The endless cycle of day and night, the mournful roar of the tempestuous sea, these were the only constants upon the vast, grey expanse.

Slowly, the frigid waters warmed, taking on a mystic chill, a seething energy that brewed with each passing moment. The waves grew bolder, cresting into monstrous heights, as if determined to tear open the heavens themselves.

It felt as if a slumbering behemoth, a creature of immense power, stirred beneath the waves, seeking to usurp the sky’s azure with the ocean’s deep blue.

Upon the surface, a colossal Sea Serpent danced, a sinuous being of living water. Its movements were fluid and impossibly swift, faster even than flight. Upon its head, serene and unmoving, sat a figure cloaked in white.

Wang Lin did not invoke the art of Spatial Shrinkage to hasten his journey to the thirty-six counties of the Ancient Clan. Instead, he allowed the Sea Serpent to guide him, meditating as his inner energies flowed and harmonized.

“There should be no mortal peril in this journey to the Ancient Clan, not with Master Xuan Luo there…” After a long while, Wang Lin opened his eyes. The sky was a clear canvas of cerulean, unmarred by clouds. The sun’s rays, warm and comforting, kissed his skin.

“In the Ancient Clan, I shall find tranquility, and in silent cultivation, fulfill my promise to my master – to safeguard the Dao Ancient lineage and protect his reincarnation. For am I not, at my core, a scion of the Ancient race?” A touch of melancholy painted Wang Lin’s features, and a sigh escaped his lips.

“Alas, I found neither Qing Shui, nor Situ, nor… Li Qianmei, within the Immortal Clan.” This was a sorrow he bore.

“No matter, perhaps when I return to the Immortal Clan, I shall find them.” Wang Lin murmured, for before his departure, he had reached out with his divine sense, yet they remained beyond his grasp.

“I shall journey not to the Primeval Ancient nor the Zenith Ancient, but to the Dao Ancient Imperial City. I wonder, how does it compare to the ancestral city of the Immortals?” Wang Lin pondered, gazing into the distant horizon.

“My cultivation is not yet sufficient. I must seclude myself within the Ancient Clan, striving to become a Grand Empyrean. Only then, having honored my promise to my master, can I search for Wan’er…” A pang of grief pierced Wang Lin’s heart as he remembered Li Muwan.

“Wan’er… where is that fragment of your soul? Only when your essence is complete can I hope to awaken you…” With a sigh, Wang Lin raised his right hand and tore a fissure in the air, revealing the entrance to his storage space.

Once, he had struggled to open this gateway without causing damage. Now, it was effortless.

He could now completely nullify the tearing forces between the Cave World and the Immortal Astral Continent, preventing them from harming his storage space. With a flash of crimson light, a sword once celebrated in the Cave World materialized before him, radiating a chilling aura under the sunlight.

“This belongs to the Dao Ancient Clan…” Wang Lin gently traced the blade with his fingers, and the murderous aura seemed to rejoice, swirling playfully around his fingertips.

“It also belongs to Ye Mo… In my final inheritance from the head of Ye Bin, I vowed to care for his descendants. This journey to the Ancient Clan must include the search for Ye Mo’s kin…” Raising the sword, he sent a crimson streak soaring into the sky. After a long moment, a muffled thunder echoed from the heavens.

“With my current cultivation, I can unleash the full power of this blade.” With a flick of his wrist, a cacophony of thumps reverberated from within the sword. The surface of the blade began to crack, as if shedding its skin.

A richer, more vibrant crimson light erupted from the sword in Wang Lin’s grasp. He saw with clarity what he could only sense in his youth – a subtle seal upon the blade, which he now shattered with ease!

The shattered seal unleashed a torrent of murderous aura, spreading in all directions, engulfing the sea for a thousand miles. A storm of killing intent formed, within which a colossal phantom flickered – the unmistakable visage of an Ancient warrior!

The phantom was clad in ancient armor, and in its right hand, it wielded a slender crimson sword, wreathed in murderous aura, as if poised to cleave the very fabric of the heavens!

“Ye Mo’s homeland, the place of my reverence, the territory of the Dao Ancient… the place I am sworn to protect. I wonder, what awaits me there?” Wang Lin gazed at the sword, then sheathed it. The spectral image in the sky dissipated, revealing the clear heavens once more.

“Having absorbed the fragments of the Immortal Extremes Sword, perfected the Gold Source, and unified the Five Elements, my cultivation has grown once more.” Wang Lin’s path was unlike any other. He sought not mere power, but the source of power itself, the genesis of all things.

With the Gold Source perfected, his cultivation had surged from the mid-stage of Sky Tribulation to the late stage. Combined with the remnants of his Immortal Ancestor cultivation, this allowed him to manifest the faint outline of the Grand Empyrean Sun behind him within the Forbidden Palace.

“The Killing Lightning True Body, saturated with five sources of power. The Five Elements True Body is now complete. Next is the True Source of Illusion…

If I can but perceive two more illusory sources, I may reach the zenith of the Sky Tribulation Realm! But the grasp of the illusory is elusive… I have only perceived three such sources in my entire life.” Wang Lin’s eyes gleamed with contemplation, charting the course of his future cultivation in this rare moment of peace.

