The Soul Search Art, a forbidden technique of immense power, held little sway over the gilded souls of Gold Exalts. Though stripped of earthly defenses, the essence forged through eons of cultivation proved stubbornly resistant.

To forcibly wrest memories from such a being was a trial fraught with peril, yielding only fragmented glimpses. True mastery demanded a cultivation far surpassing even that of a Gold Exalt.

Wang Lin, though capable of vanquishing Gold Exalts, achieved such feats through the brute force of his Dao Ancient flesh and the confluence of his cultivational prowess. His true essence, however, was merely at the nascent stage of Empty Tribulant.

Within Wang Lin’s corporeal vessel, the spirit of the Dao Devil Sect Master was being transmuted into divine meridians. An attempt to extract memories yielded only inconsequential details, devoid of the secrets of the war between Celestial Bull Continent and Emerald Devil Continent. All that remained were fragmented thoughts of the Celestial Reverent Ancestor.

“The Dao Devil Sect’s Celestial Reverent Ancestor, a subordinate of Grand Empyrean Dao Yi…” As the noonday sun bathed the land in fiery light, Wang Lin opened his eyes, a spark of brilliance igniting within their depths.

Deep within his body, a fourth and fifth divine meridian materialized! A single Gold Exalt had granted him two such pathways. With a flourish of his arm, a fleeting afterimage danced in the air, a testament to his enhanced speed and terrifying physical might.

This, then, was the key to the Swift Divinity Art, the very allure that had ensnared Wang Lin’s interest.

“Let us test the limits of this newfound speed!” Wang Lin raised his head, his form flickering, yet his true body remained seated in meditation. Three paces before him, however, the air shimmered in the sun’s embrace, giving rise to a second Wang Lin.

The doppelganger smiled, taking a leisurely stride forward. Ten paces hence, amidst the ruins, the light twisted once more, birthing a third Wang Lin.

The third apparition furrowed his brow, gazing skyward, lost in contemplation.

Soon, the surrounding light grew chaotic, distorted by the emergence of a fourth, fifth, sixth… until ninety-eight spectral figures populated the desolate landscape. Some sat in serene meditation, others soared through the air, while still others walked, cast spells, or threw phantom punches. The sight within the thousand-foot radius was nothing short of astounding.

The ninety-eighth figure, seated beside the first, was an exact replica, save for a subtle difference in expression.

“Ninety-eight afterimages… the current limit,” murmured the last apparition. As he spoke, the first figure dissolved, followed by the second, third, fourth, until only the ninety-seventh remained, vanishing in turn.

These ninety-eight specters, akin to fragmented selves, were mere refractions cast by Wang Lin’s incredible physical speed, proof of his astonishing swiftness.

To achieve such an effect through arcane means would be a simple feat, but to accomplish it through raw physical prowess alone… such speed was unheard of!

“I now possess six divine meridians. The Swift Divinity Art promises nine, though whether nine is the true limit remains to be seen… Perhaps beyond nine, there lies further evolution…”

“This art is formidable, and its mastery shall be my next endeavor!” Wang Lin sat in contemplation, his path now clear, though the journey remained uncertain.

“Once the matters of the Immortal Clan are resolved, I shall return to my Master, to further my training and grow in strength, so that I might venture anywhere in search of Wan’er’s lost soul fragment!”

“My battle prowess is high, but I still lag far behind the old monsters in terms of pure cultivation.”

“My nine essences, divided into three aspects… If I were to follow my intuition, taking the Five Elements True Body as an example, if I could condense the remaining two elemental forces and bring the Five Elements to unity, my cultivation would surely ascend to the mid-stage of Empty Tribulant!”

“Similarly, if I could gather two more special essences, such as the Lightning True Body, and unify them, I should reach the late stage of Empty Tribulant, a Gold Exalt!”

“And finally, there is the most elusive of all, the Essence of Illusion. If I could comprehend two more aspects and bring the five into harmony, I should reach the pinnacle of Empty Tribulant, a Celestial Reverent!”

“Beyond the pinnacle, if all my essences were to manifest into True Bodies, their unification would elevate my cultivation beyond the limits of Empty Tribulant, to a realm just shy of the Grand Empyrean!”

“And the final step, the ascension to Grand Empyrean… the method eludes me, and my Master has warned that it requires a singular destiny, a rare opportunity within the opening of the Ancient God Realm…”

“But if I could unify the three Grand Essence True Bodies, perhaps, just perhaps, I could achieve the mantle of Grand Empyrean!” Wang Lin fell silent, his eyes blazing with conviction. It was all conjecture, but only time would reveal its veracity.

“If my analysis holds true, then a realm must exist even beyond that of the Grand Empyrean! A fourth step, perhaps, or something else entirely… A realm that demands the fusion of my three Essence True Bodies into a single, ultimate True Self, attaining the very essence of a True God!”

