In the forsaken reaches of the star-strewn abyss, the celestial brigand Tan Lang was but a streak of desperate light, fleeing with the frenzy of a cornered beast. His heart echoed with curses that shattered against the void, a futile attempt to soothe the torment that gnawed at his soul. The mere thought of yet another treasure snatched away by the same loathsome hand threatened to drive him to the brink of madness.

As he hurtled through the cosmos, a ripple in space shimmered ahead, stopping him in his tracks. Terror seized Tan Lang, and with a desperate lunge, he reversed his course. His right hand shot forth, summoning from some hidden dimension a withered, palm-sized leaf, brown and brittle.

Clutching the leaf, Tan Lang hurled it with all his might towards the approaching distortion.

“One Leaf to Seal the Heavens!” he cried, his voice echoing in the desolate expanse.

The leaf, seemingly insignificant, struck the rippling void. In that instant, a radiant golden light erupted, engulfing the area. A force of profound containment surged forth, as if a miniature world had materialized from the leaf’s humble form.

The leaf expanded, dwarfing celestial bodies, and pressed itself against the fabric of space, sealing the ripple within its confines. No matter how violently the distortion writhed, it could not escape the prison of the leaf.

Tan Lang, daring not witness the outcome, blurred into motion, his feet ablaze with violet energy. The light coalesced into twin plumes of violet mist.

From the swirling vapors emerged colossal demonic apparitions, ancient and terrible. Each resembled a primal fiend, their eyes burning with malevolent energy.

With a roar that echoed through the stars, Tan Lang straddled these demonic steeds, his speed amplified to near-invisibility. In the blink of an eye, he vanished into the void.

Moments after his departure, from within the leaf-sealed space, a figure emerged, a man wreathed in shadow. It was Wang Lin, his expression a mask of grim determination. He struck out with his right fist at the imprisoning leaf.

A deafening thunderclap ripped through the void as Wang Lin’s fist met the unyielding barrier. The leaf remained unscathed, and a backlash of raw power surged towards him!

“What manner of leaf is this?” Wang Lin hissed, his eyes narrowing. Rather than meet the force head-on, he melted into the surrounding cosmos, becoming one with the void itself. He sidestepped the leaf’s influence and resumed his pursuit of Tan Lang.

As Wang Lin departed, the ripples within the leaf’s prison faded, and the leaf itself winked out of existence, vanishing into the depths from whence it came.

Tan Lang sped onward, the twin demonic steeds churning the void with their agonizing howls. As he fled, he suddenly paused, a flicker of arrogance crossing his features. In his palm materialized the very leaf he had so recently cast.

A sinister smile crept across his face. “My One Leaf to Seal the Heavens can hold even a Fifth Level Celestial Decay cultivator for a time. I doubt this Wang Lin has reached such heights!”

He pocketed the leaf and resumed his flight. But after only a moment, he halted again, a sly glint in his eyes. Once more, the leaf was cast forth, this time towards empty space ahead.

In the instant of the leaf’s impact, ripples once again emanated from the void. Tan Lang, by some unknown art, could foresee Wang Lin’s arrival and pinpoint his exact location.

“My most potent skill is escape,” Tan Lang muttered, his voice laced with pride. “In this cosmos, few can match my talent for flight! Were it not so, my treasures would have been pilfered long ago, and my life forfeit a thousand times over!” With a final snarl, he dissolved back into the void, fleeing once more.

But in that instant, a crimson tide erupted from the distant reaches of space, a river of blood that painted the cosmos in hues of terror. An earsplitting screech accompanied the crimson wave, chilling the very soul.

Tan Lang paled, his eyes widening in horror. Before he could react, the blood tide engulfed him. The crimson maw, traveling at an inconceivable velocity, devoured him whole.

As the tide passed through Tan Lang’s form, a cacophony of metallic screams ripped through the void. A wretched cry pierced the din. Tan Lang was hurled away, coughing up a torrent of crimson. His face was ashen, and beneath his torn garments, a gleam of dark metal was revealed – a suit of concealed armor.

The armor was fractured, the cracks spider-webbing across its surface. The Bloodsword, the instrument of his torment, spun away, thrown back by the force of its own impact.

Tan Lang, thrown and battered, raised a trembling hand. The demonic steeds beneath him dissolved into two streams of black mist, swirling around him like a vortex. The cacophony intensified as the vortex enveloped Tan Lang, carrying him away in a desperate escape.

All of this unfolded in the blink of an eye. Just as Tan Lang fled in his tempest of shadow, Wang Lin stepped forth from behind the leaf-seal. Without hesitation, he seized the leaf, crushing its power within his grasp.

