Red Flame Heavenly Sovereign followed behind Lin Yuan, also looking down at the many Ultimate Heavenly Sovereigns below.
But his gaze was dazed—for he alone had witnessed how the Milky Way Heavenly Sovereign had "crushed" so many top-tier Ultimate Heavenly Sovereigns along the way.
That unstoppable, overwhelming momentum had made Red Flame feel like he was dreaming.
Especially those Sovereigns who had activated their ancestral killing artifacts, unleashing terrifying power—only to have it torn through like paper in Lin Yuan's presence.
The sight sent shivers down Red Flame's spine.
"Milky Way…"
Red Flame stared at the young man standing before him, his expression dazed. At last, he understood what "crushing" truly meant.
"Milky Way Heavenly Sovereign?"
Before the third colossal core pillar, Fuxu Heavenly Sovereign and all the gathered Sovereigns looked up at Lin Yuan as if they were mere insects staring at the sky.
In just three or four breaths, 103 core pillars had been taken, and the top Sovereigns on the field—at least their main battle bodies—had fallen to Lin Yuan's hand.
They now understood the despair and helplessness of facing him.
Especially those who had fallen later—they hadn't been caught off guard like the first wave. They had been extremely cautious, activating their ancestral weapons instantly, and yet they had still been crushed.
"Milky Way Heavenly Sovereign, what is it that you want?"
Fuxu Heavenly Sovereign took a deep breath, steadying his mind as he asked.
Even now, as impossible as everything seemed, he couldn't show weakness. Otherwise, the morale of his Sovereigns would completely collapse.
"What do I want?"
Lin Yuan looked at Fuxu Heavenly Sovereign and shook his head. "Relinquish all the core pillars."
Compared to other Ultimate Heavenly Sovereigns, Fuxu was trickier to deal with. Lin Yuan was currently locking onto his true body's location.
Though Fuxu appeared to be standing there, his real body had melded into layered spacetime, hidden with the help of his ancient kingdom's ancestral artifact. Even for Lin Yuan, it took some effort to locate him.
An ancestral killing artifact forged by an Ancestor was terrifying enough in the hands of a typical Ultimate Heavenly Sovereign—when wielded by a strongest Heavenly Sovereign like Fuxu, its power was on a completely different level.
"Surrender all the core pillars?"
Fuxu's face darkened. "Impossible."
Surrendering the pillars meant giving up the entire treasure land—that was something Fuxu could never accept.
"Impossible? Then die."
Lin Yuan's tone remained flat.
Before the words had even faded, he extended his right hand and reached toward Fuxu.
Boom—
A vast, invisible wave of spacetime force swept forth.
Fuxu's expression changed dramatically. He immediately realized that his hidden true body had been locked onto.
"This Milky Way… he actually locked onto me so easily?"
Fuxu couldn't believe it. Using his ancestral artifact to hide his true body should have made him untouchable, even among the strongest Heavenly Sovereigns. It should've placed him in an unassailable position.
The power Lin Yuan had shown clearly surpassed the level of the strongest Heavenly Sovereigns. Fuxu hadn't planned to confront him head-on, but at the very least, he should have been able to stall.
But it had only been a few breaths, and his hiding place was already discovered?
"Block it!"
Fuxu erupted with power. Countless mysterious auras surged forth—forces from his ancient kingdom's ancestral artifact—attempting to resist Lin Yuan's grasp.
But it was futile.
Those barriers shattered instantly under Lin Yuan's hand.
They bought Fuxu only a brief moment of respite.
As a strongest Heavenly Sovereign, Fuxu was far more resilient than typical Ultimate Heavenly Sovereigns. He didn't fall instantly in Lin Yuan's grasp.
"If you don't act now, this treasure land will fall into his hands!"
Fuxu quickly sent a transmission to Suyin, Lingyu, and the other lead Heavenly Sovereigns.
The four kingdoms had already bound themselves together through their earlier deals.
