Hark! Let it be known throughout the realms!

The Grand Conclave of Lore convenes nightly at the stroke of twenty bells! Prepare yourselves for a torrent of whispers, shocking revelations, twists of fate, and treacherous snares awaiting your keen eyes! Ha ha!

From the gilded halls of the King’s Theatre comes tidings of a signing most fair. A bevy of songstresses, their voices like honeyed wine, now grace the stage. Sages and connoisseurs, your discerning judgements are eagerly sought! You understand…

Hail the sacred scrolls of Xian Ni on Baidu, a beacon of wisdom!

Alone, Wang Lin, the Ascendant Wanderer, traversed the star-strewn sea. His flesh, forged in celestial fires, defied the ravages of time. Even the gnashing teeth of spatial rifts, those tears in the fabric of reality, shattered upon his indomitable form.

A glimmer of gold, an echo of divine power, pulsed within his being. With each stride, the vast cosmos seemed to shrink beneath his feet, turning into a mere carpet stretching to the horizon. To walk was to conquer infinity.

Unburdened by the maddening whispers that once plagued him, Wang Lin attained the apex of speed. Though the stronghold of the Cultivation Alliance lay leagues distant, a mere three steps sufficed to bridge the gulf of stars.

The first footfall landed amidst a constellation of mortal realms, where legions of Kun Xu cultivators toiled, weaving intricate arrays of arcane defense. Yet, the arrival of Wang Lin went unnoticed, save for a ripple in the ethereal currents, dismissed as the sigh of the cosmic wind.

Among these toiling souls stood the venerable Sage Lu, his knowledge of ancient enchantments held in high esteem. At the behest of the Crimson Cedar Lord, he had journeyed to Kun Xu to lend his expertise to the strengthening of their bulwarks.

Even he, with his attuned senses, felt but a fleeting brush, as if a phantom had swept past. A frown furrowed his brow. “A presence… a familiar aura…” He peered into the swirling void, but after long contemplation, shook his head in doubt.

“The scent… it echoes my own path. But decades have passed, and his fate remains veiled in silence. Alas, it must have been a trick of the light.” A melancholic shroud descended upon the sage.

Wang Lin, in his haste, did glimpse Sage Lu, yet the urgency of his quest forbade him to linger. He unleashed the power of his second stride.

The second footfall brought him to the very heart of Kun Xu, a desolate expanse scarred by countless spatial rifts, like festering wounds upon the face of creation.

Years past, a cataclysmic war had raged here, leaving the stars themselves shattered and broken.

The devastation had carved this region adrift from the wider Kun Xu, shrouded in a vortex of distortion that defied even the reach of divine senses. It had become the Forbidden Void, a place of whispered dread.

A faint, lingering reek of blood, a testament to the carnage of yesteryear, still clung to the shattered remnants. Wang Lin recalled that even the clash between the Luo Tian and the Alliance had not wrought such complete obliteration. A singular truth emerged:

“During my sojourn within the primordial beast, eons may have passed. How many times has the war beyond the boundaries been rekindled? The Seven Colored Realms… surely they have been found and shattered by now.” He paused, his brow furrowed in thought, then prepared to take his third step. But a glint in his eye betrayed his newfound focus. He turned his gaze toward the distant stars.

Three streaks of light blazed across the heavens, the foremost carrying a cultivator of the Inner Realms, an aged warrior, his face etched with pain. He coughed crimson blood with each passing moment, yet his spirit remained unbroken, his will unbowed.

Hot on his heels pursued two warriors from beyond the veil, their foreheads branded with otherworldly sigils. One hailed from the fiery race of the Fire Sparrows, the other from the towering lineage of the Sky Wolves.

A cruel delight danced in their eyes. The Fire Sparrow, with a flick of his wrist, unleashed a tempest of crimson flames from his forehead, a raging inferno that roared in pursuit.

“Yan Leizi! Time and again you trespass into these lands, as if they were your own! We have let you escape before, but this time, you shall remain!”

Yan Leizi, his gaze burning with desperation, uttered a primal roar. With a desperate incantation, he clapped his hands together, conjuring a score of shattered landmasses that appeared behind him, interposing themselves between him and the encroaching flames.

The impact detonated with thunderous fury, forcing Yan Leizi to spew more blood. He seized this reprieve to thrust himself forward, his only hope of survival.

His conjured lands were devoured by the conflagration. Three vanished in searing glory, and the survivors swirled around him, desperately providing him protection as he fled.

“If it weren’t for the Grand Celestial Master’s pact to halt the fighting, the Kun Xu Realm would fall to us, the Olden Stars!” The Sky Wolf sneered. With a simple gesture, he summoned the spirit of a colossal azure wolf. The ghostly beast burst forth to swallow Yan Leizi whole.

Both of these celestial warriors possessed mastery of the Broken Nirvana, equal to the fading strength of Yan Leizi. That Yan Leizi had been able to fend them off to this point was a testament to his unwavering courage.

As the spectral wolf lunged, Yan Leizi whirled to face his pursuers. He bit his tongue and spat a stream of vital blood upon the remaining fragments, his face twisted with anguish. “Explode!”

