A wave of dismay washed over the distant cultivators as they witnessed the unfolding horror. The white-haired fiend, barely emerged, had already extinguished the lives of a dozen souls, devouring their flesh, blood, and very essence in one fell swoop.

A collective gasp echoed through the ranks, the sheer brutality of the scene leaving all shaken. The monster, with deliberate stride, moved towards the shimmering gateway to the Immortal Realm. Fear held the assembled mages back, none daring to impede its path. Yet, from amongst those nearest the gate, one stepped forth. A man of middle years, clad in golden robes, his eyes blazed with power. His cultivation surpassed even the Nascent Soul stage, reaching the veiled realm of the Illusory Divinity. With a swift motion, he drew forth a pouch, and thirteen gleaming swords materialized, suspended in the air before him.

With a pointed finger, he unleashed the blades, sending them hurtling towards the white-haired horror. “Fellow cultivators, stand with me! We must not allow this abomination to seal the gate. If he succeeds, none of us shall escape!”

Spurred by his words, several others, teeth gritted in grim determination, followed him, brandishing arcane implements of war.

A chilling cackle escaped the monster’s throat. With a ripple, its form dissolved, melding seamlessly with the very fabric of reality. In a blink, it reappeared beside the gateway, near the descending celestial gate. Its gnarled hand formed a mystic seal, slamming against the lightning. A deafening roar reverberated across the heavens.

“The Gate of Thunder… Closed!” the fiend rasped, its voice a chilling wind that cut through the mages present.

The colossal beam of crimson energy began to shrink, its power diminishing with terrifying speed.

The cultivators, finally shaking off their paralysis, responded. A barrage of spells and artifacts erupted forth, aimed at the encroaching doom. Among them were less than ten Illusory Divinity cultivators, the vanguard of a desperate charge, their combined power surging towards the fiend. “The Thunder Gate will be sealed. You… you shall all be food!” The monster’s eyes gleamed with manic hunger. Ignoring the incoming attacks, it moved with impossible swiftness, appearing behind a Nascent Soul elder.

The elder’s face twisted in mortal terror as his body betrayed his fear. But before he could even turn, the white-haired monster’s claw pierced his chest, grasping the essence of his soul, and crushing it.

He heard the shattering of his bones, the dissolution of his spirit. Darkness consumed him as his life ended. The monster inhaled, consuming the elder’s physical and spiritual remains.

“Too weak!” the fiend spat, vanishing once more.

This time, it materialized before the golden-robed man who had led the charge.

The man’s face was ashen. He recoiled with haste, but it was too late. Amidst another unsettling cackle, the fiend became a blur of blood, crashing into the man’s body. A series of sickening pops echoed as crimson sprayed outwards, his body collapsing in on itself.

From within the wreckage of flesh, the white-haired monster emerged, swallowing the man’s soul whole.

A spark ignited in its eyes. “Yes… that is the taste of a true cultivator!” The fiend licked its lips, then vanished once more.

Barely a hundred cultivators remained, but more were steadily arriving, all seeking to flee this doomed realm. Their arrival only fueled the fiend’s dark desires. It was a predator in its element, moving with impossible speed and striking with lethal precision, extinguishing lives in the blink of an eye.

The terror was reaching a breaking point, as the gateway to the Immortal Realm dwindled before their eyes. With a desperate roar, the remaining cultivators broke their formation, scattering as they sprinted towards the rapidly closing portal.

The white-haired monster grinned. After consuming several more unfortunate souls, it wove a series of hand seals and chanted an ancient incantation. “Celestial Metamorphosis!” In a flash, the white-haired monster split, becoming two. Those two became four, and so on, until thirty-two identical copies of the fiend filled the battlefield.

These avatars surged forward, becoming one with the elements, appearing within the critical thousand-foot radius of the shrinking gateway. A symphony of screams erupted.

Every cultivator who dared to enter the thousand-foot zone found their bodies imploding, their souls devoured in the avatars’ insatiable hunger.

Though their resistance was futile, cultivators continued to rush into the forbidden zone, drawn towards the final gate to safety.

“How interesting… let’s see, just how many of you young cultivators will escape!” The white-haired fiend cackled, reappearing behind an Illusory Divinity master, claw outstretched.

The cultivator’s eyes flashed with cold defiance. Without hesitation, he detonated his spirit core and body in a blinding explosion, leaving the monster within range of its fury.

The explosion shook the battlefield. The monster recoiled slightly, but quickly consumed what little power was left.

“A cultivator of character!”

The scene was a slaughter, the Immortal gate closing quickly. More cultivators arrived and charged toward the gate to escape, ignoring the chaos surrounding them.

