Clutching Yao Yunhai’s nascent soul, Wang Lin retreated, without hesitation plunging it into the Soul Banner within his storage pouch. He paused not a moment, vanishing in a blur.

Behind him, the hundred-foot-tall Wang Yue erupted from the earth, a chilling aura swirling in its wake. It sniffed the air, seeking remnants of Wang Lin’s presence. Finding traces, it opened its maw, drawing in the lingering essences of its prey. Its bristling fur, once standing on end, now softened and curled in upon itself, as if savoring a delightful repast.

A brief moment passed, then Wang Yue closed its mouth, twisting its massive form to sink back into the soil, disappearing from sight.

Far off, Wang Lin’s eyes glinted with strange light as he journeyed toward the higher reaches of Wang Yue’s ossuary. He moved with utmost caution, ready to shift direction and vanish at the slightest hint of danger.

“Though perilous within this beast,” Wang Lin mused, “I know its nature. With care, I should be unharmed! Compared to the outside, this place offers a measure of safety.”

“Indeed, why not conceal myself within Wang Yue and remain hidden? If the Yao family desires my death, they must first face this ancient beast!” A chilling smile played upon Wang Lin’s lips as he accelerated, becoming a fleeting phantom as he pressed onward.

Wang Yue’s immensity prevented instant translocation, and prudence dictated slow progress. Despite pushing his speed to its limit, Wang Lin found his journey agonizingly slow.

Suddenly, his expression changed. He dodged to the side without a second’s thought. A shard of blue ice, like a bolt of lightning, appeared from the depths of the beast, cleaving the space where he had stood moments before.

The ice crystal grazed his body. Wang Lin, though narrowly avoiding the direct hit, felt a chilling aura leach from it. This aura pulsed with Yuan Force, seeping into him through his pores, causing a creeping stiffness to overtake his limbs.

“You cannot escape,” a voice, cold as the glacial plains, echoed through the cavernous space. The earth ten paces away cracked open, and Yao Bingyun stepped forth.

Her eyes burned with murderous intent as she fixed her gaze on Wang Lin. “You, who thirstily slaughter innocent cultivators of Luo Tian’s Western Domain, today, Yao Bingyun will claim your life!” she hissed.

Wang Lin retreated, gathering Yuan Force in his hands. He struck his body several times, suppressing the insidious chill. At the same time, he exhaled a torrent of Yuan Spirit essence, a swirling pink mist that rapidly coalesced into a blade of pure energy, aimed directly at Yao Bingyun.

Her face remained a mask of icy indifference. She raised her right hand, forming a mystic sign, and thrust it forward. A brilliant blue light erupted from her fingertips, instantly freezing everything in its path. The icy tendrils spread rapidly, forming a creeping glacier.

Even Wang Lin’s expelled Yuan Spirit essence was caught, encased in frigid prison only a few paces distant.

Seeing the encroaching ice, Wang Lin’s face darkened. He retreated with all haste. His foe was too strong. He could not hope to withstand her assault.

A flash of murderous intent shone in Yao Bingyun’s eyes. Her slender hand pressed against the advancing ice, and her form vanished, swallowed by the crystalline plane.

“Ice Evasion!” Wang Lin’s pupils constricted. A chilling sense of imminent doom enveloped him. Without pause, he spat out the Immortal Sealing Mark, throwing it up as a shield.

The moment the Mark materialized, Yao Bingyun emerged from the ice before him, her hand extended in a deadly thrust.

Yao Bingyun poured her full power into this single strike. As her finger stabbed forward, a crimson rune coalesced, imbuing her finger with power that surged into the Immortal Sealing Mark.

“Deca-Rend Spirit Seal!” Yao Bingyun cried out, rapidly cycling through arcane hand gestures. Nine unique seals formed in rapid succession, each one crimson and terrible. In the blink of an eye, they struck the Immortal Sealing Mark.

The crimson runes were of an unholy power, utterly bypassing the Immortal Sealing Mark, rushing onward, towards Wang Lin. Wang Lin’s expression was grim. “Seal!” he roared.

At his command, hundreds of thousands of golden glyphs shimmered on the Sealing Mark, forming layer upon layer of protection. Two glyphs of particular strength took the lead, battering against and diminishing the Deca-Rend Spirit Seal.

Yet, the Deca-Rend Spirit Seal proved too powerful. In mere moments, it shattered through all seals. Although battered and lessened to merely four, the remnants struck Wang Lin directly on his chest with the speed of lightning.

