The illusion of Dong Lin shimmered in the morning sun, a prism of impossible colors. The light, even as it gilded the mountain gates, cast long, shrinking shadows across the courtyard before Dong Lin Hall.

The disciples of the Dong Lin Sect meditated in the dawn’s embrace, drawing power from the heavens and the earth, weaving it into their very being.

Dong Lin itself seemed a child’s bubble, blown into existence amidst the vastness of creation. It glowed with captivating beauty, yet felt fragile, as though a single touch could shatter its ephemeral form.

For such is the way of things: beauty often cloaks the most fleeting of realities.

Deep within the ethereal reaches of Dong Lin Sect’s back mountains, where birds sang and fragrant blossoms bloomed, where the playful cries of unseen creatures echoed, stood a grand, meticulously crafted altar.

Towering like a fortress, the altar rose a hundred zhang into the sky, its base a sprawling ten zhang in diameter. Hewn from cold, grey stone, it reflected the sunlight in a spectrum of unsettling hues.

Upon the altar’s peak lay a vast, hundred-zhang platform. At its heart was a water basin, nearly dry, holding only a shallow pool of water. A gentle breeze stirred the surface, rippling the water into fleeting, ephemeral patterns.

Upon the water’s surface, fragments of verdant life floated, dancing with the currents.

Wang Lin stood at the basin’s edge, his gaze lost in the murky depths. Behind him, Liu Jinbiao’s eyes darted nervously, taking in every shadow, every detail. Yet, a closer look revealed a deep-seated fear lurking within their depths.

“This forsaken place… it cannot be as it appears,” Liu Jinbiao muttered under his breath. “No doubt I stand upon a bed of ancient bones. This water, so clear on the surface, is likely foul and festering, choked with the remnants of the dead…” The more he imagined, the more dread coiled within him.

It was not the presence of corpses that frightened him, but the unknown lurking just beneath the surface.

Lost in his fear, Liu Jinbiao failed to notice the deepening confusion in Wang Lin’s eyes. The man stared into the water basin, lost in a silence that stretched for an eternity.

“Why… why is this so?” Wang Lin closed his eyes, and in his mind’s eye, he saw the Dong Lin Sect he had witnessed within the illusions of the Cave World, the Dong Lin Pool of that forgotten realm.

“This Dong Lin Pool… it is utterly different from the one I saw within the memories of the Seven-Colored Immortal! The Dong Lin Pool of those memories… it stood in this very place, yet there was no altar, only a vast, boundless lake. But here… here it is so changed. Which is real? Which is mere illusion?” Wang Lin’s eyes snapped open, burning with a strange, piercing light, a power that could pierce the veil of dreams and see through any deceit. He swept his gaze across the surroundings.

Where moments before he had seen grandeur and beauty, now a grotesque transformation unfolded. The altar was revealed as crumbling, decayed, stained with the faint, dried remnants of ancient blood.

The air itself was thick with the stench of death, a palpable shroud of decay. Only when his gaze fell upon the pool of water did his expression soften. The water, at least, remained unchanged.

All else, save for the water, had been altered.

“This… this must be the true Dong Lin Sect, the authentic Dong Lin… The altar speaks of ages long past. Yet, if that is so, why is it so different from the Dong Lin Pool within the Seven-Colored Immortal’s memories?

Or perhaps… perhaps this place has remained unchanged, and it is the Seven-Colored Immortal who has been altered!” Wang Lin fell silent, contemplating the unsettling truth.

This was not the first time he had set foot upon Dong Lin Sect in the Immortal Ascendant Continent, outside of the illusions, and with each step, a veil seemed to lift from his eyes, revealing a deeper, more perplexing truth. The mists of uncertainty swirled around his mind, causing him to doubt all he thought he knew from the Cave World.

“Did I truly understand all that I saw within the Cave World? The aura of Sky Fate, the stone tablets of the Dao Scripture… and the twisted memories of the Seven-Colored Immortal… What hidden secret is concealed within them?

This Dong Lin Sect is no ordinary place. The great celestial Dong Lin emerged from this very sect, only to fall into oblivion, his body lost to the ages…

And who was it who destroyed Dong Lin Sect utterly? Was it Sky Fate? Was it the Seven-Colored Immortal? Or was it someone, something else, connected to the Cave World in a way I have failed to grasp?” Wang Lin was lost in thought.

He gazed into the Dong Lin Pool for a long, silent time, before drawing a deep breath and stepping closer. He lowered his gaze to the water’s surface, where the sunlight painted his reflection, and in that reflection, Wang Lin saw himself.

As he beheld his reflection, the white hair, the white robes, a jolt ran through him. His mind ignited with sudden understanding, a flash of insight.

“There is something amiss… something I have long suspected… The Sky-Defying Bead. Why did the Seven-Colored Immortal take it during the battle between Grand Celestial Dao Yi and my master, without either of the Grand Celestials noticing?

Why, within the Cave World, could Blue Dream and the Seven-Colored Immortal sense the Sky-Defying within me, while here, in the Immortal Ascendant Continent, none have detected it?

