Chapter 10: The Heavenly Dao Pavilion, the Spatial Descent, and the Primordial Trials

The ancient spatial altar at the summit of Meteor Mountain was not constructed from mundane stone or worked granite. It was a massive, ninety-nine-sided monolith of ancient Void-Cleansing Obsidian, brought down from the upper realms during the Primordial War five thousand years ago.

Each of its ninety-nine faces was engraved with glowing, silver spatial runes that throbbed in silent, harmonic unison with the nine aligned stars hanging directly above the Central Capital. The air surrounding the altar was so warped by localized gravity that ordinary birds flying within three hundred yards of the perimeter were instantly flattened into mist, their bodies crushed by the raw, unyielding weight of spatial pressure.

Around the base of Meteor Mountain, three thousand heavily armored imperial guards held back a surging crowd of nearly fifty thousand spectators, elders, and disciples. The atmosphere was thick with tense, suffocating anticipation.

“Look! The spatial rift is opening!”

A high-pitched, tearing sound—like silk being ripped across a mountain peak—echoed through the heavens!

SCREECH!

A hundred-foot-wide seam of absolute, terrifying darkness split open directly above the obsidian altar! Out of the seam poured a thick, cascading waterfall of pale golden liquid starlight—the Heavenly Dao Origin Vapor! The moment the vapor touched the air of the mortal realm, the temperature around Meteor Mountain plummeted by twenty degrees, while the spiritual energy density within a ten-mile radius soared to dizzying heights!

Standing on the high stone dais near the altar were the young elites chosen to represent the Eastern Province:

• Lin Chen, dressed in his iconic white silk robes embroidered with gold leaf, his posture relaxed, his expression unreadable and calm.
• Su Qingyao, standing at his left in her icy-blue gown, her fingers lightly resting on the hilt of her Ice-Heart Divine Sword.
• Huang Yanyan, positioned at his right, her crimson dress catching the golden starlight like liquid fire, her Golden Core aura perfectly suppressed beneath a three-layer concealing array provided by Lin Chen.
• Zhao Ling, standing as an immovable shadow behind them, her dark silver armor spotless, her eyes sharp as a mountain falcon’s.

Beside them stood the remaining VIP entry candidates from the Eastern Province—a select group of seven young geniuses from the Heavenly Sword Sect, the Mystic Fire Pavilion, and the Clear Water Palace. Among them was Senior Disciple Lu Tian of the Heavenly Sword Sect, a quiet, sharp-eyed sword master who immediately bowed respectfully toward Lin Chen the moment their eyes met.

“Young Master Lin,” Lu Tian said softly, his voice full of genuine respect. “Once inside the spatial rift, spatial dispersion will automatically separate incoming cultivators based on their origin energy attributes. My sword brothers and I will seek to assemble at the Northern Frost Oasis marked on our sector maps. If Young Master Lin requires our sword blades to clear peripheral beasts, please send a spirit signal!”

Lin Chen gave Lu Tian a pleasant, polite nod. “Thank you, Brother Lu. Exercise caution inside. The Eastern Province is no longer fighting merely against itself.”

Lin Chen’s gaze drifted past the altar toward the opposite edge of the mountain summit.

There, emerging from three distinct silver spatial arrays that had just materialized on the mountain face, were the entrant delegations from the other two major territories participating in the Heavenly Dao trials!

To the north stood the delegation from the Northern Frost Empire—twelve young men and women clad in heavy, white beast-bone armor and silver fox capes. Leading them was a tall, pale young man with eyes like icy blue glass named Prince Han Wu. He stood holding a seven-foot-long dragon-bone halberd, his cultivation radiating the dense, heavy pressure of a Peak Foundation Establishment Master who had mastered ancient ice-shattering body techniques!

To the west stood the far larger, immensely arrogant delegation from the Central Divine Continent—twenty-four elite disciples from the Three Great Divine Sanctuaries.

They wore sweeping, gold-and-purple silk robes emblazoned with the triple-sun crest of the Imperial Sun Sanctuary. Every single one of their twenty-four members was at least at the Late-Stage Foundation Establishment Realm, with three leading individuals standing firmly at the Half-Step Golden Core Realm!

Leading the Central Divine Continent team was a young man named Yin Tianming. He held a glowing jade folding fan, his handsome face fixed into a cold, superior sneer as he looked down at the Eastern Province delegates as if they were filthy insects crawling through dirt.

