Chapter 13: The Golden Core Threshold, the Void Transport Array, and the Envoy from the Divine Continent

The morning sunlight over the Central Capital was no longer the soft, hesitant gold of early autumn. It was a radiant, piercing luminescence that seemed to bend around the contours of the floating island chain of the Royal Lotus Palace.

Where five floating islands had once hovered in quiet solitude above the northern district of Imperial Dragon City, there was now a vast, majestic arch of floating landmasses, bound together by thick, glowing chains of liquid starlight. At the heart of this soaring archipelago stood the primary estate of the Lin-Su Alliance—a breathtaking sprawling palace complex built from white dragon-vein marble, polished spiritual rosewood, and tiles carved from purple jade.

Above it all, suspended three thousand feet in the azure sky like a silent, divine sentinel, hung the phantom halo of the Nine-Tiered Heavenly Dao Pagoda.

It was no longer an ethereal projection or a temporary illusion. Since Lin Chen re-anchored the Seventh-Rank Heavenly Dao Spatial Anchor beneath the core foundation of his estate, the pagoda had become physically tethered to the province’s earth veins. Every breath of wind that passed through the pagoda’s celestial open tiers filtered down into the capital below, dropping rich, aromatic spirit-mists that bathed the entire northern quadrant of Imperial Dragon City in perpetual, year-round bloom.

Down on the ground, the property values in the surrounding districts had soared by forty times. Grand patriarchs of ancient noble houses and retired ancestors of hidden cultivation clans had built modest villas as close to the perimeter of the Royal Lotus Palace as the alliance guards would allow, merely to breathe the stray spirit-dew that drifted off the floating islands each morning.

Inside the Subterranean Spirit Chamber of the Royal Lotus Estate:

A hundred yards beneath the central palace floor lay a massive, circular cavern carved directly into a natural vein of Nine-Color Spirit Crystal. The walls were so densely lined with high-grade spiritual ores that the entire chamber glowed with a self-luminous, soothing azure light.

At the center of the cavern sat Lin Chen.

He was cross-legged upon a raised platform of white jade, his hands resting lightly on his knees in the traditional posture of origin contemplation. His white-and-green silk robes lay completely still, untroubled by any draft, yet the air within three yards of his body was warped by an intense, visible gravitational distortion.

[System Interface Active: Cultivation Status Review]

[Host: Lin Chen]

[Current Cultivation: Third Level Foundation Establishment (Peak Stage)]

[Origin Energy Purity: 100% (Innate Heavenly Furnace Mastery)]

[Spatial Law Integration: Void-Cleansing Domain – Level 2 (Enhanced)]

[Fate Value Points Balance: 25,800 Points]

[Golden Core Breakthrough Readiness: 99.8%]

Inside Lin Chen’s dantian, the change was profound.

The original golden liquid origin core—which had once been the size of a plum pit—had condensed into a dense, solid sphere of brilliant gold and silver light, no larger than a dragon’s eye. Around its smooth, flawless equator, three distinct rings of silver spatial runes revolved slowly, emitting rhythmic pulses of energy that vibrated in perfect harmony with the spatial anchor mark on his right hand.

He was at the absolute, razor-thin threshold of the Golden Core Realm.

Ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivators spent decades, sometimes centuries, accumulating enough spiritual energy and searching for rare, life-extending pills just to attempt the Golden Core breakthrough. Even then, nine out of ten candidates failed, their dantians shattering under the volatile, untamed heavenly tribulation fire.

Yet for Lin Chen, reaching the peak of Foundation Establishment in less than a year was not merely a matter of speed—it was the natural, inevitable result of his Innate Heavenly Furnace and his total integration of the Heavenly Dao Pavilion’s spatial core.

RUMBLE…

A faint, deep vibration echoed through the spirit cavern floor.

Lin Chen opened his eyes slowly. His golden-tinged pupils flared with a brief, terrifying burst of golden origin flame before dissolving back into calm, deep black.

