Volume 4: Super-Tier Awakening & The Ancient Capital Calamity
Chapter 302
Setting Out for the Sacred Mount Kunlun
Early this morning, deep beneath the Military Commission’s underground secret airfield in the Imperial Capital, before the morning mist had even begun to dissipate from the night sky, a muffled, thunderous roar shook the earth. The “Black Dragon” supersonic stealth military transport soared into the air, tearing through the thick layers of clouds and carrying a surging wave of air pressure directly toward the West.
Inside the modern cockpit lined with anti-magic alloy, the flight trajectory display blinked with brilliant red lines. Lin Feng sat upright in the black-dragon leather command seat, his profound gaze piercing through the three-inch-thick reinforced glass window. Beneath the aircraft’s wings, the landscape of the Great Continent rapidly receded. It transitioned from dense, towering megacities across vast, fertile plains until the scenery abruptly shifted into rugged, desolate wild terrain.
In less than two hours, the transport had crossed thousands of kilometers, entering the western borderlands—known to humanity as the roof of the world, a forbidden zone, and the cradle of countless wild mythological legends.
The ten-thousand-li Kunlun Mountain range unfolded beneath the wings like a primordial heavenly dragon biting its tail toward the east, winding its colossal body across the continent. Towering snow-capped peaks pierced straight through the cloud layer, permanently draped in ancient glaciers that shimmered with mystical light under the sun. What caught Lin Feng’s attention was not the majestic natural scenery, but the turbulent aura coiled deep within every stone and ravine. It was pure, heavy, and ancient dragon-energy, winding like ethereal silk threads closely hugging the precipitous mountain slopes, resembling the breathing of a colossal, dormant living entity.
This region had long been listed as a strict global no-fly zone. Any civilian aircraft or reconnaissance satellite passing through this airspace would suffer severe magnetic field distortion or even crash without warning due to an ancient magical barrier covering thousands of square miles. Only military transports bearing the Military Commission’s highest security code could use specialized resonance frequencies to penetrate this protective membrane.
“Reporting to the Major General, we are about to land at the Wind-Ice Outpost. The outside temperature is currently minus sixty degrees Celsius, with extremely low atmospheric pressure. Please prepare yourself.”
The pilot’s voice came through the intercom system, laden with absolute respect.
Lin Feng gave a slight nod and withdrew his gaze. He stood up, draped his dark-gold trimmed Major General’s military uniform over his shoulders, and strode toward the cargo hatch.
Rumble...
The hatch opened, and a violent gale mixed with biting frost and primal breath rushed in fiercely from an altitude of 4,500 meters. If an ordinary high-tier mage were standing here, the air pressure and bone-chilling cold alone would be enough to freeze their meridians and stagnate their blood. But for Lin Feng, whose body had been tempered through countless life-or-death battles and awakened dragon bloodlines, that biting chill merely grazed the surface of his uniform before dissipating into white steam.
At the helipad carved directly into the jade stone cliffs of the Wind-Ice Outpost, a squad of guards wearing gleaming cold-iron armor stood at rigid attention. They were elites of the Iron-Blood Army, each possessing strength ranging from the peak of the Advanced Mage realm to the Archmage level, their murderous aura condensing into a chilling pressure. Upon seeing Lin Feng step down from the transport, the entire guard squad simultaneously raised their hands in a crisp military salute dedicated to a Major General. The sharp, metallic clatter of armor echoed across the desolate snow peaks, shattering a millennium of silence.
“Greetings, Major General!”
The squad leader stepped forward, bowing and shouting clearly.
“At ease. Lead the way; I am here by order of Elder Gu.”
Lin Feng’s voice was calm yet carried an invisible majesty that shook the other man’s spirit. The squad leader hurriedly acknowledged the order and respectfully led the party away from the helipad.
Passing through stone corridors directly chiseled out of millennia-old ice blocks as solid as hardened steel, Lin Feng ventured deep into Kunlun’s supreme forbidden zone—the Sacred Mountain Grotto. The deeper they went, the dimmer the natural light became, replaced instead by a blue glow emitted from spiritual crystal prisms embedded along the cave walls. The air here was thick with primordial spiritual energy, so dense it condensed into a delicate mist floating beneath the stone vaults.
