Below, the vortex roared, a tempestuous spiral reaching for the heavens. An unimaginable force pulled from its depths, ensnaring the Saintess of the Rune Clan. Bound by countless iron chains, she was helpless, dragged inch by inch back into the howling, abyssal maw.

Despair etched itself upon her face. Runes upon her brow flared with mournful light, each pulse accompanied by a thunderous echo. As they sparked, the chains that imprisoned her shattered, dissolving into tormented souls that shrieked in agony as they were consumed by the Graveyard of Immortals.

Yet, as swiftly as they broke, countless more souls erupted from the vortex, weaving themselves anew into chains of iron, tightening their relentless grip.

Those who witnessed this scene were struck dumb with awe and dread, their hearts trembling within them.

The Saintess laughed, a bitter, broken sound. Imprisoned for ages beyond reckoning, her power had long since waned. Had it not been for Qing Lin’s treacherous fragment of soul, she might have yet found a sliver of hope, a chance to break free. But now, there was none.

In her laughter, her empty sockets seemed to flicker with life. Though eyeless, a pair of ethereal emerald flames danced within, replacing what was lost with a haunting luminescence.

She gazed upon the spectral form of Qing Lin, her betrayer, and croaked, “Of all who ever lived, you are the one I despise most, Qing Lin!”

“When my clan, in its ignorance, offended the esteemed Master of the Dao, we were forced to flee into this sealed realm, beyond his reach. We sought only refuge, to live in peace and escape the specter of death.

The war with your Immortal Realm began because you coveted the very essence of my Rune Clan, striking first with avarice in your hearts! Were we, the Rune Clan, meant to simply surrender our birthright? That war raged for ages, and your Immortal Realm deployed every vile tactic imaginable. And you, the Immortal Emperor, the mightiest of the Four Realms, stole upon us like a thief in the night, slaughtering countless warriors to claim the Sacred Vessel, our clan’s greatest treasure!”

“Even that, I could have borne. War is war, and death its grim companion. But you, an Emperor, a being of immense power, why did you prey upon the fragile heart of a woman?

You swore I was your Rune Consort, and for you, I, Qiu Yao, betrayed my people, willingly becoming your bride to secure a sanctuary for my clan within this sealed realm.

You claimed to adore my eyes. And so, for you, I gouged out the Eyes of Primordial Power, inherited from the ancient founders of my clan, a gift passed down through countless generations, imbued with a spark of the primordial dawn itself! I offered them to you willingly!”

“Do you recall the sight? The blood that stained my cheeks? The crimson pools that welled within my empty sockets? You swore so many oaths, and with each one, I strove to fulfill it. Even when you imprisoned me here, to suppress the raging souls within the Graveyard of Immortals, I endured it gladly.

At your side, I was not the Saintess, only your consort. And I loved you…”

Her smile twisted into a grotesque parody of joy, black blood trickling down her face like macabre tears.

These tears, born of blood and sorrow, painted a grim tapestry of memories that flashed through her mind.

“Why?! Why, when I had sacrificed everything, did you still deceive me? You promised my clan a sanctuary, you promised our descendants a life of peace, and you swore that one day, you would lead us back beyond this prison realm!”

“All these promises you made! I, Qiu Yao, was a fool to believe your honeyed words, to willingly become your eternal jailer within this Graveyard, suppressing these tormented souls. Though I suspected this was a form of imprisonment, I chose to trust in you.”

“Had I not sensed the presence of my kin, and defied fate to see them, I would never have learned the truth: that my clan was denied sanctuary, that after my imprisonment, they were enslaved by your Immortals!”

“But what I hate you for most, Qing Lin, is your utter lack of heart, your absence of all feeling! Are you truly made of stone?! Common enslavement could never bind my clan for all eternity. The brand of servitude was wrought from the very essence you stole from me – the Primordial Power of my eyes! Only such a mark could truly bind the Rune Clan!

You took my eyes, seized the Primordial Power within, and used it to forge countless brands of servitude, turning every member of the Rune Clan within the Four Realms into mere insects! Slaves to worship your Immortals forevermore!”

The black blood flowed freely now, an endless torrent of tears carrying eons of hope and the shattering weight of betrayal.

“Qing Lin! Your fragment endures, thus you are not truly lost. Dare to face me now!!” Her voice echoed, filled with grief and mocking laughter, as she was slowly dragged into the vortex.

