100: Chapter 100 The Secret of the Valley of Forgetfulness, The Mystery of One's Origins

Midnight, three thousand li outside Tiandu City, Wangyou Valley.

This place was no blessed land of spiritual mountains; it was a deep, secluded valley, rarely visited by people and shrouded in faint mist year-round.

The valley was lush with vegetation and exotic flowers and herbs, but it lacked Spiritual Qi and possessed a natural, strange force field that could disrupt the Divine Thought of low-level Cultivators.

Hence, it was named "Wangyou" — those who entered the valley would temporarily forget their worries, but it was also easy to lose one's way, so ordinary Cultivators were unwilling to set foot here.

Moonlight, like water, filtered through the thin mist, spilling onto the winding path in the valley, casting mottled light and shadows.

Lin Wan arrived, stepping on the moonlight in an azure robe, walking with a calm gait as if he were a scholar taking a stroll under the moon.

He did not deliberately hide his aura, nor did he use any Divine Ability; he simply allowed the Dao rhyme of Chaos Return-to-Ruins to circulate naturally around his body, silently dissolving the force field in the valley that disturbed Divine Thought and isolating his own aura, as if he had merged with the surrounding environment.

"Wangyou Valley... It is indeed a good place to discuss secrets." Lin Wan's gaze swept calmly across the surroundings.

The valley was silent, save for the rustling of leaves in the night breeze and the occasional chirp of insects from afar.

However, with the blessing of the "Reincarnation" Dao rhyme, his Divine Thought had already completely controlled every subtle movement within dozens of li.

Aside from the ignorant insects and beasts in the valley, there were no other powerful living beings or Formation auras.

The other party seemed to truly intend a "private talk," at least on the surface.

Following the instructions on the invitation, Lin Wan arrived at a relatively open space in the valley, surrounded by several giant "Moonlight Ancient Trees" emitting a faint silver glow.

In the center of the clearing stood a simple stone pavilion.

On the stone table in the pavilion, a pot of clear tea and two jade cups were already set out.

The tea aroma curled upwards, refreshing and heart-soothing; it was clearly freshly brewed.

Beside the stone pavilion, a slender, hazy figure, seemingly condensed from moonlight, stood with her back to him, looking up at the bright, clear moon in the night sky.

The figure wore a moon-white dress of an ancient style, not of this world, with long hair like a waterfall, pinned up simply with a wooden hairpin.

Her whole being radiated a cold, lonely, yet indescribably serene aura that seemed capable of soothing all restlessness in a person's heart.

"You are here."

A clear, soft, yet faintly weary and weathered female voice sounded gently, like a clear spring under the moon flowing into one's heart.

The figure turned slowly.

Moonlight spilled onto her face, revealing a visage that could be called stunning, yet it seemed covered by a thin veil, making it impossible to see her specific features clearly.

Her skin was as crystalline as jade, and her eyes were as clear as autumn water, yet deep as the starry sky, as if containing endless wisdom and the accumulation of time.

Her beauty was not the kind of overwhelming, gaudy allure, but an ethereal, holy, god-like radiance that seemed to be above the common world, yet carried a compassion for all living beings.

The moment Lin Wan saw this face, the Chaos Return-to-Ruins Dao Fruit in the center of his brow trembled violently!

Especially that touch of emerald green "Source Seed of Life" Dao rhyme, as if it had encountered its source, rejoiced and leapt, almost flying out on its own!

A feeling originating from his Bloodline, from the depths of his Soul—unbearably familiar, unimaginably intimate, yet profoundly sorrowful—flooded his heart and mind like a tidal wave in an instant!

"You... you are..." Lin Wan's voice, for once, carried a trace of an imperceptible tremor.

He stared fixedly at that hazy face.

In his mind, the long-faded, warm outline of his mother faintly overlapped with the person in front of him!

"It is me, child." A trace of a gentle, loving, yet guilt-ridden and sorrowful smile appeared on the woman's face.

She took a step forward and reached out with her slender, jade-like hand, seemingly wanting to stroke Lin Wan's cheek, but she stopped in mid-air before touching him, as if separated by an invisible barrier.

"I am sorry, Mother... is late."

Mother!

This word struck Lin Wan's mind like a thunderclap!

Although he had long suspected it, when this woman admitted it herself, the indescribable impact and agitation of emotions still caused his heart and mind to shake violently, almost unable to contain himself.

"You... are you really..." Lin Wan took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the stormy waves in his heart, and looked at her with sharp eyes.

