The heavens themselves convulsed, a phantom birth as the whirling Five Planets shattered. The firmament dissolved into a tapestry of fragments, sweeping outward in a cataclysmic storm.

Had not the three emerged to intervene, the Nine Revolutions of the Heart Wheel’s agonizing reversal would have withered every Outer Sect disciple of the Returning to One sect, leaving them as husks. Not from Wang Lin’s cruelty, but from the echo of a tragedy he had only just survived.

Now, amidst the distorted sky, Wang Lin stood, his face an unreadable mask. His gaze swept over the battlefield, finding the hundreds of slumbering cultivators, the figure of Na Duo, the golden-robed elder clutching a shattered, bruised arm. Finally, his eyes settled upon three figures standing together, their countenances grim, their gazes locked upon him.

Though appearing as men in their middle years, an aura of ancient decay clung to them, betrayed by their strange raiment. They were not of the Cave World, but denizens of the Immortal Gang Continent!

His scrutiny complete, Wang Lin offered a sweeping bow, his long sleeves billowing.

“Wang Lin of the Cave World,” he announced, his voice carrying upon the wind. “I come to greet my guests from the Immortal Gang Continent, and extend to you the hospitality of a humble host! Tell me, after all these aeons, do you find your lodging here to your liking?”

The golden-robed elder gasped, his face contorting. Already wounded by the Heart Wheel’s reversal, the shock of Wang Lin’s words exacerbated his injuries, and blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.

The three figures emerged from the tower, their eyes contracted into slits, their gazes upon Wang Lin hardening with chilling intent.

As the last echo of Wang Lin’s words faded, he took a step forward, his right hand clenching into a fist. The moment his knuckles tightened, the ancient God stars at his brow, the demon and fiend stars in his eyes whirled into a frenzy of light. Behind him, a colossal phantom of a Dao Ancient materialized, its form towering over the landscape.

The spectral giant filled the sky, and as it cast its immense shadow, it raised its own gigantic fist, mirroring Wang Lin’s gesture exactly!

“A scion of the Dao Ancient bloodline!” one of the men hissed, his complexion paling. All three surged forward, towards Wang Lin. One transformed into a nine-hued dragon, its roar echoing as it lashed across the heavens.

Another became wreathed in swirling black miasma, a grotesque specter forming above his head, its ghoulish face contorted in a silent scream.

The third was surrounded by the radiant essence of the Five Elements, the shimmer of gold, wood, water, fire, and earth coalescing into phantom images around him. With each stride, the heavens themselves seemed to darken in response.

Wang Lin advanced towards the towering structure, his raised fist poised to strike, but the sudden assault of the three interlopers blocked his way.

He remained unperturbed. He had come prepared for battle. Though the three possessed formidable power, they did not inspire fear in his heart.

As they drew near, Wang Lin snapped his left hand behind him. His own Dao Ancient shade followed suit, rising to shield its master. The shade twisted, its mass enveloping Wang Lin.

A cacophony erupted as the invaders’ combined powers crashed against the Dao Ancient shade. The mighty spirit trembled beneath the onslaught, and after only a few breaths, its essence shattered!

The Dao Ancient shade shattered, unleashing a shockwave that swept outward, charged with the spirit of its essence. The skies quaked, and the Immortal Gang warriors recoiled, driven back hundreds of feet before regaining their footing.

Though the Dao Ancient shade was destroyed, Wang Lin emerged unscathed, his calculations vindicated. Using the force of the shade’s destruction, he launched himself forward, appearing at the apex of the tower. With a guttural cry, he unleashed his fist upon the tower!

Wang Lin’s journey to the Five Planets, his infiltration of this place, it had all been to deliver this one, fateful blow!

His purpose was to draw forth the hidden forces of the Five Planets. He sought to discover what manner of power lurked here. He desired to know just how sharp the second thorn was, this one beside Heavenly Fortune Child, and how deeply it had been driven into the world!

Only when he possessed this knowledge could he craft his strategy, and seek out his third soul!

To drag his foes from the shadows!

The world seemed to dim as the shattering essence of the Dao Ancient swept outward from Wang Lin, pushing back all who dared oppose him.

The shockwave roared like a tempest, clearing a path for Wang Lin, allowing his fist to hurtle towards the tower unimpeded.

From afar, the three men watched, their faces etched with horror, their attempts to intervene thwarted by the relentless tide of destruction.

It had all been part of Wang Lin’s scheme!

His fist whistled as it carved a path through the air, carrying his determination and his full might, drawing ever closer to its target!

But then, a surge of power erupted from the fourth level of the tower. A figure in black robes stepped forth.

The youth was unremarkable, but his eyes burned with an unearthly light. It was the same youth who had emerged from a fissure in Wang Lin’s Heavenly Tribulation years before!

