Across the desolate expanse, a withered blight befell the lands surrounding Wang Lin. For hundreds of thousands of leagues, life itself shriveled, the earth cracked and broken asunder. Every vestige of vitality was utterly devoured by Wang Lin’s insatiable hunger.

His form, too, underwent a rapid transformation. With each surge of absorbed life force, his features returned to their former semblance, the vitality within him swiftly replenished.

Opening his eyes, a tempest of lightning flickered within their depths. Wang Lin drew a deep breath, murmuring to himself, “Relying on the Finger of Extinction to restore life carries its own perils.”

After a moment of contemplative silence, Wang Lin rose to his feet. With a single stride, he transcended the boundaries of the desolate star. The spirit of Tasan flickered, merging into Wang Lin’s very being, disappearing from sight.

“Vermillion Bird Star…” Waves rippled beneath Wang Lin’s feet as he melded with the fabric of the cosmos.

Beyond the Vermillion Bird Star, the words of the Big-Headed Child reached the ears of two cultivators from the Luo Heaven realm.

“Exalted Celestial Envoy, upon the star of Xiu Ming, we discovered an idol…” The Luo Heaven cultivators, struggling to contain their fear, one of them spoke hastily.

“You were tasked with the purging of stars, not the contemplation of idols!” The Big-Headed Child interjected, a flash of cold light in his eyes. Though a foolish smile remained on his face, it was laced with a palpable malice.

As the cultivator attempted to explain, his elder kin tugged at his sleeve. Gazing upon the Big-Headed Child, he bowed respectfully, “Celestial Envoy, a single glance from your divine eyes will reveal the reason for our return!” With that, he averted his gaze from the Big-Headed Child, drawing his brother back into the ranks of their fellow cultivators.

The Big-Headed Child cast a baleful glance upon the two. With a stride, he set his course for the Vermillion Bird Star. He rarely deigned to tread upon such humble worlds, instead dispatching his subordinates to butcher those nearing oblivion before moving on.

For only seventh-grade cultivation stars were worthy of his immortal might.

“Alas, not a single seventh-grade world has crossed my path. Upon this forsaken speck, I shall see what manner of being could inspire dread in two cultivators who have attained the pinnacle of Nascent Soul!” The Big-Headed Child scoffed. Even before his descent, his divine sense unfurled, sweeping across the Vermillion Bird Star. His cultivation had reached the initial stage of Nirvana Scrying, and he had entered the Ascension Pool, abandoning mortal comprehension for the power of celestial essence!

He had secretly unleashed his celestial arts on several occasions, finding himself delighted by their power.

Now, his divine sense spread forth, a cataclysmic tempest that enveloped the entirety of the Vermillion Bird Star in a single breath. His power was immense, and his arrival caused a resounding tremor, the likes of which had never been felt upon the star.

Mountain peaks crumbled in an instant, rivers surged as if boiling, and every cultivator upon the Vermillion Bird Star was beset by a sense of overwhelming pressure, as if the weight of mountains were crushing down upon them!

As his divine sense proliferated, it transformed into countless peals of thunder, echoing madly, forming a sonic boom. Instantly, the Vermillion Bird Star seemed to descend into a cataclysm. The raging divine sense coalesced into vast, black clouds, looming over the heavens and bearing down with immense force!

Several Nascent Soul cultivators shuddered violently, their nascent souls on the verge of collapse. As for the Soul Formation cultivators, they coughed up blood, their forms instantly weakened.

Golden Core cultivators swayed precariously, cracks forming upon their golden cores. Their faces were ashen, and their eyes reflected a desperate, horrified fear.

Those whose cultivation lingered at the Foundation Establishment or Qi Refining stages simply burst into a mist of blood, collapsing to the earth, their lives hanging by a thread.

If such was the fate of cultivators, how much worse was it for mortals? Every mortal upon the Vermillion Bird Star was plunged into unconsciousness, their minds filled with a ceaseless, roaring din.