If Grand Ancient Void obtained the treasure land, Xuanyin and Grand Spirit would benefit.
But if Liyang took it, they likely wouldn't even survive to tell the tale.
"Don't worry, we're on our way."
Lingyu, Suyin, and the other leaders responded in grim voices.
They regretted it now—if they'd known Milky Way was this strong, they never would've made such outrageous demands. But what's done was done.
There was no choice now but to fight alongside Fuxu.
Combining the leaders of the Grand Ancient Void, Xuanyin, Grand Spirit, and Thunder Kingdoms—wielding ancestral killing artifacts—they prepared to face Lin Yuan.
Boom—
In the distance—
Lingyu, Suyin, and the others activated their artifacts, launching attacks toward Lin Yuan. The destructive power tore through vast swathes of spacetime.
None of them held back—they attacked with everything they had.
"Hm?"
Around Lin Yuan, spacetime twisted. All the attacks were like pebbles tossed into the sea. He glanced indifferently at the distant Sovereigns.
"It's completely useless?"
Lingyu, Suyin, and the others trembled.
Even with Fuxu holding him down, their surprise attacks didn't even stir him.
It was hopeless.
They had seen Lin Yuan's destructive might when he killed their battle bodies and took the pillars—none of them could survive a moment against him.
Even ancestral artifacts couldn't defend them.
And now, they realized Lin Yuan's defenses were just as terrifying.
Attacks from ancestral artifacts—completely blocked?
Blocked, not dodged. That distinction mattered.
If he'd dodged, they could believe their attacks still posed some threat.
But to be blocked—
It meant he didn't care about their attacks at all.
"Milky Way Heavenly Sovereign!"
Fuxu also saw this. Gold light swirled in his eyes. Around him, time began to spiral into chaos.
This was his ultimate move—combining two Rank Thirteen-level techniques. While not fully fused, the power exceeded that of any single technique.
He had never used it before—saving it as his final trump card.
"Time!"
As he activated the move, strands of pure temporal energy appeared before him—drawn from the Grand Ancient Void Kingdom's vaults, personally refined by its Ancestor.
Any time-based technique empowered by these strands would see its power rise dramatically.
"This is my strongest technique."
Fuxu looked toward Lin Yuan. The chaotic time energy was already spreading toward him.
Those few strands of time essence had cost Fuxu a staggering amount of merit.
If not for this treasure land being so precious—and aligned with his time-based path—he wouldn't have used them.
"This time energy?"
Lin Yuan felt the swirling time aura.
Any ordinary Ultimate Heavenly Sovereign would instantly fall under its influence—their will lost, unable to perceive the passage of time correctly.
Even a strongest Heavenly Sovereign would be heavily affected—perhaps even lose their physical form if caught off guard.
After all, this attack wasn't just Fuxu's power—it contained time essence refined by a Ancestor.
But Lin Yuan—
The swirling time aura washed over him like a torrent slamming into a mountain of solid stone—it couldn't move him at all.
"You think time can affect me? Maybe if an Ancestor used it."
Lin Yuan shook his head.
His foundations were so deep and vast that time techniques were effectively countered.
Time was like a river—and a being's foundation was like their weight in that river. A massive boulder simply couldn't be moved by the current.
"Still useless?"
Fuxu stared at Lin Yuan, who stood unmoved.
He didn't hesitate—he turned and fled.
If even this ultimate technique couldn't affect Lin Yuan, then there was no longer any hope of winning the treasure land.
All he wanted now was to escape safely.
He didn't want to lose even this battle body.
Shoo shoo shoo—
In the distance, other lead Sovereigns, top-tier Ultimate Heavenly Sovereigns, and even ordinary ones all began to flee as well.
"You dared attack me—so you all stay."
With a thought, Lin Yuan transformed into a blazing sun. A formless, twisted spacetime force rippled outward in all directions.
Fuxu hadn't gone far before he was immobilized by the twisted spacetime—then obliterated by one of Lin Yuan's blows.
