He touched the bones with his right hand, but it felt not like a mere skeleton, but a vortex brimming with arcane power. His divine sense plunged deep within its spiraling heart.

Beyond his control, the vortex unleashed an indescribable force, a ravenous pull that swallowed Wang Lin’s consciousness, dragging it further, ever deeper.

Wang Lin was a solitary boat upon a raging sea, pulled inexorably by the vortex’s insatiable hunger, “as though cast through time to an age beyond his ken!

The roar in his mind echoed with increasing intensity. From without the cavern, one might have witnessed Wang Lin’s body wracked with violent tremors, his eyes sealed shut, face pale and contorted. His right hand, though trembling fiercely, remained glued to the bone. Suddenly, the skeleton pulsed with golden light, but even as it flickered, glyphs etched upon the bone blazed with blackness, seeking to extinguish the gold and claim dominance in an ancient battle!

He found himself in a world of swirling chaos, where sky and earth were indistinguishable – a realm that both existed and did not. In the distant void, a figure emerged, clad in white robes, resembling an aged sage, though his form was indistinct, impossible to discern.

The figure gazed upward, lost in contemplation. Suddenly, the chaotic heavens erupted with a riot of seven colors, a tidal wave of light that tore through reality, shattering the chaos, turning sky and earth into a starscape! Yet this was no ordinary starscape, for it pulsed with the same vibrant, shifting colors. The very fabric of existence had become a kaleidoscope of seven hues!

The white-robed figure snapped his head upwards, and with a sweep of his hand, a single word of power, “War,” shimmered into existence before him. It encircled him, radiating golden light that pushed back the encroaching colors. In that instant, a voice of immense power echoed through the shattered realm. “The genesis of heaven and earth is the Tai. Heaven molds the beginning, earth nurtures the end. I cultivate the Tai, the rules of creation! By the seven colors as my guide, I Seal!”

The single word “Seal” unleashed the power. All seven colors of this alien realm surged into motion, as though driven by an unseen force. Limitless, boundless light converged upon the white-robed figure. To Wang Lin, it was as if the world itself was collapsing, forming a seal of chromatic energy that relentlessly crushed and extinguished the figure within.

The heavens churned with swirling, multicolored clouds, as if the entire world was collapsing. Raging roars echoed from within the chromatic storm, growing ever fainter before fading into silence.

“Zhan Xingye! Had I not bestowed upon you the War Glyph, you could never have reached the ethereal heights you attained! By your war-infused soul as my guide, I shall find where Zhan, the Old Ghost, buried his bones when he transcended the Empty Calamity! I shall extract the marrow of both master and disciple, and shatter your legacy, to fulfill my Heavenly Dao!” The voice, ancient and weary, faded away. Even the world within Wang Lin’s vision began to crumble, its collapsing fragments threatening to drag his soul into oblivion.

Back within Sima Mo’s cavern, the golden light upon the bone Wang Lin touched was completely overwhelmed by the black glyphs, driven into a corner. The glyphs themselves lunged at Wang Lin’s hand, seeking to invade his body.

In that instant, the crystal sword Wang Lin had left imbued with his essence flashed with light and hurtled towards him, grazing his fingertip. The contact between Wang Lin’s hand and the bone broke just as the black glyphs approached. Wang Lin recoiled, his mind cleared, and he stumbled back, staring at the bone with a mind reeling. “Zhan Family ancestor…Zhan Xingye!”

Wang Lin’s face darkened. During his time in Luo Tian, he had learned of Zhan’s ancestor, who had shattered the void in search of greater heights, never to be heard from again. Zhan Xingye was gifted with a sharp mind. Early in life, he inadvertently got the word “War” and carved it himself, comprehending the war-like mood. Ultimately, he went in search of greater realms. Regardless of how his descendants search, they have consistently been unable to find any traces of Zhan Xingye. “I never imagined…it was Zhan Xingye!”

“The one who killed Zhan Xingye, calling himself ‘This Venerable One,’ possessing the power of the Primordial Beginning… could it be the Sovereign of the Palm?!” Wang Lin’s expression grew even darker. Recalling the scene he had witnessed, a chill ran down his spine. The chromatic power was akin to the Fragmented Night skill, but vastly stronger, a single strike enough to overwhelm Zhan Xingye without resistance! Wang Lin’s mouth felt dry, and he frowned, eyes gleaming.

“No! If Zhan Xingye was killed so easily, why would such a powerful will remain within his bones? If he had truly died, that will should have dissipated…and the figure, seemingly the Sovereign of the Palm, sounded weary in his final words…” Wang Lin’s mind raced, yet no clear answers emerged.

