“The Sect…” Wang Lin murmured, a distant light flickering in his eyes as he emerged from his meditative trance. Memories, like faded tapestries, unfolded in his mind.

“I hail from the Seven Paths Sect,” he stated after a long silence, his voice calm and measured.

“Seven Paths Sect?” The Celestial Haizi paused, her brow furrowed. She searched the vast tapestry of her memory, but no such powerful sect seemed to exist within the lands of the Dao Transformation Sect.

“The Seven Paths Sect of the Eastern Continent, a humble, small order…” Wang Lin sighed inwardly. The question regarding his sect had stirred within him a longing for his home, a whisper of nostalgia that echoed in his heart.

“I have no sect,” the Celestial Haizi said softly, her voice barely a breath. “I have been with my master since I was a child, growing up on Emperor Mountain.”

“Emperor Mountain is a place of great beauty. In this season, its slopes are ablaze with crimson leaves, like a mountain consumed by flames. Should you have the opportunity, you should visit.”

A unique aura, woven with the threads of their quiet conversation, began to permeate the hundred-foot expanse that confined them.

“With your power as a Celestial, surely Dao Yi, the Grand Celestial of the Southern Continent, has sought to enlist you into his service. Did you… accept his offer?” The Celestial Haizi’s beautiful eyes met Wang Lin’s.

“No,” Wang Lin replied, shaking his head.

“My master is a kind soul… perhaps you would consider following him.” A faint smile graced the Celestial Haizi’s lips as she spoke, and she batted her eyelashes playfully.

“I have not yet given it consideration,” Wang Lin said, his refusal veiled with politeness.

“How many years have you walked the path of cultivation?” the Celestial Haizi inquired, seemingly changing the topic without warning.

“Surely fewer than you,” Wang Lin replied, his brow creasing slightly.

The Celestial Haizi’s response was a delicate giggle, the first such sound he had heard from her in the year they had been confined.

“With your cultivation and Celestial-level combat prowess, and your apparent lack of concern about our imprisonment, I would wager you have no dual cultivation partner. Otherwise, you would not be so unburdened by the uncertainty of our escape.” Her voice danced with amusement.

Wang Lin’s brow furrowed again. He glanced at the exquisite woman before him, a growing unease stirring within him. Something about her felt different, a divergence from his earlier perception.

“Seeing as we are both trapped here, and you did not attempt to abandon me, would you like your elder sister to introduce you to someone?” The Celestial Haizi seemed captivated by the subject, her eyes scrutinizing Wang Lin.

“Your appearance is unremarkable, yet you possess a unique aura, which is not entirely unpleasant.”

“Your cultivation is average, but your Celestial power is remarkable, quite excellent.”

“Overall, you are satisfactory. Yes, that will do. Once we are free, your elder sister will find you a suitable dual cultivation partner.” A gleam of excitement sparkled in the Celestial Haizi’s eyes as she considered Wang Lin, and she gently pursed her captivating lips.

“Cease your enchantments,” Wang Lin said, his voice suddenly cold and sharp, his eyes flashing with an unnerving light.

The Celestial Haizi’s graceful brows arched in response, but before she could utter a word, golden light erupted from Wang Lin’s eyes. Bathed in this light, his countenance took on a stern and regal cast, and a pressure, both immense and imposing, surged outwards, silencing her words before they could form.

“If your prolonged confinement has fostered a need for companionship, then Wang Lin shall find you someone with whom to converse!” As he spoke, his form flickered, and a spectral figure materialized beside him. It was his avatar, forged in the fires of Slaughter and Lightning. It sat cross-legged between him and the Celestial Haizi, its presence a stark barrier.

“You may converse with this projection of mine, but do not disturb my cultivation!” A chilling glint flashed in Wang Lin’s eyes. He rose and retreated to the furthest corner of their prison, where he settled down once more to meditate, focusing his efforts on refining the third Mountain Sea Tree Spirit.

The Celestial Haizi blinked, taken aback by Wang Lin’s unexpected solution. Her brow furrowed, she glanced at the cold, unyielding avatar, radiating an aura of intense slaughter and raw power, before muttering in annoyance and closing her eyes to resume her own meditation.

“This Celestial Haizi… there is something amiss,” Wang Lin mused, his eyes narrowing imperceptibly as he observed her.

“I had assumed the severed hand had somehow changed, which is why it attacked her instead of me.

But now, it seems like something more is happening…” The change in the Celestial Haizi’s demeanor had been drastic, a stark contrast to the woman Wang Lin had previously known. Yet, he had detected no sign of duplicity or split personality, even when scanning her with the power of his Immortal Extermination Sword.

“The Celestial Haizi seemed relatively normal at first, but now she seems overly bold.” Wang Lin frowned, pondering the matter before casting it aside, his mind once again consumed by the task of absorbing the Mountain Sea Tree Spirit.

Time flowed onward, and three years passed.

Throughout those years, Wang Lin paid the Celestial Haizi no mind, focusing entirely on absorbing the Tree Spirits within his body. The power of the Wood Origin constantly grew stronger, and by the end of those three years, having consumed four Tree Spirits, that power had become a force to be reckoned with.

