A stream of blue-gray light tore through space-time, barely escaping from the silent battlefield.
In the distance, the watching Chaos Venerables were still stunned when they suddenly heard the voice of the Chaos Great Saint Dual-Source ripple across space-time:
“Great Saint Milky Way, I admit defeat. I will leave this universe immediately and vow not to come near it for ten thousand cosmic eras…”
After that brief clash with Lin Yuan, Dual-Source Great Saint had lost all desire for the Mysterious Emperor Universe. So what if the creator of this place had once been a Supreme Saint nearing the level of an Invincible Supreme Saint?
He, Dual-Source, simply wasn’t Lin Yuan’s match. In fact, he had barely escaped with his life.
If not for the moment when Lin Yuan was busy subduing Heiyao and Savage Great Saints, which spread his spatial suppression thin…
Even then, Dual-Source wasn’t sure if burning his fused Dual-Source power could have gotten him out alive.
"Is that... Dual-Source Great Saint?"
"He's admitting defeat?"
"Who is this Great Saint Milky Way?"
"Duh. Who else could it be? Of the ten Great Saints, only the last one to appear was nameless. That mysterious Great Saint must be Milky Way!"
The crowd of Chaos Venerables instantly burst into a commotion. Based on their earlier assumptions, Dual-Source was the most likely victor among the ten Great Saints. After all, his power was exceptional, and he had been the first to enter the Mysterious Emperor Universe.
But now?
He was the first to flee, publicly admitting defeat?
“Never heard of a ‘Milky Way Great Saint’ before.”
“Probably a Great Saint from an unimaginably ancient era. For him to force Dual-Source to retreat and swear an oath to avoid this universe for ten thousand cosmic eras… this Milky Way Great Saint likely has the strength to kill him.”
One peak Chaos Venerable made his judgment.
If Milky Way was only slightly stronger, Dual-Source wouldn’t have been this panicked, let alone made a vow and fled.
With how oppressive the space-time rules were here, this universe’s creator had to be extraordinary. Even if Dual-Source gave up the treasure, if he had even a sliver of confidence, he’d have gone to search other regions.
But to swear such an oath? That meant he didn’t dare linger at all.
Even a moment of delay might have cost him everything.
“If Milky Way is so powerful, why didn’t Dual-Source rally the other eight Great Saints to fight back?” a Chaos Venerable asked.
“How do you know he didn’t?” the peak Venerable replied, stunned.
“What if the nine of them tried and still got crushed by Milky Way Great Saint? Only Dual-Source managed to escape.”
The earlier silence of the battlefield had already made him suspicious. All ten Great Saints were inside, and yet not a single ripple reached the outside?
Now, seeing Dual-Source fleeing in panic, he formed a deeper conclusion: Milky Way Great Saint’s strength was great enough to suppress the combined power of nine Great Saints.
That would explain how the battle’s aftermath could be so thoroughly contained.
“Could Milky Way Great Saint… actually be a Supreme Saint?” the peak Venerable whispered in shock. For nine Chaos Great Saints—including three top-tier ones like Dual-Source—to be swept aside, it felt as if they were facing a Supreme Saint.
Outside the Mysterious Emperor Universe—
The blue-gray glow halted, revealing the figure of Dual-Source Great Saint.
“That Milky Way Great Saint…”
His face showed clear fear. Only after confirming Lin Yuan hadn’t pursued did he let out a deep sigh of relief.
“Luckily that treasure kept Milky Way occupied, or I wouldn’t have gotten away so easily.”
Based on his brief encounter, Dual-Source had concluded that Lin Yuan’s spatial techniques were also suited for pursuit.
That warped space could contract to just a few hundred light-years for maximum suppression, or instantly expand to millions of light-years to block enemies from escaping.
If Lin Yuan had chased him, Dual-Source doubted he would have gotten away.
“I’m no match. Not at all. Can a Chaos Great Saint really be this powerful?”
He steadied himself and began reviewing the battle.
Milky Way’s space-time suppression far exceeded Heiyao’s field. Inside that warped domain, even Dual-Source found it extremely difficult to move.
And Milky Way’s offensive power was terrifying—just a single grasp had shattered Heiyao’s domain, and even Savage Great Saint’s powerful body had begun to collapse.
With those two techniques—space-time suppression and peak-level offense—Lin Yuan could easily overwhelm Chaos-level opponents. The synergy between them wasn’t just additive, it was multiplicative.
In Dual-Source’s eyes, Lin Yuan had no weakness. Maybe he wasn’t a Supreme Saint, but for Chaos-level beings like themselves, the pressure was no different.
Chaos Great Saints specialized in different things depending on their paths, but Lin Yuan seemed flawless. The only unknown was his defense.
Because Dual-Source couldn’t even get close—his attacks were all dissolved by that overwhelming space-time force.
“Even though I suffered major losses… at least I escaped with my life.”
Dual-Source sighed. Through his connection to karma, he could sense that the karmic threads of Heiyao, Savage, and the others were still within the Mysterious Emperor Universe.
Which meant their main battle bodies hadn’t died.
In that suffocating space-time, their lives were completely in Lin Yuan’s hands. That they still lived meant Lin Yuan wasn’t planning to kill them.
And why not? Obviously to extract value from them.
Each Chaos Great Saint’s main body was built through enormous effort and resources.
If given the chance, no one would willingly abandon it. So Lin Yuan likely planned to negotiate for payment.