The rest—lead Sovereigns, top-tier, and ordinary Ultimate Heavenly Sovereigns—watched in horror as spacetime twisted around them, cutting off even the ability to teleport.
"Ahhh! Milky Way Heavenly Sovereign, I give up the treasure land!"
"Let us go!"
Many Sovereigns tried to beg. Although the loss of a battle body wasn't death, creating one was extremely costly.
And those bodies carried countless weapons—and over a thousand years of treasure land harvests.
Boom boom boom—
Lin Yuan showed no mercy. He held no fondness for the Grand Spirit or Xuanyin Kingdoms—he still remembered how they had tried to extort him.
Soon—
The many Ultimate Heavenly Sovereigns began to fall.
Red Flame watched in a daze. Sovereigns equal to him in strength were like dust before Lin Yuan—erased with a flick of the hand.
"What is that?"
Only now did the other Liyang Sovereigns begin to react. They sensed the sudden disappearance of countless auras and were utterly shaken.
Mankun of the Barbarian Ancient Kingdom had been preparing to meet with Lin Yuan to discuss dealing with the Grand Ancient Void Kingdom, but then he saw—
A godlike figure standing alone in the void.
All around him, Sovereigns were falling in droves—even top-tier ones.
Mankun's mind went blank.
"Is… is that the Milky Way Heavenly Sovereign?"
...
Lin Yuan stood suspended in the void, like an eternal blazing sun radiating brilliance. As his divine power, "World," operated, one Ultimate Heavenly Sovereign after another was obliterated and fell.
In just a few moments, the surrounding world fell silent and still, leaving behind only floating weapons, treasures, and rare artifacts.
"Before stepping into the Chaos stage, my strength was on par with the strongest Heavenly Sovereigns like Fuxu, at most slightly stronger. But after entering the Chaos stage, my very essence has transformed. So-called strongest Heavenly Sovereigns? They're no match for me at all."
Lin Yuan thought to himself. If it weren't for the fact that the time and space within this treasure land operated independently, continuously activating the divine power "World" would have caused a conflict with its internal spacetime...
...which in turn would affect the future birth of rare treasures within the land.
Under normal circumstances, Lin Yuan wouldn't need to refine the core pillars one by one—he could simply shroud the entire treasure land with his external universe.
It was only when Fuxu Heavenly Sovereign and the others fled in all directions that Lin Yuan briefly used his external universe to suppress and kill them.
The duration of activating the divine power "World" had been short, and with Lin Yuan's caution, it didn't leave any impact on the treasure land.
"Hu!"
With a thought, Lin Yuan withdrew his external universe and also collected the spoils left behind by the fallen Ultimate Heavenly Sovereigns.
He had long prepared an explanation for this overwhelming display of power—beyond the understanding of the six ancient kingdoms. He would simply attribute it to the ancestral bloodline at the Heavenly Sovereign level.
As the first being in this Source World to fully awaken the ancestral bloodline to the Heavenly Sovereign level, no other Sovereign knew the full effects of such a breakthrough.
Wasn't everything ultimately up to what Lin Yuan said?
As for when a second Heavenly Sovereign-level ancestral bloodline might emerge... who knows how many tens of thousands of years that might take. By then, even if Lin Yuan hadn't stepped into the thirteenth rank, he'd be so deeply embedded in time loops that the outside world couldn't affect him at all.
In truth, even without using the ancestral bloodline as an excuse, no one would dare question Lin Yuan.
In the six ancient kingdoms, strength is everything. Based on the power Lin Yuan had shown, unless an Ancestor took action, he was invincible. The so-called strongest Heavenly Sovereigns wouldn't even dare show themselves before him.
As for Ancestors? They stood at an unreachable height. Though Lin Yuan's strength surpassed that of the strongest Heavenly Sovereigns, to a thirteenth-rank Ancestor, he was still just a larger ant—unworthy of much attention.
