Beyond the crimson star of Suzaku, by the very threshold of the Void Gate, a vortex churned into being. As it spiraled, a breath of earth-shattering power, hitherto unseen in this realm, whispered forth.

At the instant the Empyrean Void turned, a bolt of awareness struck the azure-clad man, his senses aflame. He looked, as did Zhou Jin. Even the myriad outland warriors, poised to flood into Suzaku after its defenses crumbled, felt this chilling dread, their hearts seized by fear.

This power, they knew. The azure-clad man knew it. The Empyrean Void knew it!

Zhou Jin knew it with a soul-deep terror that threatened to shatter his sanity.

Similarly, this aura emanating from the vortex beyond the colossal Void Gate in the heavens resonated with the thousands of warriors stationed by the Sealed Paragon statue on Suzaku, stirring memories buried for decades.

“I knew he couldn’t die! He wouldn’t! He is my brother! He is immortal!” Sima Nan cried out, his frame trembling with joy, a wild laugh bursting from his lips.

Nan Yunzi gasped, he who had pondered the identity of the prodigy drawing upon the primal Six Paths to open the Void Gate. Now, as the aura resonated, he too erupted in joyous laughter.

“Good! Good! Good! The might of a Sealed Paragon cannot be extinguished!”

Thirteen, Master Lu, and even the weary Azure Dragon Emperor, all shuddered, their gazes drawn to the swirling vortex beyond the Void Gate, their eyes gleaming with fervent hope.

Thirteen, in particular, was alight with anticipation.

Long Panzi’s lips curved into a smile as he beheld the vortex, as if seeing the figure who had once dared to rebuke him so fiercely.

“Sealed Paragon! Sealed Paragon!”

“Glory to the Sealed Paragon! Glory to Kun Xu!” The thousands gathered by the statue roared, their voices raw with pent-up emotion. Though some amongst them did not recognize the aura, the expressions of Sima Nan and the others sparked an instant recognition. A name echoed in their minds, a name they could never forget!

Sealed Paragon, Wang Lin!

As the multitude before the Sealed Paragon statue roared his name, the sound grew, swelled, and finally coalesced into a single cry that shook Suzaku, pulsed through the stars, and echoed into the ears of the tens of thousands of outland warriors.

In that moment, as the nightmare they had suppressed resurfaced, from the heart of the vortex beyond the Void Gate, amidst the triumphant cries of the inner-realm warriors, emerged a figure. Clad in white, his hair the color of frost, his expression a mask of cold detachment, he walked forth, step by deliberate step.

His silver hair danced around him, his robes billowed. His very presence radiated an aura of one risen from the grave, a specter emerged from the realm of the dead. He was Wang Lin. He was the Sealed Paragon!

“I have returned,” Wang Lin declared, his voice a chilling whisper. His icy gaze swept across the tens of thousands of outland warriors, and all who met his eyes recoiled, their hearts seized by terror, and instinctively retreated.

Zhou Jin, in particular, was bathed in cold sweat as he stumbled backward.

The azure-clad man stared in disbelief. He remembered, with agonizing clarity, the fatal blow that should have ended Wang Lin’s existence. Yet, not only had he survived, but he now returned, channeling the primal Six Paths to unlock the Void Gate.

This defiance of fate shattered his composure.

“The Sealed Paragon! The Sealed Paragon has returned!”

“Glory to the Sealed Paragon!”

“Glory to the Sealed Paragon!” The thousands on Suzaku, infused with newfound strength, surged forward, their fervor shaking the very stars.

The instant Wang Lin appeared, amidst the exultant cries of the inner-realm warriors, the Empyrean Void’s face darkened, his eyes glinting with murderous intent. He turned and strode toward Wang Lin beneath the Void Gate.

“Insolent whelp! You escaped death once; you shall not again! I shall see how you, a mere fledgling who has yet to ascend to the Third Step, can survive against my might! I failed to usurp your body in the past, but since you offer yourself so willingly now, you are mine to claim!” The events of the past had been a mark of shame for the Empyrean Void, fueling his deepest fears – the fear of the arrow!

Yet, to flee now, he, one of the Five Great Empyreans of the Primordial Era, could not.

His words filled the air as he moved with blinding speed, closing upon Wang Lin.

Wang Lin’s expression remained cold. As the Empyrean Void’s avatar drew near, Wang Lin closed his eyes, then snapped them open. This time, a wave of pure and righteous energy surged forth from his brow. It was the imposing integrity of a contemporary Confucian scholar, an aura of enlightenment that feared neither heaven nor hell!

This power caused the very skies to recede, and demons to tremble. Even the laws of the universe seemed to bend before it. It was the power of Man, of the virtuous Confucian!

A cultivator, even one who had achieved the Third Step and ascended to become a Great Lord, was, at their core, still a Man!

