The youth’s flying sword screamed, a torrent of raw, unbridled energy cleaving through the fog, piercing the heart of the Azure Serpent. Moments later, the ancient Pang unleashed a cacophony of divine thunder, driving the serpent to a frenzy of roaring agony. The more it thrashed, the paler the youth who bore the seal became, his body wracked with tremors.

“Five breaths remain!” the youth shrieked.

Cang Songzi, hands blurred in a rapid series of arcane gestures, unleashed the torrent of raining stars. They hammered against the serpent’s hide, eliciting a roar of pain. With each desperate thrash, the sealing youth coughed blood, the veins in his body turning a grotesque blue, his eyes bloodshot and wild.

The blue-robed crone’s spell manifested as creeping Xuan Ice, snaking towards the serpent and encompassing it in an instant. The serpent’s struggles faltered, its body quickly encased in a frost of impossible cold, an icy shroud of rapid formation.

Strands of black miasma seeped from the serpent’s form, instantly drawn into the ice. This sight caused a collective intake of breath. Wang Lin, his gaze sharp, pierced the crone with a knowing look. He understood the ice’s dark nature: it devoured the serpent’s very life essence.

Driven to agony, the serpent reared its head, the sun and moon sigils that had once bound its brow shattering in a deafening cacophony. The youth coughed more blood, the seal utterly broken.

Free from the bonds of Samsara, the serpent unleashed a furious roar, its ebony horn flashing. It wrenched its head, pulling more of its form free from the clinging mist.

As its body emerged, the mists thinned.

The Xuan Ice, now bereft of the seal’s restraint, shattered with the serpent’s movements. A wave of icy shards flew back towards the crone, swirling around her. Whispers of black miasma flowed into her, and her eyes burned brighter than before.

“These old monsters still conceal their true powers, how amusing,” Wang Lin mused, a cold smile playing on his lips. He darted forward, aiming for the dwindling mists at the tail end of the serpent, moving as it reared to ascend.

Once the serpent fully solidified, the primal crystals within the mist would disperse, becoming mere components of its vital energy.

“I shall take what is mine, but no heroics for me,” Wang Lin muttered, diving into the fog. There, a dazzling sight greeted him: countless primal crystals, some newly forming, drifting amidst the swirling mists.

With a flourish of his sleeve, hundreds of crystals vanished into his possession. Delighted by the ease of his plunder, Wang Lin moved like lightning, gathering the crystals that had accumulated over millennia within this untamed realm.

The roars of the serpent and the thunderous clashes of battle echoed around him. Undeterred, Wang Lin continued his swift collection, gathering thousands. In truth, a 12th-order fog beast could never have amassed such a hoard, for such creatures were usually farmed for their crystals.

But within the Seven-Colored Realm, no one dared to raid the crystals of such a dangerous creature. And so, the trove had grown.

Soon, Wang Lin sensed a heightened agitation in the mists, a shift towards solid form as they condensed rapidly towards a single point.

Estimating the number of crystals he possessed, Wang Lin decided to retreat. He moved swiftly aside, and the mists coalesced with even greater speed.

In moments, the fog vanished entirely, revealing the monstrous tail of the Azure Serpent. Its body was a thousand fathoms long, and the greater part of it already soared skyward, dragging its tail aloft with it.

Farther down the ravine, the aged Pang leaned against the rock face, pale and bloodied. Around the serpent’s head, Cang Songzi, the blue-robed crone, and the youth waged a desperate battle, their spells colliding in a symphony of light and destruction, striving to prevent the serpent’s ascension.

Black light pulsed from the serpent’s ebony horn. Each time it flashed, Cang Songzi and the others were forced to dodge. When the serpent opened its maw, a torrent of poisonous vapours spewed forth, making the battle all the more perilous. Yet, the beast was grievously wounded, its body dripping blood.

Then, the serpent unleashed an earth-shattering roar, shaking the mountains to their very foundations. Boulders cracked and tumbled, and the ebony horn blazed with blinding light, unleashing a net of black lightning. The power of the Heavens themselves seemed to gather, and the iridescent glow of the Seven-Colored Realm dimmed.

