“This! This is the true roar of defiance, the authentic glory of the Ascendant!”

Or, perhaps, it was more than that. It was a surge of valor, a tragic and noble stand against impossible odds, a spirit that cried, “Though a thousand stand against me, I shall not yield!”

Before Wang Lin, the endless tide of extra-terrestrial invaders recoiled in terror. Wang Lin’s speed was a blinding fury, each step a thunderclap that shook the very constellations. The cosmos itself seemed to tremble beneath his feet, and lightning crackled in his wake.

And in his grasp, the Sky-Cleaving Axe, the very weapon that had felled the ancient ancestor of the Fire Sparrow Clan, hummed with untold power. From its depths rose a mournful wail, a symphony of death and a desperate, unyielding resolve that shattered the invaders’ will to fight.

This was but the opening salvo, the very first clash of a war yet unborn! Yet even as it began, a mighty figure of the invaders’ realm had fallen. Not slain by treachery, nor by the hand of an internal power like the venerable Red Cedar, but by Wang Lin, the Ascendant. In a manner that echoed through their very souls, he had cleaved their champion in twain with righteous fury and undeniable strength.

No act could have more thoroughly eroded the confidence of the extra-terrestrial horde.

Wang Lin, alone, had achieved this. He had ignited a fire, establishing his legend as the Ascendant, his name echoing throughout the realms beyond. This was his first battle, his first kill, and it would be remembered forever.

The death of Suidao was a mere trifle, the squashing of a slave. But the demise of the Fire Sparrow Clan’s elder was different; it was the fall of a general in the midst of war.

Amidst the grievous losses suffered by the cultivators of Cloudsea, this was a beacon of incandescent hope!

The hundred thousand invaders began to falter, their gaze fixed on Wang Lin, a mixture of fear and reverence in their eyes. Even the Frost-Robed Child and the Immortal Consort, their eyes gleaming with newfound interest, turned their attention to him.

Then, a booming laugh erupted, shaking the heavens. It was Red Cedar, crying, “The Ascendant has slain an extra-terrestrial Great One! We have not lost!” With a flourish of his sleeve, red light blazed from Red Cedar’s form, ensnaring the Frost-Robed Child and imprisoning the Great Ones surrounding him in a cage of raw power.

South Cloud also let out a loud laugh as he moved to block the Immortal Consort, engaging her in battle!

It seemed nothing could halt Wang Lin. With the Sky-Cleaving Axe in hand, he tore through the void, the invaders scattering before him, unable to match his speed. He was a living blade, piercing the heart of the extra-terrestrial army, carving a path of devastation toward the front lines.

The echoes of battle reverberated, one thunderous roar chasing the last.

Yunluo the Grand Diviner’s face was ashen. He stumbled backward, his right hand a blur as he sought to divine a path to survival.

“Stop him!” Yunluo the Grand Diviner shrieked, the sound sharp and discordant, twisted with pure, unadulterated terror. It was the first time such a sound had escaped his lips in all the war.

Though Red Cedar fought valiantly, he was outnumbered. The Frost-Robed Child, with a wave of his hand and power that was more than equal to Red Cedar’s, unleashed a wave of chilling energy. It crashed against the Venerable Nanzhao, sending him reeling, breaking Red Cedar’s hold.

“Slay the Ascendant!” the Frost-Robed Child roared. He saw the fear gripping his forces, the despair that threatened to shatter their resolve.

Such a collapse was fatal in war, and he could not allow it to continue. If Wang Lin were to cut through their ranks and slay Yunluo the Grand Diviner, even victory would taste like bitter defeat.

In his eyes, the solution was simple: kill Wang Lin, and all would be set right.

He had not only shattered Venerable Nanzhao’s defenses but had also dislodged a Great One from the second wave of invaders. This was a blue-robed elder of the Baille Clan, who, upon being sent reeling, surged toward Wang Lin.

Venerable Nanzhao, however, was faster. In that instant of being repelled, he transformed into a bolt of black light, his murderous intent far more potent than before, and he, too, hurtled toward Wang Lin.

Wang Lin raged through the army, the invaders scattering like leaves before a storm. Those too slow to evade him were engulfed in phantom flames, screaming as they dissolved. He was a mere five hundred feet from Yunluo the Grand Diviner!

Four hundred, three hundred, two hundred!

A mere two hundred feet separated Wang Lin from his prey when Venerable Nanzhao slammed into existence behind him. The Venerable One’s face was a mask of grim determination, his gaze locked on Wang Lin. As he raised his right hand, five streams of poisonous vapor manifested behind him.

This was the Nanzhao Venerable’s venom, gathered and refined over millennia within the Nanzhao Mountains. It was his immortal treasure, rivaling even the poison arts of the Great Desolation!

“Wang Lin, you whelp! This battle ends now!” Venerable Nanzhao snarled. He reached out with his right hand, and the five tendrils of vapor screamed toward the void like a venomous cyclone.

As the echoes of their thunderous advance reverberated through the void, the five cyclones hurtled toward Wang Lin’s back.

In that heart-stopping instant, Wang Lin whirled around, his eyes bloodshot, his face twisted with murderous rage. Anyone who dared to stand in his way would die! He could not afford to falter now, not even for a moment. As he turned, the star point between his brows spun wildly, and the Heavenly Furnace materialized with a deafening roar.

