Above Wang Lin, the Yin-Yang Pisces spun slowly, their black and white hues radiating a boundless power, as if drawing the very thoughts of all life on the Azure Spirit Star into their vortex, coalescing into a force that defied the heavens themselves.

It surged skyward! At that instant, the colors of the heavens shifted, as if some unseen force retreated in haste. Moments later, the sky remained, yet to Wang Lin’s eyes, it seemed far clearer.

Far away, at the confluence of the four Domains of Luo Tian, within the hallowed halls of the Thunder Immortal Temple, Qing Shui opened his eyes in a secluded chamber. His gaze was calm, undisturbed, yet piercing, as if able to penetrate the very fabric of the cosmos.

“My master once jested that should anyone master his divine arts, they could be considered disciples of Bai Fan…”

“This one, by chance, has learned the Art of Summoning the Winds…” Qing Shui murmured, a hint of melancholy in his eyes.

“Master, your disciple is unworthy… yet, having survived countless years, I vow to discover the cause of the Immortal Realm’s collapse and my own madness, and avenge you!”

Upon the Azure Spirit Star, Wang Lin withdrew his gaze from the heavens. His cultivation, fueled by comprehension, had brought him to the precipice of Peering into Nirvana. A mere thought would suffice to transform him into a true Second Step cultivator.

To achieve the realm of Peering into Nirvana after a millennium of cultivation was a feat that would shake any world. Wang Lin, a man of humble origins, had reached such heights through his own understanding, his defiance against fate, and an unyielding will, tempered by the trials of a thousand years. Just as no one on Vermilion Bird Star could have foreseen the heights he would attain. Wang Lin’s expression remained serene. When he had briefly revealed his nascent cultivation upon awakening, it had already stirred the heavens. He knew that upon his full breakthrough, the tribulation would descend.

“This tribulation feels peculiar. Considering my recent dive into the myriad threads of karma, caution is warranted. Carelessness is a dangerous folly!” Wang Lin’s eyes glinted coldly. Ever since his defiance against the heavens at the time of his Ascendancy, each advancement in his cultivation was met with the oppressive weight of the Heavenly Tribulation.

The power of this tribulation grew with each step, each trial more treacherous than the last! Wang Lin lowered his head, gazing at the still-slumbering Yao Bingyun before him. Without hesitation, he reached out, his finger aimed at the space between her brows! “The path of devouring Intent and Dao is a false one. Yet before now, my mind was caught in the throes of doubt. Were it not for enlightenment, I would have remained trapped between two impossible choices, until my very Dao crumbled!”

The instant his fingers touched Yao Bingyun’s brow, a strange light filled Wang Lin’s eyes. In that moment, he seemed to merge with the very essence of the heavens.

“The true path is not to devour, but to glean understanding! To use the Dao of others to verify karma! This is the true method to perfect the Intent of Karma!”

Wang Lin inhaled deeply and slowly closed his eyes. As Intent enveloped him, the black and white Yin-Yang Pisces in the sky descended, ultimately merging with him and Yao Bingyun, recreating the balance within.

Within the space between Wang Lin’s brows, the Heavenly Dao Bead spun slowly, absorbing the essence from the Yin-Yang.

“Sister… sister…” a weak call echoed through a realm of black nothingness, tinged with an indescribable sorrow, that pierced the very soul, causing one to tremble with pain.

“Sister will save you… Hold on… Wait for me…” The voice murmured, heavy with grief, a grief that could not be dispelled…

As the voice echoed, a mist seemed to rise within the void, swirling and ethereal. Within the depths of the mists, a young girl, no older than fifteen or sixteen, sat huddled, her knees drawn to her chest, her eyes filled with fear and confusion. Her fragile form seemed as if a mere gust of wind could scatter it. Her pale face was framed by flowing hair, and she exuded an air of utter helplessness.

“Sister… sister…” a timid voice escaped her lips.

“Sister promised you. In this life, I will, I will save you… Younger sister… Do not cry, sister is here…”

“Do not be afraid, you are only going to a distant place, where you will wait for sister. I will surely have the power to save you. I will!”

“Do not cry. Mother is gone now, leaving only the two of us. In that place, no one will bully you. Listen to sister, hold on, wait for me!”

The girl looked up, tears streaming down her face, and whispered, “Sister, I do not want to go, I am scared…” As she wept, a pair of aged hands suddenly materialized within the void, seizing her and dragging her into the nothingness, where she vanished into the distance.

“Sister!! Sister!!” A desperate cry for help echoed, growing fainter and fainter until it faded completely.

“Younger sister… In this life, I will surely have the power to save you. Wait for me. Be strong and wait for me…”

The weeping carried an unimaginable, indescribable sorrow, permeated the void.

