The incense of Mortality extinguished! Such a thing…never before conceived! Not even in my own Trials of Ascendancy, nor in those of the Fourth Scarlet Sparrow! The incense…snuffed out! The Ancient Sparrow’s heart quailed; his gaze, fixed on the extinguished flame, betrayed a profound dread.

“The flame is dead. Is the time in the Trial merely seven breaths…or an eternity?”

“What transpired in the Trial of the Third Imperial Scion that could snuff the incense of the Mortal Realm?!”

“This is too ghastly even for imagination…”

As the surrounding cultivators reeled in shock and uproar, an even more astounding event unfolded! The second incense, representing the Trial of the Terrestrial Realm, ignited in a manner most bizarre!

Untouched by any hand, the second incense flared, billowing forth thick, acrid smoke!

Wang Lin, having shattered the heavens of the Mortal Realm, emerged upon a vast, endless plain. From the very point of his arrival, fissures spiderwebbed across the land, leading to a colossal chasm. This abyss was the gateway back to the Mortal Realm!

He erupted from this pit, a whirlwind of fire scattering in all directions, bathing the landscape in crimson light.

At the very edge of this land, atop a barren peak, sat a solitary figure. He appeared a man of middle years, clad in scholar’s robes and a square cap. Upon his brow shone the spectral mark of the Scarlet Sparrow.

He had sat in lotus posture for what seemed an age, unmoving. But now, slowly, his eyes opened. They gleamed with an otherworldly light.

“The essence of my kin…”

The instant Wang Lin set foot in the Terrestrial Realm, the fiery sky pulsed violently. A wave of azure light surged forth, engulfing the heavens. The land was consumed in a sea of cyan fire.

Close on its heels came a blaze of cerulean flame. Azure and cerulean intertwined, unleashing a scorching heat. And behind them, like ink bleeding across the sky, a tide of violet swept in, transforming the heavens into a maelstrom of demonic energy.

The Trial of Azure, Cerulean, and Violet Fire crashed down upon Wang Lin, a cataclysm of flame threatening to consume him. His face contorted in agony, his very soul poised to shatter. The flames within his own body rose in rebellion, clouding his vision.

In an instant, his inner fire burst forth, tearing him asunder. Scarlet, orange, crimson, emerald – a torrent of colors ripped his form apart. Even the essence of the Scarlet Sparrow, fused within him, perished with a piercing cry.

Wang Lin’s spirit fragmented.

Simultaneously, the approaching Azure, Cerulean, and Violet Fire coalesced around his shattered soul. A gathering of seven colors ignited into being, creating a spectacle of rainbow fire consuming the heavens!

At the edge of the world, the scholar’s face paled. With a sudden gesture, he thrust forth his hand. The mark upon his brow pulsed, then detached itself, flying with impossible speed toward the swirling chaos.

Upon the Emperor’s Star, at the foot of the incense of Mortality, Wang Lin was enveloped in rainbow fire. Cracks spread across his flesh, a spiderweb of fractures that seeped with crimson ichor.

Without hesitation, the Ancient Sparrow blurred into motion, appearing at the burning second incense. Ignoring its chaotic blaze, he laid his right hand upon it, unleashing a torrent of his immense spirit.

The Azure Dream Dao Lord likewise strode forward, appearing beside the second incense. His body shimmered with azure light, and with two swift fingers, he touched the flame.

Within the Terrestrial Realm, the rainbow fire threatened to consume Wang Lin’s very soul, a fate even a First Generation Scarlet Sparrow Elder could not withstand without the divine protection of an Immortal.

Just as his spirit was about to be extinguished, three powers of rescue arrived. But in that very instant, from the heart of the blazing rainbow, a singular force awoke!

Ancient and boundless, it pulsed with the very essence of Creation. From the seven-hued flames, it radiated outwards like the ancestor of all things!

The scholar’s Scarlet Sparrow mark struck against this power and was flung back through the void.

The awakened force permitted no intrusion. None were worthy to approach it even halfway!

Upon the barren peak, the scholar staggered, his eyes wide with unimaginable horror.

“What…what is that?!”

The Ancient Sparrow’s spirit drew close, only to be instantly repelled, hurled back beyond the boundaries of the Terrestrial Realm!

The Azure Dream Dao Lord’s spirit followed, only to retreat just as quickly, his azure light shimmering with shock. In a heartbeat, he was forced out of the realm.

On the Emperor’s Star, the Ancient Sparrow’s hand was violently thrown aside. He recoiled, his eyes filled with disbelief, stumbling backwards.

“What manner of force is this?!”

The Azure Dream Dao Lord, his fingers numb, likewise retreated, a look of stunned recognition on his face. He knew much of Wang Lin, and understood that the terrible power…it was…

“The Heavenly Defiance…” The Azure Dream Dao Lord said no more, but after a moment of silence, he returned to Li Qianmei’s side.

“He will suffer no harm, not this time.”

Si Mozi watched, his face etched with awe. He knew well the intentions of the Azure Dream Dao Lord and the Ancient Sparrow. But he had never imagined such powerful beings being cast aside!

Yun Luo, the Great Diviner, his face dark with worry, channeled even more essence, for he felt he was about to understand all of the secrets of this trial.