They ripped through his flesh, transforming into four beams of crimson light within his body, charging directly toward his nascent soul.

*Thump thump* resonated within Wang Lin. The color drained from his face. He fought back the urge to vomit blood, his eyes burning with killing intent. Using the power of the Immortal Sealing Mark to aid him, he threw himself backward.

In a flash, he was far away.

“Still not dead!” Yao Bingyun’s phoenix eyes narrowed. The speed was, in her view, most peculiar. If it was a lucky chance that he survived a prior use of the Spirit Seal back in Luo Tian’s Western Domain, then that was a passable explanation. But now? She had utilized the Deca-Rend Spirit Seal at full power, and somehow the nascent soul of a mere Yang Spirit cultivator had survived her attack? This… this was too much.

“He must have a celestial treasure to guard his nascent soul!” Yao Bingyun stepped forward, a cruel smile upon her face. The ice spread out behind her, covering everything, rushing alongside her as she pursued Wang Lin.

Wang Lin’s nascent soul still reverberated with residual energies. His gaze locked onto Yao Bingyun. Killing intent burned within his eyes. Retreating, he raised his right hand, bringing it down in a single, decisive chop.

The Severing of Luo Technique manifested. But rather than aiming it at Yao Bingyun, he chopped into the mud beside him. A deafening roar shook the area as the earth collapsed.

“Wang Yue prefers silence! It hates loud noises!” Wang Lin, well aware of the beast’s temperament, continuously struck the ground as he retreated.

Yao Bingyun sneered. She may not be able to match him in the art of shrinking the earth, she admired Wang Lin’s skill.
Here, where translocation was impossible and the very essence of heaven and earth felt stifled, to outpace her quarry seemed a fool’s errand. Yet, with a sudden surge, cerulean light ignited beneath her feet. Each step, though not a true blink, possessed the velocity of a shifting sand dune, and she rapidly closed the distance.

But as she drew near, her right hand forming an incantation to strike, she noted a disturbing tranquility upon Xu Mu’s face, a serenity devoid of fear. Yao Bingyun’s heart quickened with apprehension, but time offered no respite. Ice-cold resolve blazed in her eyes, and she unleashed her assault.

In that instant, from the very point where Wang Lin had unleashed his successive Severing Luo incantations, a wave of unimaginable chill emanated. A colossal, hundred-zhang Wang Yue, a Moon Beast, erupted from the earth, its roar a deafening symphony of primal rage, lunging towards Yao Bingyun and Wang Lin.

“What is that?!” Yao Bingyun, having never encountered a Moon Beast, reeled in shock at its grotesque visage, its bristling mane sending shivers down her spine. The aura emanating from the charging beast rivaled that of a seasoned Nirvana Scryer!

Wang Lin, sensing the Moon Beast’s emergence, suppressed his aura and retreated. Summoning the beast had been his desperate gamble, a move certain to sow chaos, his only hope for survival. He steeled himself for its pursuit, knowing its attack could fall upon either him or Yao Bingyun.

The Moon Beast, its body writhing and fur standing on end, moved with blinding speed. To Wang Lin’s dismay, it bypassed Yao Bingyun entirely, fixing its gaze upon him.

Yao Bingyun, poised to strike, paused, her eyes gleaming with an idea. She shadowed the Moon Beast, advancing towards Wang Lin.

Wang Lin backpedaled, the Immortal Sealing Stamp whirring before him, creating a barrier to impede the advance of his pursuers.

The hundred-zhang Moon Beast, its fur waving wildly, seemed almost gleeful, its gaping maw swallowing the air with an almost sensual delight.

Wang Lin was momentarily taken aback by this bizarre display. Then, with a murderous gleam in her eyes, Yao Bingyun surged past the Moon Beast, reaching Wang Lin. Her right hand, fingers formed into a sword, crackled with intense azure light, aiming for a fatal strike.

Before Wang Lin could react, the Moon Beast unleashed a furious bellow, its fur erupting into a frenzy of tendrils that lashed out at Yao Bingyun with terrifying speed.

It seemed as if Yao Bingyun was attempting to steal its treasured prize. The Moon Beast, its many tentacles snapping, lunged forward, intent on devouring her.

Wang Lin’s eyes flashed with grim determination. Abandoning retreat, he extended his right hand. The Maternal-Son Dao Scar on the back of his hand writhed, transforming into a monstrous bone. The bone’s hollow eyes gleamed with an eerie light, instantly shrouding the surroundings in a miasma of killing intent.

