For a cultivator, thirteen years passed in the blink of an eye. Within those years, Wang Lin had completely internalized the Origin of Primordial Dawn, adding another facet to his unique essence.

As for the Silent Extinction Origin, through observing the devouring of light by darkness over four thousand times during those thirteen years, coupled with insights gained within the Eastern Serenity Pool, he had begun to grasp its secrets, though mastery remained elusive.

Throughout those thirteen years, and countless immersions in the Eastern Serenity Pool, the somber voice never echoed again.

Wang Lin sat cross-legged upon the altar platform outside the Eastern Serenity Pool, his hair now cascading down to his waist. While his cultivation remained unchanged during this time, his hair had inexplicably grown longer, a testament to countless sunrises and sunsets witnessed in contemplation.

After an age, he opened his eyes. Within his left eye resided a nascent sun, while his right eye was a void of utter blackness. This bizarre duality imbued Wang Lin with an unsettling aura.

“The Primordial Dawn Origin can be merged with the Thunder Incarnation, along with Slaughter and Restriction, to form a fourth origin, including the Thunder Incarnation itself. As for Silent Extinction… I still haven’t fully grasped it, achieving only a minor understanding. But that shouldn’t hinder its integration. Perhaps, through the power of merging, my cultivation will experience a surge, thanks to the convergence of five origins, including the Thunder Incarnation…” Wang Lin’s expression was calm. His purpose in coming to the Eastern Serenity Sect was to find an opportunity to break through his current limitations.

Once this opportunity arose, and if his cultivation advanced, he could once again brave the Celestial Venerate Nirvana Ground, completing his preparations before journeying to the Immortal Clan Imperial City.

As Wang Lin sat in meditation, overlapping shadows flickered around him. A arc of lightning emerged, and the Thunder Incarnation stepped forth, taking a seat directly opposite Wang Lin’s true form.

The Thunder Incarnation’s face was impassive, lightning crackling across its entire form, emitting a crisp, snapping sound in the silence. A sense of utter annihilation washed over Wang Lin as he gazed upon his Thunder Incarnation.

“This Thunder Incarnation holds an unspeakable annihilation born of Slaughter Lightning. This power… is alien to me,” Wang Lin murmured, observing that the Incarnation now wore the same white robes as him.

After a moment of silence, Wang Lin raised his right hand and gestured towards the Thunder Incarnation.

“Since you embody slaughter, and your lightning crackles with destruction, then don the black robes I wore in my youth, and become darkness incarnate. In this way, you may better understand the Silent Extinction Origin.”

With a wave of his hand, the Thunder Incarnation’s white robes vanished, replaced by darkness devouring light, morphing into black.

The instant the black robes enveloped the Thunder Incarnation, the feeling of utter devastation emanating from its core intensified.

Silently observing his Thunder Incarnation, Wang Lin allowed the nascent sun within his left eye, radiating no light, to drift forth, hovering between him and his Thunder Incarnation. After a moment of hesitation, it shot towards the Incarnation, merging within its form in an instant.

The Thunder Incarnation shuddered violently as blinding light erupted from within, as if the forces of light and destruction clashed in the fusion.

Wang Lin watched for a moment, then shifted his gaze. In an instant, his right eye turned pitch black, as dark as ink, and coalesced within his right hand, forming a sun of similar shape, but a sun of pure darkness.

With a flick of his wrist, the black sun hurtled towards the Thunder Incarnation, merging once more!

But as the black sun merged, Wang Lin’s true form unleashed his divine sense, descending upon the Thunder Incarnation with overwhelming power, forcing all the origins within to merge according to his will!

Though the black sun held less origin power, perhaps this very fact, coupled with its innate kinship with destruction, allowed the Slaughter Lightning to absorb it upon entering the Incarnation’s form. After the absorption, the Slaughter Lightning underwent a profound transformation!

Slaughter Lightning, born to destroy heaven and earth, tear apart all light and reduce it to nothingness, now fused with the Silent Extinction Origin. An aura of earth-shattering power erupted from the Thunder Incarnation, so intense that even Wang Lin’s will felt overwhelmed.

To slaughter all life, to obliterate an entire world, to tear apart the light and plunge it into eternal night, to reduce all to desolate ruin, this was the totality of the power now contained within Wang Lin’s unintentionally created Thunder Incarnation!

However, this power was suppressed by the presence of the Restriction Origin, sealed within the Incarnation’s form, forbidden from escaping. Unleashing this force would trigger a catastrophe of unimaginable proportions!

The previous state of the Thunder Incarnation was one of precarious balance, the Restriction Origin tightly binding its form. But now, the infusion of the Silent Extinction Origin shattered that already fragile equilibrium.

Wang Lin had foreseen this. The instant the Restriction Origin could no longer contain the annihilation and slaughter, and the balance collapsed, the Primordial Dawn Origin, representative of light, merged with the Restriction Origin, forming a new seal, restoring a fragile balance with destruction and slaughter.

In this constant cycle of sealing and resisting, Wang Lin’s Thunder Incarnation was like a flame on the verge of consuming everything – a mortal wielding fire.

He would either master it completely, or be consumed by its flames.

Destruction and sealing, darkness and light, guided by thunder, momentarily achieved a precarious balance within the Incarnation. However, the fusion of Restriction and Primordial Dawn Origins seemed insufficient to counter slaughter and silent extinction, and the danger remained. Yet, Wang Lin knew he had to proceed.

