But alas, even this came too late!

The Water Daoist had summoned a celestial from the forgotten Immortal Realm, and was gifted a golden chime. This he manipulated with a secret art passed down from his self-proclaimed尊 status, aided by the ancient tortoise shell he bore. The unfolding tapestry of heaven and earth, the very aura of the Immortal Realm, remained imperceptible to all save himself.

Thus, when he revealed this chime-blade to parry Wang Lin’s incoming fist, he defied all expectations! Even the Crimson Rust and others, who rushed to intervene, found themselves powerless to prevent the unfolding catastrophe!

Wang Lin’s eyes narrowed, sensing the purity of the celestial energy, the illusion wrought by the Great Realm Sealing Array. Though he did not grasp the entirety of the situation, his keen mind swiftly pieced together fragments of the truth.

At this critical juncture, Wang Lin did not hesitate. With a swift motion, he drew back his right hand, creating a hair’s breadth separation from the approaching golden chime-blade.

“Detonate!! Detonate!! Detonate!!” the Water Daoist screamed, his visage twisted with madness. He spat a mouthful of blood upon the chime-blade, for only he could command its power. With a fiendish grin, fueled by hatred for Wang Lin, he unleashed the command!

At his roar, the golden chime-blade, previously unscathed and poised to meet Wang Lin’s fist, shuddered violently. An inner golden light flickered wildly, and a wave of obliterating energy began to emanate outward. Then, with a thunderous roar that shook the heavens, the chime-blade shattered!

The chime-blade, meant to buy the Realm within a century of respite from the Immortal Realm, disintegrated in that instant!

Driven to madness, the Water Daoist’s twisted laughter echoed through the void. As the golden chime-blade shattered, a tempest of golden energy erupted, rushing towards Wang Lin to devour him!

Though frail in form, the chime-blade contained immense power. Once melded with the Great Realm Sealing Array, that power could have altered the array’s very structure, solidifying this double-edged sword for both the Realm within and without, making it strong enough to withstand attacks for a hundred years!

But now, the Water Daoist unleashed this power to attack Wang Lin!

Should this energy detonate, not only would Wang Lin be consumed, but the black-robed Elder Zhou De, the middle-aged Yun Fengzi, the Spiritus Adept, Zhou Jin, and indeed all within the Divine Sect, and throughout the Cloudsea Starfield, would be annihilated in an instant!

None would survive, save perhaps the Water Daoist, who could withstand the collapse, unharmed!

This, then, was the Water Daoist’s madness: to use the Cloudsea Realm as a funeral pyre for Wang Lin!!

“Who dares slay me?! Who can slay me?!” the Water Daoist roared triumphantly. He had every right to gloat, for he was no weakling, being a third step cultivator! Though he had not foreseen every detail, his plan was roughly in place. He would detonate the golden chime-blade, annihilate the Cloudsea, and count on the resulting golden energy to impact the Great Realm Sealing Array!

He even dared to hope that this energy might create a breach in the Great Realm Sealing Array, allowing him to escape into the Ancient Starry Sky, where his contributions would grant him a life of carefree ease!

The golden tempest roared, threatening to engulf the Cloudsea, to bring ruin upon all. Throughout the Cloudsea Starfield, every floating continent trembled. A tremor, the harbinger of a starfield’s demise!

The Star Mist had long since dispersed, and within it, countless ferocious beasts wailed in sorrow. They possessed a sense of what was happening, and sensed a power beyond their strength about to erupt. If it spread, even their powerful bodies would be reduced to ash!

The few remaining Cultivation Stars shook violently, throwing their myriad inhabitants – all those who lived within the Cloudsea – into mortal peril! They all would die in this instant!

Every cultivator, pale as death, stared into the abyss of the end.

Vast fissures, spanning millions of *zhang*, erupted throughout the Cloudsea Starfield. Even the colossal Realm Sealing Array that spanned the starry sky flickered with an eerie light, as if a Realm Sealing Spirit was about to manifest!

All this unfolded in a blink, a mere instant!

Within the Divine Sect, upon a Cultivation Star, the red-robed man who had come from the mountain valley materialized behind Wang Lin. He strode forward, and placed his hand upon the rising tempest.

Simultaneously, from across the Starfield, the corpse-yin sect elder from the Alliance emerged. His face etched with grave concern, he frantically wove hand seals and pressed forward!

Zhou De and Yun Fengzi, faces pallid with dread, abandoned their battles and rushed forward, desperately trying to stem the tide of destruction!

The Spiritus and Zhou Jin, guided by Wang Lin’s divine sense, also arrived. Six grand cultivators, joining forces to contain the horrific tempest!!

“It’s useless! You can’t stop it! None of you can!” the Water Daoist shrieked, his eyes burning with feverish delight. “You want to slay the Water Daoist, but even that old fool, the Sealing Realm Sovereign, couldn’t do it! How can you hope to succeed?!”

“Wang Lin, you seek my death, but in doing so, you doom the Cloudsea! Even if you possess a thousand lives, will your Dao heart remain unblemished?! I doubt you will stay in the Realm within after this!! You are the Realm’s eternal criminal!!”

