A surge of exhilaration coursed through Wang Lin’s heart. He gazed upon the mere ten remaining Mosquito Beasts, then at his own Mosquito King. With a deliberate sway, the King positioned itself within the coiling embrace of the Blood Dragon, offering its head as a platform.

“Honored Master, until we meet again in the Immortal Astral!” Wang Lin turned, offering a cupped-fist salute to Xuan Luo. Beneath him, the Mosquito King unleashed a sky-rending shriek, its savage aura shaking the very void, and plunged towards the depths of oblivion, with the dozen thousand-foot beasts flanking in escort!

Xuan Luo watched Wang Lin gradually disappear beyond the icy rift. After a long silence, he closed his eyes. With a flick of his right hand, the ice constricted, sealing the breach.

“That ferocious beast, resembling a mosquito, could it truly be one of the legendary creatures born from the primordial laws amidst the ancient Xian and Gu clans? If so, Wang Lin’s future destiny defies even my prediction. He… he may well ascend to become the tenth sun of the Immortal Astral Continent!”

“Should he truly become the tenth Great Celestial Sovereign, my Dao Ancient lineage shall endure for ten thousand generations!” Xuan Luo’s face flushed slightly, still reeling from the sight of the Mosquito Beast’s fusion with the Immortal Astral’s laws. Countless thoughts swirled within his mind.

After a long moment, Xuan Luo continued down the Dragon-Body Path, his form fading into the distance. Surrounding him, a crimson sun faintly manifested, its radiant light illuminating the surroundings, challenging the very Immortal Astral’s laws!

Imperceptibly, beyond the icy confines of the Dragon-Body Path, the scarlet sun’s radiance erupted, filling the pitch-black void, illuminating it with its brilliance. Thus, with his singular power, he waged war against the Immortal Astral’s rules!

The boundless void between the Cave Realms and the Immortal Astral Continent held the essence of the Immortal Astral’s laws. This void, without end, was not unique to this place; it connected to every Cave Realm beyond the Immortal Astral Continent.

Throughout countless ages, numberless geniuses from various Cave Worlds, unwilling to accept their fate, had somehow perceived a glimpse of the truth, or perhaps even stepped beyond the threshold of their Cave Realms and into this void.

Yet, none had ever successfully reached the Immortal Astral Continent; all had perished within this void, their fates sealed.

Likewise, many powerful figures from the Immortal Astral Continent had attempted to enter this void, seeking to comprehend its laws or even traverse it to other sects’ Cave Realms.

Success, if it came, was rare. The ease of becoming lost discouraged most from venturing within.

As such, within this boundless void, Wang Lin occasionally glimpsed the unrotting remains of the fallen, drifting past him, eternally adrift.

“The void is like an ocean… here, one might consider it an ocean imbued with the Immortal Astral’s rules…” Wang Lin, seated in a meditative posture upon the Mosquito King’s back, gazed at the endless expanse before him. Silence reigned supreme; no extraneous sound, no light, no spiritual energy, no trace of life existed.

Here, there was only deathly stillness!

A person here would be driven mad by the extreme quiet; the longer one remained, the more uncontrollable one’s mental agitation became. Even the most steadfast mind would struggle to maintain composure.

More importantly, it was easy to lose one’s bearing. Once lost, the path to escape became forever elusive; even if one saw a gate, it would merely lead to another sect’s realm, offering no escape for a cultivator from the Cave Worlds.

Especially with the burden of Li Muwan’s soul, Wang Lin could not afford to lose his way.

Yet, as he ventured deeper, the Immortal Astral’s laws grew stronger, manifesting as an all-encompassing pressure, a force that pressed upon one from all sides, hindering progress.

Some had attempted to discern direction by the intensity of the pressure, but the Immortal Astral’s laws were ubiquitous. Besides increasing with depth, it possessed a peculiar characteristic: time.

The longer one remained, the greater the pressure became.

Wang Lin was accustomed to solitude, to being alone. Moreover, he now had the Mosquito Beasts for companionship. He reminded himself that he was not alone. The Blood Dragon coiling around him not only mitigated the pressure but also served as a guide.

Time flowed slowly. For the first month, Wang Lin remained calm, venturing through the void, observing the occasional remains of the fallen. He could sense the unyielding unwillingness held within those remains.

These individuals, like himself, might have been the favored sons of their respective Cave Realms. Yet, they had perished countless years ago.

This calmness began to fray after a year, even for Wang Lin. For an entire year, he had not uttered a single word. His eyes seemed to have merged with the darkness, indistinguishable whether open or closed, both revealing only an endless black.

In that year, not a single sound disturbed the eerie void. Not even the whistling created by his speed could penetrate.

He had no idea how far he had traveled, only that he was certain of his direction. The Blood Dragon around him had dimmed but still existed, pointing the way.

