27: Breaking through barriers and venturing into higher dimensions, nothing can stop my advance.

The Machine Race's hovering vehicle sped across the Desolate Plains, its wheels making a crisp cracking sound as they crushed withered bones.

Lin Chen sat in the carriage holding Nian Xue, while Clear Snow leaned against his side, her fingertips lightly stroking the void-rank ice crystal sword.

The outline of a safe zone emerged ahead—a steel fortress enveloped in a grandmist rank energy shield. Searchlights atop the fortress swept across the night sky, illuminating patrolling warriors from various races.

"My Lord, this is a hidden safe zone. It contains grandmist rank energy stored by our Machine Race and spiritual plants cultivated by the Elf Clan, enough to support our temporary stay," the Machine Race Elder said, pointing at the fortress with a tone of relief.

Lin Chen's Divine Thought swept over the safe zone, sensing the presence of over a thousand Survivors. None bore hostility, though a few corners hid faint Heavenly Dao Remnants—clearly unpurified traces within Survivors who had been rescued earlier.

"First, clear the Heavenly Dao Remnants." Lin Chen stepped out of the vehicle, the Law of Light condensing in his palm as golden light sprinkled over the safe zone like fine rain. The residual blood-colored energy instantly dissipated, and cheers erupted from within the fortress.

As soon as they entered the safe zone, the Elf Clan came forward, holding fresh spiritual fruits: "Lord Lin Chen, Lady Clear Snow, little friend Nian Xue, please try these Grandmist Spirit Fruits we've cultivated; they can quickly restore your strength."

Lin Chen took the spiritual fruits and activated Sublimation without hesitation: "Let's all share them."

[Ding—Grandmist Spirit Fruit × 50 → Void-rank Spirit Fruit × 50 (Cannot be sublimated further)]

[Effect: Instantly restores all stamina and Law power below void-rank; permanently increases Physique by 1%]

Nian Xue took a bite of the fruit, her eyes lighting up: "Daddy, this is so delicious!"

Clear Snow smiled and helped wipe the juice from the corner of her mouth, but Lin Chen's brow furrowed.

His Divine Thought probed toward the edge of the mission world, clearly sensing an invisible barrier. This was the boundary of the silver-grade mission world, and beyond it, he could vaguely sense even stronger energy fluctuations.

"We can't just sit and wait for death." Lin Chen set Nian Xue down. "The Heavenly Dao canceled the Resting World because it wants to trap us. We must proactively go to higher-level mission worlds to increase our strength and find an opportunity to confront the heavenly dao main body."

Clear Snow gripped her ice crystal sword tightly: "Wherever my husband goes, I go."

Nian Xue also clenched her small fists: "Nian Xue will go with Daddy too!"

The Machine Race Elder hurriedly said, "Lord, breaking the mission world barrier will trigger a Heavenly Dao backlash. Strong individuals have tried before, and they were all heavily injured by the energy erupting from the barrier!"

"I'll try." Lin Chen walked outside the safe zone, his Ancient God Wings unfolding as a golden halo enveloped his body.

He clenched his fist, Void Power and Space Law intertwining as he slammed it fiercely against the silver-grade barrier.

*Crack—*

A gap a zhang wide instantly split open in the barrier, but ten grandmist rank Heavenly Dao energy bodies surged from the opening. They were mist-like in form, wielding blood-colored spears that they thrust directly toward Nian Xue.

[Monster Name: Heavenly Dao Energy Body]

[Rank: 88 (grandmist rank)]

[Traits: Non-corporeal, immune to physical attacks, can absorb mission world energy to strengthen itself]

"You again." Lin Chen sneered. The Law of Light instantly erupted, golden light dispersing the energy bodies' mist forms.

Clear Snow simultaneously deployed her Ice Domain, her Void Ice Blades freezing the energy bodies' cores. Nian Xue's pendant reflected the spear attacks, golden runes flowing across the shield.

