At this moment, all of the spectators on the three stands were completely silent. The sound from the drum echoed across the area. This sound contained a kind of sadness, a wounded heart. Hearing this sound caused people to recall the past.

Everyone within the square, including the commander-in-chiefs, was silent.

The sublime feeling of a domain slowly trickled into people’s hearts through the sound of the drum and touched their souls.

Wang Lin’s hand was still on the drum. At this moment, this ring from the drum had spread his dao far and wide.

The scenes of his time with Li Muwan…

The loneliness of cultivating for 700 years…

Those 100 years he spent in the trial at the Heavenly Fate Sect…

The bleakness of walking down the street in Sky Demon City…

All of this suddenly stopped when he heard the zither music coming from the boat!

When the zither music entered his ears, it washed his body, cleansed his soul, and refined his dao.

The zither music that the woman played and the sound of the drum fused together at this moment. Wang Lin’s heart acted as a bridge to cause the two sounds to fuse. He used his hand to ring the drum and transmitted the sadness that had been hiding in his heart ever since Li Muwan left.

The sound of the drum echoed across the square. Some of the people who were around even shed tears as they pondered this sound. They were moved by the sound of the drum and were completely immersed in a world inside their own hearts. Various things from their past appeared in their hearts.

Every single person has a story, and that story is buried in their heart. However, there is a power that can drag out that story and let it surface, the power of resonance.

At the moment Wang Lin rang the drum, he sent out the sentiment he felt when he heard the zither music.

Among the demon generals, Mo Lihai revealed a look of reminiscence. Not only ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠him, even Shi Xiao revealed a hint of sadness.

Only one person was an exception, and that was Mo Fei. At this moment, he was calm, or rather, it could be called ‘indifferent.’ The sadness from the drum didn’t seem to resonate with him at all.

No one knew when the sound from the drum had stopped, but it wasn’t until long after it was gone that people gradually began to sober up.

At the moment they became sober, aside from commander-in-chiefs and a few other individuals, those that had sobered up were shocked to find that they had been crying.

The Xuan Vice Commander-in-Chief let out a sigh as he looked at Wang Lin, who was next to the demon drum. The complex expression in his eyes gradually disappeared and was replaced with admiration!

“Spreading his intent with the sound of the drum… Perhaps he is the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠person the Demon Emperor has waited countless years for… My cultivation, which has been stuck for so long, showed signs of increasing after hearing this sound…”

Aside from the Heaven Commander-in-Chief, each of the other commander-in-chiefs looked at Wang Lin with different expressions. However, the one thing in common was the shock on their faces!

No one knew more about the meaning of being able to carry intent in the sound of the drum than them!

This was a realm!

The Heaven Commander-in-Chief’s eyes were like lightning as he looked at Wang Lin, and the muddiness in his eyes had long disappeared.

“His name is Wang Lin…”

Wang Lin gently raised his right hand before turning around to look at his surroundings. Right now everyone was watching him.

His gaze fell on the golden-armored man.

The golden-armored man’s face was no longer gloomy but completely pale. He stared at Wang Lin and wasn’t able to say a word. Today, the cultivator before him had shocked him too many times!

At the start, he rang the drum five times with his expression never changing and his body remaining unmoved like it was a giant mountain. Then he rang it three more times to catch up to Mo Fei. Then the ninth and tenth rings came, and Wang Lin was forced back on the tenth ring.

At that moment, he thought it was all over, but in reality it had only just begun!

The eleventh ring from the drum came while he was still in shock.

If this sound from the drum was the same as before, he wouldn’t have been so alarmed, but this eleventh sound carried intent with it. The golden-armored man questioned himself and knew that even he couldn’t achieve this!

This had nothing to do with cultivation but with realm! A different level of domain and the refinement of the soul.

The golden-armored man would never in his life forget about what happened today. At this moment, he actually felt unwilling to go against Wang Lin, and this feeling was very strong.

“15 times and you will take off one of your own arms?” Wang Lin’s voice was calm, but at this moment, everyone was able to hear it clearly.

The golden-armored man’s scalp went numb. He would rather go up and fight Wang Lin. He was even more willing to fight Wang Lin without any powerful spells than to answer the question that came after the sound of the drum disappeared.

Wang Lin didn’t give the golden-armored man much time to respond. He withdrew his gaze, and for the first time, his gaze swept over the spectators. Each spectator appeared in his eyes, and all of them chose to avoid his gaze.

Of the six vice commander-in-chiefs, all but one of them avoided Wang Lin’s gaze when he looked at them. His eyes were filled with clarity as his gaze meet Wang Lin’s gaze.

This person was the Xuan Vice Commander-in-Chief. His eyes were clear and revealed a hint of regret when he looked at Wang Lin. Then he clasped his hands at Wang Lin.

Wang Lin nodded and moved his gaze. This time his gaze fell on the eight commander-in-chiefs. Each of them met his gaze, and it seemed like they had learned a lot about each other when their gazes met.

