The very seas trembled, a calamitous roar echoing through the realms, threatening to shatter existence itself. From within the Celestial Sea, a finger of fate, a decree of Heavenly Will, descended. Then, from the ancient demon, Bero, his arms outstretched, a spectral projection of his true form emerged. It ripped free, and in a shimmering dance, twenty-four pennants materialized, encircling the ancient shade.

With a gesture from the phantom demon, the green pennants blazed with unimaginable power. From their emerald depths arose phantasms of ancient gods and demons, and creatures of a bygone, savage era.

They filled the heavens!

A deluge of arcane energies crashed down, aimed directly at the demonic miasma that cloaked the palace. The Void Child gritted his teeth, prepared to intervene, but the imminent arrival of Wang Lin stayed his hand.

His companion, a figure cloaked in shadows, mirrored his inaction, yet a glint of avarice burned in his eyes. Opening the palace, even with the presence of an ancient demon, offered rewards beyond measure. They were many, and they possessed great magical prowess. Even a demon of old could find itself overwhelmed.

“If I can but claim three drops of Qing Shuang’s blood, my task will be complete! The Master will surely grant me a great boon of power!”

Even the gourd-wielding elder, his eyes gleaming with greed, withdrew his own spells, stepping back into the shadows. His journey, spent in the wake of Tian Yunzi, had been relatively untroubled. He sought not the secrets of the Third Step hidden within Qing Shuang, but the仙術 (immortal techniques) and神通 (divine powers) of the Emperor.

As the combined might of Tian Yunzi, the ancient demon, and Wang Wei rained down, the very earth shuddered, fissures ripping across the land as if the world itself was about to shatter.

With the descent of Tian Yunzi’s finger, the ground buckled and collapsed, consuming the Emperor’s cavernous dwelling. From the first level to the ninth, all felt the tremor. Augmented by the ethereal legions unleashed from the demon’s green pennants, the chaos now spread beyond the bounds of the Emperor’s tomb, shaking the entire Demon Spirit Land!

The collapse of the ground transformed the ninth level into a ruined wasteland. Amidst the devastation, a guttural roar, filled with ancient rage, thundered from the demon within. The black miasma swirled, a shield against the assault of the three mighty figures.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

A cacophony of sound shook the heavens. Wang Lin and Ling Tianhou surged forward, but even before they drew near, the sheer force of the impact threatened to tear them apart.

Yet, in that instant, as spells and miasma collided, and the heavens themselves seemed to reel, within the eighth level’s grand hall, the final flame of the last candle flickered, sputtered, and died.

As the flame was extinguished, the speck of light upon the brow of the middle-aged man seated upon the throne within the ninth level’s palace vanished. The demonic energy roared inward, seizing control of his consciousness, drowning his soul.

The man’s head snapped up. The fog of ages cleared from his eyes, replaced by a sinister fire. Eight stars blazed within his left eye, spinning with terrible speed. A cruel smile twisted his lips as he rose, slowly and deliberately, from his throne.

He had sat there for countless millennia, his body virtually immobile. But now, he moved!

As he stood, a tide of demonic power erupted. The palace itself groaned and cracked, then shattered completely, the pieces scattering like dust.

The collapsing palace devoured the miasma itself, drawing it into the man’s body. In an instant, black armor materialized, encasing him.

Wang Wei, standing outside the crumbling palace, watched the ghostly figure emerge, a look of shock and agony contorting his face.

“Master!”

A flash of mania ignited within Tian Yunzi’s eyes, a stark contrast to his usual stoic expression. He had waited for this day for an eternity.

Bero, the ancient demon, gasped.

“He has just succeeded in seizing control! He must not be allowed to consolidate his power!”

The instant the man stood, the wards of the Emperor’s tomb, from the first level to the eighth, erupted in frantic flashes of light, then collapsed entirely, as if in joyous celebration.

Even more terrifying, the Demon Spirit Land itself convulsed. The area, once cleansed of demonic energy and transformed into an仙靈天境 (Immortal Spirit Realm), was instantly swamped by a torrent of malevolent power. The demonic miasma swept across the land, engulfing the entire Immortal Spirit Realm in its foul embrace.

