Si Mozi’s face was ashen. Though his words dripped with malice, he dared not, within the heart of the Emperor Star and before the ancient Vermillion Bird, slay Wang Lin. Such an act would invite annihilation upon his head.

Yet, if he did not spill blood, perhaps the matter would not escalate too far. After all, Si Mozi stood beneath the banner of the Elder Council, a scion of the esteemed Grand Empyrean! This incense-laden bow, therefore, was a calculated strike – a means to utterly cripple Wang Lin, forcing a retreat.

Thus, none could rightly condemn him, and he could depart unscathed.

The boundless soul-force of incense, channeled through a single bow, coalesced into a violet tempest that swept across the heavens. From all directions, it converged upon Wang Lin, painting the very cosmos in shades of amethyst, as though corrupted by a demonic dye. Such power, born of incense, was a devastating sorcery, capable of obliterating even a Fifth Decay Celestial. But Wang Lin’s mastery over the Thunder Origin was profound, his Flame Origin had reached the ethereal realm, and he had once battled Shui Daozi himself. Though he sensed the imminent peril, fear was absent. Instead, a fierce battle lust ignited within his eyes.

Truly, this was Wang Lin’s first true engagement with a Third Step Paragon. In his previous encounter with Shui Daozi, he could only parry and evade, never daring to strike. Yet, the days spent amidst the Ancient Star Domain had wrought a dramatic surge in his power.

He had risen from mere defense to the cusp of defiance. As the violet tempest roared towards him, Wang Lin’s right eye blazed with lightning. He took a single step back, his hand withering, then abruptly slashed outwards.

“Open, the Ancient Thunder Realm!”

The heavens thundered. Amidst the violet-stained sky, torn asunder by Wang Lin’s force, a colossal rift materialized. The rent, a thousand fathoms in length, seemed to cleave through the very essence of the amethyst corruption, revealing itself before Wang Lin. Within, lightning crackled and roared, emanating an aura of primeval antiquity. From its depths echoed the earth-shattering roars of Ancient Thunder Dragons, their immense forms shimmering in the fractured light of the rift.

Ten thousand fathoms of lightning surged forth, writhing and twisting through the violet tempest.

All this transpired in the blink of an eye, faster than thought itself. In the moment following the tearing open of the Ancient Thunder Realm, the thunderous glyphs within Wang Lin’s right pupil pulsed wildly, then erupted forth, hurtling towards the rift.

Simultaneously, a roar of unparalleled force drowned out all other clamor within the rift. A single, colossal head of an Ancient Thunder Dragon emerged, its myriad-fathom form surging forth with a deafening crash, heading straight for the Thunder Glyph.

In a heartbeat, the dragon merged with one of the nine attendant thunders that circled Wang Lin’s glyph, causing that thunder’s power to erupt exponentially. Yet this was not the end. With impossible speed, Ancient Thunder Dragons emerged, one after the other, to merge with each of the attendant thunders, just as the violet tempest fell upon him.

“Let the Ancient Thunder Realm be the foundation of my Thunder Glyph, let the nine Ancient Thunder Dragons become the soul of my attendant thunders! Unleash the ultimate power of thunder!” Wang Lin’s voice resonated through the heavens. His long hair whipped about him. He raised his right hand and pointed.

Besides flame, Wang Lin’s most potent skill was his mastered Thunder Origin, especially after devouring the Imperishable Thunder of the Flash Lightning Clan and scouring the memories of their Grand Elder. His mastery over thunder sorcery had reached its zenith. How else could he have used the Thunder Origin to conjure the Void Gate and cleave a path through it?

As he pointed, the nine attendant thunders, now fused with Ancient Thunder Dragons, began to spin with furious speed around the Thunder Glyph rooted in the thousand-fathom rift, and a cataclysmic battle began with the approaching violet tempest. From afar, the thousand-fathom rift resembled a bolt of lightning, especially with the endless arcs of electricity arcing within and without.

The nine attendant thunders transformed into a storm of lightning, shaking the heavens and earth. The violet tempest became a purple storm, sweeping all before it, fueled by Si Mozi’s grand gesture and the prayers of countless incense-fed souls. It crashed headlong into Wang Lin’s thunderous maelstrom. The nine Ancient Thunder Dragons spun, unleashing endless lightning, amplified by the vast, primordial power that emanated from the Ancient Thunder Realm.

The clash of these two storms caused the Emperor Star to tremble violently. The land beneath them was flattened as if by the hand of an invisible god. The colossal tortoise beneath them cried out in agony as it shuddered and disintegrated.

The tortoise’s demise triggered the dissolution of the formation, and many cultivators who watched from the edges vomited blood and were sent flying.