Yao Bingyun’s expression darkened. She was now caught between Wang Lin and a rampaging beast. *Why*, she wondered, *would this creature, initially intent on Xu Mu, now turn on her when she offered assistance?*

The killing intent thickened, and a gray aura sprung up beneath Yao Bingyun’s feet. Simultaneously, the Moon Beast’s tentacles wrapped around her, its colossal body slamming into her with brutal force.

With a snap of her jaw, Yao Bingyun bit back a cry and, without hesitation, formed a hand seal and touched her brow. A cerulean orb flew forth, radiating frigid energy. As she directed the orb skyward, an extreme cold permeated everything.

Instantly, layers of ice bloomed, expanding outward from Yao Bingyun. The speed was breathtaking. Even the gray aura of the Maternal-Son Dao Scar was encased. The Moon Beast’s tentacles, too, were partially frozen. But then, from four locations in the surrounding earth, came forth bestial roars. Four more hundred-zhang Moon Beasts burst from the cracks in the ground, lunging towards Yao Bingyun.

Her face paled, and her eyes widened in horror. Clutching the blue orb, she fled.

As she retreated, Wang Lin’s eyes flashed with murderous intent. His nature was one of boldness and decisive action. He focused his vital essence and unleashed it.

Moving at his utmost speed, he formed his fingers into a sword and channeled the Wind Summoning technique into his fingertips, thrusting forward!

*Wind Summoning!*

A dark wind materialized, forming a vortex that engulfed Yao Bingyun. At the same time, the Moon Beasts descended upon her, their snarling maws ready to devour her.

Yao Bingyun’s face was ashen. Never in her long life had she faced such perilous circumstances. Biting her lip, she glanced at the azure orb in her hand, a flicker of pain crossing her features. Without further hesitation, she crushed it.

The moment the orb shattered, a surge of raw power exploded outward, forming a frozen maelstrom that quickly encased everything. The force extended through the smallest fissures in the ground, and soon, the landscape for thousands of miles was laced with delicate veins of ice.

“Ice Escape!” Yao Bingyun cried, forming a hand seal. Using the ice forming from the broken orb, she vanished, as the Ice Escape would take her anywhere within the ice-bound world.

As Yao Bingyun vanished, Wang Lin, immediately after casting Wind Summoning, struck again!

*Body Immobilization Technique!*

Yao Bingyun faltered for a moment, but almost immediately recovered and vanished. However, in that brief instant, the dark wind ripped through the ice, and a muffled groan echoed from the void, fading into the distance.

Wang Lin’s eyes flashed with deadly intent. As the ice spread, he retrieved the Immortal Sealing Stamp and retreated without a backward glance, fleeing from the scene.
Not long hence, with Wang Lin’s careful evasions, he followed the severed Crescent Bone, slowly arriving at its apex. Here, it was the confluence of the Crescent Bone and the Lunar Nerve, where the two were meant to be inseparable.

Yet, upon reaching this point, Wang Lin grew even more cautious. For reasons perhaps stemming from the extraction of all the bones in ages past, numerous fissures and rents marred the junction, offering passages to be infiltrated.

These cracks, infinitesimal to the great Wangyue, appeared to Wang Lin as chasms and ravines. With a flicker of movement, he plunged into a fissure, but paused at the very threshold.

Before him lay a tapestry of crimson threads, a spiderweb of crimson filaments stretching endlessly, so dense they seemed to saturate the surrounding space.

Wang Lin’s eyes narrowed in contemplation. He stepped forward cautiously, staring at the countless crimson strands. He raised his right hand, grasped one of the threads, and with a sharp motion, **tore it asunder!**

At that instant, the entire Wangyue, manifested as a cultivated star, shuddered violently. Great clouds of dust billowed skyward, and even the surrounding black mist contracted sharply.

Wang Lin’s eyes gleamed. Without further hesitation, he raised his right hand, channeling the Severing Luo Spell. He slashed repeatedly, severing and shattering the crimson threads. Violent tremors echoed throughout the vast body of the Wangyue, their intensity growing with each cut.

The Wangyue’s trembling intensified, and the black mist that surrounded its celestial form contracted madly, vanishing into the interior. Vast amounts of dust crumbled and scattered as the Wangyue convulsed, creating clouds of cosmic debris.

A roar, ancient and primal, rumbled deep from within the heart of the Wangyue.