The newly restored celestial beasts were instantly corrupted, transformed into bloodthirsty monsters.

Nor was the Demon Spirit Land alone. Even the vast starfield surrounding it was affected. A monstrous, illusory demonic figure manifested in the heavens, and a long, silent, but chilling laugh echoed outwards.

Though soundless, it resonated throughout the entire Alliance Star System. An unthinkable power. In the north, where a brutal war had raged for half a year, where countless soldiers had fallen to dust, the unending slaughter had driven both sides to madness.

A flood of Luo Tian cultivators poured from the Luo Tian Starfield. The Alliance responded in kind. The air in the north hung thick with the scent of blood.

Even Yan Leizi, caught in the frenzy of battle, shuddered as the silent laughter reached him. His opponent, an elder of the Alliance, recoiled in horror.

Not just them. Even ordinary soldiers trembled, gripped by a fear they could not comprehend.

Further away, at the headquarters of the Cultivation Alliance, a few survivors of the Immortal Realm’s destruction, individuals such as Wang Wei and Hu Juan, the backbone of the Alliance, were preparing to join the conflict in the north.

But the silent laughter swept through them, and the faces of these former immortals twisted in abject terror.

“That… that sound…”

“Emperor Qing Shuang!”

Deep within the Alliance headquarters, within a sphere suspended above a swirling vortex, a middle-aged man in a secluded chamber snapped his eyes open. As he did so, a bell hanging above the chamber shattered.

“The Emperor!”

At the same time, in the Realm of Kun Xu, the elder who had discovered Wang Lin lifted his head. His gaze seemed to pierce the fabric of reality, reaching towards the Demon Spirit Land. His expression was grave. Beside him, the cold and aloof Kun Xu Saintess, Mu Bingmei, started.

“He has awakened! No, not him!” The elder’s face shifted, as if from apprehension to relief, but with a tinge of disappointment.

At that moment, deep within the fire sea, the forbidden zone of the Vermillion Bird Holy Sect, at the very heart of the fiery depths, lay a ten-foot-wide stone. Its shape was irregular, and its color was not red, but a cold white.

The heat emanating from this stone was unimaginable. Even Wang Lin, at a distance of one hundred feet, would be instantly incinerated. Even a Vermillion Bird would perish.

Even a five-star Ancient God could not survive within its radius!

This seemingly ordinary stone was the source of the fire sea, the reason for its eternal burning.

Upon this stone sat an ancient figure. He was withered and gaunt, his skin hanging loose, a palpable aura of death clinging to him. He seemed not a man, but a mass of decaying flesh.

Yet no one would dare underestimate him. He was the Vermillion Bird Holy Emperor of the Four Sacred Sects! In his prime, he had been known throughout the starfield. Had he not been held back by circumstance, he would have ascended to the Immortal Realm and claimed his place amongst the immortals.

Now, the ancient emperor opened his eyes, looking towards the horizon, a flicker of unease in his gaze.

“Can it be that my Vermillion Bird Holy Sect is destined never to rise again?”

At the same moment, on a forgotten level six cultivation star, named Vermillion Bird Star, within the mists that once formed a sea, in the Land of the Ancient Gods, within a sea of blood, a man with crimson hair slowly raised his head, a sneer upon his lips.

“An eight-star Ancient Demon? A mere waste! In a century, Tuo Sen will emerge from this place. And who then can stand before me! ”

As Tuo Sen spoke, the sea of blood churned, rising into towering waves that blotted out the sky. Within the Vermillion Bird Star, the Land of the Ancient Gods was a separate, empty dimension created by Tu Si. His true body was contained within this space.

Its immensity defied comprehension. A single cultivation star was but a toy in its grasp. The rough skin, the massive fist, the overwhelming presence, filled the void.

But now, as the sea of blood raged, as Tuo Sen spoke, the vast Ancient God’s right index finger twitched.