36: The War God Messenger breaks through the core, the Mechanical City collapses and retreats to find a new path.

The metal floor of the underground chamber gleamed coldly. In the center, the diamond-level origin core hovered in mid-air. Pale golden pure origin liquid flowed slowly within the core, surrounded by black Heavenly Dao energy threads that connected to the energy nodes on the four walls of the chamber.

The mythical-grade Heavenly Dao Emissary stood beside the core. His body beneath the black robe faintly emanated Origin fluctuations.

The Heavenly Dao Long Saber in his hand condensed with dense black energy, yet he did not rashly attack. He stared at Lin Chen, a flicker of apprehension flashing in his eyes.

"For a Diamond Early Stage to break through my two layers of defense, you truly have the qualifications to make me take you seriously."

Instead of charging forward, the Emissary raised his hand and pressed it against the origin core. The pure origin liquid inside the core instantly boiled, and the black energy threads spread along the ground.

He laid down dozens of Heavenly Dao Runes within the chamber. It was the 'Origin Restriction Array,' capable of suppressing Origin operation within its range. Clearly, he intended to weaken Lin Chen's strength first.

"He's using the core's energy to set up the array. Very cautious." Clear Snow whispered, her nine tails slightly tensing as diamond-level Ice and Snow Law condensed in her palm. "I'll freeze the energy lines, sever his array eye."

Lin Chen nodded, stepping sideways to shield Clear Snow and Nian Xue. "You two protect yourselves, especially Nian Xue. Don't get close to the runes."

Nian Xue peeked out from Clear Snow's embrace, her small hands tightly gripping Clear Snow's collar, yet she still whispered, "Daddy, Nian Xue's jade pendant seems to be getting warm."

Lin Chen glanced at the jade pendant around her neck. Its Void halo was brighter than usual—it was the pendant's instinctive reaction sensing danger, capable of automatically resisting Heavenly Dao Rule attacks.

At that moment, the runes laid down by the Emissary suddenly lit up. Pale black energy rose from the ground. The operation of Lin Chen's internal Origin instantly slowed, his Diamond Early Stage aura suppressed by thirty percent.

"Useless. Within my array, your Origin will only grow weaker." The Emissary sneered. His figure suddenly blurred, transforming into three afterimages that pounced towards Lin Chen, Clear Snow, and Nian Xue respectively—he wanted to scatter Lin Chen's attention and seize the opportunity to capture Nian Xue, the void-rank target.

"Dare to touch my daughter?" Lin Chen's eyes turned cold in an instant. Space Law activated immediately. The afterimage pouncing towards Nian Xue froze mid-air before being crushed by an invisible force. Simultaneously, he teleported behind the afterimage lunging at Clear Snow, a point of Void Power extinguishing it into dust.

The final afterimage took the chance to close in on the core, its long saber slashing towards Lin Chen's back. Clear Snow reacted extremely quickly. Her diamond-level Ice and Snow Domain instantly expanded, pale purple cold air freezing the afterimage's movement. Lin Chen turned around, Anti-Heavenly Dao Rule condensed in his palm, and slapped it fiercely onto the afterimage's chest.

"Boom—"

The afterimage exploded. The Emissary's true body appeared from behind the core, black Origin blood trickling from the corner of his mouth. "You can actually see through my Afterimage Technique?"

"Your tricks aren't enough." Lin Chen's tone was icy, his Divine Thought locking onto the Emissary's core position—he discovered the Emissary's Origin was connected to the core. Every attack consumed the core's pure origin liquid. As long as the connection was severed, the Emissary's strength would drop.

"Repair Clan, can you sever his connection to the core?" Lin Chen shouted towards those behind him.

The Repair Clan Leader immediately stepped forward, pulling out an Origin Stabilizer and pressing the boost button. "I'll try! The stabilizer can interfere with the energy connection, but it needs time!"

The stabilizer emitted a piercing pale golden light. The black energy lines between the core and the Emissary began to fluctuate chaotically. The Emissary's expression changed. No longer holding back, his long saber condensed with dense Heavenly Dao Rule, slashing out a black Saber Qi aimed straight at the Repair Clan Leader.

"Stop him!" The Metal Clan Leader and the Stone Skin Clan member simultaneously stepped forward. The Metal Clan Leader raised a Laser Shield, and the Stone Skin Clan member deployed a Stone Skin Shield. The two overlapping shields were instantly shattered by the Saber Qi. Both spat out Origin blood and collapsed to the ground.

"Seeking death!" Lin Chen teleported in front of the Repair Clan Leader, Space Law condensing into a shield to block the Saber Qi. At the same time, Clear Snow expanded her Ice and Snow Domain, sending dense volleys of pale purple ice blades towards the Emissary, forcing him to retreat and defend.

Nian Xue suddenly stretched her hand out from Clear Snow's embrace, Void Power condensing into a small ball of light in her palm, which she threw towards the Emissary.

The light ball wasn't fast, but it carried a void-rank aura. The Emissary paid it no mind, swinging his long saber to slash it apart.

The light ball suddenly exploded. Void Power splashed onto his armor, corroding small holes.

