A wave of primal fear washed over the denizens of the North, scattering them like leaves in a gale. The Ancient Demon, however, stood transfixed, his eyes burning with a savage anticipation as the vanguard of his kin materialized on the horizon.

Upon the ravaged earth, the Celestial Seer, Tian Yunzi, clawed his way to his feet, spitting a gout of blood. The serene mask he wore shattered, revealing a desperate fury. With a guttural cry, his left hand tore savagely at his brow, ripping away the Second Seal that bound his power.

The heavens themselves seemed to tremble at Tian Yunzi’s roar, a sound born of aeons of bottled wrath. His aura swelled, eclipsing even the raw, chaotic energy of the ancient battlefield, threatening to unravel the very fabric of reality.

“Wang Lin!” he bellowed, his voice cracking with unbridled rage. “Come forth and face me!” The act of tearing the Second Seal wrought a visible transformation upon him. The man, once etched with the weariness of five decades, now stood a figure of virile strength, barely thirty summers etched upon his features.

His hair, once streaked with silver, cascaded down his back in a torrent of midnight black. An oppressive power surged from him, the culmination of a life spent mastering the esoteric arts. Unleashing the Second Fall of Heaven and Man was Tian Yunzi’s ultimate gamble, for the Third Fall held dangers he dared not yet confront.

This insignificant mortal, Wang Lin, had repeatedly unveiled powers that defied comprehension. Tian Yunzi had believed the nascent Rule of Origin to be his ultimate weapon, but in his desperate struggle, Wang Lin now revealed a force even more formidable.

“Wang Lin! Show yourself!” Tian Yunzi’s voice echoed across the desolate landscape.

In answer, a resonant hum filled the air, drowning out the clamor of battle.

“I am here,” a voice boomed, amplified a thousandfold beyond the thunder’s roar, obliterating all other sounds. The very air vibrated, resonating within the skulls of those who dared to listen.

Weaker warriors crumpled, blood streaming from their ears, their screams lost in the echoing resonance.

Even Tian Yunzi staggered, his gaze drawn upwards towards the source of the sound. A gasp escaped his lips, his face draining of color.

Looming before him, dwarfing even the Eight-Star Ancient God, was a being of unimaginable scale. Its form stretched beyond the limits of perception, so vast that Tian Yunzi could only glimpse its waist, its face lost in the distant heights.

As Tian Yunzi tilted his head back, a strange whistling sound pierced the air, akin to an object hurtling from an immeasurable altitude, its passage creating a sonic tear.

An instant later, a tempest of unimaginable force descended, ripping across the ravaged earth, tearing it asunder.

Many cultivators of the Alliance, caught in the gale, were instantly annihilated.

Even the immortals, beings of immense power, recoiled in terror. One, second only to the esteemed Chong Xuanzi, trembled uncontrollably, his eyes wide with a horror that defied description.

Despite his eons of experience, despite his formidable will, cold sweat beaded upon his brow. His body shook as he pointed a trembling finger at the sky, his eyes fixed on something unseen.

Suddenly, he erupted in a manic laughter, the sound tinged with a madness born of unimaginable revelation.

He coughed up a mouthful of blood, but still, the former Immortal Sovereign remained consumed by delirium, staggering backwards until he vanished into the ether.

The sudden, bizarre event left the surrounding warriors stunned into silence.

However, there was little time for contemplation. The gale intensified, and those who dared to look upwards saw a single black speck against the sky.

The speck grew larger, resolving into a gargantuan fist, a fist the size of a continent, blotting out the sun.

Tian Yunzi’s expression hardened, his aura reaching its pinnacle. With a flourish, he hurled his trident skyward, a glinting spear of celestial energy. His hands flew through a series of complex seals, channeling the full power of the Second Fall of Heaven and Man, transforming himself into a streak of pure light, hurtling towards the heavens.

The colossal fist plummeted, tearing the very air asunder with its passage. In an instant, it collided with the trident.

With a deafening crack, the ancient weapon shuddered, on the verge of shattering. Yet, at the last moment, the fist clenched, ensnaring the trident within its grasp, continuing its inexorable descent, colliding with Tian Yunzi’s avatar of light.

*BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!*

The cataclysmic impact and the impossible shockwave ripped across the battlefield, tearing away the illusion of the ancient arena. The fragmented landscapes vanished, erased from existence by the sheer force of the collision.

The heavens reasserted their order. The starry expanse outside the Demon Spirit Land ceased its chaotic whirling, the planets returning to their rightful orbits. Even the Demon Spirit Land itself reverted to its original state, untouched by the preceding chaos.

Only one thing remained: a madman lost in the throes of insanity, a scattering of vanished Alliance cultivators, and an echoing silence pregnant with unimaginable power.

