Amidst the keening of sword-winds, Wang Lin unleashed the full measure of his speed, plummeting downwards like a falling star. He spared no thought for Zhou Yi, trusting that though the Demon Wolf possessed a multitude of arcane treasures, he would find it difficult to best the venerable Zhou.

His present task was to gain distance, to buy time until Zhou Yi could return.

“Yet the Demon Wolf wields so many enchanted artifacts,” Wang Lin mused, brow furrowed. “His pouch surely holds further wonders. Even in victory, Senior Zhou will need a considerable span.” With his sword-winds carving a path before him, he plunged through the oppressive forces below.

Hot on his heels, the Demon Wolf’s second soul relentlessly pursued. A crystalline effigy, the second soul shimmered, wreathed in a corona of black lightning that crackled and spun around it.

The encroaching resistance from below shattered against this tempestuous shield. Its eyes, gleaming with cruel light, locked upon Wang Lin’s fleeing form. With a swift hand seal, it struck out into the void.

Instantly, nine bolts of that dark lightning broke away from their circling orbit. Aligning themselves like a string of fallen stars, they pierced the oppressive air with a thunderous roar, hurtling towards Wang Lin like enchanted arrows.

“Lightning!” Wang Lin cried, glancing back. With a slap to his pouch, the God-Shooting Chariot materialized, instantly coalescing into a sphere of crackling energy. This sphere swelled, becoming a magnificent lightning beast!

A creature of the heavens, born of pure thunder, the beast exhaled twin streams of azure vapor through its fangs. Its immense eyes, ablaze with electricity, swept over the oncoming bolts, somehow increasing their velocity rather than diminishing it.

The lightning beast roared, and the nine bolts, rather than striking Wang Lin, were instantly devoured in a brilliant flash.

The Demon Wolf’s second soul, its eyes blazing, quivered. The dark lightning around it rained down like a storm, cascading towards Wang Lin and the ravenous beast.

Simultaneously, the second soul struck its brow, and from that point flew a hammer crackling with raw power. It seized the weapon and swung it down.

*KRA-KOOOM!*

Thunder split the air as a serpentine bolt of lightning lunged from the hammer, snarling like a maddened dragon and seeking to devour Wang Lin whole.

Wang Lin, his eyes flashing, reached into his pouch. The Immortal Brush appeared in his hand. Drawing a deep breath, he carved symbols in the air before him. Instantly, five runic glyphs blazed into existence, infused with a fraction of his own formidable soul.

The golden runes radiated blinding light, forming a miniature sun. The lightning dragon struck, and the two forces collided in mid-air.

*BOOOOM!* The echoing blast shook the very foundations of the abyss. Shattered stone rained down, flung upwards by the force.

For a fleeting moment, even the stifling pressure from below lessened.

The runic energies dispersed into five ethereal fragments, returning to Wang Lin. Staggering, his face pale, he resumed his desperate descent without a word.

The lightning dragon, unchanged, hung motionless in the air for a moment, then, overwhelmed by the crushing resistance, fractured, and crumbled.

As for the lightning beast, it devoured the raining bolts of divine thunder with obvious delight. With a single swallow, it consumed even the fragmented dragon. Casting a defiant glance at the Demon Wolf’s second soul, the beast dropped lower, pursuing Wang Lin.

“Accursed beast!” the Demon Wolf’s second soul hissed, its voice a grating rasp, its eyes filled with venomous intent.

With a sweep of the lightning hammer, crimson light gathered at its head. Taking a step forward, it accelerated the chase. The crimson glow intensified, until it pulsed with the color of spilled blood.

Wang Lin sensed the oppressive power bearing down upon him. Even his hair crackled with faint electricity. Beside him, the lightning beast, its brow furrowed, glanced back with worried eyes, emitting low, guttural growls.

“What unholy form does this second soul possess?” Wang Lin muttered, his face grim. The pressure below grew with each passing moment, but the Ling Tianhou’s sword-winds were strong, and he sped through the abyss with a swift and unburdened grace.

The Demon Wolf’s second soul continued its relentless pursuit.

A deadly game of cat and mouse played out as they descended deeper, their speed ever-increasing. Yet the oppressive force began to slow their progress dramatically.

“Annihilation Lightning!” the Demon Wolf’s second soul intoned. With a sweep of the hammer, the crimson energy erupted, unleashing a torrent of scarlet lightning that crashed not towards Wang Lin or the beast, but deep into the abyss walls.

Wang Lin’s pupils contracted. A chilling sense of impending doom washed over him. Without hesitation, he snatched up the lightning beast, returning it to his pouch. He activated his Life Imprints, layering them one upon another. As a final measure, he pulled a handful of crimson talismans from his pouch and crushed them in his fist.