As the darkness began to consume her, she lifted her head, the runes upon her brow ablaze. With a cry, she tore the very sigil from her forehead, leaving behind trails of blood and shattered flesh. Even at this distance, Wang Lin could imagine the pain of such an act.

But the pain was nothing compared to the agony in her heart. Clutching the rune, she ripped it free and hurled it upwards.

Ta Shan stood nearby, watching with growing understanding, though confusion clouded his eyes. The rune, thrown with desperate force, struck him like lightning, searing itself into his brow, and sinking deep within.

Weakened by the act, the Saintess sank further into the vortex. The emerald flames flickered once more towards Wang Lin, and she whispered, “You have aided my clan… Those who show kindness to the Rune Clan, Qiu Yao does not forget…”

Another hollow smile graced her lips. Raising her hands, she plunged them into her empty sockets, tearing out the emerald flames that had replaced her eyes. With a final shudder, she flung them towards Wang Lin, where they merged into a single beam of emerald light and sped towards him.
“Beyond our innate Rune Marks, famed throughout realms unknown,” intoned the fading echo of the Rune Maiden, “my clan also possesses the art of the Withered Rune. Within this orb lies the method of its crafting. As you have aided my people, I shall permit one of my bloodline to imbue you with its power.”

Wang Lin accepted the shimmering green light, the Maiden’s thought-voice resonating in his mind.

Casting a final, somber gaze upon the frozen visage of Qinglin’s spirit-shard, the Maiden’s form descended completely into the Vortex of Buried Immortals. An eerie silence descended, even the countless souls within the swirling chaos stilled as she merged with them.

Only the vortex’s mournful howl echoed, slowly subsiding as it sank into the earth, threatening to vanish completely within the gaping maw it had carved.

Clutching the green light, Wang Lin, shrewd as he was, understood the significance of Qiuyue’s gift. As she’d stated, the Withered Rune art required the very essence of the Rune Clan, a spectral chain binding Wang Lin to their fate.

“Her confidence speaks volumes. This Withered Rune must be more than mere enchantment,” Wang Lin mused, his mind recalling a battle in the Sea of Stars against the Yao Clan, where he’d witnessed the power of yellowed talismans that could seal away the very strength of others. “Could it be…?” A grave expression settled upon his face.

Suddenly, the slumbering Vortex of Buried Immortals convulsed, a terrifying spectacle. From its churning heart, Qiuyue’s spectral form erupted once more, unleashing a piercing shriek of venomous rage that shattered the very air.

“Qinglin! Even in death, I shall not release you!” With the echoing cry, the pool erupted with a torrent of tormented souls. Yet they did not flee; they disintegrated, their spectral forms collapsing inward, causing the very foundations of the pool to shudder.

“You forced these souls upon me, and surely you knew that over countless ages, I have become one with the Pool of Buried Immortals! They will not let me leave, and neither shall you! Then let us, together, meet oblivion!”

With each word of Qiuyue’s vengeful curse, the entire Pool of Buried Immortals shattered. Countless souls were torn asunder, their essence dissolving into a wave of annihilating power that surged into the vortex. Instantly, fueled by this chaotic energy, the vortex transformed.

No longer sinking, it rose with terrifying speed from the crater, becoming a colossal whirlwind reaching for the very heavens. Within its furious heart roiled a force capable of obliterating any living being. Xukongzi, his face paling, grabbed the village girl and the woman in pink, fleeing in a desperate retreat.

Tianyunzi and the others followed suit, scattering like startled birds.

The tempestuous whirlwind swept forth, rending the heavens and earth with thunderous force. Not only was the void itself shattered, but the very edges of the Immortal’s Abode, sealed by the Scattered Demons, crumbled.

In moments, the whirlwind surged forth, carrying with it a relic dredged from the depths, accompanied by a chorus of hateful screams.

It was a black pool, ten zhang across, filled with swirling dark ichor, radiating an aura of chilling dread. Yet, paradoxically, this dread was laced with the very essence of immortality!

The Pool of Buried Immortals!

Around the cursed pool were carved myriad, grotesque beasts, and tormented faces twisted in eternal agony. At its appearance, a terrifying power surged forth, shaking even the Immortal Spirit Realm beyond the Immortal’s Abode. Clouds churned, the sky darkened, and thunder rolled across the ancient lands of the Demon Spirits.