"Why should I believe you? My mother... she died long ago..."

"She died long ago, is that right?" The sorrow in the woman's eyes deepened, and she sighed softly.

"Yes, in the eyes of Mortals, and in the records of the Qingyun Sect, your mother, Lin Qinghe, an ordinary mountain village woman, passed away due to a severe illness when you were three years old.

Your father, Lin Dashan, also went hunting in the mountains shortly after and encountered fierce beasts, leaving no remains.

Is that not so?"

She slowly spoke the names of his parents, which had long been blurred in Lin Wan's memory, as well as the "truth" about his background that True Monarch Daoxuan of the Qingyun Sect had told him back then.

"You..." Lin Wan's pupils constricted.

Aside from a few elders in the Qingyun Sect, very few people knew this information so clearly.

"Because that was a 'fake death' arranged from the start." The woman's voice was low, carrying endless bitterness.

"I, your mother, am no ordinary mountain village woman.

My name... is Yue Li.

I come from an ancient Legacy that has long been drowned in the river of time—the 'Moon God Palace'.

And your father is also no ordinary hunter.

His name is Lin Zhan, and he is the last successor of the ancient 'War God Temple'."

"Moon God Palace? War God Temple?" Lin Wan frowned; he had never heard these two names.

Ancient Legacy?

Could his parents have such an astonishing background?

"Yes, in the ancient period, they were two of the top supreme Legacies that stood alongside the 'Five Elements Sect', 'Dao Sect', 'Buddha Kingdom', 'Demon Court', and others."

Yue Li, or rather Lin Wan's mother, said slowly, her eyes revealing reminiscence and pain.

"The 'Moon God Palace' controls the Dao of 'Taiyin', 'Life', and 'Protection'; the 'War God Temple' upholds the Dao of 'War', 'Slaughter', and 'Protection'.

The two families were originally close friends, jointly protecting a... 'secret' that concerned the survival of all the heavens and myriad worlds."

"However, at the end of the ancient period, 'the end' descended, and a great catastrophe befell the world.

The Five Elements Dao Venerable, the Ancestral Master of my Moon God Palace, the War God, the Dao Venerable, the Buddha, the Demon Emperor, and other supreme powerhouses of the heavens joined forces to engage in a life-and-death battle with 'the end'.

That battle shook the heavens and the earth, reversed the galaxy, countless worlds were destroyed, and powerhouses fell like rain..."

"In the end, the powerhouses, at the cost of their own demise and the severance of their Legacies, sealed and banished the majority of the power of 'the end', and left behind countermeasures and prophecies to fight against 'the end'.

Among them, one of the most important countermeasures was to gather the Origin of several supreme Daos such as 'Five Elements', 'Return-to-Ruins', 'Life', 'War', 'Taiyin', 'Sun', etc., to gestate a 'Chaos Reincarnation Dao Seed' that could restrain 'the end', and even had the hope of transcending 'the end'!"

"Chaos Reincarnation Dao Seed?" Lin Wan's heart shook.

What was inside him was exactly the Chaos Return-to-Ruins Dao Fruit that had fused the Five Elements and Return-to-Ruins, and had unexpectedly obtained the "Source Seed of Life" to complete it, and had initially touched upon "Reincarnation"!

Could it be...

"Correct, it is the... prototype and core of the Dao Fruit you have in your body now."

Yue Li's gaze seemed to pierce through Lin Wan's body, seeing the rotating Dao Fruit in the center of his brow.

A trace of relief and complexity flashed in her eyes.

"This Dao Seed used the 'Five Elements Guixu Dao Seed' of the Five Elements Dao Venerable as its core, fused with the 'Source Seed of Life' of my Moon God Palace's Ancestral Master, part of the 'War Origin' of the War God, and the Dao imprints of several other supreme powerhouses.

It was then cast into Reincarnation with supreme Divine Ability to find the most suitable 'carrier' to gestate.

And you are the 'carrier' that was chosen."

"So, I was not conceived naturally, but... 'manufactured'? A 'tool' to fight against 'the end'?"

Lin Wan's voice carried a trace of coldness.

Although he had long suspected that his background was not simple, hearing such a "truth" still caused an indescribable, complex emotion to well up in his heart.

"No! Not a tool!" Yue Li said urgently, her eyes full of pain and love.

"You are our child!

You are our own flesh and blood, conceived in Reincarnation by me and your father, willingly, using our own essence blood, Divine Soul, and even Dao Origin as the lead, combined with the 'Chaos Reincarnation Dao Seed'!

