The rise and fall of the ocean’s voice filled their ears, a rhythm possessed of strange power, seeming to echo the very laws of creation.

Yet, as the sound of the waves washed over him, the grey-robed Celestial Envoy felt his mouth turn to desert. Not just him, but the two Celestial Envoy avatars beside him as well, felt it even more keenly. A primal terror gripped them, uncontrollably rising.

Voidchild had fully regained his senses. He stared, transfixed, at the vermillion sun cresting the horizon. Only a sliver was visible, but its light blazed like a thousand swords, poised to rend the night asunder.

And like the night, Voidchild knew he would be scattered, his form and spirit extinguished by that light! This was the Power of Lingering Night, the Sea-Sun Born of Fading Darkness! Time stretched into eternity, yet seemed to collapse into a single instant, as the sun fully ascended. At that dawn, an unimaginable power erupted forth, a surge of light that shattered all resistance, revealing in a flash the primordial rules it contained! The darkness was torn asunder, the force so great it could reverse the heavens, shake the very foundations of destiny, and leave the night a broken ruin, its fragments scattering before the overwhelming brilliance! Within it raged Wang Lin’s boundless fury, the culmination of his desperate flight through the Immortal Emperor’s Cave, his betrayal by the Celestial Envoy and the Ancient Demon Taga, his bottled rage finally unleashed! The second awakening of Wang Lin’s Vermillion Bird had ignited the sun with an unbearable heat, far exceeding any spell he could have cast. It was the primordial laws themselves, channeled through Wang Lin’s Lingering Night, drawing on the sun’s inherent fire, that manifested this terrifying power! The rising sun unleashed golden light and unimaginable heat, no longer simply tearing the darkness, but threatening to shatter the sky, the earth, to reduce all to ash! The first to face the full fury of Wang Lin’s Sun-Born Lingering Night was Voidchild, nearest the source. Light and heat washed over him. Voidchild was already at death’s door, the failed Tribulation of Man marking him for oblivion. Only the Ancient Demon Taga’s mark upon his brow had kept him tethered to existence.

But now, in the face of this boundless light, the darkness itself was being banished. Voidchild’s face was ashen. His physical form, born of the Tribulation of Man, crumbled from the legs up, exploding into a cloud of primordial essence. But even as the mist formed, the sun’s light consumed it, leaving nothing behind.

He felt no pain, only the sheer terror of utter annihilation and a disbelief that defied comprehension.

As his legs vanished, the Ancient Demon’s mark on his brow held for mere moments before shattering. A scream tore from Voidchild’s throat as his body rapidly disintegrated, desperately trying to retreat.

But in this realm, the very night had no refuge from the Power of Lingering Night, let alone Voidchild! No matter how he fled, doom followed. The sun’s light spread, convulsing the heavens, and Voidchild’s screams echoed as the light pierced him. His body became like a sieve, his demise filled with both laughter and despair…

Thus, Voidchild, a supreme cultivator who reached Nirvana, once a prominent figure in the Cultivation Alliance, the junior brother of Grandmaster Xuan, a master of the winds of life, one who had claimed the life of countless heroes, met his end. He was the author of his own doom! He left this life with regret, yearning for life and a terrible fate.

All this happened in an instant, as soon as the sun cleared the horizon. The light continued its relentless advance, tearing through the remaining darkness and bearing down on the grey-robed Celestial Envoy and his avatars.

A searing pain tore through the grey-robed Celestial Envoy, every cell screaming as his very soul was enveloped. It was agony unlike any he had ever known, as if he were being torn apart. A desperate survival instinct flooded his mind. He fought down the rising panic, bellowing a word of power as he flung his arms wide, unleashing an aura of all-consuming slaughter, shrouding the heavens.

The aura was endless, blanketing the sky, its howling a vain attempt to drown out the sound of the waves and resist the power that threatened to obliterate him.

Not only him, but the two Celestial Envoy avatars beside him, their faces ashen, reacted without thought, unleashing their own magic. The yellow-robed Celestial Envoy spun furiously, creating a vortex of air that rocketed into the heavens.

The clouds above roiled, and yellow sigils appeared in the darkness, converging on a point where the Celestial Finger of Destiny materialized.

The yellow-robed Celestial Envoy was the possessor of the original Celestial Finger technique! With a scream, he summoned the finger, imbued with the power to make mortals prostrate themselves in worship. It streaked towards the rising sun, intent on destroying it! The purple-robed Celestial Envoy wove incantations. A violet mist billowed forth, blending with the darkness. The envoy dissolved into the night.

The darkness was now tinged with violet, and from within, grotesque figures emerged, their auras thick with malice. Men and women, trapped in the hells of ages past, were unleashed, screaming into the sky.

These were the countless souls devoured by the Celestial Sect. But as soon as these attacks emerged, they shattered against the sun, consumed by the waves of light.

The shadowy figures, fueled by hatred, charged the sun only to be obliterated by its light. Consumed by flames, they fragmented and scattered, disappearing without a trace.

The purple-robed Celestial Envoy struggled free of the darkness, his face white as bone, his pupils contracted in horror.

The Celestial Finger hurtled toward the sun, but it was met by the advancing light, creating a thunderous explosion as it began to disintegrate.

“Primordial laws, the beginning of all things!” exclaimed the Celestial Envoy as a piercing agony washed over him. His face was stained with blood as he smiled in despair.

The grey-robed Celestial Envoy’s aura of slaughter followed the Celestial Finger, a host of shadows reaching the light, only to be destroyed or torn to shreds.

The grey-robed Celestial Envoy, his face devoid of color, revealed a maniacal madness in his eyes. He knew, with his newfound sentience, that he would be obliterated if he failed. “For my life!” The grey-robed Celestial Envoy bellowed, striking his chest in an attempt to summon an artifact that could protect him. From his head appeared a scarlet blood sword. The sword surged forward.

The yellow-robed Celestial Envoy roared as he was turned into a massive hand, rushing forward.

And the blue-robed Celestial Envoy was trailed by the souls he had devoured.

It was do or die!