A wizened elder, a master of the Void Tribulation stage, was a figure of dominance upon the Immortal Continent, worthy of founding a sect and establishing a dynasty of cultivation that could endure for ages untold.

The Celestial Sevensoul of yore, he too possessed a cultivation base in the mid-Void Tribulation realm. He established his own sect, gathering disciples far and wide. Even the Great Soul Sect treated him with deference, for such a cultivator commanded respect.

Wang Lin, in his current state, could vanquish those at the early stages of Void Tribulation, though slaying them would prove a difficult task, yet not entirely impossible. But when faced with an ancient monster akin to the Celestial Sevensoul in his prime, Wang Lin realized the gap was far too vast.

Even with the power of nine Dao Origins coursing through him, and with his cultivation reaching the initial stages of the Void Profound realm, this chasm would be difficult to bridge. At best, he would possess the *potential* for change.

To truly contend against a mid-Void Tribulation elder, Wang Lin would, on a purely cultivation basis, need to attain the later stages of Void Profound, or endure the final tribulation to fully awaken his Dao Ancient heritage.

However, Wang Lin’s life had been a constant dance with peril. At times, his victories arose not solely from cultivation, but from a confluence of other factors.

But now, he found himself utterly unprepared. This mid-Void Tribulation fiend hunted him relentlessly, his sorcery disrupting space itself, locking down the very heavens and earth, impeding Wang Lin’s escape. If the elder caught him, this would surely be Wang Lin’s end.

In this moment of dire crisis, Wang Lin channeled his entire cultivation into his mosquito swarm, causing their speed to surge to unimaginable heights as they hurtled forward in a frenzied flight.

Behind him, Zhang Daozong, his face betraying a dark serenity, his eyes burning with unholy murder, strode with thunderous steps in pursuit.

“I shall see how you escape from under my nose this time!” Zhang Daozong harbored a deep resentment for Wang Lin’s previous trickery. Moreover, Wang Lin’s slaying of Liu Zhiyuan had placed him in an untenable position before the sect lord. Therefore, his desire to extinguish Wang Lin’s life was all-consuming.

The impact of his departure upon the battlefield was of no concern to him, for his pursuit of Wang Lin was part of a meticulously crafted scheme devised by the Green Devil Continent.

The plan was to feign a brutal battlefield stalemate and many deaths to draw out Wang Lin, using the casualties as bait.

In truth, should they have chosen to, the Green Devil Continent could have swiftly brought the second great war to a close, for their reinforcements had arrived a mere two days prior.

The reason these reinforcements remained hidden, their presence concealed, was to hunt down Wang Lin!

Wang Lin’s actions within the Pill Sea had provoked the wrath of the Green Devil Continent’s three ancestral elders, leading to a death warrant being placed upon his head. For Wang Lin’s actions were no less than earth-shattering.

He had slain a fragment of the Green Devil prodigy Yun Kong’s spirit, sabotaged the Pill Sea’s alchemical endeavors, causing the premature collapse of the celestial elixir, shaking the very foundations of the Green Devil Continent, and resulting in the deaths of a vast number of Green Devil cultivators within the Pill Sea.

These transgressions were committed in the past. Now, they were compounded by Wang Lin’s murder of Liu Zhiyuan of the Dao Devil Sect, and the probable, vile assassination of Xu Decai.

This litany of misdeeds had made Wang Lin the Green Devil Continent’s most wanted target from the very outset of this intercontinental conflict!

Almost the moment Zhang Daozong gave chase, four auras exploded from a point ten thousand leagues distant from the battlefield. All four emanated from cultivators in the mid-Void Tribulation stage!

Even more alarming, as these four auras manifested, a sinister green energy surged through the mist-shrouded skies of the Extreme Heaven Grassland, coalescing into a gigantic, verdant scorpion.

The scorpion emitted a bloodcurdling shriek, and noxious green vapors spread, pressing down upon the battlefield below!

“Green Devil Emissaries!” Lü Wenran, engaged in battle with the Elder Zhao, felt the four surrounding auras, and saw the gigantic green scorpion appearing from the sky. His face turned ashen.

He had battled the Green Devil Emissaries before and knew all too well their terrifying might. He never expected to see four of them here!

Even in the Pill Sea, there were only three, for the Green Devil Continent treasured their Green Devil Emissaries and would not deploy them in such numbers lightly!

Lü Wenran paled, unaware that the Green Devil Continent had deployed four emissaries for the sole purpose of hunting down Wang Lin! He and his soldiers was but an afterthought. Without a second thought, Lü Wenran began a rapid retreat.

“Return to the Earth Palace, seal the entrance!!” Retreating, Lü Wenran uttered a low roar, his eyes filled with dread. Even without his warning, every cultivator from the Celestial Bull Continent felt the four overbearing auras, saw the great green scorpion dispelling the mist, and retreated in terror, their minds focused on nothing but reaching the Earth Palace!

For there lay their last line of defense!

Four Green Devil Emissaries, plus two elders of equal power… six individuals they could not possibly withstand.

