But such power comes at a price.” Wang Lin weighed the cost, pondering if the acquisition justified the sacrifice.

The memories of this wizened elder – were they worth risking everything to obtain? He was lost in thought, visions of his life flickering through his mind. Each was a scene where he had questioned the reality of this world, culminating in the shattering revelation that his entire existence was contained within a single, grand dwelling.

“I must know the truth, the reason for this… this prison, this dwelling!” Determination hardened Wang Lin’s gaze. He closed his eyes, then snapped them open, the seven Ancient God stars between his brows spinning wildly. The Ancient Demon and Ancient Devil stars within his left and right eyes followed suit, coalescing into a blinding starlight that engulfed his entire being.

The power of the Ancient God, Demon, and Devil surged within Wang Lin, causing his very soul to twist and contort as if becoming corporeal.

Slowly, behind him, materialized a spectral figure, a colossal Ancient God. To the God’s left, the shadowy form of an Ancient Demon took shape, while to the right, the ephemeral image of an Ancient Devil appeared.

For the first time, the power of all three Ancient Tribes converged behind Wang Lin, a sign that their energies were swirling within his soul. Behind these spectral figures loomed a colossal Daogu head, its vastness blotting out the very sky.

The appearance of the Daogu head caused Wang Lin’s soul to swell with immense power. But before it could fully expand, Wang Lin relentlessly compressed and contained it, a cacophony of rumbling reverberating from his form. After an agonizing eternity of control, Wang Lin managed to keep his body at its original size, but its very essence now pulsed with the staggering strength of the Ancient Tribes.

This power granted Wang Lin a rate of regeneration that bordered on the miraculous, yet he remained unsatisfied. He knew that even with this, he could not hope to penetrate the three-inch barrier surrounding the body of the middle-aged man.

With a guttural roar, Wang Lin channeled all the might of the Ancient Tribes into a single finger on his right hand. That forefinger now emanated an aura that shook the very foundations of consciousness, a presence that reverberated through the distant Ancient Immortal Domain.

This finger, infused with such might, could only be called… the Undying Finger!

It was a seventh, self-forged technique born from his dreams, a skill beyond even the primal arts: the Ancient Tribe Undying Finger!

The Ancient Tribe Undying Finger was the culmination of Wang Lin’s Daogu heritage, a confluence of the Ancient God, Demon, and Devil forces. Possessing devastating offensive capabilities, it also held a recovery power so immense it inspired dread.

Wang Lin dared to call this regeneration “Undying,” a word that spoke of a restoration rate so profound that no destruction, no cataclysm, could halt its renewal. Countless annihilations would fail to outpace its recovery. Only then could such a term be justified.

With his current cultivation, Wang Lin could not achieve such immortality throughout his entire being. He could only focus it into a single digit, making it truly impervious to destruction.

The Ancient Tribe Undying Finger was a skill born from Wang Lin’s perception of the Immortals’ Undying Body, a great art forged from the power of the Ancient Tribes.

It required no Immortal Qi, only the essence of the Ancients, yet its effects rivaled even a true Immortal Undying Body.

With his finger now Undying, Wang Lin locked his gaze on the middle-aged man seated nearby, his eyes gleaming with a chilling light as he beheld the multicolored glow that enveloped him. He took a step forward, the Undying Finger of his right hand aimed squarely at the man’s brow, ready to strike.

The thrust appeared slow, yet in truth, it was as swift as lightning. In an instant, the finger approached the three-inch barrier surrounding the man’s body, and upon breaching it, the finger began to crumble, disintegrating at an alarming rate.

Were this to happen before, this disintegration would be irreversible, no power, no substance could ever penetrate these three inches surrounding the middle-aged man.

But now, Wang Lin’s finger, amidst its rapid disintegration, was regenerating at an even more frantic pace. This restoration was evident, a clear indication that the finger was reforming even as it was being consumed.

The three-inch distance was short, but for Wang Lin, it was an eternity. Amidst constant disintegration, his hand was rapidly recovering, and with each step his finger took deeper towards the middle-aged man’s body, the intensity of the disintegration grew even more ferocious.

Almost instantly, he faced countless hundreds of thousands, even millions, of moments where it seemed his finger was completely destroyed, and yet, that undying touch continued to be restored those same countless numbers of times. This was the undying finger! This recovery speed, was now far past the reach of simply a skill, it was a strange ability that shouldn’t exist! The further he plunged into the man’s three inch zone of protection, the disintegration grew, until his finger was nearly touching the Middle-aged man’s brow, and it seemed that any further disintegration was beyond description.

