Lady Eight, one of the Emperor’s favored concubines, and the demonic Nine Heavens Lord both plunged into the swirling vortex, each approaching Wang Lin from opposite directions. His eyes, cold and calculating, locked onto them. He remained seated, unmoving, his hands ceaselessly weaving together the essence of ancient fiends and demons, forming an intricate sigil upon his brow.

He cared not if his foes witnessed this ritual, for even knowing its nature, only the formidable Tuosen possessed the power to replicate it.

“He crafts a rune himself!” The Nine Heavens Lord exclaimed, his pupils contracting. Yet, he pressed onward, covering a hundred lengths in a single stride. Still, his movements betrayed a certain lightness, a subtle deference. He had glimpsed the spectral form of the ancient fiend within the vortex’s heart and, guessing its nature, seemed loath to disturb its slumber.

The lady in pink, likewise observing Wang Lin’s actions, understood immediately. With a shake of her head, she hastened her approach.

The vortex itself was a formidable force, growing more treacherous as one ventured deeper. Though the Nine Heavens Lord and the pink-clad woman slowed their pace somewhat, they still moved with considerable speed within its confines.

Here, the howling aura of ancient fiends warped all arcane arts. Yet, their cultivations were profound, allowing them to cover over seven hundred lengths, drawing ever closer to Wang Lin.

Wang Lin watched their approach, and as they drew within a few hundred lengths, he raised his right hand abruptly, and with a flick of his wrist, the Demon Soul Bottle hovered before him. From within, a torrent of ancient demon souls erupted.

Simultaneously, the ancient god stars upon his brow spun wildly, unleashing a flood of ancient god power. This force merged with the demon souls, binding with the ever-present aura of the ancient fiend.

In an instant, the power of the three ancient races coalesced into a strange force, a power capable of becoming a rune. With a guttural roar, Wang Lin focused this energy, compressing it until it enveloped his entire being.

In a heartbeat, symbols blossomed not just upon his brow but across every inch of his skin, an instantaneous and almost incomprehensible transformation.

The Nine Heavens Lord and the lady in pink exchanged a startled glance. Casting aside all concern for the slumbering fiend, they accelerated towards Wang Lin.

Then, a howling pierced the vortex’s edge, signaling the arrival of the Great Desolate Sage, who stepped boldly into the swirling chaos.

Close behind him came the woman in white. With a furrow of her brow, she sheathed her tomb platform and followed him into the vortex.

As the Nine Heavens Lord and the pink-clad woman closed in, a cold smile played upon Wang Lin’s lips.

“You are too late!” He declared. Unfazed by their imminent arrival, he shuddered, casting the glyphs from his body, allowing them to float around him.

With a sweep of his arms, the myriad runes he had crafted erupted in a blinding flash. Then, with a leap, he ascended, and with a flourish of his sleeve, the tomb platform, eight thousand lengths in size, thundered into existence!

The instant it appeared, the platform greedily absorbed all the runes Wang Lin had created. A violent tremor shook it, unleashing a wave of golden light that swept across the lands.

The roar was deafening, reverberating like thunder. As the eight-thousand-length platform absorbed the final rune, it began to expand.

Eight thousand two hundred lengths, eight thousand four hundred… until it reached nine thousand lengths!

A Ninth-Order Tomb Platform!

With this transformation complete, the golden light vanished, leaving the tomb platform devoid of color, yet trembling violently. Wang Lin, without hesitation, stepped onto the Ninth-Order Tomb.

“A Ninth-Order Tomb Platform!” The Nine Heavens Lord snarled, his eyes burning with cold fury. Ignoring all else, he charged forward.

The lady in pink, equally aghast, raced toward the platform.

Even the Great Desolate Sage revealed a hint of avarice, quickening his pace.

Only the woman in white held back, silently retreating from the fray.

But in that instant, chaos erupted! A deafening roar echoed through the ancient tomb, originating from some distant place but instantly at their ears.

Within the Ninth Map of the ancient tomb, Tuosen was bellowing as he charged ahead, but now, his face twisted in alarm. He halted abruptly, dodging aside.

Before him, in the vast emptiness, a colossal arm burst from the swirling mist. With a thunderous roar, it swept past, missing Tuosen by a hair’s breadth.

Though the arm did not strike him directly, the force of its passage slammed into Tuosen. Even with his formidable physique, he was sent tumbling backward, blood trickling from his lips. He managed to stop himself and looked back at the rapidly receding arm, a rare expression of terror in his normally fearless eyes.

