As the coffin burst asunder, splinters swirling in a vortex, a crimson arm emerged from within.

Covered in bristly red hairs, it was no human limb, but the limb of a beast! Its gnarled fingers, tipped with wicked claws, unleashed a torrent of primal fury, echoing with the aura of the ancient Daogu. It was a left arm, severed from its master.

A thunderous echo filled the void as another coffin shattered, revealing its twin – a right arm, equally gruesome. Red fur rippled upon its surface, and beneath the taut skin, veins pulsed and writhed like disturbed serpents, a ghastly sight to behold.

Next came two legs, each imbued with the Daogu’s essence. They emerged from the wreckage of their coffins, an unsettling tableau that drew a frown of grim comprehension from Wang Lin’s brow.

With a final, earth-shattering roar, the fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth coffins surrendered their contents. Four sections of a dismembered torso, suffused with the aura of the Daogu, coalesced in a grotesque fusion, forming a colossal body adrift in the star-strewn void.

As if summoned, the arms and legs hurtled towards the waiting torso, joining with unnatural ease to form a complete, albeit headless, being.

This unholy creation stood a thousand zhang tall, a titanic figure radiating raw, untamed power. Though lacking a head, its presence radiated a ferocious energy, cloaked in the oppressive aura of the Daogu’s desolation.

The ninth and final coffin exploded, its fragments scattering like dust. From the heart of the destruction emerged a head, a male visage of middle age. Instantly, the tendrils of darkness that had permeated the area snapped to attention, converging upon the head to form a flowing mane that fanned out like a spectral shroud.

The man’s eyes were closed, and his features were unremarkable, yet a palpable aura of authority clung to him, stirring unease in any who dared to gaze upon him.

But it was the man’s brow that caused Wang Lin’s pupils to contract in shock, for there, nestled in the flesh, were two celestial points: the stars of a Gu God.

Though only two in number, these stars were unlike any Wang Lin had ever encountered. From afar, they resembled not celestial lights, but twin droplets of blood, seared into the flesh.

The head moved with a jerk and slammed into its body. In that instant, a complete being stood before him.

The man’s eyes snapped open.

As his eyelids parted, two shafts of eerie light pierced the void. The very fabric of the cosmos trembled, threatening to unravel. A horrifying pressure washed outward from the man’s form, an oppressive weight that stifled all hope.

Within his left eye, three demonic stars flickered. In his right eye, three fiendish stars blazed.

“Who is he?” Wang Lin muttered, his gaze fixed upon the resurrected warrior. His memories of the Daogu held no record of such a being, and he was certain this was not the Daogu’s left eye. Though formidable, the man’s power paled in comparison.

Yet, the essence that emanated from him was pure, unadulterated Daogu power!

Wang Lin himself possessed the Daogu’s power, but it was inherited, melded with his own essence. Though he was Daogu, he did not possess the essence of its ancient desolation.

The man before him was different. He was the embodiment of desolation itself.

From within the ancient reaches of the Star System, the Grand Empyrean watched through the threads of his divine sense, a chilling light glinting in his eyes. This creature, sealed within nine coffins, was one of the Grand Empyrean Council’s most prized possessions. Over countless ages, he and the Seven-Colored Daoist had meticulously gathered its components, piecing it together through countless acts of bloodshed.

He had hoped to avoid using it until the very end, for the creature held the key to his future.

But now, desperate to force Wang Lin to unleash the full power of his two bows, he had entrusted it to the warriors of the Star System to destroy him.

“He is not yet perfect… he still lacks a drop… but they are both descended from the Daogu. Their mutual destruction may shatter the celestial alignment,” The Grand Empyrean muttered, his eyes glowing with a cold and wicked light.

As the nine pieces coalesced into a single, terrifying whole, within the depths of the Starfield of Luo Tian, in a region seemingly barren and devoid of life, a secret stirred.

Here, amidst the star dust invisible to the naked eye, a hidden universe existed within a single grain.

This was a world entombed in ice, an infinite realm contained within a speck. Everything within this hidden place – the land, the clouds, all of creation – radiated a bone-chilling cold.

This was once the Star of Eastern Descent, the last bastion of an ancient clan. Here lived a female Gu God.

The war that had engulfed the realms had spared this place, for the clan had survived countless ages.

Here, atop a mountain that served as an altar, sat a beautiful woman, the cold howling around her. Seven points of celestial light swirled on her brow. Her eyes flew open, piercing the distance.

“I sense the blood of my forebears…” she whispered. She touched a finger to her brow, and the seven stars accelerated, becoming a blur. Then, with a strange twist of fate, they merged, forming a single, blood-red mark.

