Wang Lin strode forth, and as he drew near, the ancient skull’s roar shook the heavens. The deafening sound reverberated, causing the very earth to crumble anew. The sky churned, making the roar the most potent sound in existence. With each thunderous wave, the sound surged past Wang Lin and crashed upon the colossal White Tiger.

The impact contorted the beast’s form, threatening to shatter it, yet it persevered, though its retreat became increasingly desperate. Majestic as the tiger was, it was no match for Wang Lin. He advanced, raising his right hand and pointing. From behind him, the ancient skull unleashed a savage roar, passing through Wang Lin’s body and lunging towards the White Tiger, intent on devouring it.

From afar, the sight was awe-inspiring: the shattered sky split in two, one half dominated by the towering ancient skull, the other by the gigantic, fearsome White Tiger. The skull advanced, the tiger retreated, yet the distance between them shrunk rapidly. In an instant, the skull reached the White Tiger, its gaping maw roaring as it sought to consume the beast.

A deafening crash echoed as the ancient skull collided with the White Tiger, unleashing a shockwave that reverberated throughout the ancient Immortal Domain. The earth crumbled on a grand scale, and even some of the countless statues of the Ancient Three Clans, beyond the initial effigy, exploded. The shockwave radiated outwards, threatening to annihilate the entire domain.

The White Tiger’s massive form disintegrated under the assault, dissolving into specks of white light that scattered in all directions. From within the collapsing form, the white-haired elder coughed up a mouthful of blood. He stumbled backward, slamming against the colossal statue he had used for healing with a resounding crash.

Cracking sounds filled the air as the statue, struck by the elder, was crisscrossed by countless fissures, threatening to shatter at any moment. Similarly, Wang Lin was forced back by the impact. His face was pale, but the cold gleam in his eyes intensified steadily.

This battle was Wang Lin’s most formidable without resorting to the Bow of Li Guang! He fought not a mere cultivator, nor a powerful being from beyond the realm, but one of the Four Great Generals of the Ancient Immortal, the White Tiger General!

The White Tiger General, his life stretching back eons, belonged neither to this realm nor beyond. He hailed from the mysterious Immortal Astral Continent, a true Immortal. His very blood pulsed with Immortal power, far exceeding Wang Lin’s in terms of sheer potential. Were it not for the wounds he sustained long ago, wounds that had yet to fully heal, Wang Lin’s chances of survival would have been bleak. But in a battle for life and death, one did not dwell on fairness. One either lived or died!

As Wang Lin retreated, his ancient skull and the phantom of the Ancient Three Clans receded as well, the latter collapsing completely. Only the ancient skull remained aloft, though its form was frayed. Wang Lin’s cultivation was at the Intermediate Stage of the Empyrean Expanse, but coupled with his ancient god’s physique and his extraordinary abilities, he could contend with a cultivator at the Initial Stage of the Empyrean Tribulation. Even if his opponent surpassed that stage, Wang Lin possessed the Bow of Li Guang, an instrument capable of unleashing earth-shattering power with a single arrow!

The White Tiger elder was embedded in the statue he had used for healing, his expression twisted with a deep-seated dread. Yet, fear was not enough to make him yield. He was the White Tiger General, a denizen of the Immortal Astral Continent, one of the Four Great Generals under the command of the Seven-Colored Immortal Venerate! He had endured countless battles, witnessed the upheaval of the Immortal’s Cave, and possessed a pride he could not forsake. He would not allow a mere ant from a lower realm to vanquish him! Even if this ant had stirred a primal fear within his heart, he forcefully suppressed it.

“The way of the Western White Tiger, the power of the Seven Lunar Mansions of the Starry Skies, the metal of all vegetation, by the inheritance of the White Tiger, I condense boundless power into the supreme art of the White Tiger Clan! Seal and obliterate this one, with the Art of Riding the Tiger!”

The White Tiger elder roared, slamming his hands against the statue beside him. He shot out of the indentation with a crash, waving his arms and forming incantations. His white hair became disheveled, and his eyes burned with a ferocious light as he pointed both hands at Wang Lin.

In that instant, the countless fragments of white light, remnants of the vanished White Tiger, reappeared and converged upon Wang Lin at an unimaginable speed. In a blink, beneath Wang Lin, the boundless white light reformed into the fearsome White Tiger. It appeared that Wang Lin stood upon the beast’s back.

