The Golden Giant had barely stepped off his spaceship when a figure appeared at his side like a flash of lightning. It was a young man with narrow, slanted eyes. He was lean and tall, clad in a peculiar combat suit that resembled a bat's wings.
The young man came to a stop some distance from the golden giant, gazing at him from afar and chuckling, "It's you, Goldie, just as I thought. It's about time you upgrade your transport ship—it's so slow, it's practically a baby walker."
The golden giant's enormous golden eyes glared at the young man, and a clanging sound, like metal striking metal, emanated from his mouth.
"My blade is fast. Care to test it?"
Hearing this, a faint trace of apprehension flashed across the young man's face; it seemed he wasn't particularly eager to provoke the colossus before him.
He decided to change the subject, glancing toward the direction of the Celestial Serpent's heart and said, "Dilius has ascended to level 13. And what about you, the sole current holder of a Monarch-level Blood among the Nuclear Blade Clan? How far are you from level 13?"
"Even if I haven't reached level 13 yet, I can still crush you with ease." The golden giant snorted coldly, then his gaze swept past the young man before him and fixed on the starry sky ahead.
Following the rapidly flowing cosmic energy, his expression betrayed both shock and denial. Suddenly, he moved, his entire body transforming into a streak of light as he shot forward at breakneck speed. It was as if a massive meteor was streaking across the night sky, leaving a long, golden trail of flames in its wake.
The young man he had been speaking with said nothing; he simply moved and swiftly followed suit. One in front, one behind, they raced toward the location of the Celestial Serpent's heart.
Soon, they approached their destination. It was a vortex of indescribable magnitude. Enveloped by countless surges of energy, its interior remained completely obscured. All that could be seen was a silver glow resembling a thousand rivers converging, along with a terrifying gravitational pull permeating the void—so powerful it could even tug at and distort one's spiritual energy.
It was precisely this gravitational pull that was forcibly plundering and stripping away all the cosmic energy from this stretch of the cosmos. It was as if harvesting wheat, with wave after wave being pushed out into ever-wider and larger expanses.
"Dilius is inside!"
The golden giant and the young man both stopped in their tracks, scanning their surroundings. They discovered that numerous onlookers had already gathered near the vortex. They weren't the firsts; many others had arrived before them. Most were martial arts masters of level 12 or higher, and every single one of them had their gaze fixed on the very center of the vortex. Their faces bore varying degrees of astonishment and awe.
The young man who had come with the golden giant suddenly spoke up, "Hmm, something's off!"
The golden giant glanced at him and asked coldly, "What's off?"
The young man pointed in a certain direction with a look of surprise and added, "Why does it feel like there's another vortex over there?"
"?" The golden giant frowned and looked in the direction the young man was pointing. His spiritual energy rapidly extended, and to his surprise, he actually detected it. At the very edge of the coverage area of this colossal energy vortex before them, the surging tides of cosmic energy were actually rushing rapidly in another direction. All the cosmic energy in this stretch of the cosmos was being pulled by two opposing forces simultaneously. Each surge was heading toward a different energy vortex.
"That energy vortex seems to be even larger than this one? Could it be that the vortex over there is the phenomenon triggered by Dilius's breakthrough?" the young man asked.
The golden giant was now also enveloped in deep confusion. Just as he was about to speak, his expression—along with that of the young man and everyone else watching in this area—suddenly changed drastically. For they sensed that the all-pervading, inescapable gravitational pull surrounding them had, in the blink of an eye, surged to more than ten times its original intensity!
"Boom!"
Under the influence of this overwhelming gravitational pull, the energy tides of the starry sky went into a frenzy. Gigantic silver waves surged from within the vortex. As for the onlookers, they were like lone boats in the midst of a tsunami, each struggling with all their might to flee as far as possible from the vortex's center, desperate to avoid being swept away.
Once everyone had retreated to a relatively safe position, they were startled to discover that the energy vortex before them had expanded to ten times its original size. The terrifying gravitational pull emanating from the vortex's center was so powerful that it forced some of the surrounding planets to veer off their established orbits.
