In the wake of the green-robed man’s demise, the altar doors thundered shut, causing Wang Lin a moment to pause. His heart stirred with a surge of unease as he beheld a butterfly, its wings whispering with a myriad of colors. A hesitant silence fell upon him before he raised his right hand, fingers tracing an ancient sigil. With utmost care, he pressed the mark upon the fluttering creature.

The butterfly stilled, its wings dissolving into a shower of iridescent sparks that faded, leaving in their wake the celestial war chariot, the “Shot of God.”

A sigh escaped Wang Lin’s lips, his brow slick with a cold sweat, a sensation rarely known to him. The spectacle of the butterfly’s wings reducing a cultivator in the zenith of Yang Solidification to naught but dust had stirred a profound unease within his soul.

“With this Shot of God and the twin Dao Artifacts combined, I can challenge even a Nirvana Peering cultivator!” he mused, his eyes alight with newfound power. He cast a glance around, his gaze falling upon the dazed figures of the Immortal Chosen clan, their faces etched with sorrow and confusion in the wake of the green-robed man’s fall.

From the distance, the imposing figure of Ta Shan returned, bearing wounds earned in battle. He clutched a massive flagon in his hand, a testament to his absorption of the mist beast that threatened the clan’s children. Overwhelmed by his injuries, he collapsed upon the earth, succumbing to unconsciousness.

Ten sunrises and sunsets passed in this realm. Within that span, Wang Lin took residence among the Immortal Chosen. The elder of the clan, their progenitor, prepared for him a secluded refuge, a place for him to gather his thoughts.

Those days were far from idle. Through extensive discourse with the elder, Wang Lin felt his suspicions solidify, growing certain that his initial deductions were accurate. Yet, such matters were of little consequence. His sole focus was finding a means of escape.

He had ventured to the edges of the sky in this place, only to find, as Ta Shan had spoken, a boundless wall of flesh. From behind it, a faint, cerulean light bled through, casting an illusion of reality upon their strange prison.

He had scoured the edges of the land, yet no exit could be found. He began to believe that the portal within the altar, guarded by the Xuan Yin Cauldron, held the key to escape. “Putting aside the spirit within the Xuan Yin Cauldron, there’s the matter of that green-robed man,” he pondered, “He called himself an Immortal, and his power… though similar to the power of Immortals, carried the taint of something profane.”

The similarities to Qing Shui, the Immortal Sovereign of the Thunder Celestial Realm, were undeniable, as were the reactions of the Immortal Chosen. Could it be, Wang Lin wondered, that the green-robed man was indeed an Immortal?

With a sigh, Wang Lin emerged from his chamber and vanished into the ether. In the eastern plains, he materialized once more.

A joyous shriek greeted his arrival as the Mosquito Beast darted and weaved in the heavens. The beast swooped in with a tempestuous gust.

In the distance, the Thunder Frog, its frame akin to a small mountain, lay slumbering. It flickered open one eye to acknowledge Wang Lin’s presence before drifting back to sleep.

Xu Liguo, as ever, was nowhere to be found, likely lost in pursuit of his own merriment.

With a gentle smile, Wang Lin patted the Mosquito Beast upon its head. The creature purred with contentment and soared back into the sky.

Wang Lin strode forth, his boots upon the verdant grass. He soon reached an empty space of around a hundred zhang. The grass had been replaced by a tangled web of furrows, a complex array resembling an arcane formation.

Without a second glance, Wang Lin stepped into the array and settled cross-legged at its heart.

Since unleashing the Mosquito Beast and Thunder Frog, he had left them to their own devices, trusting them to roam as they pleased. As for Xu Liguo, he had given up trying to contain his antics.

It was here, in this tranquil place, that Wang Lin had chosen to meditate. He had purged the grass and etched the earth with protective formations. With the Mosquito Beast and Thunder Frog as his guardians, he found a measure of security.

With hands intertwined in a mystic seal, Wang Lin pressed down upon the array. The world around him shimmered, and the arcane markings vanished, replaced by a seemingly endless field of grass.

No one could discern the illusion, and even if they were to step within, they would perceive only a normal field.

With the array activated, Wang Lin’s eyes sparkled. His journey to the Thunder Celestial Realm had been fraught with danger, yet the rewards were immense. However, he had yet to take the time to properly catalog and refine his gains.

He had hoped to return to Green Spirit Star to do so, but instead he had been transported to this peculiar realm.

“I must make haste to refine the treasures from the Thunder Celestial Realm and augment my power. Only then will my path to escape be smoother.”