All of Lin Yuan's current trump cards—aside from the Gate of Myriad Realms—wouldn't even draw an Ancestor's interest.
Thirteenth-rank inheritance? It originated from the Ancestors to begin with.
Thirteenth-rank weapons? The Ancestors had those too.
Swoosh.
Lin Yuan glanced briefly at the loot left behind by the Ultimate Heavenly Sovereigns, then took a step forward and appeared before Red Flame Heavenly Sovereign.
"Milky Way... Milky Way Heavenly Sovereign." Red Flame Heavenly Sovereign was inwardly shaken and barely managed to compose himself. He looked at Lin Yuan with deep reverence.
"I never imagined your strength would be this terrifying—crushing Fuxu and so many top-tier Ultimate Heavenly Sovereigns alone. Back when the Emperor mentioned you, I had my doubts. Looking back now, I was utterly foolish."
Thinking about how he'd once 'looked down' on the Milky Way Heavenly Sovereign filled Red Flame Heavenly Sovereign with both shame and fear.
"No harm done."
Lin Yuan shook his head slightly.
Red Flame Heavenly Sovereign hadn't acted out of selfish motives. His doubts about Lin Yuan's strength were for the sake of the Liyang Kingdom. Competing for such a rare treasure land required top-tier strength from every participating Heavenly Sovereign.
If one of them had dragged down the whole group and caused them to lose the treasure land, that would've harmed the entire kingdom.
Later, Lin Yuan proved his strength by sparring with Hong Lian Heavenly Sovereign, and Red Flame Heavenly Sovereign had no more objections.
"Hmm?"
At that moment, Red Flame Heavenly Sovereign looked up and saw over a dozen figures approaching from the distance—it was the twelve Ultimate Heavenly Sovereigns from the Barbarian Wild Kingdom.
Sensing the battle here—more accurately, the one-sided crushing domination by the Milky Way Heavenly Sovereign—the Ultimate Heavenly Sovereigns from the Barbarian Wild Kingdom found it hard to believe, but they had no choice but to come forward.
What were they supposed to do, wait for the Milky Way Heavenly Sovereign to come to them?
"Milky Way Heavenly Sovereign!"
Mankun Heavenly Sovereign was shocked. From the aura, he could tell that Fuxu and many top-tier Ultimate Heavenly Sovereigns had been thoroughly defeated.
And it wasn't just a defeat—it was absolute devastation. Even someone as strong as Fuxu had been utterly crushed.
Though Mankun Heavenly Sovereign had never gotten along with Fuxu, he had to admit the man was strong.
"Mankun."
Lin Yuan also looked at Mankun Heavenly Sovereign.
The Barbarian Wild Kingdom had claimed most of the core pillars in the upper half of the treasure land.
When Lin Yuan began sweeping the land from a corner, he hadn't encountered any of the pillars refined by the Barbarian Wild Kingdom.
"Milky Way Heavenly Sovereign, our Barbarian Wild Kingdom is willing to surrender all the core pillars," Mankun Heavenly Sovereign said immediately.
He had seen the fate of the other kingdoms' Ultimate Heavenly Sovereigns—their battle bodies destroyed. Under such circumstances, handing over the pillars obediently was the smartest move.
At least they could keep their main battle bodies...
...and the harvests of the last one to two thousand years in this treasure land. The Barbarian Wild Kingdom's Sovereigns had collected quite a bit of the golden mist.
"Alright, you may leave now."
Lin Yuan nodded without making things difficult for Mankun.
He'd shown no mercy to the Ultimate Heavenly Sovereigns of the Xuanyin Kingdom, Grand Ling Kingdom, and others because they were enemies of the Liyang Kingdom and had tried to extort dozens of pillars.
"Thank you, Milky Way Heavenly Sovereign."
Mankun Heavenly Sovereign let out a quiet sigh of relief.
At least in this contest for the treasure land, the Barbarian Wild Kingdom's Sovereigns had gained something—not a total loss.
