The Blood Ancestor’s voice, thick with impending doom, echoed within the confined space, rending mountains and melting valleys. In a heartbeat, a thousand ancient wards shattered, unleashing the storage realm’s final collapse.

Eyes blazing crimson, the Blood Ancestor teetered on the edge of madness, his speed defying comprehension. In a single stride, he reached the arcane-reinforced teleportation array.

Behind him, the collapsing realm roared like a black flame, a ravenous inferno poised to consume him.

As the Blood Ancestor prepared to plunge into the shimmering portal, Wang Lin, still hunted by the Crimson Needle on the shattered continent, wore a mask of grim determination. Though the Blood Ancestor had purged his nascent soul within the Immortal Guardian, the puppet-like construct remained.

Through the faintest tendril of connection, Wang Lin witnessed, as if present himself, the swirling energies of the teleportation array coalescing into the nascent form of the Blood Ancestor.

To allow the Blood Ancestor escape was to invite certain death, to extinguish any ember of hope.

In this dire moment, he sighed, a silent pact forged in his heart. “I have failed to uphold my promise, Wang will compensate for it in the days to come!”

Outside the teleportation array, the Immortal Guardian, still bound within the Blood Sea’s thrall, blazed with sudden golden light. The brilliance intensified, engulfing its entire being. Cracking sounds echoed from within, laced with an aura of annihilation.

A storm of energy erupted within the Guardian. Golden rays, like blades of celestial fire, tore outwards. The puppet, forged in the Yin Void realm, detonated, the force of its self-destruction tearing it free from the Blood Ancestor’s lingering control.

Yet even without its master’s guidance, the Blood Ancestor’s arcane art held sway. The Blood Sea devoured nearly sixty percent of the Guardian’s self-destructive power.

Bearing the remaining four parts, the Guardian shattered its chains and reached the teleportation array just as the Blood Ancestor’s form materialized within. Like a newborn sun, the Guardian erupted in a final, blinding explosion of golden light.

The unleashed power overwhelmed the array. In an instant, the portal collapsed, dissolving into shimmering motes that vanished into nothingness.

Half of the Blood Ancestor’s form was within the array when he cried out in anguish as he was forcefully ejected from the array as it disappeared before his very eyes, as if eons of time were compressed into a single breath.

Seeing this, a strange light glimmered in the Blood Ancestor’s eyes. Without hesitation, he glanced at the enchanted sphere containing Yao Xixue and crushed it with his bare hands!

Even with the Blood Soul Pill coursing through her veins, a single dose would be insufficient to resurrect Yao Xixue amidst the collapsing realm. So, the Blood Ancestor intervened, shattering the protective prison to ensure her revival.

His intimate knowledge of the Blood Soul Pill told him all he needed to know the moment he saw the sphere – Yao Xixue had already ingested the restorative elixir.

Behind him, the black flames surged. The Blood Ancestor radiated crimson light, attempting to stave off the realm’s disintegration, buying time for Yao Xixue’s spirit to return unmolested.

Spreading his arms, the Blood Ancestor unleashed the full power of his Nirvana Exalted cultivation. Crimson energy pulsed from his being, a bulwark against the encroaching black fire.

In an instant, his form was engulfed, consumed by the inferno. Pain, unlike any he had endured in millennia, assaulted him. Yet, to the Blood Ancestor, it was nothing. He focused all his might on shielding the three feet of space before him, protecting Yao Xixue’s fading consciousness.

The space of the Blood Ancestor’s breath was long enough to be perceived as decades. Protected by her father, within the shattered prison, Yao Xixue’s consciousness slowly dissipated, untouched by the ravages of the collapsing realm.

In the Land of the Demon Spirit, at the very spot where Yao Xixue had swallowed the Blood Soul Pill, crimson light coalesced, forming her naked body.

She stirred, gazing into the heavens, her eyes burning with both profound sorrow and vengeful intent.

Seeing his daughter’s consciousness safely departed, the Blood Ancestor’s lips curled into a gentle smile. In that very instant, he was entirely consumed by the ravenous black fire.