“Heh,” Yin Tianming sneered, his voice amplified by spiritual energy so that every cultivator on the mountain heard his contempt clearly. “The Eastern Province really is declining with every passing decade. Look at them… they actually sent a nineteen-year-old boy in white silk as their top candidate! Do they think the Heavenly Dao Pavilion is a poetry festival for backwater nobility?”

The disciples of the Imperial Sun Sanctuary let out loud, mocking laughs!

“Young Master Yin speaks the truth!” an elite disciple behind him chimed in. “They probably spent all their provincial wealth just to buy five entry keys, hoping their little country bumpkins can pick up a few scraps of ancient herb-dust off our boots!”

Su Qingyao’s icy eyes narrowed slightly, her hand tightening on her sword hilt.

Huang Yanyan’s red fan opened with a crisp SNAP, a dangerous, wicked red spark flashing deep within her crimson pupils. “Husband… can I tear his tongue out before we enter the rift? It will take only two seconds.”

Lin Chen gently placed his hand on Huang Yanyan’s soft shoulder, his warm smile remaining completely undisturbed.

“Why waste energy on a dead man talking, Yanyan?” Lin Chen said casually, his voice echoing smoothly across the mountain summit, completely cutting through the laughter of the Central Divine Continent team. “A dog barks loudest when it steps onto strange ground because it fears the true master of the house.”

Yin Tianming’s sneer froze instantly! His face turned dark and malicious, his jade fan snapping shut in his hand!

“Little country bastard!” Yin Tianming hissed, his eyes burning with toxic, murderous intent. “You have guts! Let us see if your bones are as hard as your mouth once the spatial rift closes!”

RUMBLE!

Before Yin Tianming could take a step forward, the giant spatial seam in the sky above expanded violently! A hundred-foot beam of pure, blinding golden starlight slammed down onto the obsidian altar, enveloping all forty-five candidates in a massive, zero-gravity spatial elevator!

[System Interface Active: Spatial Rift Transition Detected]

[Entering Ancient Fragment World: The Heavenly Dao Pavilion]

[Gravity Differential: 3.2x Standard]

[Origin Energy Density: 12x Standard]

[Initiating Attribute Spatial Anchoring for Host & Companions…]

SWISH!

In a flash of blinding silver and gold light, forty-five figures vanished completely from the summit of Meteor Mountain!

The sensation of spatial descent inside the Heavenly Dao Pavilion was not like ordinary teleports through short-range arrays. It felt as though one’s soul were being drawn through a endless tunnel of swirling liquid starlight, stripped of direction, weight, and time.

However, while other candidates struggled against the overwhelming spatial nausea and gravitational disorientation, Lin Chen stood completely erect inside the glowing silver transport channel.

Using his System Spatial Anchoring, Lin Chen held tightly onto Su Qingyao’s hand with his left, while his right arm firmly clasped Huang Yanyan’s waist. Zhao Ling remained anchored directly behind his shadow, her body linked to Lin Chen’s origin energy field like an unbreakable anchor.

BOOM!

A heavy, low thud echoed as their feet slammed down onto solid ground!

The blinding silver light dissolved, revealing a landscape that made even the experienced Zhao Ling gasp in quiet amazement.

They were standing at the edge of a colossal, red-tinted obsidian cliff overlooking a vast, ancient world that stretched as far as the eye could see.

The sky above was not blue; it was a deep, majestic indigo twilight, painted with two shimmering, pale blue moons and swirling clouds of purple star-dust. Towering mountain ranges made of solid, glowing crystal pillars rose thousands of feet into the sky in the far distance.

The air was so heavy with dense, ancient origin energy that every breath felt like drinking warm, liquid spirit-wine. Giant, prehistoric flora—three-hundred-foot fern trees with leaves made of translucent red jade and glowing blue spirit-mushrooms as large as houses—covered the vast valley floor below the cliff.

“Is this… the Heavenly Dao Pavilion?” Su Qingyao whispered softly, looking around at the surreal, ancient landscape.

“This is merely the Outer Primordial Ring,” Lin Chen corrected smoothly, looking up at the sky.

In the exact center of the world, floating three thousand feet above the distant crystal mountain ranges, was a magnificent, mind-boggling structure.

It was a giant, nine-tiered golden pagoda, miles wide, suspended in mid-air inside a swirling ring of liquid golden lightning! Ancient, glowing runes—each the size of a mountain—revolted slowly around the pagoda’s perimeter, emitting a subtle, rhythmic pulse of divine origin energy that resonated directly with every cultivator’s soul!