He exhaled softly. A long, thin stream of white spirit-gas shot out from his lips, traveling three yards through the air before striking the solid spirit-crystal wall with a sharp CLANG, leaving a half-inch indentation in the rock!

“Not quite yet,” Lin Chen murmured smoothly to himself. “My foundation is flawless, but forcing the Golden Core breakthrough inside the Central Capital would trigger a Fourth-Grade Heavenly Tribulation that would flatten half of Imperial Dragon City. The breakthrough must be conducted inside the closed space of the Pagoda’s Ninth Tier… or on the ocean expanse of the Central Divine Continent.”

He rose from the jade platform with effortless grace, his silk robes falling into smooth, immaculate folds without a single wrinkle.

Step. Step.

The heavy, spirit-sealed bronze doors of the chamber slid open with a deep, grinding thud.

Standing in the brightly lit corridor outside was Zhao Ling. She was fully clad in her dark silver dragon-vein armor, her hand resting habitually on the hilt of her sword. The moment Lin Chen stepped through the threshold, she dropped smoothly onto one knee, bowing her head with quiet, absolute devotion.

“Young Master,” Zhao Ling reported softly. “Miss Qingyao and Lady Yanyan are awaiting you in the Grand Array Pavilion. The master builders from the Heavenly Sword Sect and the Northern Frost Empire have completed the primary alignment for the Void Transport Array.”

“Has the spatial core responded?” Lin Chen asked, stepping past her into the brightly lit corridor.

“Perfectly,” Zhao Ling replied, rising to follow one step behind his left shoulder. “Senior Disciple Lu Tian personally calibrated the thirty-six Void-Origin Crystal Pillars we retrieved from the Ninth Tier. The spatial corridor between our capital estate and the Northern Frost Royal Capital has been successfully tested. A message can now travel three thousand miles in less than two breaths.”

“Good,” Lin Chen smiled, a satisfied spark lighting his eyes. “A grand power cannot rely solely on martial suppression. If information and resources cannot flow instantly across our domain, we are merely an oversized warlord alliance. Lu Tian has done well.”

The Grand Array Pavilion:

Situated on the highest tier of the central floating island, the Grand Array Pavilion was a vast, open-air marble structure offering a three-hundred-and-sixty-degree panoramic view of the entire floating island chain and the sprawling capital below.

At the center of the pavilion floor, inlaid into a thirty-yard circle of dark black Star-Iron, were the thirty-six Void-Origin Crystal Pillars. Each pillar was eight feet tall, carved with intricate silver spatial runes that glowed with a continuous, soft violet light. In the center of the array, a five-foot swirling vortex of translucent silver liquid starlight hovered quietly three inches above the stone.

Su Qingyao stood near the control dais, wearing a stunning white silk dress embroidered with delicate icy-blue lotus patterns. Her long, silky black hair fell down her back in a neat weave secured by a silver hair-pin shaped like a soaring phoenix. She held a detailed parchment blueprint in her hands, discussing array node density with Lu Tian, the senior disciple of the Heavenly Sword Sect.

On the other side of the array, Huang Yanyan sat cross-legged on a luxurious velvet armchair, lazily swinging her slender legs over the armrest. She was dressed in her signature crimson silk gown, her red eyes watching the swirling spatial vortex with amused curiosity while sipping a glass of iced spirit-fruit wine.

“Young Master Lin!” Lu Tian called out immediately as Lin Chen walked into the pavilion, stepping back from the control dais to bow respectfully.

“Brother Lu,” Lin Chen greeted him with a polite wave of his hand. “There is no need for formal ceremony inside our array pavilion. How is the stability of the spatial corridor?”

Lu Tian’s face shone with excitement and immense professional pride. “Young Master Lin! It is nothing short of a miracle! The thirty-six Void-Origin Crystal Pillars you provided are of the highest Seventh-Rank grade. Ordinary spatial arrays suffer from severe energy decay and spatial turbulence when spanning more than five hundred miles. But this array… the spatial tunnel is as smooth and solid as a stone highway!”

Lu Tian gestured toward the swirling silver vortex in the center.

