A thunderous roar split the void!

Wang Lin staggered, his inner world a tempest. Crimson stained the corner of his lips as a mouthful of blood threatened to choke him. Each step backward was a hammer blow against the very pulse of the cosmos, sending tremors rippling through the star-strewn tapestry above.

The ancient warrior’s right arm crackled with unnatural energy, invisible shockwaves radiating from his flesh. He, too, tasted blood, retreating in a furious dance of defiance.

To wound Wang Lin so directly required immense power, a mastery of arcane arts far exceeding his own. Only a vast disparity in cultivation, a storm of mutually destructive spells, could achieve such a feat. Yet, among the Ancient clans, the raw, untamed power of the flesh itself could bridge the gap, meeting force with equal force in a devastating exchange.

This was the divergence: the way of the Immortal, and the path of the Ancient.

Wang Lin dug his heel into the star-stuff, halting his retreat. His eyes blazed with a warrior’s fire, a primal roar escaping his throat as he surged forward once more.

The Ancient warrior mirrored his action, anchoring himself against the cosmic tide. As Wang Lin closed the distance, a furious bellow echoed his own.

The heavens themselves became a battlefield, the thunderous clash of their fists reverberating through the emptiness. Nine times they met, bone upon bone, each impact unleashing waves of raw energy that threatened to tear the very fabric of space.

After the ninth blow, the shockwaves rolled outward like a ravenous tide, forcing tens of thousands of interlopers from beyond the veil to retreat. They stumbled back over a hundred thousand lengths, their minds reeling, their eyes wide as they beheld the spectacle of two titans locked in savage combat.

Even the Wheel Array, a bastion of ancient power, groaned under the assault, its intricate patterns twisting and buckling beneath the unbridled force.

Wang Lin coughed forth another gout of blood, his body reeling as if struck by a chain of nine celestial bodies. He teetered on the brink of the Wheel Array, but with a herculean effort, arrested his fall. Lifting his head, his face contorted in a savage grin, his eyes burned with a fierce and untamed spirit.

The Ancient warrior, too, tasted defeat, spitting blood as he retreated for tens of thousands of lengths. Wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, he unleashed another earth-shattering roar and charged once more.

Between them, the star-stuff was now stained with their lifeblood. A single crimson droplet, wrenched back by the chaotic winds, splashed upon Wang Lin’s face.

It was not his own, but that of his foe.

Wiping the alien blood from his cheek, Wang Lin brought his fingers to his lips, savoring the taste of battle. An odd light sparked in his eyes as he took a defiant step forward. This time, he brought both hands into play, clasping them together, uniting them into a single weapon. With another primal bellow, he slammed his foot into the star-stuff, and under the pressure, launched himself upwards, soaring ten thousand lengths into the void.

Now, Wang Lin stood above his foe, a descending thunderbolt of raw, unbridled power!

The Ancient warrior paused, his eyes flashing with cunning as he looked up at the descending storm. With a swift gesture, he invoked an ancient sigil. Behind him, a colossal spectral form materialized, a towering Ancient god clad in full battle armor. Eight points of starlight blazed within its brow. At the warrior’s command, the spectral deity raised its own hand, a single, gigantic finger poised to crush Wang Lin beneath its immensity.

The Finger of the Ancient God!

The colossal digit slammed into Wang Lin’s descending fists in a collision that defied description. Seen from afar, it was a tableau worthy of the most ancient scroll, a scene that would shake the very soul of any who beheld it.

The star-stuff was the canvas, Wang Lin the descending force, his titanic form a vessel for the earth-shattering impact, hurtling towards the Ancient warrior below.

The warrior’s dark hair billowed around his face as he gazed upwards, his eyes glittering with fierce determination. His finger blazed with power, summoning the colossal spectral figure behind him. Though mere brushstrokes of ethereal energy, the god’s finger was still a hundred lengths in size, a weapon of unimaginable destructive force.

The void screamed as Wang Lin’s fists collided with the ethereal finger. The sound was like the ripping of reality itself, echoing through the heavens.

Wang Lin spat blood, his hair whipping around his face in a frenzy, but he did not yield. With a cry that shook the stars, he poured all his power into the descending blow.

The illusory Finger of the Ancient God shattered! Wang Lin’s fists cleaved through it like a hot blade through tallow, splitting the spectral digit in two.

He plunged through the shattered remains of the god’s finger, rending the very arm of the spectral deity, tearing through its massive form.

As the spectral god collapsed into nothingness, Wang Lin, infused with the fury of the cosmos, hurtled towards the Ancient warrior. The distance between them, once vast, was now but a few dozen lengths!

To an Ancient warrior, a mere score of lengths was like a heartbeat in the stride of a mortal.

In the blink of an eye, Wang Lin’s fists met the Ancient warrior’s fingers.

The sound of bone grinding upon bone, though lost in the larger cataclysm, was unmistakable. The warrior’s fingers exploded in a rain of blood and pulverized bone. He, too, spat blood, and staggered backward.

