Chapter 16: The Grand Opening at the Imperial Martial Arena, the Confrontation of Sovereign Powers, and the Divine Alchemy Challenge

The autumn dawn over the imperial city of Chang’an broke not with a gentle rise of gray light, but with a sudden, breathtaking explosion of purple and gold.

From the central floating island of the Imperial Palace Archipelago, three hundred ancient bronze bell towers struck in unison, their deep, harmonic vibrations resounding across the three-hundred-mile expanse of the metropolis. The sound was so pure, so laden with ancient imperial luck, that it swept away every trace of morning haze, leaving the azure sky crystal clear from horizon to horizon.

Below, the wide marble avenues of the capital—normally bustling with regional merchants and local array scholars—were now packed with a continuous, surging sea of over two million spectators. Cultivators from all seven continental dynasties, hidden rogue cultivators from the sea islands, and young disciples from prestigious central sects squeezed against the gold-inlaid stone guardrails, their excited chatter creating a deafening rumble that echoed against the eighty-foot black dragon-stone city walls.

Today was the opening day of the Grand Central Immortals’ Gathering.

At the high eastern district of the capital stood the Imperial Martial Arena—a colossal, floating amphitheater forged from solid white dragon-vein marble and dark Star-Iron. Suspended two thousand feet in the air by twelve massive, glowing chains of liquid starlight anchored to the surrounding mountain peaks, the arena was wide enough to easily seat five hundred thousand spectators around a central floating stage three miles in diameter.

At the highest tier of the arena’s northern seating pavilion hung seven massive silk banners, each fifty feet long, representing the Seven Great Dynasties of the Central Divine Continent. Below them sat the grand high-backed thrones designated for the sovereign delegations.

When the nine flying warships of the Lin-Su Alliance glided smoothly into the sky-docks reserved for high sovereign powers, a collective gasp rippled through the hundreds of thousands of spectators already seated in the arena!

“Look! That’s the delegation from the Eastern Province!”

“The Lin-Su Alliance! They actually brought their flying warships directly into the arena sky-docks!”

“Look at that white-and-green clad young master leading them… is that Lin Chen?!”

“He looks so young… but the aura around him is so terrifyingly calm! It’s like looking into a deep, bottomless ocean!”

Lin Chen walked smoothly down the silver-plated gangway of the flagship Grand Azure Sovereign. He was dressed in a pristine white silk robe layered over a dark pine-green tunic embroidered with delicate silver nine-tiered pagoda patterns. His long, glossy black hair was bound neatly at the crown with a dark purple jade clasp, leaving a few soft strands to frame his strikingly handsome, tranquil face.

Flanking his left side was Su Qingyao, her ice-blue silk dress swaying with pristine, untouchable elegance, her hand resting gracefully on the hilt of her cold Nine-Ice sword. To his right walked Huang Yanyan, wearing a vibrant, voluptuous crimson silk dress that clung to her alluring curves, her red lace fan twirling casually between her slender fingers as her crimson eyes swept over the massive crowd with amused delight.

Behind them walked Zhao Ling, fully clad in her dark silver dragon-scale armor, her hand resting on her heavy sword as she led a guard of thirty elite, stern-faced Alliance disciples.

The delegation moved with an unshakeable, sovereign composure that instantly commanded the respect—and awe—of every observer in the grand arena. They did not walk like a provincial faction seeking approval; they walked like a sovereign dynasty claiming their rightful seat.

Princess Li Zhaoyang, standing at the head of the Grand Tang seating pavilion, stepped forward personally to welcome them, gesturing toward a raised, white-jade platform situated on equal level with the Seven Dynasties.

“Young Master Lin, Miss Su, Lady Huang,” Princess Li Zhaoyang greeted them warmly, her clear voice carrying a deep, genuine respect. “Your seats have been prepared at the sovereign front tier.”

“Thank you, Princess Li,” Lin Chen replied smoothly, taking his seat at the center of the plush, jade-carved throne. Su Qingyao and Huang Yanyan seated themselves gracefully on his left and right, while Zhao Ling stood like an immovable dark steel pillar directly behind his right shoulder.

Before the Alliance delegation could even settle onto their cushioned seats, a sudden, suffocating wave of intense, burning heat erupted from the western sky-docks!

BOOM!

The temperature inside the five-mile amphitheater instantly spiked by twenty degrees! The air warped violently with visible thermal waves, smelling strongly of sulfur, scorched bronze, and ancient, heavy medicinal ash.

