The shattering of the Underworld Dao Sovereign’s bones unleashed a cataclysmic force, a maelstrom that surged towards both the National Teacher and Wang Lin. To behold it was to witness a monstrous maw, a storm of fractured bone poised to devour Wang Lin whole!

This assault, imbued with the power of an Immortal Ancestor, presented Wang Lin with a life-or-death crisis. Escape was impossible, resistance seemed futile. Yet, his eyes burned with a fierce resolve. Without hesitation, he raised his right hand and roared,

“Heavenly Bull Soul, Shatter!!”

The Heavenly Bull Soul Armor, which had accompanied Wang Lin for years, disintegrated in a deafening explosion. Its shattered essence swept outwards, coalescing into a swirling tempest that enveloped Wang Lin, manifesting as a colossal phantom of the Heavenly Bull.

The echoing thunder of the armor’s destruction clashed with the splintering force of the Underworld Dao Sovereign’s bones, creating a shockwave that shook the heavens and earth.

Wang Lin coughed up a mouthful of blood, staggering backwards. The spectral Heavenly Bull surrounding him wavered, on the verge of collapse, yet it held. Wang Lin’s gaze sharpened, fixed on the place where the Underworld Dao Sovereign had vanished. There, suspended in the air, was a fist-sized sphere of golden light. It radiated with an incandescent brilliance, and within its heart, the nascent silhouette of a figure was rapidly forming.

Though hazy, the figure emanated a palpable aura of dominance. Its form suggested none other than the Underworld Dao Sovereign, striving to reconstitute his shattered body!

“When his flesh is entirely shed, comes the Bone Shatter. If he can endure until the Bone Shatter is complete, the golden light will reform his body, and he will have completed the Return to Ancestry Grand Art!” The National Teacher’s words echoed in Wang Lin’s mind. His pupils constricted. He was about to strike, but then, a raspy voice, the National Teacher’s, resonated within his consciousness.

“Wang Lin, I will use my last breath to bestow upon you a legacy. I sacrifice myself so that you might obtain the Immortal Ancestor’s inheritance and break the seal upon my people!

The Underworld Dao Sovereign has endured to this point, enduring the brunt of the torment for your inheritance! Your success will be all but guaranteed!” The National Teacher’s voice, tinged with a strange calm in the face of death, manifested as a divine whisper that permeated Wang Lin’s very soul.

The ghostly light of the National Teacher rushed forward, colliding with the force of the Underworld Dao Sovereign’s shattered bones. With a resounding boom, it pierced through the chaotic energy, reaching the heart of the explosion, the golden sphere where the sovereign’s form was taking shape. The light swirled rapidly around it, condensing into circles of ebony light, seven in number, constantly revolving.

Wang Lin’s eyes gleamed. Ignoring the National Teacher’s plea, he clenched his right fist. Instantly, the storm of shattered Heavenly Bull Soul Armor surrounding him spiraled inward, converging upon his fist. The external tempest vanished, and the waning apparition of the Heavenly Bull coalesced within his hand. Wang Lin unleashed a single, devastating punch!

As the blow was delivered, the remnants of the Heavenly Bull Soul Armor flaked away from Wang Lin’s body, reduced to mere fragments. But the punch, a concussive force beyond measure, hurtled forward, closing the distance to the ghostly light of the National Teacher and the golden radiance in the blink of an eye.

“No!!!” A heartrending psychic scream erupted from the ghostly light. Wang Lin’s fist, a vessel of his final Heavenly Bull power, had become an unstoppable force, piercing through the eight layers of shadowy light and slamming into the golden form.

“Among the immortals, you are not one I can trust!” Whether the National Teacher spoke truth or falsehood, Wang Lin would not ponder it. He only knew that during the bloodbath on the long street, the National Teacher had been involved. In that battle, only the arrival of his Killing Avatar had saved him from certain death!

Furthermore, a nagging suspicion gnawed at his heart. If that suspicion were true, then everything he saw was nothing more than a carefully woven lie!

At the instant the Heavenly Bull’s last strength met the nascent golden form, a shockwave reverberated across the heavens and earth. The golden figure trembled violently, then shattered completely!

In the midst of its formation, the figure was at its weakest and most vulnerable, unable to withstand such overwhelming force. The golden glow dissipated, but the sphere of golden light remained unharmed. Like a gilded comet, it soared skyward, disappearing into the celestial vault!

The National Teacher’s final ghostly light did not scatter. Instead, it reformed, becoming a spectral image of the National Teacher, his face contorted in rage and agony. He pointed to the ground with his right hand.

“Immortal Ancestor!! My people have found your head!”

At the moment the spectral National Teacher pointed towards the earth, the mountain shaped like the Immortal Ancestor’s head quaked violently. Rock fragments cascaded down its slopes. Before Wang Lin’s disbelieving eyes, the entire mountain erupted in a devastating explosion!