He retrieved three Blood Soul Pills from his pouch, but did not swallow them; instead, he crushed them.

Thirteen were the only Blood Soul Pills in existence! The greatest part of them were with Yao Xixue; and these three were what was left for the Blood Ancestor! As the shattered pills dissolved, the azure essence within mingled with the encroaching black flames, vanishing together.

The storage realm collapsed, the contents therein disappearing into the void, not simply transferred to another plane, but utterly annihilated, leaving no trace behind.

Wang Lin, on the fractured continent, fled with desperate speed, manifesting nine flashes of blood-light as he fled the crimson needle in pursuit.

Yet, the next moment, the crimson needle ceased its chase, fracturing and dissolving… Wang Lin breathed a sigh of relief, his robes soaked with cold sweat, a chill wind raising gooseflesh.

Before him, the crimson needle had become translucent, on the verge of disappearing. Yet, as if defying oblivion, it halted its disintegration and turned to flee.

“Not dead?!” Wang Lin’s eyes widened in horror. He launched himself forward, grasping at the void with both hands. A torrent of spiritual essence erupted from his lips, weaving into a cage that ensnared the fleeing crimson needle.

The needle screamed, a piercing shriek as it battered against its prison. With each impact, Wang Lin paled.

His gaze hardened, and he channeled his celestial energy, strengthening the cage. Slowly, he drew the captive needle closer, his eyes fixed upon it, resolute.
“Seal!” Wang Lin intoned, his voice a low growl. The arcane cage he had conjured snapped shut with impossible speed, constricting until it clung to the crimson needle, forming a potent seal. With a powerful grip, he seized the needle, his boots landing heavily on the desolate ground.

Had the Blood Ancestor not been weakened beyond measure, its powers diminished to mere embers, the binding of this needle would have been an impossible feat. But now, at its most vulnerable, Wang Lin poured every last drop of his celestial energy into the enchantment, finally subduing the cursed thing.

Yet, even sealed, the needle pulsed with an unsettling energy, threatening to burst free at any moment. Wang Lin inhaled deeply, his face a mask of grim determination.

“The Blood Ancestor lives… though surely clinging to the precipice of oblivion. Only such weakness could explain the needle’s state…” A chilling light ignited in Wang Lin’s eyes as he scrutinized the crimson artifact. It was translucent, radiating a palpable aura of death, a desperate yearning. “This needle is drawn to the Blood Ancestor, pulled by a tether of blood and malice. I cannot squander this chance! I must wager everything!”

With a determined snarl, Wang Lin hurled the sealed needle forward with his right hand. It shimmered and vanished, streaking towards the horizon with unnatural speed. Wang Lin followed relentlessly, channeling his celestial energy as he pursued the projectile. The seal he had forged on the needle served as a beacon, guiding him through the desolate landscape. The hunter and the hunted, a lone warrior and a cursed artifact, vanished in blurs of speed, swallowed by the vastness of the Thunder Celestial Realm.

Within the Realm, adrift in the ethereal void, floated countless droplets of blood. Each one thrummed with faint blue light, a morbid beauty amidst the desolation.

Imprisoned within each droplet lay a fragment of the Blood Ancestor’s spirit and a sliver of its vast, but now impotent, power. During the chaotic collapse of its storage realm, it had been forced to expend three Blood Soul Pills and invoke a forbidden Yao clan secret art, barely clinging to existence.

The Blood Ancestor, in its overweening pride, had not ingested the Blood Soul Pills prior to its arrival in the Roaming Heaven Starfield. Had it done so, the invocation of the secret art would have been far more potent, allowing it to reform within the familiar embrace of its Blood Star in the Alliance Star Territory.

Now, within the void, these scattered droplets were not still, but slowly, inexorably drawing together, a macabre ballet of reunion. Once fully coalesced, the Blood Ancestor could rise again.

