Score upon score of platforms, as if drawn by unseen strings of fate, hurtled through the mists with an unnatural speed, their pace rivaling that of a Celestial Deterioration cultivator at full flight.

This eerie procession lent an air of profound mystery to the ancient sepulcher. Wang Lin stood upon one such platform, his long hair whipped about his face by the gale born of their velocity.

Mists swirled and eddied around him like restless phantoms, as Wang Lin’s keen eyes surveyed all. Ever since his arrival in this ancient tomb, he had been a vigilant observer.

All here was steeped in the bizarre and unsettling. Before he could decipher its secrets, Wang Lin would not rashly act, desiring to discover the final destination of his spectral conveyance.

Below, the fog-sea stretched out, an endless abyss of unknown depth. Yet, as the platform sped onward, Wang Lin sensed a presence, a pair of unseen eyes lurking within the vaporous depths, scrutinizing him and his fellow travelers.

“Many cultivators must have entered the Ancient Tomb, yet we are scattered, perhaps each upon a similar platform, swept along by the current…”

As he pondered, time slipped by in measured increments, the keening whistle of the platform’s flight drowning out all other sounds. After several hours, Wang Lin’s gaze sharpened, noting a subtle distortion in the mist ahead. Before he could fully discern its nature, his platform crashed through the warped vapor.

The world shifted violently, and cries of astonishment escaped the lips of the bewildered cultivators. Wang Lin and his twenty-four companions found themselves in a place sealed away within the ancient tomb since time immemorial, untouched by mortal foot for countless ages. The space was perhaps tens of thousands of fathoms across, its edges bounded by twisting spatial rifts, forming an impenetrable prison.

Their platform had shattered through one of these rents in reality. The vista that unfolded was steeped in crimson. The very heavens were a bloody red, and the ground was not fog, but solid earth, veined with rivulets of blood. The air hung heavy with the stench of iron and decay.

At the heart of this dreadful realm knelt a towering figure, a primal god of perhaps a thousand fathoms in height. His visage was twisted in agony, a gaping wound in his brow, leaking an endless torrent of ichor that stained his face and the earth beneath.

His knees were shattered, revealing the ebony bone beneath. Clearly, eons ago, he had refused to kneel, and his defiance had been met with brutal force. Forced into a kneeling posture, he bore upon his back a massive slab of broken stone, a thousand fathoms across, suffused with crimson and wreathed in bloody mist, obscuring its depths.

Yet within those mists, the flickering of savage runes could be seen, as if sealing something away.

To the ancient god’s right knelt another figure, a demon four hundred fathoms tall, a single horn protruding from his brow. His countenance was a mask of rage and despair, his left eye burning with madness, the right socket empty, the eye gouged out and replaced by a flow of fresh blood.

To the god’s left, an ancient fiend of three hundred fathoms knelt in similar fashion, one eye socket empty, the remaining eye wide with terror.

The ancient god shouldered his stone burden, the ancient demon and fiend kneeling in obeisance, as if worshipping the fractured altar. This bizarre tableau was awe-inspiring, yet what truly triggered the cries of the cultivators was what crawled across the landscape. Save for the rivers of blood, the area was blanketed in figures that tilted their heads up, with crimson orbs locked on to the platform above.

Man-shaped monstrosities, tens of thousands of them, crawling over the area, many wading in the rivers to lap up the ichor. Many of the others were locked in combat but still they raised their head up to the heavens, with their eyes set on the group that was above.

Following a moment of deafening silence, the beasts erupted in a cacophony of howls, their combined voices forming a wave of sonic force that crashed upon the assembled cultivators. Several weaker members of the party, weakened from previous injuries, choked upon the sound and vomited blood. Two other cultivators were thrown off of the platform and plummeted to the ground.

They barely had a chance to scream before they were swarmed by hundreds of beasts, and ripped limb from limb.

The beasts swarmed, leaping into the air, headed for the intruders above. Having already fought off the first wave of the beasts, the cultivators understood their energy and value. Despite the sheer volume of their attackers, the group stood their ground and split up to meet the beasts head on.

“If I devour all of these beasts, my wounds will be completely healed!” Wang Lin thought to himself.

The cultivators darted around, knowing full well to not let Wang Lin get too much of the beasts power. They agreed they could not let Wang Lin be the only one that was successful, and would have to strike him down if needed to be.

“If that white robed cultivator tries to steal again, we must work together to strike him down! Let him know the consequences!” The cultivators who were the most successful in the first wave of the beasts were ruthless and cold and were prepared to face whatever was to come.

“Pah, Daoist brother! You must not slay more than ten of these beasts, or I shall turn on you and rip out your soul!” The fat cultivator, wearing his fine robes, waved around his abacus with a smile on his face.

“Slay one too many and you will die here, today! No one will be able to save you!” The thin robed cultivator, with his eyes closed spoke coldly.

“While your power is impressive, if you go against all of us, you will be struck from the group and left to die! If you do not step in line, I will be sure to watch your corpse bounce down there!” The cultivator with the monstrous fish behind him glared as he spoke with a heavy breath.

“Friend, you have been far too brash. The fortune of this land is for all to grasp, and if you become too greedy, this elder will strike you down. No matter how powerful you may be, if you do not listen to me, you will die!” The old woman with the boils on her face spoke with a sinister tone.

“Power is only impressive with wisdom. To act without thought is a waste of all you have. How sad, how sad! Are you not able to understand the consequences of your actions, or do you think you are a step above us all?” The man with the jug on his side laughed.

These words were heavy with malice and greed. The cultivators did not like how Wang Lin took the majority of the energy in the last fight and was not in the position for it to happen again. The others all nodded their head, knowing full well they would be willing to strike down Wang Lin if he got out of line.

The girl from the Seal Extermination Clan started to smile before quickly realizing how dangerous Wang Lin was and stopped immediately.

Hearing the barrage of words, Wang Lin’s face was calm. With a flash of light, his left eye burst open, and he did not shrink away from the words, instead moved with impressive speed, like a shooting star.

“How dare you!!”“You Dare!!”“Utterly delusional, you will die today!”

These words had completely enraged the cultivators around. As Wang Lin approached the beasts, they realized he had no magic cast, instead he only raised his arm. The beasts screeched, and a flame burst from the inside of their body. The beasts instantly became engulfed with fear, twisted their faces, and screamed.

In an instant, Wang Lin had turned a thousand beasts into a fireball, and the white energy started flowing out of the beasts and into Wang Lin. The fire expanded from the beasts, engulfing even more into the flames.

The beasts began to burn, being turned into dust, as Wang Lin absorbed the energy.

One thousand, three thousand, eight thousand. One hundred thousand? The vast amount of energy had engulfed Wang Lin’s body. The fire continued to devour more and more of the beasts. Wang Lin’s energy was restored in an instant.

Wang Lin was finished. “Who wants to kill me?” Wang Lin said as he turned around with a cold look on his face. In his left eye, there was a flaming nine-color flame.

“A Voidfire Cultivator!!”“How is this Possible!””

“Voidfire Cultivator! This has not been seen in tens of thousands of years! How can this be!”“He killed tens of thousands of beasts with ease! I was wanting to fight him!”

The rumors were true. The Voidfire cultivator was here. All of the cultivators were struck with fear, as they fell back tens of feet in shock. The white robed woman had a look of utter shock in her face, with a hint of fascination.

The surrounding area was silent, with only heartbeats thumping.