Chapter 19: The Clash of Sovereigns, Shattering the Dragon-Vein Barrier, and the Triumph of the Sovereign Core
High above the three-mile-wide white marble expanse of the Sovereign Ring of Dragon-Gate, the mountain winds died away completely.
It was as if the ancient earth-veins beneath the city of Chang’an and the vast atmospheric currents of the Central Divine Continent had recognized that two supreme powers were standing face to face in the open sky, holding their breath in silent, awe-struck reverence.
On the western side of the high sky floated Prince Chen Tianfeng, Crown Prince of the Great Chen Dynasty. He stood tall and unyielding, clad in dark purple royal robes intricately embroidered with nine five-clawed golden dragons that seemed to shift and wriggle across the fabric like living creatures. His long black hair whipped around his sharp, sculpted face, and his deep, obsidian eyes radiated an unshakeable, ancient imperial arrogance. Around his frame, the atmospheric origin energy warped continuously, forming visible ripples of golden dragon-shaped aura that crackled with sub-zero spatial thunder.
Opposite him, floating weightlessly on the eastern side of the sky, stood Lin Chen.
Lin Chenās snow-white silk robes, layered over a deep pine-green tunic embroidered with gold and silver dragon scales, hung in smooth, flawless folds. His handsome, serene face held a calm, magnetic smile, his golden-tinged pupils reflecting the vast sky like a tranquil lake that no storm could disturb. He held no weapon, summoned no flashy defensive barrier, and released no loud, oppressive waves of spiritual energy. Yet, merely standing there, he seemed to be the absolute center around which the entire heaven and earth revolved.
Below them, half a million spectators held their breath in total, suffocating silence.
In the high VIP pavilions, the emperors, ancient sect ancestors, and imperial grand marshals leaned forward, their spiritual sense locked onto the two figures in the sky.
“Peak Seventh-Level Golden Core… with the legendary Sovereign Dragon Body!” an ancient ancestor from the Southern Phoenix Dynasty murmured, his trembling fingers clutching his wooden armrest. “Prince Chen Tianfengās foundation is truly horrifying! In terms of pure physical strength and dantians capacity, he is already comparable to a Middle-Stage Nascent Soul master!”
“And look at Lin Chen…” another ancient elder whispered, his eyes wide with profound confusion. “I can perceive his First-Level Golden Core realm, yet… why does my own Late-Stage Golden Core feel an instinctual, terrifying desire to kneel before him?!”
High in the sky:
Prince Chen Tianfeng slowly reached over his right shoulder, gripping the shaft of his long, pitch-black dark-iron spearāthe Nine-Abyssal Dragon-Slaying Spear, an ancient Sixth-Rank Supreme Sovereign Weapon!
CLANG!
As Chen Tianfeng drew the pitch-black spear, a deafening dragon roar echoed across the three-hundred-mile metropolis of Chang’an! A colossal, eight-hundred-foot phantom of a black imperial dragon erupted behind his back, its scales gleaming with dark purple lightning, its five sharp claws capable of tearing through mountain ranges!
“Lin Chen!” Chen Tianfengās voice boomed like continuous rolling thunder, shaking the massive Celestial Star Array barrier surrounding the arena. “In my twenty-eight years of life, I have defeated three hundred young geniuses across the Seven Dynasties! Not a single one could withstand three strikes from my Nine-Abyssal Spear! Your wives possess divine bloodlines and matchless talent, but today… you shall prove whether you are a true sovereign or merely a clever pretender!”
Lin Chen gently smoothed his wide silk sleeves, his golden pupils locking onto Chen Tianfeng with a cool, pleasant warmth.
“Prince Chen,” Lin Chen replied smoothly, his clear voice echoing effortlessly in the ears of every spectator. “Your Sovereign Dragon Body is indeed rare, and your spear intent is refined. However… the heavens are vast, and the sky you see from your royal throne is merely a tiny circle. Strike when you are ready.”
“Arrogant!” Chen Tianfeng sneered, his dark eyes flashing with explosive, imperial rage!
BOOM!
Chen Tianfeng stepped forward into the atmosphere!
The air beneath his boots exploded into a shockwave of purple lightning! In less than a microsecond, he breached the barrier of sound seven times over, transforming into a blinding, pitch-black beam of dragon-fire that shot directly toward Lin Chenās throat!
“Sovereign Dragon Art: First StrikeāDragon Tears the Void!“
The Nine-Abyssal Spear unleashed ten thousand black dragon-shaped spear rays, locking onto every single inch of space around Lin Chen! The sheer, oppressive weight of the attack shattered the air, turning the sky within five hundred yards into a swirling vacuum of destructive dark lightning!
The spectators gasped in absolute terror!
“Too fast! It’s too fast!”