“A state that even the Grand Empyreans seek but cannot attain, the elusive power of the Ancient Immortals and Ancient Gods!” Wang Lin’s mind was razor-sharp, his path laid out before him, though whether it led to truth or folly remained to be seen.

“The special and illusory essences will be difficult to acquire, but the elemental forces of metal and wood should be more readily obtainable.” As Wang Lin mused, the midday sun began to wane, and a distant rumble of thunder echoed through the air.

Wang Lin lifted his gaze to the horizon, slowly rising to his feet. A gust of wind swept through the ruins, stirring his white hair and clothing, imbuing him with an aura of profound mystery.

“They come!” Battle fervor ignited in Wang Lin’s eyes.

“To draw the attention of the Grand Empyreans!”

“To make my name known throughout the seventy-two Immortal Provinces!”

“This battle… is but the beginning!”
A low rumble, like the growl of a slumbering titan, echoed across the heavens, swallowing the land in a shroud of impending doom. The sound swelled, becoming a cacophony that threatened to tear the very fabric of existence. Then, a crimson streak, a burning comet of incandescent energy, slashed across the sky, plunging with furious speed towards the desolate ruins of the Dao-Demon Sect.

Within that fiery torrent rode an ancient, crimson-haired man.

Suddenly, the thunderous roar ceased, as if a boisterous market had been silenced by a sorcerer’s spell. The world plunged into an unnerving quiet, and with the dissipating light, the fiery streak vanished, leaving behind an unsettling stillness.

Barely a hundred paces from where Wang Lin stood, a figure materialized.

It was the crimson-haired elder. He was adorned in a violet robe trimmed with threads of shimmering gold. Upon the right hem, blazed a symbol of a fiery Taijitu, its scarlet hue a representation of the Dao itself.

“Was it you who shattered my Dao-Demon Sect?” the elder finally spoke, his voice a placid ripple on a storm-tossed sea. It was devoid of emotion, yet each word birthed an echo, a growing resonance that spiraled into a deafening maelstrom, a chorus of the sky’s lament and the earth’s rage, hammering against Wang Lin’s very being.

“It was,” Wang Lin replied, his voice steady, his pupils narrowing slightly as he met the elder’s gaze.

“Having destroyed my Sect, you then await my arrival? Do you seek to challenge me?” A flicker of something akin to anger ignited within the elder’s eyes, fueled by Wang Lin’s serene defiance.

“I do.” Wang Lin remained unyielding.

“Very well.” The Dao-Demon Sect Celestial Ancestor betrayed no hint of arrogance, nor any outward sign of wrath. At his level of cultivation, the petty emotions of mortals had long been purged. He was a Celestial, a servant of the great Dao Yi, a powerful being capable of standing among the elite of the Immortal race.

“I shall grant you this challenge. If you can withstand three blows from me, the matter of the Dao-Demon Sect’s demise shall be considered closed.” With a flourish of his violet sleeves, the Celestial raised his right hand, and a single fist, separated by a hundred paces, descended upon Wang Lin.

The heavens shifted with this single motion. The very landscape of the Dao-Demon Sect ruins warped and twisted under the sunlight, creating a pocket of reality divorced from the rest of existence. The energies of the world were sucked dry, drawn into the elder’s fist, leaving a void where no power, natural or arcane, could exist.

“Upon reaching the Celestial realm, one no longer requires complex spells and rituals,” the Celestial had once told him, relaying the words of the Grand Dao Yi. “Man cultivates, and the body becomes the vessel. Not merely a vessel of brute strength, but of the Dao itself. Your body *is* the Dao.”

“With the body as the Dao, even a simple strike, a casual movement, may lack the raw power to cleave a mountain, but it will carry the weight of the universe, the destructive trajectory of the Dao.”

As the fist fell, Wang Lin’s eyes narrowed, his white hair rising in a silent storm. He felt the true weight of the blow, seemingly ordinary yet infused with the very essence of the world. This was a fist that moved with the heavens, a fist that *was* the heavens.

Within that single blow danced the echoes of nine ancient spells, unleashed without incantation, without gesture, simply with the will of the Celestial.

This was the power of the Celestial Realm. Any Gold Core cultivator would tremble in terror, for this single fist could shatter their existence a hundred times over. It was the embodiment of one’s Dao, one’s will, melded into a perfect, physical expression. The body *was* the Dao, the fist *was* the Dao.

As the world twisted around him, Wang Lin remained rooted, his white hair whipping around his face. Instead of retreating, he took a step forward, raising his own right fist.

He would not yet summon the Celestial Bull Armor. He would test the limits of his own power, and see how he fared against a Celestial without its protection.

The ensuing collision ripped through the silence with a deafening roar. The ground buckled and shattered, pulverized into dust that swirled outwards, only to be trapped within the warped reality, forming a raging dust storm that choked the sky.