How come the celestial technique I stole is so powerful?!

The Mad Taoist let out a light breath: "Indeed, your life has just become bound with Li Qianzong's. If you die, the Tashan Defense Line will fall too. So, you simply can't die, but anything else is permissible."

"You understand me, Master Taoist!" Lin Xiaosu also sighed lightly.

The Wing Blade pierced through space, already flying over the Yangtze River, breaking into the Jiangnan Land...

At this moment in Jiangnan, it's the third month of spring, the grass grows tall, and the orioles fly. It is the most beautiful season of the year.

On the Wing Blade, Lin Xiaosu gazed at this beautiful scenery, yet was filled with mixed emotions. How many people are strolling in the parks of Jiangnan Land, admiring the tall grass and flying orioles? How many are still on their way to work, striving hard to provide a better life for their families?

Do they know that a catastrophic disaster is already on its way?

Today they might be worried or unsatisfied. Do they realize that in the near future, these little worries, these unfulfilled desires, might become their luxuries?

Ah, people will always hope for better, higher, stronger, and more. But when their peaceful lives are disrupted, when the basic bottom line of tranquility is taken from them, they will wake up and realize that their past selves had once possessed everything they dreamed of...

"Kid, have you ever thought that all our efforts might be in vain?" The Mad Taoist's voice drifted lightly.

"I have! But still, we must strive."

"Why?" the Mad Taoist asked.

Lin Xiaosu retracted his gaze: "Let me tell you a story... It is said that at the beginning of our nation's founding, our warriors fought in foreign lands, gnawing on frozen, hard potatoes in the icy snow, drinking melted snow, and using outdated weapons against the seventeen-nation coalition. A reporter interviewed a warrior: If this war is won, what will you do? Do you know what the warrior said?"

"What did he say?"

"He calmly told the reporter: I won't live to see the day of victory."

"Because he knows he won't see it, so he doesn't even think about it, right?"

"Yes!"

The Mad Taoist slowly lifted his gaze: "He's just an ordinary person, but you... you're not ordinary."

"Master Taoist, you're wrong. Everyone thinks they are the unique light in this world, but in reality, everyone is just a fleeting wave in the river of time, including all living beings, and naturally, including you and me. On the contrary, in my eyes, that warrior is the one who is not ordinary, because he has a clear sense of self and something he holds dear."

"You didn't understand what I meant," the Mad Taoist said. "The Ancient Wilderness Passage has opened, you actually have another choice. You can enter the Ancient Wilderness, in that world, use your talents and showcase your abilities. You can rise to prominence in that world and become exceptional. This is the universal logic of your world: survival of the fittest."

"And then?" Lin Xiaosu asked. "Shall I then return to this world in a majestic manner, stepping on thousands of layers of clouds?"

"There's nothing wrong with that!"

"But what happens then? When relatives are gone, and all around is desolate, with things changing and people too—what would be the meaning of my departure today? Even if I tread on clouds in the future, what meaning would that have..."

The Mad Taoist was silent.

"Sorry, Master Taoist, I have long said, I don't wish to become a god on the Cultivation Path, I want to be a person! I can be very ordinary, can be ephemeral, but until death, I want to be a person!"

The Mad Taoist smiled faintly: "Kid, let's talk about something lighter."

"Sure, you start!" Lin Xiaosu also relaxed.

The Mad Taoist said: "You've been stumbling through life in this world for twenty-three years, acting domineeringly for almost three years. Up till today, do you have any regrets?"

"Damn! You know my first twenty-three years were not easy, yet you didn't lend a hand." Lin Xiaosu said: "As for regrets, where in life isn't there regrets? Even today, there are still regrets."

"Like what?"

"For example, I have ventured on the Cultivation Path to this point, yet I still can't glimpse the scenery beyond Observing Heaven. For example, the upcoming May Day, my brother is getting married, and I probably won't make it. For example, I have a few women one might call wives, yet to this day, I have no children, and I wonder if my parents will end up with no descendants. Forget it, a heap of regrets... What about you, Master Taoist, do you have regrets?"

"My regret may only be one, I've always been puzzled as to why Widow Feng from your village wouldn't take a liking to me?" the Mad Taoist said.

Lin Xiaosu stared at him, confused for a moment.

It was a legend, a countryside tale.

Legend has it that the Mad Taoist fell for Widow Feng, enlisted someone to propose, and Widow Feng considered it an insult. She rushed to the Mad Taoist's cave, hands on hips, blasting him with curses so severe it was said to have made one Buddha emerge and two ascend to heaven, turning it into a humorous village story for miles around.

"At the time, Widow Feng didn't know how accomplished you were, she judged by appearances." Lin Xiaosu comforted him. "Why don't you, after this task, go back, change clothes, take a bath, get a haircut, tidy your beard, and try again?"

"Does this look work?" the Mad Taoist slowly stood up.

When he stood up, his hair suddenly became sleek.

His beard suddenly turned neat.

His worn Taoist robe also suddenly looked smooth.

The dirt on him disappeared in an instant.

The whole person no longer appeared as a crazy, disheveled mystic, but as a genuinely enlightened sage.

"Master Taoist, if you show up in front of Widow Feng like this, she'd go insane..." Lin Xiaosu marveled.

The Mad Taoist laughed heartily: "Take a picture of me and send it to her!"

