Lin Yuan’s gaze was profound, his tone calm—but what he said made Red Flame Heavenly Sovereign’s heart jolt.
“Just crush them head-on?”
What did that mean? Crush? Crush who? Someone like Fuxu Heavenly Sovereign, one of the strongest Heavenly Sovereigns?
Lin Yuan’s power was indeed astonishing—on the level of the strongest Heavenly Sovereigns among the six great ancient kingdoms.
But Fuxu was also a strongest Heavenly Sovereign. Even if there was a gap between them, it wasn’t a large one. How could he possibly "crush" him?
Not to mention the other peak Ultimate Heavenly Sovereigns from the Xuanyin, Grand Spirit, and Thunder Ancient Kingdoms—all wielded ancestral weapons passed down by their kingdoms. In a burst, their strength could rival that of the strongest Heavenly Sovereigns.
So many obstacles—how was the Milky Way Heavenly Sovereign going to crush them?
Red Flame couldn’t understand it.
In his view, the strongest Heavenly Sovereigns were already the peak beneath the Ancestors. To crush such beings… only the Ancestor could manage that.
But Lin Yuan clearly hadn’t stepped into that realm.
Red Flame looked at Lin Yuan, a flicker of shock and doubt in his expression.
If anyone else had said this, he wouldn’t have even considered it—he’d have dismissed it as a joke.
Lin Yuan didn’t explain further. With a wave of his hand, a "map" of the treasured land appeared in front of them.
This newly emerged treasure land was vast and deep in spacetime.
But after one to two thousand years of exploration by countless Ultimate Heavenly Sovereigns from the six ancient kingdoms, a fairly accurate "map" had been drawn.
On the map, over three hundred light dots were scattered throughout.
Three of them were noticeably larger than the rest.
The smaller dots represented core pillars.
The larger ones were the colossal core pillars.
Red Flame Heavenly Sovereign also saw the map Lin Yuan projected.
While each core pillar’s precise spacetime coordinates were marked—
Due to the nature of the pillars—any Heavenly Sovereign refining one could instantly descend upon its location—
Ambushes were meaningless. Any unusual activity would immediately summon the powerful Ultimate Heavenly Sovereign occupying it.
And these Sovereigns typically held ancestral killing artifacts from their kingdoms, capable of unleashing strength near that of a strongest Heavenly Sovereign.
When Mankun Heavenly Sovereign of the Barbarian Ancient Kingdom refined the second colossal core pillar, even though Fuxu Heavenly Sovereign was enraged, he chose to withdraw.
Partly because of Lin Yuan’s deterrence, and partly because Fuxu wasn’t confident he could break through Mankun’s defenses in a short time.
The ancestral killing artifacts of each kingdom were terrifying, forged by the Ancestors themselves. When fully activated, they could significantly enhance an Ultimate Heavenly Sovereign’s strength, even making the strongest wary.
“We’ll start here.”
Lin Yuan looked at the treasure land map for a while and finally selected a core pillar in a corner of the land.
Starting there would allow him to radiate influence across the entire treasure land in the shortest time.
“You’ll come with me.”
Lin Yuan glanced at Red Flame Heavenly Sovereign.
“Yes.”
Though doubtful, Red Flame sensed what Lin Yuan intended to do. He found it hard to believe, but still nodded.
Whoosh.
Spacetime twisted.
In the blink of an eye—
Lin Yuan brought Red Flame to the core pillar in that corner.
“This kind of teleportation speed…”
Red Flame was shocked. From the colossal pillar to here wasn’t an outrageous distance, but still covered about a tenth of the entire treasure land.
Even a strongest Heavenly Sovereign like Fuxu would need at least a fraction of a breath to cover that span.
But Lin Yuan had done it instantly—and even brought him along?
“Milky Way Heavenly Sovereign?”
A figure appeared in front of the core pillar, clearly on high alert upon seeing Lin Yuan.
This pillar had been refined and occupied by the Thunder Ancient Kingdom. The one who appeared was their top Ultimate Heavenly Sovereign—Lei Sa.