“If I rely solely on the perception of illusory sources to advance, then my future cultivation will become agonizingly slow… perhaps many years will pass before I can advance once more.” Wang Lin furrowed his brow. Below him, the Sea Serpent carved a path through the waves, etching a line across the sea.

The swirling waters created a rippling spectacle, but Wang Lin spared only a glance, for his mind was engrossed in mapping his path.

“This will not do. At this pace, I know not when I shall possess the strength to return to the Immortal Clan. My cultivation is unique. Perhaps… I can find another path to accelerate my cultivation.”

Lost in thought, Wang Lin remained still as the hours and days drifted by.

After many days, Wang Lin’s closed eyes slowly opened, revealing a trace of weariness within.
Bereft of true origin to rely upon, the cultivator Wang Lin resolved to forge a path of enduring enlightenment from its very absence. He would turn the weakness into a wellspring. Thus, he focused his energies upon the Five Elements True Body and the dread Killing Thunder Physique.

“My Five Elements True Body,” he mused, “already possesses the manifested forms of Water, Fire, and Earth. Only Gold and Wood remain. My deductions over these past days suggest that if I can imbue these remaining elements with true form, the Five Elements True Body shall be complete, a thing of its name!”

He calculated the risks. “With such a feat, there exists a fifty percent chance I can circumvent the need for true origin comprehension and ascend once more, achieving the perfection of the Empty Tribulation. Though my combat prowess will diminish due to the nascent state of my true origin, its eventual completion will unleash an unprecedented surge of power!”

Next, his thoughts turned to the Killing Thunder Physique. “The Thunder Origin has already manifested its true form, but the others – Slaughter, Primordial Beginning, Silent Extinction, and Restriction – are merely perfected. Should they too achieve true form, perfecting the Killing Thunder Physique, I shall surpass the Empty Tribulation!”

He cautioned himself, “This path hinges upon the successful manifestation of the Gold and Wood forms. Only then will I know if my hopes are justified.”

Wang Lin, lost in contemplation, resolved himself to the future.

“As for the nascent aura of the Grand Empyrean…” he pondered, “Its appearance is intrinsically linked to the ancestral inheritance I possess.”

“The inheritance itself grants no increase in power,” he clarified, “but it allows me, when unleashing my full might, to coalesce this aura. With its presence, my combat abilities surge significantly!”

“It somewhat compensates for the shattering of my Heavenly Bull Soul Armor. In terms of cultivation and battle prowess, I stand as the foremost beneath the Grand Empyreans. Even against a Grand Empyrean who does not unleash their true essence, I can contend!”

“If my analysis is accurate,” Wang Lin continued, “the full completion of my Five Elements True Body, coupled with my heightened cultivation, will allow me to challenge a Grand Empyrean who has unleashed their true essence!

“And once the Killing Thunder Physique is perfected, few Grand Empyreans will be able to stand against me! At that point, should I comprehend the fourth true origin, drawing upon my enlightenment within the Eastern Forest Sect – that of Reincarnation – I can, from the myriad illusory veils, find my true self and give rise to a fifth true origin!”

Wang Lin’s eyes shone with nascent power.

“Then,” he declared inwardly, “Grand Empyreans will be no match for me! After all, Heavenly Lord or Transcendent Heavenly Lord are merely transitions between the Empty Tribulation and the realm of the Grand Empyrean. Such a transition can exist, or it can…” He trailed off, implying the power of a determined individual.

“Furthermore, there is my avatar within the Void of the Immortal Gang… an avatar that is growing in strength. I must not utilize it unless absolutely necessary!”

“Time… I need time!” Wang Lin closed his eyes, retreating into the confines of his storage space, to the head of the Immortal Ancestor. He had been studying the head for a while, and he believed that if he could incorporate the head with his Grand Empyrean’s nascent aura, that it would solidify. Once the aura solidified, Wang Lin would be able to become the tenth grand Empyrean of the Immortal Gang.

Within his storage space lay two other items of great significance: a strand of white hair and a fist-sized head brimming with the energy of death.

Both emanated a familiarity that resonated deep within him, yet he could not decipher their origin.

Days bled into weeks. The ocean churned with increasing ferocity, imbued with a primordial force, a power akin to the laws of the Immortal Gang, designed to prevent the crossing of the realms of the Immortal and the Ancient.

But to Wang Lin, this force was a triviality compared to the vast emptiness of the Immortal Gang. He ignored it, allowing his aura to envelop the sea dragon, accelerating its passage.

Above, a speck traced the sky, the Mosquito King, released to patrol the sky with joyous screeches.

Months later, when Wang Lin opened his eyes once more, he beheld the distant horizon, a land of dark earth, devoid of the vibrant Immortal Spirit Qi of the Immortal Clan, instead suffused with an ancient, desolate energy.

The next scroll has been opened. The beginning of the Ancient Clan will require more planning.