“An hour ago,” Lu Tian explained, “we conducted a live transport test. We sent a crate of fifty Third-Grade Spirit-Cleansing Pills through the vortex. In exactly 1.8 seconds, the crate materialized in the royal altar room of the Northern Frost Capital three thousand miles away! Prince Han Wu personally verified the arrival and sent back a crate of fresh Northern Ice-Ginseng!”

Su Qingyao walked up to Lin Chen’s side, handing him a gold-sealed parchment log.

“Lin Chen,” Su Qingyao said softly, her blue eyes shining with a warm, triumphant light. “With this Void Transport Array active, our Alliance’s commercial reach has completely bypassed the traditional land trade routes controlled by the old merchant guilds. We can deliver fresh pills and refined weapons anywhere in the province within seconds.”

“And the energy cost?” Lin Chen asked, scanning the parchment log.

“Minimal,” Su Qingyao replied smoothly. “Because the array is directly linked to the Heavenly Dao Pagoda’s spatial core floating above us, ninety percent of the spatial maintenance energy is drawn automatically from the ambient origin vapor in the sky. Our estate doesn’t need to burn a single middle-grade spirit stone to keep the corridor open!”

Huang Yanyan let out a sultry, melodic laugh from her velvet armchair, taking a slow sip of her iced wine.

“Husband~” Huang Yanyan purred, setting her glass down and walking toward him with her feline, intoxicating stride. She wrapped her arm around his waist, resting her chin against his chest. “Now that our trade net is complete and our backyard is secure… when do we go play in the Central Divine Continent? My fingers are itching to test my Golden Core demon flames on those arrogant sanctuary elders!”

Lin Chen chuckled warmly, wrapping his arm around her soft shoulders and drawing her close. “Patience, Yanyan. A grand house must be built brick by brick. The Central Divine Continent is vast, governed by three ancient divine sanctuaries and seven immortal dynasties that have existed for tens of thousands of years. We do not march in like blind conquerors.”

“Then how do we march in, Husband?” Huang Yanyan asked, her red eyes sparkling with playful mischief.

“We march in as the supreme lords of trade and medicine,” Lin Chen smiled, his golden-tinged eyes fixing onto the horizon. “We make their grand sanctuaries so dependent on our pills and spatial networks that they cannot afford to cross us, even if they wish to.”

SWISH!

Before Huang Yanyan could respond, a sudden, sharp whistling sound split the high clouds above Imperial Dragon City!

RUMBLE!

The defensive boundary of the Nine-Heaven Star-Gathering Array surrounding the floating islands did not trigger an attack, but its golden protective dome flared with a sudden, brilliant purple light!

High in the sky, three miles outside the perimeter of the Royal Lotus Palace, a magnificent, sixty-foot flying vessel materialized out of the clouds.

Unlike the sleek, black dragon-shaped warship of the Lin-Su Alliance, this vessel was forged entirely from polished white jade and bronze, built in the shape of a soaring, golden-winged dragon-phoenix. Its massive sails were made of purple silk embroidered with glowing gold runes, and three sweeping banners flapped in the wind, bearing the ancient, majestic emblem of the Central Divine Empire!

“A flying vessel from the Central Divine Continent!” Lu Tian gasped, his hand flying instantly to his sword hilt, his face turning solemn. “Look at those banners! That is the official royal insignia of the Grand Tang Divine Dynasty!”

Down in the streets of Imperial Dragon City below, thousands of citizens and low-tier cultivators looked up into the sky, pointing and shouting in hushed, anxious voices.

“Is that… an imperial envoy from the Central Continent?”

“Look at the aura of that vessel! It’s an Fifth-Rank Flying Treasure!”

“Are they here to seek revenge for what Young Master Lin did to Yin Tianming in the Heavenly Dao Pavilion?!”

Inside the Grand Array Pavilion, Lin Chen remained completely unbothered. His expression did not change by a single degree. He casually raised his hand, gesturing for Zhao Ling and Lu Tian to lower their weapons.

“Let them approach,” Lin Chen said calmly. “A dragon-phoenix jade vessel with open banners is an envoy’s entrance, not an invasion force.”

