A fist hurtled forth, and instantly Wang Lin felt the air around him solidify, as though caught in a strange stasis. He was ensnared by the fist’s unnatural power, all escape seemingly sealed off. Yet Wang Lin remained serene, stating calmly, “Passable, yet insufficient!” As the words left his lips, Wang Lin raised his right foot and gently stamped it upon the earth.

A thunderous rumble erupted, emanating from beneath Wang Lin’s foot and spreading outward with wild abandon. In that instant of expansion, the restrictive bonds upon Wang Lin’s form shattered.

A sound akin to breaking glass echoed, and all the restraints vanished, their dissolving force rebounding outward, sweeping around Wang Lin in a surging wave.

The brawny warrior who had unleashed the initial blow faltered, his expression shifting. He felt a powerful gale buffet him, slowing his advance.

Wang Lin stepped forward, closing the distance between them in a single stride. His right hand rose, and with a touch to the warrior’s chest, the man shuddered violently. His feet involuntarily slid backward, and the runic marks upon his body blazed with blinding light.

Drawn back dozens of paces, the warrior bore no visible wounds, but within him, a tempest raged. The runes mitigated the worst of it, allowing him to recover after a brief respite.

His face twisted in a ferocious snarl, the warrior roared, clapping his hands before him. A cacophony of sound followed, and the runes upon his body writhed and multiplied, erupting forth to swarm around him in a dense thicket within a ten-foot radius – a truly terrifying sight.

He lunged forward, the swarm of runes trailing behind him, hurtling toward Wang Lin.

Wang Lin’s eyes flashed; the warrior’s physical fortitude, though not quite on par with his Immortal Guards of old, was still exceptional. His expression unchanging, Wang Lin smirked and stepped forward once more. The movement seemed to transcend distance, instantaneously bringing him to the charging warrior’s doorstep.

As they closed, the warrior unleashed a mighty punch, rocking the very heavens around them. The runes surrounding him flickered, each transforming into what seemed like a manifestation of arcane power, targeting Wang Lin.

A frigid gleam sparked in Wang Lin’s eyes. His right hand shot forth, fingers together pointing forward. A moment of stillness filled the air and froze the warrior. With his fingers now bent into a sword, Wang Lin strikes the warrior in the chest, where there is a loud “bam” sound. The warrior spewed forth a gout of blood, his eyes widening in shock. The runes around his body swirled and became more chaotic. Around them the immortal tribe watched in awe as their opponent had just decimated a powerful warrior.

“Immortal, have mercy! Spare Tasha’s life!” The elder of the tribe, his face etched with worry, pleaded.

“Unnecessary!” The warrior landed hard and tried to recompose himself, retreating until he was some distance away. Tasha roared and then he began to manipulate his hands, tapping at his chest after.

Immediately, the runes around his body began to wriggle in an odd dance, shrinking and returning back inside him. The runes did not just become normal marks but looked more like they bulged from beneath the surface of his skin. In a blink of an eye, a suit of black armor had come to be.

When the armor finally took its form, it had some how created a dark miasma, a shadow of a demon forming behind the warrior.

“Gods Given Armor! How did you manage to master it!?” The elder tribe gasped in disbelief.

Wang Lin frowned, recognizing the familiar aura. It was undeniably reminiscent of the Demonic Armor from the Spirit Realm, yet the fiendish energy seemed muted, suppressed by another force.

With a furious roar, the warrior charged. The armor made him appear larger than life, like an ancient giant. Were there cowards present, surely the sight would shatter their spirits.

The black armor pulsed with an uncanny energy, its dark spirit radiating a soul-stealing presence. With each earth-shaking step, the phantasmal demon behind him twisted into a grotesque grimace.

As he pressed his attack, his right fist shot forward, infused with power exceeding his previous attempts. The phantom demon behind him seemed to coalesce into tendrils of shadow, coiling around his fist.

The punch landed and the air seemed to crackle and distort. The demon took the shape of a skull and tried to devour Wang Lin, all with a silent snarl.

Wang Lin, unperturbed, simply spat forth a speck of sand. With a touch it grew larger, one hundred feet across in an instant. The sand rushed to stop the demon.

The weight carried a large gravitational force. An instant later, the immortal tribe fell to their knees and worshiped.

The warrior had a look of fear, but decided to press forward without a moments hesitation. “BEGONE!”

He threw his fist but the sand did not even budge. The warrior, however, started to spurt out large amounts of blood. The warrior did not even break it as he trembled.

He could not believe that he had been so completely undone. He had exerted his entire power, and all it did was make his situation worse as all of his life force flowed backward.

At this point, the demon skulled had almost completely vanished. Wang Lin raised his finger, making the chunk of sand float up into the air before spinning and crashing into the demon.

The rush of air had everyone reeling as they heard the sound of impending doom. The warrior looked on, knowing that his next choices may doom him as he tried to stop the attack.

“Fall!” Wang Lin stated quietly.

Immediately, the demon, armor, and warrior crashed into the ground. The tremors shook the entire continent, large swaths of black clouds began to appear and create monsters.

“Fog Monsters!” Some of the tribe shouted, as the plants around them started to glow.

As quickly as they came, the fog created twisted monsters, some of the tribes people could barely make out what they looked like! One of the elder tribe members looked forward and took his flute from his side and used it as a weapon. “Fight, or we will all be turned into fog!”

He went to the fog monster and played a song as the flute drained the fog monster of its power.

All around people began to fall victim to the monsters, only to be saved by one another.

Wang Lin looked at the carnage and raised his hand to try and heal the demon. He was going to save him, but stopped as something caught his eye. He began to study the fog in more detail, he realized they were not mindless like the other tribes members were leading him to believe.

The tribe was draining a fog monster when it opened its eyes, the first one.

Wang Lin had never seen eyes like that before, there were no pupils. There were only six black dots, surrounded by gray.

The tribe member looked in shock before trying to retreat, only for the fog monster to catch him and enter through his orifices.

The tribe member began to scream, his eyes melting as the fog monsters shape morphed inside of him. Blood, brain matter, and a writhing monster was all that remained as it ate what was left of him. One by one the fog monsters began to awaken and prey upon the immortal tribe.

“Immortal Array!” the elder shouted.

Wang Lin froze as a fog monster rushed at him with a primal scream.