Seeing the situation was unfavorable, the energy bodies tried to merge into the barrier to escape, but Lin Chen would not give them the chance.

The Space Law suddenly contracted, trapping the energy bodies in a golden cage. Void Power crushed down, and the energy bodies were all turned to ash.

[Ding—Killed grandmist rank Heavenly Dao Energy Body × 10, experience split equally]

[Lin Chen Rank: 92]

[Lin Qingxue Rank: 92]

[Lin Nianxue Rank: 65 (Low Rank leads to fast leveling, cross-Rank experience bonus applied)]

The gap in the barrier gradually widened. Lin Chen led Clear Snow, Nian Xue, and over a hundred Survivors from various races who were willing to follow through the opening.

The scene of the gold-grade mission world instantly came into view: the sky was dark gold, and the ground was covered in glowing crystals. On the distant mountains, dozens of chaos rank Crystal Beasts were gnawing on rocks, their auras several times stronger than the monsters in the silver world.

[gold-grade mission world: "Crystal Desert"]

[Mission Objective: None (Heavenly Dao has canceled conventional missions, only survival requirements remain)]

[Mission Time: Unlimited (Continuous survival)]

As soon as they landed, the Crystal Beasts sensed the outsiders. Ten behemoths turned simultaneously, their crystal tusks glinting with cold light as they charged toward Nian Xue—they could sense the void-rank aura and perceived it as a threat.

[Monster Name: Crystal Beast]

[Rank: 90 (chaos rank)]

[Attributes: Strength 800,000, Agility 300,000, Physique 1,200,000, Spirit 200,000]

[Traits: Skin as hard as grandmist rank armor, attacks carry crystal piercing effect]

"Clear Snow, protect Nian Xue." Lin Chen teleported in front of a behemoth, his Ancient Gods Body erupting with golden light as he slammed a fist into the beast's head.

The crystal shell instantly shattered, and the behemoth crashed to the ground, dissipating into motes of light.

Clear Snow deployed her Ice Domain, her Void Ice Blades slashing at the joints of the remaining behemoths. The crystals cracked in the freezing air, and the behemoths lost their mobility, allowing Lin Chen to kill them one by one.

[Ding—Killed chaos rank Crystal Beast × 10, experience split equally]

[Lin Chen Rank: 94]

[Lin Qingxue Rank: 94]

[Lin Nianxue Rank: 70]

The rescued Crystal Race Survivors emerged from behind the rocks. Their leader bowed and said, "Lord, thank you for the rescue! The Heavenly Dao Remnants of the gold world are hidden deep within the crystal veins. They are mining crystals to forge weapons to deal with outsiders!"

Lin Chen followed the Crystal Race to the veins. The mine shaft was brightly lit, where a hundred grandmist rank Heavenly Dao Craftsmen were busy around a crystal furnace. The molten crystal inside was being forged into spears, their tips engraved with sacrifice runes.

[Heavenly Dao Artisan Rank: 92 (grandmist rank)]

[Tactic: Furnace is connected to the vein's energy; if attacked, it will detonate to take the enemy down with it]

"Want to blow up the vein?" Lin Chen sneered, instantly using Space Law to transfer the furnace outside the mine. Seeing this, the craftsmen picked up their unfinished spears and lunged at Nian Xue.

Clear Snow's ice crystal sword swept out, her Void Ice Blades severing the spears. Lin Chen invoked the Law of Light, golden light enveloping the craftsmen. The Heavenly Dao energy within them completely dissipated, turning them to ash.

[Ding—Killed grandmist rank Heavenly Dao Artisan × 100, experience split equally]

[Lin Chen Rank: 96]

[Lin Qingxue Rank: 96]

[Lin Nianxue Rank: 73]

Deep in the mine, a Crystal Race member pointed to a treasure chest encased in crystal: "Lord, that is our race's Legacy treasure chest. It was trapped by the Heavenly Dao Craftsmen!"

