## The Gathering Storm

The Kith-Hall had lately secured the service of a troupe of songstresses fair of face and melodious of voice. Let those with discerning ears and appreciative hearts offer their appraisals! ‘Tis a subtle request, understood by those who dwell in the realm of refined pleasures.

Far beyond the veil that separated existence, a grand design was being woven. From the ancient star known as Da Gu, the vanguard of a celestial host prepared to breach the barriers of this world. Their chosen point of entry: the Cloud Sea Starfield! And the very nexus of their assault lay where Wang Lin now journeyed.

The very fabric of the Sealed Realm Array shuddered, the tremor echoing across the void. Wang Lin, with his keen eyes, beheld the web-like formation before him begin to warp and fray. A palpable force, born of cosmic ambition, sought to tear through its essence.

A cold dread gripped Wang Lin’s heart.

The inner realm was yet unprepared. The Seven-Colored Realm, its potential untapped, remained unfound. Yet, war, like a sudden tempest, had descended. With a mind sharpened by countless trials, Wang Lin grasped the truth: beyond the array, the cultivators of the Ancient Star were employing arcane arts, seeking to sunder the barrier and flood into his home.

The Sealed Realm Array was a double-edged blade. It stifled the flow of spiritual essence, weakening the inner realm’s inhabitants, hindering their growth compared to the beings beyond. It choked the very lifeblood of their potential.

But it also served as a bulwark, offering a degree of protection, making passage in either direction a treacherous endeavor.

A deafening roar erupted from the Sealed Realm Array as if its very soul were being forcibly extracted. A sight more clearly visible to those beyond the veil.

But Wang Lin could ill afford to tarry. The dire shift in the Sealed Realm Array needed no herald; the great powers of the inner realm would undoubtedly sense the shift. But he was the closest. He knew himself powerless to prevent the array’s potential collapse. But he would prepare for the worst.

A glint of murderous intent ignited in his eyes. The bloodlust, quelled after the slaying of the Water Daoist, surged anew with terrifying force. The nascent spark of the Source of Slaughter erupted into a raging inferno.

Slay! Slay all who dared trespass!

This was war, and within its crucible, honor and compassion were but fragile things, easily shattered.

He could flee, seek sanctuary elsewhere. But he would not.

This was an invasion, an affront from the outside. For the sake of hearth and home, for the honor of all who called the inner realm their own, Wang Lin’s gaze burned with righteous fury. All his past killings had been for personal gain, a selfish pursuit. Only once, upon the steps of the Divine Sect, had he felt the pride of belonging to the Cloud Sea, the fellowship of the inner realm.

This battle might stretch for eons. He might perish, his chance to revive Wan’er lost forever. But in this moment, he fought not for himself, but for his people.

For the sake of the greater good, he must stand his ground! As Red Osmanthus had asked, “Are you prepared to die?” This was war.

Wang Lin was ready to meet his end.

Though the summons came unexpectedly, he was a son of the inner realm. Despite the treachery and peril that lurked within its borders, he was bound to it.

Within one’s home, survival was a contest. But when faced with external invaders, such squabbles mattered not.

This was a cause beyond the self!

War had come to his doorstep. To dwell on past grievances, on perceived wrongs perpetrated by those within the realm, would render Wang Lin unworthy of the name of man, unworthy of the title of cultivator.

The Source of Slaughter, fueled by the tempest within his heart, swelled with savage intensity. To spill blood for personal gain, to butcher countless souls for selfish desire, was mere butchery.

True slaughter was born of righteous intent, of defending ideals, of protecting those one was sworn to cherish.

Such was the essence of its power, far removed from the lust for treasures, from the mindless thirst for bloodshed.

In that instant, Wang Lin understood. He raised his right hand, and a storm of a thousand sword qi howled forth, engulfing the heavens, descending upon the Sealed Realm Array. With a flick of his sleeve, the Agile Upper Man and Zhou Jin materialized beside him, bound to his will, willing or not.

Even in death, their souls would obey.

With another gesture, Wang Lin pointed towards the heavens. An avalanche of forbidden glyphs materialized, a torrent of arcane seals spreading to reinforce the weakening barrier.

At the same moment, with a flourish of his sleeve, the Blood Sword soared aloft, bathing the sky in crimson light!

Beneath its sanguine glow, Wang Lin spread his arms wide, his body suffused with a blinding radiance, absorbing the very light of the stars, coalescing into a shield of shimmering brilliance.

His left eye churned with a tempest of nine-colored flame, poised to unleash its destructive power.

His right eye spun with a whirling vortex of lightning, thunder echoing across the heavens.

Fight! Fight! Fight!

Though alone, he would face the invading hordes of a hundred thousand worlds! Wang Lin’s visage hardened into a mask of fierce determination. He stood tall, a veritable war god!

His silver hair danced in the stellar wind, his white robes fluttering like the wings of an angel. He towered above the cosmic landscape, his form imbued with newfound power.

