The boundary between the realms, once impassable due to the warding of the Great Needle Array, had been rent asunder by a tear wrought from beyond. Thus, Wang Lin’s roar, a silent summons carried on the currents of fate, escaped the breach in the Sea of Clouds and echoed across the distant, archaic stars of the Outer Realm.

Across the boundless expanse, the ancient stars trembled. From the ethereal void, bolts of lightning materialized, drawn irresistibly towards the rift in the clouds.

Even among the Outer Realm’s sorcerers, those who commanded the power of thunder found themselves seized by an uncontrollable tremor. Their vital essence, the very source of their magic, erupted from their forms, coalescing into lightning and streaking towards the breach.

Gradually, the Outer Realm was engulfed in a maelstrom of thunder, a tempestuous tide that surged into the Sea of Clouds and poured into the Inner Realm, its power joining with the storms of this side, all converging towards the star of Vermilion Bird.

Though seemingly an eternity, this transformation unfolded in but a fleeting moment. Outside the Vermilion Bird Star, near the Gate of Emptiness, Wang Lin’s roar subsided. The air crackled with the accumulated energy, the thunderbolts and lightning gathered from the Inner and Outer Realms converging at his beckoning.

The sound was deafening, a celestial tremor that threatened to tear the very fabric of the cosmos. The Outer Realm sorcerers, their minds reeling and their bodies bleeding from every orifice, desperately channeled their power to resist.

Their vision blurred, overwhelmed by the blinding brilliance of the lightning, which seemed to pierce the very essence of their being. With a resolute gesture, Wang Lin pointed his right hand towards the Gate of Emptiness, and at that instant, a spectacle unseen since the dawn of creation unfolded in the star-strewn void!

It was the combined power of the Inner and Outer Realms, the unleashed fury of all lightning, crashing against the Gate of Emptiness in a display of unparalleled arrogance and dominance!

Before Wang Lin, none could have conceived of such a feat. And after him, none would ever dare to attempt it!

*BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!*

The thunderous symphony echoed through the cosmos as countless bolts of lightning surged towards the Gate of Emptiness. From a distance, the lightning appeared as a boundless army, sworn to shatter the celestial barrier.

Under the relentless assault, fine cracks webbed across the surface of the colossal gate. As these fissures widened, more and more lightning crashed down, causing pieces of the Emptiness Gate to burst from the edge of the gate as they began to crumble.

Simultaneously, every thunderbolt called forth from the heavens converged, their power crashing upon the Gate of Emptiness, causing it to erupt in a blinding radiance, far brighter than the sun itself.

“Shatter!” Wang Lin roared.

With a calamitous explosion, the right side of the Gate of Emptiness disintegrated, its fragments scattering into the void. Instantly, the left side succumbed to the accumulated power of the lightning, collapsing in a cascade of shimmering particles.

In a mere instant, the vast Gate of Emptiness was utterly destroyed, its remnants scattering in all directions.

The Gate of Emptiness had fallen! With its demise, a colossal vortex opened in the firmament, unleashing a torrent of raw Emptiness power, an endless river that rushed towards Wang Lin.

But with a flash of his eyes, Wang Lin raised his right hand, and with a mighty sweep of his sleeve, unleashed a force that redirected the surging torrent of Emptiness power, returning it to the heart of the vortex.

He had shattered the Gate of Emptiness!

Though Wang Lin had spurned the Emptiness Power, his cultivation surged nonetheless. From the pinnacle of Shattered Nirvana, on the very precipice of the Heavenly Tribulation, he took the crucial step, his power attaining the Third Step, the initial stage of Void Nirvana!

This was not yet his full potential, but a presence, a aura of a true Third Step.

If Wang Lin so desired, he could absorb the energy of the Emptiness power to instantly transform this aura into his true power.

However, such an achievement would only solidify one original source of power in Lightning. After having six original sources completed, such a goal was not what Wang Lin wanted. He wanted the most shocking entrance to the third step to shock all around!

His actions sent shockwaves through the surrounding sorcerers!

Zhou Jin’s face was ashen, his eyes filled with despair. He attempted to flee, but found himself trapped, the very fabric of space held in an unbreakable grip.

Looking up, he saw the source of the pressure: Wang Lin, who turned his gaze upon him.

That single glance shattered Zhou Jin’s mind, forcing a torrent of blood from his lips.

The sorcerer in the green robes paled, sensing the immense power Wang Lin was about to do. His mind spun, racing, to an impossible answer!

“He……He cannot be!”

“Another!” Wang Lin’s voice was cold and arrogant, echoing in the ears of the sorcerer in green, causing his eyes to widen in shock. Despite being foes, he could not help but feel a surge of respect.

