Months flowed like phantoms, and the realm of the Fire Demons, once a cauldron of strife, fell silent. The endless skirmishes and brutal inversions ceased as the Sky Demons sheathed their blades and retreated. Thus, a war that had raged for near a century drew to a close, its embers extinguished by the devouring hunger of the Ancient Demons.

The Ancient Demon, Bello, achieved his first Devourment, merging his essence with the tattered remnants of the Fire Demon’s soul. His power swelled to a profound degree. He no longer required the blood of Wang Lin to manifest his form. At last, he could walk the world unbound.

Within the Dragon’s Maw, in the heart of the Sky Demon City, Wang Lin sat in silent meditation, his eyes sealed, his face an unreadable mask.

On that fateful day when he touched the skeletal hand, he had been plunged into a strange and bewildering realm. Bello, upon consuming the remnants, used his arcane arts to return Wang Lin’s body to this sacred place.

Time drifted by like mist upon a haunted moor. Then, as the slender moon waxed full once more, Wang Lin’s eyes snapped open.

The instant his lids parted, a sharp, piercing light blazed forth. A profound change had swept over him, a transformation unlike anything he had known before his journey to the Fire Demon realm. He now resembled a scholar among mortals. He appeared ordinary, devoid of the shimmering energy of the immortal cultivator.

Yet, a subtle fragrance clung to him, an aura of ethereal purity that whispered of worlds beyond the mortal coil.

Wang Lin exhaled a long, slow breath of stale air.

“We, the Ancient Demon lineage, have possessed a certain gift since the dawn of time. With it, we can perceive the very essence of the heavens and earth. We can conjure spells of our own design. We can also bestow this gift upon others, though mortals, unlike us, can only receive this boon but once in their lifetime.”

Wang Lin remained silent, his eyes once more shut tight. The visions of that strange realm flooded back, the melding of his being with the grey-robed figure. The memory was akin to a dream, leaving a tremor of unease in his heart.

“Besides yourself, I have only granted this inheritance to two other cultivators. Both gleaned glimpses of the realms beyond their present reach, gaining insight into the nature of their own arts. The second was particularly gifted, possessing the most remarkable talent I have ever witnessed. Within my inheritance, he even crafted a new and unique spell of his own!”

“His talents rival those of my own Ancient Demon kin.”

Wang Lin, eyes still closed, asked calmly, “Who was he?”

“His name was Sun Yun. Perhaps you have heard of him…” The Ancient Demon’s voice held a note of distant longing.

“Sun Yun…” Wang Lin opened his eyes, fell into silence for a moment, then said, “Ancient Demon, our bargain lacks but one final element!”

A tempest of demonic winds erupted within the Dragon’s Maw, coalescing into a swirling emerald vortex before Wang Lin. The vortex subsided, revealing a youth of unsettling beauty.

The most striking aspect of this being was his eyes. Emerald flames flickered within, revealing an arcane aura that was both mesmerizing and unnerving. He glanced at Wang Lin, a faint smile playing upon his lips. “I have not forgotten my promise. During these months of your transformation, I have employed my magic to seek out the location of your friend’s imprisoned essence.”

The youth gestured casually, and a cascade of glittering crystals spilled forth, forming a shimmering tableau.

The vision revealed a chasm, a gaping maw rent in the earth. Black miasma billowed forth, its sheer power causing the image to tremble.

“This place is known amongst your cultivators as the Tide Abyss. Your friend’s essence resides within! But the Abyss possesses six entrances. Seek the Water Demon realm. The entrance there lies closest to your friend’s prison!”

Wang Lin stared at the vision, weighing his words carefully. “What is the Tide Abyss?”

The youth hesitated for a moment, then answered, “In the vastness of the cosmos, there are places where space itself collapses endlessly. These ruined locations, with the passage of eons, become conduits to unknowable realms, filled with unimaginable forces.”

“The Tide Abyss is such a place.”

Ancient Demon Bello said nothing more, and Wang Lin did not press the issue. He knew the other was withholding information, but if it was not freely given, questions would be futile.

“If there are six entrances, are there also six exits?” Wang Lin asked, his expression unchanged.

The youth smiled, an unsettling expression that did not reach his eyes. “There is only one exit, and it lies within the Fire Demon realm!” With a flick of his wrist, the crystalline image shattered. The fragments gathered together to form a crystal the size of a finger, which he sent flying toward Wang Lin.

“Take this. Merge your mind with it, and you can borrow my sight to witness all that unfolds within the Tide Abyss! Consider it a token of my appreciation for fulfilling our bargain!”

