From the fathomless depths of the Mistsea, a colossal arm descended with a thunderous roar, the surrounding vapors tearing and swirling about it. Its speed was akin to lightning, the echoing boom spreading outwards, yet swallowed by the mist, its resonance muffled and constrained. But this descent was not a straight fall, rather a tilted plummet…

Clutched in the palm, below his chest, was Wang Lin. A crushing pain bloomed within him, yet the gargantuan fingers did not tighten further, seemingly content only to hold him captive.

Within the hand, suppressing the spirit of the venerable Miaoyin Daozun, sat the usurper, the Great Desolate Paragon, his eyes gleaming, his face shadowed with a grim unease.

Three shattered stone platforms, the tombs of Wang Lin, Miaoyin, and the Great Desolate Scattering Soul, were drawn along within this vast hand. Though cracked and scarred, they remained intact, proof that the hand did not intend to crush them.

The Great Desolate Paragon’s eyes flashed with icy resolve. He raised his right hand, forming a claw wreathed in a venomous black aura. With a snarl, he prepared to plunge his fingers into the flesh of the monstrous hand, when Wang Lin suddenly spoke.

“Hold, esteemed Senior!”

The Great Desolate Paragon frowned, struggling against the descending hand’s tearing pull. He craned his neck to glare at Wang Lin.

“Esteemed Senior has only just seized this vessel, and has yet to fully acclimate to the Miaoyin incarnation. Your heart is troubled… This aberrant arm does not fall in a straight line…” As Wang Lin spoke, his body resonated with subtle thumps. His hundreds-of-feet-tall form rapidly contracted, shrinking until he was once again of a mortal size.

In the instant of his shrinking, Wang Lin dropped, surrendering himself to the closing grip of the hand, which slammed shut with a deafening sound.

Landing in the center of the palm, Wang Lin’s eyes shone with a strange light. He casually massaged his brow with his right hand, speaking slowly.

The Great Desolate Paragon was no ordinary cultivator; his cunning was legendary. Seemingly awakened by Wang Lin’s words, he perceived the subtle truth. Indeed, the arm was not falling straight, but at an angle.

“If esteemed Senior were to agitate this strange limb, it would likely clench its fist at once. Then neither of us would easily find escape…” Wang Lin retreated a few steps, his right hand, which had been massaging his brow, falling to his side. As it descended, he stepped back several more yards.

“What is your meaning?” The Great Desolate Paragon, trapped in Miaoyin’s form, contorted his features, slowly revealing the monstrous visage of his true self.

The massive fist, not fully closed, left vast spaces within, resembling a small continent. Wang Lin retreated, sitting cross-legged a hundred yards from the Great Desolate Paragon. Before the other’s very eyes, he gathered his own tomb and Miaoyin’s. Though his face was pale, his eyes burned with an inner light.

“This one has observed the trajectory of this descent. I have formed a conjecture. Should this guess be false, then we shall work together to find our escape… But if it proves true, the appearance of this gargantuan hand may yet prove to be a blessing!” Wang Lin spoke slowly.

As he spoke, Wang Lin raised his right hand, and said: “Were it truly meant to imprison us, this arm would have fallen straight!”

“But as it is descending at a slant, it can only mean…” Wang Lin dropped his right hand, tilting it backwards, and then, with a sudden surge of blood-tinged light, he flung it forward.

“This!”

The Great Desolate Paragon’s eyes narrowed. He did not attempt to stop Wang Lin from taking Miaoyin’s tomb. Instead, he waved his own tomb away, his face etched with thought. In an instant, he understood, and glanced at Wang Lin.

“You are more clever than this old bird!”

“It has naught to do with cleverness, only a conjecture.” Wang Lin shook his head.

As they spoke, the hand that held them faltered, seeming to hover in the mist. The roaring sound ceased, and silence descended.

Wang Lin’s expression grew grave. His spirit spread throughout his being, his entire form tensed like a drawn bow, awaiting confirmation of his guess.

The Great Desolate Paragon, seemingly convinced by Wang Lin’s reasoning, tensed as well, ready to act.

Then, a piercing screech erupted as the hand, after a moment of stillness, shuddered. From the depths of the Mistsea below, a muffled roar echoed. The arm began to move!

Like a giant hurling a stone, the arm was tilted backward, and then flung forward with brutal force! The hand, with a deafening boom, propelled itself forward!

