An ancient sage, clad in homespun azure robes, strode through the celestial expanse of a realm untold. Scarcely had he taken a handful of steps when he paused, his head snapping upward, a peculiar glint in his aged eyes.

“Whose battle incense burns so brightly…? Has some discovery been made…?” The sage’s form flickered, a vortex birthing before him as he followed the scent’s compelling trail.

In a separate domain, upon a cultivation star, a man garbed in violet Daoist vestments sat in meditative repose, diligently seeking some hidden truth. Suddenly, his nostrils flared, as if catching a fleeting aroma. His eyes snapped open, and without hesitation, he vanished, drawn by an unseen force.

Across the myriad realms, all disciples of the Seven Dao Sect, hailing from the ancient celestial domain beyond, sensed the burning incense and stirred into motion.

Even the Sixth Consort and the Third Consort, who knew Wang Lin and was still a maiden, both within the heart of this ancient abode, detected the Seven Dao Sect’s fragrant signal in their disparate realms. The Sixth Consort’s eyes blazed with venomous intent. Having narrowly escaped Wang Lin’s grasp in ages past, she gnashed her pearly teeth and gave chase.

The Third Consort, however, stood frozen, her expression cold, her eyes a tempest of conflicting emotions. For her, the core of this domain held a different purpose. She yearned only for home!

She dreamt of her homeland, of her sect, of escape from this ancient domain and return to the Immortal Gang Continent.

Torn, she bit her lip, and with a final resolve, her form dissolved into nothingness.

Beyond the incense’s beckoning, there was also the jade slip held by Zi Xia. At the instant of its shattering, within the three hundred shattered realms, the Azure Dragon General, the Black Tortoise General, and the Vermillion Bird General sensed its demise. United, they sought the sound’s origin.

Among a band of cultivators, the grizzled Zhan, a look of suspicion etched upon his brow, felt the jade slip’s destruction. His steps faltered, a darkness creeping into his visage. He glanced back at his company, a murderous intent sparking in his eyes, and abruptly turned away, abandoning the group.

Meanwhile, the Seven-Colored Daoist, traversing the inter-realm barriers, pushed them past their limit. They shattered with an earth-shattering roar, yet in that instant of destruction, a cascade of prismatic light erupted, halting the collapse in its tracks.

The Daoist stood, gazing into the void where Wang Lin’s aura, fading with the barrier’s demise, had vanished. With a flash of insight, the Daoist understood all that had transpired. His eyes blazed with incandescent fury, and with a roar that shook the heavens, he whirled around, his gaze fixed on the place he had been.

“Wang Lin! I swear, I shall not rest until you are vanquished!” The Seven-Colored Daoist took a single step, vanishing in a heartbeat. Where Wang Lin dwelled, the dual lure of the incense and jade slip blazed forth, an undisguised beacon for all to perceive, a plume of black smoke against the sunlit sky.

Sensing it too, the Seven-Colored Daoist pressed forward at blinding speed.

Wang Lin’s doppelganger sat in tranquil meditation, his right hand clasping the Li Guang Bow. Curved like a new moon, its lower tip rested on the coarse desert sands, sinking three inches deep.

Grasping the bow, his eyes closed, he appeared not as a cultivator, but as a hunter patiently awaiting his prey.

At length, the very fabric of the star domain trembled, swirling vortexes erupting, each disgorging a seeker drawn by the potent allure.

Of the Four Great Generals, only the White Tiger remained absent. The Sixth Consort and the Third Consort arrived, followed by the disciples of the Seven Dao Sect, led by the sage in azure robes.

Even the Palm Sovereign and the Blue Dream Dao Sovereign, weary from their struggles, emerged within the tumultuous vortexes, their eyes icy as they exchanged glances, a testament to the battles fought within the shattered realms.

A multitude of cultivators gathered in this realm, but none dared to approach the cultivation star where Wang Lin resided, though his presence was as clear as day.

The Third Consort gazed at the distant star, her heart fraught with conflict. She knew not if she stood as Wang Lin’s friend or foe, the lines blurred and indistinct.

Soon after, the Five Planets’ Elder Ma and his companions stepped from a newly formed vortex, their gaze sweeping over the assembled throng before settling on the distant star.

Just then, an enormous vortex tore open, ripped asunder by a shaft of seven-colored light, and the Seven-Colored Daoist himself appeared.

Almost simultaneously, Zhan emerged from the void, standing a thousand feet from the Daoist. They exchanged a fleeting glance, then looked away.

With a cold snort, the Seven-Colored Daoist stepped forward, moving like a thunderbolt towards the cultivation star. Zhan followed closely behind, while the rest of the crowd surged forward in their wake, save for Elder Ma and his followers, who watched from afar.

The Third Consort, too, hesitated, her feet rooted in place.

