“I bow because you allowed me to understand the true meaning of the Deceitful Path through reincarnation.”

“I am not your master. You were free before your rebirth, and you remain free now,” Wang Lin replied gently.

“Hmm… this Immortal Astral Continent is far too dangerous. I believe it would be best to remain by your side.” Liu Jinbiao blinked, a wry smile tugging at his lips.

Wang Lin laughed, his expression radiant. “Very well, you shall accompany me. As long as I am here, I shall ensure your safety!” With a flick of his sleeve, a gentle breeze enveloped them both, carrying them towards the boundless heavens.
“I journey to the Eastern Serenity Sect. Come with me, for your memories are restored, and your past cultivation can be easily regained,” Wang Lin declared, his voice echoing with newfound purpose.

Liu Jinbiao hesitated, a flicker of uncertainty in his eyes. “My Lord, in this life’s memories, I seem to recall… someone named Xu Liguo.”

“Hmm?” Wang Lin’s ethereal form halted its ascent of the celestial pathways. He turned, his gaze sharp as a honed blade, piercing through Liu Jinbiao’s apprehension. “Where did you see him?”

“Erm… before the return of my former life’s recollections, I encountered a scoundrel in the Heavenly Waters Prefecture of Eastern Continent. A rogue with a most villainous countenance, who proclaimed himself Xu Liguo. I held some minor… ahem, negligible notoriety in those lands, you see.” Liu Jinbiao chuckled nervously. “He beseeched me to his mountain lair, treated me as a guest, even asked for guidance on achieving immortality. I, in my ignorance, haphazardly pointed him towards the Central Continent…” a flush of embarrassment crept onto his face. “This was centuries past, of course.”

Wang Lin fell silent, the image of Xu Liguo’s obsequious demeanor from their days in the Cave World flickering in his mind. A slow smile spread across his lips. “Xu Liguo is not one to suffer misfortune. If he still draws breath, then fortune has surely smiled upon him. I, too, will journey to the Central Continent in due time. Perhaps I shall seek him out.”

He paused, the smile deepening. “What a sight it would be, to witness his expression upon our reunion.”

Liu Jinbiao snickered, inwardly celebrating. “I, after all, was the first to follow my Lord in this new life! Xu Liguo will be forced to take a backseat. And when we meet, I shall repay him for the torments of the Cave World, before his memory fully returns!”

He mused, a mischievous glint in his eye. “Let him no longer boast of being the first, lording it over me and flaunting his perceived superiority!” A thrill of anticipation coursed through him.

Liu Jinbiao had never truly known Situ Nan, thus any faint recollection of a would-be King that he may have once deceived was long forgotten.

With Liu Jinbiao in tow, Wang Lin dissolved into a shimmering phantom, his thoughts fixed on the Eastern Serenity Sect.

The Eastern Serenity Sect, foremost among the Nine Sects and Thirteen Houses of the Great Sanctum Continent, a bastion of enigmatic power, its inner workings shrouded in secrecy.

Though Wang Lin had only visited the Eastern Serenity Sect within the illusory realms of the Cave World, a sense of familiarity washed over him as he approached. The landscape, the very air surrounding the sect’s gates, echoed with echoes of that past life.

The land upon which the Eastern Serenity Sect stood was deceptively ordinary: a tapestry of rolling hills, secluded valleys, and winding gorges, sculpted by the hand of nature. The sect’s protective formation, however potent, proved no obstacle to Wang Lin’s passage.

Leading Liu Jinbiao, Wang Lin stepped within the hallowed grounds, not towards the Eastern Serenity Pool, but towards the place where the Seven-Colored Immortal, Su Dao, had resided in the Cave World’s illusion.

At the base of a small hill, the gentle murmur of a river filled the air. He saw the clear stream, teeming with playful fish, and a young acolyte drawing water.

Ascending the stone steps carved into the mountainside, Liu Jinbiao followed closely behind. Passing cultivators paid them no heed, as if they existed in a realm apart.

As Wang Lin reached the summit, a gathering of storm clouds descended, and rain, heavy as pearls, began to fall in torrents, crashing upon the stone courtyard before the grand hall.

Each drop stirred a ripple in the stone, a thousand tiny explosions of water, creating a mist that threatened to rise to the heavens before vanishing into the ether.

The scene mirrored the illusions of the Cave World with unnerving precision, and a profound sense of transformation welled within Wang Lin, as if the very rain itself was lifting him to a higher plane.

He stood there, unmoving, his eyes closed to the downpour, allowing it to wash over him, cleansing and renewing…