Compared to Fuxu, Suyin, and Lingyu, the Barbarian Wild Kingdom had gotten off lightly.
The eleven other Ultimate Heavenly Sovereigns of the Barbarian Wild Kingdom exchanged glances. Strangely, they felt... relieved?
In past contests for newly-formed treasure lands, whenever the Barbarian Wild Kingdom lost, the Sovereigns were usually filled with bitterness and frustration.
But now, even Mankun Heavenly Sovereign felt grateful.
Luckily he arrived quickly and had a good rapport with the Milky Way Heavenly Sovereign—otherwise, they might've shared the same fate as the Sovereigns from the four major kingdoms like the Grand Ancient Void Kingdom.
Death in battle was nothing unusual in contests over treasure lands. Even if the Milky Way Heavenly Sovereign had killed them, no one would have questioned it.
Now that they had his permission, the twelve Ultimate Heavenly Sovereigns from the Barbarian Wild Kingdom quickly departed for the treasure land's exit.
In the distance, the ten Ultimate Heavenly Sovereigns of the Liyang Kingdom looked at Lin Yuan from afar—none dared approach him right away.
Victory had come too easily, too unbelievably. Moments ago, they had been despairing, convinced that even with the Barbarian Wild Kingdom's help, the Liyang Kingdom stood no chance against the alliance of the four kingdoms led by the Grand Ancient Void Kingdom.
But in the next instant, all those Sovereigns had been swept away by the Milky Way Heavenly Sovereign.
This overwhelming power shocked the ten Ultimate Heavenly Sovereigns of the Liyang Kingdom to their core.
"To think the Milky Way Heavenly Sovereign actually sparred with me for so long back then…"
Hong Lian Heavenly Sovereign sighed inwardly. Before entering the treasure land, he had sparred with the Milky Way Heavenly Sovereign—and it had ended in a draw.
Looking back now, it was obvious the Milky Way Heavenly Sovereign had just been playing with him.
"Even someone like Fuxu, one of the strongest Heavenly Sovereigns, couldn't resist the Milky Way Heavenly Sovereign. Just what level is he at now? Still just a strongest Heavenly Sovereign?"
Eternal Sun and Vast Might, two top-tier Ultimate Heavenly Sovereigns, were thinking further. Since the founding of the Grand Ancient Void Kingdom, the strongest Heavenly Sovereigns had always been the ultimate power beneath Ancestors.
Yet now, the Milky Way Heavenly Sovereign had clearly broken that ceiling. Calling him the "strongest" Heavenly Sovereign seemed no longer appropriate.
If he was still a strongest Heavenly Sovereign—what did that make the rest of them?
Deep within the Grand Ancient Void Kingdom...
Ancient beings stirred. Many who had vanished for countless years—Sovereigns believed to be attempting to break into the Ancestor realm—opened their eyes and projected their consciousness.
"This Milky Way Heavenly Sovereign?"
Fuxu Heavenly Sovereign stood among them. Not far away, countless images flashed by—showing the scenes of the Milky Way Heavenly Sovereign beginning his sweep from the corner pillar...
...all the way to transforming into blazing sun and slaughtering Fuxu and the others.
"Fuxu, you lost?"
"With your strength? You actually lost?"
One by one, the ancient strongest Heavenly Sovereigns spoke up. Being the strongest didn't mean you couldn't lose—but the way Fuxu lost seemed too careless.
Utterly crushed by the Milky Way Heavenly Sovereign? Even after using the ancient kingdom's killing artifacts?
"Looks that way."
Fuxu remained calm—even cold. Had he lost to another strongest Heavenly Sovereign, he'd be analyzing what went wrong and how to improve.
But losing to the Milky Way Heavenly Sovereign?
During their brief clash, all Fuxu felt was despair.
Their battle was like an ant challenging the heavens—there was no point in analyzing it. No matter how many times they fought—ten thousand or a hundred thousand—he would still lose.