The Seven-Colored Daoist arrived at the edge of the star, pausing just outside its atmosphere. His brow furrowed as he studied the world below. With his profound cultivation, he sensed the hidden dangers, especially the terrifying aura of a savage beast slumbering at its core.

He halted, paralyzed by indecision.

“This star cannot be refined… to do so would surely enrage the beast within, a cost too great to bear… Wang Lin must have chosen this place for this very reason.”

As the Seven-Colored Daoist reached his decision and halted at the star’s edge, Wang Lin’s eyes snapped open on the desert sands below. His gaze was serene, his left hand rising to strike his brow. There, swirling in ethereal light, was his Third Soul, extracted from his body.

Unleashing it from his grasp, the Third Soul hovered a foot above Wang Lin’s head, its radiant light spreading far and wide, its aura unleashed without restraint.

To most, the allure of this Third Soul paled in comparison to the presence of the Seven-Colored Daoist and Zhan. But to those two, the sight of the soul was like a lifelong yearning brought within reach, attainable with a single grasp!

Such a temptation was utterly irresistible.
“Any who dare approach within ten paces of Wang Mou shall find their souls forfeit!” Wang Lin’s words echoed, rippling outwards from the star, striking the void with the force of thunder.

The Seven-Hued Eyes glowed with crimson light. Gone was any caution regarding ambushes on this world. With a blur, he shot forth, convinced his power surpassed all threats save the slumbering beast rumored to dwell within.

“If he seeks to trap us, then let him weave his own doom!” With a single stride, the Seven-Hued One plunged from the star-strewn expanse, piercing the firmament and entering the world below.

The Battle Fiend, consumed by temptation, followed close on the Seven-Hued One’s heels. Behind them, the other cultivators hesitated but briefly, then followed, drawn not by the promise of plunder, but by the allure of witnessing the unfolding drama.

Especially swift were Azure Dragon, Black Tortoise, and Vermillion Bird, who shed their human guise and descended upon the star’s sky.

Faced with such formidable adversaries, Wang Lin’s face remained serene, though his heart burned with battle-lust. His eyes blazed with anticipation, and he tightened his grip upon Li Guang’s Bow.

“I wonder how many souls I shall claim here today, to offer as tribute to the fallen gods!” Wang Lin raised his gaze to the heavens. The sky churned like a roiling ocean, and he beheld the Seven-Hued One, the Battle Fiend behind him, and all the other cultivators who had dared to enter his domain.

“The first veil… the Ancient Umbra of Burning Worlds! Let the umbrella forge life itself!” Wang Lin’s left hand snapped into a arcane seal, and as the Seven-Hued One drew near, he pointed a single finger at the heavens.

The world shuddered. The sky dissolved into a crimson inferno, a sea of fire that swallowed all. In that instant, the fiery firmament rippled, and the colossal Ancient Umbra, fused until now with the sky itself, detached and descended.

The missing ribs materialized, and shafts as vast as mountains plunged into existence.

The Umbra’s canopy blotted out the sky, barring the retreat of all who had set foot upon this world, slamming the gates shut upon them.

A force emanating from the Ancient Umbra enveloped Dao Lord Azure Dream, barring him from passage, as if purging all those untouched by the coming slaughter.

For within the killing fields of this cultivator star, Wang Lin had no time to concern himself with Azure Dream. He had to keep him out.

The roar of the world was deafening. All who had entered, all whose escape was now blocked by the Umbra’s canopy, felt their faces grow pale. Even the Seven-Hued One and the Battle Fiend felt a prickle of dread. But there was no time for hesitation. The world was aflame, a tempestuous firestorm surging towards them all.

The Ancient Umbra of Burning Worlds was never meant for the Domain of the Caves. And now, with Wang Lin pouring his full power into it, infused with his own essence of fire, illusory flames ignited within the very souls of those who dared to stand against him.

The Ancient Umbra… since Wang Lin first mastered it, this was the first time he unleashed it, recklessly, without restraint.

This technique, learned from the Madman, demanded the umbrella first open, then kill in its closing!

“Thirty percent… close!” Wang Lin’s face hardened as he roared, slapping his left hand towards the sky. The heavens thrummed, and the gigantic canopy visibly contracted.

As it shrunk, the flames within intensified, reaching a terrifying heat. At only thirty percent, three of the Seven Sects disciples of the Ancient Immortal Domain whose cultivation had not reached the Third Step, were instantly consumed, their bodies ablaze from within and without, turning to ash in an instant!

“Sixty percent… close!” Wang Lin rasped. The veins in his face bulged as he pushed the Ancient Umbra to a level of power never before seen. The canopy shrunk with alarming speed. Screams echoed, and even the Three War Generals paled.

They had never imagined Wang Lin possessed such a divine power, so rare even on the Immortal Astral Continent!