The starry sky at the universe’s edge.
Dozens of 12th-rank beings stood there, expressions grim. The heaven-reaching road paved by countless laws ended not far from them.
A young man stepped upon these gathered laws, arriving before them.
“Milky Way Star Lord!”
All of the 12th-rank powerhouses felt heavy in their hearts. Even though they knew that by rejecting the human civilization’s proposal, they would eventually have to face the Milky Way Star Lord, the fact that he arrived this quickly still caught them off guard.
They had only just refused Xuanyuan the Strongest one, and in the very next moment, the Milky Way Star Lord appeared.
What’s more, someone with his strength could have sneaked in silently, yet he chose to arrive openly and boldly.
What did that mean? It meant absolute confidence in his power.
Only someone with supreme faith in himself would show up like this.
evolvers who have reached the 12th rank possess extremely rapid thinking, and in the blink of an eye, they came to many conclusions.
“Milky Way Star Lord, are you really determined to give us no chance of survival?”
The Universe Race strongest one spoke solemnly. At this moment, within every one of the dozens of 12th-rank beings, a terrifying aura was brewing, ready to be unleashed at any time.
As for fleeing, they weren’t fools. The universe was only so large—where could they run? In fact, if they all scattered and ran, they’d only give the Milky Way Star Lord a chance to defeat them one by one.
The only option now was to gather every bit of strength and see if they could withstand the Milky Way Star Lord.
As long as the Milky Way Star Lord failed to bring them down, they would consider it a victory of sorts.
“Surrender to humanity and hand over ninety percent of your 12th-rank weapons, artifacts, and treasures. That is your path to survival.” Lin Yuan spoke calmly, his tone indifferent.
“We can submit to humanity, but is there any way to reduce the proportion of 12th-rank items we must relinquish?” The Universe Race strongest one’s expression flickered before he finally spoke.
That was their largest possible concession. These 12th-rank artifacts and treasures were what these strongest ones relied on to withstand the future Great Destruction of the universe—they absolutely could not afford to lose them.
“It seems you still cling to wishful thinking.” Lin Yuan glanced around at the many 12th-rank evolvers.
In truth, demanding ninety percent of their 12th-rank weaponry, artifacts, and treasures was already Lin Yuan being merciful, remembering that attaining the 12th rank was no easy feat.
“Milky Way Star Lord, then allow us to see just how strong you really are.” The Universe Race strongest one’s brow glowed brilliantly. A majestic palace instantly covered all of the 12th-rank experts.
This was the Universe Race’s mightiest defensive ancestral weapon, obtained at the universe’s birth when something fell in from the Chaos Void.
A grand palace at the peak of the Path-Clearing realm, in theory, could block attacks at the Path-Clearing peak. Its only drawback was the monumental energy consumption required.
Yet with dozens of 12th-rank beings here to share the load, the consumption was more manageable.
The Universe Race strongest one had been confident enough to haggle with the Milky Way Star Lord precisely because of this fortress-level artifact.
So what if the Milky Way Star Lord had reached the Path-Clearing peak? So what if he was stronger than an ordinary Path-Clearing peak? As long as he was still within that realm, he shouldn’t be able to break this palace.
The others let out slight sighs of relief. Facing the Milky Way Star Lord head-on had been too much pressure; it felt safer having this palace between them.
“I hope, once he sees this palace’s might, the Milky Way Star Lord will choose to back off,” the Universe Race strongest one thought to himself.
They could hide in the palace and fend him off, but they obviously couldn’t stay inside there forever. Thus the eventual outcome had to be negotiating peace with him.
The Universe Race strongest one believed that, relying on this grand palace, they could secure at least some bargaining room.
Calamity Race territory.
In front of the mysterious, unknowable wooden hut, Lin Yuan and the two Calamity Race strongest one beings sat facing one another.
“A defensive treasure at the Path-Clearing peak?”
Raising an eyebrow, the Calamity Race strongest one on the right turned to Lin Yuan.
“Milky Way Star Lord, would you like our assistance?”
The two Calamity Race strongest ones were loathed and repulsed by the universe’s consciousness; if they went into action, they would risk being suppressed.
However, if it helped them build ties to this presumed reincarnated Great Saint, they were more than happy to do so. In the Chaos Void, Great Saints command tremendous respect, especially the peerless ones who dare attempt reincarnation.
Only those who reached perfection in the Chaos realm—peerless Great Saints—would dare to reincarnate without fear of premature death. Ordinary Chaos Venerables attempting rebirth would be courting disaster.
