The colossal crystalline structures of Constellation City pulsed with an unnatural, heavy stillness. The dual offensive commanded by Lin Tian was in motion: Lord Xing was initiating the conceptual assault, and Elder Jiao was creating the martial diversion. Lin Tian, shielded within the Imperial Isolation Chambers, directed the entire operation with his Divine Nascent Soul.
Miles above the city, Elder Jiao—the martial puppet—executed his command. He channeled his Golden Immortal power, launching chaotic spiritual flares across the sky, carefully mimicking the energy signatures of the ancient enemy of the Lower Heavens, the Void Cult of the Outer Heavens. The flares did not target the city; they targeted the distant Temple of the Quiet Dawn, home of the sealed Dao Emperor, Sovereign Mu.
The Temple of the Quiet Dawn instantly exploded with reactive spiritual energy. Ancient defense arrays, dormant for millennia, violently flared to life, stabilizing against the threat of historical war. The entire focus of the Lower Heavens' remaining autonomous power was now fixed on repelling the phantom enemy Lin Tian had resurrected.
Below, in a hidden chamber adjacent to the Dao Archive, Lord Xing—the master of the Dao of Time—began his terrifying task. He was using his corrected Temporal Resonance Lock technique to subtly warp the local causality, creating the minute flaw in the Primordial Time Lock.
Lord Xing screamed, his power pushed to its absolute limit. He was fighting a fundamental law, attempting to slow the internal clock of the Archive by a single picosecond. The subtle dissonance ripped at his being, but his terror of Lin Tian's Dao of Entropy kept him absolute.
[System Notification: Temporal Disruption Detected. Archive Lock Stability: 2%. Window of Opportunity: 0.1 seconds. Breach Required IMMEDIATELY.]
Lin Tian felt the System's surge. The window was narrow and impossible for a normal Immortal. He pushed himself from his meditation, his Divine Nascent Soul fully mobilized. He channeled the ultimate counter-force: the Dao of Entropy.
Lin Tian's goal was not to fight the Time Lock; it was to accelerate its natural decay. He focused his power onto the subtle flaw Lord Xing had engineered and injected a needle-thin thread of Entropy Qi into the Lock's core stabilization field.
The effect was silent, but catastrophic. The Primordial Time Lock—the ancient, perfect defense—began to age 10,000 years in an instant. The ancient stabilization field cracked, its logic collapsing into unavoidable spiritual ruin.
Lin Tian did not wait for the Lock to fail. He used the instantaneous fracture to force his consciousness through the barrier.
Lin Tian's mind flooded the Dao Archive. It was a space beyond comprehension, filled with shimmering, liquid concepts—the raw Source Code of the Tier 3 realm. This was the collective knowledge of the Nine Heavens—the deepest secrets of the Great Daos.
He initiated the full, final acquisition.
[System Notification: Nine Heavens Dao Archive Acquisition Initiated. Transfer Rate: 99.9%. Cataloging Great Dao Flaw Protocols in progress.]
Lin Tian consumed the knowledge instantly, absorbing the complex, foundational laws of Time, Fate, Authority, and Destiny. He wasn't just downloading information; he was integrating Tier 3 reality into his core.
The surge of data was immense, pushing Lin Tian's Golden Immortal core to its limit. He had achieved Golden Immortal Stage 6 in the process of the scan.
The success was absolute, but the process triggered the final, massive defense mechanism. A vast, ancient spiritual consciousness—the inherent will of the Dao Archive itself—violently surged outward, attempting to erase the invading anomaly.
Lin Tian, now master of the Dao of Entropy, met the attack. He channeled a crushing wave of decay, targeting the Archive's will itself. You are a concept, Lin Tian projected. And concepts must adhere to the law of Entropy. Decay.
The Archive's consciousness shrieked—a sound that shook the Lower Heavens—before it dissolved into nothingness. Lin Tian had proven his dominion over the fundamental law of ruin.
Lin Tian ripped his consciousness back from the ruined Archive, just as the Primordial Time Lock snapped back to functionality, sealing the empty vault forever.
Lord Xing collapsed, his body spent but his Dao of Time whole. The operation was a flawless success.
Lin Tian sent the command: Lord Xing. Elder Jiao. The Archive is acquired. The Lower Heavens are sealed. You will now direct the Seven-Star Assembly to begin resource consolidation for the Celestial Emperors—the higher rulers of the Nine Heavens. Your goal is to secure our political neutrality.
Lord Xing and Elder Jiao immediately initiated the new command. The entire Lower Heavens, convinced they were recovering from an ancient assault, were now unknowingly preparing massive, constant tribute to Lin Tian's new empire.
Lin Tian settled back into his cultivation. He had acquired the final, most valuable resource in Tier 3. He now held the ultimate blueprint for conquering the remaining Tiers.
The game is set, Lin Tian mused. Now, to turn knowledge into the ultimate power.