Wang Lin caught the crystal. He bowed his head in respect. “Thank you, Ancient Demon.”

The youth chuckled and shook his head. “It is I who should thank you. Now, depart. I must begin my seclusion.”

Wang Lin rose to his feet and vanished in the blink of an eye, leaving the Dragon’s Maw behind.

The youth stared at the spot where Wang Lin had stood, emerald flames dancing in his eyes.

“In a mere century, I will have fully devoured the remaining seven Demons. Then, Ancient Demon Bello will be reborn… Ancient Demon Tuga, you stole the spoils of that ancient war, but in a century, I will see how much you have recovered!”

“And this mortal…” His gaze darkened. “He bears the aura of an Ancient God within his soul. It is faint, yet remarkably pure. It is a potent essence for both my kind and the Ancient Demons!”

“But the purer the essence, the more hesitant I am to consume it…” The youth shivered at the thought.

“Ancient God… the lineage that inherited the greatest power during the Great Sundering… The Ancient God that placed this essence within him must be at least an eight-star, possibly even a nine-star being. Even with Tuga at my side, we would be hard-pressed to win. To slay me would be effortless for them.”

“And more importantly, the essence possesses a deeply concealed will, one that sends tremors through my very being. Only a Royal Ancient God feels like that…!”
A mere wisp of that essence allowed me to shape flesh from his blood without shattering his mind. I did not speak truly to him, for even with the aura of an ancient god, I could not have taken form without the will of a royal line!

If the ancient demon, Tagar, and I endure, surely the Ancient One yet lives. To devour the fragment of his power residing within this mortal would sow the seeds of ruin for myself!”

“Yet, I can resist such temptation. The question is, can the demon Tagar do the same…?”

The Abyssal Tide, a place of deep mystery within the Spiritwild, lies at the heart of the outer tides. For countless ages, treasures, crystals, spirit beasts, drawn into the Spiritwild, are inexorably pulled into this very place.

Now, deep within the Abyssal Tide, amidst a swathe of swirling blackness, a clearing of some hundred paces exists. Here, several figures sit in meditation.

One amongst them is a man of middle years, handsome in form, yet marked by a subtle venom that hints at the heart of a tyrant.

He sits at the center, his face like a winter sky, a miasma of death coiling about him. In his right hand, he holds a skull of strange shape, caressing it with a dark devotion.

His eyes flicker, casting forth a chilling gaze that sends tremors through the soul of any who meet it.

Beside him sit four figures, each clad in blue robes, greatswords strapped to their backs, their expressions grim.

Suddenly, the blackness in the distance roils, and a figure hurtles forward, halting before the group. He too wears blue robes, a greatsword behind him, but his face is etched with sorrow. “Elder Greedfang,” he says, “the beast swarm still holds…and they are more numerous than before.”

The middle-aged man is none other than Greedfang!

He snorts, “I underestimated this place. These beasts are ripped from the stars themselves and imbued with strange energies here. It is only natural that some among them grow powerful.”

“Elder Greedfang,” spoke a disciple of the Great Luo Sword Sect, who had remained silent until now. “The numbers are vast, and each beast is vicious beyond measure. Such creatures should be known, yet I have searched my memory and cannot recall what they are!”

His position amongst the others suggested that he held a great influence, with the other members of the Great Luo Sword Sect gathered around him.

Greedfang cast a look at the man. He knew that this one held great respect among the disciples, for he was their eldest brother, Dragonfist!

He was the beloved student of Swordmaster Skycleaver, possessing a deeply cunning mind. His cultivation was hidden so well that even Greedfang had to look close to see that it was in the Early Skyreach Realm despite appearing to only be in the Late Nascent Soul stage. Of the twelve Sword Prodigies, Dragonfist was not the strongest. Even Oxheart, who concealed his Late Skyreach strength, still held Dragonfist in deep regard.

Hearing Dragonfist’s words, Greedfang pondered for a moment. “The beast’s form is strange, I must admit I have never seen such a creature. The stars are endless, and under the whims of fate, no mortal can know all living things.

These beasts were likely drawn here during the once-in-5000-year tide, meaning they have been here for an immeasurably long time, so it is no surprise we do not know them!”

Dragonfist fell silent, and the group followed suit.

A chorus of piercing screeches drifted in from the distance. At the edge of the darkness, creatures the size of a man, covered in black fur and armed with sharp mouthparts, fluttered with many wings, completely encircling the exits.

Their red eyes glowed with a cold malice, and their long, piercing mouthparts sent shivers down the spine of any who beheld them.

Were Wanderer present, he would instantly recognize them as Mosquito Beasts! Only these were not adorned in the purplish-gold.