The Vermillion Bird Star fell silent, instantaneously.

And this was only because the Big-Headed Child was unwilling to slaughter mortals outright. Had he wished it, a single sweep of his divine sense would have extinguished all life.

Amidst this chaos, only a handful of individuals struggled against the overwhelming force. Zhou Wutai, blessed with the blood of the Azure Dragon and the inheritance of the Nascent Soul crystal, roared in defiance. Azure light flickered across his body, transforming into azure scales. A tremendous power erupted within him, and a hundred-foot-long Azure Dragon materialized above him, unleashing a deafening roar towards the heavens.

Yun Quezi was bathed in golden talismans. His face was pale, his veins bulging. He felt as though he were facing the heavens themselves. It was as if within the divine sense was an implacable will, a will that sought to break him, to force him to yield. He had never experienced such a sensation before, as if this will were a brand, burned deep within his soul.

“Begone!”

Despite his age, Yun Quezi roared in defiance. In the heavens above, a phantom image of a towering tree materialized. A potent energy surged through him, and he found himself breaking through under the overwhelming pressure!

A cold snort echoed from the sky. As the sound reverberated, a sonic boom erupted, shaking the earth as if heaven and earth had been reversed.

Yun Quezi shuddered and spat out a mouthful of blood. Every talisman surrounding his body shattered in an instant. A bitter smile crept across his face. The collapse was not due to the power of his foe, but rather the will, the will that sought to subjugate him.

The Big-Headed Child descended slowly from the heavens, his hands clasped behind his back, a calm expression on his face. Though a breeze swept past, it curled away from him, as if afraid to draw near.

The overwhelming power, which the cultivators of the Vermillion Bird Star deemed impossibly strong, spread gently as the Big-Headed Child descended.

“A forsaken star, inhabited by refuse! What purpose do you serve under the heavens? Fortunate are you to have encountered me, for I shall grant you release!” The Big-Headed Child declared, raising his right hand and casually pointing towards the distance!

Instantly, a dense celestial aura spread forth, transforming into a beam of golden light, radiating with a terrifying celestial art!

The Azure Dragon conjured by Zhou Wutai was pierced by the celestial art, uttering a series of mournful cries. The guardian dragon of the Vermillion Bird Star collapsed, its spirit filled with regret.

Zhou Wutai trembled, coughing up blood, yet his eyes burned with a fiery resolve.
Just then, the Big-Headed Child, a sorcerer of some renown, faltered. His senses, previously stretched wide in search of the effigy, had found purchase within the gates of a venerable sect. There, looming before him, stood a colossal statue.

The very sight of it stole the breath from the Big-Headed Child, a gasp escaping his lips as horror bloomed in his eyes.

“This…this…” he stammered, the words catching in his throat.

He recoiled, stumbling backward several paces as his heart hammered against his ribs. His face paled, then flushed crimson in rapid succession. Never in his wildest imaginings could he have conceived of finding a likeness of Xu Mu in this forsaken place!

Xu Mu, the name alone conjured a waking nightmare, a memory of that accursed Line of the Heavens. There, he had been utterly helpless, crushed beneath a thunderous sorcery that still sent shivers down his spine.

Even after his ordeal in the Ascending Immortal Pool, he dared not provoke Xu Mu. Each recollection of that terrifying, god-like power left him trembling in fear.

Now, with a strangled gasp, he vanished in a blink, only to reappear outside the Cloud Sky Sect, his gaze locked on the towering statue of Wang Lin.

The longer he stared, the deeper his dread became. The more he scrutinized the stone countenance, the more his spirit trembled.

“The Demonic Son, Xu Mu!” The Big-Headed Child’s voice was a thin, reedy whisper, his face ashen. He was certain, utterly certain, that the statue was none other than Xu Mu himself.

After all, he had died by Xu Mu’s hand. The visage of his destroyer was etched into his very soul.

