My Core is the Boss

Inside the royal palace, the Thousand-Eyed Demon Lord rested his head on a young queen's pale thighs as he calmly listened to the report. "An enemy attack? Interesting."

He didn't seem concerned at all.

The aged king stood nearby, expressionless. The princess stood to one side, tense and alert.

In the next moment, a projection appeared within the palace. The mechanical and emotionless voice of a robot echoed in the room.

「My name is Zero-One. I have come to deliver a message from my master. He says, “Brilliant Star has grown arrogant, seeking to invade Arch Star and cancel the Martial Arts Tournament. I shall see for myself what you're capable of.” My master will descend upon Brilliant Star in three minutes. Those who surrender may live, and those who resist shall be killed without mercy.」

The Thousand-Eyed Demon Lord finally sat up, surging with killing intent. "Someone dares threaten me? A bold move."

The king remained numb and silent. Meanwhile, a trace of excitement flashed across the princess's eyes.

The marshal asked nervously, "Demon Lord, what should we do?"

After all, the enemy had destroyed an entire fleet. He couldn't be underestimated.

The Thousand-Eyed Demon Lord remained completely fearless. "Don't you have the Star-River Defense Line? Space will become his grave."

In his eyes, someone capable of destroying an entire fleet was, at most, a peak Violet Palace cultivator. He himself was at the same realm. The Myriad Demon World had over a hundred experts at that level. In terms of personal strength, he feared nothing. Moreover, the Star-River Defense Line truly was formidable. Even ten peak Violet Palace cultivators would fail to break through it.

The marshal said, "Yes, sir. I will make sure he never reaches Brilliant Star."

"Hmph. A mantis trying to stop a chariot. Seeking death."

The princess instantly felt worried.

At this moment, warnings immediately echoed through battle robots. "Alert. Intruder detected by Star-River Defense Line. Commencing extermination."

"Orbital cannons activated."

"Stellar Annihilation Beam activated."

"Fantasy Planet-Destroying Cannon activated."

Countless superweapons came online. Anyone looking toward the sky would see endless flashes of light. This was because human eyesight could not fully perceive them. On screens, however, people could see infinite explosions and intersecting beams. The seven armed satellites had entered full-power bombardment mode. Weapons, energy beams, radiation—everything poured toward a single target.

The Thousand-Eyed Demon Lord sneered. "Even I cannot endure this level of attack. He's simply coming here to die."

In outer space, Qi Yuan stood motionless. Countless attacks landed on him, failing to even smudge his robe. He was calm, albeit slightly dejected.

His voice was soft, but it ignored the limits of space, echoing throughout all of Brilliant Star.

—I thought that if you dared cancel the Martial Arts Tournament, you'd have some hidden trump card. Turns out this is all you've got. You've disappointed me.

Every citizen heard him.

"What was that?"

"Did you hear that?"

"A god's voice?"

Everyone looked skyward but they could not see anything. The battle in space remained invisible.

For the first time, the Thousand-Eyed Demon Lord became serious. "Increase power. Kill him."

The marshal hurriedly complied. "Yes, sir!"

At that moment, Qi Yuan’s profound voice resounded again.

—After traveling for so long, I'm a little hungry. Let me have a meal first, then we'll continue our discussion.

The instant those words were spoken, the sky turned blood-red. No white light remained in the world. Everything was dyed crimson.

"What is that?"

"What is happening?"

"A planet?"

Everyone looked upward in confusion and fear. The sun and the stars had vanished. All they could see was a gigantic, round object resembling a star, and there were two of them! They resembled the eyes of some unimaginable being!

The numb king cried out, "Are those eyes?"

When Qi Yuan appeared, everyone could see him. After all, his body expanded across the universe, as though defying the very laws of reality. In comparison, Brilliant Star was not even as large as his palm.

His voice did not travel through the air and simply resounded in everyone's ears.

