Wang Lin’s expression was peculiar as he glanced down at his storage pouch. Within, a potent sword intent radiated, coupled with an untamed aura that threatened to burst forth.

“Little Linzi, release your esteemed Grandfather Xu at once! Hmph, I tell you, I am mighty now!” Xu Liguo’s overbearing voice boomed, causing the pouch to tremble violently. It felt as though an ancient force was on the verge of breaking free.

Just as this surge reached its peak, Wang Lin, with unwavering calm, slammed his right hand onto the pouch. Instantly, Xu Liguo’s bombastic pronouncements diminished into feeble mumbles.

Even the dense sword intent was suppressed, unable to unfurl.

“Hmph? Little Linzi, you misunderstand the situation. Grandfather doesn’t blame you. But Grandfather is no longer the simple Xu Liguo of old. Grandfather has inherited the ancient sword intent…”

Before he could continue, Wang Lin formed a hand seal and pressed down upon the pouch once more. This time, Xu Liguo’s voice was abruptly silenced.

“Noisy,” Wang Lin muttered with a frown.

With a flicker, he sped towards a desolate planet ahead. From afar, it appeared a watery blue, its oceans seemingly covering a vast portion of its surface. A rich vitality emanated from it, suggesting a large mortal population.

Wang Lin moved with blinding speed, like a shooting star hurtling towards the planet. The sheer velocity created an elliptical, illusory barrier around him, which produced a resounding roar as he pierced through the void and entered the world’s atmosphere.

The planet’s atmospheric defenses were weak, and Wang Lin passed straight through, descending towards the surface. Looking down, a flicker of reminiscence crossed his face.

This world bore an uncanny resemblance to the Vermillion Bird Star. The likeness was not merely visual; it was a feeling, an echoing atmosphere.

Wang Lin unfurled his spiritual sense, sweeping it across the lands. He detected cultivators, but the strongest among them had only reached the Nascent Soul stage. Not even a single Spirit Severing cultivator could be found.

After a moment of contemplation, he did not seek out a hidden refuge. Instead, he focused his senses and chose the tallest mountain range on the planet. With a single stride, he vanished and reappeared there.

Heng Yun Peak was the highest point on the Azure Spirit Star. Despite the thin spiritual energy, the place was awe-inspiring. One could gaze upon it and feel as if one was seeing the very ends of the world.

Clouds swirled around it, giving it the appearance of a celestial mountain.

Numerous cultivation families dwelled on the Azure Spirit Star, as plentiful as the mortal kingdoms across its lands. Nearly every human nation contained one or two cultivation clans.

This peculiar phenomenon was largely connected to the planet’s scarcity of spiritual energy and the lack of Spirit Severing cultivators.

Heng Yun Peak was the ancestral land of the Zhang clan, the place with the highest concentration of Nascent Soul cultivators. It was where Zhang clan members, having reached the Great Circle of the Nascent Soul stage and nearing the end of their lifespans, would meditate until their passing. Over time, the once-beautiful peak had become barren, and the winds that swept across it turned icy cold.

On this day, Zhang Xinhai, the current head of the Zhang clan and one who had lingered at the late stage of the Nascent Soul realm for many years, dragged his failing body step by step up Heng Yun Peak.

Each generation of those nearing the Void Tribulant would make this final journey, reaching the peak, gazing upon the world, and slowly fading into oblivion.

He could feel his body weakening with each painful step towards the summit. Upon reaching the top, he entered a massive stone platform. Zhang Xinhai immediately halted, his dimming gaze fixing on a figure standing there.

It was a young man in white robes, his dark hair flowing in the wind. Even the fabric of his clothes seemed to crackle as they were buffeted by the breeze. He stood there, yet Zhang Xinhai felt as if he were not there at all.

He searched with his spiritual sense but found nothing. Yet, with his physical eyes, the man was vivid. This jarring contradiction caused him to stumble backward, a hint of fear mixing with his composure.

“This place… is not bad,” the dark-haired young man said without turning, his gaze fixed on the setting sun on the horizon.

Simple words, without a hint of power, yet they resonated within Zhang Xinhai’s ears and instantly filled his failing body with renewed vitality. His status as the head of the Zhang clan was suppressed as well.

He lowered his head instinctively, his eyes filled with terror. It was an involuntary submission to aura, something he understood well. Even emperors would bow before him, drawn down by the power of his presence.

But now, the tables had turned. He was acting as those before him had, a sure sign that to this young man, he was nothing more than a mortal.

“It’s a pity that such a mountain is used by you for passing into nothingness,” the dark-haired young man murmured, shaking his head. With a wave of his hand, the massive mountain trembled. The stagnant aura of death that had accumulated over countless years, created by the dying, vanished without a trace.

The entire mountain seemed to be reborn, revitalized as if a long illness had been instantly cured. Life force surged within it.

