From the shattered husk of a chrysalis, a being emerged, tearing a rent in the silken prison. Electric luminescence, not of a released spirit, but born of the very flesh itself, crackled across his form.

He was Wang Lin!

He drew a deep breath, a gaze of curious wonderment descending upon his newly formed body.

Sixty years had passed, a lifetime woven into the absorption of thunderous energies and vital essences. This new vessel, a testament to his will, thrummed with the power of lightning, mirroring the arcane energies within his spirit, a symbiotic connection forged in the crucible of rebirth.

With a thought, Wang Lin’s spirit detached from its corporeal form, circling the area in a spectral dance before returning to its earthen sheath.

A thunderous roar erupted from Wang Lin’s throat, not merely a sound, but a raw surge of elemental power!

The heavens themselves echoed with the reverberations, a defiant cry hurled against the very tenets of creation, a challenge to the celestial Dao.

“This rebirth assures it. My Dao shall not perish!” With a flick of his wrist, a simple storage bag materialized from his spiritual depths. He tapped it, and a set of pristine white robes materialized, enveloping him in their silken embrace.

He descended to the ground, taking a cross-legged seat, his gaze drawn to a distant mountain range, coiled like a slumbering dragon.

His eyes gleaming with renewed purpose, Wang Lin retrieved the Soul-Devouring Banner from his bag. A ripple of cloth unleashed a torrent of souls, a spectral legion yearning for release. Were the remnants of lightning not yet dissipated from this star, these tormented spirits would have surely crumbled under its might.

From this sea of ethereal beings, three grand souls coalesced, swirling around him as protective sentinels.

With these precautions taken, and a careful sweep of his divine sense confirming his safety, he inhaled deeply and cautiously pressed his right hand to his brow. A ripple of energy spread across his forehead, and from within this arcane disturbance, a luminous pearl emerged, shimmering with celestial light.

Wang Lin, his gaze sharp as a honed blade, wove intricate hand seals and, with a flick of his fingers, launched the Celestial Dao Pearl towards the mountain range formed from the bones of the colossal Wang Yue.

Compared to the mountainous remains, the pearl was a mere speck.

Wang Lin remained vigilant. The Celestial Dao Pearl was his most prized treasure, one that had its genesis in this very domain of Luo Tian. His divine sense was spread wide, ready to react at the slightest disturbance.

It was for this very reason he had waited until the forging of his new body to unleash the pearl. Without it, his power remained incomplete, and such a reckless act would have been a fool’s gamble.

The Celestial Dao Pearl emanated waves of crystalline light, bathing the bones of Wang Yue in its ethereal glow. Slowly, the embedded veins of gold essence began to liquefy, transforming into threads of pure energy, drawn into the embrace of the pearl.

The process was painfully slow. Wang Lin knew not the reason, but compared to the absorption of water-based essences in ages past, the closer he drew to completion, the more arduous the consumption became.

Wang Lin’s divine sense continued its tireless vigilance, probing the surroundings. With a fleeting thought, his fourth soul, manifesting as a primary guardian, darted off the planet, cloaking itself in the void beyond.

Serving as an extension of his consciousness, the fourth soul broadened the reach of Wang Lin’s perception, allowing him to sense even the faintest disturbances.

The slow and deliberate absorption of the Wang Yue’s essence continued for days. Finally, with a burst of spiritual energy, Wang Lin retrieved several treasures from his storage bag.

These relics were remnants of Greed Wolf, spoils gathered during Wang Lin’s adventures sixty years ago.

The first was a colossal stone, scarred and weathered, yet imbued with a potent aura of immortality. More importantly, the divine imprint of Greed Wolf had long since faded.

This had been one of Wang Lin’s primary motivations for seizing it.

The dissipation of the divine imprint did not signify Greed Wolf’s demise, but rather the erasure wrought by the passage of centuries and the influence of the Wang Yue.

He placed his hand upon the stone, his mind flooded with the memory of Greed Wolf invoking its power, extracting the very soul of the mountain. His gaze unwavering, he gently caressed the surface of the relic.

For Wang Lin harbored a profound understanding of the art of extracting souls from stellar creatures, peaks, and rivers, a skill typically mastered only by the second step cultivators. He had personally experienced its intricacies during his time under the control of San Mo.

As his hand caressed the stone, he felt a strange surge of energy, a flicker of enlightenment. Slowly, he lifted his hand, an ancient and immortal aura emanating from the rock. Between his hand and the stone, a misty, ephemeral orb began to coalesce.

With deliberate care, Wang Lin raised his hand, his gaze riveted to the misty sphere resting upon his palm, a hint of awe in his expression.

The orb pulsed with immense power, its immortal essence swirling within, creating the illusion of a celestial being wielding unfathomable magic.

“This soul of the immortal mountain, though diminished compared to the power Greed Wolf once wielded, is still formidable! Yet its inner essence is unstable. Careless handling would not only fail to harm an opponent, but could inflict grievous wounds upon the wielder.”

Wang Lin inhaled deeply, his eyes ablaze with understanding.

He knew the reason for this instability lay in the incomplete nature of the stone, which had compromised the ethereal mountain soul contained within.

Furthermore, the extraction had been effortless, as if Wang Lin’s mere will could summon the essence forth. This revelation startled him. His eyes flashed with renewed determination as he slowly lowered his hand, gently placing it back upon the stone, causing the misty orb to dissipate, returning to its dormant state.

