The Void Fault Line was a fissure of raw, unstable spiritual energy—a thousand-mile scar across the Immortal Cloud Continent where the foundational laws of Tier 2 reality occasionally frayed. It was a place of extreme power and extreme danger, and it was Lin Tian's chosen battlefield.
He sat hidden beneath a cloak of perfected concealment, his gaze fixed on the shimmering decoy signature he had launched. The decoy had successfully led the Grand Unity Enforcer unit—five experts, each at Stage 5, the peak martial power of the Sovereign's Hall—directly into the Fault Line's most volatile nexus.
The five Enforcers, clad in heavy, blue-steel armor, landed with crushing force. They were hardened veterans, furious at the suspected intrusion. "The signature is here!" roared Commander He, their leader, a man whose presence felt like a collapsing star. "It's a crude imitation of the Blade of Purity, but the underlying power is immense! It must be the main culprit!"
Their rigidity is their weakness, Lin Tian smiled in the darkness. They cannot conceive of a strategist who sets a trap using a baby as bait.
The Enforcers immediately spread out, forming the renowned Five-Star Containment Array—a technique designed to lock down any single, powerful target. Their combined Grand Unity Immortal Qi created a golden spiritual net that instantly stabilized the chaotic energies of the Void Fault, ensuring their battle would be clean and decisive.
Lin Tian activated the Observer's Eye on the array.
[Observer's Eye Activated. Target: Five-Star Containment Array. Flaw: Symmetry and Redundancy. Vulnerability: Simultaneous Flaw Exploitation (SFE).]
The array was powerful because it relied on each of the five Enforcers dedicating their power to specific stabilization nodes. Lin Tian realized the failure point was the redundancy—if he could exploit the spiritual flaws in all five nodes simultaneously, the entire formation would not just break; it would feedback, turning their immense power against them.
Lin Tian moved. He was still a nine-month-old child, but his movements, guided by the Omni-Talent and powered by his Grand Unity Immortal core, were the absolute expression of perfect efficiency. He launched five separate, infinitesimal threads of his Divine Purity Qi.
The threads were not visible weapons. They were five different, targeted frequency signals, each designed to precisely match and then disrupt the unique spiritual flaw in the Dao of one specific Enforcer's stabilization node.
The effect was devastating. Commander He and his four subordinates screamed in perfect, horrified unison. Their Five-Star Containment Array—the flawless expression of their combined power—did not break under external pressure. It imploded due to internal dissonance.
The pure, high-volume Grand Unity Immortal Qi they were channeling, encountering the fatal flaw that Lin Tian had perfectly exposed and exploited, reversed its flow. It did not simply disperse; it violently surged back into their own bodies, overwhelming their meridians with their own power.
The Enforcers began to convulse, their armor glowing red-hot from the impossible internal spiritual pressure.
The enemy is defeated. Now, the harvest.
Lin Tian channeled a vast, sweeping command of his Grand Unity Qi—a technique he synthesized for this precise moment—to seal the spiritual energy of the five collapsing Immortals. He was performing a simultaneous Divine Core Seizure.
The five Immortals dissolved, not into dust, but into five shimmering, concentrated spheres of Grand Unity Essence—perfect spiritual harvest, purified and contained by Lin Tian's Divine Nascent Soul.
[RESOURCE ACQUISITION: Grand Unity Essence (x5) secured. Status: Host Core Saturation Max.]
The entire process, from the activation of the array to the final capture of the spheres, took less than ten seconds. The Void Fault Line, which had been stabilized by their power, instantly returned to a state of massive, uncontrolled chaos. Lin Tian stood alone, the perfect victor.
Lin Tian absorbed the five spheres of Grand Unity Essence. The influx of power was monumental, instantly pushing his cultivation past Grand Unity Immortal Stage 1.
[BREAKTHROUGH ACHIEVED! Grand Unity Immortal Stage 4 Achieved. Host now commands four distinct Elemental Essences.]
He had successfully eliminated the apex martial power of the Sovereign's Hall in a single, surgical strike. His political shield was now permanent, and his power level had soared.
But the victory carried an enormous risk. The annihilation of five peak Immortals in such a violent manner would send an unavoidable spiritual signal across the entire Cloud Heavens.
Lin Tian's Divine Nascent Soul sensed the consequence instantly.
[WARNING: Five Major Spiritual Signatures Annihilated. Continental State of Emergency Declared by Sovereign's Hall. Tracking Initiated by Tier 2 Apex Entity: Venerable Qiao (Grand Unity Peak).]
The threat from Venerable Qiao, the same Immortal who had been terrified by Lin Tian's initial arrival, was now focused and absolute. Lin Tian had proven he was not just a threat to resources, but a threat to the stability of the entire Tier 2 realm.
Lin Tian accepted the risk. He had secured enough power and eliminated enough threats to proceed with his next massive goal: the acquisition of the Tier 2 Dao Archive—the deepest secrets of the Cloud Heavens.
He flew away from the chaotic Void Fault Line, his sights set on the deepest, most shielded political center remaining. The greatest fortress in the Cloud Heavens is built around the greatest treasure, Lin Tian mused. The Sovereign's Hall is now my only target.