A lone drop of azure blood, seemingly insignificant, was flung forth by Wang Lin, hurtling directly towards the draconic miasma erupting from the shattered earth before them.

The monstrous wyrm, a dragon formed of pure shadow and malice, opened its maw, a chilling wind escaping to engulf the assembled party in its icy embrace. Yet, in that fleeting instant, the drop of celestial ichor met a tendril of darkness drifting from the dragon’s gullet.

A sound akin to quenching a forge, a sharp hiss, erupted in the stunned silence. The black vapor, unable to withstand the crimson onslaught, dissolved as if it were no more than steam before a raging inferno.

*Thwack!* The single droplet pierced the veil of darkness and struck the monstrous head. The dark dragon faltered, then unleashed a tormented roar that shook the very foundations of the world. Its serpentine body thrashed and writhed, rending the ancient stones of the temple into dust and oblivion.

Wang Lin, his eyes gleaming with determination, squeezed forth more of Qing Shuang’s potent blood. He cast it forth with a savage gesture, his right hand weaving arcane sigils. His very life force surged, igniting the crimson fluid into a swirling, incandescent mist that billowed toward the writhing darkness.

Each new contact sent the dark dragon into further convulsions, its shrieks of agony echoing across the ruined landscape. The serpentine form contracted, collapsed inwards upon itself, until with a final, thunderous implosion, the true form of the Ancient Demon was revealed.

Upon his ebony armor clung a handful of the glistening droplets, shimmering with an inner light that the darkness could not extinguish.

The Demon thrashed, clawed, and raged, yet the blood remained impervious, an ethereal barrier against his might. Even when he swiped at it with his gauntleted hand, his fingers passed through it as if it were not there.

“Qing Lin,” the Demon hissed, his voice a rasping growl, “is this your final gambit? A failsafe prepared across millennia to prevent my usurpation? That all who take your flesh are forever cursed, their power rendered null against your descendants, their every attack as naught! It is not a mere bending of the rules, but a *creation* of them! Well played, Qing Lin!” The Demon advanced upon Wang Lin.

“I shall see how much this mortal blood truly binds!” The Demon bellowed, and with a gesture, a massive, black-bladed sword materialized in his grasp. “I may not be able to slay this descendant, but you, whelp of the Ancient Gods, shall fall by my hand!”

Wang Lin’s face was drawn and pale. The blade sang through the air, its passage leaving trails of shimmering distortion. The old man, the guardian of the gourd, was powerless to intervene. Wang Lin’s mind became sharp, a blade of clarity cutting through the chaos. With a surge of will, he pointed towards the figure clad in black, lurking at the edge of the battlefield.

He had chosen not the wounded Xu Kong Zi, for though weakened, Xu Kong Zi remained a powerful cultivator. Wang Lin needed certainty. The man in black was the only choice.

Panic twisted the features of the man in black as an aura began to shimmer around him. Then *crack*! The Demon’s blade flashed towards Wang Lin, the coldness of its passage a physical thing.

“Transposition!” Wang Lin roared. The energies surrounding his own body intensified to a blinding crescendo. The man in black screamed as the shifting energies of the ancient cauldron threatened to engulf him. In a desperate gambit, heedless of the consequences, he unleashed the Flaming Dragon mark upon his brow. The mark erupted forth, a creature of fire and scale, wreathed around him in a desperate attempt to break free of Wang Lin’s control.

His resistance bought but a moment. The Demon’s blade tore through the remnants of Qing Shuang’s body, but the blade was deflected by Qing Lin’s prepared curse on the flesh, and it exploded outward, aimed toward Wang Lin.

Were the blow to land, even the flesh of an Ancient God would be cleaved asunder. With a surge of power, the azure light in Wang Lin’s right eye coalesced into a shield. It slammed into the Demon’s blade.

The impact unleashed a deafening roar, and a spiderweb of cracks spread across the shield. Though it did not shatter, it was mortally wounded.

The azure shield had never failed him before. Even the might of Xu Kong Zi could only force it backwards, not break it. The shield was failing. Wang Lin pulled Qing Shuang’s body back but he could not escape the Demon’s blade.

Icy sweat beaded on his brow, freezing before it could fall. Desperate, Wang Lin threw back his head and unleashed a primal bellow. The pretense was dropped. The mark of the Ancient God blazed forth upon his brow, five stars swirling in a vortex of incandescent power. The power of the Ancient Gods flooded his veins, surging into the Ancient Cauldron. The aura surrounding Wang Lin flared with a blinding light.

“Transposition!” Wang Lin shrieked. His voice cracked and broke, resonating with a primal terror.

The Flaming Dragon coiled around the black-clad figure could no longer withstand the surging energies. The man in black was cast through space.

Before the azure shield could shatter, Wang Lin vanished.

He reappeared where the man in black had stood moments before. The man in black was consumed by the sword, his body obliterated in a crimson explosion.

But as his body dissolved, the man’s spirit, wreathed in flames, fled. His spirit was fading, fear etched upon his ethereal features.

The Demon’s blade was still coming.

The spirit of the man in black screamed, “Great Demon! I am Luo Kuang, the seventh disciple of the Revered One!”

At that instant, the Demon’s blade hesitated, then swerved aside, bypassing the spirit of the man in black, and continued towards Wang Lin.

It all happened in a blink. Wang Wei and Hu Juan surged forward, deflecting the Demon’s blade.

Wang Lin stared at the Demon.

The Demon, Taga, leapt to where the spirit of the man in black lay, then leapt again in front of Wang Wei and Hu Juan.

Taga opened his mouth and unleashed a shattering roar. Each Ancient Clan has their powers. The Demon’s roar, though less than a God’s roar, can shake the soul. Behind Taga, a gigantic shadow appeared, and it roared.

Hu Juan coughed up blood, and Wang Wei hugged her and moved backwards, then summoned a wall of water.

It all crumbled before Taga. Wang Wei and Hu Juan spat blood as they ran.

Xu Kong Zi vomited blood as he was covered in sand that collapsed immediately.

Only Bai Luo was able to stand.

Wang Lin coughed blood, but he roared and grew, abandoning all restraint, becoming a being hundreds of feet tall. The five stars at his forehead whirled, and the Vermillion Bird tattoo on his upper body grew too.