SWISH!

The sixty-foot white jade vessel glided smoothly through the sky, coming to a gentle halt fifty yards outside the Grand Array Pavilion’s marble balcony.

The vessel did not lower its defensive shields, but its grand bronze bow lowered slightly in a gesture of high diplomatic protocol.

Standing at the bow of the jade vessel were three individuals:

In the center stood a tall, elegant woman in her late twenties. She wore a grand, sweeping imperial gown of deep crimson and gold silk, her waist bound by a belt of white mutton-fat jade. Her hair was held in a majestic imperial hair-crown shaped like a soaring golden phoenix, and her face was breathtakingly beautiful—possessing a sharp, regal dignity that commanded natural respect.

Her cultivation pressure was exceptionally refined, radiating the dense, steady aura of a Late-Stage Golden Core Master!

Flanking her were two ancient men dressed in grey martial robes, both holding long black wooden staves. Their faces were withered like dry tree bark, yet their eyes shone with the sharp, terrifying brilliance of Peak Golden Core Masters!

The regal woman in crimson silk stepped to the railing of the jade vessel. Her clear, powerful voice carried across the fifty yards of open sky, echoing smoothly through the pavilion without a single thread of hostility.

“May I inquire…” the regal woman called out, her eyes locking directly onto Lin Chen standing at the center of the pavilion, “…if the young hero in white robes is Young Master Lin Chen, the Sovereign Lord of the Lin-Su Alliance?”

Lin Chen stepped forward onto the marble balcony, his dark green and white silk robes fluttering gently in the mountain wind. His hands were clasped loosely behind his back, his posture relaxed, his face illuminated by a pleasant, welcoming smile.

“I am Lin Chen,” he replied smoothly, his voice matching her volume effortlessly without needing to raise his tone. “And who might our distinguished guests from the Grand Tang Divine Dynasty be?”

The regal woman smiled slightly—a smile of genuine, polite interest. She folded her slender, silk-sleeved hands together across her waist and bowed her head in an official imperial greeting.

“I am Princess Li Zhaoyang, the Third Princess of the Grand Tang Divine Dynasty of the Central Divine Continent,” she announced clearly.

She gestured toward the two ancient grey-robed men beside her.

“These are my royal guardians, Elder Gu and Elder Feng,” Princess Li Zhaoyang continued. “We have traveled eight thousand miles across the Central Boundary Sea, not to wage war or demand tribute, but to deliver an official royal invitation from the Grand Tang Imperial Court to Young Master Lin!”

Lu Tian and the array masters in the pavilion held their breath!

The Third Princess of the Grand Tang Divine Dynasty! One of the three highest ruling imperial bloodlines of the Central Divine Continent! A nation that possessed dozens of Golden Core elders and Nascent Soul ancestors!

Su Qingyao walked up to stand beside Lin Chen, her icy eyes observing Princess Li Zhaoyang with quiet, discerning intelligence.

Huang Yanyan stepped to his other side, her red lace fan covering her lower face, her crimson eyes gleaming with playful, dangerous interest as she appraised the imperial princess’s cultivation and demeanor.

“An invitation from the Grand Tang Dynasty?” Lin Chen asked pleasantly. “May I ask what brings a royal princess across eight thousand miles of ocean to deliver an invitation to a backwater provincial alliance?”

Princess Li Zhaoyang let out a soft, melodious laugh that sounded like silver chimes.

“Young Master Lin is far too modest,” Li Zhaoyang said, her sharp eyes scanning the floating island chain, the thirty-six glowing Void-Origin Crystal Pillars, and the majestic pagoda phantom hovering in the sky above them.

“News of what transpired inside the Heavenly Dao Pavilion has already reached the high courts of the Central Continent,” Li Zhaoyang explained smoothly. “Young Master Lin single-handedly suppressed twenty-two elite disciples of the Imperial Sun Sanctuary, forced Yin Tianming onto his knees, unified the Northern Frost Empire, and re-anchored an ancient Seventh-Rank spatial realm to your personal estate.”