"This child's power..." A look of shock flashed in the Emissary's eyes. Not daring to ignore Nian Xue any longer, he turned to launch another attack, but was firmly locked by Lin Chen's Ancient Gods Pressure.

"Your opponent is me." Lin Chen's figure flashed, teleporting beside the Emissary. Void Power and Anti-Heavenly Dao Rule activated simultaneously as his palm struck the Emissary's chest.

"Crack—"

The Emissary's armor shattered, the Heavenly Dao energy within his body instantly thrown into chaos. He tried to retreat beside the core to draw energy, only to find the Repair Clan had already severed his connection to the core. The pure origin liquid inside the core no longer transmitted energy to him.

"No!" The Emissary let out a shrill roar, wildly swinging his long saber, yet he couldn't even touch the hem of Lin Chen's clothes.

Lin Chen teleported behind him, Void Power piercing through his core. The Emissary's body instantly turned to dust, leaving only a fist-sized black origin crystal.

That was a mythical-grade origin crystal, far more refined than any previous Origin item.

"Destroy the core, quickly!" Lin Chen picked up the origin crystal and shouted to the Repair Clan.

The Repair Clan Leader immediately inserted the stabilizer into the core and pressed the detonation button. The stabilizer emitted a 'zizi' electric current sound. The pure origin liquid inside the core began to violently boil, pale golden energy continuously leaking out.

Lin Chen picked up Nian Xue. Clear Snow helped the injured Metal Clan and Stone Skin Clan members up. The Survivors of each clan followed them, quickly evacuating the chamber. Just as they stepped out of the city lord's mansion, a deafening 'boom' erupted from behind.

The diamond-level origin core completely exploded. The shockwave leveled the entire city lord's mansion. The laser cannon turrets of the Mechanical City also lost control, beginning to attack each other.

"The Mechanical City is going to collapse. Leave here quickly!" Lin Chen unfurled his Ancient God Wings, carrying Clear Snow and Nian Xue into the air. The Survivors of each clan closely followed, evacuating along the previous hidden passage.

Along the way, Nian Xue leaned against Lin Chen's chest, her small finger pointing at the chaotic Mechanical City below. "Daddy, it's so messy down there."

"The bad guys' castle is collapsing. They won't be able to catch good people anymore." Lin Chen said softly, yet his gaze was fixed into the distance.

The moment the core exploded, he sensed an extremely powerful aura coming from the depths of the heavens. That aura was cold, majestic, carrying the oppressive feeling of controlling everything—clearly the aura of the heavenly dao main body.

Clear Snow also sensed it, her face slightly changing. "Husband, is that..."

"It's the heavenly dao main body." Lin Chen nodded, his tone grave. "With the core destroyed, it must have noticed. We need to improve our strength as soon as possible. Otherwise, if we encounter it next time, we won't be so lucky."

After the team evacuated the Mechanical City, they rested and regrouped in a nearby abandoned valley.

Lin Chen took out that mythical-grade origin crystal. It glowed with a dense black light, yet held not the slightest trace of evil aura—clearly the pure Origin from within the Emissary, unpolluted by the Heavenly Dao.

He activated his Sublimation Talent. At the first touch, the crystal's glow changed from dense black to deep purple, its grade rising from mythical-grade to eternal-grade.

At the second touch, the glow turned purple-gold, its grade reaching heavenly dao grade. The Origin aura was three times denser than the initial one.

"Everyone, absorb it in portions, especially the injured clansmen." Lin Chen broke the sublimated origin crystal into small pieces, handing them to Clear Snow, Nian Xue, and the Metal Clan and Stone Skin Clan members.

After absorbing it, Clear Snow's Origin concentration rose from 14% to 18%. The power of her diamond-level Ice and Snow Domain grew a bit stronger.

Nian Xue took a small piece. The Origin energy integrated into her body. The demon god mark on her forehead flashed with a purple-gold light. Her Origin concentration rose from 27% to 31%.

After Lin Chen absorbed his portion, his Origin concentration rose from 30% to 35%. His Divine Thought range expanded to 260 kilometers.

After the Metal Clan and Stone Skin Clan members absorbed theirs, their injuries quickly healed, and their auras stabilized considerably.

The Repair Clan Leader walked to Lin Chen's side, handing him a black token that had fallen from the Emissary. "Sir, this is the Heavenly Dao's 'Origin Tracking Token.' It can locate nearby Origin items. Perhaps we can use it to find epic-grade Breakthrough items."

Lin Chen took the token. After activating Sublimation, the token's tracking range expanded to a thousand miles, and it could also identify an item's grade.

The token displayed that within the 'Epic Ruins' a thousand miles away, there was an 'Epic-grade Origin Crystal Core'—exactly the Breakthrough item they needed.

"We're going to the Epic Ruins." Lin Chen gripped the token tightly and said to everyone.

Outside the valley, the sky gradually brightened. The rising sun dyed the valley a warm golden color.

Lin Chen carried Nian Xue, Clear Snow walked by his side, and the Survivors of each clan followed behind, advancing towards the direction of the Epic Ruins.

They knew that destroying the core only temporarily thwarted the Heavenly Dao's plans. The real challenge was still ahead.