This mark cast a sinister light across the woman’s face.

Back outside the Star Formation, as the nine pieces formed a whole being, the eyes flew open. With a roar and a pointed finger at Wang Lin, the battle began.
At the very instant of his pointing, the man’s right hand twisted, forming a peculiar sigil. This was no gesture of attack, but more akin to a sacred symbol, a hand-seal heavy with meaning. Once completed, he withdrew his hand and pressed it against his chest.

Within his eyes, a surge of earth-shattering battle lust erupted, a tidal wave of martial intent.

“The Ancient Clan’s War Sigil!” Wang Lin hissed, recognizing the sign. His own eyes flared with a mirroring desire for combat.

Within the inherited memories of his Daoic Ancient lineage, he recalled this very sigil, a paramount symbol amongst the three ancient clans, or more specifically, within the domain ruled by the Daoic Ancient.

This sigil, known as the War Sigil, was a sacred offering invoked between clans before engaging in battle. Once any Ancient Clan warrior displayed this symbol, the one targeted was bound to accept the challenge.

It was a duel unto death, sanctified by the ancient ancestors. The victor would claim all that belonged to the vanquished.

To refuse battle after witnessing this sigil was to forfeit one’s claim as a true Ancient! Unlike the ways of immortals, this symbol demanded a response!

Of course, if the disparity in power between the two combatants was too great, avoidance was permissible. Yet, if their strength was relatively equal and battle was denied, the one who fled would be branded a weakling amongst their kin. And the weak do not survive! Having invoked the War Sigil, the middle-aged man fixed his gaze upon Wang Lin, awaiting his choice.

Wang Lin remained silent for a moment, then his own battle intent exploded forth. Raising his right hand, he mirrored the Ancient Clan’s War Sigil towards the middle-aged man outside the formation, and then pressed his hand against his own chest.

In that very instant, the middle-aged man roared to the heavens. His thousand-foot frame took a stride forward, a giant of colossal power advancing towards the protective formation with deafening strides.

Within Wang Lin’s frame, a series of booming thuds echoed. He, too, stepped forward. As he did so, his body began to expand at an alarming rate – ten feet, a hundred, then hundreds more, until he rivaled the middle-aged man as a towering giant of a thousand feet!

With that single stride, Wang Lin emerged from the Spinwheel Formation for the first time, standing upon the starry void of the Primordial Starry Sky. As the middle-aged man’s roar descended, a thunderous cry, matching his opponent’s, erupted from Wang Lin’s own throat.

“War!”

*You seek battle? Then battle you shall have!*

Wang Lin knew no surrender. His entire life had been forged in the fires of combat and carnage. Faced with the challenge of this Ancient Clan warrior, he could find no reason to refuse, nor would he. He would conquer his foe, claiming all that they possessed!

The Daoic Ancient aura radiating from the man was a siren’s call to Wang Lin’s nascent eight-starred Ancient God, a temptation he could not resist!

As Wang Lin exited the formation, the middle-aged man’s thousand-foot form loomed closer. He raised his right hand, clenching it into a mighty fist, and unleashed a thunderous blow directly towards Wang Lin.

Among the Ancient Clans, battle was primarily a contest of flesh and blood, with divine abilities offering support. At their core, they relied upon their terrifying physical prowess. Once an Ancient Clan warrior’s body reached a certain threshold, it would outlive the very heavens and earth, enduring beyond the cosmos itself!

His fist hurtled towards Wang Lin, closing the distance to a mere hundred feet.

A hundred feet, in the context of their immense forms, was an agonizingly short distance!

Wang Lin’s eyes burned with an unyielding battle lust. He, too, clenched his right hand into a fist, and at the precise moment of his opponent’s strike, unleashed his own furious blow.

No words were needed, no parley required. The War Sigil had been invoked. To battle *was* the only course!

Their fists drew ever closer, colliding in a cataclysmic impact. In that instant, a sound that shook the heavens within the Realm, and echoed across the Outer Reaches, erupted in a cacophony of thunder.

A shockwave of raw force exploded from the point of contact, howling outwards and whipping Wang Lin’s white hair into a frenzy, stirring the middle-aged man’s black locks.

Beneath this tempest of black and white, the burning intensity of their eyes could not be concealed – a pair of fiery beacons illuminating their unyielding battle lust as their fists met!

Within the formation, Xizi Feng’s face was ashen as she observed the unfolding spectacle. Yet, she remained silent, unwilling to distract Wang Lin. With a quiet resolve, she lowered her head and continued to warm his wine, her heart certain that Wang Lin would not be defeated!