Chapter 658: Grand Symbol Master, Lin Dong Battles Flame Master
The figure beside the Dan River remained seated for over a month.
During that time, Lin Langtian's body sat as still as stone, his aura completely gone. Even the warmth of his body had faded, leaving him as cold as a lifeless corpse.
This scene puzzled not only the ordinary Heavenly Mansion disciples, but even the elders and upper echelon.
They had never seen anything like it. Yet despite their confusion, their experience told them one thing clearly: the Palace Master must not be disturbed. As a result, they strictly forbade anyone from entering that cultivation platform.
Under the bewildered and worried gazes of many disciples, the month passed quietly.
But as time flowed on, everyone gradually began to sense something strange.
Those with keen senses felt that, without their notice, an unimaginably vast and mighty power had been slowly gathering over the Heavenly Mansion.
That power was formless and elusive, yet it bore down on them with nearly tangible pressure. Only some of the strongest spiritual cultivators could clearly feel its presence—and it terrified them.
Because that was an endless sea of spiritual power.
That vast spiritual power made even those who had brushed the Samsara stage feel a faint sense of dread.
It spread above the Heavenly Mansion like a boundless ocean, leaving countless disciples trembling in unease.
As days passed, the spiritual power in the sky grew thicker and heavier.
From time to time, a low roll of thunder echoed above, each rumble carrying a destructive undertone that made one's scalp tingle.
This continued on until about a month and a half later, when something finally changed.
Rumble!
The disciples of the Heavenly Mansion were engaged in their daily cultivation as usual—but today was different.
From dawn, the sky had felt strangely heavy. The low thunder came more frequently and more urgently than usual.
By midday, the sky had grown almost completely dark. Above, black clouds rolled in, and within them countless bolts of lightning coiled and writhed like thunder dragons, exuding a terrifying might.
Boom!
Lightning flickered, bathing the Heavenly Mansion in stark white light as if it were midday once more. The ambient yuan power surged into a frenzy, leaving countless disciples aghast.
Rumble!
The thunder grew more urgent, the brilliant flashes of lightning so intense they could no longer be contained by the clouds. The atmosphere felt like that of an army of millions preparing to charge, making even the heavens tremble.
Suddenly, the thunderclouds above were violently torn apart. A deafening peal of thunder exploded as dazzling lightning blazed, drowning out all other light in the world.
Countless bolts of lightning, each ten thousand zhang long, tore from the stormy sky like wild thunder dragons. They fused into a vast waterfall of lightning that crashed down from the heavens, heading straight for the Heavenly Mansion.
The sight turned the faces of many disciples deathly pale.
The thunder dragons fell like a world‑ending flood, taking only a few breaths to descend within a thousand zhang of the sect.
At that moment, some disciples glimpsed—by the lightning's glow—the Palace Master who had been sitting in front of the Dan River for nearly two months… slowly standing up.
Lin Langtian lifted his head to watch the storm of lightning descend. His thin figure appeared tiny beneath it, yet the instant the disciples saw him, their terror vanished as if it had never existed.
As long as the Palace Master stood, the Heavenly Mansion would stand.
It was blind, irrational faith—but they believed it without doubt.
The countless thunder dragons converged, roaring together into a vast sea of lightning that rushed down with world‑shattering force.
Lin Langtian stared calmly at the oncoming sea, its waves reflected in his dark eyes. With a flick of his sleeve, flames erupted from his body.
Vermilion Bird Burning Sky Flame, Chaotic Otherworldly Demon Flame, and Nine Nether Flame burst forth like firefinch, demonic dragon, and crimson bird, radiating scorching heat and boundless might as they surged up to meet the sea of lightning. Heaven's thunder met earth's inferno in a clash of unimaginable ferocity.
As Lin Langtian's strength grew, the three flames in his body had advanced as well.
Any one of them alone might have struggled against the thunder sea. But together, they could force that world‑ending lightning to yield.
Boom!
High above, the three great flames stood in a triangular formation, enclosing the thunder sea between them.
The lightning, however, refused to submit so easily. Carrying its destructive power, it surged fiercely against its fiery prison.
Yet no matter how it raged, the three flames remained like iron walls, barring every escape.
They quickly spread, pressing in from all sides as the thunder sea shrank.
In just a few moments, the once‑boundless sea of lightning was reduced to a mere few thousand zhang. The wild fury once contained within had faded, leaving it as docile as a scolded child.
Seeing this, Lin Langtian flicked his sleeve again. The thunder sea descended, and under countless stunned gazes, formed a river of lightning thousands of zhang long that flowed slowly across the sky above the Heavenly Mansion.
Having calmed the thunder sea, Lin Langtian's lips curved slightly. He slowly spread his hands.
Boom.
At that moment, the vast spiritual power that had hung above the sect for nearly two months suddenly responded to his call.
It poured down like a tidal wave, streaming straight into Lin Langtian's body.
Yet even under this horrific influx of spiritual energy, his body remained like a bottomless pit. There was not the slightest sign of discomfort on his face—only a faint expression of intoxication.
In a matter of minutes, the endless spiritual sea that had so long terrified the Heavenly Mansion was completely absorbed into Lin Langtian.
As the last wisp vanished into his body, the dark sky finally parted to reveal warm sunlight, bathing the Heavenly Mansion in gold.
Countless eyes turned upward. There, a lone figure hovered quietly in mid‑air.
He simply stood there.
Yet no matter how the sect's strongest experts tried, they could not lock onto him. It felt the same as it had when Four Kings Hall had appeared: the man was clearly there… and yet utterly undetectable.
"What terrifying spiritual power… I never imagined the Palace Master's spirit would reach such a fearsome level," many Heavenly Mansion experts muttered in awe.
