The Daogu avatar, a being of ancient lineage, traversed the star-strewn void with a speed surpassing even its own projections. Unlike the mere application of brute force or the harmonious integration with the cosmos employed by its duplicates, this journey was one of tearing the very fabric of space itself!

With each stride, Wang Lin’s right hand lashed out, rending the starscape before him. The cosmos groaned and buckled as colossal rifts erupted in his wake. He plunged into these fissures, vanishing from the realm of Zhao He in the blink of an eye.

Through this savage method, Wang Lin attained the pinnacle of his corporeal velocity. Across the myriad planes of existence within the Cave World, he alone dared to traverse the void in such a reckless manner. Within these spatial tears dwelled tempestuous winds and chaotic currents of annihilation, forces capable of obliterating lesser beings. The bodies of ordinary cultivators could not withstand such assaults.

Even the mighty Ancient Demons and Ancient Fiends would struggle to endure these cataclysmic storms within the rifts. Though the resilient Ancient Gods might weather a few such passages, their endurance would be short-lived.

Only the Daogu physique, infinitely more robust than that of an Ancient God, could bear such a trial. Only Wang Lin, heir to the Daogu bloodline, could stride through these rents with impunity, impervious to the winds and currents of destruction.

The destructive tempests lashed against Wang Lin’s form, only to shatter and wail in defeat upon contact with his flesh. He emerged unscathed.

Within the Kunxu Starfield, a colossal tear materialized in the void. Wang Lin, his powerful form unscathed, stepped forth. Closing his eyes, his Daogu-honed spiritual sense swept across the surrounding space.

Then, his eyes snapped open, fixing upon a distant point, and he surged forward.

From his awakening within the Cycle of Heavenly Fate in Zhao He to this very moment, but a few breaths had passed.

Meanwhile, back in the Zhao He Starfield, the souls of the Heavenly Fate cultivators from the four great realms had converged upon Wang Lin’s duplicate. As the last decrepit soul entered the avatar, the meditating figure’s eyes suddenly flew open.

Within those eyes, struggle and agony reigned. The souls of the Heavenly Fate cultivators sought to overwhelm his very being, attempting to seize control. This usurpation, enabled by the Cycle Unification Art, was beyond the reach of external intervention.

Bathed in azure light, Daoist Blue Dream stood nearby, observing the avatar with serene countenance. From two other directions, Qing Shuang and the Crimson Robe also watched, their expressions betraying a tension absent from Blue Dream’s.

“Wang Lin, can you match my speed?” The avatar’s form trembled as the struggle within intensified. Veins bulged upon his face as he spoke, his voice a raspy, ancient croak that sent chills down the spine.

As the words left his lips, his right eye twisted and dissolved, replaced by an abyss of pale light. He turned that eye towards Blue Dream and the others, a sneer playing upon his lips.

“Your cultivation is not insignificant,” he rasped, “Yet, since you seek to confine me, I shall remain here and allow you to witness my ninety-ninth awakening!” In the avatar’s left eye, the pupil shuddered, then stilled, emitting the same pale light as the other. He returned to his meditative posture, closing his eyes once more.

The experiences of the duplicate were felt by Wang Lin’s true form. As the avatar’s eyes closed, a lone cultivation star appeared before Wang Lin in the Kunxu Starfield.

Or rather, it was a desolate, forsaken world, devoid of life. A vast desert dominated its surface, swallowing what remained of the land.

The rivers had long since run dry, their courses buried beneath the sands. The seas remained, but were now black, teeming with the remains of countless dead marine creatures, their decaying corpses polluting the waters.

A pall of murky mist hung over the desolate world, thick with poisonous miasma. Mortals breathing it would succumb to putrefaction. Even cultivators would grimace at its foul stench.

The planet possessed no spiritual energy, making it undesirable even to those who practiced dark arts. The poisonous miasma itself was not potent to cultivators, their frown was elicited because the concentrated stench of decaying flesh permeated the air.

The world was ugly, with a vile odor, however, to Wang Lin, despite its differences from the cultivation stars he had witnessed in the Cycle, the sensation was unmistakable!

The sensation, was the world’s soul. It was at a nascent stage in the past, and though it was close to death in the present, Wang Lin could not be mistaken!

Upon beholding the desolate star, Wang Lin charged forth, shattering its fragile atmospheric barrier and landing upon its sandy surface.

As he touched down, the swirling mists were scattered by a sudden gale, unveiling the star’s true countenance.

