Within the hallowed halls of the celestial palace, as the elders convened to address the encroaching darkness, Yan Yi, a scion of the Flame Clan, perceived a profound opportunity. A chance at ascendance veiled as peril. He whispered the forbidden incantation, summoning forth the Celestial Ox Soul, a fragment of an ancient guardian beast. The ethereal essence coalesced, forging a suit of soul-armor, bolstering his powers far beyond their natural limit, and promising an unimaginable boon to his future cultivation.

Such a transformation, however, was not granted freely. One must possess a bond, however tenuous, with the Celestial Ox Soul. The stronger the connection, the greater the surge of power granted by the temporary mantle. While fleeting, such an experience would forever ease the path toward attaining such heights again.

These moments, born of dire necessity, were rare indeed. Only when the very heart of Tianniu Continent was threatened, when the seven sacred nodes of the Tianniu Seal Array were activated, could this ritual be performed.

Furthermore, the summoning of the Celestial Ox Soul was a dangerous gambit. Too frequent a call, and the very essence of the Ox Soul would dissipate, poisoning the land and striking at the roots of Tianniu. The repercussions would ripple through every village, every field, shaking the very foundations of the continent.

Despite the grim warnings, there were always those driven by ambition, willing to sacrifice the well-being of all for a taste of power. Such reckless abandon would be met with the iron fist of the Imperial Clan, their judgment swift and merciless.

For ten thousand years, this decree has stood, carved in the stone of the ancestral mountain: never shall the slumbering spirit of the sealed beast be disturbed, save in the face of existential threat. Now, the invasion of the Green Demon Continent threatened to crack even that ancient decree.

Yan Yi hungered for this chance, as did Xu Dongde, and the three shadowy Void Shattering cultivators. Yet, they dared not challenge Lü Wenran, whose recent valor and wounded state had earned him the privilege of leadership.

Above, the groaning of the earth grew louder, the sound of impending doom hanging heavy in the air like the swing of a reaper’s scythe.

“Esteemed cultivators,” Lü Wenran declared, his voice ringing with excitement. “Kneel, and relinquish your power. Focus your minds upon the Celestial Ox, and aid me in summoning its soul!” He had waited his entire life for this moment. He knew the risks, but they paled in comparison to the potential rewards. He, along with six others chosen by the array, would forever be remembered as the saviors of Tianniu.

Below, a thousand cultivators, faced with no other option, settled into meditation. It was their duty. Their sacrifice.

Yan Yi and the others, their desires thwarted, sighed in resignation and joined the ranks. Only Lü Wenran remained standing, his eyes burning with unbridled ambition.

He turned to the elderly Zhou, the keeper of the seal, and nodded.

The old man, a “Celestial Ox Servant”, dared not refuse. He began to chant, weaving the ancient words of power, his very constitution uniquely suited to commune with the Celestial Ox Soul, a power that had kept him safe from the front lines of battle, and bestowed upon him a unique and powerful place in their society.

Deep within his hidden chamber, Wang Lin watched and waited, his eyes gleaming with an unsettling intensity.

Outside the chamber, Zhou bit his tongue, spitting crimson blood onto his hand. With trembling fingers, he formed the Blood Sigil, the key to unlocking the forbidden power.

“Celestial Ox Soul, by the blood of my kin, I summon thee!” he cried, casting the sigil skyward. Red light erupted, engulfing the entire underground palace.

“Now, cultivators, channel your power into the crimson light!” Zhou roared.

The thousand cultivators, now kneeling, did as they were bidden. Waves of energy cascaded across the chamber as their power flowed outward, only to be devoured by the encroaching crimson light. Each sacrifice left them drained and weakened.

The blood light, sated with the borrowed power, surged upward, slamming into the Blood Sigil. With a deafening roar, a swirling mist, gray and malevolent, filled the chamber, coalescing into a vortex above the palace. As it spun faster, the depths of the vortex revealed a glimpse of another realm, a place of tormented souls, and gave voice to a sound that chilled the very bone.

A roar of rage!

The sound ripped through the palace, shaking the foundations and shattering the minds of those below. Even Yan Yi and his cohorts staggered under the onslaught.

It was the roar of the Celestial Ox.

Lü Wenran, no longer able to contain his glee, laughed maniacally. He stared into the churning vortex, his eyes burning with avarice. Soon, he would claim his temporary power, an advantage that would forever shape his destiny.

Within his hidden chamber, Wang Lin, unmoved, observed the vortex and listened to the haunting roar. A roar he recognized…

The Blood Sigil, the first step in summoning the Celestial Ox Soul. The stolen power of a thousand cultivators, the second, opening the portal to the place of the Seal…
“Hark, esteemed brethren!” the wizened elder, Zhou by name, intoned, his voice echoing through the cavernous space. “Each soul shall offer nine taels and nine maces of lifeblood – no more, no less! Swiftly, congeal it upon the forefinger of your right hand!”