These were gifts from Yao Xixue, and as they shattered, a thick crimson light enveloped Wang Lin, forming countless protective layers.

Scarcely had he completed this act when the abyss walls began to glow with a crimson radiance. Countless points of light appeared, growing rapidly in size and number. In an instant, they erupted into bolts of searing scarlet lightning, weaving a deadly web.

The crimson shields around Wang Lin shattered under the relentless assault, exploding with dull pops. A few bolts pierced the defenses, only to be deflected by the layered Life Imprints beneath.

Wang Lin’s face darkened. Drawing upon Ling Tianhou’s sword-winds, he thrust them toward the Demon Wolf’s second soul.

“If you wish to fight, then fight we shall!” Wang Lin shouted, abandoning all hope of escape. Though the passages below were not far off, the force of this place was too great. Combined with the relentless second soul, Wang Lin’s anger had finally reached a boiling point.
The Triad Sword Array, a tempest of steel, roared forth. Upon its blades, the malign spirits of the Rat, the Hog, and the Wretched Ram manifested, their spectral forms writhing. Woven into the very essence of these three swords was the honed edge of the Lingtian Marquis’s own qi. This potent force cleaved through the crackling web of lightning, radiating a palpable aura of death as it hurtled toward the Second Soul.

Greed Wolf’s Second Soul shimmered, a beacon of crystal light. His eyes narrowed with a grim awareness of the peril as he tapped a Lightning Conductor, conjuring forth electric dragons that coiled around him, crackling with raw power. The Triad Sword Array crashed upon him, the malevolent spirits lunging to engage the draconic constructs in a furious dance of destruction.

The swords circled, seeking an opening, but each thrust was met and thwarted by the tenacious electric dragons. Yet, they could not fully pierce the Second Soul’s defenses.

Had it not been for the Lingtian Marquis’s lingering essence, the Second Soul would not have been so troubled. It was the presence of that spectral edge that filled him with a grudging respect, preventing him from allowing the swords to pierce his form. Instead, he relied on the electric dragons to whittle down their power.

Above the Second Soul, upon his brow, a sigil began to manifest as he manipulated the Lightning Conductor. Deeply etched, it flickered with an inner light, the mark of his control.

Enshrouded in a bloody crimson, Wang Lin felt the immense weight of the barrier pressing down. He no longer had the Lingtian Marquis’s sword qi to cleave a path. Leaping upwards, he embraced the descending force. His descent became a meteor’s plunge, a hundredfold faster than before, weaving through the deadly net towards the Second Soul.

The crimson aura that protected him diminished, flickering like a dying flame. He was forced to shatter the crimson jade amulets one after another, each sacrifice granting him a moment’s respite, a surge of protection and cushioning.

Without this sanguine shield, even his million-fold Life Mark, normally an inviolable defense, would be overwhelmed by the countless arcs of lightning. He would surely face a trial of life and death.

“That gray-robed Celestial Arcanist claimed the Life Mark’s defenses were nigh unbreakable! Against lesser enchantments, that may be true, but against the great powers of those beyond my ken, it offers only fleeting protection!” he raged inwardly. “Either the Slaughter Immortal Art is incomplete, or the gray-robed Arcanist deceived me!”

His eyes fixed on the sigil etched upon the Second Soul’s brow.

“That is Greed Wolf’s control point! Shatter it!” Wang Lin’s eyes blazed. The web of lightning was growing tighter, its power escalating with his every movement.

At that instant, a cold light flickered in the Second Soul’s eyes. The web of lightning encircling Wang Lin contracted with terrifying speed.

Countless bolts of raw energy converged upon him, a storm of annihilation.

Abandoning all pretense of defense, Wang Lin’s eyes burned with an infernal light. “So be it! Today, either you fall, or I!”

The Triad Sword Array accelerated, as if sensing his lethal intent, the Marquis’s essence roaring forth with renewed vigor.

“Stasis!” Wang Lin bellowed, unleashing every mote of his power into the ancient art of temporal binding.

The Second Soul’s arm, raised in command, faltered.

“Kill!” Wang Lin roared, his eyes exploding with raw power.

In that instant, the Triad Sword Array reached its zenith. The swords pierced the ranks of the electric dragons and plunged into the Second Soul, their blades piercing through his ethereal form.

The Marquis’s essence poured into the Second Soul, a torrent of destruction tearing at his very being.

The Second Soul trembled, the sigil on his brow flashing wildly as it strove to contain the devastation. It spread across his form, a desperate attempt to resist.

