The twelve Ultimate Heavenly Sovereigns from the Grand Ancient Void Kingdom had arrivedâmarking the official beginning of the battle for the treasured land.
Almost at the same time,
The Ultimate Heavenly Sovereigns of the Six Ancient Kingdoms entered the treasured land together.
âA reversal of time?â
Lin Yuan sensed faint traces of temporal power flowing around him.
Those without sufficient understanding of spacetime would be affected by this temporal force and revert to a position from several breaths ago.
When this first rank treasured land first emerged, it was initially discovered by nearby Great Sovereigns exploring the area. However, these Great Sovereigns were basically unable to enter, let alone obtain the rare treasures produced within.
Soon enough,
Lin Yuan crossed the temporal distortion zone and stepped into the treasured land.
âWhat a vast spacetimeâŠâ
Lin Yuan glanced around and thought to himself.
When a first rank treasured land first appears, it remains connected to the Source World. However, over time, this connection fades. This is reflected in the gradual decay of the spacetime where the treasured land is located.
Take the Black Jade Nest, for exampleâit emerged countless ages ago. Its spacetime has shrunk so much that Heavenly Sovereign of Extreme Frost and Heavenly Sovereign of Northern Yin only needed two breaths to infiltrate and reach the landâs core.
It was like an immature fruit still connected to its mother tree, essentially a part of it.
But once the fruit matures and detaches, it becomes just a single fruit on its own.
The same principle applies to treasured lands.
âHong Lian, Milky Wayâyou two search in that direction.â
Heavenly Sovereign Red Flame immediately issued orders, dispatching the ten Ultimate Heavenly Sovereigns to search separately. If anyone found the âcoreâ of the treasured land, they were to immediately notify him and Eternal Sun.
Red Flame and Eternal Sun would personally go to refine it.
âAlright.â
Lin Yuan saw nothing wrong with this arrangement and headed off in the direction assigned to him.
Because the âcoreâ could be located anywhere, they could only search by flying slowly. As for void transmigration? Too riskyâtoo easy to miss something.
And using domain-based detection? Since the treasured land was still linked to the Source World, even Lin Yuanâs divine power, âWorld,â could only scan a radius of ten billion miles. Any farther, and things could slip by unnoticed.
Whoosh!
Lin Yuan vanished, heading in the direction Red Flame had assigned him.
âThis first rank treasured land really is extraordinary. It even feels more substantial than the Black Jade Nest,â Lin Yuan thought to himself. Having entered personally, he couldnât help but make comparisons.
Capital of the Liyang Ancient Kingdom.
Inside an independent space.
Heavenly Sovereign Red Flame, Heavenly Sovereign Vast Might, and the ten other Ultimate Heavenly Sovereigns participating in the treasure war had each left behind an incarnation here for communication.
âIâve found a core of the treasured land!â
At that moment, Heavenly Sovereign Hong Lian suddenly opened her eyes and announced.
âSo soon?â
Lin Yuan glanced at him. He had only just entered, yet already discovered a âcoreâ? Mustâve been pure luck.
âIâll head there right away.â
Red Flame responded immediately.
At the same time, within the first rank treasured land, Red Flameâwho had been standing still to oversee the operationârushed toward Hong Lianâs location.
âWhere is the treasured landâs âcoreââŠâ
Lin Yuan continued his search, then paused. âHm? A Heavenly Sovereign from the Xuanyin Ancient Kingdom?â
He sensed somethingâfar off to the front-left, another Heavenly Sovereign from the Xuanyin Ancient Kingdom seemed to be moving along a similar trajectory.
That Xuanyin Heavenly Sovereign locked eyes with Lin Yuan briefly from afar, then continued on his path without pausing.
Despite the ongoing war between the Liyang and Xuanyin Ancient Kingdoms, the focus inside the treasured land was refining the âcore.â
Without a core, the two wouldnât fightâit would only benefit the other Kingdoms.
âMy external worldâs detection radius gives me an edge over the others,â Lin Yuan thought. Even while suppressed, he could still scan a hundred billion miles.
The others would be suppressed even more.
âBut I canât underestimate themâtheyâre all Ultimate Heavenly Sovereigns. Some are even top-tier. Who knows what tricks they have up their sleeves.â
Lin Yuan remained cautious.
Elsewhere in the treasured landâ
The twelve Ultimate Heavenly Sovereigns of the Grand Ling Ancient Kingdom arrived as well.
âEach of you leave a battle-ready body with me.â
Heavenly Sovereign Lingyu glanced at the other eleven. âI have a secret method to sense the aura of the treasured landâs âcore.â Once I detect one, Iâll go there immediately, then release your battle forms to begin refining. Iâll then move on to the next.â
âUnderstood.â
The eleven nodded. They had already planned everything out before arrivingâLingyu was to take the lead in refining.
His Spirit Prison technique wasnât just good at trapping other Sovereignsâit could also remotely detect cores.
Though limited in range, it was still far more effective than blindly flying around.
Once their main battle bodies were entrusted to Lingyu, the eleven Heavenly Sovereigns of Grand Ling also set out in various directions to search.
While the plan centered around Lingyu, they couldnât bet everything on him. Contingency plans were necessary.