Until at long last, Wang Lin’s finger regained its composure by out-pacing the crumbling of his energy. In this way, Wang Lin’s finger was finally able to fully combine it’s form, paying no attention to the horrifying deconstruction magic, it struck hard at the center of the meditating man’s brow.

A deafening sound, reverberating through the wizened elder’s mind, erupted with earth-shattering force. It was a power capable of shattering star systems, unleashed from both Wang Lin’s finger and the middle-aged man’s brow simultaneously.

As the roar echoed, the mist that contained Wang Lin’s soul fractured instantly, dissipating in all directions. Along with it, the wizened elder’s consciousness shattered, sending shockwaves through his very being. His body convulsed as if struck by countless thunderbolts, ultimately succumbing to the same disintegration as his mind.

The middle-aged man, who’d been seated in meditation while exuding multi-colored light was shaken, distorted by this overwhelming force until he slowly dissipated.

As he faded away, a fist-sized, pale golden crystal appeared within the collapsing consciousness. Cracks spread across its surface, threatening to shatter it completely.

This crystal held the wizened elder’s life memories. Its seal was so tyrannical that it not only prevented others from accessing them but would also destroy them upon dissolution, ensuring no seeker would ever obtain them.

The wizened elder’s machinations were meticulous, yet he had the misfortune of facing Wang Lin, who not only possessed the Ancient Tribe Undying Finger to shatter the seal but also the Art of Stabilization!

At this critical moment, Wang Lin did not hesitate. He extended his right forefinger toward the crumbling memory crystal.

“Stabilize!” The word resonated, and the shattering memory crystal faltered. In that fraction of an instant, Wang Lin’s soul surged forth, enveloping the crystal before darting out of the disintegrating consciousness of the wizened elder, returning to his physical body within the Ancient Immortal Domain.

As his soul returned, Wang Lin opened his eyes, pulling his right hand away from the trembling, screaming elder’s head. He retreated several steps as the elder’s screams intensified, his body crumbling from within. The force from his destroyed consciousness obliterated his mind, shattered his soul, pulverized his bones, and tore his flesh apart until he finally exploded.

Amidst the deafening roar, the elder’s body was torn asunder, his blood and flesh dissolving into nothingness. A surge of immense power radiated outwards in all directions.

This force shattered the remaining statues Wang Lin had not yet destroyed. Several dormant Immortals resting within those statues perished without ever opening their eyes.

This force was the collision of Wang Lin’s Ancient Tribe Undying power and the Immortal bloodline power, mingled with the sealing power of the multi-colored statue man, forming a destructive force that shook the heavens.

At the instant the elder’s body exploded, within the depths of the towering statues in the Ancient Immortal Domain, White Tiger’s voice erupted with disbelief and terror.

“This… this… impossible! How did he do it? How did he break the Immortal Venerate’s seal? That three-inch zone can annihilate all power and substance, making any harm completely futile! All magic will be undone before that barrier!”

“How could he possibly break such a seal? Even if we combined our peak powers, it would be impossible!” From the swirling vortex of the statue that contained his essence, an old man with white hair leaned out, his face etched with shock.

The others were equally astonished.

“Never in history has the Immortal Venerate’s seal been broken! Even the other Grand Empyreans of the Immortal-Astral Continent would find it exceedingly difficult. After all, it is a unique skill created by the Immortal Venerate, the ultimate protection for our core disciples of the Seven Dao Sect!”

“He… he is merely a lower-realm cultivator! How could he possibly break it?” Within another statue, Black Tortoise emerged, his eyes filled with disbelief. Had his own spiritual sense not confirmed it, he would never have believed it.

“This child is extraordinary… We must change our plans. He can break the Immortal Venerate’s seal, meaning he possesses astonishing abilities that would be legendary even on the Immortal-Astral Continent!” An old man emerged from the vortex of a third statue, taking a deep breath as he stared into the distance.

Vermillion Bird remained silent, watching the world with a complex expression.

At his location, as the elder crumbled and as the force of the impact spread out, Wang Lin immediately began to retreat. With a casual expression, he faintly swept his eyes over the distant space.

They could see him, just as Wang Lin could sense their presence. He smirked.