Every step Lin Feng took rang out steadily, producing hollow echoes against the gloomy stone walls. He felt acutely that the deeper he ventured, the heavier the pressure bearing down on his shoulders. It wasn’t ordinary physical gravity, but rather the compression of willpower and spatial laws left behind by senior powerhouses over centuries.
At the end of the icy corridor stood a colossal stone door one and a half zhang tall, its surface intricately carved with ancient sealing runes that had faded over time. Standing quietly before the door was a tall figure draped in a simple, gray linen robe, yet emanating an immovable presence like a pillar holding up the heavens.
It was none of other than the Guardian Elder of Kunlun—Forbidden Mage Gu Batian.
Lin Feng halted, his solemn gaze fixed on the middle-aged man who had his back turned to him. Though called an elder, Gu Batian showed no signs of age or frailty. His hair was as white as the snow atop Mount Kunlun, flowing naturally down his back, yet his build was muscular and towering like a monolith of solid stone. The eyes he revealed when he slowly turned his head to look at Lin Feng were truly terrifying—deep, tranquil, and profound like a cosmic black hole, containing the evolution of galaxies and the birth and death of all things.
The moment he locked eyes with him, the dormant ancient dragon aura in Lin Feng’s dantian trembled, automatically surging outward to wrap around his bloodline as if preparing for battle, only to be suppressed by his rationality.
Gu Batian narrowed his eyes slightly, a sharp glint like sword light flashing across his deep pupils. He closely observed Lin Feng from head to toe, the corners of his mouth twitching into a faint smile tinged with unconcealed surprise and appreciation.
“Not bad... Truly not bad at all. The ancient dragon aura in your body is purer than anyone I’ve seen in the past few hundred years. You carry not only the bloodline, but also the destiny of a brand-new era.”
Gu Batian’s voice was deep and warm, echoing like a bronze bell tolling in a valley, carrying a layer of pure mental pressure that made the surrounding space feel as though it were freezing over.
“Junior Lin Feng, pays his respects to Elder Gu.”
Lin Feng cupped his fists in a respectful salute, his back remaining straight without a trace of trembling or weakness before the terrifying pressure of a Forbidden Mage—the pinnacle of current human combat strength.
Gu Batian nodded in satisfaction, extending his right hand to gesture for Lin Feng to enter the spacious stone chamber hidden behind the stone door.
“No need for formalities. In this place, year-round, there is only me and ten thousand miles of ice and snow. It has been a very long time since an interesting junior like you stepped foot here. Sit.”
The interior of the stone chamber was extremely simple, furnished with only a monolithic stone table and a few woven cushions on the ground. The two sat opposite each other, a jade tea set steaming between them, diffusing the rich fragrance of supreme spiritual herbs.
“You must be wondering why I summoned you to the Sacred Mount Kunlun at such a sensitive time, aren’t you?”
Gu Batian poured a cup of tea, pushing it forward as he spoke leisurely while keeping his eyes fixed on Lin Feng.
Lin Feng accepted the teacup, feeling the pure energy radiate from his palm into his meridians, then calmly replied:
“Junior understands that Kunlun has since ancient times been the focal point of the Divine Continent’s Dragon Veins, suppressing earth-shattering anomalies of the land. My coming here is undoubtedly related to the global shift in spiritual energy and the threshold of the Super-Tier realm I am currently pursuing.”
Hearing this, Gu Batian threw his head back and laughed heartily. His laughter rolled like thunder across the mountain peak, causing accumulated snow on the cave’s dome to shower down in clumps.
“Well said! ‘The threshold of the Super-Tier realm’! Outsiders all assume reaching the peak of the Forbidden Curse is hitting the absolute limit of the path of magic. But they do not know that a Forbidden Curse is nothing more than mastering and exploiting elemental violence at its highest level. As for the Super-Tier... or rather, the realm transcending mortal limits that you yearn for, it is purely no longer about accumulating brute force.”
Gu Batian reined in his laughter, his expression turning grave as his gaze shifted toward the stone wall behind Lin Feng, which was covered in ancient carvings.
