"It's over."
Chijue King was suppressed, and at the same time saw Ling Shen King, with a simple gesture, trap all the Great Sovereign-level powerhouses of the Qingfen Domain in his palm.
Then, slowly closed his hand.
Ling Shen King was a core royal who had grown to the extreme, strong enough to exchange blows with a true Heavenly Sovereign, his power far surpassing peak Great Sovereigns.
On the Qingfen Domainâs side, there were five or six peak Great Sovereigns, more than twenty seasoned Great Sovereigns, and several newly advanced onesânone could withstand even a single grasp from Ling Shen King.
This was the terror of the core royals of the ancient kingdoms: once they reached their limits, they were practically on a level of their own between Great Sovereign and Heavenly Sovereign.
Normally, in localized wars between ancient kingdoms, it was rare for core royals who had grown to the extreme to appear.
Powerhouses of this level were on par with Heavenly Sovereigns, and would only take action in full-scale, all-out wars of the highest intensity.
So, the fact that King Lingwei had called upon his younger brother, Ling Shen King, to intervene in this war was expected.
But the fact that Ling Shen King had grown to the extreme was something Chijue King hadn't anticipated. Core royals were naturally gifted, but to reach the very peak, to bring their bloodline power to its absolute limit, was incredibly difficult.
At least, Chijue King had failed to do so for countless ages.
"Damn."
At the rear of the battlefield, Chisong King saw all of his side's Great Sovereigns scooped up by Ling Shen King with a single palm, and his heart trembled.
Only now did he realize that his earlier orderâcommanding all Great Sovereigns to return to Qingfen City via the space-time tunnelâhad been a grave mistake.
Core royals who had reached their limit were indeed terrifying; peak Great Sovereigns had no hope of resisting them.
But the power of such core royals was purely in raw might; in terms of suppressive power over the rules, it was nothing special.
There were more than twenty Great Sovereigns on the Qingfen Domainâs side, originally spread out across multiple defensive fronts. If they had retreated to Qingfen City separately, even if Ling Shen King chased at full speed, how many could he catch? Not to mention, Ling Shen King still had to divide his attention to suppress Chijue King.
But Chisong King had them all return through the space-time tunnel? That meant gathering every Great Sovereign in one placeâhanding Ling Shen King a chance to catch them all in one net.
It was like trying to catch dozens of big fish scattered across a pond; to catch them all would be a huge effort, and some would inevitably escape.
But if all the fish gathered in one area, you only need to cast your net once.
"We've lost."
Chisong King looked up toward the higher plane of space-time. Even though he couldnât see what was happening, he knew all the Great Sovereigns had fallen into Ling Shen Kingâs handsâtheir fate was basically sealed.
Of course, all the Great Sovereigns had their life-saving measures; even if they died, they wouldnât be truly gone.
But having lost their main battle bodies, it would be a long time before the Great Sovereigns could fight again.
After all, re-forming a peak battle body wasnât easy. Not to mention the lost weapons and other personal treasuresâthose wouldnât be easily replaced in a short time.
Even if, for argumentâs sake, they all could fight again, it would be too late. Next, Ling Shen King would race to Qingfen City at top speed, and with his absolute strength, take the city.
Once Qingfen City fell, the entire Qingfen Domain would be lost. It would essentially mean the war was over.
"I canât believe we lost so quickly?"
Chisong King fell silent. The main issue was that heâd underestimated Ling Shen Kingâs strength.
Before this, Ling Shen King had never revealed to anyone that heâd reached the peak.
In contrast to Chisong King and Chijue Kingâs heavy hearts, Lingwei King, watching the battlefield as well, was overflowing with joy.
"Itâs done."
Lingwei Kingâs heart settled. Even though heâd known in advance that his younger brother had reached the core royal limit.
On the battlefield, anything could happen. There were always countless variables. What if Chijue King had also grown to the extreme?
Or if he had some hidden weapon strong enough to resist even the strongest core royals?
So many unpredictable factors.
But now?
Ling Shen King had caught all enemy Great Sovereigns in his palmâthis basically signaled the end of this battle.
Even if, at this moment, news reached the Liyang Ancient Kingdomâs capital and someone as strong as Ling Shen King rushed over, it would be far too late.
The distance from the capital to the Qingfen Domain was unknown; not even a Heavenly Sovereign could arrive instantly. Even using the space-time tunnels in Qingfen City would still take a bit of time.
And that was all the time Ling Shen King needed to reach Qingfen City.
In the higher plane.