With a thought, Wang Lin reached into his storage pouch and withdrew a crude leather cuirass, adorned with arcane runes. He ran his hand over it, feeling its rough texture.

“Ancient God Armor…” he murmured. With a flick of his wrist, he sent the armor soaring into the air. An instant later, he released a torrent of primordial spirit energy.

A pure white flame enveloped the Ancient God Armor, but the armor showed no change. Undeterred, Wang Lin released more and more spirit energy.

The armor’s former master was likely Xiaoyaozi. Though dead, his power remained deeply woven into the Ancient God Armor as a shred of independent, yet damaged divine sense.

“Given millennia, this sliver of a broken soul could awaken and become the very spirit of the armor!” In his enlightenment, Wang Lin could now perceive the fundamental nature of artifacts. Most spirits arose from such origins.

The expelled spiritual essence enveloped the ancient god armor. Time passed. It was a slow process, for the original owner of this ancient god armor far exceeded the current level of Wang Lin’s cultivation.

While only a broken remnant of the ancient master remained, it could not be dismissed, and it was moving towards the state of an artifact spirit after having been broken down over the countless years it existed.

“Although this artifact spirit is precious, if it is not removed, this ancient god armor will never truly belong to me, but to the artifact spirit, just like the Sword of Rain, whose true master can only be its inner spirit. Moreover, this artifact spirit is only the divine sense of an immortal, which conflicts with the ancient gods. Even though countless years of evolution have slowly fused them together, it still won’t work!”

A cold glint flashed in Wang Lin’s eyes, and he closed them, firm in his determination to erase the artifact spirit that had not yet produced sentience.

Days drifted by. One day, a wisp of azure mist began to rise from the Ancient God Armor, now bathed in primordial spirit energy. The mist contracted, writhing as though in agony, forced from its haven by Wang Lin’s spiritual power.

Threads of light still tethered the mist to the armor. In the instant they were strained to their breaking point, Wang Lin snapped open his eyes, his gaze like a blade. He raised his right hand and slashed downwards. The Spell of Severance was unleashed, cutting through the laws of existence and severing the final ties between the nascent spirit and the armor.

With a crisp snap, the threads parted and the mist floated into the sky. Wang Lin reached into his pouch, and his Soul-Seizing Banner appeared, unfurling a cloud of darkness that devoured the mist in a single gulp.

The Ancient God Armor hung motionless before Wang Lin. With the mist captured, Wang Lin focused his will, and his divine sense surged forth, flooding the armor and branding it with his own mark. His brand, etched deep within the leather, caused it to thrum with an ancient, resonant power.

The power was so intense that it tore through the air around him, creating a spiraling vortex on the plain.

At the eye of the storm, Wang Lin stood unmoving. He felt it, the sensation of familiarity washing over him as his brand settled upon the armor.

The familiarity came from the armor itself, a surge of kinship. It was as though a traveler, lost for countless years, had finally found his family. That was what Wang Lin himself felt, and it was what the armor felt for him.

It was mutual. Without command, the armor drew close and melded into Wang Lin’s chest. He allowed it to happen, savoring the feeling of connection as the armor merged with his flesh.

The Ancient God Armor was gone, replaced by a layer of protective energy around his Primordial Spirit, like clothing.

Wang Lin’s eyes shone. He took a deep breath and touched his brow. Light rippled across his forehead as his Primordial Spirit soared out of his crown. The dragon-shaped spirit now wore the Ancient God Armor, though it could barely be seen. Wang Lin knew, without a doubt, that its defenses had reached an astounding level.

“Alas, I cannot test the limits of its protection, but it will surely not fail me!” With a thought, Wang Lin recalled his Primordial Spirit.

With the Ancient God Armor refined, Wang Lin did not pause. Instead, he opened his mouth and exhaled a golden ray, which resolved in the air into a golden lock.

Wang Lin recalled this artifact from the Thunder Celestial Realm, snatched from a messenger of the Thunder Immortal Palace as he intruded into the teleportation array.

The messenger’s broken spirit was still trapped within the Soul-Seizing Banner, where he offered treasures to buy his freedom.

Wang Lin sent a surge of his divine sense toward the gold. Thanks to his spirit’s purification in the previous days, he easily wiped away the original owner’s mark.

The golden lock dimmed, and fell from the sky where Wang Lin caught it in his palm.

Wang Lin’s eyes flashed as he stared at the lock, muttering, “This item is not bad, but compared with the Twin Dao Artifacts, it is far inferior. Still, its ability to seal others is very interesting!” Wang Lin’s spiritual power welled up within him. He tightened his grip and crushed the lock.