Zhang Xinhai staggered back, stunned by what he had witnessed. After a long moment, he finally recovered and knelt, bowing reverently. “Junior Zhang Xinhai greets Senior! If Senior desires this Heng Yun Peak, Junior offers it immediately!”

The dark-haired young man, Wang Lin, turned and glanced at Zhang Xinhai. “Your lifespan is near its end. Even with my power, it would not be easy to change your fate.”
Zhang Xin Hai, a man etched with the weariness of years he had not lived, offered a rueful smile. “Esteemed Senior, you misunderstand my intent. I am aware of my fate, and dare not seek to trouble your divine aid. To encounter a cultivator of your immeasurable power before my demise is a fortune beyond compare. This mountain, aye, even this entire Green Spirit Star, should it please you, I would offer without hesitation.”

Wang Lin turned, his hand a blur as he pressed his fingers to Zhang Xin Hai’s brow, unleashing a pulse of arcane energy. “To rewrite destiny is beyond my current grasp,” he stated, his voice a placid stream. “However, to draw upon your own vital essence, to burn it as fuel for the fading embers of your life, granting you a decade more, this I can achieve.”

As the mystic seal pulsed into existence, Wang Lin’s thoughts drifted to the past, a wistful sigh escaping his lips unseen. This art, this fragile mastery over life’s thread, was a path illuminated by the light of the Third Step. Had he possessed it in days gone by, perhaps Li Muwan would not have been confined within the Heavenly Jewel.

Zhang Xin Hai shuddered as the energy enveloped him, a tide of vitality surging through his veins. His pallid face flushed with color, and he inhaled deeply, his gaze fixed on Wang Lin with renewed respect. “I am eternally in your debt, Senior. Speak your command, and I shall devote my every effort to its fulfillment!” He was the patriarch of the Zhang clan, not a fool. He knew the world offered no gifts without a price.

His earlier, immediate offering of the mountain upon Wang Lin’s casual remark was not born of fear, but of wisdom. He understood that for one of such immense power to merely comment, was an act of grace. A less benevolent soul might have seized it outright, or worse, extinguished entire families for the slightest offense.

In his heart, Zhang Xin Hai surmised that this being was no native of Green Spirit Star, but a wanderer from the vastness beyond. To traverse the star-strewn void required a power akin to the Nascent Soul stage, or even beyond! Wang Lin regarded him with a placid gaze. “I grant you ten years. Gather unto me the distilled essence of mortal grievances, the more the better. Should you please me in this task, then so long as I stand upon this world, your Zhang clan shall endure and prosper. Go now!” With a flick of his sleeve, a gale swept over Zhang Xin Hai.

He was engulfed by a tempest of swirling clouds, the wind screaming in his ears. When the chaos subsided, he found himself at the foot of the mountain, the peaks looming above.

The events of the past moments felt like a fevered dream. He reached up, touching his brow, feeling the vital energy coursing through him. He drew a deep breath, bowed deeply towards the mountain, and with eyes gleaming with newfound purpose, turned and hastened away.

“The Senior’s request must be fulfilled, no matter the cost!” He became a streak of light, hurtling back towards the ancestral home of the Zhang family.

Having dismissed Zhang Xin Hai, Wang Lin paused, lost in thought. Then, with a swift motion, he retrieved the Soul Devouring Banner from his storage pouch. The great banner, easily three lengths of a man, he planted firmly within the rocky soil of the mountain.

The wind seized the banner’s black cloth, unfurling it to its full, ominous width. Within its folds, souls stirred and flew forth, encircling the entire mountain. The three primal souls, coalescing into a unified force, melded with the very essence of the mountain. In an instant, the entire peak was engulfed in a pall of inky darkness. Wang Lin swept his right hand behind him, unleashing a torrent of power that crashed against the mountain’s core. Amidst the booming echoes, a colossal cave was carved into existence.

The mouth of the cave gaped open at the summit of the mountain, framed by jagged, menacing rocks, a sight of grim grandeur.

Wang Lin’s finger traced a celestial rune into the stone above the entrance, an inscription that pulsed with arcane power, radiating a faint but undeniable pressure.

With these preparations complete, Wang Lin settled into a meditative pose. His divine sense spread out, scouring Green Spirit Star once more. This time, however, he did not merely observe. He cast forth a decree, a thought made manifest.

“From this day hence, this world is mine! Hengyun Peak, within ten thousand li, is now a forbidden zone. Trespassers will not be spared!”

Wang Lin’s decree crashed like thunder across Green Spirit Star, echoing in the hearts of every cultivator. Faces paled, and fear took root.

Yet, none dared offer resistance. Such a display of power, a divine thought made tangible across an entire world, filled them with a dread and awe beyond comprehension.

From that day forth, Green Spirit Star had a master. And that master was Wang Lin.

Wang Lin, now, was the apex of Green Spirit Star, akin to the Blood Ancestor upon his Blood Star, wielding dominion over life and death.

He was like Tian Yunzi upon Tian Yun Star, a being of supreme authority.