“Fear it not!”

The simple pronouncement, a quartet of words, held the weight of ages and a threadbare confidence. Yet, the speaker, steeped in arrogance, remained blissfully unaware. Wang Lin had arrived. Had he possessed such knowledge, those four words would have withered on his tongue, never to be uttered.

Wang Lin stood leagues beyond the Eastern Immolation Star, his gaze fixed upon the colossal celestial body, many times the size of the Celestial Fortune Star of old. A chilling intent festered in his eyes. Years ago, fueled by the fragile hope of reviving Li Muwan, he had journeyed from the Alliance into the Inner Realms. Through brutal trials and relentless battles, he had secured the title of Thunder Immortal and, more importantly, wrested a promise from the ancient Xiang Clan. Wang Lin had sought no conflict with the powerful family; he only craved the awakening of his beloved. Guided by Xiang Yundong, he had first set foot upon the Eastern Immolation Star, seeking the wisdom of the Xiang Clan Patriarch. Instead, he had found only treachery and venom, for the Patriarch’s deeds had not revived Li Muwan, but instead, stolen Wang Lin’s very life essence. Were it not for the finger of Nirvana Shattering, Wang Lin would have perished then and there.

Now, with his power ascendant and his understanding of Li Muwan’s revival deepening, Wang Lin looked back upon that fateful encounter. He realized the Patriarch’s promises were nothing but lies. The man possessed no ability to resurrect Li Muwan, not even through the forbidden Rite of Seven Silences. Even the hope that remained within the Coffin of Evading the Heavens had nearly been extinguished by his machinations.

The supposed infusion of life essence, Wang Lin now understood, was a cruel artifice, a primary catalyst in the scattering of Li Muwan’s soul. The Patriarch’s true aim had been to obliterate Li Muwan entirely while draining Wang Lin of his vitality!

Wang Lin knew that infusing Li Muwan with life force was the correct path, and if done properly, she would not be in her current state and potentially, revived. But the treacherous acts of Xiang destroyed the possibility. Wang Lin was hindered at the time from seeing the whole truth but a thousand years later, everything was clear. His rage was immeasurable! This was all planned from the very beginning! Wang Lin yearned to know the truth, the reason behind the betrayal.

Why had the Xiang Clan Patriarch deceived him, using the false promise of Li Muwan’s resurrection to steal his lifeblood? There had to be a reason!

Once, Wang Lin had fled in disgrace, lacking the strength to demand answers, the power to resist. He could only endure, burying the humiliation and hatred deep within his soul, much like his long-suffered torment at the hands of the Teng Clan. But today, as Wang Lin gazed upon the Eastern Immolation Star for the second time, he possessed the power to know the truth. His killing intent intensified as he took a single step forward. The heavens themselves reverberated as he traversed the leagues in a single stride.

With a resounding boom, Wang Lin materialized a mere thousand fathoms from the Eastern Immolation Star.

The celestial sphere trembled. Waves of force emanated from him, a cosmic tempest unleashed. It was as if he had stepped upon the very pulse of the cosmos, the echo of his arrival a thunderous roar that shook the Eastern Immolation Star to its core.

Upon the minor stars orbiting the larger celestial body, the thousands of cultivators stationed there paled in unison. They felt the overwhelming surge emanating from the void, crashing against the protective barriers of the Eastern Immolation Star like a tidal wave. The protective barriers flared to life, erupting in blinding light, a nascent sun struggling against the encroaching darkness.

A chorus of heartbeats, frantic and desperate, echoed throughout the minor stars. The cultivators felt an alien power surging within them, desperately channeling their spiritual energy to withstand the celestial tremors. It seemed that if they failed, their bodies would shatter alongside the stars themselves.

Standing before the Eastern Immolation Star, Wang Lin’s gaze burned like twin stars as he spoke, his voice a calm blade cutting through the chaos. “You know who I am. Xiang Clan, crawl forth from your rat hole!”

His words unleashed a cataclysmic echo.

*Crawl forth! Crawl forth! CRAAAWL FORTH!*

The single command unleashed the fury he had suppressed for eons, a maelstrom of hatred born from the Xiang Clan’s theft of his life and his dashed hopes of ever saving Li Muwan.

They could have sought his life in battle, hunted him like the Yao Clan, but the cruel deception, the shattering of his dreams for Li Muwan’s restoration, the cold calculation that targeted not only him but a fallen maiden… this Wang Lin could not accept.

*Could not accept!*

The reverberations thundered through the void, eclipsing even the sound of his arrival. The celestial sphere became a churning sea of lightning, bolts lancing across the sky, transforming the empty space surrounding the Eastern Immolation Star into a hellish, electric domain.

His voice, the roar of an ancient god, tore through the heavens, threatening to sunder the very fabric of existence.

His step prior was nothing, for now his rage turned into a hurricane that swept away everything in its path. The howl contained his grief, his rage, his millennium of question, all exploding outward!

The barriers surrounding the minor stars strained, but in his howl, 9 stars were destroyed!

Thunderous booms swept across the Eastern Regions, the nine starts disintegrated, the soldiers guarding those areas all met their end as their souls shattered in death!

Even the 27 elders were all helpless against his power as they too all faded from existence.

There was no escape, even in the face of death from Wang Lin.

The other soldiers around the other stars vomited blood as the echoes of Wang Lin’s howl continued to seep into the starts despite barriers.

As for the Eastern Immolation Star, the ground on the planet started to crack, and all the rivers started to flood.

The great sea in the Northern region started to swirl into a whirlpool as a massive tsunami rushed toward the land.

On the west side of the Eastern Immolation Star, two cloaked elders barely caught themselves before they were hit by Wang Lin’s roar. They vomited blood and were pushed back hundreds of feet.

In the depths below, the land shook as the heads were scattered and dead qi dissipated.

The coffin of Evading Heavens shook violently, and its lid was blown off as a ghastly roar came from within, and a dead, decaying hand latched on.

One of the cloaked elders mustered his fear into resolve, and mustered a spell to activate a jade talisman, “Activate the formations!! At any cost, stop him from entering the Eastern Immolation Star!!!”

Auras emerged as soldiers occupied the east, south and north, containing thousands of cultivators in their ranks.

On the North, the Lu family organized a grand formation of barriers, and several elders sacrificed blood to make a blood shadow!

On the South, the Xu family created a blood pool to summon qi.

On the East, the Liu family arranged themselves into a sunflower formation of artifacts.

Even the outer stars surrounded the planet, creating an outer layer of defense.

Wang Lin coldly looked at the layers of defense and prepared to take a step forward.

“If you won’t come to me, then I’ll drag you out myself. Anyone who gets in the way, will be buried alive.”