[System Feature Active: World Map Scan – Heavenly Dao Pavilion]

[Location: Outer Ring Sector 7 – Crimson Crystal Cliff]

[Primary Target Identified: The Nine-Tiered Heavenly Dao Pagoda (Core Realm)]

[Distance to Core: 420 Miles]

[Environmental Hazards: Ancient Beast Territory, Spatial Wind Cracks, Ancient Dao Arrays]

[Resource Density: EXTREMELY HIGH]

Huang Yanyan stepped to the edge of the cliff, her red silk dress fluttering in the warm, herb-scented wind, her crimson eyes gleaming with excitement. “Husband, my spiritual sense can feel ancient fire-type herbs growing in the canyon below! The density of spiritual energy here is at least double that of our Dragon-Tiger Secret Realm!”

“Indeed,” Lin Chen nodded. “The ancient cultivators who created this world merged seven high-tier spirit veins into its foundation. Every herb growing here has been nourished by pure starlight for over five thousand years.”

ROAR!

Suddenly, a blood-curdling, thunderous roar shattered the tranquility of the valley!

The ground beneath their obsidian cliff shook violently! From the dense red jade fern forest five hundred yards below, a massive beast crashed through the ancient trees!

It was a Crimson-Scale Obsidian Ape—a terrifying ancient beast thirty feet tall, its body covered in pitch-black armor-plates that glistened with dark red fire runes! Its eyes burned like two spheres of molten magma, and its cultivation pressure was equivalent to a Peak Foundation Establishment Cultivator!

In its massive, clawed hand, the ape was clutching a glowing, five-hundred-year-old Nine-Leaf Starlight Lotus!

And running frantically up the stone path toward Lin Chen’s cliff, covered in blood and dark purple dirt, were three young disciples from the Clear Water Palace of the Eastern Province!

“SAVE US!” the lead female disciple screamed in total panic, her blue robes tattered, her arm bleeding heavily! “SENIOR LIN! SAVE US!”

The thirty-foot Obsidian Ape let out another deafening roar, raising its massive, mountain-like fist to smash the three fleeing disciples into bloody paste!

“Zhao Ling,” Lin Chen instructed calmly, his voice devoid of any rush or emotion.

“Understood, Young Master!”

SWISH!

Zhao Ling’s figure vanished from the cliff edge instantly!

In the next microsecond, a razor-sharp, three-hundred-foot beam of pure, blinding silver sword-light split the twilight sky in half!

[Dragon-Blood Sword Technique: Crescent Dragon Flash!]

CRACK!

The massive, thirty-foot Obsidian Ape froze in mid-stride. Its magma-burning eyes blinked once in absolute, utter confusion.

A thin, glowing silver line appeared along its thick, iron-hard obsidian neck.

SPLASH!

A fountain of dark, boiling monster blood erupted fifty feet into the air as the massive head of the Peak Foundation Establishment beast slid cleanly off its shoulders, crashing onto the stone path with a thunderous BOOM!

The giant body collapsed a second later, shattering three ancient fern trees like dry matchsticks!

Zhao Ling landed softly on top of the dead beast’s chest, her silver sword unsheathed by only three inches, returning to its scabbard with a crisp, echoing CLACK.

She reached down with her left hand, smoothly plucking the undamaged, glowing Nine-Leaf Starlight Lotus from the beast’s severed claw, before blurring back to the top of the cliff, kneeling on one knee before Lin Chen, offering the rare herb up with both hands.

“Young Master,” Zhao Ling reported quietly. “The target is eliminated. The herb is secured.”

The three surviving Clear Water Palace disciples, who had just collapsed onto the stone path below in sheer exhaustion, stared up at Zhao Ling and Lin Chen with their mouths wide open, completely struck dumb by horror and awe!

A Peak Foundation Establishment ancient beast… killed in a single, careless flash of a guard’s sword!

“Th… thank you, Young Master Lin! Thank you, Senior Zhao!” the female disciple stammered, bowing repeatedly on the dusty path!

Lin Chen took the glowing Starlight Lotus from Zhao Ling’s hand, examining its golden-petaled stem with a satisfied, discerning eye.