Tian Yunzi’s body plummeted from the sky, a symphony of cracking bones echoing his descent. He crashed to the earth, spewing a mixture of blood and shattered organs. Behind him stood the Ancient Demon Taji.

“Thank… you…” Tian Yunzi croaked, his voice a raspy whisper, coughing up another gout of crimson.

Ancient Demon Taji’s face was pale, his features drawn with exhaustion. He and Tian Yunzi had jointly resisted the attack, barely clinging to life in the face of such unimaginable power.

Before Tian Yunzi, Wang Lin descended, landing with a bone-jarring thud. He stumbled, spitting blood, his right eye momentarily alight with a fading emerald fire. But the light flickered and died, along with the Emerald Shield that had shielded him.

The shield was shattered.

In Wang Lin’s trembling hand, however, was a single object: Tian Yunzi’s trident. He was drained of all strength, his limbs shaking uncontrollably. Only the unwavering determination forged in the fires of a thousand years held him upright, preventing him from collapsing into the dust.
Lady Icebrow stood as if rooted, the echoes of the recent spectacle still reverberating through her very being. Even the elder of Kun Xu regarded Wang Lin with newfound respect, a profound shift evident in his gaze.

In his ears, the words Lady Icebrow had spoken before now rang true: “He is no ordinary cultivator…”

The assembled Alliance cultivators, their faces etched with a mixture of awe and dread, fixed their gazes upon Wang Lin. The events they had witnessed, the horrific vista of an ancient battlefield, the colossal figure that had manifested before their eyes, would be forever branded into their memories.

Though Wang Lin now stood depleted, bereft of his former strength, not a single soul among them dared to take a step forward. Their hearts still hammered within their chests, a frantic rhythm born from the terrifying spectacle they had just beheld. In their eyes, Wang Lin’s form seemed to merge with the gargantuan phantom of before.

He stood as a silent sentinel, emanating an invisible aura of power that kept them at bay.

The elder of Kun Xu sighed inwardly, his gaze fixed upon Wang Lin. He saw in him a shadow of the White Tiger of the Four Sacred Sects, a legend of old. Like Wang Lin, the White Tiger had stood alone against the might of the Alliance and Kun Xu, an indomitable bastion. Even in death, the White Tiger’s memory instilled fear in his foes.

The battle within the Demonic Spirit Land had etched Wang Lin’s name into the annals of the Alliance Starfield. Though his cultivation might not be the highest, none would dare cross him lightly.

“Wang Lin, you must die!” Tian Yunzi snarled, raising his right hand. But before he could unleash his sorcery, a tempest of power coalesced in the heavens above. From the swirling vortex, a figure descended.

The man was middle-aged, a spirit of pure essence, yet he exuded an authority that silenced all around him. Behind him, scores of figures emerged, banners representing the Azure Dragon Sect, the Black Tortoise Sect, and the White Tiger Sect among them.

Trailing behind them, a vast horde of the Four Sacred Sects descended, their arrival resonating like a thunderclap, forcing every head on the ground to crane upwards.

“Who dares to threaten my future Sacred Emperor before my very eyes!” The middle-aged man, the Vermillion Bird Sacred Emperor, boomed. His voice was calm, but its very utterance shook the Demonic Spirit Land. Many among the assembled trembled and fell back, unable to withstand the force of his command.

“It seems many old friends have arrived…” The Sacred Emperor swept his gaze across the battlefield.

“The Vermillion Bird Sacred Emperor…” Tian Yunzi’s face twisted in a grimace. Compared to the Sacred Emperor, he was a mere fledgling. Within the Alliance Starfield, few could claim to be his equal in standing and age.

With a single stride, the Sacred Emperor stood before Wang Lin, his eyes searching. Slowly, a smile of approval spread across his face. He nodded, muttering, “Good! Good!”

Two simple words, yet they conveyed the depth of his satisfaction. He had been watching from afar, allowing Wang Lin to face a trial by fire.

And Wang Lin had exceeded all expectations.

“Now, this conflict shall end!” The Sacred Emperor’s gaze hardened, a glint of steel in his eyes. He raised his right hand, and in his palm materialized a fragment of white stone.

The moment the stone appeared, an unbearable heat radiated outwards, distorting the very fabric of reality around it as if the world itself rejected its presence.

Then, in an instant, the stone melted, transforming into a single, incandescent drop of blood, suspended in the Sacred Emperor’s palm. All who gazed upon it were immediately scorched, as if they had swallowed a mouthful of liquid fire.

“An ancient artifact of the Vermillion Bird Sect!” The elder of Kun Xu hissed, his eyes fixed upon the burning blood.