But within a thousand feet stood the monsters. Illusory Divinity masters could not withstand the attack and found their bodies crushed, torn, and absorbed.

An eerie, drawn-out cackle echoed from the pale-haired fiend. With each life extinguished, with each soul devoured, his once withered frame began to swell, as if something monstrous stirred within. He became a grotesque parody of life, more horrifying than any nightmare.

The very air around him thrummed with power. Every swallowed cultivator fueled his strength, deepening the crimson glow in his eyes.

A pall of blood and despair hung heavy in the air. Most onlookers saw only annihilation as the celestial gateway, a streak of crimson lightning, flickered on the verge of final dissolution. Soon, the path to the Thunder Realm would be sealed forever.

Just then, a dozen streaks of light, each a blade singing through the heavens, pierced the distant sky. Imbued with potent energies, they howled as they descended, aimed directly at the monster. From their midst emerged Zhan Konglie, his eyes burning with cold fury. Behind him, a legion of Void Refinement cultivators followed, a desperate tide surging towards the white-haired horror.

Simultaneously, from another quarter, a line of radiant arcs appeared, led by Tang Yanfeng, his face etched with grim determination. Behind him marched members of his clan and allied houses, fewer in number, but each a Void Refinement warrior.

Both forces converged with incredible speed, a furious assault aimed at the pale fiend. Even before they arrived, a tempest of mystic arts and enchanted artifacts erupted, a torrent of power unleashed upon their foe.

Tang Yanfeng and Zhan Konglie led their allies in an all-out assault, showing no mercy.

The pale-haired monster, his eyes ablaze, stepped forward with a cruel smirk. Ignoring the incoming barrage of spells and enchanted items, he shifted through the chaos and appeared before Tang Yanfeng’s squadron. With a lightning grasp, he seized a cultivator by the throat.

Seeing his end, the warrior acted swiftly, detonating his own life force in a burst of raw energy. Waves of power rolled outwards, scattering the white-haired monster, who snarled and prepared to draw in the expelled life-essence. But then, a blade of pure lightning erupted from afar, charged with the crackling power of thunder. It was Shen Gonghu!

“Encircle him!” Tang Yanfeng bellowed, retreating. His clansmen, hearing the command, poured every ounce of their strength into binding the ghoul.

Zhan Konglie surged forth as well, wielding a bronze cauldron imbued with a potent killing intent. He brought it crashing down upon the pale-haired fiend.

Tang Yanfeng, for the moment abandoning his personal vendetta with Shen Gonghu, unleashed a torrent of white mist, blanketing the battlefield. With a flash in his eyes, he plunged into the swirling vapors.

Shen Gonghu and Zhan Konglie did not hesitate, rushing into the mist after him. The three Yang Soul masters attacked the pale-haired monster together.

A score of Void Refinement cultivators, too, did not falter, unleashing their own magical abilities in the enclosed space.

Though the Yang Soul masters were few, two more joined their ranks, plunging into the swirling fog and unleashing their most potent techniques.

Seeing their leaders charge forth, the remaining cultivators found their courage renewed. But then, as they rallied to join the fight, the pale-haired fiend unleashed thirty-two doppelgangers, each a whirlwind of death.

Some, seized by desperation, sought to escape through the weakening gateway. Many harbored this hope, but as they neared the portal, they were cut down mercilessly by the fiend’s duplicates.

Despite the carnage, more cultivators surged towards the celestial gate, especially as the arrival of reinforcements swelled the ranks on the battlefield.

Wang Lin, from the moment the pale-haired fiend appeared, had retreated with Li Yuan in tow. From a safe distance, they watched the unfolding slaughter, the dying cries of the fallen echoing in their ears. Wang Lin’s expression was grim.

He had seen the arrival of Shen Gonghu and the others, and after a moment of hesitation, he glanced at Li Yuan and held back.

Li Yuan, his face ashen, spoke. “Brother Xu… I fear we are doomed to remain.”

Wang Lin considered. The fiend was powerful. Comparing him to the Blood Ancestor, Wang Lin judged his strength to be even greater.

But the true threat lay in the fact that each slain cultivator fueled the monster’s power. How strong he might become, Wang Lin could not fathom.

“Brother Li, do you trust me?” Wang Lin asked abruptly, turning to his companion.

Li Yuan blinked. “Does Brother Xu have a way out of this? I trust you implicitly!”

“I do possess a certain art, though I have yet to master it completely. To carry another might bring harm to them, even if I remain unscathed. If you agree, I can try.” Wang Lin spoke slowly, weighing his words.