“A five-hundred-year Starlight Lotus…” Lin Chen remarked smoothly, his golden origin fire analyzing the herb’s internal energy structure. “Combined with the Seventh-Grade Fire Vein liquid from our secret realm, this single herb can be refined into three Starlight Rebirth Pills—capable of granting a Foundation Establishment master an instant thirty-percent boost in core energy.”

He looked down at the three trembling Clear Water Palace disciples on the path.

“Take your spirit recovery pills and head toward the eastern valley,” Lin Chen advised them calmly, tossing a small porcelain bottle down to them. “The beasts in this outer ring are territorial. As long as you do not enter the central crystal zone alone, you will survive until the exit rift opens.”

“Thank you, Young Master Lin! May the heavens bless your journey!” the three disciples cried out in deep gratitude, grabbing the bottle and hurriedly retreating into the safer outer perimeter.

Lin Chen turned back to Su Qingyao, Huang Yanyan, and Zhao Ling.

“The outer ring is merely a nursery for herbs,” Lin Chen said, his eyes turning toward the floating nine-tiered golden pagoda four hundred miles away in the sky. “The true treasures—and our friends from the Central Divine Continent—are all waiting for us at the core.”

He reached out, taking Su Qingyao’s hand. “Let us set sail across this ancient realm.”

Over the next forty-eight hours, the Heavenly Dao Pavilion became a bloody, chaotic battleground.

More than forty elite geniuses from the three major provincial territories clashed across the dangerous terrain of the outer and inner rings. Ancient killing arrays, hidden traps left by five-thousand-year-old sects, and fierce territorial ancient beasts claimed the lives of eight candidates within the first two days.

However, wherever Lin Chen’s group traveled, the dangerous ancient realm seemed to transform into a tranquil, peaceful garden tour!

Using his System World Map Scan and Stage Three Divine Oversight, Lin Chen avoided every single ancient spatial wind-crack and deadly hidden array with absolute, effortless precision!

• When they crossed the Toxic Purple Mist Marsh, where ancient dark vipers slaughtered two Northern Frost Empire disciples, Lin Chen simply flicked his sleeve, releasing a small wisp of his Innate Heavenly Furnace Fire. The terrifying golden origin flame burned away ten miles of purple toxic mist in three breaths, creating a completely sterile, clean golden highway for them to walk across!
• When they reached the Nine-Star Crystal Valley, where a hundred-year-old Dragon-Blood Ginseng was guarded by a horde of three hundred flying Iron-Beak Vultures, Huang Yanyan simply stepped forward, releasing a single thread of her Golden Core Demon Empress Pressure. The three hundred ancient beasts shrieked in primal horror, dropping out of the sky like dead stones, paralyzed with fear while Su Qingyao casually harvested the Ginseng!

By the morning of the third day, Lin Chen’s group had collected over forty rare, ancient herbs, three chunks of high-grade Void Space Ore, and two ancient jade scrolls containing lost cultivation techniques!

And finally… they reached the foot of the Floating Pagoda Mountain!

The base of the floating pagoda mountain was a massive, circular white marble plaza two miles wide, surrounded by eight towering stone pillars carved with ancient dragon and phoenix motifs.

This was the Grand Dao Crossing Plaza—the mandatory staging area where candidates from all territories had to pass through the Eight-Trigram Trial Array to open the floating staircase leading up into the Nine-Tiered Heavenly Dao Pagoda!

When Lin Chen, Su Qingyao, Huang Yanyan, and Zhao Ling walked onto the marble plaza, they found that two other groups had already arrived.

Standing on the northern side of the plaza were Prince Han Wu and the eight surviving members of the Northern Frost Empire. They were covered in frost-dust and beast blood, looking tired yet stern, their dragon-bone halberds resting on the marble floor.

And standing arrogantly in the center of the plaza, completely occupying the primary activation platform of the Eight-Trigram Array, were Yin Tianming and twenty-two elite disciples of the Imperial Sun Sanctuary from the Central Divine Continent!

Not a single member of the Central Divine Continent team looked tired or injured. They had clearly used high-grade imperial protection artifacts to bypass the outer dangers, holding their pristine gold-and-purple robes in pristine condition.

The moment Yin Tianming saw Lin Chen step onto the plaza, his handsome face twisted into an intensely cruel, mocking sneer.

“Well, well, well!” Yin Tianming laughed loudly, his jade folding fan snapping open as he stepped to the front of the platform. “Look who finally managed to crawl out of the mud! The little country master from the Eastern Province!”