Frozen before the idol, the Big-Headed Child understood now why the two wanderers from the Luo Tian had fled in such terror. The reputation of Xu Mu was indeed formidable. Even he felt the urge to retreat, to escape this place before it was too late.

Iron Rock, withered and ancient, sat cross-legged at the statue’s base, watching the Big-Headed Child with a scornful smirk.

Cloud Sparrow, wounded but vigilant, observed the scene through his divine sense. He saw the visiting sorcerer, just as he himself had done years ago, struck dumb before the statue of the little brat, Wang Lin. A wave of astonishment washed over Cloud Sparrow.

“Could these wanderers from the Luo Tian know this Wang Lin from long ago?” he mused. “But even if they did, such a reaction is…unfathomable. Could it be…” A preposterous notion began to take root in his mind, a possibility so wild he could scarcely believe it.

Zhou Wu Tai, though grievously injured, remained steadfast in his duty to protect Vermillion Bird. He would honor the vow he had made before Wang Lin, come what may. As long as Vermillion Bird stood, so would he. If Vermillion Bird fell, then he would perish alongside it.

Meanwhile, the Big-Headed Child continued to gape at Wang Lin’s statue, his heart pounding a frantic rhythm against his ribs. The fear he felt for Wang Lin was palpable, a suffocating presence that made him feel as though he stood before the man himself. He involuntarily stumbled back several paces, his face hardening with a mask of desperation.

“It’s hardly worth risking everything for a dilapidated cultivation star, not when it means inviting the wrath of Xu Mu…” he muttered to himself. “But the statue…it’s been here for centuries.”

“Xu Mu…he’s not from Luo Tian Starfield! He must be a cultivator from the Alliance Starfield. Yes, that’s it!” The Big-Headed Child’s mind raced. He believed he had stumbled upon a secret of immense power, a secret that could ruin Xu Mu, perhaps even lead to his demise!

A manic laugh escaped his lips, his eyes gleaming with newfound resolve. In a single step, he was before the statue. Raising his hand, he brought it down with brutal force, shouting, “Break!” He might not dare challenge Xu Mu directly, but he could vent his rage upon this stone likeness.

But as his hand descended, Iron Rock, still seated at the statue’s base, fixed him with a fearless gaze. Though blood still trickled from the corners of his mouth, he spoke with unwavering conviction. “You defile the statue of our benefactor. You are surely doomed!”

The Big-Headed Child hesitated, his gaze shifting to Iron Rock. He saw only a dying old man, his life force nearly spent. With a sneering laugh, he scoffed, “Destroy a statue? Even if Xu Mu himself stood before me, I would not flinch!”

He raised his hand again, ready to strike, but in that instant, a voice cold as the heart of winter cut through the air, resonating across all of Vermillion Bird Star.

“Say that again,” it commanded, the words laced with a frost that could freeze the very fabric of reality.

“Xu Mu!” The Big-Headed Child was struck as if by a physical blow. His face turned deathly pale, his eyes widening in abject terror.

“Fight him I cannot. Flee!” he thought, his heart screaming at him to escape. He spat out a mouthful of blood and launched himself into a self-destructive blood escape. He would not test the horrors of facing Xu Mu again, not after the nightmare of the Line of the Heavens.

“Benefactor!” Iron Rock cried, his voice thick with centuries of suppressed emotion. Tears streamed down his weathered face as he watched a figure emerge from a ripple in the air beside the statue.

“Wang Lin!” Cloud Sparrow gasped.

“Wang Lin!” Zhou Wu Tai echoed, his voice filled with equal parts awe and disbelief.

“Wang Lin!” In that moment, every awakened cultivator, every observer of this miraculous scene, was seized with awe.

Wang Lin, the true ancestor of Vermillion Bird Star, had returned!

“You…will not escape,” Wang Lin said, his eyes burning with an unquenchable rage. He took a single step forward, and the air itself seemed to crackle with his power.