An oppressive aura exploded from the White Tiger, as if sealing off the sky around Wang Lin. The aura coalesced, forming a massive, invisible seal that pressed down on Wang Lin. He could feel its immense weight, imprisoning the very air around him, making his body feel as if it was sinking into mud, even his breath becoming labored.

Cracking sounds emanated from within Wang Lin as the seal’s power, radiating from the White Tiger beneath him, prevented him from dismounting. As time passed, the seal’s power intensified, as if countless invisible hands pressed down on Wang Lin, drawing him closer to the White Tiger. Soon, he was fully upon its back, unable to move.

The White Tiger roared, its fur standing on end, resembling countless white plants dancing. Its body coiled in the sky, radiating blinding white light, within which countless runes flickered. These runes, like seals, rapidly transformed the great tiger into a living prison! As the runes multiplied, the White Tiger’s body underwent a sudden metamorphosis, becoming a gigantic white vortex.

Within the vortex, countless runes swirled, accompanied by earth-shattering tiger roars. From close range, it appeared to be merely a vortex, but from afar, with careful observation, one could discern that it was none other than the colossal White Tiger, running in circles beneath Wang Lin. Its speed was so tremendous that it created the illusion of a massive vortex.

The vortex possessed incredible suction, combined with the sealing power, preventing Wang Lin from escaping. He was like a mortal who rode a tiger and could not dismount. This was the White Tiger General’s supreme art, Riding the Tiger! It was both a divine ability and a seal!

“Arise, spirit of the White Tiger! Take the soul and spirit of this man and imprison them beneath the Cave, beneath the Seven Heavenly Peaks of the Immortal Astral Continent!” The White Tiger elder roared, his expression twisted, as he swung his arms.

At his command, a deafening tiger’s roar echoed from within the vortex, and a ferocious tiger, thirty feet in length, shot out. This was the White Tiger Spirit, akin to a cultivator’s nascent soul! It twisted and elongated as it emerged from the vortex, its majesty growing. The White Tiger Spirit lunged directly at Wang Lin, not to devour him, but to coil around his body like a serpent. Its jaws opened, aiming to devour Wang Lin’s spiritual crown, intent on dragging him back into the vortex below. If it succeeded, Wang Lin would be imprisoned at the lowest level of the Cave, between realms, to be crushed to death!

Wang Lin had never encountered such an ability. It did not belong to this world, but originated from the Immortal Astral Continent. His expression darkened as the White Tiger Spirit coiled around him, its jaws about to devour him. With a swift motion, he raised his left hand and pressed it against the beast’s jaws.

“So this is Riding the Tiger! Today, Wang will not dismount! You seek to imprison me? Then let us see, will the White Tiger imprison me, or will I subdue it!” A murderous glint flickered in Wang Lin’s eyes. Without resorting to his abilities, he closed his eyes. As he opened them, his entire aura shifted, replaced by the bearing of a great Confucian scholar.

In that moment, he was no longer a cultivator, but a scholar! One who understood the ways of the world, who knew that all this was but a Cave, one who was enlightened. With this air of scholarship, Wang Lin feared nothing. His gaze, calm and resolute, radiated a righteous energy. He turned his head to look at the tiger spirit coiled around him, its jaws held open by his left hand. In his eyes, it was no longer a mystical beast or an ability, but merely an ordinary tiger!

“You dare devour me!” Wang Lin spoke softly, his eyes snapping open, fixing the tiger spirit with a gaze that was stern yet unyielding. The righteous energy within him feared nothing, least of all a mere tiger!

The tiger spirit trembled, fear flitting across its eyes. A complex emotion welled within it, as if it was witnessing cycles of reincarnation and karma, seeing the ancestors of its White Tiger Spirit Clan kneeling on the ground, prostrating before the heavens in the Immortal Astral Continent in the beginning of the world. It did not know why these thoughts arose, but it felt a fear that went to the depths of its soul!

Wang Lin’s words were a decree, for he had become like the heavens, suppressing the tiger spirit. The force of his suppression contained a lifetime of realization, the essence of his three illusory origins, and his boundless majesty!

The tiger spirit whimpered, and to the disbelief of the white-haired elder, it released Wang Lin and stepped back, lowering its head in submission.