A crimson fire, like blood spilled across the very fabric of the Human Realm, coalesced into a searing wave. From every corner of existence, it surged towards Wang Lin, an inferno hungry to consume him. Within this scarlet sea of flame dwelled a power capable of incinerating the heavens and shattering the earth.

Trapped within this fiery onslaught, perched atop the ebony Vermillion Bird, Wang Lin felt the agonizing heat sear through his being. As the red waves crashed upon him, a searing pain erupted, threatening to tear him asunder.

This was the Ninefold Karma Fire Tribulation, and this first trial blazed with the crimson of unbridled rage. It embodied the boundless slaughter born of Wang Lin’s unwavering obsessions. Now, this carnage turned inward, burning his very soul like a tempestuous gale.

Beneath him, the Vermillion Bird cried out in piercing agony as the crimson flames devoured it. Even Wang Lin, his spirit recently reforged, felt his essence crumble, on the verge of being burned alive.

He had overestimated the strength of the Ninefold Karma Fire, but never imagined the first trial would be so unbearable.

Each fleeting moment within this scarlet blaze felt like an eternity. Before his very eyes, the black Vermillion Bird shrank under the relentless assault, its ebony flames devoured by the encroaching red.

Should the transformation complete, the Vermillion Bird would become part of the first turn of the tribulation, augmenting its destructive power and turning it against Wang Lin. With a defiant roar, he threw his arms wide and inhaled with all his might.

“First Turn of the Karma Fire Tribulation, we shall see whether you shall utterly consume Wang Lin, or be devoured and refined by me!” A core of madness coursed through Wang Lin’s veins. The greater the peril, the more indomitable his spirit. With that single breath, the crimson flames raging all around rushed towards him, vanishing into his maw. In a flash, the sky was cleared of the inferno, but within Wang Lin’s body, it exploded with a thunderous roar, turning him into a man of blood. Crimson light erupted from within, threatening to tear him limb from limb.

His body was woven from the threads of his very soul, and now the scarlet fire burned within the essence of his being.

Upon the Great Emperor Star, the first incense stick on the turtle’s back burned with renewed ferocity. In a heartbeat, it was consumed, unleashing a torrent of black smoke that transformed to crimson before the eyes of all. A blood-red haze spread across the sky, painting the Great Emperor Star in its ominous glow.

The surrounding tens of thousands of cultivators gasped and retreated in unison.

Just then, an even denser wave of red light burst from the form of Wang Lin below the incense. It flowed through his body, releasing an aura of unimaginable heat.

Simultaneously, the incense stick paused in its burning, as if an insurmountable force had risen to halt its consumption.

The Elder Vermillion Bird gazed at the incense, his eyes filled with worry.

Meanwhile, within the Human Realm, Wang Lin swallowed the entirety of the crimson flame. His body felt like a million exploding stars. The agonizing pain threatened to unravel his very being.

With a guttural roar, Wang Lin flung out his right hand. The Vermillion Bird, half-consumed by the red fire, emitted a mournful shriek as it hurtled towards him. In a breath, the two became one.

Wang Lin’s face contorted in agony, but he remained unbowed as he endured the flames burning within him, attempting to refine and tame the scarlet fire. Just then, the heavens shifted, and a wave of orange light suddenly appeared. The instant it flickered into existence, the second turn of the Ninefold Karma Fire Tribulation descended. With no time to recover, the sky was instantly engulfed by a sea of orange flames, roaring towards Wang Lin.

But that was not all. Beyond the orange sea of fire, waves of yellow flames surged, while beyond them, a ring of eerie green fire rose like spectral will-o’-the-wisps. With terrifying majesty, the green fire advanced. Thus, the Trial of the Four Colors had begun! Three tribulations at once! This was the terror of the Ninefold Karma Fire Tribulation. Unlike other tribulations that offered a sliver of hope, the Karma Fire was a trial of annihilation, leaving no room for survival.

Within the Human Realm, the three tribulations raged in the sky, and on the Great Emperor Star, that rage was reflected. From within the crimson smoke, swirls of orange, yellow, and green billowed forth.