The agonizing process stretched on for three long months. The scattered droplets, once dispersed across a vast expanse, now hovered close, some already fused into larger pools of crimson essence.

The Blood Ancestor’s fractured spirit stirred, teetering on the edge of awakening. Once fully awakened, its rate of recovery would surge exponentially.

On this day, nearly six-tenths of the scattered droplets had merged, and the Blood Ancestor’s spirit began to claw its way back from the abyss of oblivion.

But then, from the distant reaches of the void, a streak of lightning howled, a tempestuous surge of raw power. At its heart was a Thunder Beast, its coat shimmering with silver, its head adorned with majestic horns. Around its neck, a heavy iron chain was fastened, and its body was haphazardly draped with countless tattered paper talismans.

Even its magnificent silver horns were marred, pierced with a crude hole through which a rusty iron ring had been crudely forced.

The Thunder Beast’s eyes betrayed a poignant sorrow, a glimpse into the untold suffering it had endured.

“See now? This is the image that befits my station! This is a *real* Thunder Beast! Know this, even the most glorious Gold Horned Thunder Beast would be green with envy at your unique… embellishments. I tell you, old friend, we are kindred spirits!” Perched upon the Thunder Beast’s back, the picture of careless ease, sat an old man, clutching the iron chain like the reins of a steed.

Behind him, a cascade of thunderous light followed like a celestial wake, each surge containing a cowering Thunder Beast, its eyes wide with fear.

The old man occasionally reached out to fiddle with the iron ring dangling from the Thunder Beast’s horns, his eyes twinkling with amusement.

“Our connection runs so deep, I almost hesitate to return you to that little whelp…”

The Thunder Beast trembled, its very being steeped in abject terror. The word “connection” echoed through its mind like a haunting curse, a harbinger of unimaginable horrors.

It would never forget the old man, muttering about their bond as he adorned it with a bizarre assortment of strange and unsettling trinkets.

Though, in truth, amongst the many indignities it suffered, the iron ring was, perhaps, the least offensive. It even felt… oddly comfortable.

“Yes, this is the place! Heh, a Grand Empyrean cultivator! Reduced to this… Ah, fate! Or should I say, *connection!*” The old man’s gaze settled on the coalescing blood droplets in the distance, his eyes gleaming with avarice.

“This Soul Melding Blood Transmutation is a secret art of the Yao Clan, and I, Old Man, have stumbled upon it!” The old man stroked his chin, his eyes darting from one blood droplet to the next.

“Not surprised my kindred spirit thought up a plan like this to trick a Grand Empyrean! Well, since he’s my kindred spirit, I have to help him.” The old man licked his lips and reached forward. In an instant, all of the blood droplets fell into his hands without the slightest resistance.

With a single squeeze, the droplets merged into a crimson sphere and the Blood Ancestor’s spirit instantly merged and woke up.

“Thank you senior for your help. My Yao family will definitely repay you!” The Blood Ancestor’s divine sense was transmitted from the blood sphere, impossible to tell if he was happy or angry.

“Quit putting on an act. You’re clearly scared out of your mind, scared that I have no good intentions and am going to turn you into a pill, right? Stop bringing up the Yao Family, even if the Yao Family’s Blood God himself came, would I, Old Man, be afraid!?” The old man stroked the iron ring on the Thunder Beast’s horn.

“No matter what, I, Yao, must thank senior for your grace…” The Blood Ancestor paused for a moment before sending out his divine sense.

“This old man is very reasonable, you see, I helped you shorten the merging time, huh… I didn’t know that your Yao Family’s Soul Merging Blood Transmutation can’t be forcefully merged. If that happens, your cultivation level will fall by several realms! Although you are at the peak of the Void Refinement, this old man didn’t know this. You can’t blame me for this.” The old man clicked his tongue.

The Blood Ancestor was silent for a moment, suppressing the rage in his spirit, and said calmly: “Since senior didn’t know, it must be because I, Yao, was fated to do so. If senior doesn’t need anything else, please release your divine ability and allow I, Yao, to leave.”
The ancient one chuckled, his eyes gleaming with unsettling delight. “Young scion of the Yao line, fate has entwined our paths!” The thunder beast beneath him shuddered, a flicker of pity, laced with a disturbing glee, entering its gaze as it regarded the Blood Ancestor.

