“Nine heads remain, but the Star Tigers of this Nebula are extinct, and we must venture far,” the middle-aged man hissed, a cruel amusement twisting his lips. Before he could continue, his expression shifted abruptly. He raised his right hand, his fingers tightening around empty air, and a rift in reality shimmered into existence before him. From within, a jade slip shot forth, shuddering violently before cracking in two with a sharp report. A wisp of a soul escaped, a fragmented essence that took the form of Lu Po. In his spectral eyes resided the terror of his final moments, before he dissolved completely before the man.

“Young Master!” The purple-robed elder at the man’s side gasped, his jovial mask shattered, replaced with stark astonishment. The middle-aged man, eyes fixed on the fading remains, remained motionless, his gaze heavy as he slowly sealed his eyes shut.

His companion, heart thrumming with unease, cast a wary glance at the Sect Master. He had served this man for decades, and knew that such serenity masked a brewing storm of terrifying proportions. “Where did Ludi travel before?” At long last, the middle-aged man spoke, his eyes blazing with muted sorrow, yet his tone was unnervingly calm.

“The Young Master… he journeyed to Moro Continent,” the elder replied, his voice hushed with respect, his mind still reeling. He could scarcely fathom that someone dared, within the Fifth Grade Star Domain, to risk the wrath of the Violet Dao Sect and its leader, Lu Yuncong, by slaying the Young Master Ludi!

“Moro Continent, the Returning Origin Sect… Why was I not informed?” The Sect Master’s tone remained even, but its impact sent a tremor through the elder, a forgotten detail surfacing in his mind, draining the color from his face. “Young Master… he…”

“As a cultivator, he was yet enthralled by earthly desires, arrogant, wielding the mantle of Violet Dao Young Master to prey upon the daughters of countless sects, draining their life essence in vile acts,” the middle-aged man interrupted, shaking his head in somber recollection. “Sect Master…” The elder’s face was ashen.

“Who accompanied him to Moro Continent? It must have been Song Wude. Since boyhood, Ludi has been under Song Wude’s care, viewing him, perhaps, as a second father. His journey to Moro Continent, I suspect, was spurred by lust for Lü Yanfei of the Returning Origin Sect, a scheme to seize the sect as his personal pleasure palace upon the old coot’s demise…” The elder swallowed hard, knowing every word was rooted in grim truth.

The middle-aged man lifted his gaze to the swirling Nebula, watching in silence for a long moment before turning to the violet continent.

“The unfilial wretch is gone, and the world is rid of one more source of wickedness… yet, I am still his father. If he desired this Lü Yanfei, then the maiden shall join him in death. As for the one who dared take his life, they too shall pay the ultimate price.” The middle-aged man’s words were devoid of warmth, devoid of emotion. “He was not always like this…” A touch of desolation clung to his retreating form.

The elder, his complexion as pale as death, hesitated, then forced the words from his lips. “Sect Master, before the Young Master departed, I overheard Wude saying… that he would first travel to the Violet Cloud Sea to retrieve our Sect’s Heavenly Yin Banner, intending to imprison Lü Yanfei’s soul, along with those of his past victims, to nourish an unholy entity.”

The middle-aged man froze, his composure shattering as fury, raw and boundless, consumed him. A chilling fear, a primal horror, spread throughout his being. “Rebellious whelp!!”

***

On Moro Continent, within the Returning Origin Sect, Lü Yanfei stood, gazing at the unassuming wooden house in the Medicine Garden. Hesitantly, she entered, her disciple Sun Yun close behind, her heart pounding with trepidation.

Wang Lin’s door was closed. Lü Yanfei and her student waited silently, their thoughts heavy. After a long moment, Lü Yanfei bit her lip and softly asked, “Senior, are you within?”

“No,” came the terse reply from within, its bluntness startling the pair.

In the long, distant past, within the Alliance Star System, a woman had asked a similar question, and received the same answer. For whether it was the true body or a fragment, it was still Wang Lin.

Lü Yanfei chuckled, a delicate sound. She bowed toward the house, her voice gentle. “My master once spoke of an Uncle-Master named Lü Zihao. According to him, Lü Uncle-Ancestor was a Daoist scholar, who, except for his final, fateful journey, never left Moro Continent, nor even visited the main sect. He was a recluse, so few within the Returning Origin Sect have even seen him.

“Even my three elder brothers have never laid eyes upon him. I alone, in my youth, saw a portrait of him, shown to me by my master, who then gifted it to me… for Lü Uncle-Ancestor is an ancestor of my family.

“The portrait, alas, has crumbled with age, and shattered on my journey here.” With those words, Lü Yanfei respectfully departed the Medicine Garden, a smile gracing her lips. Sun Yun, bewildered by her master’s words, could not fathom their meaning.