Wang Lin did not know where Xuan Luo was, but he could sense from the Blood Dragon that his master was somewhere within the void, escorting his friend’s reincarnation, resisting the Immortal Astral’s laws, and thereby lessening their effect on Wang Lin.

This realization warmed Wang Lin’s heart. He would occasionally look back at the dark void he had traversed, and dimly, he thought he could see the door to his homeland watching him, bidding him farewell.

He vaguely thought he could also make out Mu Bingmei’s delicate figure in the rain, holding an umbrella, her expression beneath the umbrella holding an indescribable complexity.

Wang Lin no longer harbored hatred for Mu Bingmei.
Months bled into one another – one, two, three… then half a year more. Wang Lin had existed within this nothingness for a year and a half, a measure of time he should have gladly forgotten. Yet, he clung to it, for to lose track of its passage was to surrender a part of himself, a vital tether to his purpose.

“Still eight and a half years to go…” he rasped, his voice like the crumbling of ancient stones. The spectral blood dragon that once danced around him had faded to a mere whisper of its former glory. Though he could barely graze the surface of the Celestial Immortal’s Laws, the nine Mosquito Beasts that followed him faltered, their speeds diminished by this desolate realm.

As the second year waned, the blood dragon vanished almost entirely, only a faint, intangible thread remaining. Even its defiance against the Celestial Immortal’s Laws was spent. It was then, for the first time, that Wang Lin felt the crushing weight of those Laws. A pressure descended, a mountain of invisible force slamming into him, rocking him to his core.

Even the power of his very Essence withered under the relentless Celestial Immortal Laws, unable to replenish itself. Each expenditure was a permanent loss. This was the true horror of this place, this Void. Even the mightiest power, if lost or stranded, would eventually fade into oblivion.

The second year drifted by, then the third, the fourth… Four years passed in the silent Void, both quickly and agonizingly slow. Years rushed by, yet the heart dragged behind. To Wang Lin, those four years felt like four centuries. The increasing pressure made meditation impossible.

A strange power pervaded the Void, preventing any living thing from finding solace in inner communion. The only respite lay in the slow, agonizing tick of time. In four years, Wang Lin encountered not a single living soul. He saw only remnants, the broken remains of cultivators and savage beasts alike.

His nine Mosquito Beasts, though able to merge with the Celestial Immortal’s Laws, were buckling under the strain. The relentless pressure felt like the collapsing of the entire cosmos, crushing down upon them. Even Wang Lin’s face was ashen, his body nearing its limit.

He banished the nine Beasts to his storage ring, sparing them further torment. However, the Mosquito King beneath him remained unburdened, its speed unflagging as it carried Wang Lin ever onward.

As the fifth year began, the crushing force turned the Void into a sea of viscous mud. Even the slightest movement sent jolts of pain through his body, as if bound by a thousand invisible threads. Yet, he persevered. He retrieved the Heaven-Sealing Coffin from his storage ring, securing it upon his back.

Restless in the storage ring, the Coffin found peace only when shielded by his own body. He understood that as long as he lived, that force would not harm Li Muwan within. Every ounce of Wang Lin’s strength was now a bulwark, a shield focused on protecting the one he carried.

He was grateful for the Mosquito King. Without its unwavering speed, the combined strain of fighting the crushing force and pushing forward would have been unbearable.

While Wang Lin struggled through the Void, striving towards the Celestial Immortal Continent, far away, in the heart of the Dao Ancient lineage’s domain, within the floating, crater-like chasm where the Dao Ancient Imperial Palace stood, the Dao Ancient Emperor, a man in his prime adorned in imperial robes, stood upon the highest tower, gazing at the somber, rain-threatening sky.

In his hand, he held a luminous pearl, its depths swirling with indistinct shadows. Yet, within, one could discern the ethereal form of a woman, slumbering.

“The Grand Empyrean departed long ago… Hmph, to expend such effort for a mere Tear-Drip Ant is the folly of a senile mind!”

“I am the Guardian of the Dao Ancient lineage now, save for Xuan Luo. And I shall remain so! I shall see for myself what sort of person this old fool has brought back… No matter their identity, they shall kneel and prostrate themselves before me, the Emperor!”

The Dao Ancient Emperor clenched his fist, squeezing the pearl in his palm. Despite its resilience, the soul within trembled, as if in mortal fear.

“Tiny wraith, why does the Imperial Preceptor claim that she will be a crucial piece in my conquest of the Celestial Immortal Continent…?” The Emperor raised his hand, his gaze fixed on the shivering soul within the pearl.

“Very well, since you are of such import, I shall make you my Empress!” he declared. “Summon every woman who has been sought out. We shall test them all, and see which one can host her soul!”

“As you command!” A figure shrouded in black mist materialized from the shadows behind the Emperor, kneeling and responding in a hushed tone.