Li Yuan fell silent. He had witnessed the fiend’s might firsthand and knew he could not contend with it. Even with Xu Mu at his side, he would struggle to survive, let alone protect another.

Remaining here meant certain death. The feeling was overwhelming, almost consuming him.

“Brother Xu, unleash your skill! I, Li Yuan, am willing to wager everything!” Li Yuan’s eyes flashed with resolve.

Wang Lin nodded. He and Li Yuan had met in the Thunder Realm and shared much since then. Though their friendship was not deep, they had faced adversity together.

And Wang Lin knew that if not for Li Yuan, he would surely have fallen to the Blood Ancestor. In a way, Li Yuan had saved his life.

Taking a deep breath, Wang Lin retreated slowly, focusing his mind, recalling the sensation of merging with the world. With each step, ripples appeared beneath his feet.

After several dozen paces, the feeling remained elusive. The celestial gateway was shrinking rapidly, on the verge of vanishing. The cries of the dying echoed around him. Suppressing his anxiety, Wang Lin calmed his mind.
He emptied his mind, striving for perfect tranquility. Slowly, deliberately, Wang Lin retreated, a serene light dawning in his eyes. In that moment, he became one with the heavens and earth around him, the bond between them growing ever stronger.

Time slipped away unnoticed. Once more, that feeling of unity with all things arose within Wang Lin’s heart. For an instant, he was consumed by the illusion that he *was* the sky, the very earth beneath his feet.

His gaze sharpened, yet remained as placid as a still pond. Wang Lin ceased his backward steps and instead, moved forward, one foot after the other, with measured grace.

A ripple, like a stone dropped in water, spread from beneath his feet. Wang Lin’s form seemed to dissolve into the void. With a swift motion, he grasped Li Yuan, who stood paralyzed beside a wooden stool.

Li Yuan felt a surge of power flow into him from Wang Lin’s touch. His entire being was tossed about as if caught in a raging storm. One moment he was there, the next, darkness. It was as if he were being drawn into the heart of time itself, his body stretching and thinning into nothingness.

Clutching Li Yuan’s arm, Wang Lin’s eyes remained calm and steady. Step by step, he and Li Yuan vanished, truly becoming one with the nothingness around them.

Meanwhile, within a swirling mist, besieged by five cultivators of the Yang Realization stage, a dozen of the Yin Void stage, and countless cultivators of the Questioning realm, the white-haired fiend threw back his head and roared with laughter. His hands flew through arcane gestures, his lips muttered an incantation, and a crimson shield bloomed around his body.

Every spell, every magical art, every weapon shattered harmlessly against its surface. Shen Gonghu’s flying sword, crackling with lightning, struck the barrier, only to explode into fragments. The force of the rebound sent Shen Gonghu reeling backward, coughing up blood.

He was not alone. Zhan Konglie, Tang Yanfeng, and the other Yang Realization cultivators fared no better, each spitting blood as they were flung back. The Yin Void cultivators were shaken to their very souls. It felt as though some unseen hand had grabbed and hurled them like toys into the void.

Within the crimson shield, the white-haired fiend grinned with bloodlust. His voice, raspy and guttural, echoed, “Yes! Now this is more like a fight! But you whelps are weak compared to the armies of the Celestial Realm! So weak, that none of you are worthy to see me at my fullest strength!”

He thrust his hands outwards. In a blinding flash, the crimson shield expanded with terrifying speed, pushing back the swirling mist that choked the land.

The surrounding cultivators were forced to flee. Some were too slow. Those who brushed against the shield screamed as their bodies withered before the eyes of their companions, leaving behind only dry, mummified husks. Even their souls were consumed by the ever-expanding shield.

From afar, one could see the white mist erupting as terrified cultivators poured from its depths, each one frantically striving to escape the crimson tide.

The white-haired fiend cackled madly. He lunged, appearing behind a fleeing Yin Void cultivator. He crushed the hapless soul’s body with ease. Even as the cultivator’s spirit prepared to explode, the fiend moved to devour it whole. But then, abruptly, he whirled around. For the first time, a look of surprise and intense concentration washed over his features.

“A merging with the very essence of Heaven and Earth!” As he spun, the slain cultivator’s spirit detonated. The fiend paid it no mind. Instead, he vanished in a blink and replicated the feat. Waves of power rolled from him as he merged into the fabric of reality, disappearing into the tapestry of the world.

“To merge with Heaven and Earth…even among the Celestial Realm, few could accomplish such a feat. But this one, this one has not yet mastered it fully!” The white-haired fiend reappeared a hundred paces from the gate to the Celestial Realm. A strange light gleamed in his eyes. He clenched his right fist and slashed it across the void.

