The twelve Ultimate Heavenly Sovereigns from the Grand Ancient Void Kingdom had arrived—marking the official beginning of the battle for the treasured land.
Almost at the same time,
The Ultimate Heavenly Sovereigns of the Six Ancient Kingdoms entered the treasured land together.
“A reversal of time?”
Lin Yuan sensed faint traces of temporal power flowing around him.
Those without sufficient understanding of spacetime would be affected by this temporal force and revert to a position from several breaths ago.
When this first rank treasured land first emerged, it was initially discovered by nearby Great Sovereigns exploring the area. However, these Great Sovereigns were basically unable to enter, let alone obtain the rare treasures produced within.
Soon enough,
Lin Yuan crossed the temporal distortion zone and stepped into the treasured land.
“What a vast spacetime…”
Lin Yuan glanced around and thought to himself.
When a first rank treasured land first appears, it remains connected to the Source World. However, over time, this connection fades. This is reflected in the gradual decay of the spacetime where the treasured land is located.
Take the Black Jade Nest, for example—it emerged countless ages ago. Its spacetime has shrunk so much that Heavenly Sovereign of Extreme Frost and Heavenly Sovereign of Northern Yin only needed two breaths to infiltrate and reach the land’s core.
It was like an immature fruit still connected to its mother tree, essentially a part of it.
But once the fruit matures and detaches, it becomes just a single fruit on its own.
The same principle applies to treasured lands.
“Hong Lian, Milky Way—you two search in that direction.”
Heavenly Sovereign Red Flame immediately issued orders, dispatching the ten Ultimate Heavenly Sovereigns to search separately. If anyone found the ‘core’ of the treasured land, they were to immediately notify him and Eternal Sun.
Red Flame and Eternal Sun would personally go to refine it.
“Alright.”
Lin Yuan saw nothing wrong with this arrangement and headed off in the direction assigned to him.
Because the ‘core’ could be located anywhere, they could only search by flying slowly. As for void transmigration? Too risky—too easy to miss something.
And using domain-based detection? Since the treasured land was still linked to the Source World, even Lin Yuan’s divine power, “World,” could only scan a radius of ten billion miles. Any farther, and things could slip by unnoticed.
Whoosh!
Lin Yuan vanished, heading in the direction Red Flame had assigned him.
“This first rank treasured land really is extraordinary. It even feels more substantial than the Black Jade Nest,” Lin Yuan thought to himself. Having entered personally, he couldn’t help but make comparisons.
Capital of the Liyang Ancient Kingdom.
Inside an independent space.
Heavenly Sovereign Red Flame, Heavenly Sovereign Vast Might, and the ten other Ultimate Heavenly Sovereigns participating in the treasure war had each left behind an incarnation here for communication.
“I’ve found a core of the treasured land!”
At that moment, Heavenly Sovereign Hong Lian suddenly opened her eyes and announced.
“So soon?”
Lin Yuan glanced at him. He had only just entered, yet already discovered a ‘core’? Must’ve been pure luck.
“I’ll head there right away.”
Red Flame responded immediately.
At the same time, within the first rank treasured land, Red Flame—who had been standing still to oversee the operation—rushed toward Hong Lian’s location.
“Where is the treasured land’s ‘core’…”
Lin Yuan continued his search, then paused. “Hm? A Heavenly Sovereign from the Xuanyin Ancient Kingdom?”
He sensed something—far off to the front-left, another Heavenly Sovereign from the Xuanyin Ancient Kingdom seemed to be moving along a similar trajectory.
That Xuanyin Heavenly Sovereign locked eyes with Lin Yuan briefly from afar, then continued on his path without pausing.
Despite the ongoing war between the Liyang and Xuanyin Ancient Kingdoms, the focus inside the treasured land was refining the ‘core.’
Without a core, the two wouldn’t fight—it would only benefit the other Kingdoms.
“My external world’s detection radius gives me an edge over the others,” Lin Yuan thought. Even while suppressed, he could still scan a hundred billion miles.
The others would be suppressed even more.
“But I can’t underestimate them—they’re all Ultimate Heavenly Sovereigns. Some are even top-tier. Who knows what tricks they have up their sleeves.”
Lin Yuan remained cautious.
Elsewhere in the treasured land—
The twelve Ultimate Heavenly Sovereigns of the Grand Ling Ancient Kingdom arrived as well.
“Each of you leave a battle-ready body with me.”
Heavenly Sovereign Lingyu glanced at the other eleven. “I have a secret method to sense the aura of the treasured land’s ‘core.’ Once I detect one, I’ll go there immediately, then release your battle forms to begin refining. I’ll then move on to the next.”
“Understood.”
The eleven nodded. They had already planned everything out before arriving—Lingyu was to take the lead in refining.
His Spirit Prison technique wasn’t just good at trapping other Sovereigns—it could also remotely detect cores.
Though limited in range, it was still far more effective than blindly flying around.
Once their main battle bodies were entrusted to Lingyu, the eleven Heavenly Sovereigns of Grand Ling also set out in various directions to search.
While the plan centered around Lingyu, they couldn’t bet everything on him. Contingency plans were necessary.