—So this is what it feels like to be a giant. It's actually kind of nice. Staying compressed into a tiny body all the time isn't much fun. That said, there are drawbacks too. My eyeballs are practically pressed against Brilliant Star, yet I still can't see you clearly.

The Thousand-Eyed Demon Lord trembled uncontrollably, his words failing him. The citizens of Brilliant Star lost all courage and fell to their knees.

***

Countless miles away, on Arch Star, every citizen also saw Qi Yuan. When a Yang Spirit's Dharma form manifested, all living beings could see it regardless of distance.

Nevertheless, since Brilliant Star was incredibly far from Arch Star, Qi Yuan seemed to be the size of a fist. His crimson light replaced the sun itself. Like a humanoid giant, he stood in the void, eclipsing Brilliant Star. Even the nearby sun seemed no larger than his palm.

Everyone who rushed to buy supplies instinctively looked up.

"What is that red thing in the sky?"

"Is that a person?"

"Am I hallucinating?"

"Mommy! I'm scared!"

Just then, Qi Yuan turned around. His majestic voice echoed across Arch Star, Brilliant Star, and even through the recording stones that were projecting in the Origin Land.

—Do you understand the value of being the champion of the Martial Arts Tournament for seventy-six consecutive years? And you dared invade Arch Star and cancel the tournament?

Countless people on Brilliant Star were overwhelmed with terror. Since they were too close, all they could perceive was a tiny fraction of the giant.

The princess was horrified. She recalled when Fang Hun said there was an extremely powerful expert on Arch Star. Who knew he would be this powerful?

***

Within the Origin Land, every Martial Lord was dumbfounded.

Black Deer's eyes nearly popped out. "Is that Qi Yuan?"

He couldn't understand. Not even in his wildest dreams could he have imagined this happening. Qi Yuan could crush the Origin Land beneath a single step. If he wasn’t a Martial God, what was he?

***

On Arch Star, confusion transformed into ecstasy.

The king laughed maniacally, tears streaming down his face. "Mr. Qi! It's Mr. Qi! Hahahaha!"

Gongyi Qing knelt on the ground, continuously kowtowing before the terrifying figure.

Since Qi Yuan’s wife was responsible for destroying the Eyes of the Sky, they had always assumed he was weaker than her. They even doubted whether he could stop Brilliant Star.

However, it turned out Qi Yuan was horrifying beyond reason. How could such a being ever have come into existence? Even his fist was as large as a sun. If he wished, a single strand of his hair could probably crush Arch Star.

***

On top of a skyscraper, a seventeen-year-old boy beamed at his grandpa. "Grandpa, you were runner-up in the Martial Arts Tournament, right?"

If the champion was this strong, then surely the runner-up couldn't be that much weaker.

***

Meanwhile, back in Junan Residential Complex, Xiaomei swallowed hard. Xie Xinsu's eyes widened as she trembled in fear, not daring to move.

Wu Qi stood upstairs, her eyes filled with awe and admiration. "I can’t imagine how brave I was back then."

She recalled how she had once tried to seduce Qi Yuan. Mr. Qi is so huge... How can my tiny body possibly endure that?

***

The young man who had been chatting with Qi Yuan on the forum sat frozen. "Bro... You were serious?"

***

Everyone stared at the terrifying crimson figure. Extending his unimaginably enormous hand, he picked up the sun of the Brilliant Star system.

—I've grown this big, yet I've never eaten a sun before.

Qi Yuan then stuffed it into his mouth.

Crunch.

Sparks and explosions erupted between his teeth. He chewed thoughtfully.

—Not bad. Tastes like Deep-Water Explosive Candy. Makes my mouth a little numb.

After swallowing it, his gaze drifted toward Arch Star’s sun. He gulped as a hint of greed flashed in his eyes. Then, with immense willpower, he suppressed his appetite.

Looking down at Brilliant Star, his voice thundered across the planet.

—That only got me about thirty percent full. Now then, let's continue our discussion. Will you surrender or resist?

On this day, everyone truly witnessed history.