The demon soul residing within the warrior’s brow, fixated upon the ancient demon born of Wang Lin’s blood, emitted a piercing shriek. The sound, laced with otherworldly power, rippled outwards, causing the demon soul to plunge back into the warrior’s brow. In that instant, the warrior’s eyes blazed with an infernal light, brighter than any before.

With a mighty stride, he advanced, and behind him, a colossal spectral form of the demon soul materialized, a towering embodiment of dark power.

The ancient demon, born of Wang Lin’s essence, his gaze flashing with ancient wisdom, casually swept his hand. A miasma of demonic fog erupted from the earth, engulfing the heavens and the warrior in its swirling embrace, ascending like a dark pillar towards the sky.

Simultaneously, a curtain of demon light descended, enshrouding the entirety of Sky Demon City. Within the swirling mists, under the fading light of the demon sky, the ancient demon and the scattered demon lord engaged in a titanic battle.

Thunderous roars echoed from the heavens, rent by bursts of hellfire and swirling vortexes of demonic energy.

Wang Lin, seated in meditative repose upon the ground, inhaled deeply, his eyes turned upwards, piercing the swirling mists, witnessing the unfolding struggle. His heart raced, witnessing the clash of ancient powers. The ancient demon’s arcane abilities and the demon lord’s dark magic, a spectacle of raw creation and destruction, imprinted themselves upon his soul. The memories of the ancient god, Tusi, long dormant within him, stirred and began to blossom anew.

His eyes burned with an ever-increasing intensity. Abandoning his meditative breathing, he raised his hands, his fingers instinctively forming arcane seals, gestures born from the depths of Tusi’s forgotten knowledge.

These seals, though lacking in outward power, served as a conduit, drawing upon a mysterious connection within his soul. Far beyond the Demon Spirit Land, on a desolate, half-ruined planet countless leagues from the Eastern Sea Gate, a suppressed power erupted.

Within this desolate world, Wang Lin’s crimson-haired true body snapped open his eyes, their depths mirroring the vastness of the cosmos. As he awoke, his hands rose, mirroring the arcane seals.

His crimson hair billowed, a constellation of starlight flickered upon his brow. As his hands danced through the ancient gestures, the starlight pulsed faster. Finally, he spread his arms wide, uttering a single word, “Gather!”

The word reverberated through the desolate planet, causing it to tremble. A torrent of spiritual energy surged from the planet’s core, converging upon his true body, absorbed into his very essence.

At the same moment, within the Demon Spirit Land, Wang Lin mirrored the movements of his true body. His eyes fixed upon the swirling mists above, a slow smile crept upon his lips.

“The battle between the ancient demon and the scattered demon lord has unlocked within me insights into the ancient god arts. The benefits reaped by my true body are immeasurable.”

The battle raged for three days. As time passed, the blood Wang Lin had sacrificed was replenished by the flow of his immortal energy, his strength returned to its peak.

His gaze unwavering, he pointed towards the heavens, and the earth beneath him transformed into a river of the Yellow Springs, a spectral river filled with decaying limbs and the wails of tormented souls.

“Scattered demon lord, though I, Wang Lin, am weak, I am not a creature to be crushed so easily!” With a flick of his wrist, the Soul Devouring Banner emerged from his storage pouch, flung into the churning depths of the Yellow Springs.

As the Soul Devouring Banner entered the river, countless tormented souls spilled forth, their mournful cries filling the air.

His eyes glinting with cold determination, Wang Lin retrieved the Forbidden Banner from his storage pouch. Damaged during his battle with the Heavenly Tribulation, many of its seals were shattered. Though weakened, Wang Lin cast it into the Yellow Springs.

Next came the Immortal Sword! Though unwilling, Xu Liguo dared not refuse, sighing inwardly. *Well, I’ve returned to Sky Demon City. I wonder if that little beauty has found another after ten long years* As these thoughts swirled, he was flung into the Yellow Springs. Along with him went his curved saber.

Then came the Kunji Whip, the sword sheath, the 末羊 sword, until, save for the God-Slaying Chariot and the mysterious painting scroll, Wang Lin had cast nearly every treasure from his storage pouch into the churning Yellow Springs.

The chaotic mix of treasures in the Yellow Springs coalesced into a potent force. Wang Lin inhaled deeply, and a point of light formed upon his brow, the thirteen thousand auras of slaughter transformed into thirteen thousand symbols of life, rapidly covering his body in a protective barrier.

His eyes remained fixed on the skies. In that moment, his gaze hardened, and he launched himself upwards, his right hand reaching down to tear the Yellow Springs from the earth. The spectral river condensed, transforming into a ray of yellow light!

This yellow light contained not only all of Wang Lin’s treasures, but also his very Dao.

Carrying the yellow light, Wang Lin soared upwards. Above, within the swirling mists, the warrior’s armor was shattered, retreating in disarray, the demonic flame in his eyes dimming, and crazed howls erupting from his throat.

The ancient demon born of Wang Lin’s blood, his eyes flashing with demonic light, roared forth, unleashing a torrent of arcane abilities. The warrior spat a mouthful of blood, retreating further.

“Die!” the ancient demon roared, his spectral form shrinking into his blood avatar, transforming into a single ray of demonic light, engulfing the warrior.

