"This strength?"
Nearby, Chijue King's pupils contracted.
He was still wondering why Lin Yuan refused to team up with him against Ling Shen King, and then he saw this earth-shattering blow.
"Milky Way Great Sovereign’s strength... is it on par with a core royal who’s grown to the extreme? Or is Milky Way himself just such a core royal?"
Chijue King was shocked and uncertain.
That one strike from Lin Yuan had already proven his strength—even if Chijue King went all out, he couldn't unleash such a blow.
In theory, a normal Great Sovereign could rival an extreme core royal without borrowing ancestor bloodline power.
But that was only in theory.
Such a Great Sovereign would be rarer than a Heavenly Sovereign.
An extreme core royal could reach that level only by relying on the power of their ancestral bloodline; how could a normal Great Sovereign get there?
So—
Chijue King was more inclined to believe Lin Yuan was himself an extreme core royal.
And the move Lin Yuan had just shown was clearly the Sunborn Genesis unique to the Blazing Sun Divine Body.
"A core royal from my Liyang Ancient Kingdom traveling abroad?" Chijue King thought to himself.
The Liyang Ancient Kingdom had existed for endless ages. Some core royals who'd long since reached their limit, in hopes of breaking through the shackles preventing core royals from becoming Heavenly Sovereigns, often chose to travel among the ancient kingdoms.
If the resources and inheritance of the Liyang Ancient Kingdom couldn’t offer further hope, then they’d look to other kingdoms.
Of course, such core royals were extremely rare. Core royals themselves were few, and those who'd grown to the extreme and went traveling were even rarer.
"Milky Way."
Ling Shen King stared at Lin Yuan, his thoughts churning.
He’d come to the same guess as Chijue King—Lin Yuan was a traveling extreme core royal from the Liyang Ancient Kingdom.
Just happened to pass through Qingfen Domain. Just happened to arrive when King Lingwei launched his war. Just happened to be present when Ling Shen King went all out. Just happened to...
So many coincidences led to this moment.
"My luck..." Ling Shen King felt helpless—if even one of these coincidences hadn’t lined up, none of this would have happened.
He could only admit his luck was rotten.
"This is trouble now."
Ling Shen King looked at Lin Yuan. If this opponent was a core royal on the same level as him, then the plan to invade Qingfen Domain was basically a bust.
And not only that—they’d have to guard against Qingfen Domain counterattacking Zimeng Domain. After all, besides Lin Yuan, they still had Chijue King.
Chijue King might not have reached the limit, but no peak Great Sovereign could compare to him. At the moment, Zimeng Domain didn’t have anyone who could hold Chijue King back.
"Milky Way is also a core royal from my kingdom? And one who’s grown to the extreme?"
The distant Great Sovereigns of Qingfen Domain exchanged looks. They could feel the might of Lin Yuan’s last strike; to become a Great Sovereign, their judgment was razor sharp, and they immediately reached the same conclusion.
Only this explanation made sense.
"Qingfen, who would've thought you’d have such fortune..." a peak Great Sovereign glanced at Qingfen Marquis.
As for the master-disciple identity between Qingfen Marquis and Lin Yuan? It was just this extreme core royal hiding his identity while traveling among mortals.
He might even have made some sort of arrangement with Qingfen Marquis, temporarily living in seclusion in Qingfen City.
"I..." Qingfen Marquis blinked, doubting himself a little.
"Since I reached the limit, I’ve never fought another kingdom’s extreme core royal before."
Ling Shen King stared at Lin Yuan, his eyes shining with battle intent. At this point, he’d cast aside thoughts of war—he only wanted a good fight with Lin Yuan, this Liyang Ancient Kingdom extreme core royal.
He hadn’t even wanted to join in this low-intensity war, and if it weren’t for King Lingwei, he wouldn’t have come at all.
Now, faced with a peer, and with war already lost, Ling Shen King was eager for a battle.
Fighting Chijue King earlier didn’t even count as a warmup, nowhere near as exciting as the suppression strike Lin Yuan had unleashed just now.
"Milky Way, take my strike!"
Ling Shen King stretched out his right hand. A silver longsword appeared, and with a light motion, he slashed toward Lin Yuan.
A subtle blade light flashed by, tearing through time, space, and chaos, slashing toward Lin Yuan.
Lin Yuan stood motionless. The Blazing Sun Divine Body activated on its own—the closer the blade came, the hotter it got, with layers of blazing heat forming overlapping dimensions.
Ssshh!
As blade light collided with blazing heat, the shockwaves swept out across billions of miles.
That strike from Ling Shen King was at full force; even the aftershocks forced Chijue King, who was watching, to retreat rapidly.
"So this is what it’s like when extreme core royals fight?"
Chijue King’s expression grew solemn. He’d sparred with extreme core royals of the Liyang Ancient Kingdom before, but that was just friendly competition within the same clan—naturally, no one had used their full strength.
Buzz, buzz, buzz.
The aftershocks kept spreading, making even the far-off watching Great Sovereigns feel a chill.
"So this is the power of an extreme core royal?"
