He surged directly towards the very head of the freshly freed Ji Qiong—the middle-aged visage that had so relentlessly hunted Wang Lin. Slaughterous intent roared forth, swift as a viper’s strike, and crashed upon the targeted head with the force of a thunderclap.

Staggered by the brutal impact, Ji Qiong faltered. Wang Lin, with no time to assess the damage, darted backwards towards the swirling vortex, leaping within its churning maw.

As his form dissolved into the gate, he cast one last glance at Ji Qiong, a knot of dread tightening in his gut.

The middle-aged head amongst Ji Qiong’s eighteen visages wept twin streams of black blood, yet remained otherwise unscathed! A tremor ran through Ji Qiong’s gargantuan form as all eighteen heads snapped upwards, unleashing a roar of fury magnified a thousandfold. It was now truly enraged.

The echoing bellow reverberated even within the vortex where Wang Lin fled, threatening its stability. Ji Qiong, with a single stride, reached the gateway’s edge and plunged within just as Wang Lin vanished. The first trial of the Ancient God’s Land held trials of earth, wind, water, fire, and metal. Wang Lin had braved the Earth trial years ago, slaying Meng Tuozi. Now, he found himself cast into the Metal trial.

Emerging from the vortex, Wang Lin was met by a landscape that was nothing short of a graveyard of swords. Broken blades, countless in number, pierced the earth, their hilts standing as silent sentinels. A palpable sorrow hung heavy in the air, a lonely dirge sung by the abandoned steel.

Wang Lin could spare no time for observation. He burst forth into a run, his right eye blazing with power, and lightning arced across his form, transforming him into a living embodiment of storms, a reincarnation of the legendary Thunder Immortal!

Without hesitation, as he bolted forward, he thrust his right hand back, unleashing the gathered lightning in a cataclysmic blast towards his pursuer.

The shadowed sky behind him twisted, and with a ripple of displaced air, the enraged Ji Qiong tore through the veil and was immediately hammered by Wang Lin’s unleashed thunder.

The cemetery of swords echoed with the deafening roars of the beast as the lightning crashed down, yet Ji Qiong, heedless of the electric onslaught, fixed its seventeen remaining crimson eyes on Wang Lin and pressed on its pursuit.

But Wang Lin’s lightning was not to be underestimated. Ceaselessly, it battered Ji Qiong, slowing its advance. It was as though the ancient beast was enduring a heavenly tribulation, with Wang Lin standing as the instrument of divine punishment.

Ahead, Wang Lin flew with desperate speed, weaving incantations with his hands. Lightning erupted endlessly from his fingertips, manifesting from every direction to strike Ji Qiong.

The great beast howled, its eighteen heads chanting in unison, unleashing a torrent of dark spells upon Wang Lin. Suddenly, before him, a black cloud coalesced, spitting forth a monstrous, inky tongue that snaked towards him.

Wang Lin’s face paled slightly, but his eyes hardened with resolve. He summoned the power of the winds with a gesture. Four great black dragons materialized, roaring towards the encroaching tongue.

The sky was torn asunder as the energies collided, scattering outwards in a ring of raw power. Wang Lin dodged the blast, darting forward once more, his hands continuing to weave the storm. Lightning continued to rain down, accompanied by a sea of fire that engulfed the land in its wake.

One of Ji Qiong’s heads, a visage of a man with blue hair, fixed Wang Lin with an icy stare and spat forth a torrent of azure light. It expanded with unnatural speed, instantly conjuring a vast ocean in the heavens, a tidal wave suspended between the sky and the earth.

As Wang Lin’s lightning and fire plunged into the newly formed sea, another of Ji Qiong’s heads, that of a mere child, unleashed a breath of chilling frost.

The frigid air, like a spectral wind, swept across the battlefield, causing the very fabric of reality to shudder. The great ocean of water cracked and groaned, instantly transforming into a gargantuan ice floe, an entire frozen sea suspended in the sky!

Even the lightning was encased within the ice, paralyzed and still. The endless sea of fire, too, was extinguished, buried in the frozen depths.

But the power of the frost did not end there. As the chilling breath expanded, ice crystals began to form from thin air. Wang Lin felt the cold closing in, the air around him solidifying, his movements becoming sluggish as the encroaching ice threatened to entomb him.

Wang Lin, a veteran of countless battles, remained calm. Red light flared around him, and the Vermillion Bird Armor materialized upon his form. The white Vermillion Bird shrieked a challenge and surrounded him in flames, and Wang Lin charged directly into the advancing ice. A deafening roar echoed in the frozen wasteland as the ice melted before it could touch him, carving a path through the barrier and allowing Wang Lin to burst free!

Emerging from the ice, Wang Lin raised his right hand, summoning lightning once more. But this time, he did not hurl it at the approaching Ji Qiong, but instead unleashed it upon the sword graveyard below.

The lightning crashed upon the broken blades, electrifying the ground. Each blade was wreathed in pulsing light, spreading to any blade within a thousand feet, a symphony of raw power flowing through the ancient metal.

With a guttural roar, Wang Lin raised his hands, and as Ji Qiong closed within a hundred feet, the swords began to rise. Drawn upwards by the lightning, they formed a tempestuous rain of steel, bearing both electric fury and razor edges, aimed directly at Ji Qiong!

Wang Lin’s eyes gleamed with cold intent. Ji Qiong had sought to extinguish his life, and Wang Lin, in turn, had resolved to slay the tenacious beast.

Yet his current strength paled in comparison to that of the monstrous creature. If not for his speed, he would have already been caught and devoured.

Though it was but a clone, bearing his full powers and with the knowledge that death here would not affect his true body, Wang Lin would not allow it. He was here to assess Tuo Sen’s strength, and he would not be denied by death in this place.

The electrified blades rose from a thousand feet, streaking towards Ji Qiong. Wang Lin retreated, unleashing more lightning upon the earth, raising more blades to join the storm.

As Wang Lin quickened his pace, within moments, the ruined swords for miles around rose into the air, forming a dense web of steel and electricity. Their whistling passage drowned out even the thunder and the roars of Ji Qiong. This was not merely a volley of blades. This was a rain of swords!

Many of the ancient blades still bore the marks of time and rust, but as the lightning coursed through them, the decay fell away, revealing a shimmering rain of silver death.

Faster and faster the blades flew, the wind screaming with the power of the blades.

Ji Qiong roared in fury, its eighteen heads chanting in terrible unison, the beast weaving a protective shield of dark energy.

The sword storm descended. A symphony of impacts rocked the graveyard as the lightning-infused blades crashed against the barrier. The swords shattered against the shield, only to be replaced with a new strike.

The volley of steel wore the shield down. But as the darkness flickered, a new wave was prepared to crash down.

With a final roar, Ji Qiong prepared a counterattack. As the energy shield fell away, the face of the middle-aged man roared, unleashing golden fire.

Wang Lin was ready, and his trap sprung shut. As fire exploded around him, he laughed, “Opportunity given by the Heavens!” Wang Lin cried out, “Nine Xuan art, Fire Escape!”

With a flash of fire, Wang Lin teleported through fire, appearing before the head and raising his rusted sword.

The sword was imbued with Wang Lin’s energy, and with a flash of steel, one of Ji Qiong’s faces fell.

Wang Lin grabbed the head, and fled.