Why even my master, Xuan Luo, upon entering the Cave World, did he not speak of it? Perhaps he did sense it, but chose silence?

If that is true, then I must also consider Grand Celestial Dao Yi, whom I also met. Why did he not speak of it, or attempt to seize it? But I trust that neither of them was even aware of its presence!

What is the Sky-Defying truly? Who crafted the Sky-Defying Compass? What is its purpose? Why is it that those in the Cave World can sense my possession of it, while here in the Immortal Ascendant Continent, it remains hidden?

I remember, when I absorbed the Scorpion Soul, it uttered a word… ‘White…’ Was there also a Black Bead? What secrets are hidden within?

If these matters can be linked to the destruction of the Dong Lin Sect, perhaps then I can understand the staggering secrets hidden within the Cave World!” Wang Lin’s face was a mask of shifting emotions as he looked around him.

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“In truth, I know of another way, a way to see what truly happened to the Dong Lin Sect in ages past, to know who destroyed it… But even Grand Celestials could not grasp the truth. Even the Imperial Preceptor of the Imperial City could only fall into a three-day haze, before losing all memory of the event. Can I… can I succeed?”
Wang Lin hesitated but a spark of resolve ignited in his eyes. This was no mere matter of the Eastern Lapis Sect; it struck at his very core, for Wang Lin hailed from the Realm of Caves, and he possessed the Heavenly Jewel.

Wang Lin had thought he was lifting a curtain, but he realized he had only tugged at a corner. His vision remained obscured. Now, he must tear apart the unseen hand that veiled his eyes, to wrench open a sliver through which he could glimpse the truth of the heavens and earth!

He inhaled deeply, then settled into a lotus position beside the pool. He averted his gaze from the Eastern Lapis Pool, instead focusing on the distant Eastern Lapis Hall. A swirling mist began to gather in his eyes, as if he had shed all earthly presence, immersing himself in a realm beyond comprehension.

Liu Jinbiao whirled around, a cold dread gripping him. He sensed Wang Lin’s essence vanishing, as if he had been spirited away. Though his eyes still saw him, there was an incongruity, as if the very fabric of the world recoiled from Wang Lin’s existence, as if water and fire could never reconcile.

“With my flesh, I merge with this land… with my spirit, I become one with the void… with my soul, I spread across the heavens, with my dreams, I dream a thousand ages…” Wang Lin’s Art of Dreaming, interwoven with the Flowing Moon Divine Power, birthed a force of immense, unknowable potential. It could, as in the Realm of Caves, transport him to the past, to witness the echoes of bygone days!

Whether others could wield such power, Wang Lin knew not. Among all he had encountered, only he possessed the skill, and even then, it required the aid of the Great Soul Sect’s Spectral Sail!

In that instant of dream-immersion, his right hand rose silently. With a flick, the Spectral Sail appeared, encircling him in a ghostly dance.

A dream of a thousand harmonies…

In Wang Lin’s dream, time reversed, a millennium, another millennium, yet another… until even he lost count of the passing ages. Eastern Lapis Sect remained Eastern Lapis Sect…

The mountains stood steadfast, the waters ran clear. Countless disciples of the Eastern Lapis Sect, on a seemingly ordinary morning, absorbed the energies of the world, bathing the entire sect in an ethereal dawn.

A scene of utter tranquility, of profound peace. From the Eastern Lapis Hall came the murmurs of Daoist teachings, drawing throngs of eager listeners.

In the distance, streaks of light flew to and fro between the peaks, accompanied by flocks of dancing cranes. On the ground, gentle beasts roamed, their joyful cries echoing through the valley. A fair maiden, her face alight with kindness, scattered elixirs amongst them.

Farther still, within the sect’s herb garden, disciples tended to the plants with diligent care, following their master’s commands.

On the stone steps leading up the mountain, disciples passed one another, offering respectful greetings to their seniors. At the foot of the mountain, outer disciples, laughing and chatting, bore buckets of water, their brows furrowed with effort.

This serene Eastern Lapis Sect, bathed in the morning sun, struck Wang Lin with a familiar, almost painful emotion, like a radiant bubble floating on the breeze…

Then, in the next instant, a darkness fell upon the sky, a pall that went unnoticed by all within the Eastern Lapis Sect. But at that moment, the disciples carrying water at the foot of the mountain trembled and collapsed, lifeless, to the ground.

On the steps, the respectful greetings turned to screams of agony as disciples burst into blood and bone. In the sky, the herb garden, the maiden feeding the beasts, the droning teachings – all were swallowed by the same gruesome fate.

The entire Eastern Lapis Sect, like a bubble so fair, had been touched by a sinister hand, and burst. In the instant of its destruction, all beings within were extinguished!

As the denizens of the Eastern Lapis Sect succumbed to oblivion, a blurred figure materialized in the sky, silhouetted against the light, obscured in shadow, impossible to discern…

As in a dream, Wang Lin lifted his gaze, desperate to make out the figure’s features. But he saw only a blur. Before he could pierce the haze, a searing pain erupted in his mind, a torment unlike any he had known, surpassing all that had come before!

**(To be continued)**