His voice, for the first time at such a zenith of power, thundered across the heavens, crashing against the nearly ten thousand cultivators arrayed before the Divine Sect in the nascent Nine Annihilation Celestial Doom Formation.

The formation, incomplete, barely a third of its power manifested, was hastily erected by cultivators answering the Divine Sect’s urgent call. They arrived with swiftness, but Wang Lin was swifter still.

A roar echoed, “You conspire with Outsiders! You betray your masters for glory!” Wang Lin’s voice, laden with unshakeable authority, silenced the massed ranks.

The sound reverberated through the starry expanse, reaching the ears of mighty beings and great mages of the Four Celestial Domains who watched with rapt attention.

“He claims to be the ‘Seal of the Realm’s’ pawn, sent to slay its slaves!” whispered shocked voices amongst the Domains.

“Lies and slander! The Nine Annihilation Celestial Doom Formation, obliterate this traitorous lackey of the Palm Sovereign!” shrieked the shrill voice of Water Daoist, bursting from the Divine Sect like a piercing blade aimed at Wang Lin’s very soul.

A flash of icy fury ignited in Wang Lin’s eyes. With a contemptuous snort that shattered Water Daoist’s vocal assault into nothingness, he touched his brow. A fleeting crimson light, unseen by any, marked the act, and Wang Lin strode forward, towards the Divine Sect!

He marched towards the pinnacle of the Cloud Sea, to confront the Third Step Great Mage, Water Daoist!

Behind him, the chilling cacophony of fracturing echoed as tens of thousands of feet of frost-rimed ice spread outwards, freezing the ambient mists into a swirling prison. This spectacle was awe-inspiring, the entombed vapor emitting palpable waves of deadly intent.

This deadly aura, emanating from the frozen mist and radiating from Wang Lin himself, coalesced into the very essence of slaughter! It was the emergence of this single strand of murderous origin that transformed Wang Lin into a veritable Demon Immortal!

The sudden manifestation of this killing essence sent tremors through the assembled powers of the Four Celestial Domains. Water Daoist, seated in meditation atop a peak on the Divine Sect’s celestial star, felt it and his face twisted with a darkness like the bottom of a well, disbelief raging in his eyes.

“Another origin…he already possessed so many! And this, the origin of slaughter! An enigma that even the Seal of the Realm failed to unravel! But, what does it matter…?” Water Daoist snarled, a touch of madness coloring his gaze. He clutched a golden, bell-tipped chain in his fist, eyes fixed skyward, a grim smile playing on his lips.

Wang Lin took another step. The very pressure of his warlike spirit caused the thousands of cultivators manning the Nine Annihilation Celestial Doom Formation to recoil in unison. They had no choice. His stride fell upon their souls, synchronized with the pounding of their hearts!

Each footfall sent a shudder through the ranks. Their chests constricted, and vital energies within their bodies began to swirl uncontrollably. Were they not to retreat, were they not to yield, they would be crushed by the sheer force of his step, their flesh and souls annihilated.

It was as if Wang Lin, before them, was no longer merely a cultivator, but some ancient horror, a demonic god returned from the forgotten epochs!

A Slaughtering Demon Immortal!

The scene unfolding before Wang Lin felt familiar, like echoes of yesterday. He remembered his machinations on the Cloud Sea’s Desolate Star, using the soul of Tian Yunzi to unravel fate’s threads, preparing himself to survive Water Daoist’s descent.

But now, the tables had turned completely. Wang Lin was the divine wrath descending, and Water Daoist was the one struggling to survive!

“My feud with Water Daoist is not yours,” Wang Lin declared as he advanced. With each step, the ten thousand cultivators fell back. The lone warrior, backed by the chilling aura of frozen frost and the unleashed essence of slaughter, forced back an army. “Yield…”

“We cannot allow him to breach the Divine Sect!”

“The Divine Sect commands us to stand firm! We, cultivators of the Cloud Sea, fear not death!” The faces of the nearly ten thousand were ashen as they retreated, with no retreat left. Behind them lay the Divine Sect, the object of their lifelong devotion!

For tens of thousands of years, the Divine Sect held a place of such reverence that it could command any Cloud Sea cultivator to die for it!

Water Daoist’s aim was precisely that: to have them die, to be slain by Wang Lin, their deaths fueling the outrage of the Cloud Sea, and the sympathy of the other three Celestial Domains.

To have them die, and in so doing, even before the Outsider invasion, aid those invaders and earn a great merit for himself!

Caught between terror and a warped sense of glory, the cultivators of the Cloud Sea summoned the last vestiges of their pride. They suppressed their fear and embraced their twisted honor!

“For the Glory of the Cloud Sea!”

“For the Glory of the Cloud Sea!”

“For the Glory of the Cloud Sea!”

A tidal wave of shouts crashed forth as the nearly ten thousand cultivators unleashed the most powerful roar of their lives, a desperate oath to defend the Divine Sect, to defend the Cloud Sea!

The sound was enough to shake the very souls of those who heard it!

Under the banner of this desperate glory, the cultivators charged forward like madmen, operating the incomplete Nine Annihilation Celestial Doom Formation with desperate fervor, using their flesh and blood, their indomitable wills, to safeguard the glory of the Divine Sect!

Pitiful and yet… admirable!

