The ancient one, wreathed in blinding light, had worn a mask of serenity. But the words, a desperate roar torn from Hulun’s throat, shattered that placid facade. Slowly, the ancient one lifted his head, his gaze, etched with the weight of ages, falling upon Wang Lin.

“You are the Sealed Paragon…” he murmured, the title heavy with forgotten power.

In his left hand, Wang Lin clutched the bow. Its string, once broken, now hummed with renewed life, forged anew by his very blood. Yet, to draw it was to tear at the sinews of his being, each pull a torment beyond measure.

Heedless of the consequence, Wang Lin ignored the agony. Though his mind had grown cunning as a demon’s, his heart remained untainted. To what he had decided, he would not yield! He would save Qingshui, whatever the cost!

His right hand seized the string. The muscles in Wang Lin’s face corded, and with a guttural roar, he pulled, and pulled again, until the string snapped taut with a sickening *thrum*.

The moment the bow sang, Wang Lin felt the tearing, the rending of every fiber in his body. His face paled, but his eyes burned, threaded with crimson fire.

Repulsion, bone-crushing force – he cast them aside, forgotten. He cared for naught but to slay any who stood between him and Qingshui’s salvation!

“What I speak is truth, or false. Ask your disciple. He knows it well…” Wang Lin’s voice was a rasp, laced with venom, his face contorted in a grimace. The bow, drawn further still, pulsed with a power that threatened to unravel the very fabric of existence.

The ancient one within the light regarded the bow, his eyes narrowing with a growing confusion. This was his first awakening since the long slumber, stirred now by his disciple, Chongxuanzi. Upon waking, he was lost, adrift, seeing only Wang Lin and the apparent destruction that was to come.

Wang Lin’s words struck him to the core. Though slumbering, he remembered. He was a cultivator of the Domain Within, and remembered, still, the debt owed to the Sealed Paragon.

Silence descended. Then, the ancient one looked down upon the vast cultivation star beneath him. He raised his right hand, making a sweeping gesture. Three figures, caught within a cage of blinding light, were wrenched from the planet’s surface.

They were three elders, their faces a mask of terror. One of them was indeed Chongxuanzi, though his face was now aged.

Beside him stood the Grand Elders of the Cultivation Alliance.

The two Grand Elders trembled, their faces replaced by pure awe. Immediately, they fell to their knees, their voices shaking as they cried out: “We greet the Supreme Elder…”

“Greetings, Master…” Chongxuanzi’s mind was a tempest of panic. He had heard Wang Lin’s words, and his heart hammered against his ribs. His mind raced, searching for the words that could avert disaster.

“Master, the events are not as this youth claims, it…” he began, his voice trembling, about to make his pleas.

But Long Panzi, the ancient one, silenced him with a glacial stare. Chongxuanzi’s words died in his throat, and he dared not utter another sound.

“You are Zhang Xi, are you not? When I slumbered, you served as my acolyte…” Long Panzi’s gaze settled on the elder to Chongxuanzi’s left.

“I am, Your Eminence. I am Zhang Xi…” The elder’s eyes shone with a glimmer of excitement, surprised that the ancient one remembered him.

“Tell me, is what this man speaks true, or false…” Long Panzi’s voice was level, yet it carried the weight of undeniable authority. Hesitation flickered across Zhang Xi’s face, and his eyes darted towards Chongxuanzi.

“Worthless filth…” Long Panzi scoffed, and with a flick of his hand, a blinding light erupted, engulfing the hapless elder. A shriek echoed as Zhang Xi’s body imploded, scattering blood and gore across Chongxuanzi and the remaining elder.

Wang Lin watched the scene unfold, his grip tightening on the bowstring, drawing it back further still.

Having silenced Zhang Xi, Long Panzi turned to Chongxuanzi, his gaze filled with a poignant sorrow. He sighed deeply, and with another gesture, seized the remaining elder, pulling him forward, as his hand fell upon his head, a terrible wave of spiritual energy flooding his victim’s mind.

“You traitor!! What madness is this?!” Long Panzi hissed, as with a final surge, the elder dissolved into dust, his soul obliterated. He turned then, his eyes boring into Chongxuanzi, a storm of fury brewing within their depths.

Chongxuanzi paled, stumbling backward, and with a sob, fell to his knees. His voice twisted with terror as he begged.

“Master, forgive me! Forgive me!! There are… there are circumstances you do not know! The cultivators of the Outer Domain, their power is unmatched! We were forced into alliance!

I acted only to protect the Alliance, to ensure its survival! The Overseers of the Outer Domain have promised to safeguard us for ten thousand years!!”

“Master, you have slumbered long, and do not know of the tribulations that have befallen us! Millennia ago, the Luotian Star Region launched an assault upon us, tearing our Alliance asunder! Only the headquarters remained! I called to you then, Master, but you did not answer…”

“I hold no loyalty to the Domain Within! They sought to destroy us! Why should we not seek aid from the Outer Domains!”

“Besides, the Seven-Colored Realm was you who discovered it, Master! There were already Outer Domain cultivators there, which you sealed! You established the Cultivation Alliance Headquarters here to suppress it! But you slept, Master! You have no understanding!”

“What matters it if we suppress the realm for the Domain Within! The Overseers of the Outer Domains, their power dwarfs even yours! How can we resist!”

