The crone in azure robes offered no explanation, only a chilling snort. With a single stride, her aged hands wove a spectral sigil. “Consume, spirit-leech!” she croaked, and a ravenous force surged forth. Cangsongzi, caught within the vortex, felt his very life essence threatened, as if to be utterly drained.

Yet, the color returned to his face, hardened with disdain. His right hand remained pressed firmly upon the jade vial, an object impervious to the confines of any extradimensional space. Had it been otherwise, it would have been long secured.

Refusing to engage in pointless banter with the azure hag, Cangsongzi relied upon his formidable cultivation. Though shaken by the spirit-devouring technique, he remained confident in his escape.

With a sharp gesture of his left hand, the void shimmered, and a dazzling golden rain erupted into existence. Thousands upon thousands of flying blades manifested before him. “Vanish, harridan!” he snarled, and with a flick of his fingers, the golden tempest descended upon the crone.

Simultaneously, Cangsongzi struck his brow, releasing a crimson effulgence that soared from his crown. It resembled a nascent spirit, a tiny homunculus of burning energy, yet a closer inspection revealed it to be something far more sinister.

The miniature figure emitted a heart-rending shriek, and a blood-red aura billowed forth, chasing after the shimmering blades, all aimed at the azure crone.

The crone’s complexion shifted upon sighting the crimson homunculus. With a flick of her wrist, an ancient bronze bowl appeared, flung forth to intercept the spirit-like form.

The bowl spun wildly as it hurtled towards the homunculus, attempting to engulf it. But the figure’s eyes blazed crimson, and a piercing cry shattered the air, capable of cleaving steel and rending stone. The bronze bowl exploded in a cacophony of shattered fragments. In that same instant, the golden blades descended, and the spirit-thing weaved through the metallic storm, both converging upon the azure crone.

Time was fleeting. Ignoring the crone, Cangsongzi blurred, and a ripple in reality formed before him, his exit portal beckoning.

But as half of his foot passed through the shimmering tear in space, a withered hand, bone-thin and impossibly aged, emerged from the nothingness beside him, reaching to seize the vial in his grasp!

“A Primordial Ancestor!” Cangsongzi’s pupils constricted in horror. With no time to ponder, he lashed out with his left hand, striking the desiccated limb. A deafening boom echoed through the iridescent realm, and Cangsongzi gasped, his face ashen.

“Mid-stage Devourer!”

His left arm was numb, a dark, festering stain spreading rapidly. Foul ichor oozed, dripping to the ground, a testament to the potent venom. Using the force of the impact, he lunged through the portal.

From the adjacent emptiness, a crone even more ancient emerged, as if exhumed from a forgotten sarcophagus. Adorned in azure robes, her head was completely bald, a terrifying visage.

Her eyes burned with a malevolent light, and blood trickled from the corners of her mouth. She dismissed Cangsongzi’s golden storm with a wave, then snatched the crimson spirit-thing, sealing it away before pursuing Cangsongzi into the portal.

Cangsongzi’s face was drained of all color. He had been deceived, the hag perfectly concealing her true cultivation. The venom seeping into his veins threatened to consume him. He fought desperately to suppress its advance.

“Once beyond this rift, with no temporal restraints, my artifacts shall prove her no match!”

As Cangsongzi emerged from the warp, ready to flee, the azure crone descended upon him. They clashed, unleashing spells and attacks, creating tremors that echoed through the mountains.

Nearing the edge of the restricted zone, the rift above, once two leagues wide, was rapidly closing. Cangsongzi’s eyes glinted. He chanted an arcane incantation.

As the words left his lips, the seven-hued sky shimmered violently, pouring forth a torrent of iridescent light. Seven shimmering swords of different hues circled Cangsongzi, forming a protective barrier, aimed at the azure crone.

The hag’s face darkened. Her hands wove a series of seals, and a shield of amethyst light appeared before her, emitting an aura of immense antiquity, a hint of demonic energy clinging to its surface.

The rainbow light struck the shield, and a deafening roar echoed through the mountain pass. The crone spat blood, but her expression hardened. She slammed her hand against her brow, and her astral self soared forth.

At that precise moment, from the very heart of the stone tablet’s kaleidoscopic dimension, the azure-clad servant and the beautiful jade-skinned concubine mirrored the crone’s action, launching their own astral selves towards the fray.