Wang Lin sat cross-legged on his bed, his gaze fixed upon the black lotus blossom in his right hand. He raised his head, a sharp light gleaming in his eyes, as if piercing through the walls, to fall upon Lü Yanfei as she walked away. Lü Yanfei paused, yet did not turn, maintaining her tranquil demeanor as she left the courtyard.

“A clever woman indeed!” Wang Lin murmured, withdrawing his gaze. Aside from their brief meeting in the mountains, there had been little contact between them, yet this woman had pieced together fragments of information, drawing upon her disciple’s reports, their conversation in the mountains, and his previous display of power to kill Song Wude and Lu Di, to arrive at such a startling conclusion.

Her words, while incomprehensible to Sun Yun, were crystal clear to Wang Lin’s mind. Lü Yanfei clearly suspected him of being the white-haired cultivator, perhaps even knew it, and believed his presence here, his hidden power, was to plot against the Returning Origin Sect or to evade enemies.

However, Lü Yanfei could not imagine that Returning Origin Sect had anyting that can attract him, so she believed it’s the latter.

Therefore, if Wang Lin were to remain, he would require an identity beyond reproach. Lü Yanfei’s words had offered him just that. As for his enemies, she seemed willing to disregard them.

Wang Lin had encountered countless souls in his life, but few possessed such intellect. Not the shape-shifting cunning of Liu Mei, nor the cold, unyielding pride of Hong Die, nor the gentle warmth of Li Muwan, but a shrewdness, hidden from plain sight!

After a moment of contemplation, Wang Lin smiled, whispering to himself, “Lü Zihao… such an identity may well give me roots in this Cloud Sea Star System!”

The reason why Wang Lin values his identity so much now in Cloud Sea Star System has something to do with his experience in the world within the gate. He didn’t pay attention to it in Luo Tian, and his identity was ultimately transparent to those great powers, which brought him a lot of inconvenience. After all, in any star field, there is exclusion and such non-my The words of the race must be different.

Especially with his current cultivation base, it is even more difficult to deal with the identity problem, but now, although all this is not perfect, there is a way to solve it.

Ceasing such thoughts, Wang Lin focused once more on the black lotus in his hand, releasing his divine sense to continue his examination. If it were merely a magical treasure, Wang Lin would not care, but no matter how his divine sense delved, he was astonished to find that the lotus seemed formed naturally, a genuine plant.

However, some simple magic circle was added later to seal it simply.

“This Cloud Sea Star System is truly wondrous, that such plants exist, capable of becoming magical treasures. If I undo the seals upon this lotus, it could form a powerful defense, truly wondrous.” Turning over the lotus in his hand, Wang Lin examined it carefully before setting it aside, taking up the storage bag of the violet-robed youth.

The bag held a motley collection of items: lewd trinkets and scattered magical treasures. Three items in particular caught his attention.

A jade bottle of pure violet, a tiny golden banner, and a stick of incense as thick as an infant’s arm. Immortal jade was, surprisingly, scarce, numbering less than a hundred.

“Alas, upon reaching Nirvana, storage bags become unnecessary, the storage space one creates unable to be located or opened by outsiders, even in death. Otherwise, the storage of dead Nirvana elders must have contained countless pills and treasures.” Wang Lin shook his head, first taking up the golden banner, his divine sense sweeping within, only to find his expression darkening.

An eerie wind howled within the banner. As Wang Lin’s divine sense touched it, he found no less than hundreds of female yin souls. Each of these women had been beautiful, and some were utterly magnificent.

However, in the little flag, these women all looked miserable. They were sealed inside and could not come out. Furthermore, inside the little flag, there was also a snake-shaped beast soul. This beast soul seemed to devour the female yin souls. When Wang Lin’s divine sense swept into it, it seemed to be awakened, and it radiated an astonishing aura that even made Wang Lin’s eyes condense. “This is…” Wang Lin’s heart trembled. His divine sense was impacted by the beast soul and he immediately withdrew it, staring at the golden banner in his hand, his pupils shrinking. “Extremely Yin aura!!” Wang Lin stood up abruptly, his calm thoughts now turbulent, moving mightily, deeply exhaling a few breaths.

“It is imperfect, possessing only a trace of Extreme Yin. Furthermore, the method of nurturing it is entirely incorrect, far inferior to the Extreme Yang created by Tian Yunzi through Bai Wei… but, this is still a trace of Extreme Yin!” Wang Lin touched his brow, as when the Heavenly Inverse Bead was filled with five elements and became Yin and Yang, and he’d obtained Extreme Yang from Bai Wei back then, it only lacked Extreme Yin for the Heavenly Inverse to be completed a second time!