Common cultivators plunged into the earth, disappearing into the depths, and making their way to the Earth Palace. Only cultivators from the Celestial Bull Continent had mastered this skill; Green Devil cultivators were incapable of entering the earth.

For the formations here remained, and were operating at full power.

But cultivators like Lü Wenran were targeted, and would not be allowed to escape. Four emerald streaks darted from within the mist, and the great scorpion descended, unleashing torrents of green vapor.

As the earth rumbled, the Celestial Bull Continent’s Void Tribulation cultivators roared in defiance, for the vapor prevented them from entering the earth!

Meanwhile, Wang Lin, also within the mist, felt the four oppressive auras draw ever closer, and saw the great green scorpion overhead. He could not help but gasp.
He knew with chilling certainty that his only salvation lay in a swift return to the earth-tomb. Delay meant the tomb’s seal, barring his entry, leaving him to face six mid-Void Tribulant elders. Against such a force, survival was but a phantom. Even the burgeoning power of his nascent doppelganger, even the untouched wellspring of his Threefold Lifesaving Arts, would offer no refuge from oblivion!

This peril, this looming demise, was a gnawing horror, far more visceral than the heat of battle. Without hesitation, Wang Lin spurred his mosquito beast towards the earth, for in its embrace, he could weave into the very soil and escape!

But the heavens themselves were shrouded, bereft of teleportation. Speed was his only ally. Scarcely had the mosquito beast plunged towards the ground when Zhang Daosong, fueled by relentless pursuit, drew within fifty paces. Yet, he held his hand, reveling in Wang Lin’s impending despair, a morbid theater of torment before death’s final curtain.

From afar, a streak of emerald light sliced through the air – a Green Devil Emissary, his face a mask of glacial indifference, eager to join Zhang Daosong in Wang Lin’s hunt.

To the Green Devil State, Wang Lin’s life was a debt owed. Vengeance demanded his blood. Unlike common cultivators, the Green Devil Emissaries knew no restraint. Their ruthlessness knew no bounds, striking down even the lowliest Foundation Establishment disciple with brutal, unrestrained force, never deeming it beneath their station.

Wang Lin’s pupils constricted, a tightening vise around his gaze. He was three hundred paces from the earth, yet even as he watched, Yan Luan, blood staining her lips, stumbled and plunged towards the ground, fleeing in desperation. Behind her, Xu Dongde, pale as a wraith, followed suit, vanishing into the earth’s embrace.

Then came a tide of injured Void Tribulant cultivators, their bodies broken, seeking refuge in the soil. Among them was Lü Wenran, coughing crimson onto the ground, his right arm obliterated in a bloody spray, a Green Devil Emissary hot on his heels.

“Once Lü Wenran enters the earth, he will seal the tomb’s defenses! I must hurry, I must hurry!” Wang Lin’s thoughts were a tempest. He was now a mere hundred paces from the soil, but at that moment, Zhang Daosong unleashed his power!

“It ends here!” Zhang Daosong proclaimed, raising his hand and pointing a finger towards the fleeing Wang Lin. At his command, the terrifying green light, which had chilled Wang Lin to the bone, surged forth, aimed with deadly precision.

An instant of reckoning!

Wang Lin spun, his eyes ablaze with resolve. With a flourish of his sleeve, a verdant parasol bloomed into existence between him and the encroaching doom!

As the shield materialized, Wang Lin, without a moment for remorse, bellowed a single, desperate word.

“Detonate!”

A thunderous cataclysm shook the very foundations of the world. The emerald light collided with Wang Lin’s self-sacrificed treasure in a devastating explosion. The shockwave tore into Wang Lin, his body convulsing with each strike, blood painting the air. He plunged downwards, retrieving his mosquito king, and found himself a scant fifty paces from the beckoning earth!

A distance that normally meant nothing, now stretched into an impassable chasm. For Zhang Daosong was upon him, and the frigid Green Devil Emissary was less than a hundred paces behind!

Trapped between two mid-Void Tribulant elders, Wang Lin could not bridge the remaining distance. In the distance, Lü Wenran, gushing blood, reached the soil and vanished, without a second thought. He saw Wang Lin, but showed no hesitation, no mercy. With his own safety secured, he chose to enact the seal. He could have tarried a moment, but he did not.

The earth throbbed with arcane energy, the tomb’s seal rapidly closing. Wang Lin’s eyes burned crimson, his sanity frayed at the edges. As Zhang Daosong and the Green Devil Emissary closed in, he clutched the gourd containing three million Dao souls!

He hurled it forward!

“Detonate!” Wang Lin’s heart bled, but he could not dwell on the loss. As the word left his lips, the horde of Dao souls erupted from the collapsing gourd, a deafening roar that echoed across the entire Extreme Heaven Grasslands!

The unleashed fury of three million souls was enough to threaten a mid-Void Tribulant cultivator. Zhang Daosong reeled back, his face contorted in shock, his advance halted.

The Green Devil Emissary’s stride faltered, his brow furrowed.

Seizing this fleeting opportunity, Wang Lin, driven by a primal urgency, traversed the remaining fifty paces. As the earth’s seal snapped shut, he plunged into its depths, escaping into the earth’s embrace!