The wind howled a lament, a woman’s keening echoing through the snow-swept alley. The moon hid its face, obscured by the swirling storm, and the stars wept, shrouded by the icy veil. In the oppressive darkness, a forgotten street harbored a deadly ambush!

The instant Wang Lin and Hai Zi, the Celestial Paragon, paused, the swirling snow before them coalesced, drawn by an unseen force. A perfect square materialized in the air, humming with malevolent energy.

With terrifying speed, the square hurtled towards them, growing larger as it absorbed more and more snowflakes. It swelled to a monstrous size, a hundred fathoms across, shrieking as it descended upon them.

Simultaneously, from behind, at the far end of the street, a triangular pattern formed amidst the howling gale. It pulsed with dark energy, devouring the falling snow as it charged forward with equal fury.

All unfolded in the blink of an eye!

“You behind, I forward!” Wang Lin’s mind reeled with danger. He would not doubt Hai Zi, though circumstances pointed to her involvement. He trusted his instincts above all else!

With a word, Wang Lin surged forward, his figure a sharp edge cutting through the blizzard, aiming directly for the looming square.

Hai Zi’s face was a mask of fury, her exquisite features contorted with rage. Someone dared exploit her invitation to Wang Lin, weaving a death trap in her name!

Success for the assassins would incite chaos among the Immortal Clans, and drag her master into a storm of accusations.

She knew explanations were futile in the face of action. Hearing Wang Lin’s unwavering trust, a flicker of warmth touched her heart, but her eyes blazed with a vengeful promise for those who had plotted this treachery!

Without hesitation, Hai Zi spun around, offering her back to Wang Lin as she became a streak of light rushing towards the approaching triangle.

Three steps carried Wang Lin to the square’s edge. As it engulfed him, the power of the Celestial Bull Soul flooded his body. In the face of death, Wang Lin chose to unleash his full might!

His fist shot forth, a phantom army of ninety-eight afterimages exploding into existence on the snow-swept street. Each echo mimicked the blow, converging into a single, devastating strike composed of ninety-nine fused powers!

The punch contained twenty-three interwoven spells! Directing ninety-nine powers with a mere twenty-three would normally lead to a fragmented, weakened attack.

But Wang Lin’s fist faltered thrice in its path. At the first pause, his Five Elements True Body merged with his form, instantly amplifying the punch from twenty-three spells to forty-six!

At the second, barely perceptible pause, the spells surged to sixty-nine!

As the fist connected with the square, Wang Lin executed a third, impossible pause. In that instant, the spells within exploded, reaching their apex: ninety-two, the most he could wield without his illusory clone!

Empowered by his Soul Armor, the ninety spells channeled ninety-nine powers into a unified whole, smashing into the square with earth-shattering force!

The impact sent shockwaves that ripped through the heavens and earth, turning the blizzard into a raging vortex. Within a hundred fathoms of Wang Lin, every snowflake disintegrated, leaving behind a gaping void!

The square shuddered, then detonated, shattered by Wang Lin’s strike!

But within the broken form, a strange, insidious energy lingered. It brushed Wang Lin’s fist, then burrowed into his body, causing him to stumble.

The energy hardened into a web of fine filaments, parasitic threads weaving through his meridians and flesh, forming a prison within.

The prison contained a strange, unknowable power, the power of Nothingness, created from the absence of Being.

Wang Lin had only felt such power once before, from the Royal Teacher, Shang Xuan Dao!

As the prison locked into place, slowing his advance, three figures materialized from the swirling snow. Cloaked in the blizzard, their faces hidden, they chanted and unleashed the fury of the storm, directing three frozen palms towards Wang Lin!

Simultaneously, from either side, three more figures emerged, each with a single snow-covered hand raised to strike.

From behind, three more ghostly forms echoed the movements of those in front, their left hands forming frozen palms aimed at Wang Lin’s back!

And from above, three ethereal figures descended, brandishing silver swords that shimmered in the gloom, aimed at his skull!

Fifteen figures, each wielding the power of a Celestial, converged upon him in an instant, exploiting the fraction of a second while he was trapped!

Wang Lin roared, drawing upon the full power of his Soul Armor, fortifying his flesh with the essence of the Ancient Dao, and slamming his foot upon the ground.

The earth trembled as Wang Lin’s body exploded with unexpected speed, using the momentum to recoil backward, crashing his back into the three attacking figures behind him.

The three phantoms cried out as their power rebounded, shattered by Wang Lin’s impervious flesh. The shattered snow-veil revealed the faces of three elderly men, unknown to him.

They staggered backward, but Wang Lin was already in motion, reaching out with brutal speed. He seized two of them by the head and squeezed.

With a sound like thunder, blood and gore exploded. Wang Lin devoured their spirits, absorbing them into his own essence. The last attacker met Wang Lin’s backward trajectory, crushed to paste against his body.

Three fell in an instant. But the remaining twelve pressed on, their speed unyielding. The three in front of Wang Lin tore their tongues to sacrifice their own blood, their blood-soaked figures accelerating toward him like the storm itself.

Wang Lin raised his arm, using it to shield himself from the three palms.

The four figures all lurched from the impact. Those figures were revealed to have their facial features, while the six figures on either side of Wang Lin pierced him with frozen fingertips!

With each touch, Wang Lin’s face paled, the prison within tightening its grip, sapping his strength. The three swords from above rained down upon him. He roared and raised his left arm, striking the figures in the air, causing two figures to spurt blood, collapsing from flesh and bone damage, while the third silver sword, the tip piercing Wang Lin’s skull by three inches!

Agony flooded Wang Lin’s body. Blood trickled down from the wound, streaming over his eyes, painting the world in crimson.

But the watery calm within his eyes remained untouched, unseen beneath the blood. He hesitated not a moment, uttering a growl, and began to stride forward, dragging the twelve assailants toward the end of the street!

The wind howled louder still!

At that moment, the earth beneath him groaned. Three shadowy figures emerged from the ground, pitch-black and out of place in the white snow. They pointed their fingers, and then, with a crash of flesh and bone, shattered their bodies, transforming their spirits to attack Wang Lin directly!

And from the end of the street, nine more figures materialized, their eyes filled with bloodlust. They began to chant, uniting their power in a mystical way, and summoned a frost dragon that came crashing to intercept Wang Lin!

“Wang Lin!” The voice of Hai Zi echoed from behind, filled with desperation. She was surrounded by nine figures. Her strength alone could not hold them back.

“Is this all you have?” Within Wang Lin’s blood-soaked gaze, the depths of his calm were unchanged. With a single step, Wang Lin halted the approaching ice dragon.

In that moment, a colossal Celestial Bull manifested behind Wang Lin, an ancient entity reborn on the battlefield.

“You, shall die!” Wang Lin roared, and the Celestial Bull burst forward, slamming against the ice dragon, shattering the beast!

The dragon roared a dying breath, dissipating and collapsing into fragments in the air.

The ice dragon died, but the fight for life continued.