Even Miao Yin Dao Lord stirred from her cloud seat, her gaze flashing with an awakening of interest.

“What Water Daozi told us has been proven true!”
Within the boundaries of that forsaken realm, at the very precipice where Wang Lin’s soul was to be consumed to utter oblivion, the Celestial Jewel finally stirred! Since the departure of the Sealed Realm Sovereign ages past, the Jewel had remained dormant. No matter how Wang Lin delved into the depths of his consciousness, he could not find it, as if it had vanished into the ether.

But now, the Celestial Jewel was reborn!

The instant it manifested, the iridescent flames surrounding it trembled violently, swirling with unbridled ferocity. All were drawn into the Jewel’s strange and potent aura, transforming into seven embers of eternal fire!

A bead, no larger than a babe’s fist, hovered in the desolate expanse. Around it danced the seven embers, slowly coalescing. From them, a spectral form began to take shape, as if reforged from the very essence of existence.

The seven embers took their places upon the ethereal form, marking its very being!

The phantom opened its closed eyes. A cataclysmic burst of iridescent fire erupted, unleashing a tempest of chromatic conflagration that roared across the heavens. Wang Lin, serene amidst the swirling chaos, lifted his gaze to the distant sky.

In that single, breathtaking moment, the world was stripped of its hues, leaving only the vibrant, rainbow inferno around Wang Lin, and a stark, desolate canvas of black and white!

Like a somber landscape painting, the black and white landscape emanated an aura of boundless sorrow and age.

The Ninth Cycle Tribulation, the final two trials, descended!

White became the sky, black the earth, two flames of opposing nature converging upon Wang Lin. In an instant, they surged forth, as if the heavens and earth sought to crush him, the seven-hued firestorm, and everything within, into nothingness.

With terrifying speed, they arrived. The white flame led the charge, its scorching heat incinerating the rainbow tempest. The swirling colors faltered, and with the white flame’s embrace, the storm gained yet another hue!

Encircled by eight colors, Wang Lin remained composed, watching the final, ebony blaze approach!

The Ninth Cycle Tribulation, born of black flame, was destined to return to black flame, completing its agonizing cycle!

As the black fire drew near, Wang Lin’s eyes slowly closed. The roar was deafening as the black flames engulfed the earth and crashed inward, transforming the eight-hued fire into a complete, all-consuming nine!

The Ninefold Tribulation, unleashed in its entirety, became a cataclysmic storm raging across the desolate landscape. At its heart stood Wang Lin, his hair dancing in the wind, his body rapidly consumed not only by the seven eternal fires but by the coalescing black and white flames.

The white fire settled in his dantian, the black fire at his brow!

As the two flames fully transformed, Wang Lin’s eyes snapped open!

The heavens trembled!

“I ignite the flames of my karmic retribution!” Wang Lin’s voice echoed across the ravaged landscape. In an instant, the nine fires within him surged towards his brow, merging in a blinding flash.

They coalesced into a nine-hued lotus of fire!

The lotus, adorned with nine petals, each a different color, bloomed into existence. And in the very moment of its birth, a nine-colored Vermillion Bird materialized within, soaring forth with explosive force!

The nine-colored Vermillion Bird, reborn from the lotus’ flames, danced in the sky, its head thrown back in a piercing, earth-shattering cry – the Vermillion Bird’s lament!

A Fourth Awakening’s song!

Upon the Emperor Star, that awakening’s echo resonated. The incense of destiny, only half-consumed, abruptly ceased its burning. It radiated a nine-colored light, bathing the entire star in its vibrant glow.

The Old Vermillion Bird, momentarily stunned, erupted in triumphant laughter, its face brimming with excitement.

“He overcame the Ninefold Tribulation! He ignited the flames of karmic retribution, prompting the Vermillion Bird’s Fourth Awakening! The Fourth Awakening demands immense fiery power. Whether it will fully awaken, whether he will ascend from corporeal fire to ethereal flame, depends on this moment!”

“As his elder, even if I must bend the rules, I will lend him aid!” The Old Vermillion Bird chuckled and vanished from sight, leaving those around him in stunned bewilderment.

Moments later, a furious dragon’s roar echoed from the far reaches of the Emperor Star, filled with rage and resentment. A ten-thousand-foot long flame dragon was carried towards them, hoisted aloft by the Old Vermillion Bird!

Before the eyes of awestruck cultivators, the Old Vermillion Bird, still carrying the struggling, roaring dragon, arrived at the incense of destiny. With a wave of its right hand, it ripped open an old, scabbed wound on the dragon’s head, causing a waterfall of blood to surge forth, drenching the burning incense!

Writhing in agony, the flame dragon’s eyes seemed to glisten with tears, filled with resentment and despair. Its struggles intensified.

A resounding “crack!” echoed as the Old Vermillion Bird slammed its hand onto the dragon, unleashing a torrent of fiery power that surged through its body, forcing the blood to pour forth faster and in greater volume.

“Quiet, you little wyrm! If that lad awakens fully, I’ll grant you your freedom!”

Hearing those words, the flame dragon’s eyes flickered with hesitation, but quickly hardened with determination. It clenched its jaws and began to squeeze out its blood with renewed fervor.