Wang Lin, with a swift motion of his right hand over his storage pouch, conjured forth a multitude of Ascendant Fruits. His gaze, calm and unwavering, settled upon the Thunder Beast thrashing in the distance, ensnared by monstrous tentacles. It struggled mightily, yet dared not unleash its thunderous roar.

With a flick of his wrist, the Ascendant Fruits shattered, their sweet nectar coalescing into a crimson mist. Infused with the essence of his nascent soul, it pulsed with potent energy. Wang Lin stepped forth, his feet barely touching the ground, arriving swiftly at the writhing mass of tentacles and beast. He raised his hand, and with a decisive strike, plunged it downwards.

A series of crisp cracks echoed through the cavern as the crimson mist descended, enveloping the Thunder Beast. The tentacles that bound it, once a sickly green, began to loosen their grip, their hue deepening to a lurid scarlet.

Seizing the moment of loosened bonds, the Thunder Beast unleashed a torrent of concentrated lightning, its colossal form shrinking rapidly until it transformed into the form of a Lightning Chariot, a sleek vessel of crackling energy. With a final surge, it broke free from the tentacled prison.

Wang Lin, with a gesture of his left hand, summoned the Lightning Chariot and stowed it within his storage pouch.

Fear had clearly gripped the Thunder Beast, which once stubbornly resisted returning to its confined space. Having secured the beast, Wang Lin proceeded alone. His method was consistent: first, he would weaken the tentacles with the crimson mist, then land upon the ground and infuse the Ascendant Fruit nectar, bearing his own unique brand, into the tentacles’ very roots.

He repeated this arduous process tirelessly. Fortunate was he that his storage pouch held a vast reserve of Ascendant Fruits, exceeding his initial estimates. Were it not so, he would have surely exhausted his supply long ago. Even so, the fruits were dwindling, and it seemed that they would prove insufficient.

Wang Lin proceeded with utmost caution, his senses heightened. After several days of relentless effort, he had managed to imbue the vast majority of the tentacles on Cloudfall Star with the Ascendant Fruit nectar.

“The tentacles of Wang Yue,” he murmured, “are now seventy to eighty percent saturated with the Ascendant Fruit essence. With but a thought, I can unravel the imprints upon them. Alas, the Ascendant Fruits are all but gone. Had I more, I could have reached every single tentacle, and perfection would be achieved.”

After a moment of contemplation, Wang Lin abandoned the idea of searching for more Ascendant Fruits. This place held too many unsettling mysteries. He feared that upon his next visit, some new, unforeseen calamity would await.

Should Wang Yue awaken fully, the effects of the Ascendant Fruit concoction would be for naught.

A glint shone in Wang Lin’s eyes. He descended to the ground, sinking into the earth. In the subterranean soil, the viscous fluid was even more profuse. He channeled his celestial energy, pushing aside the clinging goo.

Without hesitation, Wang Lin plunged deeper, towards the immense Goldflame ore vein, the very bones of Wang Yue. The radiant glow illuminated the depths of the dark earth. He gazed upon the bones, his eyes shimmering with purpose. He reached out his hand, intending to absorb its power, but paused abruptly, his brow furrowed in suspicion.

“The one who guided Wang Yue’s transition from the second to the third state must possess staggering power. If they perished, so be it. But if they survived, concealed within Wang Yue, or even trapped… If I were to unleash the brand within the Ascendant Fruits while absorbing the Wang Yue bones, I might inadvertently draw them out! This would surely invite unforeseen complications.”

Wang Lin retracted his hand, lost in thought. He continued forward, tracing the length of Wang Yue’s bones, intent on thoroughly searching for any other hidden cultivators.

Caution was paramount to Wang Lin’s nature, particularly in matters of such grave importance. A single misstep could lead to his demise. He could ill afford to ignore the whispers of doubt.

“To extract Wang Yue’s bones from within Wang Yue itself… this undertaking ranks among the three most perilous of my entire existence.”

His eyes gleamed with renewed vigilance.

In the ancient lands of the Ancient Gods, he relied on his wit. In the Rain Immortal Realm, his caution served him well. In the Demon Spirit Lands, it was his decisiveness that saved him.

He continued along the path of bones. Suddenly, he froze, his eyes blazing with sudden insight, fixed upon a point ahead.

There, he saw a great fissure, partially obscured by a layer of dried-up slime, the result of ages passing.

The chasm was deep, nearly severing the bone itself. Wang Lin recalled clearly that this fissure had not been there on his previous visit.

He stepped forward warily, scrutinizing the chasm with mounting concern.

“So this is what caused Wang Yue to advance to the third form. The agony of such a wound would be enough to incite Wang Yue’s wrath. The one who inflicted this damage clearly did not recognize the true nature of Wang Yue. Otherwise, they would never have dared such an act.”

A cold smile played upon Wang Lin’s lips. He moved past the fissure, continuing his journey. But he had not gone far when he stopped again, glancing back at the chasm with a sense of unease.

After a moment of contemplation, he returned to the fissure, following the trail of dried slime. Finally, his eyes widened. He raised his right hand, and with a flourish, unleashed his celestial energy.

