The endless light shattered, and the ceaseless pounding of the severed hand ceased. It clung to the luminous barrier, a grotesque starfish affixed to a shimmering veil.

So close was its embrace that the bizarre sigil etched into the palm of the hand was laid bare for Wang Lin and Tianzun Hai Tzu to behold.

Yet, this alone did not elicit the shock that seized their hearts. It was the sudden, monstrous expansion of the severed hand, ballooning in size to hundreds, then thousands of feet!

With horrifying speed, it continued to grow, until it encompassed the entirety of the hemispherical barrier, a titan of flesh blotting out the light.

As the colossal hand seemed to devour the barrier, the luminous field flickered violently, rippling with chaotic energy before plunging into an absolute, impenetrable darkness.

Even in this void, Wang Lin and Tianzun Hai Tzu could see clearly, their cultivation lending sight to the abyss. Wang Lin, in his silence, noticed his hair floating upwards, stirred by an unseen wind.

“It has consumed the protective screen of my jade slip. It is moving, and with incredible speed!” Tianzun Hai Tzu’s eyes flashed, her voice low and laced with dread.

“What manner of thing is it?” she asked, her gaze fixed on Wang Lin.

The man stood a hundred feet away, and he looked down at his newly regrown right hand, pondering for a moment before speaking.

“It is the seal of the Mountain Sea Tree.”

Tianzun Hai Tzu’s face paled. She offered a bitter smile, then settled into a meditative pose, her eyes scanning the inky blackness, her thoughts a hidden sea.

Time passed with sluggish pace, and soon, the Soul Armor that had cloaked Wang Lin faded, leaving in its wake a bone-deep fatigue.

“Your master will struggle to find us in the near future. The severed hand has devoured the protective screen, sealing us off, a prison erected against the outside world,” Wang Lin sighed, his gaze fixed on the darkness above.

“You sought the Mountain Sea Tree Spirit, but why did you have to rouse the seal? That seal was woven by the Immortal Ancestor himself! You…” Tianzun Hai Tzu looked at Wang Lin with a turbulent mix of emotions.

“Had I not been rescuing you, I would have left the Mountain Sea long ago,” Wang Lin replied, his eyes meeting hers.

Tianzun Hai Tzu fell silent.

The silence stretched, unbroken, for three days.

During those days, neither spoke a word. Tianzun Hai Tzu would occasionally glance upwards at the unseen barrier, her expression shifting like the tides. Wang Lin, however, remained in a meditative trance, drawing forth several Mountain Sea Tree Spirits and integrating one into his being.

“Your cultivation is strange indeed. Though but an early-stage Sky Calamity cultivator, you possess the battle prowess of a Tianzun. While the Mountain Sea Tree Spirit can aid in manifesting the Wood Origin, for one who has reached Sky Calamity, a few more Origins, however gained, are unlikely to lead to Great Completion. What purpose do they serve?” Tianzun Hai Tzu finally asked, after three days of silence, as she watched Wang Lin integrate the Mountain Sea Tree Spirit.

“I am not as you are,” Wang Lin replied, offering no further explanation. His eyes swept over Tianzun Hai Tzu before he returned to his quiet contemplation.

“You seem strangely unconcerned. Are you not worried or anxious?” Tianzun Hai Tzu frowned.

Wang Lin remained silent, closing his eyes to continue absorbing the Spirit.

“My protective screen has been devoured. If what you said is true, my master will have great difficulty locating us. Even if he arrives in the Mountain Sea, if this severed hand wanders elsewhere, it will take him an age to find us.

We are cut off from the outside world. Does this not concern you?” Tianzun Hai Tzu persisted, her lips pursing as Wang Lin ignored her.

Seeing his continued silence, her beautiful eyes lingered on him for a long moment, before finally a look of frustration bloomed on her face.

“There are only two of us here, and you are as silent as a tree trunk. Is it amusing for you to watch me talk to myself?”

Wang Lin opened his eyes, a hint of resignation in his gaze. He looked at Tianzun Hai Tzu.

“I find this environment rather… conducive. It allows for tranquil cultivation, that is, if I were not constantly interrupted.”

“You!” Tianzun Hai Tzu stood abruptly, huffing. Her lithe figure swayed as she moved away from Wang Lin, settling thousands of feet away, far enough to ignore him entirely.

Seeing her depart, Wang Lin closed his eyes again, immersing himself in the process of integrating the Mountain Sea Tree Spirit. However, his divine sense remained spread, ever vigilant.

As for the Sea Dragon, it lay at Wang Lin’s side, glaring fiercely at the octopus sea beast that returned its stare. The two beasts remained silent, yet their eyes waged a war, filled with unspoken curses and malice. They traded glances, a silent battle of animosity, their conflict dragging on indefinitely.

Time continued its inexorable crawl – ten days, twenty days, a month, two months, three months…

Four months passed in the blink of an eye.