His hand then pressed against the earth, and with a thought, it seemed as if the entire cosmos quaked, but it was merely a trick of his divine sense, for the ground itself remained undisturbed.

The ancient aura, once unleashed, dissipated immediately, like a bucket of well water brought to the surface only to have its bottom break, spilling the contents back into the depths.

The one holding the rope would merely feel a tug, a momentary resistance, and perhaps a slight tremor.
Wang Lin, in that very moment, felt his soul relentlessly assailed. As the ancient aura dissipated, a surge of power erupted, causing his bones to groan and pop with alarming ferocity. His face paled, and only after a long, agonizing stretch did his color return.

Gazing at the mountain stone before him, Wang Lin inhaled deeply. The stone’s true worth lay in its ability to allow one to taste, to feel, and to wield the Soul-Extraction art of the Second Step, even before attaining such heights!

“This…this holds immense value for me. I only wonder how that gluttonous wolf, Tan Lang, discovered it and managed to refine it so!” Wang Lin’s eyes narrowed in thought. Though he and Tan Lang were bitter foes, a grudging respect blossomed within him, born from the power contained within this stone.

“An Ancient Thunder Dragon, Celestial Realm Stone, an Ancient God’s Cauldron, a Landscape Tapestry, and that unsettling Crown… and surely, within Tan Lang’s storage pouch, there linger yet more treasures. Truly, this man is a favorite of the very Heavens!” Wang Lin sighed, the sound heavy with wonder and perhaps a touch of envy. Any single one of these artifacts would ignite a war of avarice, yet in Tan Lang’s possession, they remained untouched, uncoveted.

This fact alone baffled him.

For long moments, he stood there, lost in contemplation.

At length, his gaze returned to the Celestial Realm Stone, a flicker of excitement lighting his eyes. “This can be mended, I believe. Though such restoration will demand a great expenditure of power.” With a wave of his hand, he secreted the stone within his pouch, then drew forth another prize.

Wang Lin studied it carefully.

It was the Landscape Tapestry!

He had never heard of a “Celestial Realm Landscape Tapestry,” but the mere mention of “Landscape Tapestry” resonated with power and legend.

Among the ancient cultivators, whispers of lore existed…

The Celestial Realm’s Ten Supreme Treasures numbered this very Landscape Tapestry as fifth amongst them!

Rumor held its power to be immeasurable. But its true strength was not the landscape it portrayed, but the ink that sketched its features!

The ink, seemingly black, held a secret crimson hue, born of blood. This blood held the tapestry’s true power.

Legend claimed the blood was that of the Heavenly Dao itself, but the Dao had no form, no corporeal vessel. How, then, could it bleed? This enigma remained unsolved.

Thus, the tapestry was also known as the “Dao’s Image!”

The one Tan Lang possessed was, of course, but a shadow, an imprint upon a grand tapestry screen.

What manner of art could steal the Dao’s Image and bind it to such a mundane object? Tan Lang had racked his brain, scoured ancient texts, yet found no answers.

Wang Lin’s gaze fell upon the screen. It was ancient, humble in appearance, like a common piece of furniture found in the homes of prosperous merchants, not the dwellings of the truly powerful.

The landscape it depicted was somewhat blurred, yet the longer one gazed upon it, the clearer its features became.

But now, a stark fissure marred the canvas, cleaving the landscape asunder, an unwelcome disharmony upon its surface.

The divine sense once etched upon the screen had been shattered by the Ancient God’s finger. Wang Lin pressed his hand to its surface, leaving his own mark. After a moment of silence, he inhaled, and the screen transformed into a beam of white light that plunged into his nascent soul.

With the power of his soul’s lightning, he began the arduous ritual of its refinement.

The final treasure was the Crown. Wang Lin had witnessed its resilience first hand. In the face of Wangyue’s illusion of the Ancient God’s finger, with its awesome force, the Crown had remained flawless.

He held it in his right hand, scanning it with his divine sense. He found nothing of note.

It appeared to be nothing more than the headgear of an earthly king, ordinary and unexceptional.

But the five beads that adorned it caught his eye. He recognized them at once: they possessed the attributes of the Five Elements!

These Elements held the same essence as the five spiritual bodies of Red Butterfly on Vermillion Bird Star, but possessed a greater sentience. Frowning at the Crown, Wang Lin paused, then emulating Tan Lang’s previous actions, placed it upon his head.

At that instant, an odd energy surged through his crown chakra, coursing through his body before retreating, leaving him unchanged.

Wang Lin frowned, removing the Crown to examine it more closely. He pondered the possibilities.

“That energy was not potent, but as it moved within me, it seemed to be searching for something, failing to find it and returning whence it came… What was it seeking?”

He murmured to himself, “Five Element beads… searching…” Then, his body stiffened. “A False Five-Element Spiritual Body… Red Butterfly!”

His eyes flashed with comprehension. He spoke in a hushed tone.

(Author’s note: Thank you for your continued support. My deepest gratitude to those who offer their Moon Tickets. I feel I am failing you all. The act of writing and forming ideas isn’t as fast as I wish, and I require time to brew new ideas to improve the quality of my work. Therefore, three chapters are tough for me to handle so please accept my sincere apology. Please stay tuned for a triple chapter release this Sunday!)