Out of a tearing red spatial rift in the high sky, a colossal, hundred-foot flying chariot forged entirely from burning crimson bronze emerged! The chariot was pulled by eight massive, flame-scaled Sun-Crested Fire Beasts, each emitting loud, terrifying roars that vibrated the marble floorboards under the spectators’ feet!

Standing at the front of the blazing bronze chariot was an ancient man in his late sixties, dressed in deep crimson-and-gold elder robes embroidered with a blinding, nine-rayed sun emblem.

His face was withered and stern, carved with deep lines of ancient pride, and his long white beard fluttered in the heat-waves. His eyes burned with two concentrated clusters of golden solar flame, radiating the heavy, suffocating pressure of a Peak Golden Core Master at the half-step Nascent Soul threshold!

This was Yin Fearless—the Grand Elder of the Imperial Sun Sanctuary, and father of the humiliated Yin Tianming!

Flanking him were fifty inner sanctuary elders and elite disciples, all clad in uniform red-and-gold martial robes, their expressions dark, proud, and aggressive. Among them stood Yin Tianming, his face pale, his hands trembling slightly as he stood three paces behind his father. Although his dantian had recovered under high-grade sanctuary pills, the golden furnace seed that Lin Chen had planted deep within his spiritual core made him shudder every time he caught a glimpse of Lin Chen’s white-robed figure!

Grand Elder Yin Fearless stepped off the bronze chariot, his heavy red leather boots striking the white marble floor with a loud, echoey CRACK that fractured the stone beneath his feet!

His burning, golden-tinted eyes swept across the arena, locking directly onto Lin Chen seated calmly on his jade throne!

The atmosphere inside the entire half-million-seat arena froze in an instant! The cheerful chatter died away completely, replaced by a tense, suffocating silence so absolute that only the distant ringing of the imperial bronze bells could be heard.

Yin Fearless walked forward, stopping thirty paces in front of the Lin-Su Alliance platform. His voice boomed across the massive amphitheater like rolling thunder, shaking the very glass in the floating VIP pavilions!

“Lin Chen!” Yin Fearless roared, his voice laced with burning, golden-core origin fire that made lower-stage cultivators in the lower stands clutch their ears in pain. “You possess a sharp mouth and ruthless methods for a provincial junior! You humiliated my son in the Heavenly Dao Pavilion, slaughtered thirty maritime vessels of our allied alliance, and dared to send a wooden token to my sanctuary gates threatening my life?!”

The crowd gasped in collective shock!

Although rumors of the incident at the Boundary Sea had circulated for days, hearing the Grand Elder of the Imperial Sun Sanctuary openly declare it in front of half a million people sent a shudder down everyone’s spine!

Lin Chen, however, did not even stand up from his white-jade throne.

He leaned back comfortably against the plush velvet cushion, resting his right elbow on the carved armrest, his cheek supported lightly by his hand. He took a slow, casual sip of the hot Imperial Dragon-Well Tea served by a maid, before looking down at the furious ancient elder with a serene, amused smile.

“Grand Elder Yin Fearless,” Lin Chen spoke softly, his voice amplified by his Sovereign Void Domain so that it echoed with crystal clarity into the ears of every person in the arena. “I see Lord Blood-Shark delivered my token to you intact. That is good. I was concerned an old man of your advanced age might suffer a sudden heart stroke before reading my message.”

“YOU!” Yin Fearless’s face turned bright red with explosive, unadulterated fury! The golden solar flames in his eyes flared three feet into the air, causing the stone floor around his boots to melt into liquid bronze slag!

“Presumptuous brat!” Yin Fearless barked, taking a heavy step forward, his immense half-step Nascent Soul pressure locking onto Lin Chen’s body like an falling mountain! “Do you truly think that because you lucked into an ancient spatial artifact, you have the right to look down upon the Imperial Sun Sanctuary?! Today, on this imperial court stage, I will personally strip away your cultivation and refine your soul in our Sun-Furnace for a hundred years!”

Before Yin Fearless could unleash his aura, Princess Li Zhaoyang stepped sharply between the two platforms, her crimson imperial sleeves snapping in the wind, her face cold and majestic.

“Grand Elder Yin!” Princess Li Zhaoyang called out sternly, holding up the Imperial Gold Token of Grand Tang. “This is the Imperial Martial Arena of Chang’an! All disputes during the Immortals’ Gathering are to be settled strictly through the official tournament stages—either on the alchemy platform or in the martial ring! Private combat inside the royal spectator area is strictly forbidden by imperial decree!”

