A tremor of fear flickered in the azure-robed elder’s eyes. Under the gazes of the assembled multitude in the plaza, he recoiled, his face paling with a flush of mortified rage. He had been certain Wang Lin would never dare unleash this aggression. Retreating three steps, the elder pointed a trembling finger at Wang Lin, his voice rising in a sharp cry.

“You –!”

Before the word could fully escape his lips, Wang Lin stood before him. His right hand flashed out, seizing the elder’s robes, and with a flick of his wrist, he hurled him outwards. The elder’s cry dissolved into a wail of shock and disbelief, as if struck by an unseen hand, he was sent spiraling backwards, flung tens of thousands of feet away.

“Wang Lin pays homage to the Immortal Emperor!” Before the majestic doors of the Immortal Dao Palace, Wang Lin clasped his hands and bowed deeply. This was, after all, the Imperial Palace, and the Immortal Emperor was a Great Celestial Sovereign. The proper respect must be shown.

Tens of thousands of cultivators on the plaza fixed their gazes upon Wang Lin, while the surrounding ranks of black-armored Imperial Guards stood silent, their eyes cold and watchful.

Within the crowd, the members of the Four Royal Houses, save for the House of Li, regarded Wang Lin with a mix of emotions. The patriarchs of the other three Houses, in particular, held a look of complex and troubled resignation.

After Wang Lin’s bow, a profound silence descended, broken only after a long moment by a calm, measured voice emanating from within the Immortal Dao Palace.

“You have pushed aside one of Our appointed scribes. How, then, shall this Consecration Ceremony proceed?”

As the voice spoke, the massive doors of the Immortal Dao Palace silently swung inward, revealing the hall’s interior. Deep within, a tiered dais rose, upon which rested an immense dragon throne. The throne appeared to be wrought from a true dragon, its head raised in a proud, eternal roar, its eyes burning with an uncanny, lifelike intensity, fixed upon Wang Lin who stood outside.

Seated upon the throne was a man of middle years, clad in imperial robes and wearing the dragon-crowned diadem. He rested his chin upon one hand, his posture relaxed yet exuding an undeniable aura of authority. His face held an expression of serene power, and he spoke slowly, deliberately.

Beside the Emperor stood a youthful figure dressed in simple, homespun robes. His skin was pale, his eyes long and narrow. He idly turned two violet orbs within his palm. A gentle smile played on his lips, and his gaze, calm and knowing, briefly met Wang Lin’s.

That single glance sent a jolt through Wang Lin, freezing the very blood in his veins. It was as if he were granted a fleeting glimpse of countless cycles of existence, a dizzying moment of unreality.

He snapped back to himself, his pupils contracting as he met the young man’s gaze head on.

The youth’s eyes widened slightly in surprise, and he offered Wang Lin a small, courteous nod of acknowledgement.

“The Imperial Preceptor, Shang Xuan Dao!” The name surged into Wang Lin’s mind in the instant their eyes met. Though he had never encountered him before, the power to plunge him into a trance with a single glance could only belong to the Imperial Preceptor.

As for the Immortal Emperor, his visage was identical to the one Wang Lin had witnessed in the Heavenly Venerate Nirvana, but now possessed an even greater sense of majesty and boundless power. He sat upon the throne as if the entire world were merely an extension of his own being.

All within the realm knelt before his unseen authority.

“Enough. As the foremost of the Ascended Heavenly Venerates, We shall not fault you for the disrespect of a mere servant. Xuan Dao, you shall oversee the Consecration Ceremony,” the Immortal Emperor declared from his throne.

The youth in homespun robes inclined his head slightly and stepped towards the doors.

“It is indeed him!” Wang Lin thought, his expression hardening.

As the youth passed him, he offered Wang Lin a slight smile and a nod before turning towards the tens of thousands of cultivators gathered on the plaza.

“The Consecration Ceremony shall be under my guidance. First, we shall perform the Blood Offering, to open the Immortal Path,” the Imperial Preceptor Shang Xuan Dao announced, raising his right hand towards the heavens.

At that gesture, a streak of crimson light soared skyward, piercing the firmament. Simultaneously, throughout the vast Imperial Palace, cries of unimaginable terror and pain echoed from ninety-nine hidden corners. These were the death throes of monstrous beasts.

In the blink of an eye, ninety-nine pillars of blood erupted from the heart of the Imperial Palace, spearing into the sky. From where Wang Lin stood, he could clearly see the spectral forms of ninety-nine distinct monstrous souls writhing within the crimson columns.

“A Blood Offering to the Immortals… slaughtering ninety-nine beasts to open that illusory Immortal Path…” Wang Lin murmured, his expression impassive.

The ninety-nine pillars of blood pierced the heavens, transforming the entire sky into a macabre, crimson canopy. It seemed to open a doorway to a hidden, otherworldly realm, a void shrouded in mystery.

The beastly souls within the blood pillars roared silently before disappearing into the opening. Then, a silence, heavy and suffocating, descended upon the Imperial Palace.

In that instant, the silence was not confined to this place alone. Across the entire Immortal Clan Continent, the ancestral figures of countless sects who had witnessed this scene through the Imperial Palace’s transmission arrays, were transfixed, their eyes glued to the heavens above the Palace.