The twenty-two sanctuary disciples behind him let out dark sneers, their hands resting on their spirit weapons, instantly forming a defensive perimeter that completely blocked access to the Eight-Trigram activation array.

Yin Tianming looked at Lin Chen, his eyes filled with absolute, undisputed territorial arrogance.

“Lin Chen,” Yin Tianming declared, his voice booming across the white marble plaza. “By decree of the Imperial Sun Sanctuary, this Eight-Trigram Trial Array and the entrance to the Nine-Tiered Pagoda are now under the total control of the Central Divine Continent!”

Yin Tianming pointed his jade fan at the floor in front of his boots.

“If your backwater group wants to enter the pagoda to pick up our leftovers…” Yin Tianming sneered, his voice dropping into a malicious, humiliating register, “…you must hand over all the spirit herbs you harvested in the outer ring, and you, Lin Chen, must kneel on this marble floor and kowtow three times to apologize for your disrespect on Meteor Mountain!”

Prince Han Wu of the Northern Frost Empire frowned deeply, his hand gripping his dragon-bone halberd tighter, but he remained silent, unwilling to draw the wrath of the Imperial Sun Sanctuary upon his own wounded team.

The entire marble plaza went dead, suffocatingly quiet.

Su Qingyao’s icy aura flared violently, the temperature on the marble plaza dropping instantly as frost coated the floor for fifty yards around her feet!

Huang Yanyan let out a low, dark giggle, her red lace fan covering her face, her crimson eyes flashing with a terrifying, bloodthirsty light that threatened to unseal her Golden Core demon origin!

Zhao Ling’s silver sword unsheathed half an inch, a razor-sharp dragon hum echoing through the air!

However, Lin Chen remained completely, delightfully calm.

He gently patted Su Qingyao’s hand, giving her a reassuring look, before walking three steps forward, stopping thirty yards in front of Yin Tianming’s platform.

Lin Chen looked at Yin Tianming, then looked at the twenty-two elite sanctuary disciples standing behind him.

“Hand over our herbs?” Lin Chen asked softly, his tone pleasant, curious, and utterly devoid of any fear. “Kowtow three times?”

“Exactly!” Yin Tianming boasted, feeling immensely satisfied by Lin Chen’s calm demeanor, mistaking it for timid compliance! “Kowtow now, and I might leave you with your legs intact!”

Lin Chen let out a warm, smooth laugh that resonated like clear silver bells across the ancient plaza.

“Yin Tianming,” Lin Chen said, his golden-tinged eyes fixing directly onto Yin Tianming’s pupils. “You have been sitting on your high throne in the Central Divine Continent for so long that you have forgotten a fundamental law of the cultivation world.”

Lin Chen slowly unclasped his hands from behind his back.

“A dog that barks from a golden cage…” Lin Chen declared, his voice suddenly swelling with a divine, terrifying weight that shook the marble pillars of the plaza, “…is still just a dog.”

[System Feature Active: Innate Heavenly Furnace – Stage Three Full Release!]

[Origin Domain Expansion: Golden Realm Suppression!]

BOOM!

A column of pure, blinding golden origin fire shot into the indigo sky directly behind Lin Chen!

A terrifying, five-hundred-foot phantom of an ancient Divine Heavenly Furnace materialized in the air above the plaza, burning with pure golden origin flames that made the space around the platform warp and crack like brittle glass!

The sheer, overwhelming pressure slammed down onto the marble plaza like a falling sky!

CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!

The pristine white marble floor beneath the feet of the twenty-two Imperial Sun Sanctuary disciples shattered instantly into fine dust!

“WHAT?!” Yin Tianming shrieked in absolute, horrifying terror as his knees slammed violently onto the shattered marble floor, his jade fan snapping into pieces under the intense gravity pressure!

All twenty-two elite sanctuary disciples were forced down onto their hands and knees, screaming in agony as their proud gold-and-purple silk robes were scorched black by the intense, radiant heat of the Golden Furnace!

Not a single one of them could stand! Not a single one of them could raise their heads!

Lin Chen walked forward with slow, unhurried steps, his white silk robes immaculate, passing right through the middle of the kneeling, trembling sanctuary disciples like an imperial emperor walking through a hall of defeated slaves.

He stopped directly in front of the kneeling, terrified Yin Tianming.

Lin Chen looked down at him, a warm, radiant, and deeply terrifying smile resting on his lips.

“Now…” Lin Chen asked softly, leaning down slightly, “…who was it that needed to kowtow?”