"Is there a need? You can go face her in person and experience her 'flowers will bloom again, and people can be young again'..."

The Mad Taoist gently raised his hand and patted Lin Xiaosu's shoulder: "Kid, the cause and effect of this task are too great for you to bear, let me handle it!"

Lin Xiaosu's heart trembled slightly.

Today, the flying car took off from Tashan and headed straight for the South Sea; it actually only took eight minutes.

In these eight minutes, they talked about a lot of things, retracing the past, looking to the future, from the highest level of causal games, to the lowest level of country widow affairs, seemingly running completely off topic, completely lost.

Yet in the final moment approaching the South Sea, they returned!

The Mad Taoist had changed his appearance, undertaking this cause and effect in a form he had never presented in his life.

Lin Xiaosu felt a subtle unease in his heart, when someone suddenly changes their past image completely, it heralds the greatest turning point in life.

Judging by this stance, the Mad Taoist seemed about to achieve Nirvana.

But, hadn't he said before?

He still had two chances to act.

If the Cause and Effect Plate is not wrong, this trip is unlikely to end in death...

South Sea.

Giant white military ship.

The waves rise and fall, the morning sun rises.

The spring breeze blows across the sea surface, faintly carrying last night's residual fishiness, but the sea has already washed away the traces of last night's fierce battle.

On the deck, warriors stand shoulder to shoulder with Kun Cang's giants.

Li Chushui gazes into the distance.

She was named after water and spent her life studying it, yet ironically, it is only today she truly witnesses the ocean's grandeur and magnificence.

Even more ironic is that she, as a Kun Cang giant with water as her sect, comes to the vast South Sea but feels not a sense of pride, but the desolation of being insignificant in the face of boundless nature.

In last night's battle, they slew countless fierce beasts.

However, the news they just received left all the Kun Cang giants, including her, dumbfounded.

There is a sect in this folded space.

The fierce beasts, viewed by everyone as the greatest enemy, are actually just the "pigs" raised by the sect.

They fought all night with the opponent's livestock, using all their trump cards yet seeing no victory.

What will happen next?

Heaven and earth stretch vast and boundless, with no support...

"Master!" Ding Ruoshui hurriedly ran out from the operations room inside: "A super expert has appeared over at Tashan! The siege of Tashan has been lifted."

"Super expert?" Li Chushui's eyes lit up: "To what extent?"

Silently, four giants gathered around, everyone's eyes shining brightly, including Yin Jiuyou.

Yes, Yin Jiuyou was also among their ranks.

In the past, Yin Jiuyou, a representative figure of the Upper Three Sects, was the central figure at any important Kun Cang occasion. Now things are different; now he can only be one of the Kun Cang giants led by Li Chushui.

"To what extent, no one knows, but facing thirteen Enlightenment God Realm experts, he made a scarecrow fly up, killing them all with ease."

Everyone held their breath.

After a long pause, Yin Jiuyou exhaled: "Is it that butterfly?"

"No! He's just a seemingly crazy Taoist from Tashan, who has lived there for decades. No one knew he possessed unparalleled divine skills."

Li Chushui let out a long breath: "So, this world indeed hides many talents, and at any time, it is not a dead end!"

"Exactly! He's coming! Little Su, he's coming over..." Ding Ruoshui's smile showed infinite beauty, infinite excitement...

The Kun Cang giants, looking at each other, suddenly all exhaled a long breath.

No one admits it, but Lin Xiaosu is their backbone.

However, they must also admit from the heart that when they heard Lin Xiaosu was coming, the heavy pressure weighing on their hearts suddenly eased a lot.

Inside the operations room, seven people.

Five with the appearance of generals, the remaining two were Blood Trace and Lin Weiyang.

In front of them was a huge map.

The map was just drawn, brought by Wing Blade; it showed this folded space.

A pre-war meeting had just been held, with a tone set.

The nuclear bomb is on the rack.

The army is in position.

The defense line has been arranged...

Blood Trace paused his final approval to headquarters because Lin Xiaosu was coming...

He'll be here soon!

Should they wait for this last half-minute?

This was Blood Trace's last struggle; common sense told him that the three defense lines each had their responsibilities, and as the chief commander of South Sea protection, he didn't need Lin Xiaosu, the chief commander of the Tashan Defense Line, to tell him what to do.

However, after many years of walking the same path, he always felt there should be a better way.

They couldn't figure it out, but perhaps Lin Xiaosu could...

Suddenly, his gaze turned to the window.

Outside the window, a Wing Blade was breaking through the sky.

"It's here!" Lin Weiyang gently exhaled.

His face carried a certain reassurance.

The war strategy before them was devised by Blood Trace but also by him, Lin Weiyang.

Lin Weiyang was eager to see if there were any differences should Lin Xiaosu be the one to formulate the combat plan, but he also seemed to worry that once this Lin family member arrived, with his super combat thinking, he'd once again turn the tide and make Lin Weiyang feel the crushing of combat thinking...

It was a very complex and contradictory mentality.

But Lin Weiyang's mental strength was top-notch, his thoughts never reflected on his face.

However, as the Wing Blade pierced the sky, it did not decelerate, nor did it land on the deck, but instead suddenly accelerated, with a bang breaking the sound barrier, shooting into the folded space.