Lin Chen stepped forward, and the crystal automatically shattered under his Void Power, revealing a grandmist rank treasure chest inside. He activated his Sublimation Talent:

[Ding—Grandmist Crystal treasure chest → void-rank Crystal treasure chest (Cannot be sublimated further)]

Opening the chest, inside lay a Crystal Core and a set of Crystal Armor. Both instantly radiated a void halo:

[void-rank · Crystal Core]

[Effect: Integrating into a weapon increases Void Power damage by 50%]

[void-rank · Crystal Armor]

[Effect: Physical Defense +1,500,000, immune to crystal-based attacks]

Lin Chen handed the Crystal Core to Clear Snow for her to integrate into her ice crystal sword; the Crystal Armor was given to Nian Xue. The armor automatically shrunk to fit her figure, acting like a layer of transparent protection.

"Time to go to the diamond-level world." Lin Chen walked out of the mine and stood before the gold world's barrier.

His Ancient God Wings unfolded, Void Power and Space Law condensing once more as he punched the barrier.

The moment the barrier cracked, thirty void-rank Heavenly Dao energy bodies surged out. They were stronger than the previous ones, their spears carrying the power of rules as they lunged straight for Lin Chen's brow.

[Monster Name: High-Rank Heavenly Dao Energy Body]

[Rank: 95 (void-rank)]

[Traits: Controls Elementary Heavenly Dao rules, can distort space to launch sneak attacks]

"Finally, some void-rank ones." Lin Chen's eyes narrowed as he instantly activated his Anti-Heavenly Dao Rule. Golden runes appeared before him; as soon as the energy bodies' spears touched the runes, they were reflected by the rules, turning back to pierce their owners.

Clear Snow simultaneously deployed her Ice Domain, her Void Ice Blades slashing at the energy bodies' cores. Nian Xue's jade pendant lit up, its shield reflecting all the space distortions from the sneak attacks.

Under the dual assault of rules and ice, the energy bodies gradually dissipated. Lin Chen teleported behind the last energy body, his Ancient Gods Body punching through its core, turning it to ash.

[Ding—Killed void-rank High-Rank Heavenly Dao Energy Body × 30, experience split equally]

[Lin Chen Rank: 98]

[Lin Qingxue Rank: 98]

[Lin Nianxue Rank: 76]

The scene of the diamond-level mission world came into view—this was a land of floating islands, connected by energy bridges. Huge diamond shards floated in the sky, each radiating a grandmist rank aura. The monsters on the ground were actually humanoid creatures condensed from diamonds.

[diamond-level Mission World: "Floating Island Secret Realm"]

[Mission Objective: None]

[Mission Time: Unlimited]

As soon as Lin Chen stepped onto an energy bridge, ten diamond humanoids surrounded them. The diamond longswords in their hands carried an aura of space-cutting, and their movements were uniform, clearly well-trained.

[Monster Name: Diamond Guard]

[Rank: 96 (grandmist rank)]

[Tactic: Forms a sword array to block all evasion routes and attack the target's weak points]

"They have some brains." Lin Chen sneered, his Ancient Gods Pressure erupting, instantly slowing the guards' movements.

Clear Snow's ice crystal sword unleashed Void Ice Blades that severed the energy bridge's support points. The guards lost their balance, and Lin Chen took the opportunity to use Space Law to transfer them into the void outside the floating islands. The diamonds shattered in the void, and the guards turned into motes of light.

[Ding—Killed grandmist rank Diamond Guard × 10, experience split equally]

[Lin Chen Rank: 99]

[Lin Qingxue Rank: 99]

[Lin Nianxue Rank: 78]

The group explored the floating islands but found no trace of Heavenly Dao Remnants, nor could they sense any signs of the Heavenly Dao's plans.

Lin Chen tried to break the diamond-level world's barrier, but when his fist slammed against it, it left only a shallow mark. The barrier remained motionless.

This was the first time he was unable to break a barrier.

"The barrier is much stronger than the previous ones." Clear Snow frowned. "Could it be that higher-level worlds have been sealed by the Heavenly Dao?"