Her expression turned slightly more serious, her regal eyes gleaming with deep admiration.

“In the five-thousand-year history of our continent,” Princess Li Zhaoyang declared, “no young genius under twenty years of age has ever accomplished such a grand feat! My royal father, the Grand Tang Emperor, considers Young Master Lin to be a peerless dragon of our era!”

“And the invitation?” Lin Chen prompted calmly.

Princess Li Zhaoyang reached into her crimson silk sleeve, withdrawing a glowing, gold-leaf scroll bound by a purple dragon-silk ribbon.

“In three months,” Li Zhaoyang announced, “the Grand Tang Divine Dynasty will host the Grand Central Immortals’ Gathering in our capital of Chang’an! It is a gathering held once every thirty years, where the top young geniuses, grand alchemy masters, and sovereign factions from all seven central dynasties assemble to compete for ancient heritage slots and central trade monopolies!”

She gently tossed the gold-leaf scroll across the fifty yards of open sky.

SWISH!

The scroll glided through the air like a living bird, coming to a gentle, precise stop three inches above Lin Chen’s open palm before floating down smoothly into his hand.

“My royal father personally signed this imperial decree,” Li Zhaoyang said, her voice filled with sincere hope. “We invite the Lin-Su Alliance to enter the Central Gathering as an official Sovereign Provincial Power, with equal seating alongside the Seven Great Dynasties!”

Lin Chen looked at the gold-leaf scroll in his hand. The scroll radiated a rich, warm aura of imperial luck, sealed with the ancient dragon stamp of the Grand Tang Empire.

He looked back up at Princess Li Zhaoyang standing on her white jade dragon vessel.

“Equal seating alongside the Seven Dynasties…” Lin Chen murmured, a thoughtful, magnetic smile spreading across his handsome face. “Princess Li, your Grand Tang Dynasty is remarkably generous. But surely… such a high honor does not come without political calculations?”

Princess Li Zhaoyang did not dodge the question. Instead, her smile broadened into an honest, sharp expression of an experienced imperial politician.

“Young Master Lin is as sharp as the rumors claim,” Li Zhaoyang admitted openly. “It is no secret that the Imperial Sun Sanctuary has grown increasingly arrogant in recent years, attempting to exert complete control over the central alchemy trade and spatial resources. By humiliating Yin Tianming, Young Master Lin has already offended the sanctuary. My Grand Tang Dynasty seeks a strong, reliable, and peerlessly talented ally in the upcoming gathering.”

She stepped to the edge of the vessel, looking at Lin Chen with genuine sincerity.

“If the Lin-Su Alliance attends,” Li Zhaoyang added, “our Grand Tang Dynasty will guarantee absolute diplomatic protection for all your trade branches within our imperial borders, and grant your alliance exclusive mining rights to three top-tier spirit-stone veins in the Central Territory!”

The offer was staggering! Diplomatic protection in the Central Territory and three top-tier spirit-stone veins!

Lu Tian felt his heart hammering against his ribs. This was an opportunity that every provincial sect in the Eastern Province had dreamed of for thousands of years!

Lin Chen held the gold-leaf scroll in his hand, feeling the rich imperial energy contained within it. He looked at Su Qingyao, who gave him a gentle, supportive nod; then at Huang Yanyan, who gave him a wicked, excited wink.

Lin Chen turned back to Princess Li Zhaoyang, his handsome face lit by a radiant, sovereign confidence that rivaled the morning sun.

“Princess Li,” Lin Chen said smoothly, closing his hand around the gold-leaf scroll. “Return to Chang’an and inform your royal father that the Lin-Su Alliance accepts the invitation.”

Princess Li Zhaoyang’s eyes lit up with intense, unfeigned delight! She bowed deeply from the bow of her vessel.

“Grand Tang awaits the dragon’s arrival!” Li Zhaoyang declared joyfully.

Lin Chen smiled, his voice echoing across the open sky with absolute, unshakeable ambition:

“In three months… we shall meet in Chang’an.”

[End of Chapter 13]