"Milky Way, your strength?"
Red Flame Heavenly Sovereign looked at Lin Yuan, waves stirring in his heart.
Before speaking, he had already guessed that Lin Yuan had been the one fighting Lingyu Heavenly Sovereign.
After all, that blazing sun-like aura couldn’t be faked. It was definitely someone from the Liyang Kingdom, and at that time, in that area, only Lin Yuan was from the Liyang Kingdom.
Even though it was hard to believe—Milky Way Heavenly Sovereign was a top-tier Ultimate Heavenly Sovereign?—it was still the only possibility.
"I had a breakthrough not long ago," Lin Yuan said.
It was the truth. If he hadn't formed the crucial Seed, creating a great Liyang cycle within his body, his strength wouldn't have evolved so drastically.
At most, he would only be on the same level as Hong Lian Heavenly Sovereign.
After all, Lin Yuan's actual life level was still at the Dominance stage.
Without surpassing major realms, it was nearly impossible to jump directly from an Ultimate Heavenly Sovereign to a top-tier Ultimate Heavenly Sovereign.
"Hahaha, excellent!"
Eternal Sun Heavenly Sovereign burst out laughing, looking at Lin Yuan with admiration. "With you, Milky Way Heavenly Sovereign, our Liyang Kingdom now has four top-tier Ultimate Heavenly Sovereigns. We'll have even more ways to seize and refine the core Sky Pillars."
Each great ancient Kingdom had more than just four top-tier Ultimate Heavenly Sovereigns, but most of them—especially the strongest ones—were in seclusion, attempting to break through to Rank Thirteen. As for fighting over newly emerged treasure lands? That rarely interested such figures.
Currently, the Liyang Kingdom only had three top-tier Ultimate Heavenly Sovereigns available for immediate deployment: Red Flame, Eternal Sun, and Vast Might.
The other ancient Kingdoms were similar, with Grand Ancient Void Kingdom being slightly better in that regard.
With one more top-tier Ultimate Heavenly Sovereign in the Liyang Kingdom’s lineup, their foundation would undoubtedly grow stronger. It might not be obvious in the early stages, but once it came to clashing head-on with other ancient Kingdoms later, it would make a huge difference.
"Milky Way Heavenly Sovereign was able to shatter Lingyu Heavenly Sovereign’s Spirit Prison. In terms of killing power, that places him among the top even within the top-tier Ultimate Heavenly Sovereigns."
Vast Might Heavenly Sovereign looked at Lin Yuan thoughtfully.
He had fought with Lingyu before and knew his capabilities. Even if Lingyu had underestimated Lin Yuan and drawn him into the Spirit Prison, breaking it was still extremely difficult.
Unless the killing power exceeded the tolerance limit of Lingyu’s technique in an instant, any delay would allow Lingyu to react and forcibly expel Lin Yuan.
"Just got lucky," Lin Yuan said.
"Hahaha, the stronger you are, the more advantage we have in seizing treasures," Red Flame Heavenly Sovereign said with a smile.
He hadn't expected that Lin Yuan, whom the Emperor had inserted into the team, would turn out to be such a surprise.
The other Ultimate Heavenly Sovereigns looked at Lin Yuan with complicated expressions. He had only just been on their level, yet in the blink of an eye, he had become a top-tier Ultimate Heavenly Sovereign?
"Milky Way Heavenly Sovereign… Wasn’t I evenly matched with him just recently?"
Hong Lian Heavenly Sovereign looked at Lin Yuan, his thoughts churning.
Not long ago, they had sparred, and even then, he had been shocked by Lin Yuan’s strength.
But now? Forget sparring—being able to hold his own against Lin Yuan would already be impressive.
"That core Sky Pillar in the treasure land just needs a little more to be fully refined."
Lin Yuan looked toward Red Flame, Vast Might, and Eternal Sun—the three top-tier Ultimate Heavenly Sovereigns—and spoke.
According to the initial plan, any discovered core Sky Pillars were best refined by the three of them.
The other Ultimate Heavenly Sovereigns were primarily responsible for guarding the core Sky Pillars.
"Since you're also a top-tier Ultimate Heavenly Sovereign, you can refine any core Sky Pillar you find yourself," Red Flame Heavenly Sovereign said with a nod.
"Alright."
Lin Yuan moved his thoughts.
His true body, positioned before that core Sky Pillar, immediately refined the last remaining part.
Buzz.
At the moment of refinement—
Lin Yuan vaguely established a connection with this core Sky Pillar.
"Now, as long as I'm within the range of this treasure land, I can instantly appear next to this core Sky Pillar?" Lin Yuan thought to himself.
Red Flame and the others had planned for top-tier Ultimate Heavenly Sovereigns to refine the core Sky Pillars precisely because of this ability.
Top-tier Ultimate Heavenly Sovereigns were the strongest. Having them refine the pillars allowed them to instantly appear beside any of them, offering the best protection.
Of course, this kind of instant arrival only worked when space-time was stable. If one was engaged in a fierce battle and the surrounding space-time was collapsing, they couldn’t rely on the pillars for escape or relocation.
Earlier, Lingyu Heavenly Sovereign had brought numerous Ultimate Heavenly Sovereigns’ main bodies to search for core Sky Pillars, having them refine the outer regions, while leaving the final inner part for himself.
That was the most efficient approach.
"At the same time, I can feel the suppression of this treasure land on me has lessened a bit." Lin Yuan looked around.
Fully refining the core Sky Pillar had brought many changes. Previously, his divine ability "World" could only thoroughly scan a radius of ten billion miles.