"If this old man is not mistaken, Palace Master Lin's spiritual power has stepped into the legendary Grand Symbol Master realm. The young master's sworn brother truly is a genius," the leader of the Golden Fiend Army said quietly beside Jin Wu.
A single Grand Symbol Master was enough to stand against a Samsara‑level expert.
"That thunder river contains unimaginably pure lightning power. It's perfect for tempering yuan power and the body. The Palace Master has done us all a great service," Du Guqi said with a laugh, staring at the river in the sky.
"Hehe, Elder Du Gu's thoughts are exactly why I did this," a calm voice replied. Lin Langtian's figure ghosted into view before them.
"Greetings, Palace Master!"
Startled for a moment, the gathered elders quickly bowed deeply.
As the founder and master of the Heavenly Mansion, Lin Langtian commanded not only utmost respect by station, but also by strength. The destruction of Yuan Gate had thoroughly convinced them all.
At this point, his prestige was nearly god‑like.
"No need for such formality. Rise," Lin Langtian said with a faint smile, unable to suppress the surge of pride in his heart.
This was the domain he had built with his own hands.
Now, the Heavenly Mansion not only boasted an army of elites, but he himself had also taken another great step forward.
A Grand Symbol Master—truly on par with the Samsara stage.
And there was even more to be pleased about.
The Golden Spirit Wheel Mirror had recovered enough demonic power to duplicate another Ancestral Symbol.
As for who would receive this precious copied symbol, Lin Langtian had already made his choice: Lin Dong's Thunder Ancestral Symbol.
After all, it was what they had agreed upon.
Thinking this, Lin Langtian's gaze turned in the direction of Dao Sect, and he smiled. Turning to Du Guqi, he said, "I'll be leaving the Heavenly Mansion for a time. I'll leave things here in your hands."
Du Guqi and the others blinked in surprise but voiced no objections. "Yes, Palace Master!" they replied respectfully.
The words had barely left their mouths before space around Lin Langtian twisted, and he vanished.
Only then did the high‑level elders finally relax. As his strength grew, so too did the pressure his presence exerted upon them. They barely dared breathe in his presence.
No one felt this more keenly than Du Guqi. When they had first met, Lin Langtian had been nothing more than a Nirvana‑stage disciple of Yuan Gate.
In less than ten years, he had become an overlord of the East Xuan Region and a Samsara‑level powerhouse.
Thankfully, he had chosen well back then.
Dao Sect.
Over one of its halls, space rippled and a green‑robed figure appeared—an uninvited Lin Langtian.
With his breakthrough to Grand Symbol Master and mastery over the Space Ancestral Symbol, slipping past Dao Sect's defenses posed little difficulty.
Glancing around after entering, he was about to search for Lin Dong when a terrifying surge of yuan power suddenly burst forth above.
Boom!
Lin Langtian looked up to see the sky behind him turning crimson. A blazing figure floated there—a man he knew very well.
Flame Master.
With a stomp of his foot, torrents of crimson yuan power erupted from Flame Master, gathering into a massive flaming palm that crashed downward.
Below, standing firm, was another familiar figure.
Lin Dong.
Seeing Flame Master move, Lin Dong's eyes flashed with cold light. Without any visible motion, thunderclouds spun into existence above his head.
A thousand‑zhang bolt of lightning roared down like a thunder dragon, slamming into the flaming palm.
Bang!
The clash sent a tremendous shockwave rippling out, warping the space around them.
Lin Langtian, just arrived, stared for a moment. Then, as realization dawned, his eyes narrowed. "Is this because of Ying Huanhuan?" he muttered to himself.
In the original timeline, he remembered that Flame Master and Lin Dong had clashed as well.
In ancient times, Flame Master had been one of the Ice Master's admirers. Naturally, he wanted Ying Huanhuan to awaken that identity as soon as possible.
But Lin Dong could never accept that. He loved Ying Huanhuan, not the cold and distant Ice Master.
Thus, conflict was inevitable.
From what Lin Langtian could see now, Lin Dong had also stepped into the Grand Symbol Master realm. Together with his near‑Samsara yuan cultivation, it would be impossible for Flame Master to suppress him with just this avatar.
"If you won't leave, I'll shatter this avatar of yours!"
Lin Dong's anger had clearly been stoked. With a flick of his sleeve, a beam of light shot into the sky, swelling rapidly into a vast, ancient array.
"The Ancient Universe Formation?" Flame Master's eyes narrowed slightly as he recognized it.
Boom!
Immense yuan power and spiritual power erupted from Lin Dong's body, forming two beams that poured into the Ancient Universe Formation.
As the formation spun, the two forces gradually merged, giving rise to a terrifying aura that slowly rippled outward.
Even Flame Master's eyes flickered at the pressure it emitted.
"Impressive," he said.
His hands came together and his eyes flushed crimson. The world instantly grew blisteringly hot as a blazing sun slowly rose behind him.
Ying Xuanzhi and the other Dao Sect members watched in horror as the two former allies came to blows.
If they fought in earnest, wouldn't they tear Dao Sect apart?
High above, the two men glared at each other coldly. Power surged, and in the next instant they would clash again.
"Stop! Don't fight! You are not allowed to fight!"
Before they could move, a sharp cry split the air. Frost swept across the heavens as a graceful figure appeared in front of Lin Dong.
She spread her arms wide to shield him, her eyes blazing with anger as she glared at Flame Master.
"What do you think you're doing?" she demanded coldly.
(END CHAPTER)
Thank you for the support, friends. If you want to read more chapters in advance, go to my Patreon.
Read 30 Chapters In Advance: patreon.com/Franklin1