The hidden cave on the Immortal Cloud Continent had become an alchemical crucible. Lin Tian, suspended within a shimmering sphere of purified Immortal Qi, was surrounded by the concentrated essence of his conquests: the jade core of Earth Elemental Essence, the surging liquid of Water Elemental Essence, and the volatile spiritual flame of the Fire Elemental Essence. He was ready to forge his Perfect Immortal Body into its final, ultimate form—the foundation for the Grand Unity Immortal realm.
He had one missing component: the Wind Elemental Essence, currently held by Mei Lan.
Lin Tian activated his spiritual link, sending a clear, demanding thought across the continent, directly into Mei Lan's Purity Core. The Final Element. Deploy the Wind Essence to these coordinates. Now.
Mei Lan, who was stabilizing her own breakthrough in the desolate Void Peaks, recognized the demand. She had intended to integrate the Wind herself, but the command carried the absolute authority of the Heaven-Shaking Daoist. She knew that refusing would compromise her debt and threaten her peer status. She focused her Purity Core, extracting a concentrated portion of the Wind Elemental Essence and launching it across the sky toward Lin Tian's location, a visible streak of white, chaotic energy.
Lin Tian received the essence flawlessly. He now commanded the Four Elemental Cores. He activated the HSDS.
[Observer's Eye Activated. Target: Perfect Immortal Body Refinement. Protocol: Quad-Element Elemental Integration. Warning: Process involves full meridians restructuring. Extreme pain and consciousness loss probability: 80%]
Necessary, Lin Tian mused. The risk is irrelevant if the result is flawless.
Lin Tian channeled his Divine Nascent Soul, drawing the four elemental cores into his tiny, nine-month-old body. The collision was immediate and cataclysmic. Earth was grounding and crushing, trying to solidify his blood into stone. Water was fluid and overwhelming, trying to wash away his skeletal structure. Fire was searing and volatile, trying to vaporize his spiritual energy. Wind was chaotic and unpredictable, threatening to tear his soul from his body.
The agony surpassed even the Ascension Tribulation. Lin Tian's physical form spasmed, his skin shifting colors—black with earth, then blue with water, then red with fire, then invisible with wind. Elder Mu, watching from the defensive array, nearly collapsed, his mind unable to process the violence of the integration.
Lin Tian did not shield himself. He used the Omni-Talent to instantly comprehend the Dao Code of each element. He forced the elements not to fight, but to harmonize within his meridians. The Divine Purity of his core acted as the final catalyst, fusing the raw elements into a single, unified, indestructible energy flow.
The integration took three agonizing days. Lin Tian pushed through the pain, weaving the final, seamless structure. On the third day, the chaotic energy coalesced. His body pulsed once, expelling the last of the elemental impurities in a flash of rainbow light.
His Perfect Immortal Body was now complete, no longer just a strong template, but a unified structure of cosmic elements.
[BREAKTHROUGH ACHIEVED! Perfect Immortal Body Refinement: 100%]
Lin Tian immediately began the breakthrough sequence, forcing the immense power of the elemental synthesis to push his cultivation past the Heavenly Immortal Peak (Stage 8). The Heaven-Shaking Soul Transformation Sutra provided the final, perfect blueprint.
CRACK!
The spiritual sound resonated across the continent. Lin Tian had successfully transitioned. He felt the vast, complex energy of the Grand Unity Immortal stage—Tier 2's supreme peak—flow through his veins. This power wasn't just greater volume; it was the ability to subtly influence the laws of the Cloud Heavens.
[CULTIVATION ASCENSION: Grand Unity Immortal (Stage 1) Achieved. Host now commands the fundamental laws of Tier 2.]
Lin Tian was no longer merely powerful; he was now among the elite rulers of the Cloud Heavens, and he had done it in just months.
The sheer magnitude of the breakthrough completed the System's final requirement for this arc: a Major Political Victory (Securing control over an Immortal Sect's core territory). Lin Tian had secured four sect territories through strategic conquest.
[System Notification: Strategic Dao Map Unlocked! Viewing political, resource, and cultivation heat-maps of the Cloud Heavens. Status: Active.]
Lin Tian now had a visual, strategic overlay of the entire continent in his mind. He could see the movements of the Sovereign's Hall, the wealth distribution of the major clans, and the precise location of Mei Lan (still stabilizing in the Void Peaks).
His first act was to consolidate his gains and eliminate the final remnants of his early enemies. He sent a mental command to his puppets, Elder Mu and the First Elder of the Black Sun Sect. Launch the Final Purge. Use the coordinated forces to seize the leadership of the crippled Azure Sea Sect and Mountain Dao Sect. Blame the "Ascendant from the Sunken Heavens" for the chaos, and install our loyalists as the new interim rulers.
The strategic command was surgical: he used his chaos to completely dismantle the political structure of his conquered territories, replacing the old, corrupt leadership with people loyal to his puppets. The four Elemental Sects were now unified under his covert control.
The Cloud Heavens were collapsing into a war-torn region, but one territory—the vast region encompassing the four elemental sects—was now an unassailable bastion under the control of a nine-month-old Grand Unity Immortal. The Tier 2 Saga had moved from infiltration to territorial conquest.