Hark, Celestial Wanderers! Grant your moon tickets, recommendation slips, clicks, and treasures to *Renegade Immortal*!

May all fellow cultivators engage in harmonious discourse, for within these four seas, we are brothers and sisters! Together, let us forge the glory of *Renegade Immortal*!

We, the cultivators of this age, why should we shrink from a battle!

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========The Splendid Divide========

In the heart of the Ancestral City, the Immortal Clan Imperial Palace clawed at the sky!

As the first rays of dawn, messengers of Auriel, pierced the veil of darkness, bathing the palace in a palpable, growing light, dignitaries from the Ancestral City’s most esteemed Immortal Clan families, and the empire’s high officials, converged upon the palace before the Grand Hall of Immortality.

The investiture of the White-Haired Sky Sovereign had ignited a tempestuous whirlwind throughout the Ancestral City over the past seven days!

The title “White-Haired Sky Sovereign” had become legendary in this year; among those in the Ancestral City deemed worthy of knowing, it was whispered with reverence, its fame spreading on the wings of countless tales.

Today’s investiture had prompted every family within the Ancestral City to seek and obtain the Immortal Emperor’s blessing to attend the grand ceremony upon the vast plaza before the Hall of Immortality.

As the sun’s rays cascaded down, the plaza teemed with an untold number of cultivators, easily surpassing tens of thousands. Most possessed formidable cultivation, even reaching the heights of Sky Sovereigns.

Indeed, a handful of Sky Sovereigns were present. Even within the Imperial Palace, such beings commanded respect from all quarters.

On this dawn, the teleportation arrays leading to the Imperial Palace from across the Ancestral City pulsed with an unprecedented frequency. Beams of shimmering, ethereal light, practically unbroken, spewed forth wave after wave of cultivators eager to witness the spectacle.

These arrivals navigated the Nine Gates, hurrying towards the plaza before the Hall of Immortality.

The plaza filled, yet order was maintained, the throngs arranged according to ancient custom. Three locations, however, remained untouched within a hundred yards of their occupants.

These were the representatives of three of the Four Great Royal Houses of the Ancestral City!

Besides the tens of thousands of cultivators already present, and those still arriving, stood two ranks of formidable troops clad in black armor!

These Black-Armored Forbidden Soldiers were the Emperor’s personal guard, sworn only to his service. Each soldier possessed significant power and cultivation. Though their numbers were only a hundred thousand, they held a terrifying power derived from a forbidden sacrifice of life force.

The specifics remained shrouded in secrecy, but these two ranks, stretching from the plaza’s center, dividing the assembled crowds, and extending beyond the Nine Gates, radiated an aura of palpable killing intent and chilling menace.

Before the Hall of Immortality, past the plaza, loomed the Nine Gates, each separated by ten thousand paces. More than simple portals, they were monumental structures, imposing silhouettes against the dawn sky, radiating authority and dread. Beyond the final gate, teleportation energies surged; the members of the Li Family materialized, bypassing the Nine Gates, each face etched with respectful solemnity as they made their way to the plaza.

“The hour is at hand! Seal the Nine Gates!” A figure in azure robes emerged from the Hall of Immortality. An aged man, unremarkable in appearance save for the keen glint in his eyes, he surveyed the scene before him and spoke in a measured tone.

As his words echoed, the tens of thousands of assembled Ancestral City cultivators stilled their breath, their gaze fixed upon the Nine Gates!

Then, a deafening roar erupted, the unified battle cry of the hundred thousand Black-Armored Forbidden Soldiers. The sound resonated like the earth itself bellowing, warping the dawn sky and sending astral winds swirling. The Nine Gates instantly blazed with an eerie, obsidian light that thickened until it coalesced, linking the gates with a tangible bridge of darkness stretching across the plaza!

This path of ethereal black light, sustained by the life force of the hundred thousand soldiers, was both awe-inspiring and terrifying to behold!

The assembled cultivators held their breath, their gazes shifting between the black path and the distant First Gate, where another burst of teleportation energy shimmered.

From that ethereal glow stepped a figure robed in white, his hair as white as snow, his face serene and calm.

There, standing, hands clasped behind his back, was Wang Lin. The wind stirred, catching his long robes and silver hair, creating an image of ethereal detachment.

In that wind-swept figure, Wang Lin appeared youthful at first glance, but the lines etched at the corners of his eyes, the map of time and hardship, spoke of countless ages endured, of choices made and roads taken, of an unyielding spirit worn by the endless passage of time.

His gaze pierced the black path formed by the Nine Gates, focusing on the distant throng and, beyond them, the massive palace that loomed like a celestial bastion!

Beyond that palace, Wang Lin could faintly discern an endless expanse of halls and chambers, the very heart of the Immortal Emperor’s domain!

The Imperial Palace was immense, its boundaries beyond Wang Lin’s sight. Yet, he could sense the potent, invisible barriers that protected it, a force that, if unleashed, could shake the very heavens!