From the moment he unintentionally created the Slaughter Lightning within the Origin Incarnation, he had destined this Incarnation to be unique, unlike any of the Five Elements.

As the four unique origins within the Thunder Incarnation merged and resisted each other, barely forming a unified whole, the Incarnation abruptly opened its eyes. Its left eye glowed with light, while its right eye was filled with darkness. It took a single step towards Wang Lin, seemingly fading as it overlapped with Wang Lin’s true form, seated cross-legged, then merged into his body.
In that instant, Wang Lin’s cultivated aura erupted in a thunderous surge, soaring from the nascent heights of the Void Shattering realm. As his power swelled, the very heavens quaked, and the winds became a chaotic dance. Above the Eastern Serenity Sect, darkness and light clashed in rapid succession until a muffled boom echoed from within Wang Lin’s core. His white hair billowed as if caught in a gale, and his cultivation transcended the Void Shattering initial stage, ascending to the exalted heights of the Void Shattering middle stage!

Wang Lin rose abruptly, the celestial turbulence vanishing in that breath. The wind stilled, all movement ceased, and a profound silence descended.

He stood there, lost in the moment, until with a ripple of his form, the Golden Sea Dragon, now brimming with even greater reverence, descended from the distant sky. Wang Lin stepped forth, planting his feet upon the dragon’s head.

Liu Jinbiao swallowed nervously, his gaze fixed on Wang Lin, reflecting the same awe. Such was the way of the Caves Realm, a truth that remained unaltered even upon the Immortal Astral Continent. He hastily took to the air, settling respectfully behind Wang Lin upon the back of the Golden Sea Dragon.

Over the thirteen years past, his own cultivation had largely recovered, fueled by the restoration of his memories and the assistance granted by the appeased Golden Sea Dragon.

The Sea Dragon ascended, bearing Wang Lin aloft. Gazing down upon the Eastern Serenity Sect, upon the Eastern Serenity Pool, he paused in silent contemplation, then clasped his hands, offering a profound bow towards the pool.

“Though my predecessor has passed on, the grace of your insights remains etched in Wang’s heart.” His gaze finally settled upon the Eastern Serenity Hall, where in his mind’s eye, he saw the solitary, sorrowful elder.

With a soft sigh, Wang Lin directed the Sea Dragon with his divine will. The creature’s colossal form blurred into a streak of light, hurtling into the distant sky.

Within the depths of the Eastern Serenity Death Sect, now swallowed by the encroaching mountains, a melancholic sigh echoed, laden with centuries of loneliness and sorrow, yet interwoven with a steadfast resolve.

His solitude had birthed dream-like illusions, memories crafted to provide companionship.

His sorrow lingered, an enduring presence within the Death Sect, counting the moments in his memories, ever guarding.

His resolve endured, and despite the passage of countless years, the hate and madness he kept hidden beneath the sorrow had been transformed into blood, each drop painstakingly used to trace the words upon the stone tablet!

Wang Lin had departed.

Yet he did not leave the Great Sacred Continent, instead settling upon a towering peak within its borders. With the Golden Sea Dragon as his protector and layers of arrays and enchantments laid as foundations, he faced the rising sun, closing his eyes in meditation.

“I shall challenge the Heaven Trampling Nirvana! Long ago, I conquered the fourth level. This time, how many shall I surpass?” Wang Lin meditated, calming the roiling energies within him. After three months, when he had familiarized himself with his increased power, he raised his right hand, sweeping it before him. Countless divine abilities coalesced in that single gesture.

“In the Void Shattering initial stage, I was limited to thirteen interwoven divine abilities by my cultivation. Now, in the Void Shattering middle stage, how many can I unite? And when combined with my true body and source origin…” A flicker of anticipation danced in Wang Lin’s eyes.

Taking a deep breath, Wang Lin closed his eyes, and his divine sense exploded outward, coalescing into an invisible form that soared towards the heavens.

“This time, I shall rise to greatness! This time, I shall force the venerates of the Immortal Clan to look up in awe! This time, I shall be numbered among the Leaping Heaven Tramplers!

“This time, I shall become the forty-ninth Leaping Heaven Trampler on the Immortal Astral Continent! This time, I shall wield the power of the Celestial Bull Soul Armor!”

Wang Lin’s divine sense streaked towards the celestial dome, a column of unseen energy piercing the firmament. With each upward surge, a resounding boom echoed in his mind, until at last, his vision cleared, and he beheld the strange realm of the Heaven Trampling Nirvana, a place he had visited long ago!

He saw the towering palaces rising in tiers, and before the first palace, he saw hundreds of Heaven Tramplers seated in meditation!

Likewise, these Heaven Tramplers beheld the long streak of light rocketing towards them through the ancient and unique teleportation array – Wang Lin himself!

“The White-Haired Heaven Trampler!”

“I remember him! He conquered the first four levels in rapid succession. We thought he would attempt the fifth, but he gave up and left…”

“He likely realized he couldn’t pass and retreated. He must have gained some confidence to attempt the fifth level this time.”

“It is him!” A middle-aged man in black stood apart near the first palace. A solitary figure, he was the first to notice Wang Lin’s arrival.

His name was Zhulin! He had conquered the seventh level, but had been halted at the eighth.