Wang Lin, in the depths of his meditative trance, snapped his eyes open. Within their depths, a fierce light flickered, betraying the turmoil within. A shroud of darkness, invisible to mortal eyes, clung to his form, slowly being alchemized by his inner power into streams of pure, white energy. This ethereal essence coursed through his meridians, fueling his spirit with a speed unmatched in his past trials.

“The Dao Realm descends,” he murmured, understanding dawning within him. He was not lost or confused by this transformation, but rather, embraced it, allowing its profound mysteries to settle within his soul.

He had tasted such union before, a fleeting dance with the Intent of Reincarnation. But now, he had grasped the far more elusive Intent of Karma, forging it into a tangible reality, binding it to his very being.

After a moment of quiet contemplation, Wang Lin rose, a ripple of motion that instantly carried him beyond the mountain peak. The towering form of Ta Shan dissolved into a phantom image, vanishing behind him as he stepped forth.

With a single stride, Wang Lin was gone, swallowed by the embrace of the world. The next instant, he stood amidst the silent expanse of the starry void. Without pause, he vanished again.

“First, I must seek out Li Yuan, to master the forbidden art of the Heart Seal. Should any fool attempt to obstruct my path, I shall draw down the Heavenly Tribulation, using their demise to fuel my own ascension!” A cold light blazed in Wang Lin’s eyes. He had faced the trials of celestial wrath many times, and the fear that once held him in thrall had long since faded.

Now one with the very fabric of existence, he sped towards the Southern Domain of Luo Tian, towards the shattered world known as Shatterstar, where the Li family resided.

Following the path laid out by Li Yuan, Wang Lin flowed through the world, his speed defying comprehension. Yet even with his vast power, he could not remain within the embrace of existence for long. After each emergence, he was forced to pause, allowing his spirit to gather strength.

Still, his pace far outstripped that of other cultivators, those unable to touch the essence of the world. One day, as he rematerialized, he found himself within the Southern Domain of Luo Tian. He became a comet of light, hurtling forward, prepared to dissolve once more into the world, when a sudden prickling sensation seized him.

A wave of crushing dread washed over him. With a flash of chilling insight, Wang Lin flickered away from the space he had occupied. A thunderous detonation ripped through the void, causing a spherical collapse that sent shockwaves rippling outwards. Wang Lin’s eyes, now burning with controlled fury, fixed upon a distant point.

A sea of crimson clouds billowed towards him, condensing into the form of a middle-aged man a mere hundred paces away! “You are Xu Mu, are you not?” The man held aloft a gleaming bronze mirror, his gaze icy and unwavering.

Wang Lin recognized the man instantly, a flicker of understanding crossing his features. But he did not speak. Instead, he took a step back, a ripple spreading beneath his feet as he sought to merge with the void.

He stopped abruptly. The surrounding space was locked in place by an unnatural force, preventing his escape. Wang Lin had sensed this the moment the man had appeared. His face was impassive, his eyes holding a calculating gaze.

“The art of Dimensional Shrinkage, I may not possess. But I can chart your course with certainty. This place, chosen specifically for your demise!” The man’s voice was as cold and sharp as glacial ice.

He offered no chance for Wang Lin to speak. With these words, the bronze mirror in his hand erupted in a blinding flash. The star-strewn void within ten thousand paces was instantly obliterated, transformed into a shimmering, mirror-like surface!

“Reap!” The man’s voice rang with cold command. The expanse within the mirrored realm, Wang Lin included, imploded. Shattering into a million fragments that vanished into the bronze mirror held in the man’s hand. With a flick of his sleeve, he turned and walked away, the mirror now dimmed, as though taking Wang Lin was a trivial matter, like plucking a single leaf from a tree.

In a realm of swirling mists, Wang Lin’s form flickered into existence, wreathed in an ethereal haze. A searing heat emanated from all around, as if he stood within the heart of a celestial forge.

Wang Lin’s gaze was clear, unclouded by fear. He did not hesitate. The white energy of his nascent power, intertwined with the dark energy that cloaked his being, began to circulate. In an instant, the Yin Yang Pisces, the symbol of balance and power, manifested around him. As they spun, Wang Lin stepped across the threshold, ascending to the realm of Peering Nirvana!

A deafening roar echoed through the misty domain as Wang Lin achieved this breakthrough. His body floated upwards, his hair danced in an invisible wind. From within him, a tide of raw power erupted, forming a vortex as the Yin Yang Pisces spun ever faster. This vortex became a tempest, a maelstrom of pure energy that raged around him.