The shattered lands erupted in a devastating cataclysm, unleashing a shockwave of pure annihilation that engulfed the ghostly wolf. The beast howled in torment as its essence scattered into nothingness.

Yet, Yan Leizi too reeled from the impact, his complexion pallid. He staggered backward.

“You otherworldly curs! If only the Crimson Cedar Lord were not imprisoned, if only Lord Nan Yun were to awaken, if only our Immortal Sealer had not vanished, you would not dare to flaunt your arrogance!”

Yan Leizi’s voice dripped with scorn, a defiant ember refusing to be extinguished. He knew his only chance of survival lay in reaching the edge of this blighted realm. Beyond, the ability to traverse distances with a thought would force his pursuers to tread carefully, their movements restricted by the boundaries of reality.

But the edge remained far. Gritting his teeth, Yan Leizi poured every ounce of his remaining strength into the struggle.

The Fire Sparrow and Sky Wolf strode through the remnants of the explosion, closing the distance with each passing moment.
“Laughable, truly laughable! Red Cedar Child and Southern Cloud Child are but specks of dust. And this ‘Sealed Paragon’ you speak of, what is he but a fleeting breeze? A moment of luck in ages past, paid for with his very life! He is dead, yet you cling to the lie of ‘missing’.” The Fire Sparrow Clan warrior spat, hatred blazing in his eyes. His fingers danced in arcane gestures, and a black firebird shrieked into existence behind him.

“The Sealed Paragon is dead! You know this better than we do. Where was he during the Second, the Third Great War? Why did he not appear? When Red Cedar Child was ensnared, why did he not lend aid? Sealed Paragon… a phantom name! To my eyes, he was but a babe.” The Fengtian Wolf Clan warrior’s words were like poisoned daggers. He strode forward, his right hand weaving a spell, causing coarse blue fur to erupt across his entire arm.

The Flame Thunder Child staggered back, his face grim, but a wild laugh still escaped his lips. He pointed a trembling finger at the Fire Sparrow Clan warrior. “Laughable, you say? My Sealed Paragon plucked your Fire Sparrow ancestor from the cosmos like a ripe fruit, slaying him before a sea of your warriors. Did you hear his wretched screams as he died?”

The Fire Sparrow Clan warrior’s eyes blazed with murderous intent. It was a wound that scarred the very soul of his people.

“And you, whelp of the Fengtian Wolf Clan! Your ancestor was a slave to my Sealed Paragon. Though he fled, do you ever see him without fear, without trembling?”

The Fengtian Wolf Clan warrior’s face contorted. The blue fur crawled further up his arm, claiming more than half of his body. With a snarl, his right arm transformed, morphing into the head of a colossal wolf.

“Go to the Yellow Springs, and seek your Sealed Paragon!” The Fengtian Wolf Clan warrior roared, his voice dripping with venom. With a violent heave, he severed his right arm. The severed limb became a gigantic wolf, howling with rage as it lunged towards Flame Thunder Child.

At the same instant, the Fire Sparrow Clan warrior unleashed his fury. The immense black firebird beat its wings, a sea of obsidian fire engulfing the heavens. With the wolf, it surged towards Flame Thunder Child with blinding speed.

All this happened in the blink of an eye. Flame Thunder Child, trapped and despairing, abandoned all hope of escape. A manic grin spread across his face, replaced by a surge of reckless courage.

“Death? I fear it not! Even in death, I shall die in a blaze of glory!” He screamed, advancing instead of retreating. His entire body seemed to ignite, fueled by the last vestiges of his life force.

The black firebird and its infernal flames, the monstrous wolf and its savage hunger, closed in. The Fire Sparrow Clan warrior and the Fengtian Wolf Clan warrior watched with cruel anticipation, certain that in mere moments, their enemy would be utterly annihilated. Even self-destruction would be futile against their combined might within the Forbidden Void.

But then, the impossible occurred.

A seemingly unremarkable right hand appeared, as if from nowhere, behind Flame Thunder Child. It gently grasped his shoulder and drew him aside with effortless grace, extinguishing the flames that consumed him.

A figure in white robes materialized beside him. His face was a mask of cold fury. He lifted his head, and his eyes unleashed twin beams of blinding golden light.

The golden light shattered the darkness, engulfing the starfield in an incandescent aura.

“Begone!” A voice, icy and implacable, ripped through the void. It sent shivers down the spines of the two outer realm warriors, filling them with a terror so profound that their very souls trembled. The voice was a nightmare etched into their memories, a source of utter dread that had haunted them since they had first set foot in this realm.

The mere glimpse of the figure sent their minds spiraling into madness.

“The Sealed Paragon!”

“The Sealed Paragon!” The two warriors cried out, their voices twisted by unimaginable fear. The screams were those of utter despair, of a sanity fractured beyond repair.

“Sealed Paragon… Wang Lin!” The last cry, filled with disbelieving joy, came from the bewildered Flame Thunder Child.

“I… have returned.”