It resembled a chessboard that had been thrown into disarray, appearing chaotic and disordered. This sudden, terrifying display of power left both the golden giant and the young man stunned and awestruck, yet it also dispelled every last trace of doubt from their minds.
"As the possessor of a Sovereign-level Blood, Dilius's ascension and breakthrough must be the most magnificent of all. It is absolutely impossible for anyone to surpass him, or even to stand on equal footing with him..."
The golden giant spoke with absolute certainty: "We've found the right place. This is where Dilius is breaking through; he's right at the very center of the vortex. And that smaller vortex..."
The golden giant murmured, "Perhaps it's some Monarch-level martial arts prodigy who's deluded enough to challenge Dilius status as a Sovereign-level ruler. Deliberately choosing this exact moment and location to ascend to level 13 alongside Dilius. It seems quite a few monsters have emerged from this Celestial Throne selection, doesn't it? Quite interesting."
As he spoke, the golden giant lightly licked his lips, his face beginning to show traces of battle intent and eagerness.
The young man nodded, silently making a mental note to himself. He thought that once the commotion died down, he would go and see just who this person across the way was—someone bold enough to challenge Dilius' Sovereign throne.
Neither of them spoke again after that, simply staring intently at the terrifying and awe-inspiring energy vortex before them. Waiting for the Sovereign within the vortex to emerge.
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"Uh."
Not far from the golden giant and the young man,
Haiji Dao, Pablo, Anon Turing, and Zoe stood staring blankly at the vortex before them, speechless, their faces gradually betraying a mix of shock and disbelief.
Zoe, in particular, her delicate, pretty face now frozen in a state of stupor.
"H-how… how is it possible that the cosmic energy tidal vortex triggered by Lu Sheng's breakthrough is even larger than that of Dilius? And so many times larger? Is that really Dilius breaking through over there? Is it really that born Galaxy Lord with Sovereign-level Blood?" Zoe muttered to herself, but none of the three people beside her could answer her questions.
The shock and confusion in their hearts were no less than hers. From the moment Lu Sheng began his breakthrough and triggered the vortex, to the moment they disembarked to help support him, they had watched, wide-eyed, as the energy vortex before them grew stronger bit by bit.
Born from Dilius vortex, it gradually encroached upon his territory, expanding rapidly. It was like a snowball gathering momentum. Eventually, it reached a point where it could almost stand toe-to-toe with him.
This drew a large crowd of onlookers who, unaware of the true circumstances, immediately assumed this was the source of the commotion. They believed the person at the center of the vortex to be the legendary "genius of a hundred thousand years," Dilius!
They didn't even know how to explain it. By now, the situation had taken an even more absurd turn. The cosmic energy vortex triggered by Lu Sheng had actually overtaken the breakthrough vortex of the real Dilius. If they hadn't been eyewitnesses to the entire event from start to finish, they would have almost concluded that the real Dilius was currently in the energy vortex right before their eyes, giving it his all to break through to level 13.
So… What on earth was going on here? How on earth did Lu Sheng pull this off?! Could it be that Lu Sheng was also a possessor of a Sovereign-level Extraordinary Physique? And perhaps even surpassed Dilius—not merely an aspiring Sovereign, but a full-fledged Sovereign?!
They had no idea. Zoe and the other three were completely bewildered.
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Translation notes by dhoo
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Jin Jue aka Gold Lack, Ginger, Goldie
A giant with a golden body, first described in chapter #627. Apparently a member of the 核刀族 Nuclear/Atomic Blade Clan. He has a Monarch-level Blood, not yet level 13, he is probably level 12.
金絕, jīn jué: 金 metal, gold 絕 exhaust, etc.
Note on Bloods/Extraordinary Physique levels: Immortal-level (Zoe, Anon) < Monarch-level 君主級 (Jin Jue) < Sovereign-level 主宰級 (Dilius, maybe Sheng) < Eternal-level