The Blood Ancestor remained mired in his torment.

“You spoke of repaying a debt, did you not? The time is now!” The ancient one raised a hand, a spectral claw reaching into the swirling crimson mass. With unnatural ease, he ripped the Blood Ancestor’s nascent spirit from the coalescing gore. Then, with a cruel twist of his hand, he tore away half of the essence. He flicked his wrist, separating half the blood into a separate mass.

“Half a spirit, half a corporeal form. More than sufficient recompense for my boon.” The old one clapped his hands together, the remaining sliver of the Blood Ancestor’s spirit was forcefully embedded within what was left of the tainted fluid. A whispered incantation followed.

The blood erupted in a violent frenzy, then imploded, scattering into countless droplets. The Blood Ancestor’s essence, unable to form even a fleeting thought, sank back into oblivion.

“Though my grand design is assured, the addition of this Yao’s offspring’s essence and blood will only bolster its chance of success!” The ancient one cackled, dismissing the scattering drops, and with the thunder beast, vanished into the vast emptiness.

Unseen, adrift in the void, Wang Lin’s face was a mask of grim determination as he pursued the Crimson Needle. Suddenly, the Needle flared with an intense crimson, radiating a potent aura. The strange artifact bolted forward, seemingly shattering Wang Lin’s spatial imprisonment with ease. This development narrowed Wang Lin’s eyes.

Yet, as quickly as it ignited, the crimson light dimmed, leaving the Needle weaker, more fragile than before. It flickered, threatening to crumble into nothingness, before darting forward once more into the desolate void.

Frowning, Wang Lin hesitated for a moment, then resumed his pursuit.

“I must seize this opportunity, obliterate the Blood Ancestor, and end this threat!” He grit his teeth, increasing his pace, relentless in his pursuit.

Time bled away, unmarked and unnoticed. Wang Lin lost all sense of its passage. The agonizing fire that had consumed his flesh subsided into a dull ache, fading into insignificance. All that remained was the fragile, faltering flight of the Crimson Needle.

Gradually, the Needle accelerated, outpacing Wang Lin’s diminishing speed. Yet, just as he resigned himself to losing it, Wang Lin halted, a chilling glint in his eyes.

Ahead, amidst the void, a cluster of a dozen or so spheres of blood, of varying sizes, swirled in a chaotic dance, drawn together as if by some unseen force. The Crimson Needle pulsed one last time, before embedding itself into one of the spheres.

An intense, fetid stench filled the void. The sphere that had claimed the Needle writhed grotesquely, hungrily devouring a nearby sphere. “The Blood Ancestor!” Wang Lin’s voice was a low growl, brimming with killing intent. Without hesitation, he reached into his storage pouch, drawing out a mountainsoul stone. Withdrawing its incorporeal essence, Wang Lin thrust it forward.

The mountainsoul shrieked as it dissolved before the blood spheres, unleashing a wave of raw energy. Yet, the sphere merely trembled. The mountainsoul’s might proved insufficient against the dark magic. The spheres continued to meld, their union hastened.

Casting aside the mountainsoul, Wang Lin took a step forward, drawing his immortal sword from the pouch. He raised the blade and unleashed a sweeping blow!

The Art of Severing flashed in a blinding arc of light, cleaving the void, bisecting two spheres and halting their unholy union.

Without pausing, Wang Lin channeled the formidable power of the primal lightning within his soul, unleashing it in searing bolts that hammered against the spheres.

The spheres shuddered violently under the onslaught, the Blood Ancestor’s spirit within writhing and struggling to awaken.

Wang Lin worked frantically, more lightning erupting from his soul, holding nothing back. Every ounce of his power was brought to bear against the spheres.

He raised his immortal sword once more, and struck!