Now, that scan range had increased by roughly ten percent.
And this scanning wasn't just any detection—it was the kind that could locate core Sky Pillars.
It could be inferred: the more core Sky Pillars one refines, the larger the scanning range becomes.
Capital of the Grand Ling Kingdom.
A projection of Lingyu Heavenly Sovereign sat there.
The other eleven figures looked at him in disbelief.
"Lingyu, you’re saying the one who fought you was the Liyang Kingdom’s Milky Way Heavenly Sovereign? Not Red Flame, Eternal Sun, or Vast Might?"
Linggan Heavenly Sovereign furrowed his brow. He had assumed it had to be one of those three.
But Milky Way? Linggan had never paid much attention to him. Although he had the bloodline of the First Ancestor, his cultivation time had been far too short.
"Yes."
"That Milky Way Heavenly Sovereign is a top-tier Ultimate Heavenly Sovereign."
Lingyu Heavenly Sovereign said definitively, "My Spirit Prison was destroyed by him. My strength is no longer at its peak."
"Then what now?"
A third top-tier Ultimate Heavenly Sovereign asked.
Lingyu was crucial to their plan. Using his technique to trap many Ultimate Heavenly Sovereigns weakened the other ancient Kingdoms' ability to search for core Sky Pillars—indirectly increasing the Grand Ling Kingdom’s chances of finding more.
"I plan to use that rare treasure to restore my Spirit Prison as quickly as possible."
Lingyu thought for a moment, then spoke softly.
"That treasure?"
Linggan's expression shifted slightly.
Before entering the treasure land, the twelve Ultimate Heavenly Sovereigns of the Grand Ling Kingdom had been given certain ancient treasures by their Kingdom.
These were extremely precious and weren’t to be used unless absolutely necessary.
But now?
With Lingyu’s right eye damaged, their search efficiency would plummet.
"Very well."
"As long as you can recover quickly, using the treasure is worth it."
Linggan said solemnly.
If the competition for the treasure land weren't so time-sensitive—only two thousand years—Lingyu wouldn't have the chance to use that treasure. If the Spirit Prison was destroyed, he could’ve just taken time to recover.
As time passed—
News of Milky Way Heavenly Sovereign being a top-tier Ultimate Heavenly Sovereign spread quickly among the many Ultimate Heavenly Sovereigns inside the treasure land.
There was no way to hide it. With only a couple dozen top-tier Ultimate Heavenly Sovereigns in total, it was easy to narrow down the possibilities. Plus, the Grand Ling Kingdom wasn’t trying to conceal it either.
"Milky Way Heavenly Sovereign? The first royal to evolve their bloodline to the Heavenly Sovereign level?"
In the Grand Ancient Void Kingdom, Fuxu Heavenly Sovereign, clad in dark robes, fell into deep thought.
He wasn’t particularly interested in Lin Yuan's strength. What intrigued him was the First Ancestor bloodline reaching the Heavenly Sovereign level.
"With your strength, Fuxu, even if Milky Way reaches his limit, he may not be your match."
Another top-tier Ultimate Heavenly Sovereign beside him spoke.
Fuxu had cultivated one of the First Ancestor’s supreme inheritances to an incredibly advanced level. His strength, while perhaps not the greatest in all six ancient Kingdoms’ history, was certainly among the top.
Above that level was power related to Rank Thirteen.
"Hard to say. It is a First Ancestor bloodline, after all. Who knows what kind of transformation it might undergo in the future?"
Fuxu smiled faintly and spoke casually.
"Transformation?"
The other Grand Void top-tier Ultimate Heavenly Sovereign raised an eyebrow. He didn’t quite agree, but didn’t argue.
Anything involving a First Ancestor was off-limits—even if Milky Way’s ancestral bloodline didn’t come from the Grand Void First Ancestor, but from the Liyang First Ancestor.
But still, Ancestors were not to be discussed—that was law.
"Alright, let's continue the search for core Sky Pillars."
Fuxu Heavenly Sovereign said calmly.
"Yes."
The Grand Void top-tier Ultimate Heavenly Sovereign nodded.
"Milky Way’s strength?"
Capital of the Liyang Kingdom, royal palace.
The Emperor had also received the news—and was shocked by Lin Yuan’s strength.
He knew better than anyone—just a few decades or centuries ago, Lin Yuan hadn’t even reached the Heavenly Sovereign level.
And now, he had stepped directly into the realm of top-tier Ultimate Heavenly Sovereigns?
"Thank goodness..."
The Emperor muttered to himself. Thank goodness he had treated Lin Yuan well and brought him under his wing back then.
Inside the treasure land—
After refining the core Sky Pillar, Lin Yuan left behind a few avatars to guard it while his true body continued exploring.
"Hm?"
Suddenly, Lin Yuan stopped and looked toward a certain direction—there was a valley with faint golden mist swirling inside.
Whoosh!
Lin Yuan stepped forward, appearing at the valley’s edge, gazing at the flowing golden mist within.
"This mist in the valley… could it be the rare treasure born from this treasure land?"
Lin Yuan thought to himself. The aura of the golden mist was faintly linked to the entire treasure land, like a fruit growing from a tree, filled with a mysterious energy.
"Let me take a look..."
He extended his right hand and drew in a wisp of the golden mist, studying it closely.
Each top-tier treasure land gave birth to different rare treasures. For example, the Black Jade from the Black Jade Nest enhanced mental willpower.
"This mist..."
Lin Yuan examined it carefully, and his expression gradually began to change.
...
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