In a blink, the Tranquil Soul Ascendant descended, murderous intent blazing in his eyes. With a sweeping gesture, nine hundred and seventy-one runes surged forth, crashing upon the roiling cloud barrier that shielded the Grand Elder of the Lightning Flash Clan.

The cloud barrier groaned, its form immediately fracturing!

As it crumbled, the Heaven-Turning Seal, with its earth-shattering power, met no resistance, slamming down with crushing force. The Grand Elder staggered back, his face paling as the overwhelming pressure struck him.

In that same fleeting moment, Wang Lin’s Spirit Domination Seal arrived with unimaginable speed, impacting directly upon the Grand Elder’s body.

Even as the echoes of the impact reverberated, the Tranquil Soul Ascendant, driven to a frenzy, spun and pursued, unleashing his nine hundred and seventy-one runes once more. With a pointed command, the near-thousand runes roared forward, joining the Spirit Domination Seal in unleashing a cataclysmic force!

The Grand Elder was flung through the air amidst the deafening roar, a spray of blood marking his further injury. Disheveled and enraged, he halted his retreat, a mad glint in his eyes. He struck his clan sigil at his brow.

“Lightning Divided Sixfold, Celestial Brewed Lightning, Earth Forged Lightning, Primordial Transformation Lightning, Magnetic Holding Lightning, Dao Intent Lightning, Spiritual Thought Lightning! Appear, all of you!” As he roared, six bolts of lightning erupted from his clan sigil, each a hundred feet thick, reaching towards the heavens like pillars of raw power!

The Celestial Brewed Lightning, born from the very fabric of the starry sky, held the essence of countless planets within a single strike, forged with the secret arts of the Lightning Flash Clan.

Earth Forged Lightning was formed from cosmic dust, fragments of shattered worlds, bound together through sacrificial rites.

Primordial Transformation Lightning was simple in theory, but devastating in cost. A cultivator would gather all of their spiritual essence, then shatter their very soul. In the instant of demise, the soul became a bottomless void, drawing infinite celestial power, a final, desperate act.

Magnetic Holding Lightning originated in regions of the star-strewn void where magnetic energies reigned supreme, nullifying all spells and artifacts. In these cursed zones, the Lightning Flash Clan waited three thousand years for each bolt to form.

Dao Intent Lightning, rare even in the ancient starfield, was harvested by Lightning Flash ancestors from the Inner Realm. They collected the essence of the Dao, distilling and forging it into lightning.

These six diverse thunders encircled the Grand Elder, forming a vortex of raw power as he pushed it forward with terrible speed!

The Spirit Domination Seal struck the vortex and shattered, cracks running across its surface as it crumbled into nothing. Even the Tranquil Soul Ascendant’s runes could not withstand the onslaught, pushed back as one.

“I shall see how you resist the collected might of generations! Perish! I shall slaughter seventeen million souls, bathe this land in blood, and ensure the Lightning Flash Clan’s safety for ten thousand years!”

The Grand Elder’s manic roar propelled the sixfold lightning vortex forward. Wang Lin and the Tranquil Soul Ascendant retreated, and Wang Lin’s eyes flashed. “This is your seven-tenths certainty?!”

The Tranquil Soul Ascendant’s face grew grim. He steeled himself and halted, weaving hand seals, his eyes burning. “Ancestral Sundering Art! Nine hundred and seventy-one sunders, explode!”

As his words echoed, the retreating runes blazed with light, a palpable aura of destruction emanating from them. With a deafening roar, each rune shattered, unleashing a torrent of power!

The simultaneous destruction of a thousand runes birthed an unimaginable force, its shockwave tearing through the heavens, colliding with the sixfold lightning vortex!

A cataclysmic roar split reality asunder, echoing endlessly. The sixfold lightning vortex stuttered.

The impact was akin to a self-detonation. Blood poured from the Grand Elder’s mouth as madness overtook his senses.

Seizing this moment, Wang Lin held nothing back. His battle today would end with either the Grand Elder’s death, or his own. His right hand slashed forward, conjuring phantom Deer-Beasts that birthed a rain of ten million swords.

Simultaneously, his left hand weaved a spell, and light exploded from his form. Light from the surroundings converged upon him, forming a colossal effigy.

As Wang Lin’s shield manifested, throughout the seven million worlds, mortals and cultivators alike, plants and beasts, emitted their own light. These motes of essence pierced the void, flowing towards Wang Lin, bolstering his effigy to an unprecedented size!

As he completed his spell, the rain of swords struck the sixfold lightning vortex, only to be consumed. The vortex crashed upon Wang Lin’s shield.