“So this is the Immortal Clan Imperial Palace…” Wang Lin’s gaze lingered on a blurred, distant statue, standing upon the land, its gaze fixed upon the skies.

“White-Haired Sky Sovereign Wang Lin!” A cold voice, laced with authority, thundered forth from the Hall of Immortality, shattering Wang Lin’s reverie and furrowing his brow.

The speaker was the azure-robed elder who had emerged from the Hall, his gaze locked upon Wang Lin from across the Nine Gates.
“Wang Lin,” intoned the aged Celestial Warden, his voice a placid pool masking unseen depths, “every Ascended Paragon who seeks the Imperial Seal must first endure the Trial of the Nine Gates. Only when you stand before me, having traversed them, shall the Rite of Ascendancy commence!”

He continued, his words echoing with ancient power, “Then, and only then, will the Celestial Emperor himself bestow his blessing upon you. The Grand Seer will weave the threads of destiny, unveiling the tapestry of your future! Know this, Paragon Wang Lin, every action within this Sacred Hall is mirrored by the Imperial Array, projected across the seventy-two provinces of the Celestial Empire, a spectacle for every sect and clan!” With that pronouncement, the warden closed his eyes, a silent sentinel guarding the path.

Upon the plaza, every cultivator, from the haughty scions of the Four Royal Houses to the lowliest disciple, turned their gaze as one to the nine formidable gates that stood before Wang Lin.

Wang Lin remained motionless, the words of the Li family Elder, spoken before his arrival, echoing in his mind. Each Ascended Paragon, before receiving the Imperial Seal, must indeed walk the path of the Nine Gates.

Yet, it was but a formality. Had not each already faced the spectral shadow of the Ancient Immortal Ancestor, the test of Heavenly Reverence? Had they not conquered the Ten Trials? These gates were merely a show of Imperial dominion, devoid of true obstacle, demanding nothing more than a simple passage. Or so it seemed.

His eyes swept across the Nine Gates, noting the serried ranks of black-armored warriors that lined the passage like living iron serpents. Their faces were hidden within the helmets, only cold, unwavering eyes visible, fixed upon him.

Beneath the weight of their collective gaze, the gaze of near a hundred thousand warriors, Wang Lin remained unmoved. He lived by his own code. If the gates were as simple as rumored, so be it. But should they conceal a hidden peril, he would not hesitate to meet it with force.

He took his first step, a measured advance toward the first gate. Slowly, deliberately, he approached, and as he crossed the threshold, entering the black tunnel, a unified, guttural roar erupted from the ranks of the black-armored legion.

Within that roar, a palpable, overwhelming tide of bloodlust, distilled from a lifetime of killing, surged from the ten thousand warriors, coalescing into an invisible force that crashed against Wang Lin like a physical blow.

This killing intent, inextricably bound to their ancient armor, transformed the Nine Gates into something far more sinister, as if a veritable God of Slaughter now stood before him!

Wang Lin’s brow furrowed.

“These gates test not cultivation, but the temper of the soul… so be it. I will show no restraint.” His eyes flashed, closing briefly before snapping open, unleashing the raw power of his Thunder Incarnation, its own essence steeped in slaughter.

This power remained confined to a mere ten feet around him, but within that space, the Nine Gates themselves trembled and roared in protest.

The black tunnel of the Nine Gates, as if cowed by Wang Lin’s unleashed aura, began to buckle inward, retreating before him, pushed back a full ten feet.

Undeterred, Wang Lin continued his advance. With each step, the ten-foot sphere of his power moved with him, relentlessly driving back the black tunnel. Even the black-armored soldiers, those unyielding guardians, revealed a flicker of dread in their eyes, involuntarily recoiling, as if Wang Lin emanated a force that could conquer without battle!

A hundred feet, a thousand, ten thousand! Wang Lin strode forward, each step leaving behind only the pristine stone of the plaza.

Before him, the remaining eight gates, comprising the now compressed black tunnel, writhed and buckled under the pressure.

**HOAR!** The black-armored warriors, forced back by Wang Lin’s advance, unleashed a third, even more deafening roar. The black light of the tunnel erupted outwards, coalescing into a monstrous black tiger, its ethereal form manifesting within the Imperial Palace. With a thunderous roar, it lunged at Wang Lin.

“Begone!” Wang Lin’s eyes blazed. The celestial bull tattoo erupted across his face, his right hand clenched into a fist, delivering a blow that shattered the very air before him. The ethereal armor, which had shielded him, vanished an instant before.

The punch landed with earth-shattering force. The tiger illusion shattered, the eight remaining gates splintering into a thousand fragments of light. The hundred thousand black-armored warriors coughed up blood, stumbling backward, though none fell dead.

Wang Lin’s eyes narrowed imperceptibly. He studied their armor for a heartbeat before stepping forward, past the ranks of warriors, through the shattered remnants of the remaining gates. With a final stride, he stood before the Sacred Hall, his gaze fixing upon the ashen face of the Celestial Warden, who recoiled in fear.

“You, too, will retreat, old man!” Wang Lin’s voice was a chilling whisper.