A wave of power, like a gentle breeze, swept across the surface, dissolving the dried slime, revealing the depths of the chasm.

There, wedged deep within the fissure, lay a massive stone.

Previously, the slime had obscured his view, and the stone had become almost indistinguishable from the bone, fused together by the ages.

But as Wang Lin had departed, he had sensed that the celestial energy in this area was denser than anywhere else. And the source of that energy was the fissure.

Wang Lin gazed upon the gigantic stone, now practically one with the Goldflame ore vein of Wang Yue’s bone. The sharpness in his gaze softened, replaced by an expression of uncanny awareness.

“Greed Wolf!” Wang Lin murmured, a sinister smile spreading across his face.
The stone, Wang Lin recognized at once. It was the very artifact he had wrested from the grasp of Greed Wolf back in the Realm of Demonic Spirits – a mountain essence, ripped from its slumber and weaponized by the avaricious cultivator.

“They have followed me, as I feared!” His eyes gleamed with a sharp light. Now was not the time to hasten his extraction of the Moon-Seer’s marrow.

“But who comes? All of them? Only my foes? Or merely Greed Wolf himself?” Wang Lin’s gaze remained fixed on the stone embedded within the Moon-Seer’s bone. He stroked his chin thoughtfully, then surged forward, diving directly into the colossal fissure.

The bone walls rose jagged and uneven on all sides. Luminous gold-flame shards emitted a faint, ethereal glow, painting the cavern in mesmerizing light.

“The Seven Star Sword Array was consumed by the Moon-Seer’s tentacles, its fate unknown. But this stone, this I cannot leave behind. Given Greed Wolf’s status and his acquisitive nature, any treasure he possesses must be extraordinary.” An odd brilliance sparked in Wang Lin’s eyes. Cautiously surveying his surroundings, he approached the edge of the stone.

The edges were fused seamlessly with the Moon-Seer’s bone, indistinguishable from the pale material. Glimmering gold-flame shards had even sprouted within the very stone itself.

“The assimilation is profound. This will not be easy. I cannot expend the power of the Ascendant Fruit just yet.” Wang Lin mused. After a moment’s contemplation, he formed his right hand into a sword-like gesture, testing the stone’s hardness. It proved incredibly resilient, not even marked by a finger empowered with celestial energy. His gaze sharpened. He summoned a wisp of Ling Tianhou’s sword-qi to his fingertips and resolved to forsake the pursuit of a perfect specimen. He would cleave off a mere three feet, skirting the assimilated sections. He brought his fingers down at the edge.

Soundlessly, a hairline fracture appeared on the stone’s surface, creeping slowly deeper. At last, a faint cracking resonated as this portion of the stone separated from the Moon-Seer’s bone.

Wang Lin had chosen his point of extraction with cunning precision, completely avoiding the areas that had merged with the flesh, thus avoiding stirring the Moon-Seer’s slumber.

He moved to the opposite side, studying it intently for a moment before repeating the gesture. This time, he moved with even greater care, for the assimilation here was far more advanced.

Wang Lin’s right hand followed the network of fused veins, slowly carving away the stone. He was close to freeing it entirely when his fingers froze. A chilling aura emanated from behind, raising the hairs on the back of his neck in an instant.

He dared not even risk a pulse of divine sense. The suffocating cold felt like a sword pointed directly at his brow, threatening agonizing pressure.

That feeling, laden with icy dread, originated behind him, growing ever stronger. Wang Lin’s eyes flashed with steely resolve. He swept his right hand across the stone before him, seizing the carved-out piece, and launched himself upwards. Simultaneously, his left hand shot behind him.

A Binding Spell! All of this unfolded in a heartbeat, without hesitation or wasted motion. The instant Wang Lin moved, a muffled roar echoed from behind him.

Clutching the stone, Wang Lin moved with impossible speed. The moment he cleared the bone fissure, he whisked the stone into his storage pouch and plunged headfirst into the earth below. He didn’t hesitate to invoke one of the elder’s escape techniques from the Realm of Demonic Spirits. The roar reverberated behind him. In the instant he had soared upwards, his divine sense had swept back, revealing a terrifying sight: a lesser Moon-Seer, ten feet of its body protruding from the earth! The Binding Spell had momentarily stalled its assault, giving Wang Lin the vital window to escape. In a flash, Wang Lin’s form vanished. The lesser Moon-Seer, its eyes burning crimson, scanned its surroundings, let out a frustrated bellow, then retreated back into the soil, disappearing without a trace.

Far away, Wang Lin tunneled through the earth, his movements swift and driven. The recent encounter had only emphasized the extreme danger of this place.

“How many Moon-Seers reside here?” Wang Lin’s face was a mask of grim contemplation.

Most alarming was the creature’s sudden appearance, which had gone entirely unnoticed. He had not experienced such a lapse in awareness in a very long time.

“That Moon-Seer was also in its third form. Damnable Greed Wolf! What has he done to warp this place so? Merely planting a mountain stone upon the Moon-Seer’s bone could not possibly cause such a transformation!”

Mid-escape, Wang Lin froze. He had grasped something, and his face grew even darker.