“That strike can level a ten-thousand-foot mountain peak instantly!”
“Lin Chen didn’t even draw a weapon!”
Facing this world-ending spear strike, Lin Chenās expression did not change in the slightest.
He didn’t retreat. He didn’t summon a shield.
He simply raised his right hand, extending two slender, pale fingersāhis index and middle fingersāand casually thrust them forward into the storm of ten thousand black spear rays!
CLANG!
A crisp, metallic ringing sound echoed across the sky!
The ten thousand black dragon spear rays, the suffocating dark lightning vacuum, and the terrifying, unstoppable momentum of Chen Tianfengās Peak Seventh-Level Golden Core energy instantly vanished!
Chen Tianfengās eyes bulged out of his head in absolute, unadulterated horror!
His dark-iron spearāa Sixth-Rank Supreme Weapon carrying three hundred thousand jin of physical dragon-forceāhad been caught dead in its tracks!
Lin Chenās two bare fingers were clamping the glinting blade tip of the Nine-Abyssal Spear like an immovable vise of forged cosmic star-steel! Not a single hair on Lin Chen’s head was displaced, and his white silk robe remained clean and immaculate without a single wrinkle!
“WHAT?!” Chen Tianfeng roared, his heart pounding frantically against his ribs! “Caught… CAUGHT MY SPEAR WITH TWO FINGERS?!”
“Your force is dispersed, Prince Chen,” Lin Chen said softly, looking at him with a gentle smile. “A dragonās claw must be focused, not wild.”
“DIE!” Chen Tianfeng screamed in psychotic frustration!
RUMBLE!
Chen Tianfengās Sovereign Dragon Body flared with blinding purple light! He channeled ninety percent of his Golden Core origin energy into his arms, attempting to twist the spear shaft and tear Lin Chenās fingers to pieces!
Lin Chenās golden pupils flashed slightly.
“Flick,” Lin Chen whispered.
Lin Chen casually bent his middle finger and lightly flicked the side of the pitch-black spear tip!
BANG!
An unimaginable, astronomical spatial shockwave erupted from the point of impact!
The six-foot dark-iron spear shaft vibrated violently, generating high-frequency spatial ripples that shattered Chen Tianfengās royal purple sleeve into fine purple dust! The immense counter-force surged back into Chen Tianfengās arms like an erupting volcano, shattering his bone-guards and sending him blasting backward three hundred yards through the sky!
THUD! THUD! THUD!
Chen Tianfeng slammed his boots against the air three times to stabilize his frame, his arms numb, blood dripping from his palms, his eyes filled with total, incomprehensible shock!
The entire Imperial Martial Arena fell into a dead, suffocating silence!
Two fingers!
He caught the number one genius’s supreme spear strike with two bare fingers, and a casual flick of his finger sent the Crown Prince flying backward!
High on the royal platform, Princess Li Zhaoyang leaned forward, her heart racing so fast she could barely breathe. He didn’t even activate his core domain… He defeated Chen Tianfeng’s physical strength with pure spatial force!
High in the sky:
Chen Tianfeng wiped the thread of blood from the corner of his lips. His imperial pride had been thoroughly smashed, but instead of retreating in terror, his eyes burned with a wild, fanatical, maniacal light!
“Good! VERY GOOD!” Chen Tianfeng laughed madly, his voice echoing across the heavens! “Lin Chen! You are truly worthy of being my ultimate opponent! But if you think this is the limit of the Great Chen Imperial Family… YOU ARE GRAVELY MISTAKEN!”
Chen Tianfeng raised his left hand, slamming his palm violently against his own chest!
PFT!
He spat a mouthful of gold-tinted blood onto the Nine-Abyssal Spear!
“Blood Sacrifice of the Imperial Ancestors: Sovereign Dragon Awakening!“
BOOM!
The gold-tinted blood was instantly absorbed by the dark-iron spear! The pitch-black weapon turned a blinding, violent crimson red!
At the same time, the eight-hundred-foot black dragon phantom behind Chen Tianfeng expanded exponentially, growing into a colossal, two-thousand-foot Crimson Divine Dragon that covered half the sky above Chang’an!
Chen Tianfengās aura surged wildly, breaking through the Seventh Level, Eighth Level, and Ninth Level of the Golden Core Realm in three seconds, touching the absolute Half-Step Nascent Soul Peak!
The sky turned dark as night as storm clouds gathered, and lightning danced across the floating arena!
“Lin Chen!” Chen Tianfeng screamed, his hair dancing wildly, his voice sounding like a thousand dragons roaring together! “This is my final, ultimate technique! Nine-Heavens Dragon Slaughter: World-Ending Crimson Strike! DIE!”
Chen Tianfeng fused his body completely with the two-thousand-foot Crimson Dragon phantom!