With a deafening crack, one of the blood spheres shattered!

A tortured wail echoed through the void. The remaining spheres, as one, began to coalesce with renewed fervor. The Blood Ancestor was on the verge of complete revival.

Wang Lin’s eyes blazed with murderous intent. He knew if the spheres reformed, his chance to slay the Blood Ancestor would vanish forever! He pointed a finger, roaring, “Immobilize!”

The Immobilization Art was unleashed with all his force, but the Blood Ancestor’s spirit proved too strong. Wang Lin strained, the art on the verge of collapse.

His immortal force surged within his body, threatening to tear him apart from the inside. His veins throbbed with searing pain. His soul, still weakened from his previous wounds, buckled under the strain. A gout of blood splattered from his lips as he bellowed, “STAY STILL!”

The merging spheres faltered for but a heartbeat, but within that fleeting moment, the Karma Whip materialized, lashing out with furious speed.

Simultaneously, the last vestige of the Skyrend Duke’s sword-intent within Wang Lin’s body was unleashed, exploding outward to strike the core of the spheres.

The Karma Whip, the Skyrend Duke’s sword-intent, and the unleashed torrent of lightning coalesced. In the instant of the Blood Ancestor’s rebirth, they slammed into the mass of sphere.

The spheres shattered!

The coalescing blood exploded outward, scattering into countless droplets. The Blood Ancestor’s agonizing shriek faded into the void. The bloody mist split into two factions: One a writhing, chaotic mass of blood containing the Ancestor’s remnant spirit that rapidly receded from Wang Lin, and the other a returning torrent that engulfed Wang Lin!

The blood engulfed Wang Lin, burrowing through his pores and filling him with excruciating pain. He stumbled, vomiting a fresh wave of blood. He was struck with terrible force, as if by a hammer-blow, and hurtled away into the emptiness.

The immortal sword, now controlled by Xu Liguo, twisted in the air and, with a thought for the mountainsoul, raced after Wang Lin.

Though Xu Liguo was rebellious in nature, he was gripped by something akin to fear. His first thought was not of freedom or escape, but to find Wang Lin, and his form circled wildly, and then headed in the same general direction the force of impact had sent Wang Lin.
Wang Lin, body and soul, succumbed to a profound and utter oblivion. Within him surged droplets of blood, each pulsing with the vast, raw essence of the cosmos – energies painstakingly gathered by the Blood Ancestor over countless ages, treasures beyond measure.

Yet, within Wang Lin’s mortal vessel, these very energies threatened to become his undoing, sharp-edged swords aimed at his very core. But fate, in its capricious dance, often weaves threads of opportunity amidst despair. The elder who once sought the Thunder Beast had, in that fateful breath, unknowingly bestowed a gift far beyond its intended purpose. This residue of celestial power, dormant within Wang Lin, would ignite when his mortal coil neared its end. Whether he could withstand its cataclysmic release remained uncertain; there was a grave chance it would shatter him, body and soul.

In his wounded fury, the Blood Ancestor, desperate to escape and destroy Wang Lin, had hurled a fragment of his own essence into the mortal’s being. He sought annihilation, yet unwittingly gifted Wang Lin with an opportunity, second only to glimpsing the path to the third step of Immortality.

With a deafening roar, Wang Lin’s insensate form slammed against a fragment of a shattered world, a lonely shard adrift in the emptiness, unchained by the lightning-forged bonds that linked the rest of the fractured Thunder Celestial Realm.

Not all fragments within that realm were intertwined. Some, too small, too isolated, floated adrift in the boundless void.

Wang Lin’s body, a projectile of unconscious flesh, plunged deep into the heart of this meager landmass, finally halting its descent within the subterranean depths. Utterly lost to the world, his mortal shell began a rapid transformation. The vast, raw energies of the Blood Ancestor’s essence coursed through him, driving the change.

Even his nascent spirit, once so fragile, now bathed in this torrent of raw celestial power, began to greedily absorb its essence.

His cultivation surged, hurtling him toward the threshold of the Yin Void realm.