Yin Fearless gritted his yellowed teeth, his chest heaving as he suppressed his burning rage. He looked at Princess Li Zhaoyang, then back at Lin Chen, his eyes narrowed into two lethal, razor-thin slits of solar fire.

“Good! Very good!” Yin Fearless sneered, a sinister, cruel grin twisting his withered face. “Princess Li, my sanctuary will abide by your imperial rules!”

He pointed his long, bony finger directly at Lin Chen’s face.

“Lin Chen! The first event of the gathering is the Grand Alchemy Master Challenge!” Yin Fearless announced loudly, his voice echoing across the arena. “My Imperial Sun Sanctuary will send our Senior Alchemy Master, Elder Sun Baicao—a Peak Seventh-Rank Alchemy Grandmaster! If you have the guts, step onto the alchemy stage and face us! If your provincial alliance loses… you will surrender the Heavenly Dao Spatial Core and kneel before my sanctuary gates!”

The crowd held its breath, all eyes turning toward Lin Chen! A Seventh-Rank Alchemy Grandmaster! In the entire Central Divine Continent, there were fewer than ten Seventh-Rank Alchemy Grandmasters, and Sun Baicao was widely regarded as one of the top three!

Lin Chen set his teacup down onto the small jade table with a quiet, elegant CLINK.

He slowly rose from his throne, his pristine white-and-green silk robes falling into smooth, flawless folds. He walked gracefully to the edge of the jade platform, looking down at Yin Fearless and the haughty sanctuary elders behind him.

“A Seventh-Rank Alchemy Grandmaster?” Lin Chen murmured, a magnetic, sovereign smile appearing on his handsome face.

“And what if your sanctuary loses, Grand Elder Yin?” Lin Chen asked smoothly.

Yin Fearless let out a cold, arrogant laugh. “Lose?! Elder Sun Baicao has refined over four thousand high-grade pills in his lifetime! He has never lost an alchemy duel in fifty years! If by some impossible miracle my sanctuary loses… we will surrender three top-tier fire-vein spirit mines in the Central Territory to your Lin-Su Alliance!”

“Done,” Lin Chen agreed instantly, his golden-tinged eyes flashing with a brilliant, predatory light.

He raised his sleeve, gesturing toward the central floating arena stage three hundred yards away.

“Prepare your cauldrons, Grand Elder Yin,” Lin Chen declared, his clear voice resounding across the five-mile arena with unshakeable, divine authority.

“Because today… I am going to teach your sanctuary how true pills are refined.”

DRUM-ROLL! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The four grand imperial bronze drums surrounding the arena struck simultaneously, signaling the official start of the Grand Alchemy Master Challenge!

The central floating stage—a three-mile wide disc of white dragon-stone—was instantly divided into twelve high-tier alchemy platforms, each equipped with a Fourth-Grade Earth-Fire Array Node capable of drawing pure, subterranean magma heat directly from the earth-veins three miles below.

Twelve master alchemists representing the Seven Dynasties, the Three Sanctuaries, and major alchemy guilds stepped onto their designated platforms.

Among them, standing on Platform One, was Elder Sun Baicao of the Imperial Sun Sanctuary.

He was a tall, lean man in his seventies with long gray hair and a stern, arrogant demeanor. He wore an elaborate, red-and-gold alchemist robe decorated with seven glowing gold stars on his chest—the official badge of a Seventh-Rank Alchemy Grandmaster.

With a grand wave of his hand, a massive, eight-foot bronze alchemy cauldron materialized onto his platform! The cauldron was forged in the shape of a crouching three-legged toad, carved with ancient solar runes, and radiated a heavy, dense aura of a Fifth-Rank Supreme Alchemy Treasure—the famous Sun-Swallowing Toad Cauldron!

“Look! That’s the Sun-Swallowing Toad Cauldron!”

“An Fifth-Rank Alchemy Treasure! With that cauldron, Elder Sun’s success rate and pill purity will increase by at least thirty percent!”

“Look at his flame! That’s the Seventh-Rank Solar-Crow Fire!”

Elder Sun Baicao raised his right hand, summoning a cluster of brilliant, golden-red flame that took the shape of a soaring, three-legged crow! The immense heat from the flame caused the surrounding air on Platform One to crackle with white electric sparks!