“Besides the Trials of the Nine Gates and the challenges, the Consecration Ceremony has another ritual: the opening of the Immortal Path. A Blood Offering is used to call forth an Outer-Realm Spirit. These spirits vary in strength, and the Immortal Emperor will slay them, using their blood to bless the land and their souls to craft treasures, to be bestowed upon the one being consecrated,” Wang Lin knew the ancient rituals well. He watched the sky, his expression unchanging.

“I wonder what sort of Outer-Realm Spirit this White-Haired Ascended Heavenly Venerate will draw forth…”

“When the Underworld Dao Sovereign underwent the Blood Offering, he summoned a spirit in the shape of a sword. The Emperor slew it, and it transformed into a blade of immense power.”

“This is all a matter of fate. Let us see how Wang Lin’s luck holds!”

The surrounding cultivators craned their necks, their eyes gleaming with anticipation, each lost in their own speculation.

In the blood-red sky, within the enormous vortex of swirling crimson, a figure emerged from the inky void. It was a monstrous beast resembling a lion, its eyes burning with a malevolent red. At its neck, raw, festering wounds oozed with golden blood.

The creature appeared to be fleeing some unknown horror, only to be dragged back by the irresistible force of the vortex, forcefully ripped into this realm.
Its emergence ignited a chorus of gasps from the tens of thousands of cultivators gathered in the plaza below!

“A Celestial Bane Beast!”

“It is the Celestial Lion Beast, etched within the totems left by the Immortal Ancestor!”

“Legend whispers that the Celestial Lion Flood was once a Celestial Lion Beast King. Though this beast lacks the golden mark upon its brow, it is clearly a mature battle-lion, nonetheless!”

As the exclamations echoed, the Grand Tutor Shang Xuan, clad in his coarse homespun robe, remained serene, as though he had foreseen the appearance of such a creature.

“The Immortal Ancestor’s seal would never allow a being of great power from beyond to trespass. This Celestial Lion Beast must be wounded to appear here. Wang Lin, your luck is indeed remarkable,” Shang Xuan murmured. As he spoke, a roar of earth-shattering magnitude ripped through the heavens.

The roar assailed the mind, enough to shatter the sanity of mortals. Even cultivators of lesser skill trembled before it as if facing their natural predator.

A lion’s roar it was, and the Celestial Lion Beast, its neck bearing a grievous wound, burst forth from the vortex, appearing upon the Immortal Clan Continent. Confusion clouded its eyes, unfamiliar with this realm. But the bewilderment swiftly vanished, replaced by stark terror. It bolted backwards, as if desperately trying to flee back into the vortex!

But then, Wang Lin heard the Immortal Emperor’s voice, cold as winter frost.

“A Celestial Lion Beast, you say?” As the voice resonated, the Immortal Emperor, still seated upon the jade throne of the Immortal Palace, paused in his customary pose, his hand upon his chin. His other hand rose and he swept it outwards.

In that single gesture, a wisp of five-colored flame materialized, shooting forth from the Immortal Palace with a wave of blistering heat, aimed directly at the Celestial Lion Beast in the sky.

In the blink of an eye, before Wang Lin’s very eyes, the single flame exploded into a five-colored inferno, engulfing the wounded Celestial Lion Beast. A chorus of agonizing shrieks echoed through the heavens, followed by a deafening boom. Torrents of blood, as scalding as molten oil, burst forth from the sky, raining down and saturating the entire imperial palace.

Every cultivator present bore witness to this scene, their hearts shaken to their core. Who first knelt, none could say, but in a heartbeat, the entire mass of cultivators prostrated themselves towards the Immortal Palace.

“Long live the Immortal Emperor!”

“Long live the Immortal Emperor!”

The voices of tens of thousands of souls, joined as one, reverberated like thunder, shaking the very foundations of the palace. The Immortal Emperor’s power was displayed before the cultivators of the Immortal Clan in a manner most profound.

Wang Lin remained silent. He, too, could slay the wounded Celestial Lion Beast, but he could never achieve such casual dominance as the Immortal Emperor. He would need to summon the Soul Armor, perhaps even draw upon the power of his avatars.

“Grand Empyrean…” Wang Lin thought, his expression unreadable.

As the flames in the sky dissipated, a single strand of white hair drifted down from the heavens. Its appearance caused the Grand Tutor Shang Xuan beside Wang Lin to narrow his eyes.

Not only him, but the Immortal Emperor upon his dragon throne also looked up abruptly, staring at the falling strand of white hair, a hint of surprise flickering within his gaze!

“My Extreme Fire Dao could not burn this white hair…”

Wang Lin stood still, a strange light igniting in his eyes. The white hair stirred a powerful sense of familiarity within him, a fleeting sensation as if he were mistaken.

Without hesitation, Wang Lin moved, shooting toward the sky!

And within the Immortal Dao Palace, the Immortal Emperor moved as well, lifting his hand and with a flick of his wrist conjuring a colossal five-colored hand of flame that lunged toward the white hair.

Wang Lin, despite his speed, was no match for the Immortal Emperor. But even as the Immortal Emperor’s five-colored hand of flame appeared directly beside the falling strand of white hair, and closed to grasp it,

The fiery hand shuddered, and the hair sliced straight through it, continuing its descent. Everyone present witnessed this. Without a second’s pause, Wang Lin’s form flickered, appearing beside the hair, and he snatched it from the air!

“I thank the Immortal Emperor for bestowing this treasure upon me!” Wang Lin declared, turning to bow toward the Immortal Dao Palace.