Wang Lin’s eyes were clouded with contemplation as he gazed upon the rain falling before him. The secrets of the Rain Summoning Art, passed down through the Clear Water lineage, echoed in his mind. Slowly, his eyes grew brighter, until at last, in the rain-swept night, they shone like twin beacons.

“I care not for the life or death of this rain,” he declared, lifting his gaze to the storm-wracked heavens. “I only remember that it comes from above!” His eyes pierced the veil of water, locking onto the clouds that draped the land, the source of the torrential downpour. “The Sky’s Canopy holds only the Cloud! And from the Cloud comes the Rain!”

Lost in his musings, Wang Lin unfurled his divine sense, no longer seeking to merge with the rain itself. Instead, he ascended, reaching for the Nine Heavens, directly merging with the cloud layer above. As his consciousness spread, he detected vast quantities of primal essence swirling within the turbulent clouds.

This essence was unstable, a chaotic dance of colliding energies. With each collision, a deluge of raindrops was expelled from the cloud’s embrace, falling to earth below.

A glimmer of understanding ignited within Wang Lin’s eyes. With a flick of his wrist, he rose from the mountain peak, stepping into the rain as if climbing a staircase to the heavens. Step by step, he ascended, merging with the storm clouds above.

The instant he entered the cloud’s heart, flashes of lightning danced around him, and the thunder roared with the fury of the gods. But these elemental powers posed no obstacle to Wang Lin’s ascent.

Within the cloud, Wang Lin amplified his divine sense, seeking greater clarity. A faint smile touched his lips as comprehension dawned. Moments later, he emerged from the swirling vortex and traversed the vast distances to the opposite side of the world.

Here, in the emptiness, unseen vapors rose from the land, coalescing into faint, ethereal clouds, visible only to Wang Lin’s sharpened senses.

“I understand now!” Wang Lin exclaimed, a triumphant laugh echoing across the lands. He outstretched his hands towards the earth, a wellspring of force flowing from his core. The surrounding air thickened with moisture, drawn upwards as if by an invisible hand. In Wang Lin’s hands, space itself warped and twisted, until, at long last, a wisp of shadow appeared.

This shadow rapidly solidified, transforming into a churning mass of cloud, a patch of stormy sky no more than ten feet in diameter, conjured in Wang Lin’s grasp.

He swept his senses through its heart, and lightning sparked into existence, crackling and dancing within the cloud’s embrace. With a flick of Wang Lin’s will, a thunderous boom echoed forth, and a torrent of rain cascaded down from the miniature storm.

The Nascent Soul stage was about the pursuit of understanding the fabric of existence. Power lies in the mastery of these rules! But the laws of reality are fleeting and difficult to grasp!

That is why the masters are so few. Even some masters gain some understanding of the laws, and improve their cultivation, but must finally stop, their powers not strong. This is because their understanding of the law is passive, not active!

Wang Lin had only grazed the edge of understanding. He smiled to himself, as he dispersed the clouds in his hand. They faded, bit by bit, disappearing without a trace.

In a single stride, he returned to the mountain peak, standing tall and gazing at the clouds above. As rain fell from the sky, it dissipated into mist when it came to his presence. And a wisps of clouds began to form around him.

It was similar to the approach of Yan Leizi, when his presence caused clouds to form. But the clouds around him were weak and not stable. Yan Leizi seemed to be able to control the skies with a single thought.

But if Yan Leizi found his way here, he would be surprised by what he saw, for the cloud mist forming around Wang Lin was not simply caused by channeling the life-force within his body, but an expression of the rule he now understood.

This was a rule of power, it was not intentional, but the rain evaporated before it touched him. When the clouds formed, he could wield them, it was a power that was limitless!

“Immortal Emperor Bai Fan, is a divine man!” Wang Lin sighed. The Rain Summoning Art he learned from the Clear Water Lineage, this art of the Immortal Emperor Bai Fan, led him to a natural understanding of the laws that govern reality.

This could not be done with any ordinary magic. There was no art as effective as this!

“Rain comes from the clouds. These clouds can be coalesced from water. If there is no wind, the clouds cannot form!” The Clear Water lineage did not offer enlightenment, but an understanding of the laws. Wang Lin was grateful for what Clear Water had given him.

“I did not realize Situ had also mastered the laws of reality…” Wang Lin thought back to when Situ Nan emerged from the bead of fate, the skies heavy with rain. Situ Nan, as he lifted his head and roared “Disperse for me!”

At that moment, the rain flew upwards, as a mist, to dissipate. Even the clouds were scattered, revealing the blue sky!

At the time, he only felt a force explode from Situ Nan, that shook the heavens.

Wang Lin’s cultivation at the time was too low to truly understand what happened, but now he could see it clearly. “So that’s how it was.” Wang Lin suddenly thought back over a thousand years, when he had first obtained the bead of fate, it had clouds upon it! The clouds grew by absorbing the vapor of the sky, and Wang Lin finally understood, it had all been there from the beginning.