As it took form, ten drops of viscous poison appeared before Wang Lin.

“Poison? I possess it as well! Three drops are enough to slay you!” With a flick of his left hand, Wang Lin unleashed three drops of the deadly liquid toward the approaching cyclones.

The moment the poison appeared, the eyes of Venerable Nanzhao widened in disbelief.

“The poison of the Great Desolation! Had the Great Desolation himself wielded it, I would have been wary. But you? You dare present this trinket you somehow acquired?” Venerable Nanzhao sneered, his pace quickening, now less than fifty feet from Wang Lin!

Then, the three drops of poison collided with the five howling cyclones. A deafening explosion tore through the void as the droplets detonated, transforming into a viscous sea of corrosive death!

This sea of poison shimmered between reality and illusion, shifting and swirling like a massive hand poised to strike. It slammed into the five cyclones, its lethal essence devouring everything in its path, instantly merging with the poisonous fumes!

The five tendrils were composed entirely of concentrated venom, imbued with unimaginable toxicity. But now, as they came into contact with the poison of the sea, their own venom seemed to recognize a superior power, dissolving and being consumed.
A maelstrom of virulent fumes, a serpentine coil of poison, instantly dissolved, consumed in a heartbeat by that roiling sea of toxin. Before the Nameless Patriarch of the Southern Zeal could react, paralyzed with dread, two more venomous cyclones shattered into nothingness!

“This… this is no poison of the Great Waste!” the Patriarch gasped, his face ashen. His life a dance with venom, his knowledge of poisons both terrestrial and celestial was vast, encyclopedic. Yet, this sea born of Wang Lin’s three venomous droplets was unknown, unseen.

It bore a resemblance, a twisted echo, to the poison of the Great Waste Ascendant, yet possessed an alien strangeness. This unholy deviation had blinded the Patriarch, only now, in the face of the toxic ocean’s unleashed fury, did its true horror reveal itself.

All this unfolded in the blink of an eye. Five swirling pillars of poisoned air, all vanished, swallowed by the abyssal tide. The toxic sea swelled, towering like a celestial river, plunging straight toward the doomed Patriarch.

The distance was negligible, mere dozens of paces. Escape from the onrushing tide was impossible. The poisoned wave crashed against the Patriarch as a ripple of change contorted his visage and with a final step of retreat his form was momentarily blurry then the torrent of vile ooze surged over him.

A piercing, unearthly shriek erupted from the heart of the poison sea. The Patriarch’s dissolving form was wrenched from the depths, his flesh riddled with holes, tendrils of toxic vapor rising from his corrupted being.

Unspeakable terror shone in his eyes as he desperately stumbled backward, striving to escape the agonizing embrace of the poisoned tide.

“What manner of poison is this?!” he cried. “Even the Ascendant of the Great Waste could never concoct such a horror!” His voice a broken rasp, the retreat was short lived; in a heartbeat, his legs liquified into bloody pools, bones and marrow joining the crimson mess.

The chilling screams, reverberating through the cosmos, culminated in a final, desperate plea.

“Save me!!” The Patriarch’s lower body vanished entirely, even his arms, raised in supplication, disintegrated into dripping gore. His torso followed, dissolving even as the toxic sea roared past, consuming his essence. The screams abruptly ceased. His totality, everything he was, was swept along with the returning poisoned tide, surging back to Wang Lin’s side. The Patriarch’s soul, whether living or dead, was instantly imprisoned within Wang Lin’s Emperor’s Furnace.

Only the lingering echo of his death wail remained, a chilling reminder that reverberated through the minds of the hundred thousand watching cultivators, solidifying their terror. The robed elder, who had been advancing, froze. As Wang Lin turned his gaze upon him, sweat beaded on his forehead, and the elder retreated with unnatural speed.

Wang Lin stood in silence. With a wave of his left hand, the remaining six droplets of venom were absorbed into the toxic sea, now forming a swirling vortex that surrounded him.

Ignoring the pain of such a loss, Wang Lin roared and thrust his left hand towards the heavens. With a thunderous echo, the immense vortex of poisoned sea erupted outwards, scattering in all directions!

With a sweeping gesture of his left hand, space fractured, creating rents in reality. From these wounds, a swarm of Mosquito Beasts, their forms twisted and menacing, poured forth in a frenzied attack!

The poison sea, the Mosquito Swarm… Wang Lin had previously held them in reserve, his trump cards in this grand battle. The Outside Realm powerhouses still possessed unknown reserves of strength, and to unleash these weapons at the wrong moment, before their full potential could be realized, would be to invite their destruction.

Now, though not ideal, Wang Lin could wait no longer. Furthermore, the Nether Beast, that had devoured the Golden Tempest, remained unresponsive. During this war, despite Wang Lin’s multiple attempts to summon it, it had remained as lifeless as stone, devoid of all reaction.

The toxic sea spread, the mosquitoes buzzed in a terrifying chorus. Wang Lin, grasping the Heaven-Opening Axe, turned his attention to the deathly pale Yun Luo High Priest. Raising his right hand, and with a heaven-shaking roar, he swung with all his might across a distance of a hundred paces…

… Cleaved asunder!

(The author apologizes for the late update, due to complications from suspected fake Moutai and inclement weather).