The arm crashed through the tomb, heading toward the Eighth Map.

At the same time, within the First Map of the ancient tomb, another massive arm emerged from the mist, sweeping across the land. Dozens of cultivators remained in this region, hurrying through the fog. Before they could react, their ears were filled with the deafening roar of the approaching arm. Then, the colossal limb passed over them.

The sounds of their screams, silenced by the roar, were never heard. When the arm passed, not a single cultivator remained alive, their tomb platforms shattered.

This arm moved even faster than the first, like a mountain moving at the speed of a third-step Void Profound expert.

In an instant, it swept through the Second, Third, Fourth… all the way to the Seventh Map. Any cultivator within its path had no chance of survival, their bodies annihilated in an instant.

Some of them even possessed Fourth-Order Tomb Platforms, but it made no difference. They crumbled and died, a scene of utter devastation. The Ninth-Order Tomb Platform had brought about the end.

The two arms sweeping across the tomb were like a giant opening their arms and sweeping them inward, as if to clap their hands.

The speed defied description. Almost the moment Wang Lin’s Ninth-Order Tomb Platform appeared, the very instant the Nine Heavens Lord and the others moved to claim it, the two colossal arms burst into the Eighth Map.

The howling that echoed in the ears of the Nine Heavens Lord and the others was the sound of these approaching limbs!

It was impossible to describe the sheer terror that gripped their hearts. Each arm was tens of thousands of lengths thick. They appeared suddenly, slamming into the ancient fiend vortex with unbelievable speed.

Approaching from opposite sides, the arms crashed into the vortex, and in an instant, it collapsed, unable to withstand the force.

As the vortex shattered, the two colossal arms drew closer. They swept through the ruins, aiming for the first Ninth-Order Tomb Platform to appear in the ancient tomb!

The woman in white, having already retreated, was far enough away to avoid the direct impact. Still, the force of the passing arms struck her, and she spat out a mouthful of blood as she was thrown backward.

The Great Desolate Sage was not so lucky. He was the furthest behind and closest to the arms. Frozen with terror, he had no time to react. The arm slammed directly into him, turning his physical body into a paste. Even the avatar of the Mysterious Sound Sect, whose physical body was of a Third-Step expert, could not withstand the blow!

The Great Desolate Sage’s spirit screamed, attempting to flee, but the force from the arm swept over him, obliterating him.

All of this happened in the blink of an eye.

The arms swept on, heading straight for the Ninth-Order Tomb Platform.

The Nine Heavens Lord blanched. His appearance, normally fluctuating between youth and old age, solidified in his elder form. He made hand seals, creating a barrier before him, and collided with the approaching arm.

The impact sent blood spraying from his mouth. His appearance shifted rapidly, from elderly to middle-aged. Then, with another spray of blood, he became a youth!

At the same instant, the Nine Heavens Lord within the tomb created countless incarnations, each immediately dissolving into nothing. With their sacrifice, he bought himself a slim chance of survival.

The Nine Heavens Lord, now in the form of a youth, vanished and reappeared a distance away, blood still dripping from his lips, his eyes filled with terror.

As for the lady in pink, her face was drained of color. She made hand seals, spitting out a cloud of pink mist. From within the mist, a black silken ribbon appeared. She seized the ribbon, wrapping it around herself. It coiled around her as the arm swept past, shielding her and deflecting the attack by a thousand lengths. Still, a finger of the arm touched her, and she spat out blood as she retreated.

On the other side, the other arm sweeping in from the Ninth Map crashed through the ancient fiend vortex, tearing through the ancient fiend’s sealed slumbering spot.

The moment the seal was broken, the ancient fiend opened its eyes. Eight and a half stars swirled in its left eye. It had awakened!

The colossal arm swept over it, but the awakened fiend let out a piercing scream. Its body turned indistinct and transparent, allowing the arm to pass right through it, aiming straight for the Ninth-Order Tomb Platform!

The two colossal arms converged upon the tomb platform, crashing down on it. The platform shuddered, breaking apart into countless pieces.

The arms continued past, and struck each other where Wang Lin was standing. The sounds of their impact echoed throughout the region. Then, slowly, the arms parted, and a gash, like a tear in paper, opened into a strange world!

Wang Lin was untouched. He was standing in the middle of a tear where there are two arms.