The sorrow seemed to contain the power to shatter the heavens, and as it spread, the surrounding nothingness collapsed, fragmenting as if struck by a violent storm, threatening to tear everything asunder! The void shattered, revealing a verdant land beneath. Upon the ground, two young girls in red dresses were laughing and playing, chasing one another.

The two girls were young, but one could tell they were sisters. The younger sister, who was chasing after her sibling, was slender and fragile. Though her face shone with a smile, it was pale and gaunt.

“Little sister, if you can catch up with big sister, I will buy you a candy figurine!” The older girl turned back to look at her sister, smiling.

“Sister, slow down!” The younger girl called as she ran forward, but she tripped and fell, bursting into tears.
Her elder sister hurried over, kneeling down beside her. “Hush, little one,” she whispered, “Don’t cry. When we return, I shall buy you a spun sugar treat.” But before she could finish her promise, the weeping child, her tears instantly forgotten, clutched at her sister’s dress, a radiant smile blooming on her face. “Sister, I’ve caught you!”

“You cheat!” The two girls dissolved into laughter, their joyous shrieks echoing through the tranquil glade.

After a time, perhaps weary from their play, they settled amongst the tall grasses. The younger sister tilted her head, her gaze searching her sister’s face. “Sister,” she whispered, “Why did Great-Grandfather bring us here? Is it to see Mother? I miss her so.”

At that moment, the very heavens themselves shifted and groaned. A vast, crimson cloud, like a tide of spilled blood, surged across the sky, gathering above the two young maidens. Within moments, it coalesced, taking the form of a man.

He was of middle years, with features as sharp and noble as a sculpted god, exuding an aura of ancient wisdom and serenity.

“Bingyun, Mengyun, come with me!” the man called, his voice a gentle rumble. His eyes held a complex tapestry of emotions as he gazed upon the girls. With a sigh that seemed to carry the weight of ages, he descended to the ground, his voice softening.

“Uncle Yun, are you taking us to see Mother?” Mengyun, the younger sister, chirped, her face alight with uncontainable joy.

The complex emotions warring within the man’s eyes deepened. He looked from one sister to the other, then clenched his fist, a resolute glint hardening his gaze. He nodded, a silent promise sealed. “I will take you to see Mother!” With a flourish of his wide sleeves, he swept the two girls up into his arms. The crimson cloud beneath his feet roared to life like celestial thunder, hurtling towards the infinite expanse of the sky.

“Ancestral Elder, the children are innocent. I, Yaoyun, will bear any punishment, so long as I can deliver these two to the Blood God Star!” the man gritted out, his speed increasing, until he, along with the two girls, became one with the crimson cloud, a fleeting streak against the azure canvas.

But in that very instant, the entire heavens convulsed. A monstrous, spectral hand, shimmering with unholy power, materialized out of thin air. It seized the crimson cloud in its grasp, and with a sickening crunch, the cloud shattered into a thousand pieces, revealing Yaoyun, his face ashen, and the two children, their eyes wide with terror.

“Yaoyun, return!” A voice, ancient and laden with unimaginable power, boomed across the sky, brooks no defiance.

“Ancestral Elder, why?! They are of the Yao Clan!” Yaoyun cried out, his voice laced with anguish.

“Precisely because they are of the Yao Clan, this is their fate! It cannot be escaped! From the moment of their birth, it was ordained that they would become the souls of the artifact!” the implacable voice thundered. A gale of unearthly wind swept down, carrying the struggling man and the two weeping girls away, vanishing without a trace.

Outside the ancestral shrine of the Yao Clan, Yaoyun was forcefully expelled from the void. He staggered back, a torrent of crimson blood erupting from his lips. He collapsed to his knees, several paces from the sacred ground, and gave a hollow, broken laugh.

His eyes burned with fury and despair as he watched the two girls, their faces etched with bewilderment and fear, being drawn into the shrine, swallowed whole by its ancient, unyielding maw.

And so it was, that Wang Lin, in a strange and ethereal state, witnessed it all, bearing witness to the essence of Yao Bingyun’s Tao! This, he realized, was the foundation of her cultivation, the very core of her existence!

“Ancestral Elder, is the clan’s artifact truly so important… Bingyun and Mengyun, fatherless, with a mother who was naught but a tool, created solely for the purpose of birthing these two children, vessels for the artifact’s essence…”

“They shall become the new souls of the artifact…”

Yaoyun chuckled, a sound filled with bitterness. He held a singular affection for these children, for their mother was his elder sister, the most gifted among the second generation of the Yao Clan in countless years. “My elder brother was right. The Ancestral Elder has become possessed by demonic spirits. The Yao Clan of old is no more…”

“I never understood why my brother left so decisively all those years ago. But now… now, I finally understand his reason…”