The Imperial Docks of Chang'an were a marvel of Rank-3 engineering, but to Lu Chen, they were merely a display of wasted potential. As he walked past the stunned Prince Li, his Architectural God-Interface was already mapping the ley lines of the city.
[System Notification: Capital City 'Chang'an' Scanned.]
[Detection: 15.4 Million Volumes of Knowledge within the Imperial Library.]
[New Objective: Locate Disciple #6 - The 'Beggar Prince' (Heavenly Gambler Bloodline).]
Lu Chen stopped at a chaotic street corner where a group of beggars were being harassed by the local city guards. In the center of the scuffle was a young man with matted hair and dirt-streaked skin, clutching a pair of ivory dice as if they were his soul.
"Hey! Give it back!" the beggar youth shouted, his voice hoarse. "That's my lucky set! I won those fair and square!"
The guard laughed, raising his boot to crush the youth's hand. "A beggar winning against a merchant? You cheated, Li Xiao. And in this city, cheats lose fingers."
Lu Chen's eyes flashed gold.
[Target: Li Xiao (The Beggar Prince)]
[Status: Destitute. Bloodline: 'The All-Seeing Gambler' (Sealed).]
[Analysis: He doesn't cheat; he sees the 'Structural Probability' of the world. He knows exactly how the dice will fall because he understands the vibrations of the surface.]
"Wait," Lu Chen's voice cut through the air like a cold blade.
The guard froze, sensing a pressure that made his marrow ache. He looked up at Lu Chen, then at the massive Heavenly Lightning King tiger growling behind him.
"This youth didn't cheat," Lu Chen said, walking forward. "He simply calculated the flaws in your 'unfair' dice. You are the one who should be losing a finger for using weighted ivory."
"Who are you to—"
Before the guard could finish, Lu Chen tapped the guard's wrist with his Origin Spirit Pen. The guard's hand instantly went numb, dropping the dice. Lu Chen caught them mid-air.
"Han Feng, take him," Lu Chen commanded.
The beggar youth, Li Xiao, looked up in shock. He saw a man who didn't look at him with pity, but with the gaze of an architect finding a rare, misplaced gemstone.
"You see it too, don't you?" Lu Chen whispered to him, handing back the dice. "The way the world vibrates? The way every choice has a blueprint?"
Li Xiao's eyes widened. "You... you can see the numbers?"
"I see everything. Come with me, and I'll teach you to gamble with the stars themselves."
[System Notification: Disciple #6 Recruited.]
The Master Teacher Pavilion: The 3-Star Gate
Before Lu Chen could establish his academy, he needed authority. In the Great Tang Empire, a 1-Star badge from a borderland was worth less than scrap metal. He needed the 3-Star Master Teacher Badge to legally claim territory.
The Great Tang Master Teacher Pavilion was a 99-story pagoda that touched the clouds. As Lu Chen entered with his six disciples and the Empress Gu Meixuan, the atmosphere turned icy.
"Lu Chen of Cloud Mist City," a voice boomed from the balcony of the 50th floor. A man with four stars on his robe descended—Elder Zhang, the Head of the Examination Hall. "You humiliated Grandmaster Yan in the borderlands. You think the Capital is the same? To take the 3-Star exam, you must first survive the 'Hall of 10,000 Flaws'."
The Hall of 10,000 Flaws was a sensory-deprivation chamber where a teacher was bombarded with 10,000 different cultivation techniques, some perfect, most corrupted. One had to categorize and correct them all within ten minutes or go insane.
"Ten minutes is too long," Lu Chen said, stepping into the chamber. "Give me three."
The crowd of 2-Star and 3-Star teachers erupted in laughter. "Three minutes? Even a 5-Star master wouldn't dare!"
Lu Chen ignored them. He sat in the center of the hall and closed his eyes.
[Architectural God-Interface: Overclocking Synthesis Engine...]
[Processing 10,000 Data Streams... 30%... 70%... 100%.]
[Halo of Infinite Knowledge: Activated!]
Outside the chamber, the monitors—large spirit-stones that displayed the progress—began to glow with a blinding white light.
Corrected. Corrected. Optimized. Corrected.
The names of the techniques flashed so fast they became a blur. At exactly the 2-minute and 45-second mark, the doors hissed open. Lu Chen walked out, not a single bead of sweat on his forehead.
"The 10,000th technique, the 'Seven-Star Burst', was actually a trap," Lu Chen said, looking directly at Elder Zhang. "It was designed to explode the user's dantian. I've rewritten it to be a Stage-6 Saint Art. You're welcome."
Elder Zhang checked the data, his hands shaking. "He... he didn't just pass. He upgraded our entire database."
The Imperial Sword Sect Confrontation
With his 3-Star authority temporarily granted, Lu Chen led his group to the most prestigious part of the city—the Imperial Sword Sect's secondary training hall. It was built on the city's primary Qi-node.
"Pack your things and leave," Lu Chen announced to the hundreds of sword-disciples practicing in the courtyard. "This land has a faulty foundation. I am reclaiming it for the Sovereign All Path Academy."
The Sect Leader's son, Sword-Prince Mo, stepped forward, his eyes burning with fury. "You? A 3-Star nobody? This land was gifted by the Emperor himself! If you want it, you'll have to take it through a 'Master-Disciple Duel'."
"Fine," Lu Chen said, leaning against a pillar. "Han Feng, you're up. He is Stage-5; you are Stage-3. Use the 'Broken Blueprint' strike."
Han Feng stepped forward, his wooden sword in hand. The crowd laughed. "A wooden sword against the Imperial Steel?"
Sword-Prince Mo lunged, his blade glowing with a fierce, red Qi. "Die, peasant!"
[Architectural God-Interface: Analyzing Mo's Strike...]
[Flaw: The red Qi is purely ornamental. The real power is in the hilt, which is made of brittle Star-Iron.]
"Now!" Lu Chen shouted.
Han Feng didn't block. He stepped into the strike, his wooden sword tapping the hilt of Mo's steel blade.
SHATTER!
The legendary Imperial Steel sword didn't just break—it disintegrated. The shockwave of Han Feng's concentrated Sword Intent sent the Sword-Prince flying through three stone walls.
"The structure of your sword was weak," Han Feng said, sheathng his wooden weapon. "Just like the structure of your sect."
Lu Chen walked to the center of the courtyard and plunged his Origin Spirit Pen into the ground.
"By my authority as a 3-Star Architect, I declare this land RECONSTRUCTED!"
The ground shook. The old buildings of the Sword Sect didn't collapse; they rearranged themselves. Stones flew through the air, wood warped into elegant arches, and the Qi-node beneath the earth opened like a blooming flower.
Within minutes, a majestic palace, ten times grander than before, stood in the center of Chang'an. Above the gate, the words SOVEREIGN ALL PATH ACADEMY burned with eternal gold.
Lu Chen turned to the Empress Gu Meixuan, who was looking at the new building with genuine wonder.
"Welcome to my school, Empress," Lu Chen said. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I believe I have eight more disciples to find, and a 4-Star exam to prepare for."
[System Notification: Academy Level 1 Established.]
[New Feature Unlocked: 'Student Stat Tracking'.]
[Alert: The 'Emperor of Great Tang' has summoned you for an audience...]