After refining the giant core pillar, Lin Yuan once again felt a faint sense of control over the treasured land.
Whether it was an ordinary core pillar or a giant one, at their core, they were all key nodes of the treasured land.
In theory, refining all these nodes was equivalent to mastering the entire land.
"The core of the Black Jade Nest's treasured land had only sixty-three nodes, but this one has over three hundred, including three giant core pillars."
Lin Yuan thought to himself.
Without a doubt, this newly birthed treasured land was among the most elite of all first-class treasured lands currently controlled by the six ancient Kingdoms.
There were only six lands of this tier, three of which were already in the hands of the Grand Ancient Void Kingdom.
"That golden mist must have a special purpose."
Lin Yuan once again thought of the rare treasures nurtured by this treasured land.
So far, the Liyang Ancient Kingdom's research on the golden mist was still limited to slow absorption through the physical body.
Lin Yuan sat cross-legged before the giant core pillar, and began to review the brief exchange with Fuxu Heavenly Sovereign.
"Fuxu Heavenly Sovereign voluntarily withdrew and gave up this giant core treasure land—was he worried we'd both suffer and let other ancient Kingdoms benefit?"
Lin Yuan clearly understood Fuxu Heavenly Sovereign’s thinking.
Given the number of core pillars Grand Ancient Void Kingdom had already refined, this giant core pillar wasn't absolutely necessary for them.
Even if the Liyang Ancient Kingdom gained this pillar, in total refined pillars, they still lagged behind the Grand Ancient Void Kingdom.
Fuxu Heavenly Sovereign believed the Grand Ancient Void Kingdom still held a decisive advantage, so there was no need to go all out against Lin Yuan.
"But between me and Fuxu Heavenly Sovereign..."
Lin Yuan fell into brief contemplation. Fuxu Heavenly Sovereign’s strike had been completely blocked by his Chaos Yin-Yang Tai Chi Diagram.
But that didn’t mean Lin Yuan was definitely stronger—only that Fuxu couldn’t do anything to him using conventional methods.
"Fuxu Heavenly Sovereign should have mastered two rank-thirteen inheritances. His strength is terrifying."
Lin Yuan thought to himself, “I’ve cultivated Infinite Void, and coupled it with the divine ability Sunborn Genesis. Together, they’re equivalent to two rank-thirteen inheritances.”
“And the Chaos Yin-Yang Tai Chi Tao I’ve developed is also a rank-thirteen technique—maybe even stronger than the usual kind, since it’s my personal Dao and aligns perfectly with me.”
Lin Yuan analyzed inwardly.
Cultivating a rank-thirteen inheritance had a sky-high threshold, and mastering two of them was extremely rare.
His cultivation of Infinite Void might look smooth, but that was thanks to his Unrivaled Insight. If it were anyone else...
Even if someone barely passed, they’d usually get stuck at the threshold.
The treasure vault of the Liyang Ancient Kingdom held a rank-thirteen inheritance called Heart of the Sun.
One of the requirements to master this inheritance was to constantly maintain a Sunborn state of mind. In that mindset, the cultivator’s rationality would be completely replaced by the power of the sun—put simply, they’d lose almost all reason, becoming impulsive and quick-tempered.
Of course, once Heart of the Sun was mastered, the heart itself would begin transforming toward that of a rank-thirteen time lifeform. Even if it only reached one ten-thousandth of a true time lifeform’s heart, it would still be enough to sweep aside all Heavenly Sovereigns.
In terms of raw power augmentation, this type of transformation-focused inheritance far surpassed other rank-thirteen inheritances.
But Lin Yuan kept his distance.
Even if he met all the criteria, he wouldn’t cultivate such an inheritance. Losing most of his rationality? The consequences were too severe.
"The real gap between me and Fuxu Heavenly Sovereign lies in the level of life. I’m still only at the Dominance realm."
Lin Yuan thought, though he wasn’t too concerned.
At his current realm, as long as he stepped into the Chaos stage, he would instantly be at the peak of the Chaos Realm—after all, he had already developed the Chaos Yin-Yang Tai Chi Tao.
"My greatest advantage isn't my inner universe, nor Infinite Void, nor Sunborn Genesis, but the path I’ve personally evolved."
Lin Yuan’s eyes burned with intensity.
Just the first layer of the Chaos Yin-Yang Tai Chi Tao had already granted him such a massive power boost. What would happen if he cultivated it to the second or even third layer?
Compared to that kind of potential, only Infinite Void at the seventh layer might have the upper hand.
But cultivating Infinite Void to the seventh layer was only theoretical. Even its creator wasn’t confident about that. Lin Yuan knew he wasn’t comparable to a true time lifeform.