“Looks like Heiyao and Savage are about to get bled dry.”
Oddly, Dual-Source felt a bit better at that thought.
He’d paid a heavy price just to rush to the universe through the ancient altar spirit.
Now, walking away empty-handed meant a huge loss.
But compared to the others, he actually felt ‘lucky.’
At least he only got gouged by the altar spirit—not also by Milky Way Great Saint.
Within the universe—
Watching as the bodies of Nine Phoenix and Shadowfiend were erased, the remaining Chaos Great Saints felt a chill in their hearts.
What was Milky Way Great Saint trying to say?
“Relax. As long as you bring the required Chaos Stones, you’ll walk out alive.”
Lin Yuan swept his gaze across them and spoke.
He had directly erased Nine Phoenix and Shadowfiend without even opening negotiations.
Mainly because he had a personal grudge.
The premature collapse of his home universe was caused by the collateral damage from their battle.
If he had advanced even a little slower, he might not have reached the twelfth rank in time, and would’ve been destroyed along with the universe.
Before breaking into Rank Twelve, his soul imprint was still bound to the river of time.
And during a universe’s Great Collapse, the river of time erodes. All imprints within it vanish.
No matter how strong Lin Yuan’s essence was—if bound to that river, he’d have perished. That’s how Chaos Void laws worked.
In that case, his only option would’ve been to embed his essence into one of the human civilization’s Nine Strongest Ones.
But with the collapse arriving early, those Strongest Ones would have had little chance to survive. If Lin Yuan’s imprint was inside a failed one, he’d still die.
And generally speaking, such an early collapse meant heavy civilian and Strongest-level casualties.
Although Lin Yuan eventually changed that outcome and saved humanity, he had long remembered these two Great Saints.
Back then, he lacked the strength to retaliate. Now that they’d fallen into his hands, he took his revenge.
Besides, there was another reason: as newly advanced Saints, they couldn’t afford much.
After exhausting their resources to reach peak Chaos, and spending the rest fighting each other, they’d hardly stockpiled any wealth.
“Those once-unreachable Chaos Great Saints… now don’t feel so powerful,” Lin Yuan thought quietly.
He looked again at the other Saints and smiled. “I’ll give you time to consider. But not too long.”
Based on each Saint’s strength, Lin Yuan had named his price: 1 billion Chaos Stones for the powerful ones like Heiyao and Savage.
500M, or 300M, for the weaker ones.
By his estimate, these were close to their limits. Any higher, and they’d just abandon their bodies and build new ones instead.
The difficulty of doing so was just a matter of cost. If the price exceeded that of rebuilding, they’d rather start fresh.
“Thank you, Great Saint Milky Way.”
Heiyao and Savage exchanged a glance. 1 billion Chaos Stones would take time to gather.
Guming Chaos Continent—
Ever since suspecting that the mysterious Great Saint might be “Brother Milky Way,” Guming had been paying close attention to news from the Mysterious Emperor Universe.
“What? The ten Great Saints fought over a treasure, and that mysterious one crushed the other nine alone? Only Dual-Source escaped, and he swore an oath never to return?”
“And he called him ‘Great Saint Milky Way’?”
“Milky Way? Brother Milky Way?!”
Guming was dumbfounded. Before, it had only been a guess—this Great Saint looked familiar, maybe it was Milky Way.
But now?
He was nearly certain. Who else could it be? Looks similar, same name?
“Brother Milky Way…”
Guming was deeply shaken. He’d always known Lin Yuan was destined to stand atop the Chaos Void—but this soon?
Hadn’t it only been a short while?
“Good thing I already built a rapport with Great Saint Milky Way. Even if we aren’t close, at least I haven’t offended him.” He smiled.
When it came to terrifying figures like this, it was better to do nothing than to make a mistake.
“All because I reminded you,” the black-robed youth watching beside him said proudly.
“Yes, yes. Your reminder came just in time.”
Guming quickly agreed.
It was true—if not for the youth, he wouldn’t have paid any attention to Lin Yuan back then.
And if he hadn’t paid attention, he wouldn’t have been cautious. If this ancestor had been disrespected on Guming’s turf, he might have ended up taking the blame.
Inside the Mysterious Emperor Universe—
News of the battle, spread by the observing Venerables, swept through one void domain after another like a storm. The name “Great Saint Milky Way” now echoed through the Chaos Void.
At first, many Venerables and even Great Saints didn’t believe it. But as time passed—and no one, not even Dual-Source or Heiyao, denied it—doubt faded.
The message was likely true. Otherwise, why hadn’t anyone contradicted it?
Inside the universe—
Lin Yuan stood quietly as his external universe surged, layers of space-time pressure suppressing the nearby Dark Heaven Hall.
That place was saturated with Dark Heaven energy—powerful enough to threaten a Chaos Great Saint.
Even someone like Dual-Source would need to go all out just to resist it, let alone enter and retrieve the Dark Heaven Heart. It would cost him serious time and effort.
But for Lin Yuan now?
If not easy, then nearly so.
Rumble—
His external universe swept forward. The Dark Heaven energy around the hall visibly began to dissolve.
After ten or so breaths…
The energy was fully dispersed, leaving the dark palace fully exposed before Lin Yuan.
Buzz—
He raised his right hand and reached out across space.
When he retracted it—
A crystal pulsing with deep, shadowy energy, like a beating heart, appeared in Lin Yuan’s palm.
...
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