His fingers could not withstand the force of Wang Lin’s combined fists. They had been utterly obliterated. Wang Lin’s full-force strike landed squarely on the warrior’s chest as he retreated.

The warrior reeled, his chest caving inwards with a sickening crunch. But he was Wang Lin’s equal, an Ancient of immense power. Despite the grievous blow, he spat blood and retaliated, his right foot lashing out in a sweeping kick.

The blow struck Wang Lin’s descending fists.

A wave of power erupted from the warrior’s leg, colliding with Wang Lin’s fists at the critical moment, when his power was just beginning to unleash.
Wang Lin staggered, a crimson stain blooming on his lips as he was hurled backward for thousands of feet. His arms trembled, though he had not invoked any true Ancient God sorcery, this blow represented the pinnacle of his physical might, forged from the legacies of the Ancient God and the Dao Ancient!

Such a strike would shatter a Void Nirvana cultivator outright, and even a Void Spirit would find it impossible to withstand. Only a mid-stage Void Profound, wielding formidable divine powers, could hope to impede it.

This was the Ancient Clan Battle Brand – a Death Duel!

In battles of life and death, only the bold prevailed. Courage was no stranger to Wang Lin. His eyes burned crimson, heedless of his injuries. He steadied himself in mid-air and lunged forward once more, a demon unleashed, directly toward the middle-aged man.

“KILL!” The word tore from Wang Lin’s throat, the first utterance in this brutal dance of death, his first syllable spoken!

The raw ferocity in his roar transformed him into a terrifying specter. The middle-aged man, who had been retreating, now felt his own countenance falter for the first time.

“Ancient Demon Devours the Heavens!” The middle-aged man’s left eye flashed, and the three Demon Stars within abruptly transformed into three drops of blood, which shot forth and coalesced into a colossal phantom of an Ancient Demon.

Within the Ancient Demon’s left eye, nine Demon Stars swirled in chaotic light!

The phantom unleashed a piercing shriek and swelled rapidly, its gargantuan maw gaping to engulf Wang Lin.

“Ancient Devil Crushes the Earth!” From the man’s right eye, the three Devil Stars burst forth, becoming three crimson droplets imbued with pure devilish energy. This energy manifested into a towering phantom of an Ancient Devil.

As the Ancient Devil emerged, the heavens grew dim, and the very stars trembled in fear.

“Ancient God’s Fury!” From between the middle-aged man’s brows, the two Ancient God starlights ignited, resembling two vital drops of blood. These radiated a staggering Ancient God aura, which coalesced to manifest another phantom of an Ancient God, its countenance twisted in boundless rage as it roared at Wang Lin.

“Ancestral Dao Ancient, Condense!” The middle-aged man bellowed, and behind the phantoms of the three Ancient Clans, a truly immense figure materialized!

This figure was familiar to Wang Lin. It was none other than Dao Ancient Ye Mo!

Compared to Ye Mo, the three Ancient Clan phantoms were mere children, insignificant and small.

As the phantom of Ye Mo loomed, the middle-aged man wove intricate hand seals and pointed a finger savagely at Wang Lin.

“I am a son of the Dao Ancient! You bear my father’s legacy! Today, I reclaim what is rightfully mine!” At his command, the phantoms of the three Ancient Clans charged forth, and the specter of Ye Mo followed with ponderous steps, all bearing down upon Wang Lin.

“Ye Mo had no true son! Before his end, he scattered three thousand drops of blood, which became the foundation of the three Ancient Clans! Within those thousands, perhaps nine were drops of his heart’s blood, infused with the most potent Ancient Clan essence. You are likely crafted from those nine drops, harvested by the Extraterrestrial Overseer after countless ages of slaughtering the Ancient Clans!

Even so, you have only managed to coalesce eight drops!” Wisdom ignited in Wang Lin’s eyes. He had analyzed everything the moment he snatched a drop of the man’s blood and begun his deductions. This battle had only solidified his resolve.

As the phantoms of the three Ancient Clans and the figure of Dao Ancient Ye Mo closed in, the seven starlights between Wang Lin’s brows, and all the Ancient Demon and Ancient Devil stars in his eyes, spun madly.

Their swirling motion fueled a tempestuous fusion within his very being. In a flash, the Dao Ancient aura that belonged solely to him erupted forth. At that instant, behind Wang Lin, the headless specter of Dao Ancient Ye Mo appeared, a testament to the legacy he had inherited!

This was a death duel between a true Dao Ancient legacy and a warped imitation born from heart’s blood. Should Wang Lin triumph, he could absorb everything from his foe – those eight precious drops of Dao Ancient essence!

These eight drops could very well allow Wang Lin’s Ancient God starlight to coalesce into an eighth star! Furthermore, they would empower his Ancient Demon and Ancient Devil stars to multiply once more!

All of this would serve as the key and catalyst for his second journey to the Ancient Tomb, where he might attain a complete and unmarred inheritance!