In comparison, reaching the third layer of the Chaos Yin-Yang Tai Chi Tao felt more realistic.
Just as Lin Yuan was examining his own strength, the Ultimate Heavenly Sovereigns throughout the treasured land erupted into a frenzy.
Unlike the semi-illusory state of the regular core pillars, the giant core pillar radiated its aura far and wide—it couldn’t be hidden.
Even a Heavenly Sovereign could easily sense the towering aura of the giant core pillar.
Previously, the giant core pillar was occupied by the Grand Ancient Void Kingdom and refined by Fuxu Heavenly Sovereign. Even if others could sense it, what could they do?
But now—
A subtle shift in the aura of the giant core pillar sparked a single thought in the hearts of all Ultimate Heavenly Sovereigns—
The giant core pillar had changed hands.
"That giant core pillar wasn’t refined by Fuxu Heavenly Sovereign? How could it change hands?"
"Who could it be? Could one of the other five ancient Kingdoms have secretly sent in someone as powerful as Fuxu Heavenly Sovereign?"
"Someone who could force Fuxu Heavenly Sovereign to give up the giant core pillar? Impossible!"
One by one, the Ultimate Heavenly Sovereigns were stunned. They were already shocked when battle tremors emerged from the direction of the giant core pillar.
Now it had changed hands completely.
Given its importance, Fuxu Heavenly Sovereign had definitely shown up. And if he still lost it, then it meant he had withdrawn on purpose.
"It was Milky Way Heavenly Sovereign—the giant core pillar was refined by him."
"Milky Way Heavenly Sovereign? Didn't he just recently become a Heavenly Sovereign?"
"Milky Way Heavenly Sovereign wrested the giant core pillar from Fuxu Heavenly Sovereign?"
The many Ultimate Heavenly Sovereigns were dumbfounded. They had expected that another Kingdom might be hiding a powerhouse, but didn’t think it would be Milky Way Heavenly Sovereign.
Milky Way Heavenly Sovereign was unique among the six Kingdoms—he was the first royal to elevate an Ancestor bloodline to the Heavenly Sovereign level.
But the time had been too short. Royal bloodlines did make power advancement easier, but only relatively so—not enough to leap directly to such heights.
"So this is what an Ancestor bloodline looks like at the Heavenly Sovereign level?" Many Ultimate Heavenly Sovereigns’ thoughts expanded—they were already planning to study Ancestor bloodlines thoroughly after the treasured land competition ended.
Before Lin Yuan’s emergence, the truly powerful Ultimate Heavenly Sovereigns had little regard for Ancestor bloodlines—the limitations were too great.
But now?
All of them had completely abandoned their old views.
In the ancient, mysterious capital of Grand Ancient Void Kingdom—this was the first city of the Source World, and the birthplace of the first Ancestor.
It held deep significance for Grand Ancient Void and the other five Kingdoms alike. It was the place where everything began.
Even though only two of the five Ancestors were actually born in Grand Ancient Void, their rise was still deeply tied to the Grand Ancient Void Ancestor.
After all, the world’s original cultivation path and system all came from the Grand Ancient Void Ancestor.
In the deepest part of the capital, several figures had gathered.
Nearby, images flickered—showing Lin Yuan defeating eleven Ultimate Heavenly Sovereigns from Grand Ancient Void Kingdom, and ultimately receiving a strike from Fuxu Heavenly Sovereign head-on.
Fuxu Heavenly Sovereign was also among them. He quietly watched the replaying scenes, sometimes deep in thought.
"Tsk tsk, this Milky Way Heavenly Sovereign is quite something. His evolved chaos power path is very unusual."
"Indeed, I can tell he’s cultivated a rank-thirteen inheritance, but blocking Fuxu’s full-power strike was mainly thanks to his self-evolved chaos path."
"A chaos path this powerful is truly rare."
One figure after another spoke, offering their evaluations of Milky Way Heavenly Sovereign.
"A rank-thirteen inheritance, plus a Heavenly Sovereign-level Ancestor bloodline, and an extraordinary chaos evolution path—this Milky Way Heavenly Sovereign has a lot of room to grow."
"True. If he masters another rank-thirteen inheritance, we might not be able to take him on unless we work together."
The group continued discussing, clearly impressed with Lin Yuan.
"His chaos power path probably hasn’t reached the third level yet—there’s no sense of completeness to it," one previously silent voice suddenly spoke.
"Not yet reached the third level?" The others were slightly surprised.
The chaos path had three levels, each vastly different. Especially the gap between level two and level three—that was the difference between ordinary Heavenly Sovereigns and peak Ultimate Sovereigns.
