“Who… who are you truly?!” The Celestial Seafarer’s face was ashen, her beautiful eyes wide with unspeakable terror. She recoiled instinctively as the ebony-haired figure strode towards her.

“Wang Lin? That is not my name. My name… should be… Lumo!” The dark-haired Wang Lin advanced slowly, each step deliberate as he approached the Celestial Seafarer. His expression was a mask of cold indifference, devoid of any emotion save for an icy, detached resolve.

Beside the Celestial Seafarer, Wang Lin’s Five Elements Avatar stood as a bulwark, its presence radiating solemn gravity. Surrounding it swirled the Source of Thunder, the Origin of Primordial Chaos, and the three ethereal Sources, their soft luminescence a gentle counterpoint to the encroaching darkness.

“Slaughter descends upon the world, eclipsing the light with silent obliteration. All beings… must endure countless aeons of tribulation…” As the Celestial Seafarer retreated in fear, Wang Lin’s Five Elements Avatar stepped forward, the myriad Sources swirling around it like a protective aura. It stood defiantly before the dark-haired Wang Lin, their gazes locked in a silent struggle.

“You are but a mere construct, the essence of my Five Elements Avatar and its Sources. Do you truly believe you can impede me?” the dark-haired Wang Lin sneered at the Avatar.

“I exist, and by that very existence, I shall not return unless the path of slaughter and ruin be diverted! Begone, phantom!” The dark-haired Wang Lin’s eyes were devoid of light. With a chilling swiftness, he raised his right hand and gestured towards the Five Elements Avatar.

In response, the Five Elements Avatar writhed with a silent agony, its form collapsing inward. The Avatar shattered, its true form rent asunder. From the ruins of its being emerged a cascade of elemental Sources, intertwining with the other five. These Sources surged towards the dark-haired Wang Lin’s outstretched hand, merging into his flesh, and vanishing without a trace.

“Now,” the dark-haired Wang Lin halted before the Celestial Seafarer, his voice a chilling whisper laced with murderous intent. “Tell me who you are!”

The Celestial Seafarer’s face was pale as death. She opened her mouth to speak, but no words would come.

“Kyu-Di did not invite me to the Imperial Mountain, did he?”

“This elaborate trap, it was baited with you, to lure me out, wasn’t it?”

“Celestial Seafarer, your identity extends beyond Kyu-Di’s disciple. You are also affiliated with the lineage of the Imperial Preceptor, are you not?”

“Within the Mountain and Sea Realm of old, the severed hand was not driven mad. It chose to attack you first, because you, like me, do not belong to this Immortal-Astral Continent. I hail from the Cave World, and you… you are from Beyond the Heavens…”

“Or perhaps,” the dark-haired Wang Lin’s voice was calm, yet each word was a hammer blow to the Celestial Seafarer’s soul, “the sect of the Imperial Preceptor itself originates from Beyond the Heavens…” The Celestial Seafarer bit her lip, her silence a tacit confession. After what seemed an eternity, she looked up at Wang Lin.

“My true self is far too lenient…” the dark-haired Wang Lin shook his head, his face a study in dispassionate cruelty. “He should have discerned the truth long ago, yet he chose to remain ignorant.” His right hand rose, a killing blow about to be unleashed on the Celestial Seafarer.

He intended to end her life.

This strike, if it connected, would shatter the Celestial Seafarer’s mortal form, obliterate her nascent soul, and erase her from existence.

The Celestial Seafarer did not flinch. As she closed her eyes, tears streamed down her face. She offered no defense, no explanation.

The palm descended with terrible speed, a mere three inches from her forehead. The Celestial Seafarer trembled, on the verge of utter collapse. But in that instant, a sharp force materialized, capable of cleaving the heavens and shattering the void. A figure appeared behind her, slightly hunched, resembling an elderly man. With a swift, protective gesture, the ancient figure seized the Celestial Seafarer and pulled her back. Simultaneously, he raised his right hand to meet the dark-haired Wang Lin’s descending palm.

The resulting cataclysmic impact rocked the very foundations of reality. The dark-haired Wang Lin was thrown back several steps, the black robes that cloaked him dissolving into wisps of dark energy. But they rapidly coalesced, reforming his attire.

At the ninth step, the dark-haired Wang Lin halted. His expression was unchanged, betraying no surprise. He looked coldly at the savior of the Celestial Seafarer.

“Kyu-Di!”

The elder was none other than Kyu-Di, the Grand Empyrean, his gaze grim. He had saved the Celestial Seafarer, and now his attention was solely on the dark-haired Wang Lin.

“This trap was not orchestrated solely by the Imperial Preceptor,” the dark-haired Wang Lin said, his voice even. “You were also involved.”

“Destruction and slaughter… I have long pondered how you surpassed the Seventeenth Level of the Empyrean Nirvana,” Kyu-Di’s eyes narrowed. “Your cultivation, even with the Soul Armor, would not have been sufficient…”

“So, within you, lies the power of annihilation! Destruction!” Kyu-Di’s eyes flashed. His earlier palm strike was imbued with the power of a Grand Empyrean, yet it had only forced his adversary back nine steps!