Emerald patterns, resembling the veins of plants, began to bloom across his skin, their presence both subtle and unsettling.

During the same period, the Celestial Haizi maintained an unusual silence, mirroring Wang Lin’s dedication to meditation, though her expressions often shifted, hinting at the practice of some secret art or forbidden technique.

Throughout the years, a muffled thrum echoed at regular intervals from the outside world, as if some mighty force were assaulting their prison. With each passing day, the sounds grew more frequent and intense.

The hundred-foot barrier that contained them seemed to shrink under this relentless assault.

Then, in the fourth month of the third year, the booming sound was far more violent than before, interrupting Wang Lin’s meditation and making him look up.

His expression shifted as he rose to his feet and moved forwards. As he did this, in the instant that Wang Lin shifted, the barrier rapidly began to compress!

From one hundred feet, it shrank by half, becoming only fifty! The Celestial Haizi also awoke, a look of panic on her face.

The booming sounds lasted for half an hour before they stopped.

The barrier was reduced to fifty feet, making the distance between Wang Lin and Haizi very small.
“This shimmering ward, alas, can scarcely endure another century…” Hai Zi, Celestial Venerable, lamented, her voice tinged with resignation. “I have contracted and focused its essence, a desperate measure against that severed hand. Yet, even so, after three years of defiance, its expanse has dwindled to a mere fifty paces…”

Her words hung heavy in the air, a stark contrast to the vibrant haven they once possessed. “Had it remained at its original ten thousand leagues, however diluted, it would have shattered long ago.” The Celestial Venerable, in both visage and utterance, differed greatly from the woman of years past, now appearing strangely lucid.

“I fear it shall not be long before this paltry domain shrinks further, until the ward collapses entirely,” she continued, her brow furrowed in sorrow.

Wang Lin’s eyes, like chips of ice, pierced the dwindling barrier above. Once more, he beheld the nebulous figure lurking in the encroaching darkness. It remained ever vigilant, its gaze seemingly locked upon his own.

In that fleeting, silent exchange, Wang Lin felt a tremor within his soul. The gaze from beyond held a strange, alluring power, threatening to unravel his sanity and ignite a maddening fervor within his very being.

With a sudden flash of golden light in his eyes, Wang Lin banished the insidious influence, his mind snapping back into sharp focus.

“It watches us, always… observing our every breath, every twitch. It has done so for years without end,” Hai Zi whispered, her voice barely audible, laced with palpable dread.

“It is a severed hand,” Wang Lin stated, his voice low and gravelly.

“Whose hand, then, is it?” Wang Lin’s eyes gleamed with newfound determination. Catching Hai Zi off guard, he launched himself skyward, directly towards the shimmering barrier above.

Alarm flickered across Hai Zi’s face. In an instant, she moved to follow, her robes swirling about her.

“Stay below! Should you perceive any imbalance within me, strike me down without hesitation!” Wang Lin commanded, his voice echoing within her mind as he ascended.

Hai Zi froze, watching his determined silhouette fade into the swirling luminescence above. It was a familiar scene, a stark echo of the day, years ago, when he stood before her, a bulwark against the encroaching darkness.

In a heartbeat, Wang Lin reached the very edge of the ward, a mere three inches separating his face from the shimmering veil. It was at that precipice that the nebulous figure beyond stirred to life, lunging towards him with unnatural speed.

The creature halted abruptly, matching the ward’s meager distance, positioning itself a mere six inches from Wang Lin, separated only by the energy barrier.

It was a face without skin, a grotesque tapestry of raw flesh and exposed muscle. Yet, despite its horror, it radiated a strange, unearthly majesty. Its features remained indistinct, obscured by the swirling shadows. However, its left hand, in stark contrast to the rest of its form, appeared undeniably real, complete with normal skin.

As Wang Lin’s eyes struggled to comprehend the visage, his pupils constricted in disbelief. His mind reeled as if struck by a thousand thunderbolts.

The skinless face, in that fleeting moment, emanated an ethereal light from its eyes, piercing the three-inch gap and seeking to devour Wang Lin’s soul.

His mind dissolved into chaos, all awareness banished by the overwhelming presence of the creature’s gaze. It became a pair of eyes etched into the very fabric of his being, imbued with an unsettling sentience that manifested as a maddening whisper within his mind.

“Come… Come… Come…”

The insidious chant resonated deep within Wang Lin’s core, triggering a primal, thunderous heartbeat within his chest. The rhythm countered the beckoning whispers, dragging him back from the brink of oblivion. He startled awake to Hai Zi’s frantic cries and the intoxicating scent of her perfume as she rushed to his side.

“I am unharmed,” Wang Lin stated, his voice regaining its steadiness. He was now a mere inch from the shimmering barrier, as if teetering on the precipice of breaching the protective veil.

The figure beyond the ward unleashed a guttural roar, a sound of raw fury and frustration. It slammed against the shimmering barrier, threatening to shatter it with its relentless assault. The ward flickered and pulsed, but held firm.

“Immortal Ancestor…” Wang Lin whispered, his gaze locked on the maddened figure through the pulsating energy field.