The Heaven Commander-in-Chief opened his mouth for the first time when Wang Lin’s gaze landed on him.

“Wang Lin, I have remembered your name!”

Among the demon generals, everyone avoided Wang Lin’s gaze. However, Shi Xiao let out a roar and forced his gaze to meet with Wang Lin’s gaze.

He revealed a hint of battle intent, but it was completely ignored by Wang Lin as he moved his gaze away.

Wang Lin’s gaze finally stopped on Mo Fei!

This person’s expression was still indifferent as he coldly looked at Wang Lin.

After withdrawing his gaze, Wang Lin slowly closed his eyes and placed his hand on the drum. Right now his goal was no longer to ring the drum!

At the moment the drum rang for the first time, Wang Lin felt the calling of the Ascendant stage! He had touched the border of the Ascendant stage!

“I want… Ascendant!” Wang Lin’s eyes didn’t open, but at this moment, his entire body was filled with a strong sense of confidence!

He placed his right hand on the demon drum.

Dong… Dong… Although his hand didn’t move, the drum suddenly rang. The sound turned into thunder and descended into this world.

The sadness from the second ring of the drum was stronger than the first. The fusion of the sadness of the two rings caused the sound from the drum to contain sadness as well.

Wang Lin softly said, “Still missing a bit…” As he said that, another sound came from the demon drum!

Three ring from the drum! The twelfth, thirteenth, and fourteenth rings from the drum echoed across the sky!

The sounds from the drum fused together, resulting in a force several times more powerful than before. This force left the demon drum and directly entered Wang Lin’s body through his hand.

At this moment, everyone heard a sound. It was the sound of things bursting coming from inside Wang Lin’s body. This sound was very crisp and couldn’t match the sound of the drum ringing. However, everyone that heard it felt a sense of comfort coming from their own marrow.

Drops of black liquid came out from all the pores on Wang Lin’s body.

“Marrow cleansing!” The Heaven Commander-in-Chief’s eyes shined brightly and revealed an admiration that he had never shown before.

“This is true marrow cleansing. Earlier you were merely cleansing the surface!”

The other commander-in-chiefs all looked at Wang Lin with a powerful sense of jealousy in their eyes. No one knew better than them why the demon drum was a treasure just below the dragon lake!

The dragon lake had the spirit of the ancient demon, and it acted as a teacher that taught them dao.

This demon drum was made from the skin of the ancient demon and contained the power of the ancient demon. Rumor has it that every demon emperor inherits a spell that allows them to ring the drum to extract the power of the ancient demon from within to help protect the glory of the Sky Demon Country!

To cleanse one’s marrow with the demon drum was originally an honor only the natives of the Sky Demon Country had. Foreigners had to have made a lot of contributions to be allowed a marrow cleansing.

Every commander-in-chief was given a chance to ring the drum when they accepted their position. The reward for ringing the drum was marrow cleansing.

However, whether they could achieve marrow cleansing depended on their cultivation.

The three rings from ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the drum fused into a powerful force that surged through Wang Lin’s body. His body didn’t have much impurities left as it was, and it was cleansed once more by the force from the drum.

“Fourteen times…” The golden-armored man’s face became even more pale.

Aside from the man in golden armor, everyone else seemed to have forgotten about this matter. They were all immersed in the sound that entered their ears and shook their hearts.

This was the sound of marrow cleansing!

When a person is going through marrow cleansing, the sound coming from their body shakes the bodies of the people who hear it. This creates a fluctuation inside the listener’s body that is weaker than the fluctuation inside the person who is going through marrow cleansing.

When Wang Lin opened his eyes, all of the impurities in his body had been forced out by the drum. At this moment, he felt as if his body was about to be sucked into the sky. Then he looked at the demon ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠drum, and his eyes filled with clarity.

“I, Wang Lin, have cultivated for 700 years. My cultivation has reached the peak of the late stage of Soul Transformation and my dao has fused with my body. I finally know why I still haven’t reached the Ascendant stage. Ascendant… Although my domain has fused with my body, my dao heart isn’t complete. In the end… deep in my heart, there is a trace of sadness, an injury, a sealed scar…

“When Li Muwan died, my domain reached a new level and entered my body… But Wan Er became a thought sealed in my heart…

“This is why I feel sadness when I listen to that woman’s zither music, I feel sympathetic… If I were to listen to that zither music for a hundred years until the woman playing the zither died, then at the moment she died, I would gain enlightenment. The sadness in my heart would disappear with the zither music… Leaving only a mark that will fuse with my soul…

“But today, by borrowing the power of this drum, I was able to experience the passing of a century in a short period of time. I fused all of my sadness with the drum and released it through its sound. When there is no more sadness left in my heart, my dao heart will be complete and I’ll reach the Ascendant stage…”

Wang Lin raised his hand and gently let it fall. At this moment, his thoughts, sadness, and everything about Li Muwan came out from the depths of his heart and rushed toward the demon drum with his hand.

“But doing this means I choose to forget… Do I really want to forget…” At this moment, Wang Lin’s hand trembled.