“Milky Way Heavenly Sovereign, our Thunder Ancient Kingdom has already completed a deal with Fuxu Heavenly Sovereign. You’re too late.”
Lei Sa stared at Lin Yuan and immediately spoke.
He assumed Lin Yuan was here to negotiate for the pillar.
“No matter.”
Lin Yuan looked at Lei Sa and casually stepped forward.
Boom—
A wave of overwhelming spacetime power surged forth.
Second colossal core pillar.
Twelve Ultimate Heavenly Sovereigns of the Barbarian Ancient Kingdom were gathered here.
“Grand Ancient Void Kingdom has made a deal with the Xuanyin and Grand Spirit Kingdoms?”
Top Ultimate Heavenly Sovereign Mankun felt the situation becoming thorny.
These three kingdoms, combined with the Thunder Ancient Kingdom—which always followed the Grand Ancient Void Kingdom’s lead—now meant that the Grand Ancient Void Kingdom controlled more than two-thirds of the treasure land’s core pillars.
“Milky Way Heavenly Sovereign didn’t reach an agreement with the Grand Spirit or Xuanyin Kingdoms?”
Another Barbarian Ultimate Heavenly Sovereign asked.
Thunder Ancient Kingdom aside, the Grand Spirit and Xuanyin Kingdoms were potential allies. With enough concessions, perhaps they could have been won over.
That would’ve qualified them to contest the treasure with Grand Ancient Void.
“Maybe those two kingdoms asked for too much?”
A third Ultimate Heavenly Sovereign chimed in. Even without knowing the details, it was easy to imagine those two kingdoms had tried to extort him.
“A pity. They didn’t even try to negotiate with us,” the second Sovereign said helplessly.
Neither the Grand Spirit nor Xuanyin Ancient Kingdom ever considered the Barbarian Kingdom.
Why?
Because trading with the Barbarian Kingdom was too risky. Even if all their pillars were handed over, the Barbarians might still fail to seize the treasure.
If, in the end, Grand Void or Liyang took it, their investment would be wasted.
“That’s enough talk.”
At that moment, Mankun spoke, sweeping his gaze over the gathered Sovereigns. “As things stand, our only choice is to support Liyang. Even if we can’t seize the treasure ourselves, we must help Liyang win it.”
With Grand Ancient Void Kingdom now joined by three others—Xuanyin, Grand Spirit, and Thunder—their strength was overwhelming. If the Barbarians switched sides now, they’d only be icing on the cake.
And Grand Ancient Void wouldn’t offer much in return.
Therefore—
They had only one path: stand with Liyang.
Though Grand Void held the upper hand—
The final battle hadn’t begun. There was still a chance.
The eleven other Ultimate Heavenly Sovereigns nodded solemnly.
Indeed.
The Barbarian Kingdom had only one choice now.
At the third colossal core pillar—
Avatars of numerous top Sovereigns from the Grand Ancient Void, Xuanyin, Grand Spirit, and Thunder Kingdoms had gathered.
“Hahaha, everyone, although we currently control far more pillars than Liyang, we still mustn’t be careless.” Fuxu Heavenly Sovereign smiled down at them.
In general, treasure land battles erupted in the final hundred years.
That “final battle” was when all sides unleashed their full strength, holding nothing back.
Of course, even in such a battle, Fuxu was confident. He had a head start—and now, more than just one.
All he had to do was hold off the Milky Way Heavenly Sovereign, and Liyang wouldn’t make a ripple.
“Well then, early congratulations, Fuxu—” Su Yin Heavenly Sovereign of the Xuanyin Kingdom began to speak.
Suddenly—
Among the Thunder Kingdom’s group, Lei Sa’s expression shifted.
“Fuxu.”
Lei Sa quickly said, “That Milky Way Heavenly Sovereign just appeared near one of the pillars I refined…”
“Oh?”
Fuxu’s expression turned slightly grim. “Ask what he’s planning.”
Milky Way’s behavior immediately made Fuxu think of the final battle.