Above, outside this insignificant speck of land, where clouds should never form in the emptiness between worlds, a familiar sight materialized. Swirling masses of vapor coalesced into storm clouds mirroring the tribulation he faced in the Land of the Demon Spirit, when he defied fate to ascend to the Ascendant stage.

Meanwhile, the Blood Ancestor, his ravaged essence coalescing around the scattered droplets of blood, regained a semblance of awareness. Yet, he possessed no true form, only a swirling, crimson haze.

Never in his eons of existence had he felt so vulnerable, a weakness that sent a chilling premonition to his core.

The hatred he harbored for Wang Lin reached a fever pitch. Never had he loathed another being with such burning intensity. Wang Lin was the first to earn such a distinction!

The collapse of his storage realm had forced him to perform the perilous Divine Dissolution into Blood. Then, encountering the enigmatic elder, he suffered the theft of half his spirit and the blood essence he had cultivated for eons. This alone had drastically diminished his power. Yet, the elder’s final touch had thrust him back into the abyss of spiritual oblivion, forcing him to endure the excruciating process of reassembling his essence. Beyond this, the elder’s touch had instilled within him a formidable power, as if a curse had been laid.

Just as he neared complete re-integration, on the verge of awakening for the second time, Wang Lin had appeared. The Blood Ancestor, a being of immense power, was forced to flee, broken and weak. His essence seethed with unbridled rage!

“Wang Lin! I swear upon the cosmos, we are now eternal enemies!” The Blood Ancestor’s furious roar echoed through the void, a testament to his shattered sanity. Any being, subjected to such torturous events, would surely crumble under the weight of madness.

Adding to his torment, the mysterious restraint laid upon his spirit by the elder drove him close to insanity. After a brief flight, he spun around, racing back towards the place where Wang Lin had vanished.

“I care not for healing! I will have your life!”

Meanwhile, the shard of land where Wang Lin lay unconscious drifted aimlessly. Within its depths, Wang Lin remained still, his eyes sealed shut. His Immortal Sword danced around him, a protective ward. Xu Liguo, the loyal companion, hovered nearby, his face etched with dismay. “By all rights, I should flee,” he muttered. “But I can’t abandon this cursed star here. Alas, Xu Liguo is a loyal one! I cannot abandon my master. Surely, this will endear me to him, and my rewards shall be great… Ah ha! I, Xu Liguo, am ever cunning!”

His eyes gleamed as he resolved to stay.

“Besides, this is merely his split spirit. His true self…” A shiver ran down his spine at the thought of Wang Lin’s true form. If there was any being in the cosmos who inspired terror in Xu Liguo’s soul, it was the true Wang Lin!

Far away, within the Alliance Star System, in a desolate planet scorched by lightning, a natural cavern glowed with pulsating energy. At its heart, sat a figure in deep meditation.

Crimson hair flowed around his shoulders, his aura heavy with coldness. At the center of his brow, four shimmering stars spun lazily, pulling in raw energy from the surrounding void with each breath he took.

Suddenly, his eyes snapped open. Behind the cold calculation in his gaze, burned a single, unquenchable spark of bloodlust.

“Blood Ancestor! You have forced my split spirit into slumber. This will not stand unanswered!” This was Wang Lin, in his true form!

His hand clenched into a fist as he rose slowly. He paused, then with a deafening boom that shook the very foundations of the planet, he blasted forth from the depths of the earth, tearing through rock and soil.

With a final explosion that echoed across the ravaged landscape, he emerged, a figure wreathed in dust and fury.

Without hesitation, he leaped into the void, ascending into the star-strewn expanse above. There, with arms outstretched, the sound of snapping bones echoed through the void as he reached his transformation’s apex.

Louder and louder, more and more frequently, came the noises from deep inside Wang Lin’s true body, sounding like low thunder rumbling. His veins turned a frightening shade of blue, and his body trembled with its strength.