Without pause, Wang Lin hurtled through the star, emerging above the black ocean. A stagnant expanse, devoid of any motion.

The vile odor was more potent, but Wang Lin paid it no mind. He plunged towards the black water.

With a deafening roar, the ocean erupted in a massive vortex as Wang Lin neared. The vortex spiraled down to the ocean floor, exposing thick black sludge to the sky.

Beneath the sludge, concealed for countless ages, the true land of the star was revealed.

The land was not a plain expanse, but littered with low, barren mountains!
“Here it is!” A glint sparked in Wang Lin’s eyes. He surged forward, ignoring the fetid stench, and pierced the ocean floor, descending into the depths below!

Beneath the seabed, in an abyss lost to the ages, lay a cavern formed in epochs long past. Its floor was covered in a layer of rust-colored dust, remnants of countless cataclysms that had shaken the world. Hidden beneath this ancient sediment was half of a celestial compass!

A gentle breeze stirred within the cavern, disturbing the dust that had remained undisturbed for millennia. It swirled, revealing a corner of the ancient compass, buried beneath.

At that very moment, a powerful hand descended, seizing the compass by its edge. With a single, forceful heave, the artifact was freed from its earthen prison!

Wang Lin gazed upon the compass in his grasp, a radiant light illuminating his face.

“Let us see who is swifter!”

Within the Zhao He Star System, Wang Lin’s avatar, who was now a long-haired demon, entered a state of deep meditation, his features transforming with terrifying speed. In a blink, he was no longer Wang Lin, but the wizened, white-haired Tian Yunzi!

This occupation was akin to a ravenous consumption, though unlike Tian Yunzi’s previous attempts, this was an ingestion from within. A critical maneuver, designed to ensure utter and complete success!

Though his eyes were closed, his essence was rapidly merging with the host’s. This fusion was a slumbering process, a rebirth into an improved body. Once complete, he would awaken!

This was his ninety-ninth awakening. Upon its completion, he would locate the remaining fragment of his essence, severed long ago, and merge with it, reclaiming his dominion over Reincarnation!

Then, he would become a unique Celestial Dao, possessed of his own intellect, and a cunning that surpassed all others.

He would wield divine powers and arcane arts, able to sustain himself without external aid. It was no exaggeration to say that once he mastered Reincarnation, and became the complete Celestial Dao, the fate of every being born within this Cave Dwelling Realm would be subject to his will. An unconscious Dao might oversee existence without malice, but one with awareness, with sentience, would wield a power of terrifying magnitude!

At his whim, he could devour all life spawned by the Celestial Dao, leaving only those not born of this realm: the souls and spirits of the Xiantian Continent!

Tian Yunzi’s integration was rapidly approaching completion. In the blink of an eye, the absorption was total. With a start, Tian Yunzi opened his eyes!

The moment his gaze fell upon the world, a smile blossomed upon Tian Yunzi’s lips. He threw back his head and roared with laughter.

“Ninety-nine awakenings! At last, I have awakened for the final time! I AM the Celestial Dao!” Tian Yunzi rose to his feet, his white hair swirling around him. An ancient aura emanated from his very being, and a swirling mist coalesced around his form!

This mist was that which Wang Lin had witnessed within the depths of Reincarnation – the very essence of the Celestial Dao!

“Wang Lin, your avatar is mine! Even if your true self yet lives, what matter? I have no time for you now!” Tian Yunzi’s face twisted into a sneer. He spared not a glance for the Blue Dream Daoist and his companions, and with a flicker of his sleeve, prepared to depart.

But the instant he moved, a flash of blue light erupted before him, the Blue Dream Daoist materialized, blocking his path.

“I pledged to him that you would not leave this place.”

Dark Frost and Crimson Robe materialized alongside him, their faces grim.

Tian Yunzi’s eyes narrowed. He swung his sleeve and then gaped his maw, an unholy blackness swallowing everything before him. At once, the starry skies trembled, the very fabric of reality seemed to reverse itself. An endless mist rolled forth, obscuring the vision of the trio, and threatening to consume them within its embrace.

But even as this mist engulfed them, as a phantom maw materialized within its depths, an intense blue light shone. A tempestuous aura surged forth, colliding with the encroaching fog.

At the same moment, from the far reaches of the starry firmament, a voice, chilling and filled with deadly intent, echoed:

“Tian Yunzi! I, Wang Lin, come to reclaim what is mine!”