So when whispers spread—first in the corners of ruined sects, then in the mighty towers of the Sun Moon Empire—that Tang San was alive, mortal, and rebuilding the Tang Clan from the shattered bones of the past, fear gripped the planes.
Not awe. Not reverence. Fear.
Because if Tang San, the man who had once become a God King, had chosen to stay, to rebuild, and to cultivate anew, it meant only one thing:
He had no intention of following fate's path.
---
The Tang Clan's rebuilt compound stood like a quiet monument to resolve. Modest in size, but unyielding in spirit.
Within a sealed chamber deep underground, Tang San sat cross-legged on a stone dais. A single spirit ring floated around him—a black, 90,000-year ring—his eighth ring, trembling under the pressure of his current spiritual state.
His spiritual sea was no longer the same. The Primordial Breathing Method, now refined into its second layer, had begun expanding his soul foundation. It had not boosted his spirit power levels drastically, but the depth of his perception, control, and insight now rivaled demigods.
And it was with that clarity he saw the truth:
His older spirit rings had become constraints. Powerful once, yes—but now? Chains.
So he had crafted a forbidden technique, the product of months of silent thought, failure, and solitary refinement:
The Ring Rebirth Method.
No divine blessing. No ancient inheritance. Just logic, patience, and the ability to see what others could not.
The method was simple in principle, deadly in execution:
First, Tang San stabilized his spiritual sea with breathing cycles, using the Primordial Method.
Then, with microscopic precision, he severed his link to the spirit ring—not destroying it outright, but slowly "unbinding" the spiritual connection.
During this moment of disconnection, his body and soul entered a state of extreme vulnerability.
He had to act quickly—slay a stronger beast, absorb its spirit essence, and reforge a new bond before his internal meridians collapsed.
He had tested this process on projected simulations dozens of times.
And now he was ready.
His blade glinted as he rose and stepped out.
He didn't tell Xiao Wu. Not yet.
He left quietly that night and entered the wilderness—where a terrifying beast roamed: a three-headed void ape, aged 310,000 years.
---
The battle was brutal.
Not because Tang San was weak, but because he fought without divine power. Just technique, precision, and spiritual mastery.
When he slew the beast, he felt its will—stubborn, raging—and he forcibly subdued it using a mental projection technique he'd created during meditation: Soul Imprint Binding.
Returning to the chamber, his body bathed in blood and void essence, he sat, took one breath, and shattered his old eighth ring.
The pain was indescribable.
His meridians howled.
But his spiritual sea remained stable.
He pulled in the new essence, forced it into resonance with his own soul using the Primordial cycles, and after twelve hours of agony, forged his new eighth ring—a 310,000-year ring.
It gleamed with silver-black light.
His body shook, but he did not fall.
---
From that day on, Tang San continued forging his path.
He did not seek shortcuts.
He crafted new techniques daily:
Ninefold Ring Sync: Channeling all nine spirit rings into a single synchronized attack, harmonized to strike in one devastating moment.
Pulse Severing Step: A footwork technique that uses micro-vibrations of spirit energy to disrupt enemy blood flow.
Godless Realm Perception: A meditative state that allows him to temporarily nullify the presence of nearby divine or semi-divine entities from sensing him.
Reverse Flow Meridians: A body method where spirit energy flows backward in short bursts to awaken deeper cellular potential.
Each technique was a reflection of refined intelligence, not brute force.
The Sun Moon Continent watched in silence. Their machines, their cold logic, could not compete with a man who had once ruled the heavens—and was now walking among mortals with eyes wide open.
Some wanted to strike first.
But none dared.
Because the deeper fear was not what Tang San had become.
It was what he was becoming.
And he had only just begun.