Though their skin bore no trace of emerald unguents, a strange aura clung to them, emanating outwards like a subtle poison. Scarcely had they emerged from the valley’s maw than they bit their tongues, each spewing forth a mouthful of crimson blood.

This offering, however, was not for Wang Lin, but rather cast upon the earth outside the valley’s embrace.

Their grim task complete, the pair whirled, fleeing back into the shadowed depths. Wang Lin, his gaze serene, reached out a hand, his power seizing them in an unseen grasp, casting them aside like broken dolls.

Where their blood had fallen, the earth stirred. A crimson mist began to rise, at first thin and wispy, but within moments, it billowed and writhed like a cauldron of boiling blood, steadily enveloping the valley’s outer reaches.

Wang Lin remained, seated in lotus position, his eyes fixed upon the valley, making no move to cast spell or conjure power.

As the crimson haze reached its peak of density, a guttural roar echoed from within the valley’s heart. A shadow, black as midnight, emerged from the swirling mist, its form taking on an unsettling quality within the blood-red shroud.

“Return my kin,” a voice like shards of ice cut through the air, emanating from the dark figure, “and begone from our lands! Refuse, and meet death!”

Wang Lin’s expression remained unchanged. With a soft hum of power, he rose to his feet and stepped forward. With that single stride, countless ripples shimmered into existence around him, vibrating with an overwhelming force. As his foot touched the ground, a thunderous sound erupted as the waves of energy surged forward.

In a heartbeat, the crimson mist, which had cloaked the valley in its arcane defense, recoiled as if struck by boiling water. It hissed and sputtered, vanishing with unnatural speed.

The transformation was swift, lasting no more than three breaths. When it was done, only a single figure remained, cloaked head to toe in black, his eyes wide with stunned disbelief as Wang Lin approached.

He attempted to flee, but Wang Lin again extended his hand. Against his will, the man was drawn forward, landing squarely before the enigmatic figure.

Wang Lin cast a cold glance upon him, then tossed him aside, binding him with the others.

His grim task complete, Wang Lin paused, surveying the array with a critical eye. Then, once more, he sat in silent contemplation.

This display of raw power, this swift and decisive victory, silenced the valley’s inhabitants. A stillness descended, a quiet that lasted for three long days.

For three days, Wang Lin sat, unmoving, while the valley remained shrouded in silence.

On the dawn of the fourth day, the array at the mouth of the valley stirred, groaning and rumbling. A figure emerged, an old man with hair as white as snow, leaning heavily on a staff of polished ebony.

Behind him walked a dozen beings, part man and part beast, with faces gaunt and eyes that burned with a desperate fire.

“Stranger,” the elder spoke, his voice weak but laced with dignity, “you have lingered here for days. We were rash in our initial response. I am Ouyang Hua, elder of this valley. Return my people, and let us speak as reasonable beings.”

“I have lived here since memory began,” Ouyang Hua said, seated now at a bone-carved table, laden with simple fruits. “I know not the true size of this land, but I know that thirty million leagues hence lies a great city, the Ancient Demon City! There I spent my youth, and from there gained my extended life. Outsider, I know not what you seek, but it is something that we, this humble tribe, cannot offer.”

“You know whence I came?” Wang Lin asked, his voice level.

“From the moment you arrived, I knew you were not of this land. You and your kind, you arrive every four years, and each time, you bring endless bloodshed. So, no, I do not welcome you.” Ouyang Hua sighed.

Wang Lin’s expression did not shift. “Besides myself, do you know of any other outsiders?”

“No, and I pray I never do. Outsider, I have nothing you seek. All that I can say, I have said. Depart from here, travel to the Ancient Demon City. There you will find answers.” Ouyang Hua spoke with finality.

“Twice now, you have mentioned what I seek,” Wang Lin pressed, “What is it?”

Ouyang Hua’s face darkened. Rising to his feet, he confronted Wang Lin. “Outsider, I have spoken my piece. Though you possess power, were I not reluctant to entangle further, I would not have let you so easily seize my people. Do not mistake my intent! In three breaths, if you remain, I will show you no mercy!” Wang Lin’s eyes grew cold, fixing on the elder. He raised his hand, a light gathering within his palm. The emerald energy pulsed, then shot forth towards the valley. The array flared to life as the light touched it, a chorus of thunderous sounds.

Wang Lin snorted, reaching into his storage bag and drawing forth the Restriction Banner. With a snap of his wrist, nine hundred ninety-nine restrictions materialized, transforming into swirling strands of dark energy. As the black miasma enveloped him, Wang Lin resembled a demon lord, his eyes burning with a chilling power.

