The Rune Clan’s abyss, scarred yet undiminished by the Vermilion Bird Star’s transformations, remained a place of profound mystery.

Many a cultivator dared to plumb its depths, especially in recent decades. With the arrival of outsiders upon the star, some ventured deep within, yet all returned empty-handed. None could breach the lowest level.

Then, like phantoms upon the wind, Wang Lin and the madman materialized before the pit’s maw. Wang Lin glanced at the abyss, ready to descend, but the madman recoiled, howling, “No, no! This king shall tarry here! Go forth yourself, and seek me when you return!” His eyes darted about as he retreated.

Wang Lin’s gaze, sharp as a honed blade, settled upon the madman, silencing his protests to a grumble. Knowing the fickle nature of the fellow, eager to frolic on the Vermilion Bird Star, Wang Lin nodded in acquiescence. Without a word, he stepped into the abyss and vanished.

The madman, now unfettered, beamed with delight. “Those three maidens refused to share their names,” he muttered, “and they gazed upon me strangely. But this time, this king shall charm their names from their lips!” He skipped away, disappearing into the heavens.

Wang Lin had traversed the Rune Clan lands countless times. Though years had passed, the paths remained clear in his mind. Without hesitation, he flitted through the levels, finding each entrance with ease until he reached the sixteenth layer.

There, thirteen rune-etched coffins stood in a circle around a pool of black water, radiating a chilling aura. These coffins, as he remembered, held the remains of Rune Clan ancestors and guarded the gateway to the seventeenth layer.

The entrance lay beneath the pool’s dark surface, sealed by a ward that only a Yang Realization cultivator could break. Wang Lin, bearing an immeasurable power, strode forward. The seal, unable to withstand his presence, shattered with a deafening roar, revealing a swirling vortex. Without pause, Wang Lin descended.

He found himself in the seventeenth layer, once choked with iron chains and the desiccated corpses of Immortals, their souls bound as guardians. The memories of his past struggles flooded him. Now, only ruins remained save for the swirling vortex at the center, a consequence of his prior battles, now the path to the eighteenth layer.

Wang Lin sighed, recalling the trials he once faced to reach this point. He remembered Huang Long, the Vermilion Bird’s avatar, who initially barred his way, then guided him to the eighteenth layer for enlightenment. With a shake of his head, he stepped into the vortex.

A cacophony of sound assailed him, yet failed to disturb his spirit. When the din subsided, Wang Lin found himself in the Rune Clan’s deepest chamber: the eighteenth layer.

A stone room, a hundred yards across, plunged in darkness save for a flickering flame at its center. The faint light danced, conjuring spectral figures and whispers that reached into the soul. Ghostly wisps writhed, drawn to the flame like moths, only to be repelled by its searing glow.

It was here that Wang Lin, guided by Huang Long, had absorbed a fragment of primal power, a force that nearly shattered him. Now, he looked upon the flame with new eyes, free of the dread and fear that had bound him years ago.

He approached the flame, and the specters recoiled in terror. The flame’s essence, once an insurmountable force, now seemed insignificant, a crude amalgamation with little allure.

“The final layer,” Wang Lin mused, “What secrets lie within? The old Vermilion Bird spoke of his Rune Clan ancestor’s residual spirit…”

“But the Rune Clan progenitor was the daughter of that detestable Palm Sovereign, imprisoned by Qing Shuang in the Land of Demon Spirits! Her essence cannot be here!” Wang Lin reached out and seized the flame.

Its contained power erupted in defiance, but it was no match for Wang Lin’s strength. With a final squeeze, the flame shattered, scattering sparks that extinguished the spectral beings lurking in the shadows.

Where the flame once burned, a ringed doorway materialized, ancient and weathered, covered in a tangled web of runes. Countless seals, layered upon each other over eons, held the door fast. They served not only to keep outsiders at bay but also to imprison something within.

Wang Lin’s brow furrowed. He understood now why the Vermilion Bird avatar had never breached this final layer. The seals were immense, rivaling the full might of a Celestial Five Decays master! Only a third-step Paragon could hope to break them.

“Such a seal upon the Vermilion Bird Star…” Wang Lin murmured. He reached out with a golden hand, and with a sound like shattering ice, the seals collapsed one by one, leaving only a single rune.

Only Wang Lin in his current state, wielding immeasurable power, could accomplish this feat.

The final rune, a simple circle, seemed innocuous, but within it pulsed a strange energy. This was not a seal of force but a seal of essence. It locked away the very presence of whatever lay beyond the door.

Then, as Wang Lin gazed deeper, he saw a glint of gold within the circle, the faint whisper of immortal power.

“This rune… it is not of the Rune Clan!” Wang Lin gasped. He focused his senses, and a familiar presence washed over him. It was a pressure, a force unlike any other. “The aura of an Immortal bloodline!”

Wang Lin recoiled, stunned. He raised his hand, infusing it with immortal power, and prepared to strike the final rune.

But as his fingers neared, his expression contorted with disbelief. “This… inside… there is the power of a Dao Ancient!”

The presence was unmistakable, the aura of the defeated Dao Ancient Ye Mo! An astounding realization struck Wang Lin.

“When Li Guang’s arrow struck Dao Ancient Ye Mo’s left eye, it vanished into the cosmos! This place bears the aura of a Dao Ancient… Could it be that the Rune Clan’s nineteenth layer holds the Dao Ancient’s left eye?!”

His heart pounded in his chest.

“It must be so! Nothing in existence could possess both the power of the Immortal bloodline and the aura of a Dao Ancient, save for the eye that was taken by the arrow!”

“The eye held no Immortal bloodline before, but it would have been infused by the arrow, and the two powers would have fused! As with the powers within me, there would be a rejection, and that has been used by the Rune clan to create this seal, locking this secret away! ”