The power of this throw defied description. So swift was its motion that the cleaved mist became razors, blasting against Wang Lin and the Great Desolate Paragon.

The arm carved an arc, and at the apex of its swing, released its grip. With a thunderous roar, Wang Lin and the Great Desolate Paragon were hurled like stones, flung deep into the ancient tomb!

The force of the throw became a powerful thrust, driving them forward at speeds exceeding the Third Step Great Expert, hurtling them towards their destination.

So great was the speed that if Wang Lin had not possessed a body of an Ancient God, the formless mist ahead would have crushed him. For though intangible, at such velocity, the mist would become the hardest substance in the world!

Wang Lin’s body groaned and bled, but he pierced through the layers of mist, hurled deeper and deeper into the tomb. He had foreseen this, and prepared. At the moment of release, he unfurled like a drawn bow. He channeled his essence, raised layer upon layer of defense, and formed shields of shimmering light around himself.

Even as he was hurled, he slammed his right foot into the palm of the hand, using its momentum and his own recoil to generate additional power. The combined forces rocketed him forward, faster than the Great Desolate Paragon. He sped past him, disappearing into the mist.

That single step was a feat of incredible precision. Only by employing the Way of Power of the Xuanwu clan could Wang Lin have dared to strike the hand at such speed. Had he failed to channel the recoil, the result would have been annihilation.

Though the Great Desolate Paragon was wounded, so too was Wang Lin. And since he could not discern if the other was friend or foe, he chose to depart.

In truth, were it not for the Paragon’s cunning and earlier feigned attack on the hand, Wang Lin would not have revealed his guess. A suspicion lingered in his heart that the Great Desolate Paragon had long seen the truth of the arm’s descent and had been deliberately playing a part!

But there was no time to analyze the situation. He simply chose to leave!

The Great Desolate Paragon sped through the air, like a shooting star. He saw Wang Lin, faster than himself, flash past him, and a strange light flickered in his eyes. His right hand, which had been forming a seal, slowly unclenched.

“This man is cautious and cunning… Thrice my killing intent has been deflected… I had planned to poison him at the moment of release, but he saw through me and escaped! “ The Great Desolate Paragon’s face was shadowed as he disappeared into the mist.

Wang Lin was now moving at great speed. The mist slammed into him, and the shimmering shields around him collapsed and reformed. The force that propelled him forward only began to dissipate after half an hour.

When he slowed, and the mist could no longer harm him, Wang Lin wiped the blood from his lips and looked back, his eyes gleaming with cold light.

After a long silence, Wang Lin turned, retrieved his tomb, sat cross-legged upon it, and then summoned Miaoyin’s tomb. He raised his right hand and slammed it down. Miaoyin’s tomb shuddered, and all the numerical runes upon it burst forth. With a wave of Wang Lin’s hand, the runes converged and settled onto his tomb.

As the runes merged, Wang Lin’s tomb trembled violently. It shone and expanded, growing from three thousand feet to four thousand feet!

Its color had now turned a complete black, seeming to merge into the mist!

A Fourth-Order Tomb!

Wang Lin did not pause. He grasped again at the void, and nearly a hundred more runes appeared. These runes were gathered from the dead cultivators of the collapsed seal.

He poured the runes into the Fourth-Order tomb. It shuddered again, expanding swiftly, until, in a flash, it became five thousand feet!

From a distance, the five-thousand-foot tomb was vast and imposing!

Miaoyin’s tomb had already been close to Fourth Order, and with Wang Lin’s runes, his tomb reached Fifth Order!

As Wang Lin sat cross-legged upon it, he felt tendrils of spirit probing out of the tomb and into his body. He had experienced this before, and was not alarmed. Focusing his spirit, the map in his mind was suddenly expanded, revealing two more sections!

Five maps were now connected, revealing nearly half the face of the Ancient Tomb!

When Wang Lin located his position, his eyes narrowed!

“It has brought me here!”

In half an hour, the hand had cast Wang Lin across the previous three maps, through the fourth, and delivered him to the edge of the fifth!

He had left the periphery and entered the heart of the Ancient Tomb!

On the fifth map, a short distance ahead, was a leaf-shaped marking, denoting a forest… a forest Wang Lin knew well. It was where Greed had obtained the Ancient Breath Leaf!

It was also here that Greed had seen the statue that had filled the silver-clad woman with such terror!

The Seven-Colored Statue!