Chapter 357

363. Chapter 363: Beginning and End

A single thought of lying flat arises, and in an instant heaven and earth become vast.

Upon seeing the immeasurably huge statue of the White Lotus Holy Mother, Lin Ke decided to lie flat.

If I'm to be a tool, then I'll be a tool; it's no big deal.

The Old Supervisor was borrowing the myriad lights of homes and the mortal world's fortune, destroying the vessel of the White Lotus Holy Mother's descent, and also set an example for Lin Ke.

Since my own strength is insufficient, I will borrow power.

It seems the This World Dao Gate spent great effort to send the Yang Pin Shi Du Merit Seal and the Nine Old Immortal Capital Seal into his hands; they are not just for show.

The backup plan of Celestial Master Xu Jing is surely being saved for this moment.

What else is there to hesitate about?

Just follow intuition and charge ahead.

"What exactly are you doing?"

White Lotus Holy Mother Ai Rui Si actually saw Lin Ke's every move clearly.

But for some reason, she actually failed to recognize the two great dharma seals, even though they were merely imitations.

She also didn't understand the function of these two great dharma seals.

Thus Lin Ke seized the opportunity, at great cost, activating the two great dharma seals.

White Lotus Holy Mother naturally sensed a different tone from Lin Ke's actions.

However, considering herself the master of countless stars, with billions of believers offering faith, the White Lotus Holy Mother neither moved to stop him nor casually slew Lin Ke.

She wanted to see what use the means Lin Ke relied on actually had.

Being invincible for too long is always lonely; one needs to find some amusement.

Lin Ke certainly wouldn't linger here, regardless of whether it might provoke the White Lotus Holy Mother's backlash; he directly dragged his exhausted, oil-depleted body straight to the 'Heavenly Shuttle' starship.

Fortunately, the White Lotus Holy Mother's attention seemed to be held by some existence, so she did not continue to watch Lin Ke.

This allowed Lin Ke to smoothly enter the starship and smoothly return to the planet's interior.

Neglected for years, the shaky Heaven Shuttle descended into the Valley of the Dead and fell back into the pit.

Lin Ke had no intention of leaving the warship; he controlled the Heaven Shuttle, directing all its power to the defense system.

After doing these, he could no longer hold on and fell into a deep sleep.

The next second, the shackles were completely broken.

The blocked sea of consciousness and the wizard's cultivation slowly opened up.

As if endless vitality surged forth from the sea of consciousness at his brow, repairing Lin Ke's body riddled with wounds and exhausted.

Lin Ke's body began to reverse from its withered, dying state: white hair fell out, wrinkles smoothed, his frame straightened, and he regained the vigor of youth.

Yet this was not all; the sleeping Lin Ke continued to regress, from youth to adolescence, from adolescence to infancy, then to an embryo, and finally vanished.

At the moment Lin Ke's body disappeared, everything in this world seemed to have been paused.

Time stood still, space eternal.

In the starry sky.

The colossal statue of the White Lotus Holy Mother still stood tall.

Eyes formed from two stars blazed with light; upon the divine form composed of countless stars, the voices of prayer were solemn and sacred, while the wails were heart-rending.

In the light, the visage of the White Lotus Holy Mother appeared.

The left side was great compassion and mercy; the right side, great ferocity and wickedness.

Good and evil intertwined, benevolence and ferocity woven together—it both saved the world and brought slaughter and annihilation.

Before the statue, a place of tranquility.

The Yang Officer Merit Seal and the Nine Elders Immortal Seal hovered, each emitting a faint, glossy light.

This light paled in comparison to the radiance in the White Lotus Holy Mother's eyes, as vast as the difference between a firefly and the bright moon.

Yet it was precisely this feeble firefly's light, bit by bit, that overwhelmed the brilliant moonlight.

"That annoying old Taoist with a bull's nose."

The White Lotus Holy Mother offered no resistance, merely uttering a grunt, then allowing the two seals to act upon her.

First, the auspicious clouds atop her head were carved away; then the stars returned to their places, slipping from her eye sockets; next, the countless stars forming her divine body were released, the praying faithful awoke as if from a dream, and the wailing remnants of souls bathed in sweet dew and passed on.

More than thirty genius wizards turned into streams of light and faded away.

From this point on, the statue of the White Lotus Holy Mother began to collapse and disintegrate completely, the process proceeding smoothly.

Yet the Yang Officer Merit Seal and the Nine Elders Immortal Seal did not cease their motion.

Only to see the Yang Officer Merit Seal hurtle straight toward the empty left eye socket of the statue.

Suddenly, Ai Rui Si in a long gown was cut out by the Yang Officer Merit Seal, and reincorporated in the faint glossy light.