It's just... your birth carried too many hopes and missions, and you were destined to shoulder the heavy burden of fighting against 'the end'.

To allow you to grow up safely and not attract the attention of 'the end' and its minions, we had to Seal your Bloodline and Dao Seed, disguise you as an orphan of Mortals, and entrust you to the Qingyun Sect, which was still weak at the time, to look after you.

As for your father and me, we had to fake our deaths to escape.

On one hand, we secretly protected you, and on the other, we went to complete our unfinished mission, searching for a way to thoroughly resolve 'the end', and paving the way for you..."

"So, all these years, you have always known of my existence, yet never appeared?" Lin Wan looked at the deep pain and guilt in his mother's eyes. The coldness in his heart lessened slightly, but it was still hard to let go. The feeling of being "abandoned" by one's closest kin, no matter how high-sounding the reason, could not be accepted in an instant.

"Yes..." Yue Li's tears finally couldn't be held back, sliding down her hazy face and turning into specks of light like moonlight. "We dared not appear, because the minions of 'the end', the 'Void Church', have been secretly searching for and hunting down all descendants of ancient Legacies, especially those related to the 'Chaos Reincarnation Dao Seed'. If we were by your side, we would only bring you catastrophic disaster. We could only use some special methods to occasionally sense your state, and when you truly encountered a life-or-death crisis, we could only provide you a sliver of help at the cost of a huge price... Just like before in the rift, I exhausted my last 'Source Seed of Life' mark to awaken a portion of the Origin within your body..."

So, that gentle voice and that life-saving emerald seed phantom really were his mother! The softest part of Lin Wan's heart was touched. He recalled the affection and reluctance in that voice, and the warmth and vitality brought by the seed phantom. If not for his mother's help at the last moment, he would have long since been buried under the "Void Burial".

"Mother..." This word was finally called out from Lin Wan's mouth, with difficulty yet incredibly naturally. He looked at his mother, who was tearful and filled with guilt and expectation, and the lingering resentment in his heart finally dissipated for the most part. He understood that his parents' choice was one of helplessness and sacrifice, and even more, a love that was deep to the extreme. They had not abandoned him, but were protecting him in another way, paving the way for him, and perhaps... even at this moment, they were fighting bloody battles somewhere for him, bearing even more terrifying dangers and pressures.

"Child... my child..." Hearing this call, Yue Li could no longer hold back. She stepped forward and pulled Lin Wan tightly into her embrace. Tears soaked Lin Wan's shoulder; that embrace was warm, trembling, and filled with the joy of recovery and endless sorrow.

Lin Wan stiffened for a moment, then slowly raised his hand to gently hug his mother back. He could feel that his mother's embrace was very light, as if it had no weight, and her aura carried a sense of illusion and instability, as if... her true self was not here?

"Mother, your body..." Lin Wan released the embrace and looked worriedly at his mother's hazy figure, which seemed to be condensed from moonlight.

"This is not my true body, only a remnant Divine Thought mark entrusted on a Legacy token of the 'Moon God Palace'." Yue Li wiped away her tears and revealed a gentle smile. "My true body, along with your father, is trapped in an extremely dangerous forbidden land related to the source of 'the end', and we are currently executing a crucial mission. This time, sensing that your Dao Seed had reached initial Perfection and you had stepped into Soul Transformation, and then encountered a life-or-death crisis, I was able to barely separate a sliver of my mark. Borrowing the power of the last token of the 'Moon God Palace', I briefly descended to see you. Time... is running out."

"A forbidden land? What kind of mission? Are Father and Mother in danger?" Lin Wan's heart tightened.

"I cannot tell you the specifics right now. Knowing too much is detrimental to you and to us." Yue Li shook her head, her expression becoming serious. "Child, I risked seeing you this time, firstly to acknowledge you, to tell you part of the truth, and to let you know that you are not alone. Behind you are your father and mother, and the expectations and sacrifices of countless predecessors. Secondly, there is something extremely important, related to the survival of this world and even the heavens and myriad worlds... that I must give to you."

She extended her right hand. Above her palm, moonlight condensed, and slowly emerged a palm-sized, crystal-clear, irregularly shaped fragment with a deep "night sky" color that seemed to encompass all the stars. The fragment was covered with ancient, mysterious, and strange patterns emitting faint "Reincarnation" and "Space-Time" Dao rhythms.