Lin Chen shook his head and brought up the three's current status panels:

[Name: Lin Chen]

[Race: Perfect Ancient God (Tier 3)]

[Rank: 99]

[Talent: Sublimation (Unique Rank · Concept Rank)]

[Attributes: Strength 6,419,800 (Rank 90: 6,418,880 → Rank 99: 6,419,800, +100 per Rank), Agility 6,419,800, Physique 6,419,800, Spirit 6,420,600]

[Skills: Ancient Gods Body (Perfection), Ancient Gods Pressure (Perfection), Ancient Gods Divine Sense (230 km), Lightning/Space/Light Law (Control), Void Power Control (Perfection), Ancient God Wings (Perfection), Anti-Heavenly Dao Rule (Perfection)]

[Traits: Law Affinity (Control)]

[Items Held: void-rank · Heavenly Dao Sacrifice Token, void-grade · Golden Dragon Guardian Token, void-grade sacrifice cannon, void-rank · Heavenly Dao Storage Ring]

[Name: Lin Qingxue]

[Race: Ice and Snow Nine-Tailed White Fox (Transcendence Level)]

[Rank: 99]

[Talent: Heart of Ice and Snow (mythical-grade), Grandmist Ice Soul (origin level), Dragon Scale Guardian (void-rank)]

[Attributes: Strength 10,969,000 (Rank 90: 10,960,000 → Rank 99: 10,969,000, +1000 per Rank), Agility 14,329,000, Physique 10,969,000, Spirit 19,129,000]

[Skills: Ice and Snow Divine Power/Nine-Tails Power/Ice Domain (Perfection), Grandmist Ice Blade/Ice and Snow Origin Control (Perfection), Void Ice Blade (Perfection), Ice and Snow Guardian (Perfection), Anti-Heavenly Dao Ice Blade (Perfection)]

[Items Held: void-rank ice crystal sword (integrated with Crystal Core), void-rank · Ice Crystal Dragon Scale Armor, void-grade · heavenly dao rule memorandum]

[Name: Lin Nianxue]

[Race: Ancient Demon God]

[Grade: void-rank]

[Rank: 78]

[Talent: Void Immunity (void-rank)]

[Attributes: Strength 321,408 (Rank 70: 160,704 → Rank 78: 321,408, +20,004 per Rank; attributes have not doubled yet as Rank 80 has not been reached), Agility 321,408, Physique 321,408, Spirit 321,408]

[Items Worn: Legendary-grade life jade pendant (Secondary Enhancement), void-rank · Crystal Armor, void-rank · Heavenly Dao Crystal × 1]

[Resting Time Limit: Canceled (Heavenly Dao Command)]

[Mission Time: Unlimited]

"We can't break the barrier now, and we can't find clues to the Heavenly Dao's plan." Lin Chen looked at his wife and daughter. "Perhaps reaching Rank 100 will bring a change. After Rank 50, attributes double every 10 Ranks. Rank 100 should bring an even greater boost, and maybe we can break through our current strength Bottleneck."

Clear Snow nodded: "Then we will kill monsters and level up in the diamond world, rushing to Rank 100 as quickly as possible."

Nian Xue raised her small fist: "Nian Xue will work hard too, helping Daddy and Mommy level up together!"

Lin Chen picked up Nian Xue, his Ancient God Wings unfolding as he led the group toward the depths of the floating islands.

Stronger monster auras emanated from there, clearly making it the best place to level up.

The sunlight of the diamond world filtered through the floating diamond shards, spilling over the three of them. Although the path ahead was unknown and the barrier difficult to break, there was not a trace of fear in Lin Chen's eyes.

As long as he could protect his wife and daughter, as long as he could increase his strength, no matter how strong the enemy or how difficult the obstacle, he would break through them all one by one.

The Heavenly Dao's conspiracy still lurked in the shadows, and the change in strength at Rank 100 was the only Breakthrough point. This journey of breaking barriers and advancing had only just entered its critical stage.