The head-on clash between two Golden Cores resembled two starships spanning a hundred thousand meters, armed with planet-destroying power, firing point-blank into each other's faces.
Even though this so-called "point-blank" range still meant a separation of a million li, for arts that struck at sub-light speed, a million li was virtually no different from firing right in each other's faces.
Both were beams of light slicing across the starry sky, but the energy contained within Yaoguang's blast was clearly an order of magnitude lower than Miller's Six Suns Divine Sword.
The instant the two met, his light beam was steadily pushed back.
Yet Yaoguang's divine mind held an immense advantage over Miller's.
As the collision of the two beams released catastrophic energy, every trace of Yaoguang's power was utilized to its utmost efficiency, steadily neutralizing the onslaught of Miller's Six Suns Divine Sword.
Miller, by contrast...
Once he unleashed that planet-piercing art, his involvement essentially ended right there.
Precise control? Energy efficiency? Not a shred existed.
Releasing the technique even resulted in massive waste.
Under these circumstances, though Miller's raw energy exceeded Yaoguang's by an entire order of magnitude, Yaoguang's absolute control over his own power carried the day.
Ultimately, the dazzling beam of the Six Suns Divine Sword was utterly shattered a hundred thousand li before Yaoguang.
The astonishing glare flared like magnificent cosmic fireworks before rapidly fading away.
Yaoguang's Star God body, compressed down to a thousand meters, manifested in the void.
He stared at Miller a million li away, a trace of bafflement crossing his face. "That's it!?"
Wasn't a Radiant Sun Golden Core supposed to rival the power of a star!?
Well...
The intensity of the energy radiating from Miller had indeed given Yaoguang the impression of facing a sun, much like in his past life.
It was just that...
They couldn't possibly neglect everything else except raw energy output, could they?
"No, it isn't that they choose to ignore everything else. It's that... they can't manage it! They can only wield and unleash their immense internal energy through the crudest, most primitive methods. As for finer manipulation... the state of their Golden Cores simply doesn't permit it."
Yaoguang realized this immediately.
Right at that moment, the Golden Core from the Wuji Astral Palace struck.
His attack was remarkably similar to Miller's Six Suns Divine Sword.
At most, his energy had been compressed into a slightly denser state.
Like a planet-destroying cannon, a beam of dark violet energy ripped across the void once again at sub-light speed.
Simultaneously, Miller—having failed on his first attempt—gathered another attack.
His technique was once again the Six Suns Divine Sword.
"So it isn't that they prefer simple attacks; this is simply the most efficient method available to them," Yaoguang understood.
His powerful divine mind suffused the void. Relying on his cultivation realm—which reached the Void Piercing Realm—he instantly saw through the energy structures of their attacks.
At the same time, myriad applications of Golden Core power flashed through his thoughts.
A secret art called the Origin Disintegration Art surfaced in his mind.
This technique could severely destabilize the microscopic structure of an object, making an already unstable framework collapse even faster.
An energy release produced by nuclear fusion, like the one before him, could be effortlessly dismantled and dissolved under the Origin Disintegration Art, causing it to fall apart naturally.
If he were facing a normal Radiant Sun Golden Core cultivator whose attack carried their own heart and soul intent, the Origin Disintegration Art would be completely useless. But against these Golden Cores who had strayed down extreme, unorthodox paths...
This art—which normally required an overwhelming advantage in divine mind to show its might—would prove utterly unstoppable.
With that realization, Yaoguang locked onto the incoming strikes of the two Golden Cores from the Immortal Alliance and the Wuji Astral Palace. Lifting a hand, an invisible ripple seemed to emanate from his fingertips.
Yet almost the exact instant he raised his hand to cast the Origin Disintegration Art, Zhan Ke—who blazed like a scorching sun—seemed to unleash a specialized spirit treasure.
A wave of energy akin to divine mind wafted out of the treasure, instantly throwing Yaoguang's sensory awareness into chaotic disarray, turning his perception upside down.
"Hmm!?"
Yaoguang was slightly surprised.
The Wuji Astral Palace actually possessed such a trick!?
Had he been an ordinary Dharma Idol cultivator...
No, even a peak Dharma Idol would likely fall prey to it, succumbing to a moment of trance and disorientation.
Right then, Miller, who had appeared to be preparing another Six Suns Divine Sword, abruptly sacrificed a compass-like spirit treasure. Infused with his energy, the treasure seemed to blast out a rift capable of cleaving open the void.
The rift resembled a sudden, linear black hole containing the power of total annihilation. Had Yaoguang truly been trapped in a state of confusion, being caught by a force nearly at the Void Piercing level...
Even with his third-rank Star God body, he would have been torn to shreds in an instant.
Unfortunately for them...
His attainment was so high that it had reached the Void Piercing Realm—and by comparison, it even equated to the late Void Piercing stage.
Though only his realm had reached that height while his actual cultivation lagged far behind and his True Spirit had yet to evolve a grotto-heaven, his spirit refining realm far surpassed the Dharma Idol tier, allowing him to regain his senses in a split second.
With a burst of energy from his Crimson Golden Core, his thousand-meter Star God body leaped across the shattered star, instantly covering tens of thousands of li.