Sun Baicao looked toward Platform Twelve—where Lin Chen stood—with a cold, contemptuous sneer.

“Provincial junior,” Sun Baicao called out arrogantly across the three-mile stage. “I hear you know a few basic herbal extraction tricks. Today, I am refining the Seventh-Rank Nine-Sun Reconstitution Pill! It requires seventy-two rare herbs, three hours of precise temperature shifting, and absolute flame control! What simple Third-Rank pill do you intend to refine to entertain the crowd?”

Lin Chen stood calmly on Platform Twelve.

He had not activated the platform’s Earth-Fire Array Node, nor had he brought out a heavy bronze cauldron. He stood in his clean white robes, his hands clasped loosely behind his back, looking at Sun Baicao with a tranquil, almost pitied expression.

“Seventy-two herbs? Three hours?” Lin Chen asked smoothly, his voice carrying clearly across the stage. “Grandmaster Sun… you spend three hours refining a single Seventh-Rank pill, and you call yourself a grandmaster?”

Sun Baicao’s face turned dark with instant anger! “Arrogant fool! Do you even know how complex the medicinal transformations of a Seventh-Rank pill are?! Without a Fifth-Rank cauldron and hours of careful condensation, any attempt to rush the process will result in an immediate cauldron explosion!”

Lin Chen let out a soft, magnetic laugh that sounded like clear water flowing over smooth river stones.

“That is because your methods are crude, your flame is polluted, and your cauldron is nothing more than an oversized iron pot,” Lin Chen said calmly.

Lin Chen raised his right hand into the open air.

HUMMMMMM!

He did not tap the Earth-Fire Array. He did not summon a worldly elemental flame.

Instead, from the deep center of his dantian—from his Nine-Ring Sovereign Golden Core—a tiny, three-inch cluster of pure, golden-and-silver fire emerged, floating gently above his open palm!

The moment that golden-and-silver flame appeared, an astonishing, terrifying miracle occurred!

WHOOSH!

Across all twelve alchemy platforms, the flames summoned by the other eleven alchemists—including Sun Baicao’s Seventh-Rank Solar-Crow Fire—instantly bowed downward toward Lin Chen’s palm like terrified servants kneeling before their supreme emperor!

The three-legged solar crow flame in Sun Baicao’s hand whimpered like a whipped dog, its golden brightness dimming by eighty percent as it trembled uncontrollably, refusing to obey Sun Baicao’s frantic commands!

“WHAT?!” Sun Baicao gasped in absolute, unadulterated horror, staring at his trembling flame in total disbelief! “My Seventh-Rank Solar-Crow Fire… IS KNEELING?!”

“What… WHAT KIND OF FLAME IS THAT?!” the grand judges in the VIP pavilion shouted, jumping out of their seats in complete shock!

“That isn’t an elemental fire!” an ancient alchemy ancestor from Grand Tang stammered, his eyes bulging out of his head. “That is… THAT IS AN INNATE ORIGIN FLAME! A FLAME BORN DIRECTLY FROM A PERFECT SOVEREIGN CORE!”

Lin Chen ignored the chaotic roars of the half-million spectators.

With a light flick of his left wrist, he withdrew twelve jade boxes from his storage ring. He opened them all simultaneously with a wave of his hand!

SWISH! SWISH! SWISH!

One hundred and eight rare, ancient herbal ingredients—including Nine-Leaf Celestial Ginseng, Dragon-Heart Marrow, Void-Lotus Petals, and Seven-Star Snow-Grapes—flew out of the boxes, hovering in a magnificent, swirling ring of green, red, and gold starlight around Lin Chen’s body!

“One hundred and eight herbs?!” Sun Baicao stammered, his mind short-circuiting as he watched the floating herbs. “He’s extracting one hundred and eight herbs AT THE SAME TIME?! WITHOUT A CAULDRON?!”

“Cauldrons are for those who cannot control their space,” Lin Chen said softly.

He raised his left hand, summoning the Nine-Illuminations Cauldron from his dantians space!

CLICK-CLACK-CLICK!

The eighteen-inch bronze sphere floated three feet above his palm, its nine concentric outer rings revolving at staggering, astronomical speed!

Lin Chen’s golden-and-silver Innate Origin Flame entered the hollow center of the revolving rings, creating a self-contained, spatial vacuum furnace of pure, absolute heat!