A sense of profound pride radiated from him, the honor of a son of the inner realm!

To the invaders, the Sealed Realm Array appeared as a colossal well, a conduit through which the strength of the Ancient Star reached, like a massive hand descending to pluck out the soul trapped within.

As the array quaked, its spirit-guardians materialized, ready to fight back, but a voice shattered the clamor, booming forth from the Sky-Punishment Pavilion, a towering edifice of the Long Revered Society.

“Break the array!”

The command resonated across the cosmos, rattling the floating crystal swords, which, in turn, roared towards the barrier. With it came every magical treasure possessed by the celestial host.

The task of breaking the array was no longer the province of a single warrior, but a concerted effort of the Ancient Star: the two immortal consorts, three great powers, and the Revered Sovereign, all combined into one unified force.

As the soul of the Sealed Realm Array was drawn forth by the power of the Revered Sovereign, and the array’s guardians prepared to retaliate, the five treasures slammed into the barrier, unleashing a savage assault upon the guardians.

Silver lightning crackled across the array, and the power soon concentrated, a shimmering spear of pure energy which then shot toward the crystal sword!

As the spear of lightning struck, the crystal sword unleashed the stored spiritual power, burning with the force of a wildfire.
In that instant of clashing steel and arcane fire, the Seal of Worlds pulsed with renewed violet light, a boundless amethyst aurora that washed across the starscape, visible to all within and without the borders of the realm!

From that violet glow, a colossal whip of pure energy coalesced, cracking with thunder as it lashed out towards the harp strings of Dao Lord Azure Dream! A clash of energies ensued, a furious ballet of force and counter-force!

Hard on the heels of the violet, a crimson tide surged, staining the stars like spilled blood. Wails of anguish, filled with unimaginable torment, echoed across the cosmos as a gargantuan nine-headed meteor hammer materialized within the bloody haze! Each monstrous head swung with star-shattering force, aiming to crush the nine flower petals of the Celestial Consort!

Even as the crimson stain spread, a searing heat swept forth. A monstrous war chariot manifested above the Seal, radiating a scorching aura. Ten thousand fathoms in length, imbued with the weight of ages, it rumbled into existence, shaking the very foundations of existence. Atop its mighty arm rested a ball of fire, capable of consuming all life, which roared into existence and launched itself towards the ice-formed tri-ocular gaze!

Hard after the chariot, a blackness emanated from the Seal, a void of utter nothingness. From within this abyss, a gigantic spiked mace emerged, its barbs dripping with viscous, black blood, emitting a foul stench as it hurtled towards the three spectral wraiths conjured from the vital essence of another Celestial Consort!

The echoes of these clashes reverberated, shaking the entire Seal to its core. Within the borders, Wang Lin watched, his eyes narrowed, his face a mask of grim determination. The fires of war had been kindled, burning with righteous fury!

Amidst the deafening roar, the spirits animating the Seal flickered with frantic energy, yet more manifestations taking form. But even as they emerged, a strange power, emanating from the ancient starfield beyond, reached down like a colossal hand, tearing upwards with brutal force!

The Seal shuddered violently as its very soul, accumulated over countless millennia, was ripped from its depths. Though formless, every being in the outer realms could feel its ancient, weary presence. Immense as it was, the strange force from the ancient stars strained, and could only lift the soul a few fathoms before faltering.

A sigh echoed from the ancient starfield beyond as the hand of strange power twisted violently to the side, tearing a rent in the very fabric of the soul!

In that instant, a fissure appeared upon the Seal!

Its appearance brought the Seal to a momentary standstill, a brief pause in the chaos, as a voice, ancient and rasping, echoed across the starscape.

“This old one has done all that he can…”

As the last syllable faded, the five arcane treasures, each locked in battle with a spirit of the Seal, trembled violently!

Within the rift torn open in the ancient starfield, the palace woman upon the mountaintop flashed a cold glare in her eyes. She formed a hand seal and spoke with deadly calm: “Detonate!”

Near the Azure Silk Clan, Dao Lord Azure Dream, gazing blankly at a hairpin, raised his right hand, formed a seal, and spoke with a tone of resignation: “Detonate!”

In the far west of the ancient starfield, within the nine frozen planets, the young boy raised his hand, murmuring: “Detonate!” From another rift, suffused with celestial aura, the red-robed woman upon the continent smiled enigmatically and whispered: “Detonate!” Outside the Seal, within the Tribunal of the Eternal Reverence Assembly, a low roar echoed: “Detonate!”

Each of the five treasures, capable of unleashing havoc on a cosmic scale, detonated in a cataclysmic roar. The unleashed force poured into the fissure within the Seal, widening the crack with unimaginable fury. In a thunderous roar that shook the heavens within and without, the rift was torn open wider!

The Seal of Worlds had been breached, if only for a fleeting moment!

War had begun!