“Break the array!” Wang Lin’s voice echoed with the cold of the grave. The nine hundred ninety-nine strands of dark energy surged forth, lashing against the array like a tempest of shadows.
Ouyang Hua’s face paled, his countenance darkening like a storm-swept sea. He fixed Wang Lin with a gaze, then, after a long moment, a chilling laugh escaped his lips. With a flicker, his form dissolved before Wang Lin’s very eyes, becoming motes of shimmering starlight that vanished into the air.

Wang Lin’s gaze remained glacial. He had suspected from the start that this Ouyang Hua was not born of true flesh and blood, but merely a spectral echo conjured by the ancient magic. Had he not spent countless hours studying the valley’s perimeter, deciphering the archaic wards with painstaking care, a glimmer of a method to unravel the enchantment would not have presented itself. Only then did he risk returning those few kinsmen to the valley.

He wove a hand seal, pointing a finger towards the valley’s heart. “Rend!” he uttered, the word a whisper of power.

A deafening roar echoed through the heavens as the entire valley shuddered violently, as though a slumbering dragon stirred beneath the earth. The ancient array, its stonework etched with forgotten glyphs, pulsed with a brilliant, ethereal light.

From within the valley’s depths, Ouyang Hua’s aged voice boomed, “Outlander! I grant you three breaths to depart! Tarry further, and I shall unleash the assault. Certain death awaits you!”

“Congeal!” Wang Lin countered, his voice a low rumble.

The word resonated, triggering the nine hundred and ninety-nine seals of binding that surrounded the valley. Another thunderous eruption followed, as streams of arcane energy detonated in a furious cascade, their raw power slamming against the protective barrier.

The array quaked once more, its shimmering surface distorting under the onslaught.

Ouyang Hua’s voice was abruptly cut short, replaced by an enraged bellow from within the valley. At that very moment, a verdant light exploded outwards from the valley’s heart, bathing the landscape in an emerald glow.

This light, blinding in its intensity, rapidly coalesced. Wavy tendrils of emerald energy peeled away from the ground, the cliff faces, the flowers, trees, and every other fragment of existence within the valley’s embrace.

These tendrils, barely formed, were instantly drawn back, pulled by an unseen force.

They vanished into the brilliant light at the valley’s core.

In that instant, the green light above the valley shifted, swirling with the ethereal grace of phantom flames. This spiraling luminescence coalesced, in a heartbeat, into a gargantuan, verdant apparition.

The shadow vaguely resembled a humanoid form, towering many times the height of a man, yet was nothing more than a swirling mass of light. Its features were indistinct, blurred by the shimmering emerald aura that enveloped it.

The moment the apparition solidified, Ouyang Hua’s voice echoed from within the valley.

“Outlander, you have brought this upon yourself! Green Shade, slay him! Take his soul as a sacrifice for the Night of the Hungry Spirits!”

As the words faded, a savage shriek, unlike any mortal sound, erupted from the Green Shade. Though not overtly loud, the shriek darkened the sky and sent tremors through the earth.

The earth-shattering scream caused Wang Lin’s eyes to narrow in focus, and a wry smile curled at the edge of his lips. He raised his right hand, forming a seal in the air, and whispered, “Spear of Forbidden Law!”

His hand clenched in empty air, summoning tendrils of inky black energy, which danced across the heavens like a swarm of shadowy dragons. They writhed and coiled, until the very sky seemed to be obscured by their writhing forms. The sound of rushing wind was all around him. The spectacle was reminiscent of a dark lord of the abyss descending upon the mortal realm. The black wisps of energy emitted harsh shrieks and converged above Wang Lin’s hand.

Finally, a spear, ten feet in length and as thick as a man’s arm, materialized in Wang Lin’s grasp!

Arcing currents of black lightning danced along its length, punctuated by the ominous crackle of thunder. The deadly edge of the spear emanated an abyssal darkness that, in the bright noon sun, appeared unnaturally sharp.

Almost as Ouyang Hua’s words rang out, Wang Lin unleashed the spear, which tore from his hand like a bolt of black lightning, directly aimed at the shade emerging from the array.

The bolt shattered the tranquility of the heavens, carving a path through the sky like a chasm in the ether, a brushstroke divinely inspired that cut through the void with unparalleled power. Its momentum threatened to tear apart the sky. The speed was reminiscent of fast moving clouds that seemingly vanish in an instant.

As the spear slashed, the skies boomed as the spear shook heaven and earth. Every particle of space was saturated with the echoes of this devastating power.