Many things are always with us, but we may never understand or appreciate them if we haven’t grown enough to do so.
Never did I imagine, until this age of ten thousand years hence, that the secrets of the Heavenly Defiance Pearl’s aquatic aspect would finally reveal themselves. And yet, this is but the Pearl’s most nascent manifestation! Even now, mastery eludes me; I have merely begun to trace its contours.” Wang Lin touched his brow, his eyes reflecting a profound sense of time’s passage.

He gazed upon the falling rain, a gentle wave of his hand preceding a murmured word: “Disperse!”

At his command, the swirling mists clinging to him flowed swiftly along his arm. Simultaneously, every drop of rain in the heavens trembled as if struck by a divine chord. Clouds erupted into existence, swirling back upon themselves with the force of a tempestuous gale.

This surging retrograde of vapor slammed into the boundless expanse of the cloud cover above, shattering it asunder. Lightning crackled within the turmoil, as if an invisible hand swept across the sky, driving the clouds back, back, until they vanished completely. A million leagues of clear sky were revealed!

Sunlight poured down, carrying warmth upon its rays. From the earth rose the fragrant exhalation of rain-kissed soil. Countless droplets clung to broad leaves, glistening and falling like crystalline tears. Upon the horizon, a rainbow arced in glory, a spectacle worthy of the immortal realms.

Perhaps it was the enchantment of this scene that stilled the feral beasts of the land. They emerged from their lairs, offering not a roar but a low rumble to the heavens. A flock of birds, bursting with jubilant cries, soared from unseen nests, circling in the air, their wings finally unfurled after the long season of storms.

Wang Lin’s gaze remained calm. With a practiced hand, he formed a mystic seal. Before him, within arm’s reach, roiling black winds coalesced into two serpentine dragons of shadow. They exhaled gusts of chilling air, which mingled with the swirling mist, imbuing it with a touch of ethereal cloudiness. Within this cloud, water droplets condensed, drawing upon the ambient energies of the world, an insatiable thirst quenched.

With a mere thought, Wang Lin could unleash the cloud’s bounty upon the world, invoking the art of Rain Summoning, now made clear!

Beside him, the wide-eyed boy, Datou, watched with a shrinking pupil, his silence born of a deepening respect for the power he witnessed.

Lei Ji opened his eyes, the light within them flickering almost imperceptibly. Within his heart, a tempest raged, a whisper escaping his thoughts, “This… this is the power of the fundamental laws! I have glimpsed it only in the castings of the greatest arcanists.” His awe of Wang Lin grew, his respect bordering on reverence. Only Ta Shan remained unmoved, his eyes closed in perpetual meditation, oblivious to the wonders unfolding.

Wang Lin settled into a meditative posture, his face serene. The Rain Summoning was now understood. Next lay the challenge he found most intriguing: the art of Sowing Seeds of War!

Meanwhile, at the border between the Western and Northern Alliance Starfields, a spectral form hurtled through the void. Its speed defied comprehension, a mere flicker before vanishing once more.

This was not a lone entity but a teeming horde, their passage leaving ripples in the fabric of spacetime, waves that intensified their velocity.

Penetrating deeper into the Western Alliance territory, they soon encountered a patrol of Luo Tian cultivators. Leading them was the six-fingered warrior, guiding his squadron northwards. The West had fallen entirely to the Luo Tian, and he was tasked with blazing a trail into the northern lands.

He proceeded cautiously, his senses reaching out, vigilant for any hint of threat.

The spectral shapes, upon sighting the six-fingered commander and his company of a hundred, veered sharply, descending upon them with terrifying speed.

The six-fingered warrior, moving forward, felt a sudden stab of dread. His sixth digit throbbed with agonizing pain. He halted abruptly, but even then, the countless spectral figures were upon him!

His eyes widened, pupils shrinking to pinpricks. He snatched a communication talisman from his pouch, crushing it in his grasp. Without retreating, he stepped forward, ready to unleash his own powers. But in that instant, the spectral host divided, half encircling the six-fingered warrior while the remainder surged towards his unsuspecting troops.

Screams tore through the void, punctuated by the chaotic flare of spells and abilities. Moments later, the six-fingered warrior recoiled in horror. He scrambled backwards, but as he broke free, swarms of the black phantoms overtook him, merging into his flesh.

With each spectral incorporation, the warrior convulsed. After a few paces, his feet locked in place, his eyes glowing with an unearthly light, flickering briefly before returning to normal.

He looked down at his body, a strange smile twisting his lips. “This vessel,” he muttered, “will suffice.” Behind him, his warriors emerged, each bearing the same unsettling grin.

The plan of the Underworld Hall, the purge of the Luo, was underway… Following this cataclysm, their mission extends beyond merely finding Xu Mu but to extinguish all lingering embers! Of the Four Grand Celestials, both the Black Fiend Demon Lord and the Dao Yuan Celestial Lord have mobilized. Today, the Luo Tian will learn that the gates of the Alliance Starfield are not easily breached!