The Thunder Storm detonated violently, dissolving into myriad bolts of electricity arcing outwards. The nine attendant thunders were hurled back, and even the Ancient Thunder Realm in the sky began to buckle, seemingly about to vanish.

The violet tempest, in turn, convulsed violently. Much of it collapsed under the onslaught of Wang Lin’s Thunder Origin, and countless incense-fueled souls within were swept away and annihilated.

The unseen hand that swept the earth now swept the sky, erasing those souls.

Si Mozi’s robes billowed. His eyes glittered. Amidst the tempestuous chaos, he stepped back and waved his hands, muttering, “My incense-fueled souls are endless! Destroy these, and still more shall come! From the Incense Realm, my disciples shall rise again!”

As he cried out, more incense-fed souls surged from the gaping rift of the Incense Realm behind Si Mozi.

Blood trickled from Wang Lin’s lips. His face was pallid. He staggered back, but as he retreated, he abruptly lifted his head, his eyes blazing with defiance. He resisted the urge to retreat. Instead, he stepped forward, his body a blur of motion. He flipped his hand, and a withered, yellowed leaf materialized. As the leaf appeared, the ancient god stars between Wang Lin’s brows shimmered into existence. He spat out a mouthful of blood, the blood of an ancient god.

As the blood fell upon the leaf, it began to radiate crimson light. Wang Lin flung the leaf, encircled by crimson light, towards Si Mozi. It moved at incredible speed, becoming larger as it flew. In a moment, it had grown to a hundred fathoms, a thousand fathoms, ten thousand fathoms.

The Ancient Breath Leaf was a treasure that Greed Wolf had obtained from the ancient tomb. Its origins were shrouded in mystery. Even with Greed Wolf’s cultivation base, it had been able to seal Wang Lin’s Space Shrinking technique, forcing him to evade it instead of forcibly breaking the seal. Now, Wang Lin, as an ancient god, nourished it with his blood and wielded it with the correct method. Its power now far surpassed anything Greed Wolf could achieve.

With a single leaf, Wang Lin sought to blot out the sky! The Ancient Breath Leaf swept past Si Mozi, appearing outside the rift of his Incense Realm, then surged upward and plastered itself against the rent.

“Seal! Seal! Seal!” Wang Lin roared. The Ancient Breath Leaf flashed violently, releasing seal-like runes that slammed against the Incense Realm rift. Under the leaf’s power, the Incense Realm quaked, and not a single soul could escape.

This sudden turn of events shocked Si Mozi. His eyes widened in disbelief. In all his years of cultivation, he had never heard of a treasure that could seal the Incense Realm of a Third Step Paragon. “What… what is this treasure?!”

Not only was Si Mozi shocked, but even the ancient Vermillion Bird’s eyes constricted, revealing utter disbelief.

“The little rascal actually possesses such a treasure!”

Even Yun Luo, the Grand Empyrean, grew paler. The fear in her eyes was now undisguised. She trembled, instinctively stepping back. She vividly remembered the visions she had seen, one of which depicted this man waving his hand and conjuring ninety-nine identical leaves that sealed the heavens and completely nullified a devastating Ancient Star Domain technique.

Wang Lin’s eyes were bloodshot. Having sealed Si Mozi’s Incense Realm with the Ancient Breath Leaf, he did not pause. He stepped forward, heading straight for Si Mozi. “Ancient Demon Soul, emerge!”

In a flash, Wang Lin was within a hundred fathoms of Si Mozi. As he roared, black mist swirled from his chest, the atmosphere instantly thick with demonic energy.

It transformed into a miniature version of Wang Lin, his Ancient Demon Soul. The moment the soul appeared, it howled into the sky, its body writhing in demonic energy. A spear, half-real, half-illusory, materialized in its grasp and the small demon gripped it tight and lunged straight for Si Mozi.

A flash of cold light sparkled in Si Mozi’s eyes. But as malice ignited within him, the ethereal fire kindled in his body. Ignoring the flames, Si Mozi stepped forward, lifting his right hand. Violet light surged within it.

“In my service to the Grand Empyrean, I earned his boon – the Violet Origin of the Seven Colors. The path of violet is the harbinger of madness. Your meager treasure, if it possesses even a shred of sentience, shall be driven insane by my violet path!” Si Mozi’s right hand, seemingly grasping all the violet essence in the world, slashed forward.

A deafening roar erupted. Violet mist swept forth, converging upon Wang Lin’s Ancient Demon Soul. A look of joy spread across the soul’s face as it screamed and lunged forward, opening its maw and inhaling deeply.

The delight in its eyes intensified.

Ancient demons were the apex of all demons in the world. What fear could it have of madness? The more insane it was, the denser its demonic nature became. After consuming a portion of the violet mist, the Ancient Demon Soul’s eyes turned scarlet. With even greater speed, it pierced through the mist and lunged towards Si Mozi.