Across the sky, dozens of the Daemon Sect, those who cultivated to Celestial Five Decays, manifested and rushed forth to contribute to the fight!

Even those elders of the Divine Sect who once sided with the Water Daoist rushed desperately to prevent the tempest’s eruption!

And there, too, floating in the heavens, was the Tai Ah Luo, his face contorted with horror. He strode forth, unleashing a primal roar, his long hair whipping around him as he pushed with both hands, desperately stemming the storm!

And in that instant, heaven and earth twisted as the cultivators of the Ghost Sect hastened to lend their aid. The Ghost Sect Great Void cultivator, his expression grim, joined the ranks of those resisting the tempest!

And following closely on the heels of the Great Void cultivator came a monstrous demonic aura that shook the heavens. A colossal face materialized in the sky!
The visage that materialized was none other than the countenance of an ancient demon! Within the demon’s left eye, nine infernal stars spun in a chaotic vortex. As this spectral form coalesced, the demonic stars, one by one, detached from the eye, hurtling outwards in nine distinct trajectories, striving to shackle the raging tempest of gold.

Yet, the gilded storm proved intractable. Though many lent their power to its containment, they could only watch, aghast, as the cyclone swelled, growing ever more immense and furious with each thunderous roar.

“Redwood Sage, the Cloud Sea is forsaken, it seems…” a hoarse voice rasped. The elder from the Corpse Yin Sect, locked in a desperate struggle alongside the Redwood Sage, dared to speak the unspoken truth.

The Redwood Sage offered no reply, only gritted teeth and a frenzied surge of his primal energies, battling to restrain the ever-expanding golden maelstrom. All around, those present retreated before its inexorable advance, the tempest’s fury spiraling beyond all control.

To linger was to risk an eternity trapped within its gilded wrath, an eternity from which there would be no escape.

Wang Lin, a silent observer, watched the unfolding catastrophe. His quest for vengeance against Water Daoist was, at its core, a personal matter. Yet, as Water Daoist had coldly proclaimed, it had spiraled into a cataclysm that threatened to engulf the entire Cloud Sea. The price of his vendetta weighed heavily upon him.

“It should not have come to this…” Wang Lin murmured, his gaze fixed upon the rapidly expanding golden storm. With a deliberate motion, he raised his right hand, touching his fingertip to his brow.

“So be it. Swiftly retreat, all of you! Save as many as you can. The Cloud Sea… is doomed.” The Redwood Sage, despair etched upon his features, surrendered to the inevitable. “Once the Seal Boundary Array breaks, war… begins! But before that, I will slay this Water Daoist!” With a final, desperate surge of energy, he turned and charged towards his quarry.

The remaining cultivators, their faces etched with bitter resignation, scrambled for safety. They knew the truth. The Cloud Sea was finished.

Countless cultivators and beings of the Cloud Sea were about to meet their doom. Henceforth, the Inner Realm would be known for a grand total of three star domains.

As these survivors fled, and as the golden tempest, freed from its fragile restraints, surged forth with terrifying speed, Wang Lin pressed his finger into his brow.

“Nether!” The second ancient god star upon Wang Lin’s brow flashed, and as the golden storm raged, the sky above plunged into an unnatural twilight. From the shadows, a colossal Netherbeast manifested!

The Netherbeast, its eyes vacant and unfocused, stared blankly at the swirling chaos of golden energy, as if pondering its nature. Its arrival drew the horrified attention of all present. Even the Redwood Sage paused in his attack, his eyes widening in disbelief. Few knew of Wang Lin’s pact with such a creature.

“Nether, devour!” Wang Lin roared, his voice cutting through the din of the storm.

The Netherbeast, as if shaken from its stupor, blinked, then with a yawning stretch of its jaws, unveiled an immense, spectral maw within its very being.

This soul-devouring maw, vast enough to swallow stars, obeyed Wang Lin’s command. It opened wide, and drew a massive breath into its depths.

“A Netherbeast? Useless! It can swallow heaven and earth, but it cannot contain this golden storm! This golden…” Water Daoist sneered, but his mocking laughter died in his throat as a horrifying realization dawned upon him.

The very fabric of space trembled as the expanding golden storm proved to be too miniscule compared to the Netherbeast’s jaws. The golden vortex was devoured into the beast’s depths.

It even appeared to chew upon the golden energies. After the consumption, the Netherbeast gazed back towards Wang Lin.

Silence descended upon the battlefield. All present, even Water Daoist, stared in slack-jawed awe at the Netherbeast, wondering what calamitous reaction would follow its consumption of the impossibly potent golden storm.

Even Wang Lin watched with bated breath. Yet, moments stretched into an eternity, and the Netherbeast simply stared back at him, its vacant eyes clouding with confusion. It seemed to question why these frightening beings were staring at it with such intensity.

It trembled, fear creeping into its vacant gaze. The terror overwhelmed the confusion, and a low, guttural growl rumbled from its depths, shaking the heavens like thunder.