The white-armored general could retreat no further. This was no true sorcery duel, where one could advance and withdraw with measured grace. This was a game of war, a slaughterhouse banner, a true Asura field of battle.

Upon such a field, a great commander’s retreat signaled a weakening of spirit, a dimming of the inner flame. Especially now, with Wang Lin howling forth in his onslaught, retreat was an impossibility!

To yield ground was to admit fear of Wang Lin, and such an admission could well cost him victory. For with each passing moment, with each life Wang Lin claimed, his power swelled!

Though he, too, could choose to feast upon the slain, his spirit, if weakened by retreat, could never match the ravenous hunger of Wang Lin.

“SLAY!!” The white-armored general’s face twisted in a savage snarl. With a guttural roar, his tiger-striped white steed surged forward, a blinding flash aimed directly at Wang Lin!

From the heavens above, the eastern front of the endless battlefield was a sight of dread: twin whirlwinds, one black as midnight, the other white as bone, converging upon each other across a thousand fathoms. Both, in their relentless advance, reaped a horrifying harvest, each seeking an advantage in that narrowing distance.

Screams echoed in a chilling symphony, as countless warriors fell. The black and white vortexes drew ever closer, fueled by the carnage.

High above, the White Tiger Constellation trembled, its celestial form distorted with unease. Its essence seeped into the white armor of the general below, and in its wake, a phantom tiger, vast and indistinct, began to materialize behind the commander.

This spectral beast, a harbinger of savagery, coiled in the heavens and unleashed a deafening roar toward Wang Lin!

Even the white steed beneath the general seemed to transform, its gait now a tiger’s bound, its whinnies replaced by roars that shook the very foundations of the world!

Wang Lin, cloaked in a miasma of black energy that consumed his steed and veiled his form, rode into the fray. His white hair, untamed and wild, streamed behind him, as he wielded a black blade, a foot long, that resembled a primordial cleaver forged to sunder the heavens.

Blood, dark and viscous, dripped from its point, a profane rain upon the battlefield.

“Tiger or no, today, Wang will rend the beast!” Wang Lin’s eyes burned with murderous intent, piercing the veil of darkness with icy needles. The black energy around him coalesced into a cyclonic vortex, a phantom giant taking shape, its presence overwhelming.

This giant was not the ancient god, Ye Mo, but the god-blooded warrior, Wang Lin!

Five hundred fathoms, four hundred, three hundred… in the blink of an eye, the distance between them dwindled to a mere hundred! A hundred fathoms, a breath away from annihilation!

In a heartbeat, they were upon each other!

“SLAY!!!” The white-armored general threw back his head and unleashed a roar that rent the sky.

Wang Lin, in stark contrast, remained silent. In that deadly quiet, his black steed reared up on its hind legs, and with a motion as smooth and inevitable as fate, he swung his black blade in a deadly arc. The weapon’s dark gleam mingled with the twilight, its edge aligning with the blood moon, a cosmic alignment of death.

As the blade descended, the world seemed to warp and shudder. The winds shrieked, the clouds scattered like frightened birds, and the very heavens threatened to collapse, all their weight focused upon Wang Lin’s single, devastating blow!

The white-armored general’s spear, ablaze with blinding light, lunged forward as he closed the distance with Wang Lin. As the spear pierced the air, the phantom tiger behind him writhed and dissolved, its essence flowing into the weapon. In that instant, the spear was no longer a mere weapon; it was a ravenous white tiger, its fangs bared, ready to devour its prey!

At the moment of impact, as black and white collided, a cataclysmic thunder erupted, shaking the earth to its core, splintering the skies, and reverberating across the celestial spheres!

Amidst the deafening roar, Wang Lin’s blade met the tiger-spear. The spear shattered, its pristine light extinguished. The phantom tiger, with a mournful shriek, twisted and unraveled. Simultaneously, Wang Lin’s black blade splintered into a thousand fragments, hurled back by the force of the impact.

Their steeds, too, crashed headlong into each other, their skulls exploding in a shower of bone and blood. They, too, dissolved, their forms replaced by swirling eddies of black and white energy that surged outwards, consuming everything in their path.

Weapons broken, steeds fallen!

The two warriors, now unhorsed, leaped into the air, meeting in a whirlwind of steel and sorcery. The echoes of their battle reverberated through the heavens, shaking the very fabric of existence. Moments later, another explosion, even more earth-shattering than the last, ripped through the air, threatening to cleave the world in two!

In the heavens above, the White Tiger general shuddered, spewing forth a mouthful of blood. His face, though ashen, still bore the mark of savage defiance. The White Tiger was the master of savagery, and as its representative, the general possessed a fearsome tenacity.

Yet, as he wiped the blood from his lips, his gaze upon Wang Lin was tinged with a chilling fear.

“How can he possess such bloodlust?! How many souls has he condemned in his lifetime?!”

High above, the true form of Wang Lin also trembled, a flicker of pallor on his face. Yet, his eyes shone with renewed intensity. He cast a glance upon the White Tiger general, and his voice, a thunderous command, echoed across the battlefield.

“The tide is turning!”

“The White Tiger never yields! This is my world, my rules! I will not be defeated!” The White Tiger raised his right hand, pounding his chest with a desperate ferocity. Another gout of blood erupted from his lips.

As his blood rained down upon the earth, the white armor of the general below shattered. Blood flowed freely from the warrior’s wounds, and he stumbled backward, retreating a thousand fathoms before collapsing to the ground with a deafening crash. The falling blood of the White Tiger merged with the fallen general, and with a roar of defiance, the general rose once more. Ignoring Wang Lin, he turned upon his own soldiers, and began to slaughter them in a berserk frenzy.