“Ethereal Spirit, Empty Calamity… are these two of the stages in the Third Step of cultivation? When I comprehended the War Glyph, I saw an old man; he painted the War Glyph. He said that his cultivation had reached the Sealed Void stage, and he wanted to break through the boundaries… could he be the Empty Calamity warrior whose bones the Sovereign of the Palm sought?!”

“From the title he used, the figure seemed wary of this Zhan, the Old Ghost. To find the Old Ghost’s resting place, he sought out Zhan Xingye, bestowed upon him the War Glyph, allowed him to cultivate, and then killed him to claim his soul. All for his Heavenly Dao plan! But what is this plan?!” Wang Lin’s mind grew sharper, and although mysteries remained, some clarity emerged. “The four stone tablets, the two complete skeletons… the first was Zhan Xingye. Does that mean the second skeleton is Zhan Xingye’s master… the Old Ghost Zhan!” Wang Lin gasped.

“The War Glyph… is it the legacy of the Old Ghost Zhan!” Wang Lin glanced at the skeleton, especially after seeing the faint golden light, and after a moment of meditation, he knew that there were three War Glyphs in his storage space.

He had opened the first two, but the third, which he had obtained from Zhan’s descendants, had remained unopened. Now, gazing at the skeleton, he reached into the void, and his storage space appeared, from which three orbs of light emerged. Within them were the three War Glyphs!

As the War Glyphs materialized, the golden light that had been forced into a corner on the skeleton suddenly flared violently, breaking free and hurtling towards the Glyphs. In an instant, it merged with them, and the three War Glyphs began to fuse!

This strange transformation did not surprise Wang Lin. His gaze grew serious as he watched the three Glyphs merge into one. After a moment, the fusion was complete, and golden light illuminated the entire cavern. Before Wang Lin, a golden, ethereal word “War” shimmered into existence.

The word radiated a grand aura, then flashed, and hurtled towards Wang Lin. He caught it with a sweep of his hand and placed it in his storage space.

“You obtained the War Glyph, becoming the Old Ghost Zhan’s descendant in form, and through you, the Sovereign of the Palm learned the resting place of the Old Ghost Zhan… countless years later, I obtained the War Glyph from your descendants… and today, I have seen your bones…” Wang Lin’s eyes filled with complexity. He sighed and turned to leave the cavern, sealing it with stone.

Wang Lin did not open the ninth cavern, whose seal he could not break, but it was filled with chromatic mist, obscuring its contents.

In the valley, Wang Lin gazed at Sima Mo’s bones, lost in contemplation. Finally, he departed. Before leaving, he visited the first cavern, where the Mosquito Beast resided, and left even more Yuan Crystals.

Leaving the valley, Wang Lin’s eyes gleamed. He would travel to the location of the stone tablet he had glimpsed in his visions, to see the upper half of Zhan Xingye’s skeleton.

After searching through Pang Decai and Cang Songzi’s memories, Wang Lin was now familiar with the Seven-Colored Realm and the routes within. His figure transformed into a streak of light, remaining close to the ground.

Passing through various valleys, he approached the formation that imprisoned the Blue-Shirted Woman. The formation had been opened, and the woman was gone.

With a cursory glance, Wang Lin continued without stopping, heading into the mountains, crossing them, and entering the mist. Within, he sped along a familiar path, the murmurings of the Mark Makers echoing in his ears. He even encountered a few of them drifting past.

The more he learned, the more he understood these Mark Makers. They were all cultivators from ages past, trapped here to nourish another’s Dao.

Wang Lin could even imagine that these Mark Makers must have been incredibly gifted individuals in life, possessing a profound understanding of the Dao, which had led them to be ensnared by the Dao Scriptures, becoming the nourishment of another.

With an inward sigh, Wang Lin pressed on, heading forward. Soon, he spotted a colossal stone statue within the mist. Below it, Wang Lin stopped. His eyes flashed, and he leapt upward, landing on the statue’s head.

In Cang Songzi’s memories, the technique he cultivated, known as the Hundred Lifetimes Blood Essence Infant Art, had allowed him to summon the Seventh Spirit of the Sealed Realm, which he had comprehended within the statue.

The Blood Essence Infant Art allowed him to cultivate nine entities similar to Nascent Souls, but with far greater power. More importantly, these nine infants were not manifestations of his Nascent Soul, but were something separate that could allow Cang Songzi to cultivate skills nine times as fast.

Even more astonishing, each infant could condense a different power or skill. Often, cultivators could not cultivate certain skills simultaneously; no matter how desirable they were, a choice had to be made, like the Blue-Shirted Woman’s Extract Yang Gather Yin Return to Ancestry technique. But for Cang Songzi, this was of no consequence; his nine Blood Infants could cultivate them separately.

However, prior to his battle with Wang Lin, he had one Infant taken from him by the Blue-Shirted Woman, and then he and Wang Lin sustained major injuries from Wang Lin’s skills, so he did not get the chance to use them all.