Wang Lin’s roar became a tempest, crashing into the instruments amplifying the six elemental vortexes. Within, it spun and echoed before erupting forth with monstrous force.

The roar, already formidable, was magnified beyond measure. As it blasted from the vortexes, the very fabric of the first illusory throne shattered before the eye.

This booming, indescribable cataclysm slammed against the nine suns orbiting the Cailan Daoist. Their flames flickered as though about to die, and the roar pierced through them to assault the Daoist’s very ears!

Within the second illusory throne, the Cailan Daoist was elated, a feeling he, a seasoned cultivator, rarely knew. He had waited lifetimes for this moment, a desperate yearning fulfilled at last!

He had found a trace of his third soul, aided by the power of the Immortal Astral Continent within this throne. Whether a phantom of his own longing or a true echo, it was the closest he’d ever been.

He watched the third soul pass through the Summoning River and venture into the distant Kunxu of tens of thousands of years hence. He manipulated the threads of fate, seeking clarity, when disaster struck!

A deafening roar exploded in his ears, starting faint but swelling to a monstrous crescendo that consumed all other sound!

**ROAR!**

In the face of this savage bellow, everything before the Cailan Daoist seemed to be forcefully ripped apart, threatening to shatter his illusory throne and drag him from its depths!

The third soul, so briefly in his grasp, vanished before his eyes, its starlight fading into nothingness. Not just the soul, but everything around it crumbled into dust.

This devastation was sudden, catching the Cailan Daoist at his most vulnerable. Just as he was about to glimpse the third soul’s final resting place, it was gone.

Stunned, the Cailan Daoist could do nothing to prevent it, for he was being forcibly awakened from the first layer of his illusory throne.

“NO!” he roared, a primal scream of utter, incandescent rage!

The cry tore from his throat and from the lips of the seated Pan Demon at the summit of the first throne, clashing with Wang Lin’s Ancient Dao roar in a cataclysmic surge of destructive power!

The six elemental vortexes imploded, and Wang Lin coughed blood. His very bones threatened to shatter, and agonizing pain sent him hurtling backward. The nine suns scattered, unleashing a crushing wave in his direction.

In this moment of dire peril, Wang Lin’s Ancient Dao Immortal Body surged to life, rapidly repairing his wounds. He raised his right hand, and the ghostly sail appeared, enveloping him and whisking him away just as the shockwave washed over him. Wang Lin vanished.

Within the star-field swarming with monstrous beasts, one hundred zhang from the seated Cailan Daoist, Wang Lin’s eyes snapped open. Dazed and bleeding, he retreated without hesitation.

With that single step, he vanished, reappearing in the Far Reaches. Coughing up more blood, Wang Lin didn’t even pause to heal but fled onward, driven by desperation.

In the Far Reaches, the Cailan Daoist seated atop the mountainous beast corpses abruptly opened his eyes, blazing red with fury. His face twisted in rage, he stared into the void and unleashed a thunderous roar.

“Wang Lin, I, Cailan, vow to hunt you to the ends of the cosmos!” The sound shook the star-field, and the beast corpses surrounding the Cailan Daoist crumbled into dust that swirled into the air.

The Cailan Daoist rose to his feet, filled with murderous intent, and began his pursuit.

Even from afar, Wang Lin heard the furious roar and its chilling vow. His face ashen, he continued his desperate escape.

“Nonsense! Even if I hadn’t interfered with his search, he would still seek my destruction for daring to come here!” Though weary, Wang Lin felt no remorse for his actions.

He had to do what he did. Had he not disrupted the Cailan Daoist’s plan, he would merely have delayed his doom by going to the altar.

If the illusory throne held true, and Cailan found his third soul, all hope for the entire Rain Celestial Realm would be lost!

It would be consumed and remade in the image of the new Cailan Immortal Exalted, and Wang Lin’s fate would be entirely out of his control!

He would not allow this. Disrupting the plan was a necessity, even if the consequences pushed him to the very brink of death.

As he fled, Wang Lin could feel the star-field tremble behind him. The Cailan Daoist was hunting him with unrelenting fury, and his vast cultivation and divine sense made him a formidable pursuer.

“Only the altar offers a chance of survival! May its power prove true!” Before confronting the seated Pan Demon, Wang Lin had meditated for a half-stick of incense.

During this time, he had merged with the soul of Heavenly Fate and deployed his divination arts. The result was clear: the altar held the key to his survival.

The Cloud Sea rift, a vast expanse of stars, was where Fan Shan recounted the aftermath of the cave world war. The power of Heaven devoured Lian Daofei, and the Cailan Immortal Exalted shattered into three souls and seven spirits. Their struggle tore this rift and connected it to a strange space, allowing countless beasts to spill into this realm.

Deep within the rift’s star-field, a colossal, ruined altar floated in the darkness. It was broken and ancient, yet it remained fixed in place.

The altar was black as the void, save for one corner that emitted a soft, ethereal light.

It was anchored in place by that corner, which seemed to reach into another dimension. Layers of swirling runes emanated from the connection, unchanging for tens of thousands of years.

The other dimension was not entirely seamless. It was riddled with cracks that bled out the ethereal light.

Imagine a sheet of parchment pierced by a dart that remained embedded. The dart created fractures as it punctured the surface.

An aura of Ancient Dao emanated from the altar, enveloping the area but not spreading far. An unseen force seemed to contain it.

The altar resembled a small mountain, octagonal with tiers of steps. At the top, its summit stretched one hundred zhang in every direction, covered in countless black runes that formed an ancient, weathered array.

At the heart of this array, the very center of the altar, lay an arm! The aura of Ancient Dao originated from this limb.

The arm was not large, only a few dozen zhang, and rested there silently, unmoving.

Through the cracks anchoring the altar, one could glimpse a blurry image of the other dimension: a world of flowers, birdsong, and lush foliage. Immortal herbs grew in abundance, and celestial beasts frolicked, a veritable paradise.

Suddenly, a pained scream echoed from this paradise, filled with helplessness and despair. It was a cry that would tug at the heart of any listener.

“O Grandpappy and Grandmammy, please, spare me! I truly can’t tell any more stories! Even if you give me more treasures, the stories are all gone! It’s been over a century, I am parched as the desert, I am tired of this charade!”

With the scream, a gaunt figure, eyes dull and filled with pain, struggled to escape from the largest crack where the altar joined the space.

An unseen barrier separated the space from the altar, but the figure seemed to ignore it. His body was halfway through, revealing his identity.

Behind him, within the space, two young girls, around seven or eight years of age, could be seen. One wore violet robes, the other a jade skirt, looking adorable in the light of this world.

“HanHan, let’s release him, no? I think he is pitiful…” Said the girl in green in a soft, pitying voice, tugging at her friend’s sleeve.

The escaping figure heard this and his tears began to fall, his eyes a picture of primal terror.

“Wah-Wah, he hasn’t even finished the story! Do not feel bad for him! He threatened us when he first arrived here!” The girl called HanHan grabbed the figure’s legs and pulled him back into the hole with a loud shriek from the prisoner. “Tlang Lang, continue the story you were telling!”

The girl called Wah Wah spoke with a little smile, peering into the face of the struggling man before adding “How about this: you will tell us more stories for a thousand years, and I’ll be in charge for your freedom.”

Tlang Lang gave a cry filled with anguish as he realized that he was back in this terrifying place. He heard the girl’s words and his tears fell down even faster. “I knew it… You two… You lied to me last time as well, I have no stories anymore. I want a drink of water!”