"You concede?"
Lin Yuan immediately reined in his Blazing Sun Divine Body, and the vast, searing world of blazing suns vanished in an instant.
"Brother Milky Way, with your strength, you could probably go toe-to-toe with those Heavenly Sovereigns," Chibao King couldn’t help but say.
Normally, an extreme core royal who grew entirely on their own could at most exchange a few moves with a Heavenly Sovereign.
But in a real, all-out battle? There was no way they'd win.
Yet the feeling Chibao King got from Lin Yuan right now was completely on par with those Heavenly Sovereigns.
Even though Lin Yuan hadn’t used his full strength, and they had only clashed through their Sunborn Genesis worlds,
If they really fought for their lives, there would be many more variables. After all, the greatest strength of Heavenly Sovereigns wasn't just the Blazing Sun Divine Body.
But even so, Chibao King couldn’t shake that feeling.
"I don’t think I could really beat a Heavenly Sovereign yet," Lin Yuan replied.
"Even if you can’t, you’re pretty much there," Chibao King said with certainty.
Lin Yuan didn’t deny it.
It was true.
Right now, Lin Yuan’s strength was already very close to that of a true Heavenly Sovereign.
In fact, saying he was their equal wasn’t an exaggeration—he could already fight toe-to-toe with some newly advanced Heavenly Sovereigns.
"Once I finish the second layer of 'Infinite Void' and my inner universe transforms again, then I’ll be able to truly contend with Heavenly Sovereigns and Chaos Great Saints," Lin Yuan thought.
Originally, the second layer of "Infinite Void" was supposed to let his inner universe reach a size close to that of a Chaos Great Saint.
That alone wasn’t enough to actually fight a Chaos Great Saint.
But after his inner universe fused with and devoured the Sunborn Genesis, he’d undergone an unexpected leap in power.
Now, even before reaching the second layer, he already had an inner universe at the Great Saint level.
It could be predicted that, once he achieved the second layer, his inner universe would probably surpass even a normal Chaos Great Saint’s.
At that point, even if he had shortcomings in other areas, overall he’d have real Great Saint-level power.
"Hahahahaha! Excellent!" Chibao King was all smiles—the stronger Lin Yuan was, the happier he felt. This meant the royal clan’s foundation would be that much stronger in the future.
Even if Lin Yuan never broke the Heavenly Sovereign barrier, with his current strength alone, the royals would have the confidence to stand up straight before any Heavenly Sovereign.
"Brother Milky Way, when do you want to head to the capital with me?"
Chibao King asked.
He was already eager to bring Lin Yuan back.
"Let’s wait a bit longer," Lin Yuan thought for a moment and said.
Judging by the speed of his bloodline refinement, it would only take a few more months for him to reach true core royal bloodline concentration.
At that point, he could go to the capital with no worries at all.
"Alright," Chibao King nodded.
He didn’t ask for details—that was Lin Yuan’s own business.
"That spatial fluctuation?"
Down below, King Chisong and Chijue King were receiving the young men and women who had come with Chibao King.
These young royals were here as reinforcements for the war. Chibao King was an extreme core royal, as was Ling Shen King. Having another Great Sovereign on the field was crucial, especially one with royal blood at peak power.
"Chibao King is sparring with Senior Milky Way?"
Chijue King’s eyes narrowed. The others all looked tense as well.
Chibao King was acknowledged as an extreme core royal, and so was Milky Way—the defeat of Ling Shen King was proof.
A spar between these two?
"Chibao King..."
The young royals exchanged glances. Since they’d come with Chibao King, they obviously belonged to the same royal branch, and naturally hoped he would win.
The royal lineage of Liyang Kingdom was divided into many branches, and a branch with an extreme core royal was considered powerful indeed.
But—
Soon enough,
The young royals’ expressions changed.
"Chibao King lost?"
Even if they couldn’t sense the exact details, they could feel the clash of those two overwhelming, searing auras, and the one belonging to Chibao King was clearly being suppressed. In the end, both auras quickly dissipated.
It was obvious the spar was over.
"Senior Milky Way is just too strong."
King Chisong couldn’t help but sigh. Before, when Lin Yuan killed Ling Shen King, perhaps it was because the latter had only recently reached the extreme.
But Chibao King? He was a veteran extreme core royal.
Beside him, Chijue King was just as amazed. He could see that Lin Yuan and Chibao King had only barely exchanged blows, but for the latter to admit defeat so quickly made it clear just how powerful Lin Yuan truly was.
"Chisong, your luck is incredible," Chijue King said, glancing at King Chisong.
If not for Lin Yuan, they definitely wouldn’t be sitting here chatting right now.
"Yeah," King Chisong nodded.
Time passed quietly.
In the blink of an eye, several months had gone by.
Qingfen City bustled with life, as prosperous as ever.