Even a Chaos Great Saint would not lightly try reincarnation. Among them, only a peerless Great Saint might attempt such a thing, carrying portions of their memories forward.
“I’ll handle it,” Lin Yuan replied with a light smile. Here at the wooden hut, he was merely an avatar; his true body stood facing the dozens of 12th-rank beings.
Beneath the starry sky, that group of dozens of 12th-rank powerhouses, enveloped by a magnificent palace, stood on guard. A formidable aura spread from the building.
“That’s quite a size,” Lin Yuan remarked as he took a close look at the towering palace and the many 12th-rank beings inside.
“A cage, indeed.”
The palace was undoubtedly a peak-level Path-Clearing defensive treasure, nearly on par with those top-tier Path-Clearing artifacts left behind by Cang Weiyang, that Dominance-level expert.
“What do you mean?”
The Universe Race strongest one froze.
Why was the Milky Way Star Lord calling their prized defensive treasure at the Path-Clearing peak “a cage?” Before he could decipher that comment, Lin Yuan’s thoughts stirred, and dozens of figures emerged all around the void, surrounding the towering palace that shielded the 12th-rank beings.
“That... are those all the Milky Way Star Lord’s avatars?”
The dozens of 12th-rank experts inside the palace looked on in confusion. They detected that each of the newly arrived figures was indeed an avatar of the Milky Way Star Lord.
Creating avatars is commonplace. Even a 9th or 10th-rank powerhouse could do so.
But typically, an avatar is far weaker than the true body. A single avatar from an 11th-rank being might not even match a strong evolver at the 9th or 10th rank.
If the Milky Way Star Lord is a Path-Clearing peak, then those avatars wouldn’t be especially formidable, perhaps just stronger than an 11th-rank pinnacle.
But even if he had dozens, or hundreds, or thousands of them, so what?
“What is the Milky Way Star Lord doing?”
“Why gather dozens of avatars?”
“Is he under the impression that these avatars are enough to handle us?”
“Does the Milky Way Star Lord think we’re on the level of 11th-rank beings?”
Inside the palace, many of the 12th-rank experts exchanged comments.
They were well aware of the massive gap between an avatar and the true self.
While they admitted they couldn’t beat the Milky Way Star Lord’s true body, there was no reason to fear mere avatars.
“Still, we shouldn’t be careless,” said the Universe Race strongest one. Even though he was puzzled, he didn’t let his guard down for an instant. He kept his vigilance at full strength as he operated the palace.
“Dozens of avatars?”
Far away, the two Calamity Race strongest ones were also puzzled.
However, in the next moment—
Before the eyes of all the 12th-rank powerhouses, those dozens of avatars made their move in unison.
In a flash, vast swaths of space-time imploded and collapsed, and the peak-level Path-Clearing defensive treasure that protected the 12th-rank beings—the towering palace—suddenly seemed like a lone boat adrift on the sea, on the verge of capsizing at any moment.
“What...?”
“Impossible!”
“Those are just avatars—how can they unleash such might?”
Inside the palace, every 12th-rank being was in shock. They could plainly feel the palace shuddering under that onslaught of power, hammered again and again by what seemed to go beyond all limits.
Lin Yuan calmly watched the palace quake and roll.
In the main universe, maximum power is capped at the Path-Clearing peak. This is an unbreakable rule, unless a being can contend directly with the universe itself.
Contending with a universe is equivalent to contending with a normal Chaos Venerable. Even a Chaos Venerable that gets drawn into the universe will be suppressed.
Certainly, a Chaos Great Saint would be exempt from that. While they couldn’t erase a universe from its roots, they could shatter its cosmic source, forcing an early Great Destruction.
Lin Yuan was no exception to these rules.
Though stepping into the 12th rank had given him combat power at the Dominance level, within the universe he was still subject to its limit—the Path-Clearing peak.
Yet even at the same peak rank, Lin Yuan far surpassed any “ordinary” peak.
One clear difference was that his avatars all wielded something close to peak-level Path-Clearing power.
The universe restricts the highest level of strength any one entity can employ, but it does not limit how many times that maximum power can appear.
“Still, this is too inefficient.”
Lin Yuan shook his head inwardly. Without the universe’s suppression, dealing with these 12th-rank beings would be a trivial matter.
He would simply employ a psychic technique—Abyssal Eye.
With his sixty million mental will index, once Abyssal Eye took effect, the consciousness of these Path-Clearing 12th-rank beings would be drowned at once.
That disparity in mental will was overwhelming.