“Begone!” Wang Lin commanded, his gaze settling upon the approaching Empyrean Void. In his eyes, no matter how powerful his foe, he was no different from a mortal, an ant, a stone, a blade of grass.

The Empyrean Void avatar halted, disbelief flooding his eyes. He felt, with stark clarity, that Wang Lin had become the universe itself, emanating a terrifying aura that struck directly at his soul, transporting him back to his days before cultivation, when he had stared up at the vast expanse of the heavens, feeling utterly insignificant, like a mere insect.

This power, regardless of cultivation or status, struck his soul. A single word, like an imperial decree, transcended even the laws of the universe and struck him as the thunder would to a mortal.

The Empyrean Void was aghast, barely daring to believe what his eyes were seeing, the tremor that shook his very being. In that moment, he was no different from the Foundation Establishment cultivator in Wang Lin’s dream.
“You… You…” the Celestial Reverent of Emptiness stammered, his body recoiling several paces as an unfamiliar terror gripped his eyes. That single utterance, that surge of righteous energy, shook the heavens and quelled even the might of gods and demons!

This spectacle drained the color from Zhou Jin’s face in the distance, leaving behind only the chilling pallor of despair.

The azure-robed man, who had so eagerly sought to strike down Wang Lin, faltered. His steps wavered, and even the bedrock of his Dao trembled. Before his path led him to cultivation, he had been a scholar, and the sight of Wang Lin stirred within him the same awe and reverence he once felt before the most esteemed of Grand Sages.

If these three were so affected, what of the tens of thousands of other cultivators? They recoiled as one beneath the weight of Wang Lin’s words, their eyes betraying a profound and unconcealable dread.

With a dismissive flick of his sleeve, Wang Lin turned his back on the routed Reverent. He raised his right hand, fingers splayed towards the void.

“Thunder, Flame, Karma, Life and Death, Truth and Illusion, Slaughter – the Six Sources! By my name, Wang Lin, I command you to coalesce and rend asunder the Gate of Emptiness!” His voice resonated across the cosmos, and as the echoes faded, an immeasurable pressure emanated from the Gate.

The Crossing Gate!

Wang Lin gazed upon the colossal portal that dominated the starry expanse. He had awaited this day for more than two thousand years – a wait that had stretched on for an eternity.

When he first embarked on the path of cultivation, he never dreamed that he would one day attain the power of a Third Step Ascendant. Yet here it was, finally within his grasp!

This was the second time he stood before the Gate. The first time, his mastery of the Source of Thunder had been insufficient to shatter its barriers. But today, Wang Lin held within himself the unwavering conviction that he would break through and ascend to the Third Step!

Upon his outstretched fingers, the Six Sources manifested, swirling around him in a vortex of incandescent light. He grasped the sphere, crushed it, and merged its essence into his very being.

He leaped skyward, soaring toward the Gate under the gazes of tens of thousands of cultivators from beyond the borders, thousands more from within, and the scrutinizing eyes of several mighty beings.

Shatter this Gate, and he would become a Third Step Ascendant!

Shatter this Gate, and he would command the winds and waves of destiny!

Shatter this Gate, and he would earn the right to unravel the ultimate mysteries that lay hidden within and beyond these realms!

Wang Lin, who had begun his journey with meager talent and arduous cultivation, had traversed the First Step and the Second. And now, under the watchful eyes of all, he would storm the Gate of Emptiness and claim his place as a Third Step Ascendant!

He remembered vividly how, in days past, Qing Shui had channeled the Source of Slaughter to ignite the Gate, his single sword strike cleaving a gaping fissure, even shattering a fragment of the colossal structure.

Such devastating power, capable of shattering the Gate itself, was rare indeed. The likes of Zhou Jin, when they spoke of opening the Gate, meant only straining every fiber of their being to force it ajar, like mortals pushing a boulder far beyond their strength. Even with the aid of incense and ritual, the opening was achieved only at the cost of utter exhaustion, leaving them spent as if from a great battle.

There were those, like Qing Shui, who had shown a semblance of ease, but their numbers were few and far between.

Furthermore, the greater the number of Sources one wielded, the more resistant the Gate became to being shattered. Wang Lin’s mastery of the Six Sources was unprecedented in the annals of creation. The Gate that had formed in response was unlike any other in the history of these realms – before, now, or ever after!

To breach such a Gate would be many times harder than Qing Shui’s feat, and an incalculable amount more difficult than Zhou Jin’s.

Yet, if Wang Lin were to succeed, and receive the power of the Gate into himself, fusing his Six Sources under its influence, his cultivation would ascend to unimaginable heights.

“To shatter this Gate is not beyond me! I have witnessed its form many times, and I understand its nature. This time, I will achieve a feat unsurpassed by any before or since!” Wang Lin roared, his white hair whipping in the celestial winds. His fist clenched, he surged ever closer to the Gate, his momentum building with each passing moment!