“If it were merely seventh-tier savage beasts, it would be tolerable…” intoned one of the elders, his face etched with worry. “My dread is that should this continue, even the eighth-tier beasts, capable of battling those who have attained the pinnacle of Nirvana Completion, and even the ninth-tier beasts, akin to the Shattered Nirvana cultivators, will be drawn here… If that were to occur, a cataclysm would engulf the Moro Continent!”

Li Xiangdong considered this somberly, a moment stretching into an age. “Surely not… Moro Continent is situated on the fringe of the Fourth Starfield. There ought to be no high-tier savage beasts nearby…” he murmured at length.

“Mayhap…” The elder shook his head, a bitter expression crossing his weathered features. His gaze fell upon Lu Yanfei. Even now, they knew not why she had prevented them from investigating earlier.

Lu Yanfei offered no explanation, instead transforming into a streak of light that plunged downwards. The three others exchanged a silent look, then followed her example, descending with a shimmering aura that pierced the earth and delved into the depths below.

Within the earth, their pace slowed. The booming sound grew deafening, echoing through their very bones. They were closer to its source now, and their spirits trembled, their physical forms stirred.

An oppressive force radiated from the abyss, a pressure that weighed upon their souls. It was as if a terrible being resided below, one whose power could shake the heavens. In its presence, they were but ants.

The palpable sensation froze them in their tracks, their faces grim. Lu Yanfei alone remained bright-eyed, biting her lip in thought.

“What manner of entity dwells below! Such dread emanates from it!”

“This aura… it is not that of a mere artifact!”

The three companions hesitated, their caution mounting. After a moment of consideration, Li Xiangdong gritted his teeth and surged forward. He would see for himself what lay in the darkness.

The deeper they went, the more suffocating the pressure became, the booms more deafening. Their spirits reeled, and a sense of impending doom washed over them.

Their progress slowed to a crawl. The pressure from below pulsed with a frenzied energy that sent shivers down their spines. “I advise that we depart at once,” Lu Yanfei said at last, her words forming a telepathic command.

The others deliberated, but only for a moment. A fire kindled in Li Xiangdong’s eyes. “I cannot turn back without knowing what dwells beneath!” he exclaimed, and sped towards the depths once more.

The two elders exchanged a hesitant glance, then followed close behind. Lu Yanfei sighed inwardly and trailed after them. As they pressed onward, they drew ever closer to the origin of the sound.

The booming had grown beyond the thunder of storms. It resonated with a primal force that sent tremors of its resonance through the earth and stone. It was the shattering of bone, and it sent shivers through their marrow.

Yet, as they approached the very threshold of the sound’s source, a wave of frenzied divine sense erupted from the abyss with thunderous force.

“LEAVE THIS PLACE!”

The sheer magnitude of the divine sense was like a hurricane that struck them full force. Li Xiangdong, in the vanguard, was blasted backwards, a torrent of blood erupting from his lips. The sound of cracking reverberated within his body as terror flooded his gaze.

The two elders fared no better, convulsing as blood sprayed from their mouths, their faces pale, their hearts pounding with dread.

Even Lu Yanfei trembled, a trickle of blood trailing from the corner of her mouth, but her eyes burned with a strange light. The voice had confirmed her suspicions.

“Which venerable senior cultivates here? I am Li of the Guiyuan Sect…” Li Xiangdong stammered as he stumbled back.

“BEGONE!” The divine sense roared again, even more potent than before, unleashing a storm of power that shook the very ground of Moro Continent.

A force of madness erupted from the earth’s depths, hurtling towards the four. Li Xiangdong coughed blood again, his body convulsing as he was hurled backwards as if by an unseen hand. He crashed through the earth in a straight line, tearing through the surface and into the sky above.

As he was flung into the air, the ground erupted again as the two elders were likewise ejected, sputtering blood and covered in earth. Lu Yanfei followed suit.

The four stood suspended in the air, horror etched upon their faces. They looked at one another, then Lu Yanfei took a deep breath, wiping blood from her lip. “I told you not to approach. Fortunately, Granduncle did not wish to harm us.”

“Granduncle?” The words hung in the air, paralyzing the three others, their terror turning to astonishment. “Lu Zihao, your Granduncle? We have heard tales of him,” Lu Yanfei said after a pause.

But below them, deep within the earth, Wang Lin’s true form, three hundred yards in height, was collapsing in on itself. Bone after bone shattered, collapsing into dust. Even his skull was fragmenting, the pain all but unbearable.

With a final splintering, the last fragment of skull vanished.

For the briefest of moments, all was still and silent. Wang Lin’s fingers twitched.

“Hold!”

The word ripped from his throat, and his clone spat blood as Wang Lin’s dust swirled in a final, desperate embrace.

The dust turned to bone, and an ancient power surged through the land.

A silent, yet deafening roar reverberated through the very souls of all living creatures.

And as the dust reformed, celestial energy swept through the land, bolstering him in his defiant stand!

The skull emerged, a bone of purest might, and the bones raced down his form, each piece drawing power from the heavens themselves.

“I am a god of old! I shall not be denied!”

As the bones flowed and fused, the energy of the universe coalesced around him, the force tearing through protective barriers with ease, and the mist swirled in, too, too add to his might.

The beasts cowered in fear at the raw power on display, as the great god rose once more.

And far away, a mighty beast, eight tiers in power, set its gaze upon Moro and raced off to claim a god’s boon.