A bit over three years ago, a basement under the 12th Tower of the [Void Palace].

"You see, young Huo, there are far more ways to increase one's cultivation and dominance over the Void than the ones taught by your master." Song Lin nearly whispered his words into the ears of the willingly listening Huo Ah, one of the few disciples he had persuaded enough by now. At least to be sure of the safeness of involving him into his plans.

As Huo Ah nodded, Song Lin continued, "The few experiments we ran, don't they show you that the so-called evil ways are just another side of cultivation? That they do not turn you into a demon, or the other stupid myths that Shen Kun and his peers like to talk about?"

"Master Song is right. They do not." Huo Ah, who had just made a breakthrough by consuming the remaining essence, a combination of the waning life force, qi, and martial comprehension from a fellow cultivator, a rogue one that Song Lin captured and killed for the matter, instantly agreed. He spoke as his already bowing head dropped even lower.

"But the way I am trying to create, one to absorb not only the essence but the entire cultivation, it requires far more than a body." Song Lin continued his prepared speech, stopping at the right time to check Huo Ah's reaction.

And seeing the desire in his listener's eyes, which rose as Song Lin paused, the Elder knew he had succeeded. Thus, he continued, "Using the way of dual cultivation, coupled with a similar method to the one you just used, it is even possible to obtain the entire cultivation of the target, turn it into a simple resource to further your own!"

Based on writings he found during the battle against one of the smaller sects of the [Demon Worshipper] region, Song Lin had tirelessly worked to recreate it. All while hoping that, one day, he would break through his limits, the ones causing him to remain a 4th level Warrior King for nearly seventy years. And it seemed as it was a viable one, evil or not. But still, it was merely an incomplete method, something that Song Lin was quite close to but had yet to work out.

From the six disciples Song Lin had been persuading, Huo Ah would be the only brave or stupid enough to risk everything to test the so-called method.

And now, it was time to complete that part, to test it. As planned, on some unsuspecting, low-level, rogue cultivator, one whose disappearance would pass unnoticed.

***

Yet, Huo Ah was far more stupid than Song Lin accounted. The damned bastard wouldn't wait for the Elder to locate a suitable target or spend, as planned, time to woo the woman. No, the idiot, as soon as it was possible, launched himself on a female cultivator, which not only was from a power capable of crushing the [Void Palace] but also was in the [Ice Phoenix Ravine] as a guest of it!

And while Huo Ah surprisingly had at least one good quality, loyalty, not revealing Song Lin's involvement to either the [Delicate Forest Palace] or the interrogators from the [Void Palace] itself, it still forced Song Lin to leave. Leave because of fear that the other five of his followers, three of which weren't even present in the Palace, could yield to the pressure surrounding the incident.

After finishing the matter with his tool, apprentice as Xun Gengxin considered himself - Song Lin returned to the manor Bai Qi and his companions called home for these days. He would remain hidden, observing every development, from Bai Qi's seclusion to him leaving it. And then, Song Lin followed Bai Qi, hidden inside the Void and from a safe distance, as the latter moved to the [Main Arena].

The sudden attack by the three Warrior Kings on Bai Qi's path toward the event nearly thwarted Song Lin plans. And he was very close to interfering, as the female beastmen showed their previously suppressed prowess, dispatching the attackers even before reinforcements arrived.

***

After the unsuccessful attack, Song Lin followed Bai Qi to the Main Arena, where he chose to break up distance, entering the building as one of the many spectators, concealing his cultivation and identity, and proceeding on to the simple stands of the mortals. Enemy or not, Song Lin considered Bai Qi very capable of giving a fight to most of the Arena Masters, and Song Lin would root, even bet, for his victory, as most of the commoners and non-cultivators around.

***

Bai Qi's duel against [Xinhuai], while not leaving the latter as heavily wounded as Song Lin would have desired, also went along with his plans.

With his objective complete, it would be time for Song Lin to leave the [Main Arena], yet he found himself somehow attracted by Bai Qi's prowess. Granted, he would act on his words about not allowing Bai Qi to live, but for now, Song Lin decided to continue admiring the young Warrior Lord, who turned out to be a genuine genius, nothing like his now dead, so-called apprentice.

