Hark, for I shall speak of Thunder, the ultimate might of the heavens, unmatched and singular in its dominion!

Thunder is the voice of the celestial powers, echoing from the boundless expanse above. When it deigns to touch the mortal realm, it does so with a cataclysmic roar, a deafening peal akin to the very wrath of the heavens unleashed!

Wang Lin’s mastery of the Thunderous Origin stems from a fragment of an ancient Thunder Dragon, a celestial beast tasked with wielding the thunderbolts of creation. This creature was the embodiment of heaven’s wrath made manifest in the mortal world.

From this fractured legacy, Wang Lin nurtured the nascent spark of his Origin. He climbed ever higher, absorbing the undying lightning of the Flash Lei Clan, his power approaching the zenith of perfection.

This final step was fraught with peril, but Wang Lin, ever resourceful, forged a new path. He conjured a lightning spirit as his companion and bound it with the soul of a thunderous toad, melding it with his own perfected lightning. In that instant, his Thunderous Origin drew nigh to completion.

Later, upon the Immortal Astral Continent, within the Scorpion Shrine of a century past, the Dao Devil Sect Leader, possessed of a disparate Thunderous Origin, threw caution to the winds. He unleashed his power to merge with Wang Lin’s, even consuming two Thunder Emperor Pearls in his reckless endeavor!

Through this cumulative effort, the Thunderous Origin within Wang Lin underwent a metamorphosis. It solidified into a true form, a vessel for its terrifying power!

This Thunderous Form possessed a will of its own, though largely shaped by Wang Lin’s own consciousness.

Little did Wang Lin suspect that this seemingly innocuous act would trigger an earth-shattering transformation within his Thunderous Origin!

The Origin of Slaughter, a singular and potent force, is an entity born of endless bloodshed, yet not indiscriminate in its application. It is born only from the completion of a bloody task driven by unshakeable conviction.

This Slaughterous Origin radiates an aura of untold malice, a baleful influence capable of warping the very fabric of existence. It far surpasses ordinary Origins in raw power.

The warrior Qing Shui once wielded the Slaughterous Origin to contend with foes of superior cultivation, a testament to its might.

Wang Lin himself rarely called upon this Origin, often using it to augment his aura. Yet, in the instant it fused with the Thunderous Form, everything changed!

The repercussions were unforeseen by even Wang Lin, a rarity in the annals of creation. The confluence of Thunder and Slaughter birthed a force known as Slaughterous Thunder, a lightning that reigns supreme above the Nine Heavens, capable of annihilating all in its path!

Above all, this Slaughterous Thunder possessed a purpose, its entire existence dedicated to the completion of a singular and terrible mission.

Ancient lore speaks of the heavens, in their rage, destroying worlds with lightning. Thunder, in its primordial state, was an instrument of punishment, a tool to obliterate all life. It is in times of ultimate annihilation that such Slaughterous Thunder manifests.

As Wang Lin’s Thunderous Form merged with the Slaughterous Origin, the nature of the Slaughterous Origin itself, born of conviction-driven bloodshed, subtly warped the thunderous power. This fusion, against all odds, birthed something forbidden, a power no mortal should ever command: the Thunder of Celestial Wrath!

Wang Lin stood transfixed, gazing upon his Thunderous Form. No lightning crackled around it, no visible arcs danced in the air. Yet, through his spiritual senses, he perceived an unimaginable power swirling within and around the form.

This lightning held a potency that made his very scalp prickle. Should it break free from its confines, its destructive force would shake the heavens and annihilate the world!

He swallowed hard, drawing a sharp breath. He dimly grasped that his actions had unleashed a terrifying force.

A power so volatile, even he himself would be consumed by its fury! The sensation was overwhelming, a primal urge to halt the fusion seized him.

His heart trembled, for this lightning felt like an abomination, a force that should not exist, or whose time was not yet come!

The lightning, coiling around the Form, crackled softly, a sound that echoed with unnerving clarity in the silent Shrine. Wang Lin’s pupils constricted as he sensed the fusion faltering.

A mere wisp of its aura escaped, spreading from the Scorpion Shrine to engulf the entirety of Green Devil Continent. Every living being within the continent shuddered, experiencing a fleeting premonition of utter destruction.

But the wisp vanished as quickly as it appeared, its passage too swift to register with even the Great Celestial Sovereigns!

“…Were this lightning to burst forth, the Green Devil Continent…” Seldom had Wang Lin known true terror, yet he now stood in awe and dread of the power he himself had created!

As the Slaughterous Thunder teetered on the brink of instability, Wang Lin’s Thunderous Form began to merge with the Origin of Restriction. The Origin of Restriction, a force of law and order, became a cage, encompassing the Thunderous Form.