In a flash, the three astral forms merged into a single entity, a bolt of raw spiritual power aimed at Cangsongzi.

His face twisted in a snarl, Cangsongzi reached with his swollen, poisoned hand for the jade vial. His other hand brandished a single bead!

Without hesitation, Cangsongzi flung the bead toward the coalesced spirit.

“Anathema, Traitor!” Cangsongzi roared. The bead pulsed with an unearthly light, and the seven-hued energies of the sky surged toward it, drawn in at a frenzied pace.

Then, the bead shattered in a blinding flash. A bolt of pure, unadulterated seven-hued energy blasted forth, targeted at the coalesced spirit. The spirit shrieked as three seals, imbued with the deepest mysteries of life and death, erupted from within.

The seals, among the highest tier of the Mortality Shackles.

“Life, Death, Life!” The mental command was unleashed, and the three seals united, forming a force of apocalyptic power, colliding with the iridescent surge.

BOOOOOM!

The earth convulsed, mountains crumbled, and the mists of the outer world churned. Every illusory figure that lingered within those mists froze, and those wandering spirits drifted towards the source of the cataclysmic sound.

In the wake of the devastating impact, the coalesced spirit fragmented, its essence growing ever more translucent as it retreated into the waiting bodies. Cangsongzi, never anticipating such power from the crone’s seals, was thrown back, coughing blood. The venom coursing through his veins had reduced his flesh to foul liquid, his bones dissolving. The impact tore his left arm asunder, and the limb vanished into the void.

The jade vial was torn loose, arcing towards the rift, now a mere league in width.

Cangsongzi, eyes bloodshot with fury, lunged towards the vial. The azure crone mirrored his move, speeding towards the portal.

At that instant, a figure in white blurred into existence. Surpassing both the crone and Cangsongzi in speed, it seized the vial, and without hesitation, exited the rift.

As the figure passed through the portal, it slammed its right hand against the rift, weaving a seal that merged with the boundary, accelerating the closing process.

“Lyu Zihao!” Cangsongzi stammered, disbelief and rage warring within him. He roared, then hurtled through the portal, chasing after the white-clad figure.

But the moment he stepped into the outside world, he triggered a forbidden formation planted there by Wang Lin. The hidden runes flashed to life, the arcane energies erupting around him.

The three forms of the azure crone merged into one, a bolt of vengeance darting through the void, passing Cangsongzi and giving chase to Wang Lin!

Wang Lin, having entered the rift, had tightened his mind, not showing the slightest breath of aura, hiding at the edge of the rift exit. This place was weird, especially inside the forbidden curtain, where the divine sense could not be scattered too far, so he took the opportunity to hide without being noticed.

He clutched the vial and sprinted through the mists, the whispers echoing in his ears, as spectral figures drifted past him.

The azure crone pursued him, but the talismans Wang Lin had applied enhanced his speed beyond imagination, and the distance between them grew.

“You shall die for stealing from this crone!” she spat, venom hardening her gaze. She waved her hand, and a cloud of toxic vapor materialized. A monstrous venomous scorpion, thousands of feet long, manifested in the sky.

The scorpion’s tail lashed out, a blur of spectral energy lunging at Wang Lin.

Wang Lin spun, his eyes glittering with cold fire. He clenched his left fist and struck at the incoming tail. A thunderous roar erupted as the scorpion’s tail shattered.

At that very moment, Cangsongzi emerged, his eyes burning with hatred. He retrieved another bead from his pouch, sacrificing it without hesitation. “Invoke, Traitor!” he bellowed.

The seven-hued energies of the world surged towards the bead, drawn in until it shattered.

As it exploded, the sky above pulsed with iridescent light, and within the echoes of that reverberation, the seven-hued energy coalesced.

A colossal finger materialized, forged of the very power of the heavens!

“The Finger of Heavenly Fortune! So this place is connected to Tian Yunzi!” Wang Lin thought, observing the colossal hand.

The gargantuan finger had absorbed nearly all the seven-hued light of the sky, plunging the land into twilight. With a thunderous descent, it crashed towards Wang Lin, threatening to crush him into oblivion.

The azure crone’s eyes narrowed, and her hands began to weave. From her brow, the familiar seals erupted, the same potent seals of life and death.

“Life, Death, Life!” The crone’s rasping voice echoed. The three seals merged into a torrent of raw, untamed life-and-death energy, crashing towards Wang Lin.