Even beyond, in the very star-strewn void, the Eastern Sea Whirlpool spun with increasing ferocity, drawing in the forces of heaven and earth, expanding at an alarming rate. Unwary travelers caught within its pull were crushed, their bodies annihilated and their souls extinguished.

This catastrophic event did not go unnoticed!

Yet within the Immortal’s Abode, even before anyone could fully comprehend the horror, a crack appeared upon the surface of the Pool of Buried Immortals.

Then, with a grinding cacophony, the cracks multiplied, spreading like a spiderweb until, with a deafening roar, the Pool of Buried Immortals, once revered throughout the Immortal Realms, shattered. The trapped souls within were torn asunder, unleashing a cataclysmic shockwave that erupted outwards.

Qinglin’s spirit-shard did not resist. As the shockwave of destruction engulfed him, he closed his eyes and dissolved into motes of light, vanishing within the Immortal’s Abode.

The area was consumed by a deafening roar as the shockwave surged through everything. Such was the overwhelming power that even the Scattered Demons’ seals were broken, revealing the true face of the Immortal’s Abode. Wang Lin and the others, caught in the tide, were flung in all directions like leaves in a hurricane.

Within the Immortal’s Abode, the power unleashed by the destruction of the Pool of Buried Immortals scattered them all!

Even Xukongzi, his face pale with injury, abandoned the village girl and the woman in pink, his body flung against an ancient enchantment. The barrier flared, and he vanished.

The village girl and the woman in pink were likewise scattered, each colliding with a nearby enchantment and disappearing.

Tianyunzi, retreating, his eyes gleaming with unnatural light, moved with strange steps, and vanished into a hidden enchantment within a nearby pavilion.

Nearly all were swept away into the unknown.

Wang Lin and Situ Nan were likewise separated by the cataclysmic force. Situ Nan, roaring in rage, was unable to withstand the tide of energy. With a gout of blood, he vanished into an enchantment.

Wang Lin, feeling his very bones shatter, was thrown into a flowerbed. Perhaps striking some hidden enchantment, a flash of light enveloped him, and his form faded away.
But as he teetered on the precipice of oblivion, a crystalline ray, swift as a falling star, erupted from the collapsing vortex that was once the Burial Immortal Pool.

The crystal, defiant of all wards and ancient seals, pierced through the fabric of reality and hurtled toward Wang Lin. In a heartbeat, it had bypassed the meager defenses of his storage sack and plunged within, drawn like a moth to a flame, it melded with the yellow crystal, a gift from the enigmatic figure within the grand hall.

“Qing Lin’s Avatar!” It was Wang Lin’s final thought as his essence frayed, for within that radiant light, he glimpsed the very essence of Qing Lin, a fragment of his soul made manifest.

The Pool’s demise sent tremors through the Immortal Emperor’s domain. Those who had dared trespass were scattered, each cast adrift in a sea of ancient magic, hurled to different corners of this forsaken place, triggering dormant wards with their arrival.

Perhaps it was fate, or a cruel jest of the heavens, that as Wang Lin’s form faded, the scarred sorceress, cloaked in the miasma of demonic power, found herself cast down not far from where he vanished. Landing amidst a grove of whispering blooms, she too activated a hidden enchantment and was swept away, following the path carved by Wang Lin’s departure.

Silence descended after the cataclysm subsided, leaving behind a ravaged landscape. A deep chasm gaped where the Burial Immortal Pool had been, exuding an unholy chill. The Pool itself was shattered, its fragments scattered to the winds, lost within the labyrinth of interwoven wards.

How long passed, none could say, but from the depths of the abyss, a figure clawed its way back into the light. His head was grotesquely large upon a frail frame, and his eyes still held the lingering echoes of terror.

Behind him, the three disciples of the Dust Dao Sect, along with most of those who had been swallowed by the Pool, emerged into the light, albeit battered and shaken. Only the comely village woman’s apprentice and the Elder Sun, still lamenting the loss of his Star-Marked Weasel, remained absent.

They huddled together, their eyes darting about the ruins, their hearts heavy with the dread of what they had just endured.

Unseen, unheard amidst the survivors woes, the Star-Marked Weasel flashed like a silver phantom through the air. Driven by primal instinct, it plunged into the gaping maw of the chasm, vanishing into the depths below.

Its eyes glowed with a fierce and possessive light. For it could sense, deep within the earth, an aura of intoxicating power, a maddeningly alluring presence that called to its very soul.