"This strength?"
Nearby, Chijue King's pupils contracted.
He was still wondering why Lin Yuan refused to team up with him against Ling Shen King, and then he saw this earth-shattering blow.
"Milky Way Great Sovereignâs strength... is it on par with a core royal whoâs grown to the extreme? Or is Milky Way himself just such a core royal?"
Chijue King was shocked and uncertain.
That one strike from Lin Yuan had already proven his strengthâeven if Chijue King went all out, he couldn't unleash such a blow.
In theory, a normal Great Sovereign could rival an extreme core royal without borrowing ancestor bloodline power.
But that was only in theory.
Such a Great Sovereign would be rarer than a Heavenly Sovereign.
An extreme core royal could reach that level only by relying on the power of their ancestral bloodline; how could a normal Great Sovereign get there?
Soâ
Chijue King was more inclined to believe Lin Yuan was himself an extreme core royal.
And the move Lin Yuan had just shown was clearly the Sunborn Genesis unique to the Blazing Sun Divine Body.
"A core royal from my Liyang Ancient Kingdom traveling abroad?" Chijue King thought to himself.
The Liyang Ancient Kingdom had existed for endless ages. Some core royals who'd long since reached their limit, in hopes of breaking through the shackles preventing core royals from becoming Heavenly Sovereigns, often chose to travel among the ancient kingdoms.
If the resources and inheritance of the Liyang Ancient Kingdom couldnât offer further hope, then theyâd look to other kingdoms.
Of course, such core royals were extremely rare. Core royals themselves were few, and those who'd grown to the extreme and went traveling were even rarer.
"Milky Way."
Ling Shen King stared at Lin Yuan, his thoughts churning.
Heâd come to the same guess as Chijue KingâLin Yuan was a traveling extreme core royal from the Liyang Ancient Kingdom.
Just happened to pass through Qingfen Domain. Just happened to arrive when King Lingwei launched his war. Just happened to be present when Ling Shen King went all out. Just happened to... ÈĐɎȱâżÆĆ
So many coincidences led to this moment.
"My luck..." Ling Shen King felt helplessâif even one of these coincidences hadnât lined up, none of this would have happened.
He could only admit his luck was rotten.
"This is trouble now."
Ling Shen King looked at Lin Yuan. If this opponent was a core royal on the same level as him, then the plan to invade Qingfen Domain was basically a bust.
And not only thatâtheyâd have to guard against Qingfen Domain counterattacking Zimeng Domain. After all, besides Lin Yuan, they still had Chijue King.
Chijue King might not have reached the limit, but no peak Great Sovereign could compare to him. At the moment, Zimeng Domain didnât have anyone who could hold Chijue King back.
"Milky Way is also a core royal from my kingdom? And one whoâs grown to the extreme?"
The distant Great Sovereigns of Qingfen Domain exchanged looks. They could feel the might of Lin Yuanâs last strike; to become a Great Sovereign, their judgment was razor sharp, and they immediately reached the same conclusion.
Only this explanation made sense.
"Qingfen, who would've thought youâd have such fortune..." a peak Great Sovereign glanced at Qingfen Marquis.
As for the master-disciple identity between Qingfen Marquis and Lin Yuan? It was just this extreme core royal hiding his identity while traveling among mortals.
He might even have made some sort of arrangement with Qingfen Marquis, temporarily living in seclusion in Qingfen City.
"I..." Qingfen Marquis blinked, doubting himself a little.
"Since I reached the limit, Iâve never fought another kingdomâs extreme core royal before."
Ling Shen King stared at Lin Yuan, his eyes shining with battle intent. At this point, heâd cast aside thoughts of warâhe only wanted a good fight with Lin Yuan, this Liyang Ancient Kingdom extreme core royal.
He hadnât even wanted to join in this low-intensity war, and if it werenât for King Lingwei, he wouldnât have come at all.
Now, faced with a peer, and with war already lost, Ling Shen King was eager for a battle.
Fighting Chijue King earlier didnât even count as a warmup, nowhere near as exciting as the suppression strike Lin Yuan had unleashed just now.
"Milky Way, take my strike!"
Ling Shen King stretched out his right hand. A silver longsword appeared, and with a light motion, he slashed toward Lin Yuan.
A subtle blade light flashed by, tearing through time, space, and chaos, slashing toward Lin Yuan.
Lin Yuan stood motionless. The Blazing Sun Divine Body activated on its ownâthe closer the blade came, the hotter it got, with layers of blazing heat forming overlapping dimensions.
Ssshh!
As blade light collided with blazing heat, the shockwaves swept out across billions of miles.
That strike from Ling Shen King was at full force; even the aftershocks forced Chijue King, who was watching, to retreat rapidly.
"So this is what itâs like when extreme core royals fight?"
Chijue Kingâs expression grew solemn. Heâd sparred with extreme core royals of the Liyang Ancient Kingdom before, but that was just friendly competition within the same clanânaturally, no one had used their full strength.
Buzz, buzz, buzz.
The aftershocks kept spreading, making even the far-off watching Great Sovereigns feel a chill.
"So this is the power of an extreme core royal?"