“Extract,” Lin Chen commanded smoothly.

WHOOSH!

The swirling ring of one hundred and eight herbs was drawn into the revolving bronze sphere simultaneously!

Inside the spatial furnace, under the absolute, micro-precise refinement of Lin Chen’s golden origin fire, the herbs did not burn or produce a single speck of ash. Within three seconds, all impurities were instantly vaporized into thin air, leaving behind one hundred and eight drops of pure, crystal-clear, glowing liquid essence!

“Three seconds…” a grand judge in the VIP stands whimpered, clutching his head in absolute, cosmic disbelief. “He extracted one hundred and eight high-grade herbs… IN THREE SECONDS?!”

Sun Baicao’s hands shook so violently that he nearly dropped his medicinal spoon onto his platform floor. His face was pale as a corpse, his heart pounding like a frantic drum against his ribs.

“N-No… it’s impossible! Extraction is only the first step!” Sun Baicao rationalized frantically, his voice trembling. “Condensation and Pill-Forming require delicate thermal balancing! If he tries to fuse one hundred and eight essences at once… the spatial pressure will blow his small bronze sphere to pieces!”

Lin Chen looked at Sun Baicao, his golden pupils flashing with a cool, sovereign light.

“Watch closely, Grandmaster Sun,” Lin Chen whispered. “This is how a Seventh-Rank Heavenly-Vein Sovereign Pill is born.”

Lin Chen brought his hands together in front of his chest, forming an ancient, divine spatial hand-seal!

CLANG!

The nine revolving rings of the Nine-Illuminations Cauldron locked into place simultaneously!

RUMBLE!

High in the sky above the Imperial Martial Arena, the clear blue heavens were suddenly enveloped by a miles-wide cloud of brilliant, glowing golden clouds! A rich, intoxicating herbal aroma—smelling of celestial dew, ancient pine, and honeyed lotus—descended like a waterfall, covering all five hundred thousand spectators in the arena!

Every cultivator who breathed in that aroma felt their dantians warm up instantly, their latent internal injuries healing at a visible, astonishing rate!

“Pill Aroma Cloud!” the ancient Grand Tang alchemy judge screamed, tears of pure ecstasy streaming down his withered cheeks! “PILL AROMA COVERING FIVE MILES! THAT IS THE MARK OF A FLAWLESS-GRADE EIGHTH-RANK DIVINE PILL!”

In the central stage:

Lin Chen slowly parted his hands.

FLASH!

The top lid of the Nine-Illuminations Cauldron opened gracefully.

Out of the bronze interior floated three thumb-sized, translucent amber pills!

Each pill was as clear as flawless crystal, inside of which miniature swirling clouds of golden fire and silver starlight revolved in an eternal, hypnotic dance. Around the smooth, perfect equator of each pill burned Nine Glowing Golden Rings—emitting crisp, musical tones that sounded like celestial bells ringing in the wind!

Flawless-Grade Nine-Ring Heavenly-Vein Sovereign Pills!

The entire arena fell into an absolute, dead silence so profound that not a single breath could be heard among the half a million spectators.

Sun Baicao looked at the three floating amber pills with nine golden rings, his legs turning to weak water. He staggered backward three steps, slamming his back against his Sun-Swallowing Toad Cauldron, before sliding down onto his knees on the cold marble floor, his eyes completely hollow, his spirit thoroughly, utterly broken!

“Nine… Nine Golden Rings…” Sun Baicao whispered, his voice trembling with profound despair. “Flawless Grade… without a single grain of toxicity… I… I have spent seventy years refining rubbish…”

Yin Fearless, standing on the Imperial Sun Sanctuary platform, turned completely pale! His hands clutched the stone guardrail so tightly that the white dragon-vein marble crumbled into fine white powder under his fingers!

Lin Chen casually raised his hand, catching the three glowing amber pills in a clear jade bottle before sealing the stopper with a golden tack.

He looked across the three-mile stage at Yin Fearless and the kneeling Sun Baicao, his dark green and white silk robes fluttering gently in the mountain wind.

“Grand Elder Yin,” Lin Chen’s smooth, magnetic voice carried across the silent arena, cool and unshakeable as an eternal mountain.

“Your Seventh-Rank Grandmaster has fallen.”

“Now…” Lin Chen smiled, his golden pupils locking onto Yin Fearless with an absolute, sovereign light.

“…hand over those three fire-vein spirit mines.”

[End of Chapter 16]