“The Domain Within is doomed! Its fate is sealed! There is no turning back! With your unparalleled cultivation, we can yet thrive alongside the Outer Domain! Why strive for nothing!”

“You!” Long Panzi cried out, his pain deepening. He had not searched the old one’s memories in reality, he only wished to make a pretense. Yet Chongxuanzi, in his terror, revealed all.
The Dragon-Paled One sighed, his voice echoing with ages past. “The squabbles within the boundaries, no matter how bloody, are of no concern to the outside. Only when they breach the veil will I awaken. The rise and fall of the League is governed by fate. My purpose in guiding you to forge the Ascendant League was not to control Kun-Xu, but to temper our cultivators in that crucible, to hone their skills for the inevitable clash with the invaders from beyond the stars!”

“The Ascendant League… the Ascendant League…” The ancient one rasped, his gaze piercing. “The Outer Realm consorted with you because they sensed my presence, bound to this world. You must have revealed me, used me as a bargaining chip to acquire forbidden power!”

The Dragon-Paled One knew his disciple too well. He gazed upon the ashen face of Zhong Xuanzi, and in his mind’s eye, he saw a forgotten scene: a ragged beggar boy, his face etched with unwavering resolve, climbing the treacherous peaks of a nameless world, before the League existed. For seventeen days, he clawed his way upwards, leaving a trail of blood upon the rocks, until at last, he stood at the summit, seeking a glimpse of the divine.

All this, because the boy yearned for ascension. In his village, it was whispered that one who could conquer that mountain would, if touched by fate, glimpse an immortal.

“Song’er,” the Dragon-Paled One said, his eyes softening with remembrance, “In your youth, you spoke of a single desire: to return home a king…”

But such gentle words were a blade to Zhong Xuanzi’s heart, plunging him into the depths of despair. He trembled, his voice rising in a desperate shriek.

“Master, I never intended to shatter the seal of the Rainbow Realm! It was the Immortal of Clear Waters! He forced my hand, breaking the seals himself! He unleashed the Rainbow Realm! I bear no blame; he is the architect of this doom!”

Wang Lin’s eyes narrowed, his gaze fixed upon Zhong Xuanzi. Behind him, the disciple Yan Leizi seethed with hatred, his breath coming in ragged gasps.

The Dragon-Paled One seemed deaf to the pleas. His gaze upon Zhong Xuanzi grew only softer.

“I pitied your frail form, your inability to cultivate. I nurtured you, infused you with the essence of the Five Veins of Heaven and Earth, gifting you with celestial bones… but now, your heart is barren of virtue…” Memories flickered in his ancient eyes. With a long sigh, he raised his right hand, unleashing a tempest of pure white energy.

Zhong Xuanzi’s face contorted in terror as he stumbled backward, a desperate wail escaping his lips.

“Master, have mercy! Master, do not slay me! I was wrong, I confess my sins! Master, I beg you!” He could retreat no further, and as the storm of energy rushed toward him, he closed his eyes, a hollow laugh escaping his lips.

The tempest engulfed him, yet it did not harm him. Instead, it pulled him back, placing him behind the Dragon-Paled One, shielding him from the unseen pull of Wang Lin’s wrath.

“You have committed grievous sins, unleashed chaos upon this world. The virtue of an Inner Realm cultivator has withered within you… yet, you are still my disciple… your sins are my responsibility. Your transgression, I shall repay…” The Dragon-Paled One looked upon the stunned Zhong Xuanzi with a sorrowful gaze, then turned to Wang Lin and bowed deeply.

“Sealed Lord, all his transgressions, I, Dragon-Paled One, will bear!” He struck himself upon the chest with his right hand. With a thunderous roar, he coughed forth a torrent of primordial energy, his form becoming translucent. The immense cultivation star beneath him groaned and shattered. A wave of gray washed over the land, withering the vegetation, collapsing the mountains, and drying the rivers. The entire world was torn asunder, rent by gaping fissures.

As the star crumbled, wisps of pure energy rose and flowed into the Dragon-Paled One. In that instant, a pale flame ignited around his spectral form.

“With this strike, I sever my connection to life, burning my primordial spirit. My cultivation will surge, briefly attaining the power of an early Sky Profound. I will hunt down every Outer Realm intruder who lingers within our borders, and I will obliterate all the remaining Rainbow Rifts, save this one. If Zhao He has fallen, I shall reclaim it. Thus, I will atone for Zhong Xuanzi’s transgressions…” The Dragon-Paled One clasped his hands toward Wang Lin, then turned, his gaze softening as he looked upon the dazed Zhong Xuanzi.

“Master!” Zhong Xuanzi awoke from his stupor and fell to his knees, kowtowing repeatedly, his eyes filled with overwhelming grief and regret.

“Go now…” the Dragon-Paled One murmured, gathering Zhong Xuanzi in his embrace and striding towards the horizon.

“I know my disciple. He would not act without a contingency. The Immortal of Clear Waters still lives; Zhong Xuanzi preserved him as a shield against the judgment to come…”

His voice faded into the distance, and a tempest of white energy arose, hurtling towards the bloody rift that had appeared beneath the collapsing star. With a deafening roar, the energy tore the rift wide open, the crimson light fading to reveal the prismatic glow of the Rainbow Realm!

Clear Waters, awaited there!