The surrounding mists recoiled, shredded by the storm. Even the oppressive heat was banished, as if too afraid to draw near.

Wang Lin’s eyes blazed with the light of the sun and moon. The black and white energy around him spun with impossible speed, coalescing into two gigantic dragons, their roars echoing through the misty domain.

His gaze narrowed, he lifted his head and stared upwards.

In the starry void above, Yao Yun, his face as cold as the void itself, was hastening away. But in an instant, his expression twisted in disbelief. The star-filled sky had become silently filled with crimson clouds. Unlike the clouds beneath his feet, these contained a power that even he could not ignore.

“This…these are Tribulation Clouds!” His pupils constricted. Though he had reached the early stages of Pure Nirvana a millennia ago, for reasons he could not comprehend, his progress had been reversed. Today, his power was stuck at Peering Nirvana, and much of his past had become blurred. In particular, memories from just before he left Blood God Star were gone.

He struggled in vain, his memory a blank slate.

He only remembered doing something that had displeased his ancestor greatly. And yet, he was still forgiven.
Since that fateful encounter, millennia had passed, and Yao Yun’s mind had become a fractured thing. His cultivation waned with alarming speed, yet this alone was not the extent of his torment. A far more sinister affliction plagued him: searing, unbearable pain that tore through his skull at unpredictable intervals, driving him to the brink of madness. A dark thirst for carnage bloomed within him, a savage impulse only held in check by the barest thread of his will.

It was as though only through unleashing a tide of destruction could he find respite from the agonizing pain. Initially, he managed to control these urges, yet with each passing year, as his power diminished and the agony intensified, the craving to slaughter all beneath the heavens grew ever stronger, ever more difficult to suppress. He suspected this torment stemmed from his experiences on the Blood God Star, yet despite countless hours of agonizing introspection, the events of that forgotten time remained shrouded in shadow.

He had even sought answers from the Blood God’s progeny, but his inquiries yielded nothing.

Desperate, he retreated to his clan’s forbidden sanctuary, entombing himself within its depths, praying to halt the decline of his power and delay the inevitable madness. He sought to reclaim the memories lost to him, and so time flowed like a river, until recently, when a summons arrived from the Ancestor, an order to leave the sanctuary and slay one named Xu Mu.

All knowledge of this Xu Mu had been transmitted directly from the Ancestor, granting Yao Yun a complete understanding of his prey.

Now, at the sight of the encroaching celestial tribulation, a violent tremor shook Yao Yun’s very being, a sensation not entirely his own. A significant portion of it emanated from his soul, as if the tribulation clouds were his very antithesis.

The feeling intensified, morphing into a stabbing agony that pierced his skull, turning his eyes bloodshot.

A roar, primal and unrestrained, erupted from his throat, echoing across the heavens like thunder, unleashing a surge of raw power that ripped forth from Yao Yun’s core.

His hair stood on end, veins bulged upon his face, and a grotesque visage twisted his features, revealing a second face hidden beneath – a demonic countenance, horned and alien. This visage, born of the abyss, fixed its gaze upon the rapidly coalescing clouds above and unleashed a silent scream.

Though unheard, this spectral bellow reverberated through the celestial sphere, causing the nascent tribulation to falter, vast swathes of its form collapsing inward. Yet in an instant, the shattered energy reformed, gathering with renewed fury.

In the blink of an eye, the starscape above was engulfed by crimson clouds, stretching for tens of thousands of feet, roiling with unrestrained power. A single bolt of crimson lightning, born of unimaginable force, descended with a deafening roar.

Yao Yun’s face contorted with unimaginable agony, yet the demonic shade within seized the moment, bursting forth from his body and opening its maw wide to devour the descending bolt.

With a thunderous explosion, the phantom shuddered, on the verge of dissolution, as tendrils of raw celestial energy surged through its form and into Yao Yun’s body, exacerbating his torment.

Yet some of the celestial lightning pierced through, and slammed into the bronze mirror.

In that very instant, a hairline crack appeared, running from top to bottom, the sound tiny, but clear.

Within the misty expanse of the mirror’s world, Wang Lin was now a unsheathed blade, the very image of destruction, and powered by black and white Qi spiraling out of control, he soared upward.

“Severing Luo Art!” he roared, and the black and white Qi swirled violently around him, coalescing into a single gray sword, which shot through space in the blink of an eye! With a devastating impact, the mirror in Yao Yun’s hand shattered, countless shards exploding outwards.

Wang Lin emerged, stepping out as the last echoes of the shattered mirror faded away!