Blood sprayed from Wang Lin’s lips as the shield shuddered, on the verge of collapse. At the same time, a portion of the sixfold lightning reflected from the surface, crashing against the Grand Elder, causing him to spew blood, his face ashen.

Then, the Tranquil Soul Ascendant stepped forward, weaving hand seals. His body burned with a raging inferno, as he unleashed all the spiritual power within his body. In a flash, he became a comet of fire, his hands creating storm after storm.

The Grand Elder, however, was too powerful. With a single hand, he propelled the sixfold lightning towards Wang Lin. With the other hand, he manifested a lightning-fast arm, meeting the Tranquil Soul Ascendant in a titanic clash!
Though Wang Lin and San Ling were both paragons of power, their combined assault met a stout defense. The Grand Elder, despite his hidden wound, stood firm, the battle a whirlwind of untamed energies, impossible to call.

“His injuries are insufficient! But one more strike, and I can end him!” San Ling bellowed, unleashing a relentless barrage. The moment was critical; he cared not if the Grand Elder heard his words.

Wang Lin’s eyes flashed. The shimmering shield of light surrounding him wavered, nearing collapse. Should it shatter, all would be lost! With no time for hesitation, a fierce resolve ignited in his gaze. A thought, a surge of will, and the Realm of Wind and Rain burst open around him!

“I shall trust you one last time!” Wang Lin muttered. To wound this elder of the Thunderflash Clan was no easy feat. His divine powers were formidable, and alone, he held two such warriors at bay. Moreover, the forbidden art he wielded, fueled by the sacrifice of his own life force, held limitless potential.

Had they fought beyond the Seven Million Worlds, where the elder could freely sacrifice centuries of his life, Wang Lin would surely be defeated.

“To wound him now, only incense will suffice! It is poison to mortals, harmless to me, but deadly when used as a weapon!” In a fraction of a breath, Wang Lin’s mind raced. The Realm of Wind and Rain roared open, and his divine voice echoed within.

“You, who I have slain, worship me! Become my disciples! Sacrifice your very souls! Offer all your incense power, gather it unto me!”

As Wang Lin’s command washed over the realm, the souls of those he had vanquished, denied the cycle of rebirth, knelt. From the crowns of their heads, torrents of incense power surged forth! Some, driven to the brink, shattered their very souls to deliver even greater quantities.

A few, beings of immense spiritual cultivation, exuded pillars of incense like smoke rising from a desert battlefield. Yet, even these paled in comparison to the ancient Immortal Consort, her white robes shimmering with an ethereal light. Her incense alone dwarfed all the rest combined.

In an instant, Wang Lin collected this power, drawing it from the Realm of Wind and Rain. It coalesced around him, forming a hazy sphere of spinning incense, its chaotic energies emitting a palpable pressure.

The Grand Elder’s eyes constricted at this new development. This battle had been fraught with unforeseen events, but this swirling ball of incense filled him with a primal dread.

“Incense?! You… you possess incense!” he rasped, his voice laced with disbelief.

Knowing time was fleeting, Wang Lin’s eyes hardened with purpose. Seizing the incense sphere in an invisible grasp, he hurled it forward. It struck the vortex of six divine thunders and exploded in a cataclysmic release.

Incense power, the very lifeblood of Third Step Immortals, unleashed its chaotic fury. Heaven and earth trembled, the fabric of the cosmos tearing asunder. The six divine thunders wavered, their forms distorting.

As most of the incense dissipated, Wang Lin roared, his voice echoing across the Realm of Wind and Rain.

“Shatter your souls! Offer your incense!”

At his command, countless souls within the realm dissolved, their essences sacrificed to send forth another wave of concentrated incense toward the Grand Elder.

The vortexes of divine thunder crumbled. Amidst the chaos, the remaining incense surged toward the Grand Elder, even as San Ling redoubled his assault.

Thunderous explosions ripped through the heavens. The Grand Elder coughed blood, his body now encased in a suit of shimmering azure lightning. He stumbled backward, his eyes bloodshot, and his gaze tinged with madness.

“I sacrifice life and essence! Holy, Unending Thunder of my clan, descend upon the Seven Million Worlds! Punish the mortals!” he roared. In the Seven Million Worlds, within the hallowed temple of the Thunderflash Clan, the Unending Thunder stirred.

And then, as if awakened from a long slumber, it pulsed with vibrant light, broke free from its sacred chamber, and tore through the void, hurtling toward the Seven Million Worlds!

“Now comes the moment of which I spoke, when victory is seven parts assured!” San Ling intoned, drawing a deep breath, his face a mask of sorrowful resolve.

“The Myriad Souls Array of the Seven Million Worlds… is now open!”