As the hour struck, a chilling glint ignited in Wang Lin’s eyes. For three long years he had waited, and the appointed time had finally arrived. Three years of patient anticipation culminated in this very day, which also marked a century of war between the Inner and Outer Realms!

The Four War Generals of the Inner Realm’s ancient Immortal Domain had not failed him. The agreement, the pact struck with Wang Lin, was now set to unfold. As the final breath of the old era faded, an eerie silence fell upon the cosmos.

The swirling consciousnesses that clung to Wang Lin remained blissfully unaware of the cataclysm about to engulf the Inner and Outer Realms.

The first tremors of this upheaval manifested in the Kun Xu region of the Inner Realm.

Across the boundless expanse of the Kun Xu Starfield, the jeweled stars of Cui Can Zhou shimmered with an ethereal radiance, their soft hues painting the darkness of space with the vibrant beauty of blossoming flowers.

Within this swirling nebula, amidst the enchanting light, the silence was shattered by a chorus of booming echoes. They reverberated like the muffled blows of a giant, pounding on a colossal door from the other side, desperate to break through and emerge.

As these thundering sounds echoed outwards, the Zhao He Starfield answered with its own subterranean roars. Nor were Kun Xu and Zhao He alone. In Yun Hai and Luo Tian, across all four great regions of the Inner Realm, the heavens themselves trembled with the echoing booms.

These cataclysmic sounds, nascent in the first instant, reached their zenith by the fifth, their thunderous roar permeating every inch of the Inner Realm’s starry expanse, every cultivator’s world, and the very ears of every living soul.

In that fleeting moment, every creature within the Inner Realm, from the humblest mortal to the mightiest beast, even the silent flora, shuddered in unison, gripped by an inexplicable dread.

Upon a desolate, uncharted world, generations of savage beasts had lived and died, chasing prey across the grasslands and slaughtering each other in the shadowed jungles.

But now, as the earth-shattering booms reverberated, silence descended upon the planet. Predators frozen mid-pounce, serpents with hapless prey clutched in their coils, all recoiled in terror, their eyes locked in horrified stares at the heavens above.

Even the small, doomed creature ceased its struggles, its eyes wide with fear, fixated on the sky.

*BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!*

The sounds grew deafening, reaching a fever pitch by the eighth breath, shaking the very fabric of space, sending ripples of energy echoing through the four great regions.

It was as if countless ancient beings were unleashing their fury, their roars forming the earth-shattering thunder.

On a cultivation world within the Zhao He Starfield, a scant handful of cultivators remained, tasked with finding promising mortals to seed the future generations of cultivators within the Inner Realm.

Now, these few stood pale and trembling, vomiting blood as they stared at the sky in abject terror. They knew not the cause of this torment, but the echoing roars had invaded their very minds, filling them with dread.

“Have the Outer Realm invaders returned?!” they cried, their voices choked with fear. They tried to take flight, but before their feet could leave the earth, a crushing pressure descended from the heavens, pinning them to the ground.

By the eleventh breath, the booming sounds in the four great regions coalesced into a palpable pressure.

It was the weight of antiquity, a force imbued with the very essence of time, sweeping across the Inner Realm as if to proclaim: “We have returned!”

On a cultivation world in the Luo Tian Starfield, a world now populated only by mortals, a chilling stillness fell upon the bustling cities.

An old man selling wine, his customers gathered around him, all felt a primal terror as the clear skies suddenly darkened. As the booming sounds grew more intense, every mortal blacked out, collapsing unconscious to the ground.

In their dreamless slumber, they did not witness the transformation of the heavens. The darkening sky blotted out the light, plunging the world into absolute night!

This was the sixteenth breath of the echoing storm!

Sixteen breaths had extinguished the light across the four great regions of the Inner Realm. Every cultivation world, every continent, was now shrouded in darkness.

In the seventeenth breath, the Kun Xu Starfield, the epicenter of this phenomenon, erupted in a single, earth-shattering roar that dwarfed all that had come before!

The sound was the shattering of a gate, the collapse of the heavens themselves!

In its wake, the very fabric of the Kun Xu Starfield split asunder, forming a colossal rift.

As the rift tore open, savage, exultant roars echoed forth, and the ancient aura of the Immortal Domain poured into the Inner Realm, sweeping through Kun Xu like a violent wind.

Amidst the roars and cries, grotesque eyes glared from the rift, and gnarled hands reached out, grasping, as if countless beings were straining with all their might to tear the fabric of space itself.

At that moment, similar rifts tore open in the Zhao He, Luo Tian, and Yun Hai Starfields. Four gaping wounds in the heavens, unleashing the power of ages past!

Antiquity was about to awaken!

