The bitterness in his eyes brought a pang of inexplicable sorrow to her heart. She swiftly suppressed the feeling, refusing to meet Zhou Yi’s gaze again.

Wang Wei, observing this silent exchange, sighed inwardly. He had foreseen this outcome, yet lacked the heart to reveal it to Zhou Yi. Through years of understanding Zhou Yi, Wang Wei had come to believe the events of the past without reservation.

Hu Juan, ever compassionate, was about to speak when the black sea below churned violently. A monstrous wave of demonic energy surged outward, engulfing the heavens and earth.

Before them, from the depths of the ocean, coalesced a colossal Ancient Demon. Its size was such that it seemed to support the very sky, and its form was wreathed in swirling tendrils of infernal energy, each emitting a guttural roar that echoed across the void.

This was Taga, his eyes burning crimson, a livid scar throbbing upon his brow as demonic power coursed through it.

“Even within the confines of Qing Lin’s sea of consciousness, you shall find your doom!” Taga bellowed, raising a titanic hand to crush them.

The air thrummed with power, and the shadow of the hand, a swirling vortex of dark energy, descended like a storm cloud, threatening to swallow them whole. Just as the crushing blow was about to fall, the sea parted once more, and a figure rose from the depths. He was a man of middle age, clad in robes of verdant green, possessing a handsome countenance and an aura of tranquil wisdom, radiating a regal authority.

“Master!” Wang Wei and Hu Juan exclaimed in unison, their faces alight with hope.

“Father,” Qing Ai said softly, bowing with reverence.

It was the Immortal Emperor Qing Lin himself! His expression was grave as he nodded slightly, then extended his right hand. A gale-force wind erupted, transforming into a raging tempest that collided with the Ancient Demon’s descending hand.

The impact reverberated through the very fabric of reality. Taga’s hand disintegrated into swirling motes of dark energy, while Qing Lin’s whirlwind shattered in its wake.

“Qing Lin! You are weakened, a shadow of your former self! Why do you resist? Surrender to my will, and through your body, I shall surpass your past glory! What harm is there in our union?” Taga roared, his shattered arm instantly reforming.

Qing Lin ignored the Ancient Demon, his gaze instead settling upon Wang Lin. His eyes held a power that seemed to pierce through all secrets, laying bare Wang Lin’s soul. Under that scrutiny, Wang Lin felt utterly exposed, his very thoughts paralyzed.

But then, a familiar energy surged from the space between his brows, flowing through his being. The feeling of exposure vanished, and Wang Lin met Qing Lin’s gaze with newfound serenity.

“You are worthy to receive my legacy, to become my final disciple!” Qing Lin declared, withdrawing his gaze. In a blur of emerald light, he plunged directly into Wang Lin’s body before the younger man could react.

A series of sharp cracks echoed as Wang Lin’s body tensed. He threw back his head, a cry of agony building in his throat as intense pain wracked his limbs.

“A spirit of considerable strength!” Qing Lin’s voice echoed from within Wang Lin. In that instant, Wang Lin felt a distinct sensation – his body was no longer his own. He had experienced this loss of control only once before, in his battle against the Scattered Demon’s body. But this was far more intense, beyond comparison. The tearing sensation within his body was as if his very soul was being stretched to its breaking point.

“But your cultivation is lacking!” Qing Lin’s voice continued. As he spoke, Wang Lin’s right hand extended, pointing unerringly at Wang Wei.

“Wang Wei, your master requires your cultivation!”

Wang Wei nodded without hesitation, transforming into a streak of light that plunged into Wang Lin’s body. The previous pain intensified, driving Wang Lin to a primal scream.

“Hu Juan, Qing Ai, and… you!” Wang Lin’s body trembled, yet his extended hand remained steady, finally pointing towards Zhou Yi.

“All of you, become one with him!” At Qing Lin’s command, Hu Juan, Qing Ai, and Zhou Yi ascended without resistance, becoming three streaks of light that plunged into Wang Lin’s being.

The excruciating pain threatened to overwhelm Wang Lin’s sanity, his roar shaking the very foundations of reality! “I will not consume your being, but grant you power! I will bestow upon you my understanding of the laws, my memories of all immortal techniques, so that you may experience, firsthand, the might of a Kong Nie-level battle! This is the boon you deserve for coming to my aid!” Qing Lin’s voice faded, and in the moment of its final disappearance, an unimaginable power erupted from within Wang Lin.

Its strength was such that it could make the heavens and earth tremble, shatter the cosmos, and reduce even a Shattered Nirvana cultivator to insignificance. It was an instinct to control all things, to force all creation to kneel in submission, and the desire surged within Wang Lin’s heart! Pain still throbbed within him, but it was as if it had become a dull murmur compared to the force that now moved through him.

He was aware, with clarity that surpassed anything he could ever imagine, that he now held a power that was beyond measure! “Go forth and fight!” An ancient voice echoed within him. Wang Lin raised his head, his gaze locked on the Ancient Demon in the distance.