As the mountain disintegrated, countless beams of golden light shot forth from its depths. As the mountain crumbled and collapsed completely, Wang Lin beheld that which had been hidden within. His breath caught in his throat. His body shuddered. His face was a mask of disbelief and horror!

Contained within the mountain was a head. A severed head, with closed eyes and a shock of raven hair. Its size was immense, easily ten *zhang*. The appearance of this head unleashed a wave of pressure that threatened to shatter the very fabric of existence.

Under the weight of this oppressive power, Wang Lin felt his body being crushed, his soul on the verge of dissolution!

Though blood trickled from the seven orifices of the severed head, its features were clear. Wang Lin had seen this face before. During his absorption of the earth fire pulse in the Heavenly Bull Continent, he had witnessed this man sealing away the Heavenly Bull in a dream-like vision!

In the Land of the Heavenly Venerate’s Nirvana, he had glimpsed this man’s shadow! In the imperial palace, he had seen his statue. Over the centuries, he had heard this name spoken countless times! He had even heard this man’s true name spoken in the Eastern Immolation Sect pool!

He was the progenitor of the Immortal Emperor, the founder of the entire Immortal Clan, the legendary strongest being of the immortals!

He had sealed and suppressed the seventy-two spirits from beyond the heavens, transforming them into the seventy-two continents of the Immortal Clan!

He had created the Heavenly Venerate’s Nirvana, leaving behind this trial for future generations!

He was the Immortal Ancestor, Lian Yun Jue!

The Immortal Ancestor’s head. Lian Yun Jue’s head! The head was now rising slowly from the ruins of the mountain, the wound on its neck jagged and uneven, as if it had been violently ripped from its body!

The blood flowing from his orifices was golden, though tinged with purple from the passage of ages. His face was pale, yet serene, as if he were merely sleeping.

The moment Wang Lin saw this head, his mind erupted in a cacophony of noise, like countless thunderbolts crashing simultaneously. He was completely paralyzed.

Wang Lin had speculated about the Immortal Ancestor many times. Within the Immortal Clan, there were countless versions of the story of the Immortal Ancestor’s disappearance!

Wang Lin had imagined that the Immortal Ancestor had left the Immortal Astral Continent. He had considered that the Immortal Ancestor might be secluded somewhere, cultivating. He had even contemplated the possibility that the Immortal Ancestor was dead!

But now, standing before the Immortal Ancestor’s severed head, the shock and horror overwhelmed all speculation!

“Who killed the Immortal Ancestor?!”

Wang Lin’s mind reeled. What he had witnessed today had opened a gate to an ancient past! What had happened on the Immortal Clan lands, untold ages ago!

The Immortal Ancestor was dead, then what of the Celestial Ancestor…?

These thoughts spiraled through Wang Lin’s mind in an instant. After summoning the Immortal Ancestor’s head, the spectral National Teacher howled at the heavens, closing his left eye. Then, he snapped open his right!

As if drawn by his cry, the Immortal Ancestor’s head also snapped open its right eye.

Its right eye was an empty void, devoid of color!

At the instant that its right eye opened, the fist-sized sphere of golden light, which had been soaring skyward, paused abruptly. It changed direction, plummeting towards the Immortal Ancestor’s head and vanishing into its empty right eye.

Then, the ghostly National Teacher, his face twisted in fury, raised his right hand and pointed at Wang Lin! He chanted a complex string of sounds that Wang Lin did not understand, an ancient incantation.

Wang Lin’s face paled. Without hesitation, he retreated, transforming into a streak of light and fleeing. But as the National Teacher’s finger landed, the Immortal Ancestor’s right eye erupted with a dazzling golden light. As the light spread, Wang Lin felt an immense force of attraction engulf him. He was pulled back involuntarily, sucked into the Immortal Ancestor’s right eye in an instant!

As he was pulled into the Immortal Ancestor’s right eye, the spectral figure of the National Teacher reformed, nine rings of ghostly light surrounding him. He charged into the Immortal Ancestor’s eye with Wang Lin!

“Because you disregarded my counsel, and interfered with my plans, a plan that was almost certain to succeed has been reduced to a mere three in ten!

You deserve to die!! I did intend to let you obtain the Immortal Ancestor’s inheritance. It is true that I planned to suppress your mind with the Ancestor’s power, allowing me to seize your consciousness. But, after all the plans were completed, I was considering leaving you a chance at life, allowing you to serve my race after you pledged your loyalty and offered your soul, becoming a Guardian Envoy of our incense!

But now, I have changed my mind!! All of this is your own fault!! Blame not me for breaking my promise!

I have waited for too long, unable to leave this place, and unable to find a suitable body to seize. But your appearance has given me the opportunity. Your body is perfectly suited for me!!

I will make you succeed in the inheritance. When you possess the Immortal Ancestor’s cultivation, it will be as if I possess it!”