With each life he claimed, his wounds began to heal, and the shattered remnants of his armor began to reform!

Wang Lin, in his ethereal form as a game piece, was also thrown back by the cataclysmic force, his own armor crumbling to dust. His white hair billowed around him, as he retreated a thousand fathoms.

The white-armored general, consumed by his bloodlust, knew no friend or foe. All who stood near him fell beneath his blade, their life force consumed, their essence transformed into white energy that flowed into his body.

Not content with mere slaughter, the white-armored general writhed in agony, and a thousand drops of blood burst from his pores, each carrying a fragment of his life force. These crimson droplets became streaks of pure destruction, seeking out any living soldier. Those touched by the blood vanished, their energy devoured, adding to the growing tide of annihilation.

In mere moments, countless soldiers, game pieces on a cosmic board, vanished from existence. The rate of destruction accelerated, reaching a horrifying crescendo as nearly ten thousand souls were erased!

With a final surge, the white-armored general leaped into the air, arms outstretched. The energy of the slain, the essence of those ten thousand souls, surged towards him. With a crackling roar, new white armor formed around his body, its pristine surface concealing the madness within. A white steed materialized beneath him, but even this was not enough. The thousand droplets of blood still reaped their ghastly harvest!

Wang Lin did not mirror his foe’s desperation. He simply retreated, his gaze fixed upon a distant figure, the third game piece, the golden-armored general, whose spirit was bound to a middle-aged cultivator of the Five Elements.
The golden-armored general met Wang Lin’s gaze and felt his skin crawl. Without hesitation, he retreated swiftly, but Wang Lin, with purposeful strides, bore down upon him. In an instant, he was upon the general, his right hand rising and descending like a thunderclap.

The golden general was the weakest of the three pawns. In this reality forged by rigid rules, his manifestation was a pale shadow of Wang Lin and the White Tiger. Were it not for the constraints of this bizarre realm, slaying the general would have required significant effort. But this was no immortal being, merely a mortal echo shaped by the rules, a task easily accomplished.

Paralyzed by dread, the middle-aged cultivator could offer no resistance. As Wang Lin’s palm descended, the golden general cried out in agony, his gilded armor shattering into fragments.

In the instant of his collapse, Wang Lin’s consciousness, manifested as a chess piece, opened a gaping maw. Wang Lin was a devourer of souls, and his spirit retained that innate ability. Though diminished in this restrictive realm, the instinct linked to the soul remained. He could not consume the White Tiger, but this weakened pawn was another matter entirely.

The general’s shriek faded unnoticed amidst the chaos of battle. As Wang Lin swallowed him whole, a swirling vortex of black energy engulfed the chess piece, and the shattered armor reassembled, grander and more formidable than before.

This time, a helmet materialized, encasing Wang Lin’s head, leaving only strands of his white hair to flutter against the stark black armor.

A dragon’s roar rent the heavens. Beneath Wang Lin, no longer a steed but a black dragon coalesced, a creature of living shadow. It circled him, then unleashed a deafening screech toward the white-armored general in the distance.

The White Tiger General looked up sharply, his right hand seizing empty air. Instantly, his lance materialized, and a thousand droplets of blood swirled and infused his form. His white horse contorted, transforming with a bestial roar into a colossal white tiger.

Perched upon its back, he gripped his ten-foot lance, his eyes burning with murderous intent. The White Tiger leaped forward, carrying him toward Wang Lin in a furious charge!

Wang Lin raised his right hand, and a ten-foot greatsword materialized within the swirling black energy. He grasped it, and the black dragon roared beneath him, launching him into a collision course with the charging White Tiger.

The chessboard: “Victory or Defeat in a Single Battle!”

The two forces met with a cataclysmic impact, the earth trembling as they locked in furious combat. Tiger roared, dragon shrieked, a struggle of mythical proportions unfolded as the very land seemed about to shatter.

Wang Lin’s blade clashed with the White Tiger General’s lance. A guttural roar, long suppressed, erupted from Wang Lin’s throat as his ancestral Dao spirit materialized behind him and empowered the falling blade.

The White Tiger General screamed in despair as his lance shattered, his armor crumbled, and the White Tiger beneath him dissolved. A crimson line appeared on his forehead, and with Wang Lin’s final stroke, he disintegrated.

High above, the true White Tiger General paled, coughing up blood, his aura visibly dimming.

“From this day forth, you, White Tiger, are my slave, Wang Lin!” The seated Wang Lin, the true source of the power, rose abruptly. His pupils contracted, sensing a grave danger rapidly approaching. He stepped forward, his entire being merging with the manifested form below.

With a final, ravenous gulp, he devoured the remaining essence of the shattered White Tiger General. Black energy surged from Wang Lin, coalescing into a tempestuous storm. A colossal sword materialized in his grasp, and he raised it, eyes fixed on the heavens, pupils shrunk to pinpoints. Every ounce of his spirit and power, fueled by the rules of this shattered realm, focused into the single blade.

This would be the mightiest blow possible in this realm! This blow would shatter the established laws of the White Tiger! This blow, born of the rules of this broken world, would be Wang Lin’s Heaven-Slaying Strike!

He waited for the source of the encroaching danger to reveal itself. Simultaneously, his left hand formed a secret incantation behind his back. A flicker of fire briefly illuminated the darkness, forming a tiny flame umbrella before vanishing from sight.