âHm?â
Suddenly, Lingyu's expression changed as he turned toward a certain spot and vanished in a single step.
âHahaha! I found a core this fast!â
A Heavenly Sovereign from the Thunder Ancient Kingdom stood excited before a phantom sky pillar.
The pillar was fused into the treasured landâs core and only detectable at close range.
âIâll begin refining immediately.â After notifying the other eleven of the coreâs location, he began the refining process.
Just then,
Space-time began to ripple.
Lingyu appeared overhead, gazing down at the Thunder Kingdom Sovereign.
âLingyu?!â
The Thunder Sovereign immediately sensed him and growled, âThis core belongs to the Thunder Ancient Kingdom!â
âOh really?â
Lingyu smirked from above. âIt belonged to you just now. Now it belongs to me.â
As he spoke,
Lingyuâs left eye expanded rapidly, transforming into a sky-reaching prison that engulfed the Thunder Sovereign.
âWhatââ
The Thunder Sovereign struggled with all his might, but it was useless. In moments, he was sealed within Lingyuâs left eye.
âOne month is more than enough to keep you trapped.â
Lingyu gauged the strength of the prisonerâs resistance and spoke casually.
Trapped for a month? The treasure war only lasted two thousand years.
But the critical stage was likely the first few decades.
âCome out.â
Lingyu summoned the battle bodies of several Grand Ling Sovereigns. âStart refining now.â
âYes!â
They were reinvigorated. Moments ago, theyâd witnessed the Thunder Sovereign utterly powerless before Lingyuâs left eye.
Soon, that core was successfully refined by Lingyu.
âHm?â
Still using his detection method, Lingyu sensed another core and vanished again.
The others remained to guard the area.
Elsewhereâ
As Lin Yuan rapidly searched, his expression suddenly shifted.
âWhatâs this?â
In the next moment, he appeared tens of billions of miles away, where a phantom sky pillar stood, nearly blending into the surrounding space-time.
âA core of the treasured land.â
A smile appeared on Lin Yuanâs face.
Since Hong Lian had discovered the first core, five more had been found by other Sovereigns.
This one would be the seventh core discovered by the Liyang Ancient Kingdom.
As soon as he located it, Lin Yuan contacted Red Flame and Eternal Sun.
âIâll start refining it myself first.â
Theyâd take time to arriveâno harm in refining part of it now to save time later.
Swooshâ
He got to work.
âHm?â
Suddenly, Lin Yuanâs expression changed as he looked up.
A figure had silently appeared above, watching him.
âHeavenly Sovereign of the Milky Way from the Liyang Kingdom?â
Lingyu smiled. With the power of his Spirit Prison, unless it was Fuxu from the Grand Ancient Void Kingdom Kingdom, even top-tier Sovereigns would be trapped for a time.
And the Milky Way Sovereign?
Though the first in the Six Ancient Kingdoms to elevate the Ancestor Bloodline to the Sovereign levelâhe still couldnât stand against Lingyu.
âLingyu?â
Lin Yuanâs face turned grim. Lingyuâs strength was on par with Red Flame and Eternal Sunâand even trickier to handle.
Independent space in the Liyang capitalâ
âLingyuâs gone after him?â Red Flame frowned. âWithdraw from that core immediately.â
âWithdraw?â Lin Yuan looked at him. After finally discovering a core, should he just hand it over?
âIf you get trapped in Lingyuâs prison, the Liyang Kingdom will suffer an even greater loss,â Red Flame said calmly.
Giving up a core stungâbut losing Lin Yuan as well would be far worse.
âRed Flame wants me to retreat,â Lin Yuan thought as he looked up at Lingyu.
âEnter my prison.â
Lingyu gazed down. His right eye began expanding, becoming a sky-high prison that instantly enveloped Lin Yuan and drew him inside.
By capturing other Kingdomsâ Sovereigns, he would only inflict greater damage on themânaturally, Lingyu wouldnât miss the chance.
âRefine the pillarâs edge quickly. Iâll take care of the core.â
After sealing the Milky Way Sovereign in his right eye, Lingyu summoned several more Grand Ling Sovereigns.
âYes!â
They were exhilarated. In just a short time, theyâd seized two cores from other Kingdoms. At this pace, Grand Ling would claim a large share.
Howeverâ
Just as they were about to descend and refine the pillarâ
They suddenly noticed a drastic change in Lingyuâs expression. He stumbled back uncontrollably, clutching his right eye.
âLingyuâwhatâs wrong?â
The Grand Ling Sovereigns sensed something was wrong and asked quickly.
âIâŠâ
Lingyuâs remaining left eye filled with disbelief. He looked at his comrades. âDonât come near me.â
âDonât come near you?â
They exchanged glances, confused.
What they didnât know was that a tiny red glow had begun to appear on the surface of Lingyuâs right eye.
If magnified a billion times, one would see that this glow resembled countless blazing suns.
Tiny red flaresâlimitless in numberârapidly spread across the eyeâs surface.
In that moment, Lingyuâs right eye, overwhelmed by the red radiance, looked like a blazing fireball.
The next momentâ
His right eye exploded.
...
20 chapters ahead on patreon: /David_Lord