Lord烈雲子 knew, with a chilling certainty, that all this stemmed from exceeding the very limits of mortal comprehension!

Only a scant few could even glimpse the Second Scroll, and even they dared only crack it open a sliver. Through countless generations, a mere three souls, including himself, possessed the strength to fully unleash its secrets!

These three alone could unveil the Second Scroll in its entirety.

Xu Ting’s face was deathly pale, his body trembling as sweat poured forth in torrents. His eyes, vacant, were fixed upon the sliver of the Scroll he had managed to reveal.

At that moment, he felt a ferocious aura erupt from the narrow opening, threatening to consume him utterly. A suffocating pressure filled his chest, a silent scream trapped within.

Ancient roars and furious bellows echoed in his ears, a tempest raged, whipping his robes and scattering his long hair.

He staggered, caught in a waking nightmare. He was a lone skiff upon a raging sea, tossed about by monstrous waves.

Yet, Xu Ting was a prodigy of the Xu clan of Eastern Reaches Star, blessed by the Ascending Immortal Pool, infused with immortal essence. Had he lived in the bygone era of true immortals, he would have been one himself!

Drawing a ragged breath, a glint of steel flashed in Xu Ting’s eyes. He suppressed his terror, steeled his mind, and, with trembling hands, slowly widened the Scroll’s opening.

Lord 烈雲子’s eyes lit up, a flicker of admiration in his gaze. “Xu Ting mastered the First Scroll in mere moments,” he mused. “Of those I’ve seen, such a talent can usually only unveil the Second Scroll by four-tenths. I wonder how far he can go.”

Wang Lin, his expression unchanging, watched Xu Ting with a cold detachment.

Xu Ting’s tremors intensified. With each inch the Scroll unfolded, the unleashed ferocity swelled. He felt as though he held a primordial beast within his grasp, poised to unleash it upon himself.

Time stretched, agonizingly. The Scroll continued to unfurl within Xu Ting’s trembling hands. His robes were soaked, his face drained. He managed to open the Second Scroll to nearly four-tenths, unleashing a torrent of martial intent that permeated the air.

A vortex of wind materialized, buffeting the chamber. Thunderous roars echoed, and black light erupted from the Scroll, threatening to engulf Xu Ting.

Xu Ting’s resolve wavered, but a spark of defiance ignited within him. With a guttural roar, he channeled all his immortal essence, wrenching the Scroll open further. With a deafening boom, it yielded!

He had opened the Second Scroll to seven-tenths!

Lord 烈雲子 sprang to his feet, his eyes blazing with elation.

As the Scroll reached seven-tenths, a bestial roar tore through the chamber. From within the Scroll, a surge of black mist coalesced into a monstrous entity, lunging to devour Xu Ting.

“Hold fast!” 烈雲子 urged, his eyes burning with anticipation.

Xu Ting stumbled. As the beast descended, he coughed up blood, thrown backward, splattering the ground crimson.

He chuckled bitterly as he crashed to the floor, a broken heap a dozen paces away.

The Scroll, now dormant, floated in the air, as if the spectacle had never occurred.

烈雲子 sighed. Xu Ting’s accomplishment, reaching seven-tenths, was still extraordinary among those who attempted to unlock the Second Scroll.

With a wave, he sent the Scroll drifting toward Wang Lin. His expression grim, he said, “Xu Mu, it is your turn.”

Wang Lin, his face an impassive mask, grasped the Scroll. He glanced at 烈雲子, knowing their encounter was no mere chance. Witnessing Xu Ting’s suffering, Wang Lin’s suspicions were confirmed.

Most importantly, Wang Lin had sensed it clearly: the essence Xu Ting had gained from the First Scroll was devoured by the monstrous entity.

“This Scroll holds secrets,” Wang Lin murmured, a faint smile playing on his lips. He took hold of the Scroll, and…

… with a single, decisive motion, he unfurled it!

With a *whoosh*, the Scroll burst open, a savage aura spilling forth, eager to consume Wang Lin.

烈雲子 scrutinized Wang Lin. He hadn’t initially expected much from him. Wang Lin was not the first outsider he had permitted to view the Scroll.

In all the years, none had managed to fully open it!

Yet, Wang Lin had bargained with him, used 清水’s influence to his advantage. Few in the cultivation world had the cunning to seize such opportunities, and even fewer dared to defy him so boldly.

Compared to Xu Ting, he held much higher expectations for Wang Lin.

As the untamed aura enveloped him, Wang Lin remained unyielding. To him, this so-called ferocity paled in comparison to the power of his own Ancient God bloodline. This roar of a tiny beast did not scare him.

