Chapter 1396: Peak of the Cloud Sea – Rumors, Rumors, and More Rumors

On a platform not far from the skinny Cultivator stood a Cultivator whose appearance was the exact opposite. This Cultivator was immensely corpulent, seemingly spherical, with a perpetually benevolent smile on his face, dressed in a wealthy squire's robe and wearing a flat cap.

In his hand, he held a very small abacus, and with a shake, a crisp clacking sound emanated from it.

"Not cost-effective, not cost-effective…" The corpulent Cultivator shook his head, the flesh on his face trembling. While muttering, he raised his hand, and countless Restrictions materialized, landing on the frenzied Cultivators rushing up from all directions. Each time a Restriction fell, those Cultivators would tremble, as if everything within them was Sealed, and they would be sent tumbling back into the misty sea below.

Although only twenty-eight platforms remained, seven of them were successfully breached by the surrounding Cultivators, and after repeated battles, they were finally seized!

Those who could successfully seize a platform in such an environment were by no means ordinary individuals.

These seven successfully seized platforms also caught Wang Lin's attention. To his slight surprise, the old man who had fled in disarray from his single word earlier, a Fourth Heavenly Decay Cultivator, was precisely one of them.

The other five people also had strong cultivation, hailing from different clans. At this moment, their ferocity was overwhelming, like killing gods.

One person, in particular, had the simplest time seizing a platform. This person was an old woman in a green robe, her face covered in pustules, looking extremely terrifying. Wherever she walked, she didn't seem to cast any Spell, yet all the nearby Cultivators displayed a look of confusion in their eyes.

The platform she targeted originally had over ten Cultivators fighting on it, but as the old woman approached, all ten-plus people became confused, retreating in unison and yielding the platform. Even the original owner of the platform left in a daze, allowing the old woman to arrive at the platform and sit there.

The misty sea rumbled, and the misty pillars grew more numerous. All the fighting seemed to erupt and then abruptly end. In this area, only twenty-eight undefended platforms remained. The hundreds of Cultivators from the periphery had all died, their bodies either collapsing into flesh and blood or sinking into the misty sea.

The scene just now, though brief, was an extremely brutal elimination, causing over ninety percent of the hundreds of Cultivators to die, leaving only these twenty-eight individuals.

Wang Lin's expression was calm. He sat cross-legged, closed his eyes, and began to breathe, transforming the Primordial Spirits and flesh and blood power of the Cultivators he had just devoured into healing energy. Up until now, he had not revealed too many of his methods, neither his identity as a Void Fire Cultivator nor his various great Divine Abilities. He hadn't even taken out a Magic Treasure.

This place was full of dangers, unpredictable and strange. Furthermore, the danger did not entirely come from this tomb, but also from the surrounding Cultivators. A slight concealment, making oneself appear mysterious and unfathomable, and then establishing dominance when necessary, was the most effective strategy.

The Cultivators on the surrounding platforms also secretly breathed a sigh of relief, each quickly beginning to breathe. However, an undercurrent surged, causing most of them to vigilantly observe each other while cultivating.

Although the battle just now was brief, it allowed everyone to witness each other's Divine Abilities.

Just as Wang Lin had previously paid close attention to those few individuals, many Cultivators also noticed Wang Lin.

Wang Lin's swift and decisive killing of six people earlier was enough to make everyone take him seriously. Especially that low roar, which overshadowed all other sounds in the area, and even shattered the Physical Body of a Heaven-Man Five Decay Cultivator, caused the surrounding people to show vigilance when looking at Wang Lin.

"This person didn't reveal too many Divine Abilities in his previous battle; I can't discern any clues…" The purple-robed man, behind whom a thousand-zhang giant fish had materialized, sat cross-legged, his gaze sweeping over Wang Lin, his expression consistently grim.

"The power of a single roar caused the opponent's Divine Ability to collapse and their Physical Body to dissipate. It seems this person's Divine Ability is related to sound…" A fierce Cultivator who had successfully seized a platform looked at Wang Lin with a hint of ill intent.

"Others only noticed this person's ruthlessness and the power of that roar, but they forgot that when this person killed earlier, he devoured the blood mist… Such Demonic Techniques have appeared quite frequently in the Primordial Stars in recent years…" The corpulent, wealthy squire, with his large body, smiled as his gaze swept over Wang Lin, the abacus in his hand clacking.

"He definitely wants to kill me… I need to find help quickly…" The girl from the Annihilation Clan in the distance had a pale face, biting her lower lip, her eyes showing even deeper timidity.

"I cannot provoke this person. He didn't kill me just now, so I owe him a favor…" The Fourth Heavenly Decay old man, whom Wang Lin had spared, lowered his head, his eyes filled with fear. The battle just now was still fresh in his memory.

The long-haired woman in white silently withdrew her gaze from the distance, looked back at Wang Lin, then after a long moment, looked elsewhere, her expression calm, lost in thought.

As everyone secretly observed each other and quietly healed, the surroundings gradually calmed down, and the churning of the misty sea also seemed to subside.

After a brief recovery, some Cultivators stood up and headed straight for the Magic Treasure in front of the skull on their respective platforms.

Wang Lin opened his eyes, reached out his right hand into the Void Realm behind him, and the three-zhang large banner in front of the Ancient God's skull was seized by him. He focused his gaze and swept it over, realizing that this item was an Ancient God Magic Treasure, but not of the highest quality.

