“I sense it! A spirit not of the Immortal Realm, seal it away!” The ancient pronouncement echoed within Wang Lin’s soul, a voice seemingly carried from countless ages past, its tone weathered and profound, reverberating within and beyond the layers of the prison.

Without a moment’s hesitation, Wang Lin’s true self recoiled. Even as the echo faded, he took a step backward, his Five Elements avatar manifesting and darting toward his Lightning avatar. Simultaneously, the monstrous visage emerging from the seal lunged, jaws agape, aiming to devour the Lightning manifestation.

In the instant of its spectral formation, the gold fragment of the Immortal Extermination Sword, lodged within the visage, emitted a terrible suction, as though the seal itself sought to prevent its escape.

Should Wang Lin’s Lightning avatar release its hold, retreat swiftly, it might yet evade the gaping maw that loomed before it. But to linger, to persist in grasping the fragment, would surely bring peril.

A glint of icy determination flashed in Wang Lin’s eyes. Without second thought, the Lightning avatar exploded with thunderous roars. Innumerable arcs of electricity burst forth from its essence, each pulse filled with savage intent. This was the essence of Wang Lin’s Lightning avatar: the Thunder of Slaughter!

As the bolts scattered, the seabed erupted in deafening resonance. Gathering in a torrent of energy, the lightning coalesced into a colossal arm, its hand of crackling power descending upon the approaching visage!

The face, always indistinct, now lost all semblance of form as the monstrous hand of Slaughter Lightning slammed into its ethereal features. A cacophony of explosions roared through the water.

The visage recoiled, displaying a momentary flash of anguish. Seizing the advantage, Wang Lin’s Lightning avatar, eyes ablaze, gripped the gold fragment with ferocious resolve. With a guttural roar, he tugged against the immense suction, wresting the shard a precious inch further from the sealing prison!

An inch, it seemed, was the limit. As the Lightning avatar strained, Wang Lin’s Five Elements avatar arrived, seizing the Lightning form and adding its might to the pull.

Acting as a conduit, the Lightning avatar channeled the Five Elements strength, yanking once more upon the imprisoned fragment. The world trembled as the shard moved again, freed another inch from the seal’s grasp!

Now, nearly all of the fragment lay outside the prison. A mere inch remained within!

In that fateful moment, Wang Lin’s true form materialized, right fist clenched. He struck the monstrous visage, still held at bay by the lightning hand, a single, decisive blow. As the fist flew, the spectral image of an Ancient Dao echoed behind him, lending its power to the attack.

A thunderous boom reverberated through the depths, stirring the ocean currents into a raging vortex on the surface. The fist struck, merging with the electric hand, together resisting the visage as Wang Lin’s left hand seized the Five Elements avatar, pulling with all his might in one last desperate lunge!

His true form’s power flowed into the Five Elements avatar, which then fueled the Lightning avatar’s grasp upon the fragment. With a scream that tore through the sea, the Lightning avatar unleashed its final surge of strength, tearing the complete Immortal Extermination Sword shard free!

The instant the fragment was released, a wave of force, akin to a volcanic eruption, blasted outward. The two avatars were hurled back, merging once more with Wang Lin’s true form, forcing him into a rapid retreat.

Yet the power did not abate. It crashed against Wang Lin, causing him to stagger, a trickle of blood staining his lips. Even with his honed physique and the strength of a Celestial Sovereign, the seal could inflict such wounds, a testament to its formidable power!

But the ordeal was not yet over. As Wang Lin reeled, the lightning hand, once restraining the visage, shattered in a blinding explosion. Countless sparks scattered, dissipating in all directions.

The hand had not held the full weight of the Slaughter Lightning, for Wang Lin knew that to unleash its unbridled force would shatter his avatar. For this Slaughter Lightning, born inadvertently from the fabric of existence, possessed a power that even Wang Lin viewed with wary respect.

With the hand gone, the visage unleashed a silent scream of rage, pursuing Wang Lin relentlessly, driven by an unyielding need to devour the spirit not of the Immortal Realm.

It moved with terrifying speed, closing within ten paces of Wang Lin, the contorted face visible through the layers of the seal relentlessly giving chase!

From another perspective, one could see that as Wang Lin retreated, a grotesque neck, indistinct and amorphous, stretched from the visage back to the sealing tree, a grotesque extension of the prison. Now hundreds of feet long, it elongated still, following the visage’s relentless pursuit!