Within the Thunder Immortal Realm of the Luo Tian Starfield, the wizened Zhan Old Devil shot to his feet, his face contorted in shock. He stepped out of the Thunder Immortal Realm, appearing in the heart of the Luo Tian Starfield. His eyes burned with an eerie light as he stared at the rift in the sky, his gaze filled with cold fury!

“The Ancient Immortal Domain!”

The four rifts pulsed in unison, shaking the cosmos with their booming resonance. They continued to expand at a frantic pace, and by the nineteenth breath, the Inner Realm seemed to be splitting apart. The four rifts converged above the New Immortal Realm, at the very heart of the four regions, forming a single, horrifying wound in the sky!
With a deafening roar, four cosmic rifts collided and merged, birthing a colossal, cross-shaped scar upon the tapestry of the night. An aura of forgotten eons, ancient and untamed, poured forth, accompanied by ecstatic shrieks that echoed through the void. At the moment of this unholy convergence, the very light within the Realm of Immortals shattered, extinguished as if by a celestial hand!

Darkness reigned supreme. The boundless luminescence, devoured by some arcane force, gathered beyond the four rifts, erupting in blinding, unbearable brilliance.

The thunderous clamor reverberated, shaking the Silver River that swirled around the New Immortal World below. Within, the very foundations of the Immortal World trembled, sending a tremor through every sanctuary, causing countless cultivators to gaze upward, their faces etched with bewilderment and dread.

Qing Shuang, her face ashen, swayed upon her feet before taking flight, a desperate path towards the fractured heavens.

“This is the aura of the Ancient Immortal Domain! Its return is upon us! Hong Shanzi, Nan Yunzi, Qing Shui, we must go forth and pay homage to the Ancient Immortals!” Qing Lin declared, rising with urgency. Three streaks of light answered her call, soaring skyward from the Immortal World – Hong Shanzi, Nan Yunzi, and Qing Shui.

The four ascended as radiant comets, followed by a wave of cultivators from across the Realm. Below them, atop the highest peak of the Immortal World, stood a colossal statue, brought from Zhu Que Star during the past three days, now a monument destined for eternal veneration.

As Qing Shuang and her companions pierced the veil of the Silver River and stood in the star-strewn expanse, their eyes fixed upon the cross-shaped rift, even Qing Shui could not suppress a look of profound reverence.

Qing Lin and the others dared not betray the slightest disrespect. To these ancient ones, the Ancient Immortals were nothing less than gods!

Only Si Tu Nan, lost amidst the sea of cultivators below, stared with unwavering intensity at the sky. The words of Wang Lin echoed in his mind, words he had shared with no one. As he witnessed the ancient tear in reality, no reverence filled his heart, only a complex swirl of confusion and bewilderment.

The Ancient Immortal Domain, lost since time immemorial, had returned to the world!

From within the cruciform chasm, earth-shattering roars resonated, culminating in a final, explosive burst that ripped the rift asunder. The gathered light, drawn from the Realm, coalesced into a series of immense, elongated blocks. Another appeared, then another, until hundreds materialized, intertwined and stacked upon one another.

Before the eyes of all, these luminous blocks formed a colossal staircase, stretching endlessly into the heavens, a radiant path shimmering with celestial energy.

And then, they emerged. Beings wreathed in golden light, their eyes burning with fervent excitement, stepped forth from the rift. Soon, more than a score of figures were howling in the void.

“At last, we are free!”

“Our power restored, the Immortals return!”

The triumphant cries echoed from these golden figures, each possessing the power of a Third Step cultivator, yet with an aura subtly different from those dwelling within the Immortal Caves. The distinction was elusive, difficult to define.

Behind this vanguard, more golden figures spilled forth in a blinding torrent, a spectacle of breathtaking, terrifying grandeur.

Qing Lin and her companions, closest to the spectacle, were awash in golden light, their expressions grim. Hong Shanzi and Nan Yunzi bowed deeply, their reverence absolute.

But Qing Lin was the most fervent of them all. He stepped forward, bowing low towards the golden figures.

“This humble disciple of the Seal Sect, Qing Lin, greets the Ancient Immortals!”

But his presence, his words, went unnoticed. The Ancient Immortals, lost in their joyous frenzy, transformed into streaks of pure gold, rushing past Qing Shuang and her companions, hurtling towards the New Immortal World.

“It has been an eternity since this Immortal has tasted incense offerings! Though faint, the scent here will ease the ages of thirst!”

“Incense! There is incense here!”

“Ha ha! To awaken to such an offering! The disciple of the Seal Sect has done well!”

The Immortals roared as they descended upon the New Immortal World, a scene that sent a jolt of fear through Qing Shuang and her company.