Tan Lang, wounded and desperate, could no longer command the artifact. With the leaf now firmly in his possession, Wang Lin unleashed a torrent of seals, binding its magic. Without taking time to study it, he cast it into his storage dimension.

When he looked up, Tan Lang had vanished. A hint of excitement flickered in Wang Lin’s eyes.

“Interesting… this Tan Lang is a veritable trove of treasures! Each encounter with this scoundrel grants me a boon, a new acquisition.

I had thought his coffers emptied long ago, yet here he stands, possessed of even greater riches! I know his nature. Unless driven to desperation, he will not reveal his full arsenal, but instead dole them out one by one, like a miser parting with his coins!

And beyond the treasures themselves, there are mysteries surrounding him. Where do his artifacts originate? And how did he enter these ancient star-fields? These are questions that demand answers!” With a purposeful stride, Wang Lin vanished.

Thus, began a cosmic hunt, a desperate chase that spanned the star-strewn expanse. The pursuit, a spectacle of raw power and desperate flight, drew the attention of countless clans scattered across the forsaken lands. But upon witnessing the sheer speed of the two figures, all quickly turned away.

Those who could move with such velocity were undoubtedly beings of immense power, not to be trifled with.
Torn from the fabric of reality, Greed Howled in despair. Wang Lin, a shadow at his heels, was a tormentor he could not shake. A grim understanding dawned upon him, a chilling realization that he was outmatched. To surrender was unthinkable, yet escape seemed a phantom. As he tore across the celestial void, a subtle shift in the astral currents pricked at his senses. With a guttural cry, Greed clutched at nothingness, and a sable vial materialized in his withered hand.

Crystalline with frigid sorcery, the vial pulsed with malevolent energy. Upon its surface danced etchings of ancient horrors – the visages of primeval demons. Greed spat forth a crimson offering upon the vessel. “Three hundred demon souls I borrow,” he roared, his voice cracking with desperation, “to slay this interloper! In return, I shall deliver three thousand souls to quench your eternal thirst!”

The blood vanished the moment it met the surface. As Greed’s grip tightened, twin barbs of obsidian erupted from the vial, piercing his flesh, greedily draining his lifeblood into the void within.

The crimson tide ebbed, staining the bottle’s core. A sigh, pregnant with unfulfilled hunger, echoed from the depths. Then, the vial unleashed a torrent of black mist. It belched forth like a volcanic eruption, consuming the starlight.

From the inky abyss, writhing forms took shape – a legion of single-horned demons. The Ancient Fiends, their eyes blazing with madness and millennia of pent-up rage, were unleashed upon the cosmos. Their agonizing cries, echoing with eons of suffering, tore through the silence of space. Three hundred demons emerged, swirling around Greed like a tempestuous maelstrom.

Each demon pulsed with the power of a Celestial Tribulation, First Fall, and together they unleashed a storm of demonic energy that threatened to consume the very stars. The whirlwind of darkness slammed against the void, and Wang Lin materialized before it, a fleeting apparition.

His eyes narrowed, recognizing the grotesque figures that composed the storm. They were echoes of the ancient demon Taga, yet… different. The left eye of each demon lacked the telltale star-mark. Instead, a swirling nebula of tainted energy writhed within its depths, and as it locked eyes with Wang Lin, the Ancient God star upon his brow flared to life, spinning with untamed power.

“The Essence of an Ancient God!” Wang Lin exclaimed, his tone shifting to surprise.

He felt it then – the energy that fueled the demons’ wrath, the swirling power within their eyes, the stolen strength of a forsaken Ancient God!

“These three hundred demons… sealed by a god of old!” Insight flooded Wang Lin’s mind. Just as the storm of demonic energy crashed upon him, a thunderous roar erupted from his very being.

***

It was not a spell, not a technique, but the primal scream of a god. The Ancient God star upon his brow unleashed a torrent of godly power, transforming his roar into a wave of celestial force that crashed against the demonic tempest.

The storm faltered, its momentum shattered. The three hundred demons, filled with sudden and unexplainable fear, recoiled from the sound. Memories, buried deep within their being, surfaced – visions of a forgotten past where gods reigned supreme, and demons trembled in their wake. The flood of memory overwhelmed them.

With a thunderous clap, the storm collapsed. The three hundred demons scattered, fleeing into the void.

The transformation was so swift, so unexpected, that Greed stood dumbfounded. His treasure, his trump card, had been rendered useless by a single god-like roar.

“So, Greed… now I know the source of your tainted power!” Wang Lin exclaimed, his voice filled with a ravenous joy. “I see you have trespassed in forbidden places!” And with that, he took his first step toward the crippled Greed.