A chilling, ethereal luminescence pierced the void, and in that instant, Clearstream’s contemplative visage twisted with startling intensity. His eyes, now twin points of fierce light, were fixed upon the origin of the spectral glow.

But as swiftly as it appeared, the light vanished, as though it had never dared to exist.

Though Clearstream saw nothing tangible, the fleeting spectacle sent a primal jolt through him, raising the hairs on his neck and shaking his very soul. Not even his encounter with his venerable master, Whiteplain, had stirred such profound dread.

Yet, a subconscious whisper echoed within him, a half-forgotten echo of a prior experience. This contradiction confounded him, blurring the line between memory and reality.

His face darkened, his eyes glinted with cold resolve. Unwavering, he remained vigilant, his gaze locked upon the emptiness before him. His mind, meanwhile, frantically sifted through the chambers of memory, seeking the elusive truth behind the perplexing sensation.

Amidst echoing laughter, Roche fell back before the might of the Annihilation Sigil. The needle-like weapon in his grasp lay in shattered fragments, yet his spirit was undeterred. He fixed his gaze upon Wang Lin, admiration blazing within his eyes.

Wang Lin too retreated from the destructive force of the impact, the Annihilation Spear in his hand nearly transparent. Though his expression remained composed, the depths of his soul were in turmoil. For in that fleeting moment, he felt a stirring, a long-dormant awakening within the Heaven Defying Bead.

This was an exceedingly rare occurrence. As the bead throbbed, a surge of arcane energy emanated from it, coursing through Wang Lin’s veins, bathing his eyes with a fleeting, subtle azure light.

Under the guise of retreat, Wang Lin subtly scanned the shimmering net that encompassed them. It was then that his mind reeled, as if struck by a thousand thunderbolts. He beheld the same spectral glow that eluded even Clearstream, lurking beneath the net.

The chilling, pitiless aura that emanated from the light washed over Wang Lin, as cold as the heart of a glacier. The twin orbs of light, sensing his gaze, betrayed a hint of surprise before vanishing once more. “What sorcery is this?!” Wang Lin questioned inwardly, his heart pounding. He saw Clearstream’s reaction and knew the venerable cultivator had detected the anomaly.

Just then, Roche bellowed with laughter, once more advancing upon Wang Lin. He raised his right hand, clenching it into a fist. Upon his brow, the five celestial stars began to spin with increasing speed. In a blinding flash, the stars shifted, coalescing on Roche’s fist.

With a mighty swing, Roche unleashed his punch, the five celestial stars swirling upon his fist, creating a maelstrom of power. As Roche drew closer, the rotating vortex transformed into a tempest of raw energy. “Roche, by all appearances, is oblivious. He is a Five-Star Ancient God, yet remains ignorant! Only Clearstream has sensed something amiss!”

Wang Lin recoiled from the twin ethereal lights beneath the shimmering net, his wariness growing. As Roche’s fist hurtled towards him, he thrust forth his hands, summoning the power of a Four-Star Royal Ancient God. Using the resulting force, he twisted his trajectory, drawing away from the perilous shimmering net. “My awareness springs from the mystic power of the Heaven Defying Bead. Clearstream must possess a secret of his own to perceive the same. But what secrets lurk within this void?!”

As Wang Lin and Roche met in a furious exchange of blows, explosions echoed through the emptiness. The Ancient God stars within Roche’s fist exerted a formidable suction, drawing Wang Lin closer.

Wang Lin’s eyes flashed. The four Ancient God stars on his brow spun wildly before merging with his right hand. With a roar, he countered Roche’s onslaught with a punch of his own.

Were the battlefield set amidst the stars, such a clash of Ancient Gods would have shattered the heavens. Yet here, the void remained unshaken. As the two forces collided, Wang Lin was hurled backwards, breaking free from the vortex of Roche’s assault.

Roche stamped his right foot, closing the gap. His fists became a blur of motion, while countless ghastly bone spurs erupted around him like a storm of arrows. The Ancient God power within these spurs whined in the void as they surged towards Wang Lin.

Without a moment’s hesitation, Wang Lin brandished the Annihilation Spear, and cried out in the ancient tongue of the Gods, “The Power of Antiquity! Lend me the Might of the Ancestral Gods!”

As the words left his lips, a colossal, swirling vortex materialized before Wang Lin, swallowing the bone spurs whole. As the vortex solidified, an earth-shattering roar echoed from within. Roche’s eyes glimmered with awe. He laughed, “The Power of Antiquity! A technique reserved for the Ancient God Royalty! It has been long since I, Roche, have beheld its splendor!”