*HOAR!*

The serpent’s roar sent shivers down their spines. The black lightning spread a hundred fathoms, and phantasmal images erupted, swirling around the serpent in a vortex of illusionary doubles, forcing Cang Songzi and the others to retreat.

The serpent was about to ascend, and for those trapped within the Seven-Colored Realm, unable to fly to great heights, this would spell disaster.

Wang Lin’s eyes flashed. He focused on the serpent’s tail, rising not far away. He took a step forward, and the echoes of ancient power reverberated within his arms. With a mighty leap, he seized the monstrous tail, his veins bulging as his god-like strength surged.

“Come down!”

Wang Lin’s hands locked onto the serpent’s tail, and he swung it down with all his might. Those watching from afar were awestruck.

The aged Pang, huddled on the side of the ravine, stared in disbelief.

The serpent writhed and roared, turning its head to snap at Wang Lin, surrounded by its desperate magics.

Yet its struggles only fueled the divine power coursing through Wang Lin.

“DOWN!” The shout was like the voice of a god. Wang Lin, with a ferocious swing, hurled the entire serpent down the ravine, leaving all spectators dumbstruck.

The serpent, despite its thousand-fathom length, its shattered soul cultivation, its flesh strong enough to resist most spells, was no match for Wang Lin.

Even if it shed its scales and transformed into a true dragon, it could not ascend before an Ancient God!

With Wang Lin’s mighty throw, the serpent plummeted, a deafening boom as it struck the ravine floor. Pang felt the sky darken, and he scrambled away in terror, fearing the serpent’s colossal weight.

The impact reverberated throughout the realm. The great serpent slammed into the narrow path, the earth trembled, and rubble cascaded from the mountainsides before slowly returning to normal.

The serpent’s body spasmed. Black mist emanated from its head as Chen Tianjun emerged, landing a few steps away.

Cang Songzi gasped, staring from the serpent to Wang Lin, and a chill went down his spine.

Even the youth licked his lips, a newfound wariness in his gaze. The blue-robed crone inhaled sharply, her face falling silent.

The most terrified of all was Pang, who had narrowly escaped being crushed. He remembered Wang Lin’s threat, and his mouth filled with bitter bile.

Wang Lin, his breath settling, glanced at the others before his gaze fell upon the nearby skeleton. He walked to the bones and, examining it, found a jade slip beneath it.

He reached out and drew the slip and a pill into his hand. He tossed the pill to the youth, who caught it and clasped his hands in a sign of respect.

“Thank you!”

Jade slip in hand, Wang Lin leaned against the mountain wall and scanned its contents, his brow furrowing.

Cang Songzi approached Pang and laid a hand on his back, handing him a pill before sitting cross-legged, his gaze darting to Wang Lin with a strange light.

The youth examined the reincarnation pill with reverence, knowing that the time for consumption was not now. He took a deep breath and sat down, recovering his strength.

Chen Tianjun also took a seat. Though he was within the serpent, those outside were crucial. He would not have been able to extract the serpent’s soul without their aid.

Though he would not be able to absorb it completely, Chen had gained the most.

As for the blue-robed crone, she touched the serpent’s corpse and began to emanate black miasma which then drew itself into her right hand.

“12th-order fog beasts abound, but these paths are all fraught with perils, so the more dangerous it is, the more rewarding it is for us to tread along it. After all, we gain so much more,” Cang Songzi spoke after a few hours of rest.

The serpentine corpse was nothing but skin and bone, and its blood and gore was nonexistent. The crone’s face was flushed red, and she looked a few years younger.

Pang rose and walked towards the dark path deeper into the ravine, towards the path that the fog was no longer blocking.

“Everyone, let’s continue onward.” Cang Songzi rose and began walking forward.

The blue robed crone and Chen Tianjun followed closely behind, while the youth hesitated, before sighing and rising to follow.

Wang Lin stayed where he was, his hand still gripping the Jade slip, the one that contained information about this seven-colored realm.

“So that’s where…” he muttered under his breath before lifting his gaze and fixing it on the group of people ahead.

The same shift happened for Cang Songzi and the youth, as the crone and Tianjun had discovered before, as well as Pang lagging even farther behind.

“Don’t move” came the mental command from Cang Songzi, his face paling with dread.