Right now, the topic of "Milky Way Great Sovereign" was everywhere. Months ago, at the height of the war, Milky Way had stepped in, slain Ling Shen King, turned the tide, and saved Qingfen Domain and the neighboring territories.
"I know some extra details about that war," a black-skinned man said in a common tavern, surrounded by a group of eleventh-stage lifeforms.
"Let’s hear it," the others said, all interested. None of them had reached Path-Clearing, so they didn’t know much about the battle—only that Milky Way Great Sovereign had almost single-handedly swept the field.
Yu Chao Long was there as well.
He’d only just arrived in Qingfen City today after leaving the Yu Clan months ago.
All that time, more and more information about Lin Yuan had reached the clan, and even on the road, Yu Chao Long had heard all sorts of stories about Milky Way.
"Do you know how Milky Way killed Ling Shen King?" the black-skinned man said, full of pride.
"Ling Shen King was an extreme core royal, invincible among Great Sovereigns. Even if Milky Way could kill him, it must have been after a long, bitter fight, right?"
One of the others guessed.
That was the most logical conclusion.
In truth, if not for so many rumors saying Milky Way had killed Ling Shen King, these eleventh-stage folk would have assumed Ling Shen King just lost and fled.
Killing an extreme core royal wasn’t something you heard about every day.
"Wrong, wrong," the black-skinned man shook his head, "Milky Way killed Ling Shen King with barely any effort—it only took a few moves."
As soon as he said that—
Everyone looked at each other.
Killed Ling Shen King? In just a few moves?
"Are you serious?"
"That was an extreme core royal!"
"Could Milky Way have reached the Heavenly Sovereign level?"
The crowd buzzed with questions.
"Heh, I don’t know about that, but Milky Way definitely isn’t a Heavenly Sovereign," the black-skinned man said. "If a Heavenly Sovereign had made a move, the Grand Ling Ancient Kingdom would have responded."
In wars between kingdoms, if it was only a localized conflict, it was an unwritten rule that Heavenly Sovereigns couldn’t interfere.
Because if one side sent a Heavenly Sovereign, the other would send one too.
But the Grand Ling Ancient Kingdom had done nothing, so obviously Milky Way wasn’t a Heavenly Sovereign.
"Don’t believe me?" The man looked around and continued, "You’ve all heard how Milky Way captured all the Grand Ling Great Sovereigns, right?"
"If Milky Way and Ling Shen King had really fought it out for a long time, those other Grand Ling Great Sovereigns would’ve escaped ages ago."
He made his case.
"That’s true."
"If Ling Shen King hadn’t lost so quickly, the others would definitely have gotten away."
After thinking it over, everyone agreed—Ling Shen King must have been defeated in almost no time, completely overwhelmed.
Otherwise, not a single Grand Ling Great Sovereign would have been left to capture—they’d all have escaped.
"Milky Way Great Sovereign..."
In the corner of the tavern, Yu Chao Long quietly listened. He’d heard countless such conversations on his journey here, but his shock still hadn’t faded.
Burning Heaven Courtyard.
Lin Yuan sat cross-legged, the Sunborn Genesis in his inner universe constantly radiating sunlight, resonating with the eternal sun outside, drawing in strands of mysterious, searing energy.
Bathed in this heat, Lin Yuan’s Sunborn bloodline rapidly became purer and richer.
"I’ve finally reached the threshold of core royal blood."
Lin Yuan opened his eyes, smiling.
In the Liyang Ancient Kingdom, there were indeed methods for refining the Sunborn bloodline, but they were all exceedingly difficult—like becoming emperor.
For Lin Yuan to refine his bloodline so easily was utterly unbelievable.
In reality, his way of refining and purifying his Sunborn bloodline looked simple, but was actually harder than becoming emperor.
First, he had to awaken the "Sunborn Genesis" divine power—a technique from the Liyang Ancestor himself, which even emperors might not have.
Second, he needed to have cultivated an inner universe with "Infinite Void"—which was even harder than the first.
Either requirement was harder than becoming emperor; both together? Only Lin Yuan could do it.
"Time to go."
With a thought, Lin Yuan appeared outside Burning Heaven Courtyard.
At the same time, he left an avatar there to sit in his place.
After all, the Grand Ling Ancient Kingdom still needed to ransom back its captured Great Sovereigns, so Lin Yuan needed to leave someone behind.
This avatar could also handle other affairs as needed.
Outside the Qingfen City spatial teleportation array.
Chibao King was already waiting. When he saw Lin Yuan, he smiled. "All set, Brother Milky Way?"
"All set," Lin Yuan replied.
"Then let’s head for the capital—it’s far more prosperous than any domain here," Chibao King laughed. "With your potential, only the capital can let you shine to the fullest."
"Let’s go."
Chibao King immediately activated the teleportation array, linking to the far-off capital, and stepped through in one stride.
Lin Yuan glanced at the teleportation array and, without hesitation, stepped through as well.
...
20 chapters ahead on patreon: patreon.com/David_Lord
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