Where he had once been in complete control, Ling Shen King glanced at his half-closed right hand, and his expression changed subtly.
The âWorld in the Palmâ was one of his bloodline talents. He could create a world within his palm, which would start to collapse as he closed his fingers.
When the world collapsed, the destruction it unleashed was enough to kill a peak Great Sovereign in an instant.
This move was not very useful against powerhouses of his level, but to any weaker lifeform, it was a devastating weapon.
Yet now, Ling Shen Kingâs expression was grave. He could clearly feel a force preventing his fingers from closing.
More precisely, it wasnât stopping his hand from closing, but stopping the collapse of the world within his palm.
The world that should have been completely destroyed was being held up by an invisible force, so his hand could not close.
"Who is it?"
Ling Shen King frowned. Among all the Great Sovereigns heâd trapped in his palm world, the strongest were clearly the peak Great SovereignsâGreat Sovereign Redleaf, Qingfen Marquis, and so on.
But none of them could resist his palm world.
"Could it be that Redleaf broke through?"
He stared at his half-closed right hand.
Not only could he not close his hand, but his sense of the palm world had also grown blurryâhe couldnât tell what was happening inside.
Among all the Great Sovereigns on the Qingfen side, the one with the most potential was undoubtedly Great Sovereign Redleaf. He walked two paths of Chaos evolution at once and had a real shot at becoming a Heavenly Sovereign.
In the palm world.
Great Sovereign Redleaf, Great Sovereign Axe, and the others stared in shock.
Moments before, when the five heavenly pillars collapsed and the world began to fall apart, everyone had lost hope.
But just then, Lin Yuan had stepped forward, raising a hand to stop the worldâs destruction. Even the five collapsed pillars had been forcibly halted, left in a state of half-fall.
"Milky Way Great Sovereign? He has this kind of power?"
"I can feel itâthe destructive force all around is enough to erase even a peak Great Sovereign, yet the Milky Way Great Sovereign stopped it?"
"He didnât just stop itâhe completely cut off the collapse of this world."
The Great Sovereigns couldnât believe it.
To block the destructive force of a collapsing world and to cut it off entirely were two very different things.
It was like a raging riverâblocking the flow is one thing, but to cut off the current entirely is on another level.
"Milky Way..." Great Sovereign Redleaf looked at Lin Yuan, who alone had cut off the collapse of heaven and earth, and couldnât help but be deeply shaken.
"Just how far has my disciple come?" Qingfen Marquis was also unsettled. Compared to the other Great Sovereigns, he knew more âsecretsâ about Lin Yuan, like his core royal identity.
But even for a core royal, to resist the collapse of the world required someone at least at Chijue Kingâs level.
And how long had it been since Lin Yuan became a Great Sovereign?
Thatâs rightâever since Lin Yuan had defeated Great Sovereign Leige and shown near-peak power, Qingfen Marquis had figured heâd made the breakthrough.
But even for a core royal, after becoming a Great Sovereign, it took time to grow. Yet Lin Yuan...
âEveryone, when I break open this world, youâd better run as far as you can,â Lin Yuan glanced at the other Great Sovereigns.
Actually, even if Ling Shen King hadnât targeted him, Lin Yuan hadnât planned to sit by and watch the Qingfen Domain fall.
After all, Qingfen Marquis had always been good to him.
Before, Lin Yuan had needed time to comprehend the war machine, and to perfect the fusion of his inner universe and the Sunborn Genesis, so his strength hadnât reached its peak. Even if heâd intervened, he couldnât have changed the outcome. He would have just made himself a target and hindered his cultivation.
So heâd kept a low profile.
But now? His inner universe and Sunborn Genesis had completely merged. His power could now be called complete.
Even facing a Heavenly Sovereign, he could escape intact. In this prime world, as long as he didnât provoke the ancestors of the ancient kingdoms, he had nothing to fear.
"Run far away?"
The Great Sovereigns exchanged glances and nodded at once.
"Milky Way Great Sovereign, rest assuredâonce you break this world, weâll run as far as we can."
"Thatâs right. Even if we canât help, we definitely wonât drag you down."
"If someone doesnât make it in time, donât worry about themâif they get caught in the aftermath, so be it."
The Great Sovereigns were shrewd; just seeing Lin Yuan so easily halt the worldâs collapse, they could tell his strength far surpassed what theyâd thought.
Even if he wasnât at Ling Shen Kingâs level, he was definitely equal to Chijue King.
Powerhouses of that level fought differently. Ordinary Great Sovereigns like them couldnât get involved.