"This is..." From the fragment, Lin Wan felt an indescribable, supreme aura that seemed capable of communicating with the heavens and reversing space-time. Its level even faintly surpassed every treasure he had ever seen, including the chaos dao sword!

"This is... a fragment of the 'samsara mirror'." Yue Li's voice carried endless solemnity and a trace of awe. "The 'samsara mirror' is a Chaos Supreme Treasure naturally conceived at the beginning of the birth of the heavens and myriad worlds in the ancient era, which controls the 'Reincarnation' Origin! Legend has it that the complete 'samsara mirror' can reflect the past, present, and future of all living beings in the heavens and myriad worlds, can wield Reincarnation, reverse life and death, and even... catch a glimpse of the chance to transcend 'the end'!"

"During the ancient catastrophe, the 'samsara mirror' shattered and scattered across the heavens and myriad worlds, its whereabouts unknown. Your father and I spent countless efforts, facing death nine times out of ten, just to obtain this fragment. It is one of the keys to completely activating and completing the 'Chaos Reincarnation Dao Seed' within your body, allowing you to truly wield the power of 'Reincarnation' and resist 'the end'! It is also the only hope for finding other fragments in the future, and even recreating the 'samsara mirror'!"

"Now, I am giving it to you. With your current 'Reincarnation' Dao Fruit, you should be able to initially refine and fuse this fragment. This will not only elevate your understanding of 'Reincarnation' to a higher level and greatly increase your strength, but you can also use this fragment to sense other fragments, and even... sense those key places occupied or eroded by the 'Void Church' that hide the secrets of 'the end' and ancient Legacies!"

Yue Li gently placed the "samsara mirror" fragment into Lin Wan's hand. The fragment felt cool to the touch, yet it seemed to have the weight of a thousand jun. Furthermore, a vast, ancient "Reincarnation" Dao rhythm, which seemed to come from the beginning of the creation of the world, instantly resonated strongly with the Chaos Return-to-Ruins Dao Fruit between his brows! The Dao Fruit spun crazily, and the emerald brilliance upon it became brighter than ever before!

"Remember, child, the 'samsara mirror' fragment is hope, but also a source of disaster. The 'Void Church' must also be frantically searching for its whereabouts. Once you begin to refine it and your aura leaks, it is very likely to attract the covetousness and pursuit of 'Lord'-level or even higher existences! You must be careful!"

"Also," Yue Li's figure began to become increasingly transparent and illusory, as if it would dissipate into the moonlight at any moment. Her voice also carried a trace of urgency and reluctance. "The 'Void Church's' layout in this world far exceeds your imagination. Besides the 'anchor points', their true target is the sliver of the 'Origin mark' of the 'source of the end' that was sealed deep within the earth's core by the joint efforts of ancient powerhouses! If they obtain it, this world will be instantly swallowed by 'the end' and become a bridgehead for them to erode the heavens! You must integrate the power of the Five Regions as soon as possible, find and destroy all 'anchor points', and stop them! Your father and I will also do our best over there to delay and disrupt their plans, buying time for you..."

"Mother! You and Father..." Lin Wan was anxious in his heart, wanting to ask more, wanting to keep his mother.

"Time is up... Child, take care... Believe in yourself, believe in your 'Dao'... We... will definitely meet again..."

Yue Li's figure finally dissipated completely, turning into specks of moonlight that merged into the night sky, leaving behind only those gentle, reluctant, yet encouraging and expectant words that echoed in Lin Wan's ears and heart for a long time.

In the spot, only Lin Wan remained, holding the cold and heavy "samsara mirror" fragment, staring at the direction where his mother had disappeared, silent for a long time.

The night wind blew past, bringing a hint of chill.

After a long time, Lin Wan slowly tightened his grip on the fragment in his hand. His eyes became firm and sharp again, even carrying an unprecedented clarity that seemed capable of piercing through all fog.

"So that's how it is... 'Chaos Reincarnation Dao Seed'... 'Moon God Palace'... 'War God Hall'... 'samsara mirror'... 'source of the end'..."

All the clues were connected at this moment. His background, his mission, the enemies he faced, and... the future, which was even more magnificent and even more perilous and unpredictable.

"Father, Mother, rest assured."

"Your child will never let you down."

"This catastrophe of 'the end', this chess game of the heavens..."

"Let it be me, Lin Wan, who... holds the piece!"

He took a deep breath, put away the "samsara mirror" fragment, turned around, and strode toward the direction of Tiandu City.

His back was stretched long under the moonlight, yet it was incredibly upright, as if it could carry... the entire world.