Lord Xu, a portly cultivator of considerable girth, chanted incantations, his fingers flying in complex patterns. An abacus, its beads spinning wildly about him, transformed at his command into a bizarre formation before him.

It resembled a half-finished game of Go, the beads now gleaming as jade stones upon a star-strewn board.

The cultivator, his face etched with solemn concentration, muttered arcane words. Raising his right hand, he thrust a finger forward, and the abacus-board of enchanted beads shot towards the crimson mists.

As the formation neared, the mists roiled in fury, a bestial roar echoing from within. A tendril of crimson surged forth, seeking to devour the chess-like ward.

With a deafening boom, just as the mists threatened to engulf it, the board erupted in a kaleidoscope of light. Phantasmal figures flickered into existence, each wielding mystical seals, and struck out at the encroaching crimson.

An unseen power surged forth, forcing the crimson mists to recoil. The gathered cultivators gasped. Lingdong, the Elder, barely contained his glee. The scholarly man chuckled derisively, and the portly cultivator wore a mask of triumphant pride as he raised his right hand once more. The abacus-board, wreathed in light and guarded by spectral warriors, pressed onwards toward the swirling red.

Wang Lin watched, his gaze unwavering. The cultivator’s method of breaking the barrier, he mused, was not without merit. The abacus, clearly no ordinary artifact, contained a multitude of individual enchantments within each bead, capable of intricate combination.

Against lesser wards, such ingenuity might prevail. However, against the crimson mists, these paltry tricks would amount to naught. Within lay a web of potent seals: ancient Soul Bonds intertwined with the corrosive magic of Years, a confluence of power nigh unbreakable.

As the cultivator’s formation neared the mists, it vanished within, swallowed whole. A terrible roar echoed from the crimson depths, and the portly cultivator’s face contorted in horror, draining of all color. A mouthful of blood sprayed forth as his treasured artifact was shattered, its link to his very soul severed. He stumbled backward, but before he could retreat, the crimson mists surged with renewed ferocity. Like a blood-red tide, they engulfed him and dragged him screaming into the depths.

A sickening crunch echoed across the desolate land, the sound of bones being pulverized sending shivers down the spines of those who remained. “Useless fool!” Lingdong snarled. To force the barrier would damage the Dao-spirit trapped within, making the whole endeavor pointless.

“If I cannot claim it, none shall!” The Elder roared, his eyes gleaming with malice. “I shall tear it asunder and be done with it!” He took a step forward, ready to unleash his full power.

But the scholarly man with the feathered fan stepped forward, bowing respectfully. “Great Elder, before you proceed, allow me to attempt a solution. Even if I cannot completely breach the barrier, perhaps I can weaken it, lessening the damage to the Dao-spirit when you force your way through.”

Lingdong paused, considering the scholar’s words. After a moment, he nodded curtly. “Be warned, tread carefully!”

The scholar smiled, closing his fan with a snap against his palm. With a measured gait, he approached the crimson mists.

Wang Lin’s expression remained impassive, yet his inner eye sharpened. Beneath his feet, unseen energies coalesced, weaving into a potent array of seals.

The scholar paused before the crimson wall, his brow furrowed in calculation. After long moments, he thrust a finger forward, his hand becoming a blur as he struck at the mists.

The mists churned, a monstrous roar erupting from within. A tendril of crimson, thick as a man’s arm, lunged at the scholar, but he seemed oblivious, his hand continuing its rapid dance of arcane gestures.

With another echoing boom, the scholar struck a precise point, and the crimson tendril shuddered, collapsing into nothingness before it could touch him.

Lingdong’s eyes gleamed with newfound interest.

Wang Lin narrowed his own. This scholar possessed skills beyond those of the others.

Sweat beaded upon the scholar’s brow, but his gaze remained sharp. In a blur of motion, he began to weave around the crimson mists, his right hand a whirlwind of seals, striking at the barrier with pinpoint accuracy. The roars from within grew more frantic, laced with primal fury.

Wang Lin’s pupils constricted. Despite the scholar’s clever deception, he now perceived the true nature of his methods.

Suddenly, the scholar halted, his movements snapping to a stop. “Elder, lend me your strength!” he cried. “Unleash the power of Faith! Together, we can cleave this barrier in twain!”

Lingdong, trusting the scholar’s judgment, did not hesitate. With a single stride, he gathered the power of Faith, swirling tendrils of ethereal energy that burst forth from his very being. He thrust his right hand forward, and a palm of pure Faith materialized, hurtling toward the crimson mists with thunderous force. Simultaneously, the scholar’s hands slammed into the barrier.

A deafening explosion ripped through the heavens, shattering the outer layers of the crimson mists. But as Lingdong’s face lit with triumph, the mists unleashed a devastating counter-attack. From within, a whirlwind of crimson surged forth, a monstrous maw that engulfed the scholar, his face twisting in silent horror as he was swallowed whole.

A piercing scream echoed through the desolate land. Even as the crimson mists absorbed Lingdong’s Faith-infused palm, a wave of annihilation erupted from within. The earth shuddered, the very fabric of reality trembled, as a storm of pure destruction swept outwards, consuming all in its path. Crimson tendrils clawed at the sky, tearing rifts in the heavens.

Those too slow to react were engulfed by the storm, their bodies dissolving into nothingness as their souls were ripped apart. Lingdong, his face paling, retreated swiftly, barely managing to reach the relative safety of the platform.

Wang Lin, however, was already in motion. As the scholar was devoured, he unleashed the meticulously crafted array beneath his feet, sending it hurtling towards the earth. Without pause, he transformed into a streak of light, soaring into the heavens.

The crimson tide swept across the land, swallowing the world. Most fled through rifts in the heavens and were gone, and a handful of the cultivators survived. Wang Lin stepped through a rift and vanished, and crimson mists swept through the plane and sealed it off.

Silence settled over the desolate realm.

Half an hour passed, before a lone figure emerged from the mists. It was the scholarly man with the feathered fan, whose lips curled into a sinister smile.

“Fool Lingdong! Who could stand against my guile? It only took a simple plan to drive out the others, leaving the Spirit-Dao within the mists to me alone!”

The scholarly man chuckled as he turned to face the mists and his eyes reflected avarice. With a flick of his wrist, he revealed nine jade tablets.

“Old-Soul Binding, Year-Decay Cords! While I am unable to pierce them entirely, I can suspend them for twenty breaths!”

The scholar’s right hand waved. The jade tablets whirled into place, a circle of arcane symbols hurtling toward the mists and resting there. The mists wriggled as the tablets took hold.

The scholar stepped forward, his hands tearing through the suspended mists. He lunged forward, only to scream in pain and be blasted backward. His flesh melted and sloughed off his bones, leaving a heap of gore.

Twenty breaths passed. As the jade tablets lost their light, the mists stirred, and the cycle began anew.

An hour passed, and the remains stirred once more, reforming into the smiling scholarly man.

“It seems no one made their way in here. The treasures of this place will be mine!” The scholar once more approached the mists.