The dragon transformed into a world-destroying crimson spear of divine energy, two thousand feet long, plunging down from the sky with enough force to shatter the entire three-mile floating arena into microscopic dust!
The protective Fourth-Rank Celestial Star Array barrier around the arena began to crack, groaning under the unbearable pressure!
“General Li! The barrier is collapsing!” an imperial array master screamed in panic. “The power of this strike has exceeded the Golden Core limit!”
“Reinforce the array!” General Li Tiangang ordered frantically, sweating profusely.
In the center of the sky, Lin Chen looked up at the two-thousand-foot crimson dragon spear descending upon him.
For the first time since the tournament began, Lin Chenās expression turned slightly serious.
“A respectable effort,” Lin Chen murmured softly. “In honor of your resolve, Prince Chen… I shall show you the power that stands above the heavens.”
Lin Chen took a deep breath.
Inside his dantian, his Nine-Ring Sovereign Golden Core began to revolve!
HUMMMMMM!
Nine glowing rings of golden-and-silver light erupted from Lin Chenās body!
ONE! TWO! THREE! FOUR! FIVE! SIX! SEVEN! EIGHT! NINE!
The nine spatial rings expanded into the sky, forming a nine-tiered golden mandala of divine light that spanned three miles across!
The moment the Nine-Ring Sovereign Core aura appeared, the descending two-thousand-foot crimson dragon phantom froze mid-air! Its terrifying momentum, its blood-fire energy, and its half-step Nascent Soul pressure were completely, utterly CRUSHED by the absolute spatial law of the Sovereign Core!
[System Interface Active: Sovereign Void World (Level 1)]
[Spatial Absolute Domain: Deployed]
[Target Suppression: 100%]
Lin Chen slowly raised his right hand into the open air, forming a simple fist.
“Collapse,” Lin Chen whispered softly.
BOOM!
The nine-tiered golden spatial mandala closed in on the two-thousand-foot crimson dragon!
CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!
The two-thousand-foot dragon phantom shattered into millions of sparkling crimson light fragments!
Chen Tianfengās body was forced out of the fusion, his Nine-Abyssal Spear snapping into three broken pieces of dark iron!
“AAAGHH!”
Chen Tianfeng let out a long, desperate cry as the divine spatial force slammed into his chest, breaking his Sovereign Dragon Bodyās defense and sending him tumbling down three thousand feet through the sky, crashing heavily onto the center of the white marble stage!
BOOM!
A massive fifty-yard crater opened in the white dragon-vein stone.
The dark clouds dispersed instantly. The bright, warm sun returned to the sky, bathing the Imperial Martial Arena in radiant gold.
In the center of the crater, Prince Chen Tianfeng lay on his back. His royal robes were torn, his dark-iron spear was broken, and his Golden Core was suppressed deep within his dantian, unable to muster a single thread of energy. He looked up at the sky, gasping for breath, his eyes filled with a mixture of total defeat and profound, overwhelming awe.
Floating gracefully thirty feet above the crater was Lin Chen.
His snow-white robes fluttered softly in the light breeze, his golden pupils calm, serene, and untouched by a single speck of dust.
Lin Chen slowly landed beside the edge of the crater, looking down at Chen Tianfeng with a calm, polite smile.
“You fought well, Prince Chen,” Lin Chen said softly.
Chen Tianfeng looked at Lin Chen for a long, silent moment. Then, a bitter, helpless smile appeared on his bloody face. He weakly raised his hand, bowing slightly from the ground.
“I… I lose,” Chen Tianfeng whispered, his voice trembling with deep respect. “The Sovereign seat… belongs to you.”
CHEERS! SKY-SHATTERING CHEERS!
The five hundred thousand spectators in the Imperial Martial Arena erupted into the most deafening, chaotic roar in the history of the Grand Tang Empire!
“LIN CHEN! LIN CHEN! LIN CHEN!”
“THE SOVEREIGN OF THE CONTINENT!”
“UNBEATEN! DIVINE! MATCHLESS!”
High on the royal platform, General Li Tiangang stepped forward, his eyes filled with profound reverence as his booming voice echoed across the three-hundred-mile capital:
“By decree of the Grand Tang Imperial Court… the Champion of the Young Geniuses Martial Tournament… is Young Master Lin Chen of the Lin-Su Alliance!”
“The top three victors granted entry into the Primordial Dragon Realm are Lin Chen, Su Qingyao, and Huang Yanyan!”
Lin Chen turned toward his platform, where Su Qingyao and Huang Yanyan were standing, their beautiful faces illuminated by radiant, proud smiles.
The stage was set. The tournament was won.
And beneath the floating city of Chang’an… the ancient Primordial Dragon Realm awaited its true master.
[End of Chapter 19]