With a practiced flick of his wrist, a crimson tear appeared upon the elder’s fingertip, and the precise measure of blood spilled forth, a ruby droplet suspended in the air.

Below, a thousand and more cultivators, their faces grim, raised their own right hands. Retreat was now a phantom, a whisper of what might have been. Following Zhou’s command, they forced forth the same quantity of precious ichor, each droplet becoming a crimson arrow, arcing towards the swirling abyss.

The myriad drops coalesced in mid-air, birthing a chain of pure, pulsating blood. This crimson tether snaked across the heavens, its end plunging into the heart of the vortex, disappearing into that otherworld. Then, with a surge, it strained outward, a desperate tug against the unseen.

The bellow of the Celestial Bull reverberated through the very bones of the earth. The blood-chain strained, as though attempting to wrench the very soul of the beast from its prison.

Louder grew the bellow, and the man called Lu Wenran, his face flushed with anticipation, licked his parched lips, his eyes burning with avarice.

“It shall be mine! Mine, I say! Mine, Lu Wenran’s! With the Soul-Armour of the Celestial Bull, I shall carve my way from this cursed place! Though its power may be fleeting, in this chaotic age, I shall not relinquish this treasure lightly!” Lu Wenran’s gaze remained locked on the vortex, his heart pounding with the weight of long-held ambition.

His animosity towards Wang Lin stemmed from the favour shown by the ancient Green Bull ancestor, a perceived threat magnified by their shared exile to this forsaken place.

As the crimson chain continued its torturous pull, the Celestial Bull’s roar grew clearer, and a shadowy form began to coalesce within the churning vortex. The silhouette of a bull, vast and powerful, emerged inch by agonizing inch.

But the advance stalled, the chain groaning under an unbearable strain. Lu Wenran’s eyes flashed, a cold glint of calculation hardening his features.

“Zhou, friend!” Lu Wenran called, turning to the elder Zhou. His gaze then swept to the warriors Yan Luan and Xu Dongde, a silent demand writ in his eyes.

Zhou sighed inwardly, acknowledging the unspoken pressure. He bowed deeply to Yan Luan and Xu Dongde, his expression a mask of weary resignation.

“If the Bull’s soul will not be yielded, then I implore you, honoured ones, to release your astral forms and join me in this summoning!” Zhou declared, striking his own brow. With a resounding thrum, his corporeal form shuddered, and a miniature likeness of himself, his astral essence, burst forth, hurtling towards the vortex and seizing the blood-chain.

Simultaneously, under Lu Wenran’s burning, demanding gaze, the three Sky Tribulation cultivators from the sects near the Extreme Sky Steppe closed their eyes in silent resignation. Their astral forms followed Zhou’s lead, their faces etched with reluctant compliance as they grasped the chain.

“Elder Yan Luan! Elder Xu Dongde!” Lu Wenran’s voice was laced with thinly veiled menace as he fixed his gaze upon the two remaining elders.

Yan Luan, with a sigh that echoed through the cavern, succumbed to the pressure. He and Xu Dongde relinquished their corporeal forms, their astral selves joining the others in a desperate tug upon the blood-soaked chain. The combined might of five Sky Tribulation Grand Masters, guided by Zhou’s ethereal presence, strained with a united effort.

Then, from the depths of the vortex, the Celestial Bull unleashed a deafening shriek, a sound that ripped through the earth, shaking the foundations of the palace and echoing into the world above.

With that agonizing cry, a gigantic phantom of the Celestial Bull was wrenched free from the vortex, a wave of oppressive power washing over the assembled cultivators!

The Bull’s spectral form blazed with celestial light, capturing the gazes of all below. Then, in a breathtaking instant, the phantom contracted, shrinking until it coalesced into a suit of armour, floating serenely above the vortex.

The armour was a shade of abyssal twilight, radiating an aura of profound spiritual energy, its very essence a testament to unimaginable power.

As the armour materialized, Yan Luan and the others returned to their bodies, their eyes filled with a mixture of awe and apprehension. Lu Wenran, with a triumphant roar, surged forward, his path set for the prize.

“The Soul-Armour of the Celestial Bull’s Three Abodes is mine! Mine by right!”

But just as Lu Wenran was about to seize his prize, a streak of light, gathering momentum for an eternity, erupted from a nearby cave dwelling. It hurtled towards the armour with blinding speed!

“The Soul-Armour is yours, you say? I disagree!”