Chapter 2012 - A Step Up the Mountain! Xuan Luo was calmly standing there, but he began to struggle in his heart. He knew that this was Grand Empyrean Gu Dao being dissatisfied with him and making him wait outside. He also knew that the source of this dissatisfaction was became his disciple, Wang Lin, had celestial cultivation and essences! Grand Empyrean Gu Dao was someone who upheld tradition. He cared about the bloodline of the Ancient Ancestor, he cared about the generations of ancient emperors, and he also cared about the Ancient Ancestor’s bloodline! But he obviously could not allow someone who had the soul blood to also contain the aura of the celestial clan. Wang Lin’s body trembled. During the three days of time, the sounds of the bells entered his mind and rumbled. They suppressed his cultivation and tried to erase it. “Whether it is the power of the Ancients or the celestials, they both belong to me and were obtained through my hard work. I refuse to lose my celestial cultivation!” Wang Lin’s eyes were bloodshot. His determination was firm and he continued to struggle against the bells! The celestial power inside his body continued to attack in an attempt to scatter the bell sounds in his mind. As Wang Lin’s body trembled violently, Xuan Luo’s eyes lit up. He turned around and raised his hand to help Wang Lin resist the bells. After all, Wang Lin was his disciple! But just as Xuan Luo turned around, the door to the tower opened once more and the young man walked out. “Grand Empyrean Xuan Luo, Ancestor Gu is summoning you.” Xuan Luo paused for a moment and then silently pondered for a long time. With his right hand still pointed at Wang Lin, he turned toward the tower. The young man looked at Wang Lin profoundly before going back into the tower and closing the door. Xuan Luo’s point had caused Wang Lin’s heart to suddenly rumble. This aura made Wang Lin feel warmth inside his body. It didn’t suppress his cultivation but resisted the sound of the bells inside his body. It allowed Wang Lin’s cultivation and essences to relax a bit. His cultivation and essences quickly gathered. As Xuan Luo’s power permeated and the sound of the bells canceled out, they gradually faded after an unknown amount of time. Wang Lin’s cultivation and essences were rapidly cycling through his body when the bells began to move once more without any wind and another wave of sounds rushed into Wang Lin’s mind. They began another confrontation with Wang Lin’s cultivation and essences. Wang Lin coughed out a mouthful of blood and his body trembled. He retreated back down the steps from the top of the mountain. “Dissipate your celestial cultivation, erase your essences, forget the memories of your past, awaken the inheritance of your bloodline… After that, I’ll grant you the title of guardian of the Ancient Dao and Grand Empyrean cultivation!” A cold and ancient voice echoed in Wang Lin’s heart along with the bells. Wang Lin suddenly looked up. His eyes were bloodshot and his cultivation suddenly activated. Along with his ancient power, he reached the peak of his cultivation. “I don’t have have any celestial clan cultivation, what I have is my own strength that I obtained over my 3,000 years of life! What right do you have to make me dissipate it?!” Wang Lin roared and the bell sounds inside his body erupted. They collided with his cultivation and he coughed out a mouthful of blood. He continued to retreat as if something was pushing him, until he was standing on the middle of the mountain. “My essences are my perceptions of life. They are the fruits of my life’s struggle. What right do you have to make me dissipate them!?” Wang Lin looked up and his eyes became even more bloodshot. He let out a roar of life. As he roared, Wang Lin coughed out a third mouthful of blood. His body trembled as the sound of the bells collided with his cultivation once more. He retreated to the foot of the mountain. There were only 19 steps behind him! “My memories are even more important than my cultivation, my essences, my bloodline, and the Grand Empyrean power you can give me! I live for my memories. What right do you have to make it forget them?!” Wang Lin let out his strongest roar. The bell sounds inside his body roared as if they had exploded. Wang Lin coughed out the fourth mouthful of blood and retreated back 18 steps. At the last step, Wang Lin’s right foot stepped down with a bang and he forced himself to stop there. Looking up, his eyes were bloodshot and his expression was fierce, but the power of the bells inside his body was being completely suppressed by him. With the power of the bells suppressed, Wang Lin’s cultivation erupted. His hair suddenly turned half black and half white, and behind him, the outline of a Grand Empyrean sun appeared! This Grand Empyrean sun was also half black and half white. It gave off a strange light and allowed Wang Lin to display his strongest strength, strength comparable to a Grand Empyrean! The moment Wang Lin’s Grand Empyrean sun appeared, the sky above Mount Gu Dao changed! An indifferent