What is the Realm of Ancient Gods? Throughout the Celestial Gang Continent, this question has echoed in the hearts of nearly every cultivator, generation after generation. Even the Great Heavenly Venerates, for all their power, could not fathom the true nature of the Ancient God Realm, nor its origin. Many had ventured within its boundaries, yet upon their return, they could offer no clear description of its essence. It was a place beyond comprehension.

Wang Lin gazed around, finding himself beneath a crimson sky, devoid of stars and moon, yet bathed in a gentle, pervasive light. The land beneath his feet was circular. Here, his divine sense was shackled, unable to unfurl and encompass the entire continent. He could perceive only the immediate surroundings: a tapestry of mountains and long, unnerving fissures that scarred the earth.

Treading upon this strange ground, Wang Lin was lost in contemplation. A mix of bewilderment and a strange familiarity danced in his eyes as he walked onward. Reaching the edge of a deep chasm, Wang Lin paused. He peered into the abyss, noticing that the gash was straight, devoid of any curve, as though cleaved by a single, mighty stroke of a celestial blade. Faint wisps of black vapor emanated from the fissure, rising into the air before vanishing without a trace. Gazing into the depths, he saw only an impenetrable darkness, hinting at nothing.

After a long moment of silence, Wang Lin strode forward, traversing the colossal rift and venturing deeper into the unknown. Time flowed by unnoticed as he encountered more fissures and more mountains. The fissures shared a common trait – their unnerving straightness, as though hewn by the edge of a god’s sword.

“A circular shackle…” Wang Lin muttered, his eyes gleaming. He slowly ascended, rising toward the firmament. As he climbed higher, the land beneath him seemed to shrink. Standing at the zenith of this strange sky, he looked down upon the world, a stronger sense of familiarity washing over him. The circular land, the deep, precise fissures – their arrangement was far from random. They formed a perfect pattern, causing the land to resemble a colossal compass. A vast compass… The fissures served as the degree markers, while the intersecting mountains formed symbols, etched with the weight of ages.

“A compass… A compass without a needle…” Or perhaps, this compass-land was not complete, for one half appeared ethereal, slightly unreal. Silent, he scanned the land, his gaze settling on the very center, where a mountain pierced the sky, adorned with falling snowflakes that shone with the colors of the rainbow. Gazing at this mountain, Wang Lin felt a pang of something complex. He had seen it before, within the ancestral temple of the Ancient Ones, when he glimpsed the three aspects of the Ancient Dao. In the temple, within that hazy vision, he had seen a figure clutching a corpse, howling at the heavens, questioning the very fabric of existence.

But now, atop the mountain of rainbow snow, there was no weeping figure. Instead, sat a familiar individual, gazing back at him. His appearance was neither old nor young, radiating a rainbow aura, his eyes alight with excitement. It was he who was once known as Heavenly Fate Child, as the Seven-Colored Immortal, as the Dao Ancient Grand Tutor!

Behind him, and behind the mountain itself, was a bridge. One end connected to the earth, while the other faded into the firmament, forming a majestic arc. The bridge was almost identical to the Bridge of Stepping Heavens. Where it touched the sky, Wang Lin thought he could discern, beyond the crimson curtain, a blurred, ethereal realm. Within that realm, two shadowy figures flickered, indistinct and unknowable. This scene echoed what he had seen on the Bridge of Stepping Heavens, beyond the ninth bridge.

“You have finally arrived!” Heavenly Fate Child cried, his voice echoing with laughter. Wang Lin turned his gaze from the bridge to Heavenly Fate Child, saying nothing, and began to walk, step by step. In moments, he stood upon the mountain of rainbow snow, feeling the strange flakes fall upon him. He sighed softly.

“I have waited long for this day, Wang Lin. All of this is merely a dream of yours, but upon arriving here, your dream will be twisted!” Heavenly Fate Child laughed, raising his hands and making a sudden sweeping motion. As he did so, the circular land trembled with a deafening roar. From the countless fissures that scarred the earth, torrents of black vapor erupted, swirling upwards toward the mountain. Instantly, the black miasma veiled the crimson sky.

Before Wang Lin, behind Heavenly Fate Child, the vapors coalesced into a gargantuan figure. The figure was immensely tall, as if supporting the heavens. It seemed to be clad in a loose black robe, concealing its face, but Wang Lin could still discern that its features were identical to those of Heavenly Fate Child.

“Wang Lin, even if in your past life you were a being of the Stepping Heavens Realm, within this Realm-Defining Plate, the master is supreme! This place, within the Celestial Gang Continent, is the only place where I can devour and assimilate you!”

“Here, your dream will be twisted. From this moment forth, I shall *be* you!” The colossal figure roared, its voice booming and reverberating through the landscape.