"Alright."
Lin Yuan nodded.
With his power, breaking out of this world was no trouble.
He just worried the others might not react in time, so he warned them in advance.
"Open!"
Lin Yuan looked up at the five half-collapsed heavenly pillars, a terrifying aura spreading from him and tearing out in all directions.
In the higher plane.
The suppressed Chijue King looked at Ling Shen King and realized something was wrong.
Ling Shen Kingâs right hand wasnât closing, and his expression was uncertain.
"A twist in the plot."
Before Chijue King could think further, Ling Shen King, standing motionless, lost control as his half-closed hand suddenly opened.
Whooshâ
Space and time shattered in great swathes.
Dozens of figures shot out at once, fleeing into the void without hesitation.
At the same timeâ
Lin Yuan stood nearby.
"It's you?"
Ling Shen King stared at Lin Yuan. The moment the world in his palm was broken open, he saw the source of the resistanceâ
The Milky Way Great Sovereign whoâd ruined his plans once before.
"Milky Way?"
Chijue King was also shocked.
He didnât know what had happened inside Ling Shen Kingâs palm world.
But all the Great Sovereigns had escaped and left the battlefieldâexcept for Lin Yuan. Clearly, it was all due to this Milky Way Great Sovereign.
"Ling Shen King."
Lin Yuan smiled as he looked at Ling Shen King.
"Milky Way, he..."
At the rear, Chisong King was also stunned. The escaped Great Sovereigns quickly told him everything that had happened inside the palm world.
"Good, good, good!"
Chisong King, after his initial confusion, broke into a delighted grin.
Milky Way Great Sovereign had suddenly revealed power on par with Chijue King, completely reversing the course of the war.
Now that the Great Sovereigns had survived, as long as they could safely withdraw to Qingfen City and use the cityâs defensive array to hold out until reinforcements arrived, there was still hope for victory.
For Chisong King, whoâd been ready for defeat, this was a complete surprise.
Boomâ
Lin Yuanâs forceful shattering of the palm world had caused Ling Shen Kingâan extreme core royalâto reveal a flaw in his aura.
The suppressed Chijue King seized the opportunity, struggling with all his might, and finally broke free.
"Milky Way Great Sovereign, we owe you for this."
Chijue King appeared nearby and thanked Lin Yuan sincerely.
He now understood what had happenedâall thanks to Lin Yuan.
If Lin Yuan hadnât stepped up, all the Great Sovereigns would probably have perished, and Ling Shen King might already have reached Qingfen City.
"It's nothing."
Lin Yuan replied casually.
But Ling Shen King, standing in the distance, still managed to exert a faint pressure on himâenough to pique Lin Yuanâs interest.
"Next, Iâd like to ask Milky Way Great Sovereign to join me in holding back Ling Shen King," Chijue King sent a quick message, already recognizing Lin Yuan as a powerhouse on his own level.
Facing Ling Shen King, an extreme core royal, Chijue King had no confidence in holding him off alone. But with another equal by his side? Even if they couldnât win, they could still get away alive.
"No need to team up."
Lin Yuan looked at Ling Shen King, whose aura was growing ever more terrifying, and suddenly stepped forward. "I'll handle this myself."
"You'll handle it yourself?" Chijue King stared, not quite understanding.
Handle it yourself? Before he could say moreâ
Lin Yuan had already moved.
An intensely blazing force swept out over billions of miles, the world of Sunborn Genesis naturally forming with the operation of his Blazing Sun Divine Body.
Below, the Qingfen Domain and its Great Sovereigns could clearly feel the change in the world around them. They couldnât see what was happening in the higher plane, and King Lingwei certainly wasnât telling them.
So all they could do was guess.
"Sunborn Scorches Heaven."
It was the first time Lin Yuan had fully unleashed his Blazing Sun Divine Body. With the terrifying foundation of his inner universe as support, even an ordinary physique could explode with incredible power, let alone a Blazing Sun Divine Body built for killing?
Whooshâ
The boundless Sunborn Genesis world descended, suppressing Ling Shen King.
"Thisâ?"
Whether it was Chijue King, ready to join forces with Lin Yuan, or Chisong King watching from the rear, or even Ling Shen King himselfâthey were all shocked.
Boomâ
Ling Shen King staggered back four steps before he could finally dissipate the suppressive force of the Sunborn Genesis.
"I was actually hurt?"
Ling Shen King took a deep breath, staring at Lin Yuan as if facing a great enemy.
...
20 chapters ahead on patreon: /David_Lord