With measured slowness, Wang Lin continued to unfurl the Scroll. The aura intensified, the roars reverberated, morphing into a raging tempest that battered Wang Lin. But, the winds could not move him.

烈雲子’s pupils constricted, his eyes burning with fervor, riveted on Wang Lin.

Xu Ting, a broken husk of his former self, glared at Wang Lin, his heart a cauldron of hate.
Wang Lin’s movements were deliberate, unfurling the scroll to a third of its length. With a snort of impatience, he ceased his measured pace and, with a surge of strength, ripped the scroll open to a full seven-tenths!

In that instant, the monstrous beast that had consumed Xu Ting before, erupted in a symphony of earth-shattering roars and howls. It materialized before Wang Lin, a ravenous vortex of teeth and claws, intent on devouring him whole.

A glacial light ignited in Wang Lin’s eyes. He fixed his gaze upon the ravening horror, the words a thunderclap upon his lips, “Abomination! How *dare* you!”

The low growl resonated like the strike of celestial hammers, vibrating through the entire cultivation star. The very mountain beneath Wang Lin’s feet groaned and shuddered, on the verge of collapse. The surrounding earth bucked and heaved, splitting open in a network of fissures and ravines.

Against an opponent of supreme cultivation, Wang Lin might not possess unmatched strength, but against this mere vestige of an ancient beast spirit, his resolve remained unshaken. For at this moment, Wang Lin was a God of the Ancients!

And not just any God of the Ancients, but a genuine, Five-Star Earth Clan Ancient God!

At his single, furious word, the monstrous beast whimpered, its assault reversed. Terror flickered within its bestial eyes as it recoiled, banished back into the confines of the scroll by the sheer force of Wang Lin’s utterance.

In that fleeting moment, it had sensed an aura emanating from the mortal before it, an aura that sent shivers through its very essence, an aura etched deep within its ancient, primal memory as something to be avoided at all costs!

This impossible sight widened Lie Yunzi’s eyes in disbelief. Even his seasoned senses were momentarily stunned. Yet, that initial shock gave way to a wild, unbridled elation that flooded his being.

“This Xu Mu inspires fear in the very beast spirit! Of all the warriors in the Zhan Clan’s history, only our ancestor Zhan Xingye could achieve such a feat!” Lie Yunzi forgot everything else, his gaze locked on Wang Lin.

Xu Ting clenched his fists, his eyes mirroring the overwhelming awe of the moment.

Without hesitation, after his earth-shattering command, Wang Lin unleashed the last of his strength and ripped the scroll completely open, revealing its full, imposing glory!

There, emblazoned upon the ancient parchment, was a single character: “战” – Zhan, meaning War. It writhed and pulsed with raw power, as though on the verge of leaping from the page.

A profound, ancient energy radiated from the character, and in an instant, twin reflections of the Zhan character ignited within Wang Lin’s pupils. The world dissolved into a kaleidoscope of sensation, and he plunged into an alien realm of consciousness.

He stood once more beneath the endless expanse of the cosmos, before the same white-robed elder. But this time, the ancient being was seated in meditation, his right hand tracing the air, endlessly forming the character for War.

“Thirty thousand years ago, I achieved mastery over the void, touched the threads of the universe. I leave no direct heir. All that I am, all that I have learned, is forged into this single character. Now, as I prepare to shatter the boundaries of this world, lest failure bring ruin to my existence, I leave behind six pages of the Zhan Character. Should one inherit them all, they shall be my heir!”

The elder spoke in hushed tones, his hand pausing in its motion. Thousands upon thousands of Zhan characters, of varying sizes, swirled around him. With a flick of his finger, these countless characters condensed into a single, unified form, pulsing with dark energy.

“Zhan!” The elder’s voice was calm, yet the utterance sent the single character vibrating with power. It transformed into a beam of darkness and vanished into the void…

Wang Lin shuddered, the Zhan reflections fading from his eyes, snapping him back to reality. “You saw it?” Lie Yunzi pressed forward, his voice laced with excitement.

Wang Lin remained silent for a moment, then nodded. As he opened his mouth to speak, Lie Yunzi swept his sleeve, sending Xu Ting hurtling through the air, banished to a distant horizon.

“Now, tell me, what did you see!” Lie Yunzi suppressed his rising anticipation and demanded.

“Inheritance,” Wang Lin replied slowly.

“Inheritance! It truly is an inheritance! My ancestor’s disappearance…it must be tied to this legacy!” Lie Yunzi’s face shifted with a mixture of awe and realization. He possessed methods to verify Wang Lin’s claims, but none were needed. The mere utterance of the word “inheritance” was enough to confirm everything.

“When our ancestor Zhan Xingye viewed the second page, he spoke similar words!”