"No wonder they can trade blows with Heavenly Sovereigns."
These Great Sovereigns couldnât help but thinkâin battles between Heavenly Sovereigns, the extreme core royals were the strongest. That was the common understanding among the ancient kingdoms.
"He blocked it just like that?"
Ling Shen King, sword in hand, looked at the utterly unmoved Lin Yuan and slashed out again.
This time, the blade light splitâone into two, two into four, four into eight.
In an instant, the world around Ling Shen King was filled with countless silver blade lights.
"Rise!"
The endless silver blades formed a grand array, descending on Lin Yuan.
"Try something elseâthese tricks wonât work on me."
Lin Yuan calmly brushed his sleeve.
The Blazing Sun Divine Body powered up again, the terrifying Sunborn Genesis world shrinking and swiftly erasing the endless array of silver blades.
"Hmph."
Ling Shen King put away his silver longsword. His eyes began to swirl with vortexesâa soul-shaking, mind-crushing force pressed down.
"A mental attack?"
Lin Yuan sensed it instantly, but his will and soul were all hidden deep within his inner universe.
Now, Lin Yuanâs inner universe was more vast than ever. The Sunborn Genesis sat at its center, the infinite void within shaped by Infinite Void. The moment Ling Shen Kingâs full-power soul attack entered, it was diluted and dispersed.
"This guy..." Ling Shen King frowned. His soul attack hadnât even managed to shake Lin Yuanâs willâhe wasnât even sure if the move had worked at all.
"If thatâs how it is..."
Ling Shen King no longer wanted to keep testing Lin Yuanâwhether with his blade or mental attacks, it had all been to probe Lin Yuanâs limits.
After all, facing another extreme core royal, he couldnât afford to be careless.
"Now, Iâll use my strongest killing move."
Before he finished speaking, Ling Shen Kingâs figure disappeared from view.
What replaced him was an endless sea of "spirit".
What was spirit? Spirit was a special energy, present in all things. The ancestor of the Grand Ling Ancient Kingdom was the source of all "spirit" in the world.
The ancestor of the Liyang Ancient Kingdom was that eternal sun above the sky, worshipped by all.
But the ancestor of the Grand Ling Ancient Kingdom was the spirit in all thingsâthe source of all spirit, present everywhere.
"Hahaha, I can sense the surging âspiritâ within youâmerge with me!"
Ling Shen King's voice rang faintly. At this moment, he had become the spirit of the world, and could even influence the "spirit" within all things.
"Hmm?"
Lin Yuan frowned slightly.
He could sense that Ling Shen King was nearby, but couldnât lock onto his position.
At the same timeâ
Lin Yuan noticed the energy within his body becoming restless.
"So this is the Grand Ling Ancient Kingdomâs means of manipulating all thingsâ spirit?"
Lin Yuan thought to himself. The Grand Ling Ancient Kingdom and the Liyang Ancient Kingdom had been at war for agesâheâd naturally heard of their methods.
But with his mastery over his physical form, he was basically immuneâno Grand Ling Great Sovereign could manipulate the spirit within him.
Yet Ling Shen Kingâs technique had broken that limitation, managing to influence the spirit within Lin Yuan.
Of course, it was just an influenceâstill a long way from actual control.
Even so, Lin Yuan felt his internal energies growing chaotic, and a trace of irritation rose in his heart.
"Forget it, Iâm done playing."
Lin Yuan moved his thoughts, unleashing the divine ability "World". (Za Warudo!!)
An invisible world descended and fused with the Sunborn Genesis. In that instant, Lin Yuanâs command of the surrounding space-time reached an unimaginable level.
The strength of the divine ability "World" depended on the inner universe.
And Lin Yuanâs inner universe right now?
Buzz, buzz, buzz!
Lin Yuan stood there like an eternal blazing sun; wherever his light reached, it became his domain. Every trace of spirit was forcibly drawn out, compelled to gather together, and reformed into Ling Shen King's figure.
"Me?"
Ling Shen King was stunned. This techniqueâturning himself into spiritâmight not be the best offensive move, but it was extremely troublesome. Even a Heavenly Sovereign would need real effort to deal with it.
But Lin Yuan?
Just forced him straight out of his spirit state? How was that possible?
"So the so-called Grand Ling core royals are just like this."
Lin Yuan looked at Ling Shen King. Under the terrifying suppression of his divine ability "World," Ling Shen King couldnât resist at allâhis body, soul, and mind began to collapse bit by bit.
"This kind of power..."
"Impossible?!"
Ling Shen King couldnât believe it. He struggled desperately, but it was uselessâhe could only watch himself fade away.
"Iâve grown to the extreme, I'm invincible among Great Sovereignsâhow could this be, how could this be?"
Ling Shen King stared at Lin Yuan, bewildered.
In this source world, among all the ancient kingdoms, an extreme core royal was supposed to be invincible among Great Sovereigns.
That was the ruleâthe common sense.
"Invincible among Great Sovereigns?"
Lin Yuan withdrew the divine ability "World," his eyes calm.
'You're invincible among Great Sovereigns.
So what does that make me?'
...
20 chapters ahead on patreon: patreon.com/David_Lord