He halted, his hands forming a ring before him. A spectral Ancient God star materialized above his head, followed by another, and another, until five stars shone about the ring formed by Roche’s arms. Then, from within the circle, something burst forth. “Ancient God Beast Spirit!” Roche roared. A colossal beast, bathed in light, materialized before him, a monstrous elephant.

Its hide was black as midnight, shaggy hair draping its massive frame. Its tusks gleamed with a deathly white radiance. Its trunk, like a living tentacle, thrashed through the air. The beast raised its forelegs and let loose a thunderous roar before smashing them down upon the void.

An untamed, primordial ferocity radiated from the monstrous elephant, filling the desolate expanse with its raw power.

For the Ancient God race, alongside their indomitable strength, possessed unparalleled divine arts!

The Beast Spirit was amongst the most potent of these, wielded only by Five-Star Ancient Gods who have dedicated long years to its refinement.

Almost every Ancient God would seek their own Beast Spirit upon coming of age.

Tu Si, as well, had his Beast Spirit. In the Land of the Gods, Tu Si transformed into endless mist to prevent Tosen from acquiring the Beast Spirit of Remembrance!

As Roche unleashed his Beast Spirit, the vortex formed by Wang Lin’s Power of Antiquity began to change. A titanic fist, bearing the pale blue skin of an Ancient God, burst from its depths. It smashed into the elephant.

An indescribable cataclysmic sound erupted, becoming a tempest that shook the very fabric of reality.

With a deafening cry, the colossal beast was hurled backwards, one of its tusks snapping off and disintegrating into dust.

Roche was pushed back as well, his eyes burning with admiration.

Wang Lin coughed up blood as he retreated, avoiding the shattering waves of energy. “You possess the potential to become an Ancient God!” Roche said to Wang Lin.

As the words left Roche’s lips, Moongazer, lurking in the distance, suddenly turned and bared its teeth. Its beastial eyes began to glow with an unnatural light. A bone-rattling bellow escaped the beast’s maw. Roche reeled from the sudden attack, and he fell back, his mind twisting from Moongazer’s assault. He turned to stare back at Moongazer, his eyes burning with an uncontrollable rage, and cried out: “Begone, beast. Do not interfere!”

Moongazer roared back, a more powerful and concentrated sound than before, inflicting incredible pain on Roche as the beast pressed forward.

But at that very moment, an unbelievable and terrible shift shook the battlefield. The shimmering net, long since gone, came rushing back into existance. Moongazer turned its gaze in fear as the net pushed forward once again. The light beneath them could be seen shining once more, the same light from before!

Clearstream, who had been watching closely, saw this and was now in shock. With a flicker in his eyes, he stared at Moongazer and was reminded of something long past, something he had hoped to never see again. Wang Lin, too, saw all of this, and his eyes shrank in terror. As for Roche, he seemed to realize, too late, that something wasn’t right.

Moongazer screamed, and at that moment, the creature froze, its mind being torn apart. The beast tried to leave the battlefield.

Suddenly, the shimmering net came slamming down from the heavens, striking Moongazer and cutting it off from escape. Cracks began to spiderweb through the net, revealing empty space where it had been broken off from the rest.

As the cracks grew, so too did the void beneath them grow wider, splitting open to the point where it looked as though a tear had been ripped through the very fabric of reality. The same two beams of light, the same ones from before, burst forth. Wang Lin, Clearstream, and Roche were shaken to their cores at what they were seeing! “Master!” Clearstream said, in shock. “Tosen!” Wang Lin choked out. “The Ancestor!” Roche shouted.

All three were seeing different things, and yet they were all seeing the same. Emerging from the tear was a brilliant, radiant rainbow. This rainbow quickly wrapped itself around Moongazer, seizing the beast and dragging it into the rift!

The beast began to struggle, but Moongazer seemed to have had all of its power sapped away. It was no longer able to resist being dragged into the rift!

As Moongazer was dragged further and further in, so too did the rift open wider.

It wasn’t just Moongazer who was experiencing this loss of power. Both One-Wood and Wu Dongchan had been inside the beast, riding it as they fled. Now, they too were beginning to lose their power. The rift continued to split open further, the rainbow mist began splitting off to strike Wang Lin, Roche, and Clearstream!