“A past life, you say…” Wang Lin mused, looking at Heavenly Fate Child and then at the spectral figure behind him, his expression serene. “It seems you have not yet remembered. No matter. I shall ensure you understand everything before you perish!”

Heavenly Fate Child rose to his feet, stepping backward and fusing with the immense black phantom. The black robe parted, revealing a malevolent face. “The Celestial Gang Continent does not exist. It is merely a figment of your dream. In reality, this is a void, a part of the Reversal Dust Realm.”

“A void…” Wang Lin whispered, lost in thought.

“Dost thou doubt me, mortal? In my eyes, thou…”
“A pitiable creature, bereft of the memories of your past life! You are but art,” Wang Lin heard. “Hearken! The cosmos holds four vast realms, and this one is known as the Realm of the Defiant Dust! Within each realm lies a treasure of immense power. In this realm, that treasure is the Compass of the Worlds, the sole artifact capable of Void Annihilation!”

The towering form of Celestial Fortune, eyes ablaze with fervor, declared, “This very Sacred Land of the Supreme Beginning *is* the Compass of the Worlds, made manifest!”

“As for you,” the voice boomed, “in a past life, you were the strongest being in all creation, a cultivator of the Skyrending Realm! You should have ruled over the Defiant Dust, but your heart was consumed by the desire to resurrect a single woman. You stole the Compass of the Worlds from its guardian, intending to use it to restore your beloved wife!”

“You even dared to shatter your own essence, scattering it across the cycles of reincarnation, employing your self-forged Dream Dao in a mad attempt to rewrite fate! To bring your wife back from the void, you sought to defy the very fabric of existence!”

“Even I, Celestial Fortune, am astounded by the sheer audacity of your actions!” The celestial eyes fixed upon Wang Lin, the echoes of the words resonating with power.

“So, that is how it was,” Wang Lin murmured, closing his eyes for a moment before opening them again, his gaze steady upon the colossal figure. “Then, tell me, who exactly are you?”

“I am the guardian of the Compass of the Worlds,” Celestial Fortune intoned. “You pilfered this artifact from my very grasp! I have a disciple, one you should know. His name is Mo Zhi!”

Silence descended upon Wang Lin. Celestial Fortune’s eyes flickered almost imperceptibly. With a sweep of his right hand, a portion of the dark energy swirling within his form coalesced in the sky, forming a vortex of black. Within its depths, scenes began to coalesce, flickering like phantasmal flames.

“If you remain unconvinced, then witness for yourself! Judge the truth of these visions with your own eyes.”

Within the swirling darkness, Wang Lin saw another version of himself, cradling a lifeless body, his mournful cries piercing the heavens. He saw himself, countless ages past, consumed by despair after failing to resurrect Li Muwan. The agonizing sorrow etched upon his face, the furious shouts, the maddened eyes – they were all there.

“‘Even if the Heavens decree your death, I shall snatch you back from their grasp! I shall shatter the skies and rend the earth asunder! I shall plunge into the depths of reincarnation, extracting every fragment of your being, and rebuild you across countless lifetimes…'”

“‘And if I fail, then Wang Lin shall never awaken! I shall remain with you, lost within the endless cycle, until eternity’s end!'”

Wang Lin watched the scenes unfolding within the vortex, and the memories, long dormant, stirred within his mind, as if they had always been there, merely forgotten.

“Before, you told me that I could resurrect Li Muwan here,” Wang Lin said, after a moment of silence, never breaking eye contact with Celestial Fortune, “Is that true, or false?”

“It is both truth and falsehood! The Compass of the Worlds is the sole instrument of Void Annihilation in the Realm of the Defiant Dust. It can reshape all things, but alas, the chance is not yours!” Celestial Fortune paused. Seeing Wang Lin still calm, still stoic, made him hesitate. He sensed that something was wrong, but couldn’t tell what.

“What of that bridge?” Wang Lin asked, his hand rising to point at the bridge of dark energy stretching towards the heavens behind Celestial Fortune.

“The Skyrending Bridge of the Compass of the Worlds,” Celestial Fortune replied, “the true form of the Skyrending Bridge that all beings in the Realm of the Defiant Dust glimpse upon reaching a certain level of cultivation!”

The unease within Celestial Fortune grew, yet he could not fathom the source of the disquiet.

“You are hesitating, wondering why I have not succumbed to madness, why I am not caught in the liminal space between sleep and waking?” Wang Lin smiled faintly, looking at Celestial Fortune.

Celestial Fortune’s expression shifted, his colossal form recoiling. He stared at Wang Lin with disbelief.

“You… no, it can’t be! Even if you recalled your past, merely entering the Compass of the Worlds would awaken you from the Dream Dao! Every other time, you awakened here! This time could not be any different!”

“You are not the guardian, but the one who is missing… the final piece,” Wang Lin spoke, his voice low.

At these words, Celestial Fortune’s heart clenched.