After Fuxu finished speaking...
The ancient Sovereigns began watching the images in silence.
In truth, most had already started watching from the moment they arrived. Their questions had been more of a formality.
Very soon...
Some of the ancient strongest Heavenly Sovereigns had watched all the images.
Each of them carried a different aura, followed different Chaos paths, and practiced different thirteenth-rank inheritance secret arts.
But after watching the images, they all fell into near-unanimous silence.
Even without being on the battlefield—just through the footage—they could feel the crushing pressure radiating from the Milky Way Heavenly Sovereign.
"This Milky Way Heavenly Sovereign… his body is terrifyingly strong, his foundation unfathomable, and the Chaos path he evolved is equally horrifying. Is this what a Heavenly Sovereign-level ancestral bloodline does?"
"Impossible. Even if a Heavenly Sovereign-level ancestral bloodline had never appeared before, it couldn't be this strong."
"Exactly. At most, it would be equivalent to a thirteenth-rank inheritance—still within the strongest Heavenly Sovereign tier. The Milky Way Heavenly Sovereign's power clearly surpasses what a bloodline alone can offer."
After the silence, the ancient strongest Heavenly Sovereigns began to discuss.
With their vision, they had more or less seen through the bloodline's essence. It was powerful, yes—but Lin Yuan's understanding of the laws and evolution of his Chaos path went far beyond mere bloodline empowerment.
"There's no point in arguing this now."
An ancient Sovereign from the Grand Ancient Void Kingdom finally spoke. "The Milky Way Heavenly Sovereign's power has surpassed all of us. Even if we threw away our pride and attacked him together, we'd still be suppressed."
The moment these words were spoken...
The ancient Sovereigns exchanged glances. As uncomfortable as the conclusion was, it was true—Lin Yuan's strength had surpassed the 'limit' of the Heavenly Sovereign realm.
"How did the Milky Way Heavenly Sovereign cultivate this way? We thought we'd pushed everything to the limit—and yet he's far beyond us."
One Sovereign spoke with emotion. The reason they were called "strongest" Heavenly Sovereigns was because they had pushed every aspect to the brink—body, law comprehension, Chaos path, mind and will...
All nearly perfect.
But the Milky Way Heavenly Sovereign?
If not for knowing he hadn't yet become an Ancestor, they might have assumed he already had.
"In the long years to come, before the Milky Way Heavenly Sovereign attempts to ascend to the Ancestor realm, our Grand Ancient Void Kingdom should minimize conflict with the Liyang Kingdom."
"Agreed. No high-intensity wars. If necessary, request an Ancestor to intervene. We must never give the Milky Way Heavenly Sovereign a reason to act."
The ancient Sovereigns exchanged glances. With the Liyang Kingdom having the Milky Way Heavenly Sovereign, provoking them would be suicidal.
"We endure. With the Milky Way Heavenly Sovereign's accumulation, he'll attempt the Ancestor realm soon enough. Then we'll be free of this pressure."
The Sovereigns sighed. The mighty Grand Ancient Void Kingdom had never suffered such humiliation—but there was no choice. They were no match.
Even with all their ancient kingdom artifacts, they still couldn't defeat him.
"But what exactly do we call the Milky Way Heavenly Sovereign now? Still a strongest Heavenly Sovereign?"
One couldn't help but ask. If he was still in that category, the rest of them would have to step aside.
Who dared be called his equal?
"The Milky Way Heavenly Sovereign should be called..."
Fuxu Heavenly Sovereign, who had been silent, finally spoke, his expression complex. "Invincible Sovereign?"
Invincible Sovereign!
The moment the words were spoken...
All the strongest Sovereigns felt it was perfectly fitting.
If the Milky Way Heavenly Sovereign wasn't invincible—then who was?
They looked at each other in silent agreement.
The Milky Way Heavenly Sovereign—first of his kind since the founding of the six ancient kingdoms.
Likely the last as well.
...