As Bai Qi battled the [Princess] and the [Yi Clan Lightning], Song Lin felt even something like guilt for the deed he would have to commit, depriving the plane of such a promising cultivator. And yet, with Song Lin's temperament taking over, the spontaneous sentiment was quickly forgotten,

***

The following events, all part of the unpredictable attack on [Zihoadao], messed up Song Lin's plans far more than Bai Qi's involvement could have. Song Lin stayed inside the Main Arena's formation as they developed. But as the five peak Warrior Kings attacked, wounding his patron, Lai Luoyang, while doing so, he had to scrap up everything, prioritizing his own life.

While just a 7th level Warrior King, the [Void King] could have played a significant role in thwarting the attack, but he held neither the desire to defend others nor he ever considered such an option. Using the ensuing chaos, Song Lin moved toward the edge of the arena's building. And using Xu Wen's starting clash as a distraction, he dived inside the Void, successfully escaping while remaining unnoticed.

***

Feeling how from obstructing the passage of any cultivator, at least from within itself, the defensive dome over the city suddenly changed to do so only with Warrior Emperors, strengthening its effect from the 5th to the 6th level, Song Lin decided to take the chance to escape. Yet, as he, remaining inside the Void, approached the edge of the city, he suddenly noticed a familiar aura,

Interested by such development, as he had actually expected for them to either remain hidden or have already perished under the unexpected assault, Song Lin found himself tracking down that woman, and what was his surprise as he saw how she, another but weaker female Warrior King, Bai Qi, the two Saint Beasts, and a couple of unconscious cultivators, one of which was the one he had assaulted to help Xun Gengxin, were approaching the teleportation formation.

Song Lin quickly understood what their intention was. And remaining hidden, he moved towards the formation, checking on the latter's defenses.

Since Song Lin had left the Main Arena of [Zihoadao], he had sensed a Warrior Emperor's presence, one inside the formation itself. Initially, he had assumed it to be one of the defenders - one tasked to clear the entire city, but, as it would turn out, he was mistaken. The Warrior Emperor, whose aura flared from time to time, pulsating as the latter's senses scanned the entire city, was no friend to [Zihoadao], the deaths and destruction on its trail being proof of such.

Song Lin had no desire to meet or even get close to such a threat, as probably the Warrior Emperor would not ask anything before killing him. But he also understood that such presence was one of a commander, probably the one overlooking the entire attack.

Meditating on what he knew, Song Lin concluded that his escape, even if using the Void, could be noticed. And so, he required some distraction, like the one that had just made itself apparent.

Song Lin found himself inwardly smirking as he stepped out of the Void and lowered himself to the ground, just two feet away from the city-wide protective formation.

*Swoosh* *Swoosh* *Swoosh*

Careful to not release even a single strand of qi or aura, Song Lin's hands danced in an intricate pattern, forcing a small rip in the planar space to appear.

*Rip*

Then, locking on the last known position of the attacking Warrior Emperor, Song Lin spoke up, "An elder of the [Void Palace] is about to try and crash through the defenses of the teleportation formation. Her intention, as well as of the recent Arena's Conqueror, Bai Qi, is to call for reinforcements to help [Zihoadao]."

Not asking for anything, not introducing himself, Song Lin's plan was perfect. And it would have remained a secret for everyone if not for his true self surfacing just a moment after the Emperor's aura suddenly exploded.

"Enjoy your death for crossing me, the [Void King]. And for giving birth to me." An absolutely unrequired, even dangerous movement, but Song Lin opened yet another rip before disappearing into the Void himself, sending a message to Bai Qi and He Delan, his second part meant solely for her.

A message that far later would turn out to be his undoing, painting a target on his back, but at that moment, he neither had an idea of it nor cared about anything but his own pride as the [Void King]. His shallow revenge for having to escape from the [Void Palace] some three years ago. Along with a similarly shallow one for interfering in his plans.