As Wang Lin swept his sleeve once more, the vortex formed from the shattered Gate of Emptiness began to spin with increasing speed. A pressure far greater than before emanated from its depths, causing visible cracks to appear in the very fabric of reality.

As the vortex faded, it was replaced by another Gate of Emptiness!

This gate was smaller than the previous one, but the power it radiated was infinitely more potent!

“What a madman,” sighed the Celestial Sovereign of Illusion, a complex mix of awe and dread in his voice. For the first time, he referred to his foe as a Sovereign, not as a mere child.

“Since the beginning of time, those who managed to shatter the Gate of Emptiness, would quickly solidify his newly acquired original source of power to cement their cultivation at the first step in the Third Step. This window will only last as long as the first Gate has shattered, and any delay risks the collapse of the gate before you have an opportunity to solidify your cultivation.”
Once a Void Gate is conjured, its power is fleeting, dissipating swiftly. Even if forced open, its purpose is lost, demanding another violent sundering. Yet, each subsequent gate is forged stronger than the last.

Though this warrior, before the gate’s manifestation, lacked the cultivation of a Third Step existence, he had slain mighty beings of that realm. Thus, despite the gate’s formidable nature, it seemed powerless against him. The Celestial Venerable of Emptiness, though grudgingly, admitted his prior misjudgment.

“He seeks not simply to break the gate once, but to achieve the impossible! He intends to shatter a gate with each of his Origin Sources, forging himself into a true Third Step powerhouse through the power of six!”

Such a path is fraught with peril, yet its rewards eclipse those of simply cleaving one gate countless times. The Venerable watched Wang Lin, a complex mixture of awe and lethal intent warring within him.

“Since he dares such arrogance before my very eyes, I shall witness his folly!”

The second Void Gate, manifested from the replaced vortex, sent tremors of shock not only through the outer realms but also rippled inward, reaching figures such as Situ Nan.

As the gate materialized, a chilling glint ignited within Wang Lin’s eyes, an aura of unwavering confidence blooming around him. He is Wang Lin, the Ascended, the master of six Origin Sources. None before him had dared such a feat. He possessed the right to be confident, the power to attempt the impossible, the act of shattering successive Void Gates.

It was no mere whim. He had witnessed the gates manifest before, sensing that with each sundering, a greater amount of ethereal Void Power was released.

Especially now, with his six Origin Sources yearning for unification, the required Void Power was unimaginably vast. Wang Lin knew not its true nature, but he understood that this arcane energy was the key to ascending to the Third Step,

Like the foundation upon which a magnificent tower would be built!

Therefore, this course was not an option, but a necessity!

The moment the second gate appeared, Wang Lin’s eyes blazed. He raised his right hand, pointing towards the star-strewn sky, his voice a calm decree, a law that resonated through the cosmos, causing it to tremble.

“Fire Origin, by my name, Wang Lin, I command thee, burn this Void Gate!” As the words left his lips, a maelstrom of nine-hued flames erupted, twisting and warping the very fabric of space in all directions.

In that instant, Kun Xu, Yun Hai, Luo Tian, Zhao He, and even the ancient stars beyond the Realm, all flared to life like thunder. The boundless inferno, summoned from within and without, surged forth at Wang Lin’s beckoning, hurtling directly toward the Void Gate.

Words cannot capture the majesty of the spectacle, an event unseen by many mortals in their entire lives.

The endless sea of fire crashed against the gate, and a deafening roar echoed through existence as the inferno completely consumed it. In a wave of searing heat, the gate collapsed, a second time!

This time, no fragments scattered; the flames reduced them all to nothing more than ash.

As the second gate disintegrated, a surge of ethereal Void Power, ten times greater than before, burst forth and crashed against Wang Lin. Yet, even this deluge was insufficient to fully coalesce his six Origin Sources.

With a flick of his sleeve, he conjured a howling wind, gathering the released power and directing it back into the void left behind, into the vortex now grown larger than before.

“Void Gate, arise again!” Wang Lin’s laughter boomed, and he pointed once more to the sky!

With the Fire Origin’s destruction of the second gate, Wang Lin’s aura surged anew, a palpable force radiating from him. This day was his day of reckoning, the day Wang Lin would ascend to the very peak of power!

For years he had endured, for ages he had yearned, all for this single, momentous occasion: to become a true powerhouse!

His aura, already at the early stages of Nirvana Shatterer from his initial breakthrough, now erupted in a furious torrent with the shattering of the second gate, catapulting him directly into the middle stages of Nirvana Shatterer!

A throbbing pain, like a maddening toothache gripped him…