voice came from the tower in the sky and echoed throughout the world. “Mount Gu Dao has a total of 999 steps. If you can get through 300, I can spare your sin of disrespect!” At the top of the tower sat a figure covered in fog, and before him was Xuan Luo. “Senior Gu Dao…” Xuan Luo became anxious. “I don’t recognize your disciple!” An indifferent voice came from the shadow covered by the fog. “But since you’ve brought him here, if he can walk up 300 steps, I’ll let you take him away. However, I won’t help awaken that drop of soul blood inside his body. “As for protecting the Ancient Dao… Since you chose him, then he will do. However, from now on, he can’t leave the Ancient clan; otherwise, I’ll act.” The words from the figure were cold and contained no emotion. Xuan Luo had a bitter expression. He had brought Wang Lin here with good intentions, but he hadn’t expected Gu Dao to say such things. He silently pondered before he revealed a decisive gaze and clasped his hands at the figure inside the fog. The figure inside the fog slowly said, “If he can’t pass 300 steps, he needs to stay.” Xuan Luo silently pondered. Wang Lin stood at the bottom of Mount Gu Dao and looked up. He knew that his teacher was up there and perhaps was watching him. “Wang Lin, use your strongest cultivation and walk past 300 steps! Let Grand Empyrean Gu Dao see if my disciple is worthy!” Xuan Luo’s voice came from the top of the mountain and contained a hint of anger. This was Xuan Luo’s anger. He had said these words at the top of the power and completely ignored Gud Dao who was next to him. Xuan Luo’s looked at the figure inside the fog and said, “I brought him out of the cave world and led him here. The only way I won’t take him away is if I die!” His back was straight and he no longer bowed. The figure inside the fog didn’t speak. The top of the tower was completely silent. Xuan Luo had special feelings toward Wang Lin. He had watched Wang Lin struggle inside the cave world and had witnessed Wang Lin’s persistence and decisiveness. He had even seen Wang Lin’s feelings for the woman called Wan Er. Xuan Luo could not forget the tears and reminiscence Wang Lin had for his wife in the cave world. This made him think about himself and his own past. Even what Wang Lin had experienced in the celestial clan made Xuan Luo think of himself. It was as if their histories had overlapped. Wang Lin was standing on the first step when his teacher’s words echoed in his ears. His eyes revealed a decisive gaze. He didn’t like Mount Gu Dao and he would never respect Grand Empyrean Gu Dao again! “In this world, the strong control the fate of the weak… Grand Empyrean Gu Dao’s cultivation is strong and he is the strongest person on the Immortal Astral Continent, so he can impose his will on me… but one day, if I, Wang Lin, become strong and replace Gu Dao, I’ll be the heavens!” Wang Lin’s eyes lit up and the outline of the Grand Empyrean sun behind him shined. The light fused with his body and made him seem taller. He suddenly raised his foot and stepped forward! This step was Wang Lin’s first resistance against the Ancient clan! This was the first defiant action he had taken against the Ancient clan. This was the first crack in his relationship with the Ancient clan! He originally intended to stay in the Ancient clan due to his teacher’s grace. He was willing to endure kneeling to the Ancient Dao Emperor and endure the helplessness of not being accustomed to the imperial power of the Ancient clan. However, even though he would still endure, now there was a crack between him and the Ancient clan. Perhaps, if nothing else happened, this crack would slowly heal due to Xuan Luo… But… This chance completely disappeared as an important event was taking inside the Ancient Dao imperial city! Inside the palace of the Ancient Dao imperial city, the Ancient Dao Emperor was sitting on his throne. Before him were three old men in purple, and they were kneeling in excitement. “Your Majesty, for hundreds of years, we have searched for countless women to fuse with the soul, but none of them could do it. There was great rejection and they could not nourish the soul at all. “But now there is a woman who has successfully fused with the soul!!” The old man’s voice was filled with excitement. They had been secretly carrying out this plan for hundreds of years. What awaited him had to be a great reward! “Where did the woman come from and what is her name?” The Ancient Dao Emperor looked calm but was filled with expectation. He could not forget what the imperial teacher had said. This soul could allow him to become a real ancient emperor that ruled the entire Ancient clan!! One of the other old men quickly said, “She came from the Ancient Shi, her name is Song Zhi!” “Let that Song Zhi enter the palace. I want to meet this woman in person. You all tell the world that in three months, I’ll hold a grand ceremony! I’ll take Song Zhi as my wife and make her the ancient empress!” The Ancient Dao Emperor laughed as he got up. His eyes were filled with monstrous light.