The location was a desolate, unnamed cloud island—the coordinates precisely projected by Lin Tian for minimal Tier 3 detection. Mei Lan stood alone at the center of the island, encased in a massive, temporary defense array. Her puppet lieutenants, Elder Mu and the First Elder of the Black Sun Sect, hovered nervously at the distant perimeter. They were channeling the vast, consolidated spiritual wealth of the Lin Dynasty Treasury into the final phase: The Sealing Array.
Mei Lan had twenty minutes to complete the ascent before the spiritual depletion of the Cloud Heavens—sacrificing decades of accumulated energy—became noticeable to the higher echelons of the Nine Heavens.
She was focused entirely on the Heavenly Gate—the damaged cosmic barrier—visible only to her Divine Core. Her mission was to execute the Tier 2 Flaw Protocol, opening a single, controlled vacuum to breach the barrier without attracting attention.
Mei Lan channeled her Grand Unity Immortal Stage 6 power, pouring the entirety of her being into the complex technique Lin Tian had given her. She did not aim for the Gate itself; she aimed for the spiritual equilibrium of the cloud island beneath her.
Her Innate Sword Soul became the instrument of supreme spiritual pressure. She initiated a controlled, infinitesimal spiritual implosion at the island's core, tearing a void in the Tier 2 energy field.
WHOOSH!
The cloud island vanished. The spiritual void created by the implosion was massive and instantaneous. The Heavenly Gate, sensing the catastrophic vacuum, reacted violently, attempting to close the gap by pulling the surrounding energy into the void. This pull was the force of Mei Lan's ascent.
The Sealing Array, maintained by Elder Mu and the First Elder, immediately activated, forcing the immense stored wealth of the Lin Dynasty Treasury into the void, feeding the vacuum.
"The spiritual cost is catastrophic!" Elder Mu shrieked, his face pale as he watched centuries of accrued spiritual essence dissolve into the rift. "The Master demands too much!"
The First Elder, bound by the stronger vow of Lin Tian's power, held firm. "Silence! The Master secured this resource for this exact moment! The debt is paid!"
Mei Lan felt the terrifying pull. She was not a projectile; she was the object being sucked into a self-engineered void. The raw, violent energy of the Tier 3 void—Primal Saint Energy—slammed into her, but the spiritual vacuum created by the implosion shielded her Purity Core from the initial, catastrophic corrosive damage.
The process was agony. The rapid ascent, though fast, subjected her Perfect Immortal Body to crushing pressure. She focused on the final phase: ensuring the breach was clean.
Mei Lan activated the Blade of Purity. She aimed the perfect, shimmering edge of her Sword Intent not at the void, but at the sealing mechanism of the Heavenly Gate itself. Her goal was to sever the Tier 2 influence, leaving no trace of the breach.
She struck with surgical precision. The Blade of Purity sliced through the spiritual threads linking the Gate to the Cloud Heavens' political monitoring structure.
CRACK!
The spiritual nexus fractured. Mei Lan shot through the final barrier and into the cold, chaotic void. She was ascending into the Nine Heavens.
Behind her, the massive Sealing Array maintained by her puppets completed its task. The immense spiritual pressure was redirected, sealing the wound Lin Tian and Mei Lan had created. The Cloud Heavens sealed perfectly, leaving a political and spiritual scene that was utterly stable but lacked two of its most powerful entities.
Mei Lan emerged, staggering, onto the desolate, crystalline landscape of the Nine Heavens. The Primal Saint Energy was overwhelming, but her Purity Core and the residual energy of the shield held firm. She had survived.
She took one stabilizing breath and focused her spiritual will, searching for the singular signature of her Master.
Lin Tian, who had been monitoring the distant spiritual fluctuations from his Imperial Isolation Chamber, instantly perceived her arrival. He appeared before her in a flash of golden light, his Golden Immortal power overwhelming the corrosive atmosphere.
He was no longer the infant in the crib. He stood, fully manifested in the form of a young man, though his spiritual essence remained that of a nine-month-old master.
"You arrived two minutes ahead of my estimate," Lin Tian stated, his voice ringing with cold approval. "The execution was flawless."
Mei Lan knelt immediately, not in servitude, but in recognition of his absolute power and the strategic perfection of the plan. "The cost was immense, Master. But the Lin Dynasty is sealed and secured. The Cloud Heavens are your resource."
Lin Tian smiled—the subtle curve of a sovereign who had successfully executed the ultimate heist. He channeled a sliver of his now-perfected Dao of Entropy to stabilize Mei Lan's core from the trauma of the ascent.
"Welcome to the Nine Heavens, Mei Lan. You are now a Golden Immortal."
[BREAKTHROUGH ACHIEVED! Mei Lan has reached Golden Immortal Stage 1. Host Alliance Purity: Absolute.]
"I require your martial power immediately," Lin Tian commanded, his voice hardening with strategic purpose. "We are besieged by the political fallout of our last actions. Our greatest asset here, Lord Xing, requires backup. We begin the next phase now."
The two Divine Purity entities stood together on the foundation of the Nine Heavens, ready to execute their systematic conquest of the Tier 3 realm.