From afar, the face and its neck resembled a titanic serpent, hungry and unyielding.

“I sense it! A spirit not of the Immortal Realm, seal it away!” Once more, the ancient voice echoed, imbued with an unsettling purpose, a mission that exuded an indescribable sense of wrongness!

Blood laced Wang Lin’s eyes. For over fifty years, since attaining the might of a Celestial Sovereign, he had faced no such peril. But time was short. Fortune favors the bold, and he would not regret his choice!

As the visage lunged to devour him, Wang Lin raised his right hand, clenching it into a fist. Ninety-seven afterimages of himself materialized around him!

Each afterimage, hands forming arcane seals, thrust a palm toward the heavens.

“Soul Tremor, legions of the Armed Cultivator!”

“Demon Arts, Beacon Fires into Mountains!”

“Nether Path, Reversal of Life and Death!”

“God, Demon, Devil, the Ancient Dao knows no Immortals!” Each afterimage roared, unleashing a fist, the ninety-seven blows merging into one, sending a wave of grey energy surging toward the encroaching visage.

This was Wang Lin at his absolute peak, drawing upon the power of the Soul Armor, unleashing his most potent attack without reservation! Throughout the fifty years of challenges, he had kept this power in reserve. But here, before the seal, he would finally unleash it!

The grey wave crashed into the massive face. The sound of grinding stone echoed through the abyss as the visage, a mere three paces from Wang Lin, began to petrify. The stone spread rapidly, consuming even the grotesque neck that connected it to the sealing tree!

But the effect was fleeting. Even as the grey light spread, the petrified areas closest to the visage began to crack, showing signs of revival!

“Even the Ancient Dao without Immortals cannot destroy it utterly! The visage of the seal is recovering rapidly. It will be whole again in a matter of breaths!” Wang Lin’s pupils constricted. Had he chosen to retreat, he was confident he could escape through the opening he had created, back into the Sea of Mountains and Seas, perhaps even reaching the surface.

But to flee now was unacceptable! His eyes shone with icy resolve. This seal had wounded him, and though he was largely confident he could escape, a fragment of doubt remained. Should that doubt prove true, and the Sea Child Celestial Sovereign regained his strength, the two would corner him and he would not prevail!

Wang Lin would not rely on such chance. He would seize his own destiny!

“I cannot retreat!” Resolve blazed in Wang Lin’s eyes. In a blur of motion, he did not flee, but instead dashed past the visage. The stone was cracking, the face twisting on its rapidly healing neck, preparing to turn and devour him.

But the neck was largely petrified. Though healing swiftly, it would require a few breaths before it could turn the head fully.

Wang Lin roared, and as the face began to turn, he raised his right hand. Agony shot through him as a gruesome Bone Yin Blade, fully three fathoms in length, burst forth from his palm!

The instant the Yin Blade appeared, the surrounding water seemed to freeze solid!

“Die!” Gathering the power of the Soul Armor, Wang Lin roared. Once more, the ninety-seven afterimages materialized, each with a grim visage, eyes blazing red. Each raised their right hand, conjuring their own Bone Yin Blade.

As each blade fell, the ninety-seven afterimages released ninety-seven strikes. Each merged into Wang Lin’s true form, bringing the total number of blades to 98. United as a whole, they formed a fan of spectral light, descending on the grotesque neck connecting the severed face, slicing as close to the visage as possible!

The ensuing roar shook the entirety of the Sea of Mountains and Seas, and the grotesque neck connected to the massive face shattered. Even as the destruction began, the remaining phantom blades crashed through, erupting in cataclysmic explosions!

The connection between the visage and the seal was severed with one devastating blow!

The quake deep within the seabed sent tremors throughout the Sea of Mountains and Seas, forming maelstroms and waves. On the surface, the Sea Dragon, writhing in a display of dominance before the Octopus Sea Beast, was speaking in a tongue only they could comprehend.

Whether the Octopus Sea Beast understood was uncertain, but its enraged eyes seemed to suggest comprehension.

But the underwater tremors startled the Sea Dragon. A sudden sense of imminent doom washed over it. Without hesitation, it dove deep into the abyss, fleeing at full speed.

In the instant of its departure, the Sea Child Celestial Sovereign, embedded in the Octopus Sea Beast, shuddered. His eyes flickered to life, filled with cold malice!

“Wang Lin!!!” The Sea Child Celestial Sovereign had recovered!