Thunder may be bound by the laws of the heavens, but these laws were bestowed upon it. Now, imbued with Wang Lin’s will and fortified by the Origin of Restriction, his Thunderous Form was forever freed from the control of heaven. It was utterly and irrevocably changed!

The lightning now existed within the confines of Wang Lin’s own rules and laws. It tempered the fury of the Slaughterous Thunder, containing it within the form and quelling its volatility.

Sweat beaded upon Wang Lin’s brow. He gazed upon the Origin Form as if in a dream.

Outwardly, the form remained unchanged, standing silently before him. But to Wang Lin’s eyes, it was transformed, utterly and irrevocably different.

The form showed no trace of lightning. Within its depths, the Origin of Restriction coiled, binding, and protecting the very core where the world-ending Slaughterous Thunder lay dormant!
“… or perhaps it is not the end of a continent…” Wang Lin murmured, his gaze fixed upon his manifested true form, the very essence of his being. Silence enveloped him as the convergence deepened.

Within his mortal coil, as his true form drew closer, his cultivation, already at the zenith of the Empty Profound Middle Stage, surged with uncontrollable force. A tempest of power erupted, swirling about him like a vortex, hungrily devouring the energies of the heavens and earth, and, even more ravenously, the accumulated power of the Green Devil Scorpion that resided within.

Fueled by this potent nourishment, Wang Lin’s white hair danced like windswept snow. A cacophony echoed within his frame, and his eyes, once clouded in thought, now blazed with an inner light. His cultivation climbed relentlessly, scaling heights previously unimaginable, until it teetered at its apex. Then, a cataclysmic boom resonated within his soul.

In that instant, his cultivation shattered its previous bounds, leaping from the Empty Profound Middle Stage, and erupting into the realm of the Empty Profound Late Stage!

Empty Profound Late Stage!

The contemplative haze lifted from Wang Lin’s eyes, replaced by a resolute determination. The emergence of the Killing Lightning had surpassed his expectations. He felt a prickle of unease, a sense of foreboding that stemmed partly from the sheer destructive force of the lightning, but mostly from the unforeseen ramifications its creation had unleashed.

These ramifications were subtle, imperceptible to all but Wang Lin himself. Even the Great Celestials could not sense them, for this was *his* lightning, born of *his* will and governed by *his* laws.

Dismissing further contemplation, Wang Lin turned his gaze, now empowered by his cultivation at the Empty Profound Late Stage, towards the final three Essences of Illusion.

Life and Death. Cause and Effect. Truth and Falsehood.

Once these three Essences merged into a singular entity, Wang Lin’s nine Essences would be distilled into three, and his cultivation would surge once more, shattering the constraints of the Empty Profound Late Stage and catapulting him to the Empty Profound Perfection! He would then face the trials of the Nine Xuan Tribulations!

Should he survive those trials, he would ascend to the ranks of the Great Venerables, becoming an Empty Tribulation cultivator!

With his unparalleled combat prowess, Wang Lin, even at the Empty Tribulation Initial Stage, could contend with those at the Empty Tribulation Great Perfection, and perhaps even claim the title of the strongest being in the world, second only to the Great Celestials!

Nay, he would become a demi-Celestial!

Such cultivation, such power, would allow him to roam the Xian罡 Continent without fear, beyond the reach of manipulation or schemes.

For he, Wang Lin, would become the tenth strongest being in the Xian罡 Continent!

As Wang Lin contemplated the final three Essences of Illusion within the Scorpion Temple in Green Devil Continent, far beyond, beyond even the Eastern Continent, beyond the Xian Clan… beyond the Xian罡 Continent itself…

If the Xian罡 Continent was the sky, then beyond it stretched a star-strewn void.

In that void, a vast distance from the Xian罡 Continent, lay a desolate land, a fragmented continent, scarcely a tenth of the size of Xian罡. Upon it, no life stirred, only a haunting stillness prevailed.

Amidst the desolation, scattered across the continent, were the crumbling ruins of a forgotten civilization, hinting at a time when countless souls had once thrived, only to be swept away by a cataclysmic doom.

At the heart of this blighted continent stood a monumental ruin, a city in decay. Within its shattered walls loomed a colossal statue of a woman, now half-collapsed, her form marred by the ravages of time. Upon her fragmented shoulders, a middle-aged man sat in serene contemplation.

His features were unremarkable, save for his hair, a cascade of strands that stretched nearly a hundred zhang, flowing down the ruined statue like a mournful river.

As the True Form of Wang Lin’s Lightning Essence merged with the Killing Essence, birthing the World-Annihilating Killing Lightning, the middle-aged man stirred from his eons-long slumber, and slowly opened his eyes.

In the depths of his gaze, no pupils existed, only the fathomless void of nothingness.

He lifted his head, peering into the distant expanse, and a flicker of profound intelligence ignited within his empty eyes.