This youth had been wandering Zhao He searching for something, but was forced back to Five Planets to seclude himself within the fourth level, only to be roused by Wang Lin’s arrival,

He knew Wang Lin, and Wang Lin knew him!

“It is you!” Wang Lin exclaimed as soon as he saw the youth, he only had a brief memory of him, standing on an ancient statue of a God in the Ancient Immortal Realm, holding a mirror searching for something!

Without a word, the youth advanced towards Wang Lin, and as Wang Lin’s fist was about to strike, the youth performed a hand seal and casted an incantation.
The instant his sigil was complete, six colossal blossoms of darkest ebony materialized behind the youth. These spectral blooms unfurled with an unsettling grace, their petals shimmering with an otherworldly allure. As the youth pointed, each flower emanated a spectral glow, and from their depths emerged six alabaster arms, all pointing towards Wang Lin’s descending fist.

A deafening roar erupted as they collided. Wang Lin felt a jarring force shudder through his arm, the unmistakable imprint of annihilation surging from the youth’s sigil. He staggered backward, several steps, reeling from the impact.

The youth fared no better. His face paled, a series of sharp cracks echoed from within, and he too stumbled back. The six spectral flowers behind him withered and shattered into dust.

A stalemate!

As Wang Lin retreated, six dark blossoms erupted upon his right arm, as if branded onto his flesh. They festered with a grotesque rot, weeping a viscous, foul ichor.

A searing pain lanced through his mind, and a cold fury ignited in Wang Lin’s eyes.

The youth, even in his retreat, possessed an unsettling calm. A shimmering point of light materialized between his brows, and a single star ignited within each eye. This was the unleashed power of the Dao Ancient, fueled by Wang Lin’s own cultivation, a dangerous transformation.

The starlight coalesced into phantoms of Ancient Gods, Ancient Demons, and Ancient Fiends, all swirling within the youth’s mind, hungrily devouring his spirit and soul.

The youth’s serene composure never faltered, a testament to a fortitude that commanded Wang Lin’s respect.

Wang Lin knew not that this youth was called Yun Yifeng, a figure of renown within the Guizong Sect of the Immortal Continent. He was a core disciple, third in line, of considerable power.

He had entered this realm alongside his senior uncles, and after countless ages of refinement and fortune within this cavernous world, his return to the Immortal Continent would be heralded as the second coming of a paragon. He could contend for the title of the Guizong Sect’s First Disciple!

Moreover, with the glory of the Guizong Sect’s First Disciple to his name, he would be a legend among the nine sects and thirteen houses of the Immortal Clan!

Without a word exchanged, Wang Lin raised his right hand, and with a flick of his wrist, three of the six dark blossoms upon his arm vanished. The remaining three, battling the Dao Ancient’s relentless regeneration, crumbled once more, purging the corruption from his limb.

The youth, too, possessed his own defenses. He wove a series of rapid hand seals before pressing his fingers against his chest several times. He then withdrew a black seed-like pill and swallowed it whole.

The pill erupted within him, unleashing a potent energy that banished the ghostly forms of the three Ancient races from his mind. However, the healing elixir was slower than Wang Lin’s natural regeneration, and as such left him weakened.

Those few precious breaths were all Wang Lin needed. He did not attack the youth, for he had other plans. His right fist now renewed, he swung with all his might at the towering pagoda just as the youth struggled to recover.

This time, the youth could not intervene!

With a deafening roar, Wang Lin’s fist landed, and the pagoda shuddered. It seemed to absorb the impact of his blow, then began to crumble from its base. The destruction echoed through the chamber as layer after layer of the pagoda collapsed.

Dust billowed and rose, obscuring the world as the pagoda fractured and shattered. Only the top three floors remained untouched, floating serenely amidst the chaos, emitting a celestial light.

These three levels seemed to exist apart from the rest, as if the original inhabitants who came from the Immortal Continent in ages past only brought these top three layers. It was during the long march of time that their descendents, their children, built the fourth and fifth floors.

As the lower sections of the pagoda imploded, a voice echoed from within the shimmering light of the third floor. It was ancient, powerful, and filled with an overbearing authority.

The voice boomed like thunder, but its strength was greater than anything the world had ever known. As it spoke, the very heavens trembled and transformed into the law of the land.

“Barbarian whelp of the Dao Ancient! Your ilk are the weakest of the three Ancient races. You are nothing but uncivilized savages! Even your elders would only be treated as mere roughnecks and ruffians before the Guizong Sect!” The voice reverberated, laced with arrogant disdain, and assaulted Wang Lin’s mind.

Before Wang Lin could react, Xuan Luo, the Grand Heavenly Venerate from beyond the Five Planets, scowled with deep fury. Never in his life had anyone dared to utter such insults against the Dao Ancient lineage. The old man on the third floor was the first!

If only the haughty old man knew that his words were overheard by Xuan Luo… what expression would he wear? Would the dread of terror break his mind?