“For now, I’ll just settle for this,” Lin Yuan thought, keeping an eye on the towering palace.
“Space-time.”
His true body moved. While the dozens of avatars attacked and rattled the palace’s foundation, he compressed layer after layer of space-time.
In an instant—
The once-immense palace shrank and fell into Lin Yuan’s palm.
What had once provided refuge for so many 12th-rank alien beings had now become their prison.
“No!”
“How... how can the Milky Way Star Lord’s avatars be this strong?”
“Milky Way Star Lord, we were wrong! We’re willing to swear eternal allegiance to human civilization, prepared to turn over ninety percent of our 12th-rank weapons, artifacts, and treasures...”
Inside the grand palace, the 12th-rank experts were panicking. They had been thoroughly trapped; though not immediately harmed, they had lost all freedom of movement.
That in itself was terrifying. The Milky Way Star Lord had all the time in the world to deal with them.
Even if he still couldn’t kill them, once the Great Destruction arrived, he could hurl the palace into the deepest recesses of the universe.
The force of the Great Destruction would pierce the palace, reaching them inside. As they were immobilized, they could only withstand wave after wave of annihilation, and final death would be practically guaranteed.
“Now you realize your mistake? It’s too late,” Lin Yuan murmured with a shake of his head. He had already given these 12th-rank powers a chance.
In truth, from the early, humble days of human civilization to the present time—over two million years since the beginning of the Star Sea Calendar—an untold number of evolvers had perished under these 12th-rank beings’ hands.
Though they generally disdained slaughtering the weak, the collateral damage of their battles alone often destroyed entire star domains, sometimes dozens of them.
“What...?”
In the Calamity Race’s domain, the two strongest one beings could scarcely believe their eyes. Even they would have found that peak-level Path-Clearing defensive treasure troublesome, yet Lin Yuan subdued it with ridiculous ease.
“Milky Way Star Lord...”
They watched as the dozens of avatars gradually dissipated, their minds trembling.
All those separate forms possessed nearly peak-level Path-Clearing strength? How could that be possible?
“A mere avatar wields close to the Path-Clearing peak. That means the Milky Way Star Lord’s true body must stand at least at the Dominance realm,” whispered the Calamity Race strongest one on the right, glancing at Lin Yuan’s calm face and swallowing nervously.
Where those subdued 12th-rank aliens were shocked and confused, these two had seen further implications.
Above all, an avatar’s power always lags far behind the real self. There’s no debate about that. An avatar is merely a wisp of mental will shaped at will—how could it rival the original’s meticulously tempered flesh and soul?
For Lin Yuan to grant such terrifying might to dozens of avatars, there was only one possibility: the strength of his real body far exceeded the Path-Clearing peak.
Presently, Lin Yuan’s real form appeared only as a Path-Clearing peak because the universe’s limit was the Path-Clearing peak.
“I’ll be leaving,” Lin Yuan said, glancing at the two Calamity Race beings, who had fallen silent. Then he vanished.
“Milky Way Star Lord... I have no doubts he’s a reincarnated Great Saint now,” the Calamity Race strongest one on the left sighed.
They had assumed that stepping into the 12th rank and instantly reaching the Path-Clearing peak was already the maximum possible.
Who would have expected the Milky Way Star Lord to soar straight to the Dominance realm? Even in the Chaos Void, a Dominance-level being is considered formidable. As long as they don’t deliberately venture into hazardous areas, they’re unlikely to die.
And yet, for him, newly entering the 12th rank meant already achieving Dominance?
News that the Milky Way Star Lord had subdued dozens of 12th-rank beings at once spread swiftly across the universe.
Within those peak-level species, the 11th-rank powerhouses learned that their ancestral founders had all been seized by the Milky Way Star Lord, and they nearly crumbled under the shock.
“Our ancestral founder was captured by the Milky Way Star Lord?”
“But our founder is an strongest one—how could it be that simple...”
“I don’t believe it. I can’t believe it.”
These 11th-rank members of peak civilizations were in denial, but soon they heard confirmation through the avatars left behind by their ancestors.
Whoosh.
With the towering palace tucked away, Lin Yuan turned and took a single step, reappearing at humanity’s Third Core Stronghold.
Xuanyuan and the other eight Strongest ones felt their minds go blank. Just moments before, they had been discussing how to deal with the dozens of 12th-rank aliens, bracing themselves for a tough, lengthy conflict.
Now, they hadn’t even finished talking, and the Milky Way Star Lord had already taken care of every last 12th-rank foe?
...
20 chapters ahead on patreon: patreon.com/David_Lord
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