Here begins the Tale of Wang Lin, a seeker upon the path of Dao.

What is Dao? A question that echoed in the heart of Wang Lin as he navigated the endless river of life and death. Reincarnation’s wheel, the dance of cause and consequence, the shifting sands of truth and illusion – each was a step upon a path he forged himself, a reflection of his evolving spirit. From a nameless, unremarkable cultivator he had risen, step by arduous step, to stand amongst the mighty. This transformation itself was the very essence of his life’s arduous journey.

He gazed into the abyss of mortality and saw beyond the veil, finding within himself the tenacity to claw his way from countless perils. From the jaws of death, he sought life, nurturing within his soul a rebellious spirit, an audacity to defy the heavens themselves. He became a *Ni Xiu*, a Defier, one who walks the逆修, defied path.

His path was illuminated by the celestial bodies. He traversed the world in a way that was head bowed, but defiant step. By seeing past the terror of death, he found himself unburdened by fear. This, all of this, was born from the insight gained within the cycles of life and death.

The power of thought, therefore, begot strength! But the Heavens were indifferent. Their impartiality extended to every living thing. And yet, from the desires of all beings, sprang forth the myriad forms, the countless paths for mortals to perceive. This was the Heaven’s gift, a chance for all to cultivate in accordance with its will. This was the path of the obedient, the path of *Shun Xiu*, the one who follows the natural order, where the cultivator seeks to obey nature instead of challenging it. A path Wang Lin would never tread!

Beyond life and death lay the loom of cause and effect. After his initial transformation, Wang Lin was akin to a sage of the mortal realm, his mind ablaze with enlightened understanding. Death held no dominion over him, for he sought the deeper truth of Dao.

The cycle of cause and consequence: to see the origin and glimpse the ultimate effect. To understand that all things in this universe were intertwined, bound by an invisible chain of cause and effect. In the pursuit of karmic perfection, Wang Lin’s existence ascended to a new pinnacle. He became emboldened by his understanding, and thus the world appeared transformed.

“Their Heaven is not my Heaven!” Where others saw the vastness of the sky, an endless expanse of mystery, Wang Lin perceived an end. To him, the sky was the cause, and the earth, the effect – the very fabric of existence woven into a grand tapestry of cause and consequence. He sought to step outside this cosmic crucible, to know what lay beyond the confines of what was.

Here, Wang Lin’s understanding neared its limit, like the circle he had drawn around Li Qianmei and Lu Yuncong. He, too, was bound within a circle.

Yet, the arrival of Qinglin, the possession of the Heaven Defying Bead, triggered another metamorphosis. Wang Lin transcended karmic completion and began to explore the very essence of truth and illusion.

To tread the path of truth and falsehood was a profound endeavor, beyond the reach of ordinary mortals. It was to brush against the edges of the Heavenly Dao, to glimpse its core.

Through countless ages, few cultivators had reached such a height. The depth of one’s comprehension shaped their cultivation, and profound insights could bring forth earth-shattering transformations.

Wang Lin sought the heart of Dao, and though his goal seemed aligned with others, his perception led him to a destination far beyond their sight.

He drank the elixirs of the eleven-grade, feeling the transformation coursing through him. His enlightenment continued, unabated. With a thought, he opened a rift in space, revealing bottles of elixirs claimed from Penglai – elixirs of the eighth, ninth, and tenth grades.

Time lost all meaning as Wang Lin pursued understanding. He grasped the elixirs, not to consume them, but to break them open upon approach. The beastly souls within were swept into the vortex of his unfolding Dao, examined and understood. The chaotic streams of comprehension expanded, reaching ever outward.

Within the valley, those lost souls stirred with a flicker of awareness. The incorporeal bodies of the Inscribers gained a semblance of form. The twelfth-grade beasts lost their fiery rage.

Cang Songzi struggled, his mind near collapse within the swirling vortex. Outside the valley, the very air thickened with the weight of Wang Lin’s discarded thoughts.

The Seven-Colored Realm shuddered, warped by the discarded Dao. It was filled with an infinite number of colliding perspectives.

The distortion spread, touching even the deepest reaches of the Seven-Colored Realm.

As the revelations mounted, Wang Lin’s spirit drifted from his body. He saw his physical form seated in the valley, elixirs crumbling before him.

His spirit expanded, reaching the Inscribers who jerked in awareness.

The lost souls and savage beasts reacted in a similar way. Even Cang Songzi felt his Dao crumble and his face turn ashen.

Unfazed, Wang Lin continued to expand his consciousness. In a distant mountain cavern, a burly man sat in startled horror, unable to speak.

Wang Lin’s spirit encompassed the outer reaches, reaching the wall of encircling mountains. Along the way, he noticed a combined array of life/death and destruction bans protecting a robed old woman, her mind being torn apart. Her face was alternating from one of youth, middle age, and old.

She did not slow Wang Lin as he continued into the mist. The thick fog could not stop him. Two peaks were shrouded within restricted zones.

The Restriction of Time offered no obstacle. Within the first peak was an ancient, blank stone tablet. To Wang Lin, its antique power faded, revealing it to be merely a tool.

Moving on, he reached the second peak. Here stood a massive statue and a door marked with a symbol of lightning.

He reached beyond the door, and in its interior, he found colorful spheres. Every sphere contained a sealed beastly soul, ranging from the seventh-grade to the thirteenth.

He saw a maiden that looked identical to the old woman. She sat frozen in fear.

In a hidden chamber, he found another stone tablet, as well as the remnants of a skeleton pinned down by colorful nails.

His attention was fully drawn to this skeleton, to the countless glyphs etched into its bones.

Like thunder ripping apart the sky, Wang Lin was thrown into chaos. His spirit clung to the skeleton, each character seared into his soul, each word a whisper of what he previously had been thinking.

Lost in time, Wang Lin left the area and his spirit continued to spread throughout the depths of the Seven-Colored Realm.

The fog here was thick, but did not stop Wang Lin. Three youths in peculiar robes stood here. One had a moon tattoo between his eyes – he had seen this person before.

“There is something mysterious about this place, it is a place where I can feel the presence of my ancestors,” one of the youths said.

“Indeed,” said the youth with a fire tattoo on his face. “I can feel the ancestral call, and my tattoo wants to come off.”

The youth with the moon tattoo was about to speak but suddenly grew nervous.

The youth with the lightning tattoo felt his entire body shiver, and the tattoo on his head flickered.

The youth with the moon tattoo trembled, realizing that something was not right.

The youth with the fire tattoo felt every ounce of strength leave his body as a sense of reverence washed over him. He was at the peak of being burned to ashes. This faded, and the three looked at each other, realizing what had happened.

“What a strong spirit!” said the lightning tattoo youth.

“My ancestors are here, and the spirit force that passed by must have been them,” said the fire tattoo youth.

The moon tattoo youth remained silent. He was seeing horrible visions he was not able to forget. “Could it be him…? No… it is not possible,” the youth said.

“This man’s spirit is strong, but if we open our seals, perhaps we have a chance of defeating him! Let us join our power!” The youth with the fire tattoo spoke.