Wang Lin paused, his heart moved. Amongst those rushing towards him, he recognized a few faces from years past. But most were strangers.

These cultivators, of varying strength, possessing different intents and beliefs, hailing from diverse sects, all shared the same blood of the Cloud Sea, the same unwavering conviction. They were the Cloud Sea, true cultivators who faced death without fear!

They did not fight for Water Daoist, but for the Divine Sect!

Unaware of Water Daoist’s treachery, they only knew that the Divine Sect had commanded: Wang Lin must not be allowed to pass!

The Glory of the Cloud Sea!

This was the essence of all Cloud Sea cultivators, their honor and their pride!
Under such blinding glory, even a being of the Third Step, even Wang Lin himself, could not stand his ground! Though he wielded power to conjure ethereal flames and slay with a thought, at this moment, how could he dare to strike?

Fueled by this surge of honor, the nearly ten thousand cultivators surged forward with even greater fervor. Wang Lin, forced to retreat again, gazed upon their faces. They were echoes of those he had seen in the Seven-Colored Realm – the immortal cultivators of old, standing defiant beside the Sealed Realm Formation, risking all to defend, their spirits unbowed!

At that very instant, mighty figures of the myriad starfields, their divine senses piercing the void, and even reclusive Grand Magisters witnessed this scene. They heard the vibrant song of Cloud Sea, a melody that stirred the heart, igniting in the souls of cultivators across the realm and the other three starfields, a burning ember of shared glory!

What began as the Water Daoist’s ploy to shatter the morale of the realm’s cultivators and disrupt their war preparations had become a rallying cry, awakening within every warrior of this land a sacred oath – to defend their home, to safeguard their realm with unwavering valor!

Even the Water Daoist was stunned into silence, never imagining such a transformation could occur! He had underestimated the cultivators of Cloud Sea, underestimated the… glory… that resided within them!

“Water Daoist, you shall pay!” Wang Lin, retreating, his eyes blazed with furious intent. With a thunderous stomp of his right foot, he surged forward. Raising his right hand, he unleashed his power, sacrificing his own vital essence, testing the very limits of his being, and roared with righteous anger!

His roar was not directed at the approaching thousands, but at the puppet master behind them all, the Water Daoist. “Body Fixation, BE STILL!” he bellowed. The heavens trembled, the stars quaked, and every cultivator’s movement, the turning of the cosmos, the shifts of the earth, and the rotations of all formations, were frozen in that single, earth-shattering instant!

It was not merely their bodies that were held in place, but also their spirits. Faced with the radiant glory of Cloud Sea, Wang Lin’s Body Fixation spell underwent a miraculous metamorphosis!

This transformation was born from the courage of the ten thousand, and driven by Wang Lin’s reluctance to harm them. In a manner he did not fully comprehend, yet vaguely perceived, Body Fixation had become Spirit Fixation!

For only through the spirit could one truly still the heavens!

This spirit was not a deity, nor divine sense, but a surge of will, a wave of glorious thought. A thought that could only be described as ‘Shen’.

Before, Wang Lin did not possess this ‘Shen’, or perhaps held but a spark of it within him. But now, beholding the might unleashed by the ten thousand, he gained a glimmer of understanding. One utterance stills the body, one utterance stills the spirit! Heaven and earth stood still, all movement ceased! Yet, that resplendent glory still lingered within the starfield, boundless and eternal!

In the moment those thousands were frozen, Wang Lin swept forward, his sleeves billowing. Wherever he passed, the cultivators were gently absorbed into the very fabric of the cosmos, forcibly moved away, unharmed.

They were worthy of respect.

The heavens thundered as Wang Lin cleared the battlefield. Yet he could not move the glory that permeated the sky. With a single stride, amidst this radiant honor, Wang Lin hurtled towards the Divine Sect cultivation star, where the Water Daoist knelt in meditation!

“Water Daoist! Dare you face me in honorable combat?!” The Divine Sect cultivation star shuddered violently, the earth collapsing, countless fissures tearing across its surface. Wang Lin’s form, breaking through the planet’s protective winds, appeared in the skies above!

His arrival brought with it a howling tempest of frost, stretching for tens of thousands of feet. The air crackled and snapped as the sky itself seemed to freeze, spreading outwards, consuming the land, leaving behind an endless expanse of ice and frost!

Beneath this chilling spectacle, Wang Lin’s gaze fell upon the Water Daoist, meditating upon one of five distant mountain peaks.

“Wang Lin, you whelp!!” The Water Daoist’s voice, sharp and grating, pierced the heavens!

“Behold who suffers for your pride!!” The Water Daoist, his face contorted in rage, pointed towards the sky. The heavens rumbled, and within the void between Wang Lin and the Water Daoist, a shimmering image appeared, distorted and wavering.

The image revealed the members of the Guī Yuán Sect, surrounded by shadowy figures clad in black, trapped within a desolate basin. Above them, a colossal mountain, radiating an ominous light, threatened to fall at any moment, crushing all within the basin to dust!

“They shall perish because of you! Let us see if your Dao Heart will break!” The Water Daoist cackled, rising to his feet, his right hand slashing forward with menacing intent.

“You dare presume…?” Wang Lin spoke calmly, as if this was a twist he had foreseen.

The Water Daoist paused, momentarily stunned, as something began to shift. (To be continued…)