Douluo Dalu: Ascension Across the Realms

Chapter 206: Chapter 206: The Path of Mortality (Final)



"So the two of you really do know each other." Chen Xiaoming chuckled softly, pouring a glass of fruit wine and pushing it toward the elderl

"So the two of you really do know each other."

Chen Xiaoming chuckled softly, pouring a glass of fruit wine and pushing it toward the elderly man's table.

"Senior, it's been ten years, but you're still as remarkable as ever."

Wang Lin smiled lightly. He made no attempt to deflect or obscure his words just because Chen Xiaoming was present. After living next door to him for over a decade, how could Wang Lin not have come to understand the man?

At least in Wang Lin's eyes, Chen Xiaoming's cultivation was by no means inferior to the old man's—perhaps even a step beyond.

The old man's gaze was fixed solely on Wang Lin. He stared for a long while, the peculiar look on his face growing more intense. Finally, he sighed and, with a touch of admiration in his eyes, said,

"Mortalization… you actually did it. You truly became a mortal!"

Wang Lin picked up a small jug from the pot before him, poured himself a cup, and drank it down before replying,

"I've merely been struggling to live among mortals, hardly as carefree as you, Senior, who roams the mortal world in delight."

The old man let out a deep breath and took a sip from the wine Chen Xiaoming had poured for him earlier.

"In my lifetime, I've seen countless Soul Formation cultivators. But one who managed to achieve Mortalization in just ten years? You're the first."

Wang Lin said nothing. His heart was tranquil, without the slightest ripple. He merely smiled faintly and turned his gaze toward the stage, where a performer was reciting tales.

Chen Xiaoming, too, seemed unfazed by the conversation between Wang Lin and the old man. Yet, when his eyes brushed past the elder, a trace of contemplation flickered within them.

Wang Lin had chosen to become mortal, to live out the full arc of a human life—birth, aging, sickness, and death. The old man, on the other hand, treated the mortal world as a game, finding joy in the dust of the red world, living freely and unrestrained.

Though both sought enlightenment within the mortal realm, the paths they took were not the same.

Just like his own path—he, too, sought clarity within the red dust of the world.

"Enjoy the performance, Senior. I take my leave."

When Chen Xiaoming returned to himself, the conversation between Wang Lin and the old man had already ended. He watched briefly as Wang Lin took his wine jug and rose to leave the tavern.

The old man was momentarily dazed, then his eyes lit up as he muttered,

"Interesting."

"Senior, your conversation earlier intrigued me. May I ask—what exactly is a 'Domain'?"

Chen Xiaoming raised his glass of fruit wine and took a sip before asking with a lighthearted smile.

The old man was caught off guard again. He turned to look at Chen Xiaoming, scrutinizing him with a serious gaze—until his stern face suddenly shifted into one of lecherous mischief.

"You see, when a man grows old and hungry, it's hard to remember anything at all."

Chen Xiaoming chuckled softly, then beckoned a waiter with a whisper at his ear. Afterward, he picked up his wine jug and left.

"Please enjoy, Senior," he said politely as he passed the old man and exited the tavern, heading toward his medical clinic, leaving behind only the elder's profound gaze following his departure.

From Chen Xiaoming's body, the old man could sense no spiritual fluctuation whatsoever. He was just like… a mortal.

Yes, just like a mortal. But not a mortal.

Because, from Chen Xiaoming… he had felt threatened.

On the entire Vermilion Star, those who could give him that kind of feeling could be counted on one hand.

Which made the old man hesitate.

"Just what are you… a mortal, or…?"

His soft murmur echoed into the air, and his figure vanished soundlessly. No one in the tavern noticed his disappearance, as if he had never been there to begin with.

...

As he walked the road home, Chen Xiaoming glanced at the figure of Wang Lin fading in the distance. He said nothing and quietly returned to his clinic.

Yet something about that tavern encounter stirred him.

Something felt… missing.

Lying back in his reclining chair, Chen Xiaoming closed his eyes, slowly recalling everything that had happened in the past ten years. The more he remembered, the more his brows furrowed. Before long, he had fallen into a haze of uncertainty.

...

Meanwhile, in the shop next door to his clinic, both Wang Lin and the old man had already left.

Time flowed onward.

And Chen Xiaoming remained asleep in his chair, seemingly unaware of everything, like a man lost in a dream.

Even when Wang Lin and the old man returned, he did not awaken.

...

"Young man, tell me—do you know who your neighbor really is?"

After teleporting ten thousand miles back with Wang Lin, the old man swept his divine sense through the adjoining wall and found Chen Xiaoming still in deep slumber. Despite probing, he detected no spiritual aura—just like a true mortal.

Unable to glean anything, the old man turned to Wang Lin. After all, they had shared a table at the tavern.

"…Hm? Senior, you can't see through him?"

Wang Lin's brows furrowed slightly, surprise in his voice. Though he and Chen Xiaoming had lived side by side for years, they hadn't interacted much. But if even a being of the old man's cultivation couldn't see through him, that certainly confirmed Wang Lin's own suspicions.

"Bah! If I could see through him, would I be asking you?"

The old man cursed, frustrated. He was in the mid-stage of Ascendant Realm—two step from the peak—yet here on Vermilion Star, he had encountered someone whose cultivation remained utterly opaque to him. It was absurd!

"Honestly, Senior, I don't know him well. All I can say is… he walks the same path as I do—the Path to Mortality"

Wang Lin sighed. He'd long suspected the man was anything but ordinary. But since the man had never intruded on his cultivation, Wang Lin, too, had chosen not to intrude on his.

"…As I thought."

The old man's divine sense once again scanned Chen Xiaoming. For someone to completely evade detection from a cultivator of his level, there were only two possibilities: either Chen Xiaoming's cultivation surpassed his own, or he possessed some treasure capable of blocking spiritual sense.

Between the two, the old man leaned toward the second.

Still, a glint flashed in his eyes. A treasure that could shield from mid-Ascendant spiritual sense was extraordinarily rare…

That gleam didn't escape Wang Lin, who frowned and hesitated for a moment before finally speaking.

"Senior… his cultivation is above Soul Formation."

He had seen the old man's straw hat and had once suspected that Chen Xiaoming might be using a similar artifact. But remembering his first encounter with the man… no, the difference had been one of power, not concealment.

The old man had shared insight into the Domain of others—this much Wang Lin owed him. So he chose to speak the truth.

His words were like a bucket of cold water, sobering the old man in an instant.

A flicker of recollection stirred within him—he, too, remembered the sensation in the tavern.

Yet deep inside, he still refused to believe that someone's cultivation could exceed his own.

With a swish of motion, the old man vanished without another word. Wang Lin remained silent as well—he had said all that needed to be said. What the old man did next was no longer his concern.

...

Having just glimpsed the profound insight of another's Domain, Wang Lin's mind churned with thoughts. He sat down and closed his eyes, letting the realization settle.

And back inside the medical clinic, Chen Xiaoming slowly opened his eyes. A shadow of disappointment and despondency lingered in his gaze.

"Sigh…"

A heavy sigh escaped his lips. Even after reflecting on the past decade of his life, Chen Xiaoming had yet to grasp the essence of Karmic Domain. Enlightenment remained elusive. He still could not discern what he was missing.

"What is it that my Dao still lacks…?"

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