Weary, Wang Lin sat upon the back of the Gloomfang Beast. Were the beast to fully unfurl, its form would span galaxies, yet now it was diminished, a mere thousand leagues in length. Even so, its passage through the star-strewn void exuded a pressure that crushed the spirit of any who beheld it.

This weight stemmed from the Gloomfang Beast’s very being, but even more so from the icy, pitiless gaze within its eyes. A cold indifference to life, death, reincarnation, the turning of ages, and all living things.

Within the Gloomfang Beast’s gaze, what value held the myriad lives? It was akin to the very weave of the Heavens, a true god of the Grotto Realm. From it, all things had sprung – cultivator and monstrous beast alike, all no more than fleeting ash in its wake!

Yet equally, this oppressive power emanated from Wang Lin, seated cross-legged upon the beast. Though he sat in tranquil silence, his aura was that of a celestial deity!

Wang Lin possessed the blood of the Dao Ancient, a lineage whose potent bloodline could rival even the maddened, god-touched blood of immortals. Though he was yet bound to the Grotto Realm, even upon the Immortal Astral Continent, he would hold the right to look down upon creation!

The Gloomfang Beast’s movements were soundless, perhaps it did not move at all. Perhaps it was the starscape itself that shifted around it, as if the beast could will itself to any point within the cosmos in the blink of an eye. For this starscape, and all it contained, belonged to it!

Wang Lin sat still, his right hand lightly stroking the Gloomfang Beast’s hide, his mind awash with memories of Tian Yunzi.

“To think, the beast I tamed long ago is but a fragment of the very Heavens… and Tian Yunzi, too, was part of that celestial tapestry… No wonder he revered the Heavens… he revered a part of himself.” Wang Lin murmured, gazing down at the Gloomfang Beast with a profound sense of wonder.

“The Seven-Colored Immortal seized a fragment from within the Primeval God Throne, a fragment that served as a vessel. Within it, he found the power of the Heavens… and perhaps even the Heaven Defying Bead itself.”

“From this came the compass.”

“This power of the Heavens, all seek it: The Seven-Colored Daoist, the Old Monster Si, and countless others. They seek the Third Soul not only to merge with it, but to claim dominion over the Heavens as well… and then there is that storage fragment the Seven-Colored Immortal discovered.”

“By chance, I have become the master of this power of the Heavens… From this day forth, I am the lord of these Heavens. The Immortal Astral Continent I cannot be sure of, but within this Grotto Realm, none shall snatch the Heavens from my grasp!”

“These Heavens are now complete. If they once dared consume even Dao Fei, then let them now dare to provoke me, and become the first of my acquaintances devoured by the Heavens after countless ages!”

A surge of profound confidence coursed through Wang Lin. He gazed out at the infinite starscape, his eyes gleaming with purpose!

Without unleashing his divine sense, Wang Lin allowed the Gloomfang Beast to drift as it would through the cosmos. He closed his eyes, his hands forming a mystic seal upon his knees. After a brief meditation, he snapped his eyes open and bit down upon his tongue, spitting forth a mouthful of blood.

The crimson ichor floated before him, held in place relative to the Gloomfang Beast’s passage. The blood pulsed, radiating a blinding light, as if boiling from within, and emitting a fragrant aroma.

“A splintered avatar, then I shall forge another! This avatar, fueled by my very blood, shall become a path to the Eternal Dao!” Wang Lin uttered, raising his right hand and pointing towards the blood.

At his command, the blood pulsed faster, expanding rapidly to take on the form of a man. The figure was entirely blood red, a crimson effigy.

“Within my blood flows the power of the Dao Ancient. This avatar, now taking form, must shed that inherent strength. The task is simple.” Wang Lin’s eyes flashed, and the three clan star sigils at his brow and within his pupils blazed to life. A vortex of unseen force emanated from them, engulfing the blood figure. The effigy writhed as wisps of ethereal energy, fine as silk threads, emerged from within, drawn inexorably into Wang Lin’s three clan stars.

The process was swift, lasting but a single incense stick’s duration. All the Dao Ancient power within the blood figure was extracted by Wang Lin. What remained was blood, devoid of any ancestral resonance.

As the Dao Ancient essence was purged, the blood figure shimmered with red light, twisting and contorting as the crimson hue receded. Before Wang Lin stood a perfect replica of himself!

The avatar was like a newborn child, seemingly an adult but lacking a soul, merely a vessel.

“Soul coalesce!” Wang Lin touched his brow with his right hand, and a portion of his own soul separated from the whole, flowing from his seven orifices to enter the avatar’s own. Slowly, as Wang Lin’s fragment of soul merged with the body, he and his creation were as one, as inseparable as water and milk.

With this task complete, Wang Lin’s weariness deepened. He slowly closed his eyes, as if succumbing to slumber.

The instant his true form’s eyes closed, the Wang Lin avatar snapped its own eyes open, revealing their brilliant light. Glancing down at its newly forged body, Wang Lin’s expression remained serene. He raised his right hand and pointed towards the starscape.