Next, the Nine Elders Immortal Seal hurtled straight toward the empty right eye socket of the statue.

The beast-taming wizard's equipment, Ai Rui Si. Mei Xi Ya, was cut out and reincorporated in the faint light.

The statue of the White Lotus Holy Mother completely disintegrated.

The divine soul purified, the pure and singular Ai Rui Si. Ke La Ke walked forth from nothingness.

"At last..."

Ai Rui Si. Ke La Ke sighed with emotion, "Finally liberated."

As her words faded, Ai Rui Si. Ke La Ke also vanished.

From then on, Ai Rui Si. Ke La Ke was simply herself, no longer affected by a split personality.

This realm became like a flower in the mirror, a moon in the water, shifting from reality to illusion.

After all, it was merely a trial for Ai Rui Si. Ke La Ke.

All participants' experiences seemed like an absurd dream.

After waking, it was like glass shattering on the floor, crashing apart.

Not a trace of the fragments remained.

Like an illusory bubble.

All were false.

……

Lin Ke woke up to find himself standing in a vast starry sky.

In his mind, the dozen-odd years of his reincarnated life were rapidly fading, emotions detaching.

His memory remained crystal clear; he would not forget a single detail.

Yet it felt as if behind a layer of frosted glass, preventing him from fully immersing himself.

"A dream?"

Lin Ke felt a sense of loss.

It wasn't that he was reluctant to leave the people and things behind.

From the moment he embarked on the path to sever karma and shackles, he had prepared himself to renounce everything.

However, whether it was this prearranged selection or the aimless evaluation afterward, the feeling of destiny was overwhelmingly strong.

As for the selection, if you pass you take Ai Rui Si. Ke La Ke's trial; if you fail, you simply return where you came from.

There was no competition process, no reference standards, it proceeded behind closed doors.

During the trial, Lin Ke thought deeply and made many preparations.

But when he actually faced the White Lotus Holy Mother, his thoughts came to nothing and his preparations were useless.

The only thing that proved useful was the Human Immortal Martial Arts cultivation he had practiced mainly for self‑defense, and the secret law he had altered from wizard‑world sorcery to increase his intimidation.

The sense of destiny was too strong.

Everything that happened seemed to be deliberately following some arrangement or someone's plan.

Especially that mighty White Lotus Holy Mother—it was as if she had deliberately rushed onto Lin Ke's gun to commit suicide.

Even the gun Lin Ke held was supposedly forged by the Void Tranquil Heavenly Master, wound around and slid into his hand.

All Lin Ke needed to do was make a choice when confronted with the White Lotus Holy Mother, caught in a dilemma.

Moreover, is it truly a dilemma just because it's called one?

Everything was forcing Lin Ke to pull the trigger and activate the two great seals!

"Grand Wizard?"

Beside him, Jessie Min Michelle recovered consciousness, saw Lin Ke still dazed, and called out.

"What's wrong?"

Lin Ke suppressed the turmoil in his heart and replied.

If there's anything you don't understand, leave here, go back to the academy, and figure it out later.

For now, it's best to deal with the present. "Grand Wizard, what trials have you gone through?"

Jessie Min Michelle asked curiously, but before Lin Ke could answer she added, "I'm so angry. I once ruled the world, roamed the universe, yet out of nowhere a White Lotus Sect appeared and smashed my achievements. Alas, I never finished the trial and ended up a prisoner."

Saying this, Jessie Min Michelle's eyes sparkled as she looked at Lin Ke: "Grand Wizard, what about you? Did you complete the trial?"

"I don't know."

Lin Ke shook his head, speaking truthfully.

"You don't know? Why wouldn't you know?"

Jessie Min Michelle grew even more curious.

"I don't know."

Lin Ke again spoke truthfully.

But this time, telling the truth made Jessie Min Michelle feel a bit defensive.

"You don't know anything?"

"I think you just don't want me to know."

Jessie Min Michelle felt a surge of anger inside, but she kept her composure on the surface, not lashing out.

She couldn't abandon her sweet, obedient girl persona.

It's not like they'd never interact again.

Michel's Great Sage Tower and the Rui Wo Suo Si Academy still had many days ahead.

At that moment, the starry sky changed.

All the genius wizards who had taken Ai Rui Si. Ke La Ke's trial were instantly shifted away.

After a long time without experiencing that sense of spacetime disjunction, Lin Ke found that Jessie Min Michelle was no longer beside him as a partner, and he was in a vast, empty space.

"What do you want?"

A lofty, far‑reaching voice suddenly sounded.

Hearing it, Lin Ke instantly realized this was a reward?

It seems the Supreme Council is being very generous about this.

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But what does he need, and what does he want?

"I want a chance to start over?"

In the blink of an eye, Lin Ke understood his own heart and made his request.