The imprisoning web of lightning shattered, its incandescent strands dissolving into the abyss. Wang Lin lunged forward, drawing forth his Demonic Armor from his pouch. As the armor materialized around him, suffused with a miasma of demonic energy, he thrust forth a finger – the Demon Transformation. The demonic qi coalesced and hurtled forward.

Simultaneously, he unleashed a second finger – the Yellow Springs Touch. The essence of the Dao was woven within, following hard on the heels of the Demonic Transformation.

Bearing both powers, Wang Lin strode towards the Second Soul. His speed, amplified by the force of his escape, brought him within striking distance in an instant. Both enchantments struck home, impacting the Second Soul with shattering force.

“Explode!” Wang Lin roared, his eyes now pools of crimson light.

The sigil on the Second Soul’s brow writhed, attempting to restore balance. But Wang Lin’s twin strikes were the final blow, a crushing force that shattered the sigil.

As the sigil disintegrated, cracks erupted across the Second Soul’s crystalline form.

But in that fraction of a moment, Wang Lin sensed a shift, a new and primal presence. He recalled the swords of the Triad Array and retreated.

An ancient aura, a tidal wave of primordial energy, erupted from the fissures in the Second Soul’s form. It was the scent of a forgotten age, a pressure that threatened to crush his very spirit. It was the presence of a beast.

The three spectral souls bound to the Triad Sword Array trembled in terror.

Far above, locked in battle with Zhou Yi, Greed Wolf’s face twisted in anguish. He staggered, coughing forth a mouthful of blood, his eyes fixed on the abyss below.

“This…” he stammered.

With a thunderous roar, the Second Soul shattered. But in that final instant, a beam of emerald light erupted from his forehead, carrying with it the overwhelming presence of the primordial.

As the light solidified, it took the form of an Azure Dragon!

Lightning crackled along the dragon’s scaled hide. It was the legendary Primordial Lightning Dragon, an entity of immense power. In his youth, when Greed Wolf was but a Foundation Establishment cultivator, he had fallen into a ravine. There, he had discovered the slumbering spirit of the Lightning Dragon, still in its infancy. He had concealed it, hoping it would safeguard him in times of peril.

Later, in a humble market, he had acquired what he believed to be a discarded artifact. Through careful study, he discovered it was not discarded, but a powerful and ancient Demonic Device. Using this, Greed Wolf had formed a seal, a brand upon the dragon, preventing it from fully awakening and forcing it into his service.

Only when he attained the Dao Seeking stage did he dare to use the creature. He had refined it and merged it into his Second Soul. He dared not provoke the creature. He worried that it would awaken fully and rise against him.

Now, its draconic eyes opened, and a true dragon’s roar erupted from its maw!

In that instant, the sky turned black, and the winds howled. Even the crushing pressure of the abyss recoiled in its presence!

A bitter smile crossed Wang Lin’s face. He seized the opportunity to retreat, fleeing the Azure Dragon as quickly as his legs could carry him!
“Avarice incarnate!” the disembodied voice boomed, laced with envy and greed. “A veritable trove of treasures he is…even his nascent soul is a dragon! And the very cauldron forged by the ancient god Tu Si, he possesses it as well! His power is immense, truly a being blessed by the heavens!”

Wang Lin offered a wry smile, unaware that this “blessed” soul, when merely a boy of eight, had stumbled upon a root of golden essence, aged five centuries, while playing in the fields. The child, innocent of its potency, had taken it home and devoured it roasted, miraculously surviving its overwhelming energy. Far from succumbing to its power, it had instead laid the very foundation of his future path to immortality.

As the Azure Dragon roared, icy glimmers ignited within its draconic eyes. Its gaze swept across the chasm, settling upon Wang Lin. Though newly awakened, the ancient grudges remained sharp. With a sinuous surge, the dragon transformed into a streak of azure light, hurtling directly towards Wang Lin, its vengeful intent palpable.

Plunging into the abyss’s depths, Wang Lin’s sight was immediately consumed by a colossal chasm, an endless maw of darkness stretching before him. An insidious pull emanated from within, coalescing into a swirling miasma that veiled its secrets.

The Azure Dragon’s furious bellow, a sound laced with putrid breath, echoed behind him. Wang Lin’s face tightened with grim resolve. He stared into the abyss, gritted his teeth, and with a desperate leap, plunged headlong into the chasm’s maw.

The Azure Dragon, in its newly awakened state, was driven purely by instinct. Seeing Wang Lin vanish into the depths, it did not hesitate. With a deafening shriek, it threw itself into the abyss, giving furious chase.

Within the chasm, the gravitational forces were unlike anything on the surface world. Here, the pull was immense. Wang Lin, having braved this abyss before, knew the peril that awaited. As he plummeted, he channeled his full celestial power, clinging desperately to the edges of the pit.