As the demonic light ensnared him, the demon soul within the warrior’s brow reappeared, shrieking, emitting a wave of disruptive energy. The demonic light faltered slightly. The demon soul glared maliciously at the ancient demon before burrowing back into the warrior’s brow.

At the same moment, the warrior recoiled, attempting to escape!

This was the moment Wang Lin had awaited! He erupted from the earth, a streaking comet of yellow light. In an instant, he plunged into the swirling mists, hurtling towards the retreating warrior.

The warrior, in his retreat, sensed Wang Lin’s approach. Contempt flashed in his eyes; he dismissed Wang Lin as insignificant, casually swatting at him with his right hand!

His strike conjured a storm. The thirteen thousand symbols of life surrounding Wang Lin crumbled, one by one. Tens of thousands, twenty thousand, fifty thousand, eighty thousand…
As the very fabric of Wang Lin’s being threatened to unravel, a glacial glint ignited within his eyes. In a desperate gambit, timed precisely as the last of his thirteen thousand life-imprints shattered, he lunged towards the hulking warrior of the Great Han. With a decisive flick of his wrist, the golden luminescence gathered upon his right hand was unleashed.

The Han warrior scoffed, his fist a hammer of iron, meeting the golden light head-on, seeking to extinguish its brilliance. Yet, the instant his fist met the strange energy, a chilling dread washed over his face. The golden light pulsed with a chaotic energy, a frenzied fusion of divine sense and potent Dao, forcibly bound together. It was a power, he realized with mounting alarm, that could threaten him.

Under normal circumstances, such a paltry display would be laughable. But this was no ordinary moment. He was wounded, weakened from his clash with the ancient demon, and bereft of his magical tower. His divine sense, crippled, was trapped within his armor, rendering many of his most potent spells unusable.

The golden light detonated, halting the Han warrior in his tracks. That briefest of hesitations proved fatal. The eldritch energy of the Ancient Demon, relentless, overtook him, consuming him entirely.

A harrowing shriek tore from the Han warrior’s throat. The Ancient Demon’s power was a terrible alchemy, capable of transmuting all living things. A torrent of demonic energy spewed forth from within him, only to be instantly consumed, leaving not a trace behind.

“Bello! If you slay me, my master will unleash an eternity of vengeance upon you!” a voice, thin and piercing, emanated from the demonic sigil etched upon the warrior’s brow. The sigil shattered, and a spectral form of pure malice erupted from the Han warrior, diving into the protective embrace of the ancient armor.

In a desperate sacrifice, the armor peeled away from the dying warrior, encasing itself in swirling tendrils of demonic energy, aiming to pierce through the demon energy. The forsaken body was a mere sacrifice. The demon within, desperate for survival, clung to the armor as its salvation. He knew if he could escape, he could find a new vessel.

Stripped bare of his armor, the Han warrior was utterly exposed to the consuming demon energy. His flesh melted away, his eyes dimmed, and he plummeted from the sky, a husk of his former might.

The armor, enveloped in demonic power, strained against the relentless demon energy. It burned away nearly all of the dark essence. Finally, it burst free.

Triumph surged through the demon-infused metal, but it was quickly extinguished. Before it could escape, Wang Lin’s hand shot out with impossible speed, seizing the armor with an unyielding grip.

Wang Lin, a man who never forgot a slight, would not let this demon slip through his grasp. To allow him to escape was to invite relentless, unending retribution. Unless Wang Lin was to forever cower within the walls of Heavenly Demon City.

Furthermore, Wang Lin was certain that the Ancient Demon would assist him in this final act. Why else would it have revealed itself in the first place? With the cunning that ran in his veins, he had foreseen this very moment.

As Wang Lin’s hand closed around the armor, he anticipated the demon’s desperation to possess him. Activating the dormant power of the Ascendant Fruit within his very soul, Wang Lin’s eyes flared crimson, and he slipped into a state of frenzied delirium.

“You will not escape!” he roared, his voice echoing with raw power. He wrenched the armor towards him, and the demonic essence within erupted, its spectral visage contorted in a scream of hatred. It surged toward Wang Lin, plunging into his outstretched hand, a desperate attempt to seize control of his soul.

Simultaneously, the Thunder Armor, ancient and potent, manifested as streaks of black energy, enveloping Wang Lin’s body, morphing into a suit of impenetrable darkness.

Now clad in a black, demonic armor, eyes burning with crimson light, and his hair whipped by unseen winds, Wang Lin stood defiant. Within his very soul, fueled by the fading power of the Ascendant Fruit, he unleashed the full extent of his dormant potential, engaging the weakened demon in a battle for his very being.

The demon energy dissipated, reforming into the spectral visage of the Ancient Demon, a creature of blood and shadow. He fixed his gaze upon Wang Lin, admiration glinting in his ancient eyes. “A brilliant scheme,” he chuckled, his voice a low rumble of power. “To provoke your soul to resist the demon. If I were to aid you, I would only strengthen you. If I were to abandon you, the preceding battle would have been meaningless. You gambled that I would aid you… Very well. This is your destiny, and I shall see it fulfilled!” With a swift motion, the Ancient Demon seized Wang Lin, and with equal speed he grabbed the broken form of the Han warrior, and transformed into a streak of demon light streaking towards the Dragon Pool, outside the Heavenly Demon City.