"What?"

The grand, lofty voice paused for a moment, then sounded again, quite puzzled.

"I want an opportunity to start from a witch apprentice and cultivate anew."

Lin Ke, in this moment, strengthened his resolve further.

Speaking of this dreamlike trial, what it brought Lin Ke was naturally the already solidly founded configuration witch school.

Fortunately, after Lin Ke fully recovered his memories and strength, he realized he no longer needed to design another configuration for himself.

Not to mention as numerous as the stars, at least the diverse innate witchcraft 'Battle Armor' is a ready-made blueprint for the 'configuration' set.

What other 'configuration' set could be more suitable for Lin Ke than 'Battle Armor'?

Taking the most primitive, pure 'Battle Armor' as the main configuration, other functions such as space survival, wilderness survival, interstellar combat, land combat, ocean combat... can serve as sub-configurations or plugins.

Thus, one fish, multiple meals.

When facing different situations, there's no need to switch the Battle Armor on the fly; just adjust the sub-configuration or plugin.

During the adjustment, one can still maintain basic combat power, defense, and survival ability.

"A strange request."

The grand, lofty voice did not avoid Lin Ke, muttering loudly.

Lin Ke's face twitched.

After staying long in the immortal martial arts world, one is unaccustomed to the witch world's setting where higher-ranked witches are more free-spirited.

"As you wish."

Without giving Lin Ke time to think, the grand, lofty voice resonated again across this vast expanse.

A jet-black beam of light sprang up out of nowhere and fell upon Lin Ke.

In just an instant, Lin Ke felt what a gap is.

The Third-rank Witch's realm was completely stripped away.

His mental power and magical power, however, did not diminish.

This allowed Lin Ke to retrace the path from witch apprentice to Third-rank Witch in a short time.

"Thank you."

Lin Ke casually chose a direction and bowed.

The grand, lofty voice did not sound again.

The vast expanse also did not linger Lin Ke, gently but firmly ejecting him.

The familiar sensation of spacetime separation ended; Lin Ke discovered he had actually returned to the main planet of the Ruowosuosi Academy.

"So thoughtful?"

Lin Ke now has no realm, only possessing vast mental and magical power, like a child carrying gold through a bustling market.

That unseen presence, known only by its voice, directly sent Lin Ke back to the Ruowosuosi Academy, and it truly helped him.

However……

Lin Ke stood outside the crystal wall of the academy's main planet, feeling that if he didn't think of a solution soon, he would soon suffocate and forget.

In space, there's no air!

He is now merely a hollow shell with only mental and magical power; he will really die!

"Damn it!"

Lin Ke couldn't help wanting to curse loudly, but he didn't dare open his mouth.

There's not much oxygen left in his body.

"Master! Master! You've finally returned!"

Just then, Lin Ke heard a voice he hadn't heard in a long time by his ear.

After abandoning the real 'small world', Fulanduo and Kenaliya have been residing in Lin Ke's sea-of-consciousness small world.

"Fulanduo, send Master some oxygen and contact Mo Li."

Lin Ke hastily messaged Fulanduo, first to solve the survival issue, then to figure out how to enter the academy's main world.

"All right, Master."

As the words fell, fresh air was sent into Lin Ke's mouth and nose.

Fulanduo then said: "Master, Master, what have you done again? How did you conjure up another small world?"

"What small world?"

Lin Ke, hearing this, was instantly stunned.

Before Fulanduo could answer, Lin Ke's consciousness dove into the sea of consciousness, and he was even more stunned.

The sea-of-consciousness small world, which should have been illusory and was only slowly turning real, the Earth in the solar system had actually become real.

Moreover……

No matter how Lin Ke looked at that blue planet, it felt familiar.

After a moment, Lin Ke recalled it.

When boarding the 'Heaven Shuttle' to go to space and meeting the White Lotus Holy Mother, he inadvertently glanced back and saw the appearance of the immortal martial arts planet, which was exactly that.

"Fulanduo, what's going on?"

Stunned, Lin Ke actually asked a nonsensical question.

"Is Master muddle-headed? How would Fulanduo know?"

As expected, Fulanduo stood with hands on hips, glaring at Lin Ke angrily: "Fulanduo is still waiting for Master's explanation, how bizarre."

Lin Ke did not answer Fulanduo, but instead sank his consciousness into the immortal martial arts planet.

This is undoubtedly a real-existing planet, yet also a planet existing in a superposition of reality and illusion.

Time congealed, ceased flowing; space was eternal, unchanging.

In the capital's imperial palace, the empress is praying to the deity statue, the Wei Du Gong edition Kang Qian Emperor is worrying, the Daoist demon-extermination troop is entering the capital, and rebellions across the land are about to flare up.

It looks like a piece of amber!