The echoes of the collapsed golden elixir still thundered across the heavens, a constant drone in the wake of the cataclysm. Simozi, wounded by the earlier blast, the metallic tang of his own blood still lingering on his tongue, felt his pupils contract. A terror unlike any he had known seized his eyes, filling them with a primal fear.

He retreated in frantic haste. A wave of deathly pressure descended, an invisible force threatening to crush him utterly.

The destruction wrought by the Blazing Fire Shard was far more intense than the Dragon Collapse Pill. It contained the very essence of celestial flame, compressed to an impossible degree by Wang Lin’s will, forming a force capable of obliterating even a cultivator in the Fifth Decay of the Heavens and Man.

Simozi’s wounded body moved almost instinctively. As Wang Lin’s voice boomed the single word, “Detonate!”, the Blazing Fire Shard erupted in a blinding radiance. The light engulfed the entire cultivation star, painting the heavens in its unbearable brilliance.

A tormented scream ripped from Simozi’s throat as the light washed over him, igniting him from within. The flames that consumed him were a deep, unearthly blue, untouched by the garments he wore, yet devouring his flesh and searing his very soul.

The harrowing cry of agony was enough to chill the heart of any who heard it!

Yet, even this was not enough. After enduring Wang Lin’s two deadly assaults, Simozi was gravely injured, but not yet slain. His eyes, however, were glazed over with terror. Escape was the only thought that remained, a desperate, primal urge: Flee! Flee! Flee!

But even as the thought coalesced, a crimson tide surged through the flames, as if the very sky bled. Simultaneously, a keening sword-song ripped through the heavens, and a short, blood-red blade shot forth, aimed directly at Simozi’s heart.

The blade moved with such speed that the eye could not follow. Even the divine sense struggled to lock onto its trajectory. Its velocity seemed to defy the very laws of the cosmos, reaching Simozi in the blink of an eye.

The wounded Simozi could not evade it. With a sickening thud, the crimson blade pierced his chest. Blood gushed from both his front and back, and a series of internal pops echoed, yet still, he did not fall, but staggered backward!

Simozi’s avatar, as a cultivator of the Fifth Decay, was not easily vanquished. Wang Lin, in preparation for this battle, had spared no effort. The Dragon Collapse Pill, the Blazing Fire Shard, millions of sword auras, and, at the crucial moment, the Bloodlight Sword. In this brief span, Wang Lin had unleashed his full arsenal. Though he had failed to slay the cultivator of the Fifth Decay outright,

he had achieved a feat that would earn him acclaim both within and beyond the borders of the Realm. For he was merely a cultivator with a single perfected Origin. Should his Second, Third, Fourth, and Fifth Origins reach completion, Wang Lin, even without opening the Door of Emptiness, could stand against a Third Step Great Expert!

Seeing that Simozi still clung to life, Wang Lin’s expression darkened. He stepped forward, raising his right hand to the heavens, preparing to unleash another spell. But at that moment, the same voice from before echoed from the void.

“My Desolate Land is not a place to be entered and exited at your whim.”

As the words reverberated, Simozi fled toward the horizon. Ripples of space emanated from his body as he prepared to teleport away, but as he neared his escape, the sky twisted violently. An invisible wave of energy swirled into a gargantuan vortex.

Just as Simozi was about to vanish, a finger of impossible size erupted from the vortex, descending upon him with terrifying speed!

The finger dwarfed the heavens themselves, seemingly crafted from pure energy. Though translucent, it stood apart from the sky, a force of nature descending with unfathomable velocity.

It threatened to pierce the earth’s core, to shatter the very fabric of the stars. With a final, despairing scream, Simozi was crushed beneath the finger’s weight.

He could not dodge, could not flee. An indescribable power had taken root, freezing him in place. Even his intended teleportation was rendered impossible.

As the fingertip made contact, Simozi’s body convulsed. Blood sprayed forth, and cracks spiderwebbed across his flesh. With a final, deafening explosion, his body shattered into countless fragments. His soul, too, fragmented, and scattered alongside his flesh into nothingness.

The wind swept through, carrying with it the scent of blood. It lingered long after, a haunting reminder of what had transpired.

The voice from the void remained silent. As the finger slowly retreated back into the swirling vortex above, all traces of the encounter vanished, and the world slowly returned to its former state, as if nothing had happened.

The cultivation star was shrouded in an eerie silence. The Fire Sparrow Clan elder and his kin stared in disbelief, still reeling from the scene.

The Dragon Armor Clan’s young lord, his face pale, betrayed a mix of fear and regret. He retreated to his father’s side, his body taut with anxiety.

“Father, this is ill-omened. This one seems to have found favor with the Emperor. We…”

His father, the patriarch of the Dragon Armor Clan, his face grave as he looked up to the sky, interrupted his son, speaking in a deep voice.

“There is no need to panic. He is strong to have gravely injured, even forced back Simozi’s Avatar of the Fifth Decay, your father is no match for him. But I am the Ninth Elder of the Fallen Star Assembly, unswervingly loyal to the Emperor. This mere outsider, even if the Emperor spoke those words, if this man provokes this old man, the Emperor will surely destroy him!”

“Hmph. He would not dare to trouble your father. If I were him, I would leave immediately to find a secluded place to heal from his wounds.”

Wang Lin hovered in mid-air, taking a deep breath. The battle with Simozi’s Avatar, though brief, had been fraught with danger. Internal wounds plagued his body, and the Emperor’s ambiguous attitude filled his heart with trepidation.