“Tell me, in your view, what is the essence of the Super-Tier realm?”
Lin Feng fell silent for a moment, a flash of profound contemplation crossing his eyes. He recalled his life-or-death battles against powerhouses of various major factions, remembered the moment he fused fire and lightning elements within his body, and slowly spoke:
“From what junior has sensed through breaking my limits, the Super-Tier realm is neither about forcing the body to contain more magic power, nor about creating spells with wider destructive power. Rather... it is the complete fusion between one’s ego soul and the elemental order of heaven and earth. When one becomes a part of the laws, you no longer control the elements; instead, the elemental order executes your will in your stead.”
Clink...
The teacup in Gu Batian’s hand trembled slightly, a flash of undisguised astonishment surfacing in the deep eyes of the veteran Forbidden Mage. He stared at Lin Feng a moment longer, as if looking at an uncut piece of jade radiating a blinding brilliance that dared not be met head-on.
“Very good! You have truly stepped ahead of your peers not just by a single step, but by a chasm. Most of your enemies outside, even those old fossils who have lived half their lives in the Sacred Grounds, remain deluded into thinking the Super-Tier is a crude power that can be usurped through resources and bloodline. They fail to understand that heaven and earth do not allow mortals to usurp the right to govern order unless that soul is worthy enough to shoulder the responsibilities of a true deity.”
Gu Batian abruptly stood up, strode over to the stone wall, and swept his long sleeve across it in an arc.
“The ancient dragon bloodline within your body is the ultimate key to unlocking that door. But a key alone is not enough; you must undergo the most primordial cleansing of the earth—the very source from which the Divine Continent’s Dragon Veins nurture all living things in this world.”
Hearing this, Lin Feng’s heart skipped a beat. He raised his head to look at Gu Batian’s towering back, feeling an invisible atmosphere gradually condensing around the stone chamber.
“Elder means...”
“That’s right. The time has come for you to witness with your own eyes the source of the power you have been seeking, while also facing the greatest life-or-death trial since you set foot upon the path of magic.”
Gu Batian turned his head, a meaningful smile playing on the corners of his lips as he raised his right hand and lightly tapped the empty air in front of him.
Rumble rumble rumble...!
A muffled explosion echoed from the depths of the earth, shaking the entire structure of the Sacred Mount Kunlun. The colossal stone wall in the corner of the room slowly split in two, grinding with screeching friction between millennia-old dragon-jade blocks. As the stone door shifted, an unimaginably terrifying wave of heat combined with extreme cold surged outward, washing straight over Lin Feng’s face.
Simultaneously with that mixed aura, a muffled, majestic, and dominant dragon roar burst from the fathomless abyss below, piercing through tens of thousands of layers of thick rock to slam directly into Lin Feng’s spiritual consciousness, making his blood boil so violently he nearly spat out a mouthful of fresh blood!
Standing before the cave entrance opening into that unprecedented abyss, Lin Feng widened his eyes, his entire body tensing like a taut bowstring as his hands clenched into fists. Beneath the dense fog and swirling currents of magma fused with ice and snow, a heaven-shattering power awaited him to step down and face it!
At the exact same time, thousands of kilometers away, at the supreme headquarters of the Black Vatican...
A thin, shadowy figure knelt in the dark main hall, trembling as a report of information just transmitted from the western border was delivered:
“Reporting to Your Holiness the Pope... He has entered the Sacred Mount Kunlun. Gu Batian has opened the primordial forbidden grounds for him!”
Seated upon a throne made of colossal beast bones, the figure shrouded in tattered robes slowly raised its head, revealing blood-red eyes flashing with cruel and malevolent light. A chilling, cold chuckle echoed through the quiet space:
“Kunlun? Does he think hiding in there will give him wings to fly into the sky? When the Myriad Demon Grand Formation flips that roof of the world upside down, I want to see whether his corpse remains intact! Mobilize all forces; the ‘Dragon Vein Destruction’ plan officially begins!”
Whoosh...
Outside the main hall, dark clouds rolled in to completely obscure the sun, and a storm unlike any in history quietly brewed, waiting to crash down upon the earth.