He put it away without a change in expression and stood up.

But at this moment, sudden drastic changes occurred again!

These twenty-eight platforms vibrated violently, the dim sky roared again, and thunder rumbled, as if to tear the sky apart. Immediately after, as the expressions of many Cultivators changed, these twenty-eight platforms began to tremble intensely.

As they trembled, the twenty-eight platforms suddenly sank. The speed of this descent was extremely swift, giving the Cultivators on them no time to react. In almost an instant, they sank more than ten thousand zhang!

Wind howled outside the platforms. These twenty-eight platforms rapidly descended, and a tearing sensation immediately surged through the bodies of the Cultivators on them, as if even their blood was about to be flung out by this rapid descent.

However, the Cultivators who survived the first wave of battle naturally had firm minds. Despite facing this sudden change, no one cried out in alarm. Instead, they desperately kept their bodies fixed to the platforms, descending with them in their frantic plunge.

The sky grew increasingly distant from them, and the countless other platforms around, whose defenses had not yet been opened, gradually became black dots in everyone's eyes.

These twenty-eight descending platforms, in the blink of an eye, plunged deep into the mist. The mist rumbled, churning around each platform, eventually engulfing them.

Wang Lin's gaze was solemn as he watched the mist envelop his surroundings, and he clearly felt that the platform he was on had fallen into Hell, descending endlessly and frantically.

After an unknown period, with a loud bang, the platform stopped descending. The surroundings were entirely mist, pitch black, with nothing visible.

At this moment, a sudden sense of crisis permeated Wang Lin's mind. He abruptly turned around, raised his right hand, and violently waved it backward. Amidst a roar, the mist behind him rapidly churned and rolled back, revealing a hideous beast face within. It was a Vicious Beast covered in pustules, somewhat humanoid in appearance. This Vicious Beast had long, sharp fingernails. Its body was struck by Wang Lin's palm from a distance, and it retreated rapidly, instantly hiding back in the mist.

At the same time, a shrill scream came from not far away. Clearly, someone among their group of Cultivators had been successfully ambushed.

Wang Lin's eyes flashed with brilliance; he recognized this Vicious Beast!

Although its appearance was somewhat different, this Vicious Beast gave Wang Lin the exact same feeling as the strange creature that had rushed out of the Ancient God's skull in the Demon Spirit Land!

With a cold snort, Wang Lin waved his hands, and a fierce wind swept around him, forcefully blowing away the pervasive mist. Many Cultivators performed similar actions. Almost everyone immediately used their Divine Abilities to disperse the mist. In an instant, the mist within tens of thousands of zhang was forcefully pushed back, creating an open space here!

On the twenty-eight platforms, three were now empty.

A cold aura permeated the air, and a chill emanated from the Cultivators' bodies. Beyond tens of thousands of zhang in all directions, there was only mist, impenetrable, enveloping all positions—up, down, left, and right.

Faint, whimpering roars indistinctly emanated from the surrounding mist. Immediately after, under the gaze of Wang Lin and the others, eerie figures were revealed within the mist.

Humanoid Vicious Beasts flickered in and out of sight within the mist. At a glance, it was impossible to tell how many there were!

They were everywhere!

"Fellow Daoists, no matter which clan you belong to, our arrival here, being teleported to the same place, can be considered fate. With the current crisis, let's not hold back any longer… This old woman has read many ancient texts and has some understanding of this ancient tomb. Currently, we are only in the outer reaches of this tomb. Only those who survive the tomb's trial will be qualified to enter its interior…" The old woman, whose presence had previously caused all Cultivators to display confused expressions, now spoke slowly in a hoarse voice.

The moment her voice fell, the humanoid Vicious Beasts in the surrounding mist roared wildly, all rushing out of the mist and heading straight for the twenty-five Cultivators on the twenty-eight platforms!

This scene was mind-shattering; the number of Vicious Beasts was no less than several thousand!

Wang Lin's eyes flashed. He saw violent emotions within these Vicious Beasts; these emotions were the fuse for igniting Void Fire!

Void Fire Cultivators, whether in the Inner Realm or Outer Realm, were extremely mysterious existences, rarely encountered by other Cultivators. However, the terrifying and distinct signs of Void Fire's Divine Ability were widely renowned in the Outer Realm's Primordial Stars!

Precisely because such Cultivators were rare even over tens of thousands of years, rumors had almost elevated Void Fire Cultivators to powerful figures comparable to Three-Step Grandmasters!

The various rumors concerning Void Fire Cultivators filled the hearts of the Primordial Stars Cultivators, especially these numerous Cultivators here, all of whom were highly cultivated individuals. They had all heard those terrifying rumors.

Rumor has it, a Void Fire Cultivator can make an army vanish with a wave of their hand… Rumor has it, wherever a Void Fire Cultivator's gaze falls, the seven emotions and six desires arise, irresistible… Rumor has it, a Void Fire Cultivator is like a nightmare hidden in the mind, igniting an enemy's emotions and burning them to death… Rumor has it, when a Void Fire Cultivator rages, they can ignite everyone's wrath, becoming the sole person standing on a mountain of corpses, gazing up at the starry sky… Rumor… Rumor… Still rumors… Except for the Annihilation Clan girl, no one here knew, not even the woman in white, that the rumored Void Fire Cultivator was hidden among them… Void Fire, when not unleashed, is invisible…