“I command you to appear!”

Five vast tears rent the fabric of reality, their edges shimmering with raw power. They screamed with an unearthly howl as they tore through the land, leaving five jagged wounds in the world.

A power, distinct from both Celestial and Spiritual energy, erupted from the fiend’s body and poured into the tears. A shudder ran through all those present. The very earth trembled and the sky seemed ready to collapse.

Shen Gonghu’s face was deathly pale. Beside him, Zhan Konglie’s expression was grim. Tang Yanfeng clenched his fists in fury and awe. The three shared a look, each recognizing the deep, abiding fear hidden within the other’s eyes.

A stifled groan echoed from the void before the white-haired fiend. Then, fifty paces from the Celestial gate, Wang Lin materialized, still clutching Li Yuan. Blood streamed from Li Yuan’s orifices, his eyes were dull and vacant, and his mind was lost in a disoriented haze.

As he appeared, Li Yuan’s body spasmed and spewed forth blood. Clearly, he could not withstand the force of Wang Lin’s magic.

Without hesitation, Wang Lin flung Li Yuan forward with all his strength. A surge of immense spiritual power wrapped around Li Yuan’s body, propelling him toward the rapidly shrinking Celestial gate.

The white-haired fiend laughed and took a single step forward, disappearing from sight. In that instant, Wang Lin’s eyes narrowed. He unleashed the full force of his spiritual energy, forming a swirling vortex around himself. His soul blazed with the power of thunder, sending forth countless lightning bolts that merged with the vortex.

“Explode!” Wang Lin roared the command as the fiend vanished.

A deafening explosion ripped through the void. The sound was so intense that every cultivator present staggered, gasping for breath.

Shen Gonghu’s eyes narrowed as he stared at Wang Lin, a hint of joy creeping into his gaze. Zhan Konglie mirrored his expression.

“It’s him!” Tang Yanfeng frowned. He recognized Wang Lin as Xu Mu, the opponent he could not overcome! As the vortex of spiritual energy around Wang Lin collapsed, the white-haired fiend materialized before him. The collapsing vortex engulfed the fiend, but the fiend merely threw back his head and laughed. He inhaled deeply, drawing the spiraling energy into his body.
Wang Lin retreated with desperate haste, overtaking Li Yuan and shoving him forward. His voice boomed like a thunderclap, searing into Li Yuan’s mind. “Li Yuan! Unleash the Thunder Cauldron, now!”

The command, resonating with unearthly power, jolted the dazed Li Yuan. Instinctively, he produced the Thunder Cauldron. The moment it materialized, his gaze froze upon the rapidly collapsing Gate of the Immortal Realm, now dwindled to the size of a clenched fist.

A blinding light erupted from the Cauldron, engulfing Li Yuan and whisking him away in an instant.

Simultaneously, Wang Lin produced his own Thunder Cauldron, preparing to flee. At that precise moment, the pallid, monstrous figure’s eyes flashed with malevolent intent. He spoke softly, yet with chilling finality, “Close the Gate.”

The Gate, already a mere glimmer of its former glory, shattered into nothingness, its connection to the Immortal Realm severed.

Clutching his Thunder Cauldron, Wang Lin’s eyes burned with icy resolve. Without a backward glance, he unleashed a burst of unimaginable speed, vanishing into the desolate void. A chilling cackle echoed behind him as the monstrous figure took a single stride, instantly hot on his heels.

“Ah, I remember now,” the monster rasped, his voice dripping with cruel amusement. “You are the cautious Qi cultivator!”

The pallid being moved with terrifying speed, closing the distance in a single, impossible step. His hand shot out, aiming a deadly blow at Wang Lin’s back. “I have little patience for the cautious! Even the Extreme Realm could not slay you. Let us see how you escape this time!” Red light flared in the monster’s eyes as his hand clawed forward, generating a deafening shriek and sealing every possible avenue of escape for Wang Lin.

Shen Gonghu’s eyes widened, a flicker of anticipation dancing within. “Lord, strike him down!”

Zhan Konglie held his breath, his eyes fixated on the chase. He wrestled with a silent question: *This monster possesses terrifying power… but how does it compare to that of the ancient one?*

As for Tang Yanfeng, a cruel smile twisted his lips as he watched Wang Lin’s desperate flight. *This fool may possess some strength, but even five of us, along with countless Yin Void cultivators, could not withstand that monster. With cultivation no greater than my Yang Solid stage, he is surely doomed. Let me witness his demise; it will save me the trouble of dealing with him later.*