However, battles for new treasure lands typically focused on colossal pillars—or at least central ones.
Only then could one advance or retreat effectively.
But Lei Sa was saying Milky Way had appeared near the edge?
“All right.”
Lei Sa nodded—then froze.
“What is it?”
Fuxu immediately asked, sensing something wrong from Lei Sa’s face.
“Fuxu Heavenly Sovereign… my main battle body guarding that pillar… has perished.”
Lei Sa steadied himself and said.
“Perished?”
Fuxu was stunned. That fast?
Lei Sa was one of the Thunder Kingdom’s top Sovereigns, a being born from endless lightning.
Such a being was notoriously hard to kill. Even Fuxu would have to grind him down slowly.
“Where was your ancestral weapon?”
Fuxu immediately asked.
“I didn’t have time to activate it.”
Lei Sa swallowed, then added, “That Milky Way Heavenly Sovereign…”
There was fear in his voice.
“You didn’t have time?”
Fuxu fell silent.
At their level, a single thought was enough to activate an ancestral weapon.
To not even activate it—meant he never reacted at all.
How was that possible?
A top Ultimate Heavenly Sovereign—killed before even realizing it?
Fuxu’s heart trembled. Even the strongest needed time to breach an ancestral weapon’s defenses.
But now?
“Fuxu Heavenly Sovereign,”
At that moment, Linggan Heavenly Sovereign of the Grand Spirit Kingdom spoke. “That Milky Way Heavenly Sovereign is now beside my pillar.”
“Be careful.”
Fuxu warned instantly, already unsettled by Lei Sa’s death.
The time between Pillars was too short to process—no time to dwell on it.
“I…”
Linggan nodded—but the next instant, his face turned pale.
“What happened?”
Fuxu sensed something was wrong.
“Dead… my main body has fallen,” Linggan replied, voice trembling. Even with full caution and his weapon ready to fire—
He died the moment Milky Way looked at him. No time to react at all.
“Lei Sa, the Milky Way Heavenly Sovereign—”
“Don’t look at me, I died suddenly too,” Lei Sa shook his head, still dazed.
“Fuxu Heavenly Sovereign, the Milky Way Heavenly Sovereign just reached my location.”
Deyin Heavenly Sovereign of the Xuanyin Kingdom quickly said.
“Don’t hesitate—activate your ancestral weapon immediately!”
Fuxu warned, rattled by the deaths.
Buzz—
A faint ripple came—but was instantly crushed, like a spark snuffed out before it caught flame.
“You—?”
Fuxu stared at Deyin.
“Dead,” Deyin shook his head. “I activated the ancestral weapon—but he was too strong. It shattered instantly.”
“The weapon shattered?”
Fuxu went silent again.
These ancestral weapons weren’t on the level of Ancestor tools—but they were still forged by them. Even the strongest Sovereigns had to work to breach them.
“Fuxu Heavenly Sovereign, I—”
“Fuxu, Milky Way has—”
“Fuxu Heavenly Sovereign—”
As Fuxu’s mind swirled, voices from all sides rose in panic—one Ultimate Heavenly Sovereign after another, all killed by Milky Way.
None even had time to react.
Despite earlier warnings, nothing changed.
In just three to four breaths—
Milky Way Heavenly Sovereign seized and refined 103 core pillars.
103 pillars—spanning a large portion of the treasure land—were lost in mere seconds.
“These 103 Pillars…”
Fuxu was shaken. A realization dawned. The map of the treasure land appeared before him.
Over 300 dots lit the map. Now, starting from one corner, a large swath turned red—taken by Milky Way.
“He’s steamrolling… starting from the edge, he’s steamrolling across the entire treasure land.”
Fuxu murmured in disbelief.
And then—
His heart clenched. He looked up, feeling a sense of doom.
There, high above—no one knew when it happened—a young man stood, hands behind his back, smiling down at Fuxu and the gathered Sovereigns.
He narrowed his eyes and said:
“Your turn.”
...
20 chapters ahead on patreon: patreon.com/David_Lord
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