Chapter 239 - 238: Fourth Floor

The golden spatial vortex surrounding the fourth floor of the Nine-Tiered Sky howled with the ferocity of a dying star.

Lin Yuan stood upon the massive platform of pure white marble, his robes snapping violently in the raging winds. The atmospheric pressure pressing down upon his shoulders was immense, like a suffocating gravity that sought to crush his foundation into dust.

A hundred paces away, hovering inches above the marble floor, the fourth Phantom Guardian slowly opened its eyes. Within them, intricate mandalas of profound complexity rotated with the cold, emotionless logic of the ancient era.

Six distinct orbs of elemental Essence—fire, water, earth, wind, light, and darkness—revolved around its liquid-gold robes in flawless planetary orbits, each one radiating a different and powerful aura.

Profound Stage, Lin Yuan analyzed, dissecting the entity’s cultivation. The Sixth Step of Dao Resolve.

To reach the Profound Stage meant a cultivator had moved beyond simply possessing an unyielding will. They had begun to actively manipulate the profound mysteries of the universe, bending the foundational elements to their absolute command.

The Guardian did not speak. It merely raised a hand draped in liquid gold.

The six orbiting spheres halted instantly. The orb of pure, incandescent fire and the orb of abyssal darkness shot forward, merging in mid-air. The fusion defied the natural laws of alchemy, producing a roaring, localized black hole wreathed in superheated void-fire. The terrifying mass of consuming flames twisted violently as it tore through space, hurtling toward Lin Yuan with astonishing speed.

"Combining opposing elements to generate high-dimensional friction," Lin Yuan murmured softly, his deep purple eyes tracking the incoming attack. "A textbook Profound execution. But textbook implies predictability."

Lin Yuan did not dodge. He did not draw his sword.

He activated the [Heaven and Earth Shift].

The space directly in front of him folded inward, creating a flawless, invisible spatial mirror. The black void-fire slammed into the barrier. The sheer, overwhelming density of the Profound Stage attack caused the spatial mirror to spiderweb with faint, glowing fractures, but Lin Yuan’s Unshaken Stage spiritual power, anchored by his Rank 10 Ancient Beast Body, held the line.

Instead of redirecting the attack back at the Guardian—which would have been easily countered by the remaining four orbs—Lin Yuan shifted the trajectory straight upward.

The void-fire shot into the golden spatial vortex above, exploding harmlessly in a shower of black cinders.

The Phantom Guardian’s mandala eyes spun rapidly, recalculating the variables. It raised both hands. The remaining four orbs—water, earth, wind, and light—arranged themselves in a perfect square, creating a massive, glowing array that instantly locked onto Lin Yuan’s spatial coordinates.

"It is trying to seal our movement!" Ling Xi chimed eagerly within his spiritual sea. "Let me cut the array, Master!"

The array fired. A massive, inescapable pillar of crystallized wind and blinding light descended upon the marble platform, carrying the crushing weight of a mountain.

Lin Yuan utilized the Immortal Cloud Step.

His body dissolved into translucent mist, attempting to slip through the gaps in the array. But the Profound Stage Guardian possessed an intellect forged from the echoes of ancient gods. The array instantly tracked his displacement, the pillar of light expanding exponentially to blanket the entire platform. There was nowhere to step.

"If the sky falls, one must simply shatter the sky," Lin Yuan whispered.

He raised his right hand. The Primordial Sovereign Sword materialized with a heavy hum, its runes flaring to life.

He then channeled his pure Dao Intent.

The golden-purple mist erupted from his body, forming a localized domain of heavy rain, crackling lightning, and rebirth essence, that pushed back against the crushing pillar of light. Lin Yuan gripped the hilt of his sword with both hands, his muscles coiling like springs, and executed the [Army-Breaking Art].

He swung the sword upward in a devastating, vertical arc.

A massive, physical sword phantom forged from compressed thunder and rain crashed into the descending array. The collision of Unshaken Stage physical might against Profound Stage elemental mastery created a shockwave that cracked the very marble beneath their feet.

The array shattered!

Shards of crystallized wind and light rained down upon the platform, harmlessly bouncing off Lin Yuan’s physical body.

Before the Phantom Guardian could summon its elements again, Lin Yuan activated the Thunder Step.

With a deafening crack of thunder, he crossed the hundred-pace distance in a fraction of a second. He materialized directly inside the Guardian’s defensive orbit.

The Guardian’s mandala eyes spun frantically. It attempted to bring the orb of water up as a shield, but Lin Yuan’s left hand shot forward, bypassing the orb entirely.

He unleashed aPalmstrike, fused with his Dao intent.

His palm struck the center of the Guardian’s robes. The internal detonation bypassed the entity’s elemental defenses, ravaging its spiritual core. The Guardian staggered violently, the six elemental orbs losing their cohesive orbit and scattering haphazardly into the air.

Lin Yuan did not hesitate. He reversed his grip on the Primordial Sovereign Sword and activated its supreme, innate ability.

[Absolute Severance of the Heavenly Mandate].

The blade turned into a void of pure, conceptual severance. Lin Yuan swung horizontally, cutting through the empty space between the Guardian and its scattered orbs.

Snip.

The invisible, profound threads of Heaven and Earth energy connecting the Guardian to its elements were unconditionally severed. The six orbs turned a dull, lifeless gray and dropped to the marble floor, shattering like cheap glass.

The Profound Stage entity was rendered completely powerless.

Lin Yuan brought the sword down in a final, merciless arc, cleaving the Phantom Guardian cleanly in half. The entity dissolved into a shower of brilliant, golden sparks, fading into the ether.

The swirling spatial vortex surrounding the platform shifted, transforming into a towering, silver gateway leading to the fifth floor.

Lin Yuan exhaled a slow breath, shaking a few lingering sparks from his robes.

Outside, the Central Continent’s Grand Court was a cauldron of manic energy.

The massive jade monolith pulsed with deep light as the names of the Six Peerless Geniuses violently traded positions, thousands of merits being secured and lost in the blink of an eye.

A resonant chime echoed across the amphitheater.

MERIT RANKINGS (CURRENT)

1. Xuan Mingzhe (Xuan Province) - 6100 Merits

2. Jiang Wan (Jiang Province) - 4830 Merits

3. Ye Ao (Ye Province) - 4800 Merits

4. Lin Yuan (Zhao Province) - 4610 Merits

5. Feng Yao (Feng Province) - 4700 Merits (Wait, array recalculating...)