Right at that moment, the spatial rift carrying primordial cavity power struck the ruined planet where he had just stood. Terrifying forces of devouring and grinding instantly pulled the remains of the celestial body inward.
In merely a single breath, a planetary remnant sixty thousand li in diameter was swallowed entirely by the fissure.
Yaoguang witnessed the entire scene through his divine mind.
"Not bad. I underestimated you. Your personal strength may be lacking, but you certainly carry plenty of fine treasures."
His expression grew slightly solemn.
Summoning his divine mind, he raised his alertness to its peak.
Having evaded Miller's spatial fissure, the ripples from the Origin Disintegration Art he had pointed forth swiftly surged toward Miller and Zhan Ke.
"He dodged it!?"
"Damn it, his Dharma Idol realm is definitely not a recent breakthrough! Feng Ao was telling the truth—his Dharma Idol cultivation has reached the peak! It might even surpass the peak and stand at perfection, equivalent to the absolute limit of the Dharma Idol realm! Otherwise, it would be impossible to break free from the Heaven Disrupting Ruler's interference so quickly!"
The expressions of both Miller and Zhan Ke shifted drastically.
Both spirit treasures were at their most effective upon their initial release.
Now that Yaoguang had dodged it...
"Again! Drive the Heaven Disrupting Ruler to its limit to create an opening for me! I don't believe he can truly withstand a top-tier spirit treasure!" Miller's divine sense roared.
Zhan Ke naturally refused to accept defeat. His Golden Core vibrated as even more terrifying energy poured out of him. Part of it condensed into a cosmic strike aimed at Yaoguang, while the rest was channeled to activate the Heaven Disrupting Ruler to disrupt his divine mind once more.
Yet Yaoguang was already prepared. Even with a top-tier spirit treasure like the Heaven Disrupting Ruler in Zhan Ke's hands, it failed to affect him in the slightest.
His mighty divine mind shattered the disruption of the Heaven Disrupting Ruler, while his Origin Disintegration Art struck the pillar of light racing across space.
Ripples spread outward. Like dense ink dropped into the ocean, the planet-piercing beam was swiftly broken down by the water's surface and the expanding ripples, failing to hinder Yaoguang at all.
Meanwhile, Yaoguang leaped forward again mid-clash.
His mastery of gravity as a Star God placed him in a state akin to a gravitational slingshot. In a single bound, he crossed thousands, then tens of thousands of li, rapidly closing the distance to the two Golden Cores.
As he drew near, he easily dodged another spatial rift slashed out by Miller.
Without the interference of the Heaven Disrupting Ruler, this top-tier spirit treasure—whose attacks were by no means slow to launch—could not slip past Yaoguang's divine mind.
Almost the moment Miller activated the treasure, Yaoguang had already calculated the trajectory the rift would follow and where it would ultimately strike.
"You are... even weaker than I imagined."
When the distance between them narrowed to just three hundred thousand li, Yaoguang thrust his finger forward.
Origin Disintegration Art.
It was the exact same technique, simple as could be.
Yet this strike did not spread out in concentric ripples to dissolve their attacks. Instead, like the beam of the Six Suns Divine Sword, it ripped through the void with unbelievable speed, drilling viciously into Miller, who posed the greater threat.
The instant it hit, the blazing light radiating from Miller at hundreds of millions of degrees suddenly became unstable. Within him, violent tremors began to implode inward.
It was just like a star struck by a photoid.
The difference was that against a star—especially one with an unstable structure—the destructive power of the Origin Disintegration Art far exceeded that of a photoid strike.
From that single hit, Miller felt his Golden Core violently shudder. Countless waves of energy surged out from within, losing cohesion and threatening to erupt uncontrollably.
"Not good! Hold him off for me!"
The Golden Core cultivator's expression changed wildly. He could no longer afford to unleash his top-tier spirit treasure against Yaoguang; instead, he drove his powerful divine sense deep into his Golden Core, desperately trying to pacify its state and restore its stability.
However...
In asking Zhan Ke to intercept Yaoguang, he had grossly overestimated the Wuji Astral Palace cultivator's capabilities.
Turning mid-dash, Yaoguang released another Origin Disintegration Art. It not only shattered Zhan Ke's incoming attack, but carried sufficient momentum to pierce straight into his Golden Core as well.
The sensation of having his entire Golden Core structure thoroughly disrupted washed over Zhan Ke at the same time, forcing him to pull back in frantic retreat.
"I can't stop him! He possesses a secret art that shakes the Golden Core! Unless we're prepared to perish together, we can't block him!" Zhan Ke yelled to Miller as he retreated.
Yet compared to Zhan Ke's Heaven Disrupting Ruler, which could only disrupt the divine mind, Miller's Sky Cleaving Plate truly possessed the power to slay Yaoguang if it landed. Thus, Yaoguang paid no heed to the Wuji Astral Palace Golden Core.
Having driven Zhan Ke back with a single blow, Yaoguang closed to within a hundred thousand li of Miller. Guided by his divine mind, his Origin Disintegration Art struck mercilessly toward the blazing sun Miller had become.
Taking another direct blow, Miller, who had barely been keeping his Golden Core stable, instantly felt his core run completely wild. Under the bombardment of the Origin Disintegration Art, its core structure began to collapse inward.
Chapter 248