"No wonder they can trade blows with Heavenly Sovereigns."
These Great Sovereigns couldn’t help but think—in battles between Heavenly Sovereigns, the extreme core royals were the strongest. That was the common understanding among the ancient kingdoms.
"He blocked it just like that?"
Ling Shen King, sword in hand, looked at the utterly unmoved Lin Yuan and slashed out again.
This time, the blade light split—one into two, two into four, four into eight.
In an instant, the world around Ling Shen King was filled with countless silver blade lights.
"Rise!"
The endless silver blades formed a grand array, descending on Lin Yuan.
"Try something else—these tricks won’t work on me."
Lin Yuan calmly brushed his sleeve.
The Blazing Sun Divine Body powered up again, the terrifying Sunborn Genesis world shrinking and swiftly erasing the endless array of silver blades.
"Hmph."
Ling Shen King put away his silver longsword. His eyes began to swirl with vortexes—a soul-shaking, mind-crushing force pressed down.
"A mental attack?"
Lin Yuan sensed it instantly, but his will and soul were all hidden deep within his inner universe.
Now, Lin Yuan’s inner universe was more vast than ever. The Sunborn Genesis sat at its center, the infinite void within shaped by Infinite Void. The moment Ling Shen King’s full-power soul attack entered, it was diluted and dispersed.
"This guy..." Ling Shen King frowned. His soul attack hadn’t even managed to shake Lin Yuan’s will—he wasn’t even sure if the move had worked at all.
"If that’s how it is..."
Ling Shen King no longer wanted to keep testing Lin Yuan—whether with his blade or mental attacks, it had all been to probe Lin Yuan’s limits.
After all, facing another extreme core royal, he couldn’t afford to be careless.
"Now, I’ll use my strongest killing move."
Before he finished speaking, Ling Shen King’s figure disappeared from view.
What replaced him was an endless sea of "spirit".
What was spirit? Spirit was a special energy, present in all things. The ancestor of the Grand Ling Ancient Kingdom was the source of all "spirit" in the world.
The ancestor of the Liyang Ancient Kingdom was that eternal sun above the sky, worshipped by all.
But the ancestor of the Grand Ling Ancient Kingdom was the spirit in all things—the source of all spirit, present everywhere.
"Hahaha, I can sense the surging ‘spirit’ within you—merge with me!"
Ling Shen King's voice rang faintly. At this moment, he had become the spirit of the world, and could even influence the "spirit" within all things.
"Hmm?"
Lin Yuan frowned slightly.
He could sense that Ling Shen King was nearby, but couldn’t lock onto his position.
At the same time—
Lin Yuan noticed the energy within his body becoming restless.
"So this is the Grand Ling Ancient Kingdom’s means of manipulating all things’ spirit?"
Lin Yuan thought to himself. The Grand Ling Ancient Kingdom and the Liyang Ancient Kingdom had been at war for ages—he’d naturally heard of their methods.
But with his mastery over his physical form, he was basically immune—no Grand Ling Great Sovereign could manipulate the spirit within him.
Yet Ling Shen King’s technique had broken that limitation, managing to influence the spirit within Lin Yuan.
Of course, it was just an influence—still a long way from actual control.
Even so, Lin Yuan felt his internal energies growing chaotic, and a trace of irritation rose in his heart.
"Forget it, I’m done playing."
Lin Yuan moved his thoughts, unleashing the divine ability "World". (Za Warudo!!)
An invisible world descended and fused with the Sunborn Genesis. In that instant, Lin Yuan’s command of the surrounding space-time reached an unimaginable level.
The strength of the divine ability "World" depended on the inner universe.
And Lin Yuan’s inner universe right now?
Buzz, buzz, buzz!
Lin Yuan stood there like an eternal blazing sun; wherever his light reached, it became his domain. Every trace of spirit was forcibly drawn out, compelled to gather together, and reformed into Ling Shen King's figure.
"Me?"
Ling Shen King was stunned. This technique—turning himself into spirit—might not be the best offensive move, but it was extremely troublesome. Even a Heavenly Sovereign would need real effort to deal with it.
But Lin Yuan?
Just forced him straight out of his spirit state? How was that possible?
"So the so-called Grand Ling core royals are just like this."
Lin Yuan looked at Ling Shen King. Under the terrifying suppression of his divine ability "World," Ling Shen King couldn’t resist at all—his body, soul, and mind began to collapse bit by bit.
"This kind of power..."
"Impossible?!"
Ling Shen King couldn’t believe it. He struggled desperately, but it was useless—he could only watch himself fade away.
"I’ve grown to the extreme, I'm invincible among Great Sovereigns—how could this be, how could this be?"
Ling Shen King stared at Lin Yuan, bewildered.
In this source world, among all the ancient kingdoms, an extreme core royal was supposed to be invincible among Great Sovereigns.
That was the rule—the common sense.
"Invincible among Great Sovereigns?"
Lin Yuan withdrew the divine ability "World," his eyes calm.
'You're invincible among Great Sovereigns.
So what does that make me?'
...
20 chapters ahead on patreon: patreon.com/David_Lord
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