“Simozi’s Avatar, though gravely wounded, was slain with a single finger. This Emperor’s cultivation far exceeds even that of the Water Daoist. I wonder how he compares to the Blue Dream Dao Sovereign! And this man clearly helped me…” Wang Lin’s eyes flashed almost imperceptibly. He had intended to leave, for his wounds demanded immediate attention.

But as his gaze swept across the landscape of the cultivation star, a cold light glinted in his eyes.
The Ninth Elder of the Fallen Star Society dared aid Sima Mozi, thus making himself my enemy!” Wang Lin’s voice was a chilling whisper, yet held the weight of a looming storm. “The Ninth Elder…I shall see just where the Great Emperor draws his line!” Wang Lin was not one to suffer an affront lightly. He sought no quarrels, but woe betide any who dared cross his path. For such transgression, there was rarely forgiveness.

With a cold snort that echoed with barely suppressed fury, he turned, becoming a comet of wrath hurtling towards the stronghold of the Dragon Armor Clan.

His speed was a celestial blur, a roaring cascade that shook the very foundations of the cultivation star. Every cultivator who had witnessed his battle against Sima Mozi knew better than to even consider interference.

The young heir of the Dragon Armor Clan blanched, stumbling backwards. “Father…he…he…” he stammered, fear choking his words.

The Dragon Armor Clan Chieftain felt a cold dread grip his heart. He had not anticipated such brazen retaliation. Despite the tremors of fear that ran through him, a flicker of cruel hope ignited as he recalled Wang Lin’s wounds.

“All Dragon Armor warriors of the Second Step, bar any outsider from setting foot within our lands!” The Chieftain’s voice boomed, a desperate defiance thrown into the void. Immediately, nearly a dozen figures, powerful cultivators of the Second Step, surged forth, their faces grim with apprehension, ready to form a desperate shield.

But even as they stirred, the heavens themselves seemed to tear asunder. A meteor forged of thunder and lightning plunged from the sky, and Wang Lin was there, standing in the very heart of the Dragon Armor Clan. Even as the Second Step warriors rose to meet him, he raised his right hand and slammed it down with the force of a collapsing world.

“BEGONE!”

The word was a thunderclap, a decree that ripped through the air. As Wang Lin’s palm descended, a colossal hand, shimmering with ethereal energy, materialized above the Dragon Armor Clan and crashed down upon them.

The ten Second Step cultivators were struck as though by a physical god. They coughed up blood, their bodies flailing like puppets on broken strings. Three of them shattered instantly, their flesh disintegrating into dust.

Nothing could stem the tide of the descending hand. With a deafening roar, it struck the earth, sending tremors through the land. The very ground of the Dragon Armor Clan cracked and buckled.

“A mere rabble dares to scheme against Wang Lin? You have chosen death!” Wang Lin’s laughter was a chilling counterpoint to the chaos. He descended, his eyes burning with a cold fire as they fixed upon the father and son, the Chieftain and the heir, who stood petrified before him.

Terror flickered in the Dragon Armor Clan Chieftain’s eyes. He had never imagined that Wang Lin, even wounded, could wield such devastating power. Even the single blow he just delivered held a power he could never have hoped to face.

Wang Lin’s face was a mask of icy fury. He raised his right hand, pointing a single finger towards the heavens. Immediately, lightning arced, coalescing into a vortex of crackling energy above him.

The Dragon Armor Clan Chieftain’s face contorted in desperation. He grabbed his son, dragging him back as he shrieked, “You dare kill me?! I am the Ninth Elder of the Fallen Star Society, appointed by the Great Emperor himself! You harm me even a hair’s breadth, and the Great Emperor will tear you limb from limb!”

At that moment, a blinding light appeared on the horizon. A sword beam, a celestial river of gleaming metal, streaked through the void, hurtling directly towards them.

The Dragon Armor Clan Chieftain’s eyes widened, the fear vanishing to be replaced by unbridled joy.

“An emissary of the Great Emperor!” he roared. “The Great Emperor has sent an emissary! You, a mere outsider, dare to provoke the Fallen Star Society? Today, you meet your end!” The young heir gasped and his own face filled with glee.

Wang Lin looked up, showing no immediate aggression. He simply watched the approaching spectacle with eyes as cold as winter.

From within the sword beam, a man emerged, clad in crimson robes. There was no hint of cultivation radiating from him, not even Wang Lin could sense the presence of power within him. Clearly, the emissary had perfected some sort of arcane technique to mask his true strength.

“Ninth Elder of the Fallen Star Society, I greet the Great Emperor’s Emissary! I beg you, Emissary, to avenge me!” The Dragon Armor Clan Chieftain bowed low, his voice dripping with obsequiousness. His son echoed his actions, his posture radiating the same fervent respect.

The crimson robed man’s expression remained icy and aloof. With a flick of his wrist, he produced a scarlet jade token.

“Hear the decree of the Great Emperor!”

The Dragon Armor Clan Chieftain visibly trembled, bowing even lower.

“The Great Emperor orders that the Dragon Armor Clan Chieftain is stripped of his title as Ninth Elder of the Fallen Star Society. He is granted a single elixir, to be ingested forthwith!” The crimson robed man finished, flicking his sleeve. Immediately, a black pill shot from his hand, landing inches from the Dragon Armor Clan Chieftain’s face.

The Chieftain’s body stiffened, his face draining of all color. He stared, dumbfounded, at the dark pill floating before him.

“Poison…a Poisoned Fate Pill…? This…this…”

The crimson robed man’s face was expressionless as he said, “Some are not meant to be provoked or manipulated, and you must pay the price for your insolence.” He then turned towards Wang Lin, and his face transformed into a mask of reverent deference. He bowed deeply and said,

“This humble servant pays respects to the Young Emperor!”