"Fuxu, you fought him. Is that accurate?" one figure asked Fuxu Heavenly Sovereign.
After all, these images were just memories—even if sourced from Fuxu’s own, they couldn’t compare to being there in person.
"Yes."
Fuxu was silent for a moment before nodding.
The third level of the chaos evolution path was the perfect realm. Once reached, it gave off an aura of ultimate completion—a sense that no further progress was possible.
And that was something Fuxu didn’t sense in Lin Yuan’s Chaos Yin-Yang Tai Chi Diagram.
"Could it be that our six ancient Kingdoms are about to see a powerhouse emerge who surpasses the strongest Heavenly Sovereigns?"
Someone couldn’t help but say.
Since the founding of the six Kingdoms, the strongest Heavenly Sovereigns had always been the ceiling of power. But with Milky Way Heavenly Sovereign’s performance, that ceiling might be shattered.
"Heh, let’s not get ahead of ourselves. The stronger the chaos path, the harder it is to reach the perfect level."
Another voice spoke up, not too worried. "Besides, even if he does reach that step, what does that have to do with us?"
"Unless he becomes an Ancestor, he won’t threaten Grand Ancient Void Kingdom. And if he does reach that level, that’s for the Ancestors to worry about—not us."
At that, the others paused, then nodded in agreement.
"Ancestor level... I wonder if any of us still have hope of reaching it."
Their thoughts drifted. For any Heavenly Sovereign, breaking out of the time cycle to reach the thirteenth-rank Ancestor realm was the ultimate dream.
But it was far too difficult. Since Grand Ancient Void’s founding, only five Ancestors had ever emerged.
The figures present were all the strongest Heavenly Sovereigns of Grand Ancient Void. They had each possessed the Ancestor more than once—and the more it happened, the more they felt the vast gulf between them.
This gap wasn’t just one of power—it was something on a higher, fundamental level.
"That Milky Way Heavenly Sovereign... as strong as he is, whether he can become an Ancestor is still unknown. His odds aren’t much higher than ours," one figure said.
"Fuxu, do we still have a shot in this treasured land battle?"
After some idle conversation, the others turned to Fuxu Heavenly Sovereign.
Originally, sending Fuxu into the treasured land had all but guaranteed Grand Ancient Void’s victory. No one had expected someone like Milky Way Heavenly Sovereign to appear.
"Conventional methods won’t work against him, but if we truly go all-out, he may not be my match yet."
Fuxu replied.
Maybe in the future Milky Way Heavenly Sovereign would surpass him—but now?
The reason Fuxu surrendered the giant core pillar was to avoid letting other Kingdoms benefit, and because the final battle for the treasured land was still nearly a thousand years away—Grand Ancient Void still held the upper hand for now.
It wasn’t out of fear of Milky Way Heavenly Sovereign.
"Good."
"A pity. If I’d known such a powerhouse would appear, I’d have joined the battle too."
The figures chatted with one another. At their level, fighting someone of equal strength was a rare thrill.
Within the treasured land, outside the giant core pillar, eleven Ultimate Heavenly Sovereigns of the Liyang Ancient Kingdom arrived.
"Milky Way Heavenly Sovereign... did he really reclaim the giant core pillar?" Even now, Eternal Sun Heavenly Sovereign couldn’t believe it.
As a top Ultimate Heavenly Sovereign, he knew just how strong Fuxu Heavenly Sovereign was. Even he would need to rely on ancient Kingdom trump cards to barely hold his own.
And if Fuxu also used a trump card? They’d need to join forces with other Kingdoms to fight back.
This was something bound to happen in the later stages of the treasured land battle—with Grand Ancient Void’s strength, the others were sure to unite against them.
"Milky Way Heavenly Sovereign’s strength is just too overwhelming."
Vast Might Heavenly Sovereign sighed. Back when the entry quotas were being decided, he’d been a little displeased with the emperor for forcing this royal in.
"Enough."
At that moment, Red Flame Heavenly Sovereign finally spoke. “Milky Way has invited us in.”
“Mm.”
The other Ultimate Heavenly Sovereigns nodded.
At this point, the de facto leader of the Liyang Ancient Kingdom’s Heavenly Sovereigns had quietly shifted from Red Flame to Milky Way Heavenly Sovereign.
There was no helping it.
Among the six ancient Kingdoms, power reigned supreme—this was iron law. And Milky Way Heavenly Sovereign’s strength as the top Sovereign was now widely recognized.
What’s more, him seizing the giant core pillar had major strategic value for this treasured land battle.
It had eased the pressure Liyang Ancient Kingdom would face in trying to capture more core pillars later on.
With that strength came merit.
If Milky Way Heavenly Sovereign wasn’t their leader, who could be?
...
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