“Dispersed across the cosmos, fragments of the Source of Flame I have come to understand, return!”

At those words, flickering flames burst into existence throughout the vast starscape centered around the Gloomfang Beast. These wisps danced, multiplied, and coalesced until they formed a raging inferno, a sea of fire that surged across the heavens!

The flames formed a ring that spun around Wang Lin, drawing in essence from the boundless starscape. It was like a monstrous wave, roaring and crashing without end.

Swiftly, as every flame in the cosmic expanse converged upon Wang Lin, it seemed as if his left eye transformed into a black vortex, devouring the inferno whole.

In an instant, the starscape was no longer aflame. Within Wang Lin’s left eye, a single sigil representing the Source of Flame pulsed into being.

“Source of Thunder, woven into the starscape, I, as the Lord of Thunder, summon you back into myself through countless epiphanies!” Wang Lin spoke softly, sweeping his right hand forward.
With a single, sweeping gesture, the very firmament trembled. Concentric ripples of power, dark and viscous, spiraled from the point where the flames had been extinguished, unfurling across the void. From the distant reaches, a muffled thunder began to rumble, growing ever closer. It echoed from all directions, until, in a breath, the booming symphony of thunder drowned out all other sound in the celestial sphere.

The deafening roars intensified, and within the storm of thunder, bolts of lightning, like the wrath of heaven unleashed, lashed across the cosmos. Countless tendrils of light wove together into a boundless net, crackling and snarling, as they lunged towards Wang Lin.

In a heartbeat, all the lightning converged upon Wang Lin’s right eye, each strike searing inwards. With every fused bolt, arcs of raw electricity danced across his body, as if celebrating their return to the fold. The light crackled in joyous abandon.

Soon, the entirety of the star-sea’s lightning had vanished into Wang Lin’s right eye, leaving behind, imprinted within his very essence, the mark of the Undying Lightning!

Two origins claimed, fire in his left eye, and thunder in his right!

“Within my dream-path of a thousand years, I gleaned the essence of Emptiness, which holds within it the totality of my will, my very Tao. Though you dispersed, you may yet be drawn back…” Wang Lin murmured, stretching out his hands. “Of this essence of Emptiness, the first to return shall be… Life and Death!”

“My left hand shall hold Life, my right, Nonexistence…” he continued, “Though ages may pass, my heart remains steadfast.”

From Wang Lin’s left hand, tendrils of white mist began to unfurl, caressing his palm. A soft, gentle light emanated forth: the vital spark, Wang Lin’s very life-force, a fragment of the Origin of Life and Death, understood over two millennia.

Simultaneously, from his right hand, black vapor curled and writhed, coalescing into a dark sphere of light. Within that inky swirl, decay and mortality reigned, as if his right hand held dominion over the rivers of the Underworld.

In the instant those twin energies met, they coursed up Wang Lin’s arms, gathering at his brow. They spiraled together, a perfect fusion, like Yin and Yang entwined!

The Origin of Life and Death had returned!

The aura surrounding Wang Lin exploded with newfound power!

“The second to return shall be the Origin of Truth and Falsehood. For what is life, but truth and lies interwoven?” Wang Lin spoke quietly, his mind drifting to the affairs of Tian Yunzi, struck by a profound melancholy.

As the words left his lips, his form began to shimmer and waver, as if becoming insubstantial.

His eyes in particular held a strange power, like swirling galaxies. Those who dared to gaze upon them were lost within, unable to distinguish pupil from iris.

“When my eyes are closed, all is illusion. When I open them, all is truth.” Wang Lin, murmuring, sealed his eyelids shut. The entirety of creation vanished from his mind: the Realm of Tears, the Third Soul, even the Nether Beast were gone. The totality of the star-sea, in that moment, existed only as a figment of his imagination.

Then, as he opened his eyes once more, the Origin of Truth and Falsehood coalesced.

Even as Wang Lin was reforging the Origins of his Dao-Self, the Nether Beast drifted steadily onwards, leaving the Zhaohe Galaxy and entering the Sea of Clouds.

And within the Sea of Clouds, a company of figures sped through the cosmos.

Led by four ancient figures, the ranks numbered in the hundreds. They flew through the void, their powerful auras billowing in their wake.

From their bodies emanated an oppressive force, strongest among the four leaders. By some arcane art, their minds were linked.

As they journeyed, a colossal gourd shimmered into existence above them, an ancient relic imbued with the weight of ages.

From the gourd’s mouth, a stream of azure mist spiraled, as if divining a path.

The four elders paused frequently, offering obeisance to the gourd and communing with it through their merged minds.

These four figures were none other than the Four War Generals of the Ancient Celestial Realm!

Trailing behind the celestial company, a figure clad in a Daoist robe followed at a leisurely pace. Zhan Laogui seemed unconcerned by the immortals before him, and they, in turn, appeared to disregard his presence.