During those four months, Wang Lin had not uttered a single word, lost in the absorption of the Mountain Sea Tree Spirit. A subtle green hue began to tint his skin.

The Sea Dragon, after four months of staring down the octopus sea beast, remained unfatigued, its spirit undeterred. It continued its relentless glare.

The octopus, on the other hand, appeared weary, yet it refused to yield, the two beasts locked in a perpetual gaze.

“Wang… Wang Lin, something is amiss…” One day, four months after their imprisonment, Tianzun Hai Tzu walked over from her distant sanctuary, her expression troubled. She sat down twenty feet away from Wang Lin.

Wang Lin opened his eyes and looked at her. Four months had passed since they had last truly spoken. The woman’s beauty was undeniable, though a hint of weariness had crept into her features. Still, she possessed a captivating loveliness that could stir the hearts of men.
“Surely, my revered Shifu would not tarry these four moons and remain unaware of our plight…” Hai Zi Tianzun’s voice betrayed her gnawing unease. Trapped within this accursed place for what felt an eternity, she found no solace, a dark premonition clinging to her soul. “He would sense my peril, and even were that severed hand to flee beyond the Mountains and Seas, his celestial calculations would lead him to its very location. Four moons… it is simply not possible.”

Wang Lin, ever the bastion of calm amidst turmoil, spoke with measured words, “There are three possibilities.”

“Firstly, this severed hand has retreated to a place beyond mortal perception, a void where even the keenest divination cannot penetrate!”

“Secondly,” he continued, his gaze unwavering, “your Shifu may not be the paragon of swift rescue that you believe him to be.”

“Impossible!” Hai Zi Tianzun retorted, her voice edged with defiance. “Were Shifu aware of my danger, he would arrive without hesitation! And your first suggestion is equally preposterous! With Shifu’s mastery, there is no corner of this Immortal Clan Land that could elude his gaze!” She hesitated, then confessed, “Perhaps you have already surmised… my Shifu is the esteemed Jiudi Great Celestial!”

Wang Lin’s expression remained unchanged, betraying no surprise. He had, after all, noticed the Imperial seal upon the elixir she offered, and reasoned that one who could take a Tianzun as a disciple, and inspire such unwavering faith in her rescue, must possess power beyond measure. Jiudi Great Celestial, of Zhongzhou, was the most likely.

“If that is so,” Wang Lin declared, “then we must consider the third possibility. This severed hand has consumed the very barrier that contains us. Within its maw, the currents of time may flow differently. Perhaps centuries have passed within, while only a day has elapsed outside.”

Hai Zi Tianzun’s face paled. She was no fool and had entertained this very notion herself, but to hear it echoed by Wang Lin solidified her fears.

“This protective shield, though bestowed by my Shifu, cannot withstand centuries of assault… Once it fails…” she murmured, the image of the monstrous severed hand haunting her thoughts.

As they spoke, the protective barrier, once vast, shuddered violently, a low thrum reverberating through the air. In an instant, its radius shrank, from ten thousand zhang to a mere nine thousand!

And beyond the diminishing light, in the abyssal darkness, a vague form coalesced. It drifted, an indistinct silhouette observing Wang Lin and Hai Zi Tianzun, a palpable aura of savage hunger radiating from its presence.

“Detected… non-Xiangang spirit… seal!” the form rasped, its voice like the grinding of stones.

As the barrier contracted, Hai Zi Tianzun snapped her head upwards, as if she could see the dark figure lurking beyond.

“Shrink the barrier to a hundred zhang,” Wang Lin instructed, his eyes glinting with cold determination. “By concentrating its power, it may offer us a longer reprieve.”

With a flick of his wrist, Wang Lin banished the seadragon in a flash of azure light. Hai Zi Tianzun hesitated, then dismissed her octopus beast as well. She weaved arcane signs, and the remaining barrier shimmered, condensing with swift efficiency, shrinking to a mere hundred zhang.

Now, only Wang Lin and Hai Zi Tianzun, a man and a woman, remained within the confined space.

Hai Zi Tianzun retreated to a corner, a sigh escaping her lips, and closed her eyes in meditation.

Time trickled by. The fourth moon, the sixth… and soon, a year had passed.

A year, inconsequential in the grand tapestry of the outside world, stretched into an eternity within this prison.

Wang Lin, a veteran of solitude, fared better. He used the time to fuse with the two Mountain and Sea tree spirits, nurturing the budding Wood element within his Five Elements origins, watching it grow with steady pace.

But Hai Zi Tianzun, after eight months of brooding silence, opened her beautiful eyes and regarded Wang Lin. The man before her inspired a mix of resentment and a disquieting sense of something more.

“Since the dawn of my cultivation, I have never shared such close quarters with a stranger for so long. You… all I know is your name, Wang Lin, as you once stated it yourself. From what sect do you hail?” Hai Zi Tianzun asked in a soft voice.