“Is this why you participated in this scheme… or did you sense this treachery, and seek to resolve a lingering doubt?” The dark-haired Wang Lin’s eyes were now ice, his gaze now locked onto Kyu-Di. In a blur of motion, he lunged directly at the Grand Empyrean!

For the first time, he sought to attack a Grand Empyrean.

His charge did not invoke disdain from Kyu-Di. On the contrary, his vigilance intensified. With a gesture, the heavens themselves shifted. The swirling snows coalesced into a colossal sword of ice, slashing horizontally towards Wang Lin.

“I am the embodiment of annihilation, the master of slaughter…” The dark-haired Wang Lin raised his right hand, and with a clenched fist, he unleashed a shattering blow against the icy blade. The impact resounded with deafening force. The ice sword shattered instantly, and Wang Lin’s body fragmented into countless wisps of black energy, which swirled away and redirected, bearing down upon Kyu-Di.

Kyu-Di frowned. As the mass of dark energy surged towards him, he raised both hands and formed a circular sigil. Instantly, a blinding radiance erupted from the seal, bathing the world in light.

The luminescence expanded rapidly, clashing against the encroaching darkness in a battle of light and shadow. The light dissipated, and Kyu-Di remained unmoved. However, his eyes burned with inner fire!

The dark energy had overwhelmed the light, and before Kyu-Di, it reassembled into the form of the dark-haired Wang Lin.
“You cannot hope to best me, whelp!” the Grand Celestial Emperor Jiu boomed, his ancient visage betraying a flicker of youthful vitality in the steely glint of his eyes.

“You cannot conceal the taint of destruction,” Wang Lin, his hair as black as midnight, replied softly.

“White-haired Sky Sovereign… Black-haired Sky Sovereign… Wang Lin, I underestimated you! This time, Hai Zi is innocent. Take this token; let it be amends, and consider the matter closed!” With a gesture of his right hand, Emperor Jiu conjured a flash of golden light, revealing a palm-sized shard of radiant gold.

“I have observed traces of this sword upon your being. This fragment shall grant you mastery over the Essence of Gold!” Emperor Jiu declared, and with a flick of his wrist, the shard flew towards Wang Lin, hovering before him, still and silent.

Having offered the Immortal Extremesword fragment, Emperor Jiu cast a knowing glance at Wang Lin before turning away, whisking the ever-silent Sky Sovereign Hai Zi into the ether.

With his departure, the enchantment upon the long street shattered, though the ruins remained, a testament to the battle.

As night waned, the first rays of dawn pierced the horizon, promising to banish the darkness and bathe the land in light.

Black-haired Wang Lin stood amidst the devastation, gazing skyward in profound silence.

As time crept on, the sun ascended, its light unfurling across the east like a wave, consuming the darkness and spreading across the Eastern District of the Ancestral City with visible haste.

When the wave of dawn crashed upon the long street, Wang Lin remained unmoving. He watched as the light drew closer, engulfing him in its embrace.

As the light washed over him, his raven locks gradually transformed, becoming a cascade of silver. The coldness in his eyes, the severity of his countenance, yielded to weariness and melancholy with the arrival of the white.

He made no attempt to suppress the dominance of slaughter, for Wang Lin knew that when it descended, it could not be denied.

“Henceforth, in the sun’s glare, I am Wang Lin, the white-haired… and in the embrace of night, I shall be the black-haired Spider of Slaughter… like the cycle of sunrise and sunset, unyielding. Fortunately, I possess the power of the Ethereal Avatar, which offers a fragile balance, a semblance of clarity.”

Black and white, forever entwined, settled upon Wang Lin’s being.

With a sigh, Wang Lin abandoned any notion of pursuing Hai Zi. He raised his right hand, claiming the Immortal Extremesword fragment before him. Then, he took up the abandoned Heavenly Bull Soul Armor, and turned to depart.

“I must leave… All the secrets and origins of the Immortal Clan, I no longer wish to dwell upon them.”

Wang Lin’s figure vanished into the distance as the snow continued its relentless descent, covering the land like a thick blanket of cotton.

The snow fell ceaselessly for two days until, at dawn on the third, Wang Lin stood with Liu Jinbiao and Hai Long before the Eastern Gate of the city, gazing back at the Ancestral City with quiet anticipation.

Soon, Liu Jinbiao’s eyes lit up, and he excitedly pointed to two approaching figures. One, clad in a long scarlet robe, was none other than Xu Liguo.

Xu Liguo appeared bewildered, having been drawn to the Eastern Gate by an insistent, inexplicable yearning.

Beside him strode the Madman, drawn by a similar call, agitated and restless until he chose to follow Xu Liguo.

“Eh? It’s you! By the gods, you dare show your face before this king!” The Madman recognized Wang Lin and, with a snarl, began to roll up his sleeves, preparing to attack.

Xu Liguo was equally stunned.

“Xu Liguo, I am leaving. Will you remain, or follow me?” Wang Lin, sighing inwardly at the sight of the charging Madman, turned his gaze to Xu Liguo and spoke softly.

His words resonated within Xu Liguo’s mind, shattering the seals upon his memory. In an instant, the fragments of a forgotten past rushed forth, overwhelming him. (To be continued…)