Gradually, Wang Lin’s true body began to transform. His legs thickened, growing longer as his arms stretched out. His entire body seemed to bloat as if he was about to explode, rapidly growing in size.

All the while, as Wang Lin’s body turned and expanded, louder noises and shouts came from his depths, seemingly ancient in nature.

Despite the changes, there was no sign of pain on his face, just a look of peace and his eyes, filled with fury.
His form swelled, expanded beyond mortal reckoning. As a half-incense stick burned to ash, in that void of stars, a titan of a hundred fathoms materialized!

About him pulsed an aura of raw, untamed power, a breath of ages long past. Etched upon his very skin were intricate, coarse runes, glowing with an inner light that spoke of unimaginable dominion.

A guttural roar erupted from the awakened god-form, a sound echoing from the dawn of existence, filled with a contemptuous supremacy. The very fabric of the cosmos seemed to recoil from its resonance, as if ancient memories stirred within the wandering celestial dust.

Even the savage beasts upon nearby worlds, creatures of claw and fang, were humbled by that primal bellow, prostrating themselves in trembling fear, a terror born deep within their souls.

The Ancient Gods! Lords of the starry abyss! In their reign, all life bowed before their might!

Now, after countless millennia of their absence, this single roar was a defiant proclamation to the heavens: The Ancient God had returned!

At this moment, Wang Lin truly embodied the ancient power. He *was* the Ancient God!

From the Fourth Star onward, the Ancient God form knew an explosive growth, a power Wang Lin had long suppressed. But no longer! He would unleash the divine vessel, revealing its awesome might to the cosmos for the first time!

Only with the manifestation of this godly body could one claim the title of Ancient God, only then could one wield the true strength of the ancients.

“Blood Ancestor… You have crippled my avatar, leaving it near death. Now, I shall tear the very heart from your Blood Star!” The titan’s eyes burned with cold fury. With a stride that shook the starscape, he moved forward.

Each step was as on solid ground, his course set for the distant horizon.

Raising his immense hand, he touched a single forefinger to his brow. Immediately, the vast reservoir of celestial energy within surged forth, coalescing into an arcane sigil. This mark, imbued with the power of bygone ages, settled over the star-point on his forehead, concealing it from view.

This seal was no mere cultivator’s art, but a technique of the Ancient Gods, designed to mask their divine nature. Only those of extraordinary power and perception could penetrate its veil.

“Within the Alliance starfields dwell the Gigas Clan. My form, a mere hundred fathoms tall, shall draw no suspicion as being of the Ancient God lineage!” A cold glint entered his eyes. His size, to a fully grown Ancient God, would be considered paltry. He feared not that anyone would connect his stature to the ancient lineage.

With unwavering purpose, the titan strode onward, his destination the Blood Star. He remembered well the star-chart left behind by Tian Yunzi, and knew the path.

As he moved, his gaze sharpened. Ahead, he saw several chunks of shattered rock, adrift in the emptiness.

Such debris was commonplace in the void.

Without hesitation, the titan stepped forward, his immense hand snatching a hundred-fathom fragment from the emptiness. With a bellow of power, he seized the stone, channeling celestial energy to bind and guide it as he continued his journey.

Moments after the titan passed, two figures emerged from behind a smaller, neighboring asteroid. They were cultivators, trembling in their robes, their eyes wide with disbelief as they watched the god-like figure recede into the distance, mouths agape.

“What… *was* that?” they whispered, exchanging terrified glances. Their skin crawled with unease, and they fled from the spot with all haste.

Along his path, Wang Lin claimed every fragment of debris that met his eye, choosing only those exceeding a hundred fathoms in size. He would seize them and bind them to his will with the power of his spirit. These were his weapons! In the echoes of ancestral memory, he knew that the young Ancient Gods, bereft of potent magic, wielded such stones as instruments of destruction. And the memory resonated with a familiar truth: More was better!

Trailing a river of cosmic debris behind him, Wang Lin, wreathed in an aura of grim purpose, drew ever closer to the Blood Star.

“Prepare yourselves!”