The Ancient Demon Taga stared in stunned disbelief, his eyes widening with dread. He finally understood Qing Lin’s true gambit: the ultimate act of transmission! For when the Heavens have a Soul, they grant the Path. When One reaches the Path, it is granted to Ten Thousand Spirits; This is the way of the Heavens! Wang Lin’s expression was serene, his face utterly impassive. He raised his right hand and pointed towards the sky, and spoke one word slowly, but clearly: “Earth!”
The words were barely uttered when a tempestuous storm erupted within the Sea of Consciousness. A wave of primal, governing power surged forth, tearing asunder all that lay within. Even the illusory sea that stretched across the domain crumbled into nothingness. In the blink of an eye, where Wang Lin had stood, there was only a desolate expanse of ochre desert.

Ancient Demon Taga’s features twisted once more. Suppressing his growing dread, he roared, his arms snapping forward. A black wind manifested from thin air, blotting out the sky. Swirling vortexes, born from the four corners of the wasteland, converged upon Wang Lin, seeking to engulf him.

Simultaneously, ancient words flowed from Taga’s lips. His right hand clawed at the void, summoning a gargantuan black blade, hundreds of feet in length. With a savage sweep, he hurled it towards Wang Lin.

Wang Lin’s expression remained unchanged. He extended a single finger, and the howling winds surrounding him froze in an instant. The demonic blade, hurtling towards him moments before, hung suspended in the air, as if time itself had bowed to his will.

“Summon Wind!” Wang Lin declared, his voice calm yet resonant with power. The heavens trembled, and the oppressive black fog overhead dissolved, replaced by an endless, roiling tempest of darkness. Within its heart, dragon shadows danced, not the mere nine of lesser evocations, but thirteen in number! Thirteen obsidian dragons roared forth, their target the ancient demon. The sheer force of their approach sent Taga stumbling backward, his eight demonic stars swirling in his pupils as he chanted in the tongue of forgotten ages.

“Ancient Demon Art: Boundary!” Taga bellowed, his face etched with grim determination. His right hand wove a complex sigil, and a line of darkness manifested around him, encircling him in a protective ward. In that instant, the space within the line and without became two distinct realms, an absolute barrier! No force from beyond could penetrate the inviolable Boundary!

“Ancient Demon Art: Devouring Sky!” Having erected his defense, Taga unleashed another earth-shattering roar. Behind him, demonic energy churned and coalesced, forming a colossal, abyssal maw, reaching towards the heavens. This monstrous portal, capable of consuming the very skies, snapped its jaws, hungry to swallow all before it.

Yet, none of this stirred Wang Lin. The thirteen black dragons, hurtling towards Taga, intertwined, their forms merging as they were consumed by the all-encompassing darkness of the tempest. Before the demon could blink, they had become a single, obsidian spear. A faint, ethereal aura shimmered around it, hinting at a power far beyond the mortal realm. It plunged towards Taga, an unstoppable force of dark divinity.

“When Master Bai Fan’s Immortal Arts reach their zenith, they can transform into his treasured artifacts. Master once said that with each new Immortal Art, he would sacrifice and weave into creation an artifact suffused with the rules of the cosmos. He decreed that any disciple who mastered his arts could call forth these treasures, magnifying the power of their techniques!”

The words echoed in Wang Lin’s mind, a forgotten fragment of memory. The voice was clear and unmistakably that of Qing Shui, a message sealed away when Wang Lin had first been entrusted with the arts. The intent was that it would only unlock once Wang Lin honed a specific technique to perfection.

The obsidian spear met the Devouring Sky maw that protected Taga in the blink of an eye. The impact shook the very foundation of the world, the immense portal rent asunder, spewing forth torrents of demonic energy as it collapsed. It could devour entire realms, but it could not consume the power that Wang Lin had briefly achieved. Not even Bai Fan himself, resurrected to witness this feat, would have believed his own creation could have spawned thirteen dragons! He only ever managed a mere eleven.

Having shattered the Devouring Sky, the spear plunged onward, piercing the Barrier surrounding Taga. Obscuring shadows flashed, and the boundary shrieked as it was torn asunder! It might cleave the world in two, halting all outside forces, but what was separation when true power was at play? This world had no limits.

The black spear pierced Taga’s body, but it did not burst through. Instead, it detonated within him, unleashing an unimaginable surge of power. Taga’s towering form disintegrated, collapsing into swirling motes of demonic energy that recoalesced into the familiar shape of the ancient demon.

But now, his eyes blazed with unadulterated terror. He spun around, desperate to flee.

Wang Lin, however, would not allow it. With a deliberate, unhurried step, he moved forward, his voice soft but carrying the weight of inevitability. “You cannot escape. This… is only the beginning. Now, allow me to experience… the true power of the Third Step.”

As Taga turned to flee, he slammed into an invisible wall. He could feel it clearly: The Sea of Consciousness was now a perfect cage, every rule of the universe twisted and interlocked in his prison. He truly could not leave. With frantic haste, Taga faced his hunter, his eyes alight with madness. Immediately, three of the eight points of ancient demonic power in his pupils shattered in a last-ditch effort to fight back.