“Hm?”
Suddenly, Lingyu's expression changed as he turned toward a certain spot and vanished in a single step.
“Hahaha! I found a core this fast!”
A Heavenly Sovereign from the Thunder Ancient Kingdom stood excited before a phantom sky pillar.
The pillar was fused into the treasured land’s core and only detectable at close range.
“I’ll begin refining immediately.” After notifying the other eleven of the core’s location, he began the refining process.
Just then,
Space-time began to ripple.
Lingyu appeared overhead, gazing down at the Thunder Kingdom Sovereign.
“Lingyu?!”
The Thunder Sovereign immediately sensed him and growled, “This core belongs to the Thunder Ancient Kingdom!”
“Oh really?”
Lingyu smirked from above. “It belonged to you just now. Now it belongs to me.”
As he spoke,
Lingyu’s left eye expanded rapidly, transforming into a sky-reaching prison that engulfed the Thunder Sovereign.
“What—”
The Thunder Sovereign struggled with all his might, but it was useless. In moments, he was sealed within Lingyu’s left eye.
“One month is more than enough to keep you trapped.”
Lingyu gauged the strength of the prisoner’s resistance and spoke casually.
Trapped for a month? The treasure war only lasted two thousand years.
But the critical stage was likely the first few decades.
“Come out.”
Lingyu summoned the battle bodies of several Grand Ling Sovereigns. “Start refining now.”
“Yes!”
They were reinvigorated. Moments ago, they’d witnessed the Thunder Sovereign utterly powerless before Lingyu’s left eye.
Soon, that core was successfully refined by Lingyu.
“Hm?”
Still using his detection method, Lingyu sensed another core and vanished again.
The others remained to guard the area.
Elsewhere—
As Lin Yuan rapidly searched, his expression suddenly shifted.
“What’s this?”
In the next moment, he appeared tens of billions of miles away, where a phantom sky pillar stood, nearly blending into the surrounding space-time.
“A core of the treasured land.”
A smile appeared on Lin Yuan’s face.
Since Hong Lian had discovered the first core, five more had been found by other Sovereigns.
This one would be the seventh core discovered by the Liyang Ancient Kingdom.
As soon as he located it, Lin Yuan contacted Red Flame and Eternal Sun.
“I’ll start refining it myself first.”
They’d take time to arrive—no harm in refining part of it now to save time later.
Swoosh—
He got to work.
“Hm?”
Suddenly, Lin Yuan’s expression changed as he looked up.
A figure had silently appeared above, watching him.
“Heavenly Sovereign of the Milky Way from the Liyang Kingdom?”
Lingyu smiled. With the power of his Spirit Prison, unless it was Fuxu from the Grand Ancient Void Kingdom Kingdom, even top-tier Sovereigns would be trapped for a time.
And the Milky Way Sovereign?
Though the first in the Six Ancient Kingdoms to elevate the Ancestor Bloodline to the Sovereign level—he still couldn’t stand against Lingyu.
“Lingyu?”
Lin Yuan’s face turned grim. Lingyu’s strength was on par with Red Flame and Eternal Sun—and even trickier to handle.
Independent space in the Liyang capital—
“Lingyu’s gone after him?” Red Flame frowned. “Withdraw from that core immediately.”
“Withdraw?” Lin Yuan looked at him. After finally discovering a core, should he just hand it over?
“If you get trapped in Lingyu’s prison, the Liyang Kingdom will suffer an even greater loss,” Red Flame said calmly.
Giving up a core stung—but losing Lin Yuan as well would be far worse.
“Red Flame wants me to retreat,” Lin Yuan thought as he looked up at Lingyu.
“Enter my prison.”
Lingyu gazed down. His right eye began expanding, becoming a sky-high prison that instantly enveloped Lin Yuan and drew him inside.
By capturing other Kingdoms’ Sovereigns, he would only inflict greater damage on them—naturally, Lingyu wouldn’t miss the chance.
“Refine the pillar’s edge quickly. I’ll take care of the core.”
After sealing the Milky Way Sovereign in his right eye, Lingyu summoned several more Grand Ling Sovereigns.
“Yes!”
They were exhilarated. In just a short time, they’d seized two cores from other Kingdoms. At this pace, Grand Ling would claim a large share.
However—
Just as they were about to descend and refine the pillar—
They suddenly noticed a drastic change in Lingyu’s expression. He stumbled back uncontrollably, clutching his right eye.
“Lingyu—what’s wrong?”
The Grand Ling Sovereigns sensed something was wrong and asked quickly.
“I…”
Lingyu’s remaining left eye filled with disbelief. He looked at his comrades. “Don’t come near me.”
“Don’t come near you?”
They exchanged glances, confused.
What they didn’t know was that a tiny red glow had begun to appear on the surface of Lingyu’s right eye.
If magnified a billion times, one would see that this glow resembled countless blazing suns.
Tiny red flares—limitless in number—rapidly spread across the eye’s surface.
In that moment, Lingyu’s right eye, overwhelmed by the red radiance, looked like a blazing fireball.
The next moment—
His right eye exploded.
...
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