“The first trial is not yet passed, and three more have arrived! How… how can he survive this!” The Elder Vermillion Bird cried out in despair, as he beheld the raw ferocity of the Ninefold Karma Tribulation for the first time.

None were happier than Si Mo Zi. A wicked smile played upon his lips as he watched the first incense stick, thinking, “I do not know what that little cur is suffering, but he will surely die! What a waste of the secrets he held, but perhaps it is for the best!”

Grand Overseer Yun Luo sighed in relief, the wound upon her finger healed. Looking at the first incense stick, she murmured, “It seems he is not the one foretold by the ancestor’s divination.”

“Father…” Li Qianmei bit her lip, looking to Azure Dream Daoist beside her, her beautiful eyes filled with pain and pleading.

The Azure Dream Daoist sighed. “I will help him, do not worry. Though, I believe he can overcome this trial.”

Within the Human Realm, Wang Lin’s body pulsed with red light. His eyes held a fierce defiance. “Ninefold Karma Fire, three trials at once? Very well, very well, very well! This Wang Lin shall see how these three trials obliterate my soul!” Ignoring the agonizing pain, he suppressed a cry of defiance and inhaled with all his might.

“Let all four flames flow into my soul! Either you consume me, or Wang Lin will devour you!”

An ineffable heroism, an indescribable attitude towards life, a passion for defying fate, and a pursuit of conviction beyond imagining, fused within Wang Lin’s heart, erupting in a defiant roar that echoed throughout existence. In that roar, two thousand years of cultivation flashed before his eyes. The faces of his parents filled his heart, the bittersweet memories of returning home, the youth kneeling before their graves in the rain, longing for their embrace.

As these memories flooded his soul, the orange flames roared forth, rushing into Wang Lin’s body, clashing with the crimson.

*If the soul grieves, let it return home. If the soul returns, let tears fall before the grave…*

The yellow flames surged after the orange, burning within him.

*Distant is the road to the underworld, yet there is a yearning to search the heavens and the earth. But the relentless passage of time, the separation between heaven and man, has become an eternal wound, carried throughout life, never to be erased…*

The eerie green flames erupted, engulfing the sky in a spectral light, flooding into Wang Lin’s body.

Wang Lin’s eyes flashed, his memories halted, and the four flames raged within him. The force threatened to overwhelm the pace of his refinement, threatening to consume him. With a mighty roar, Wang Lin raised his right hand, tearing the very fabric of reality and opening his storage space.

He reached in and grabbed the wine flask filled with dragon blood. A single mouthful of this elixir would ignite the flames within him, but he hesitated not. Laughter echoed as he drained the entire flask in a single gulp, tossing it aside. The dragon blood roared to life within his body, clashing with the four flames. In the depths of Wang Lin’s soul, amidst the inferno, a vortex began to stir, carrying the aura of the Heaven Defying Bead.

“I have swallowed the flames of the four tribulations, leaving none to burn in the Human Realm. Let the Fifth Turn of the Karma Fire descend!”

His entire being aflame, Wang Lin roared into the heavens and charged skyward. The sky became a barrier before him, and with each step closer, he reached the end.

With a thunderous crash, the heavens shattered, revealing another world entirely. A realm filled with countless spirits and countless more torments!

Upon the Great Emperor Star, the tens of thousands of cultivators stared at the first incense stick, now motionless.

Time ticked by, one breath at a time. Five breaths had passed, and still the fire held. Just as the former generations of the Vermillion Bird maintained but five breaths, yet Wang Lin already reached seven.

The young-looking Myriad Sound Immortal Emperor narrowed her eyes, intrigued.

At the seventh breath, a sudden cry erupted from the Great Emperor Star. Not a single cry, but thousands, tens of thousands. Almost in an instant, the outcry shook the world. What shocked them was not that the first incense stick had lasted seven breaths, but that at the seventh breath, the Human Realm Incense… had gone out. The fire was extinguished! The shock rippled outwards.

“This…this…”

Si Mo Zi stared blankly, his eyes wide with shock.

Beside him, Grand Overseer Yun Luo’s face drained of color. Ignoring the wound on her right hand, she began to cast her divination once more.