Suppressing Supreme Beings, Routing Half-Venerables, True Invincibility
[The Eleventh Layer trial has ended. Those who did not attempt it are no longer eligible.]
[Those who have already ascended will be ranked according to their performance.]
As the sound subsided, Myriad Dao Book Palace...
Several trial participants who had managed to climb to the tenth floor and were about to challenge the threshold of the Eleventh Layer stared in astonishment at the suddenly closed entrance barrier, their faces filled with surprise and frustration.
One of them couldn't help but slam his fist into the cold stone wall. "Just one step away!"
The lower floors.
Countless trial participants who failed to reach the higher levels looked up, unable to witness the specific battle situation on the Eleventh Layer.
But the Principle fluctuations that permeated multiple layers and caused Space Tremors, along with the final declaration that resounded throughout their Sea of Consciousness, were enough for them to imagine what level of collision had occurred above.
"The Eleventh Layer... it's already closed?"
"It must be because the higher-ups were too harsh, triggering the Book Palace Protective Restriction."
"Qin Wudao really that strong?"
The murmurs spread like a tide through the corridors and plazas on each floor.
For every person who achieves good results, someone else is eliminated early.
Those who were first teleported back were mostly trial participants who had been eliminated at the lower levels, their faces filled with resentment.
Someone stared at the gates of the Book Palace, filled with regret. "Damn it! Just a little bit more..."
Someone next to me asked, "Which floor are you on?"
"Eight floors."
"That's better than me, I'm on the seventh floor."
Just then, several figures with refined auras and invigorated expressions appeared not far away—
Those were the top performers who reached the ninth or tenth floor.
They whispered about their observations at the higher levels, a stark contrast to the dejected atmosphere around them.
A fellow trial participant, who had also been eliminated on the Sixth Layer, glanced sullenly at the others and muttered bitterly, "What's there to be so smug about? The real monsters are on the Eleventh Layer."
"Didn't you hear the announcement in the Book Palace? No one has passed the Eleventh Layer this year. Qin Wudao is still strong..."
His Original Intention was to use the image of a stronger being at a higher level to somewhat balance his feelings of disappointment.
But these words were overheard by a nearby trial participant who had just been teleported out of the Eleventh Layer and whose face was still pale with shock.
The man slowly turned his head, his eyes filled with complex emotions, and interrupted in a dry voice.
"Qin Wudao?"
"No... the mark on the Eleventh Layer, it's not him."
The surroundings fell silent instantly.
Even the people who had been excitedly chatting stopped talking and stared at them in astonishment.
"If it's not Qin Wudao, then who is it?"
In the brief silence, only the faint hum of the teleportation array in the distance could be heard.
All eyes were fixed on the pale face of the eyewitness.
He took a slow breath, his voice dry yet exceptionally clear, like cold iron scraping across ice:
"It's Qin Wangchuan."
Qin Wangchuan?
He sang those three words into the air, each one carrying an undeniable weight.
The surroundings suddenly fell into absolute Deathly Stillness, as if even the flowing wind had frozen.
Immediately afterwards--
Are you sure?!
The exclamations of disbelief erupted like a flood bursting its banks!
"Isn't the Eleventh Layer mark meant for the strongest person in history? How could a freshman from our year possibly be there?"
"Absolutely true!" The first man nodded vigorously, his eyes still filled with indelible shock. "We saw it with our own eyes, and we fought him, and then... we lost."
"Defeat?"
This answer is even more suspicious than the fact that Qin Wangchuan appeared on the tenth floor.
"The Eleventh Layer is a public trial area, where teams are allowed to challenge it. Even if he's strong, can he really fight against a group of people all by himself?"
"Team up? Ambush them?" The narrator's eyes widened in shock, then his voice suddenly rose:
"We're going to attack as a team!"
"There are sixteen Supreme Being... As for Half-Venerable, those without the protection of the Heaven and Earth Dharma Manifestation cannot even withstand the aftershocks."
"All attacks, whether they were torrents of Daoist magic or a full-force strike from the Heaven and Earth Dharma Manifestation, were absorbed by a strange, Black Ring in front of him."
Even if they managed to find an opening, they couldn't break through his Dragon Armor.
"And when he retaliates, Supreme Dao Technique and Saint Law emerge in endless streams. Often, a single finger is enough to annihilate a Heaven and Earth Law."
"That was too strong. That wasn't a battle... it was a magnificent crushing defeat." The man's voice was filled with deep admiration as he said this.
A collective gasp of astonishment filled the air.
With a single brand, he fought against more than ten Prodigy, not only remaining undefeated but also displaying an overwhelming advantage?
I don't believe it.
A suppressed voice, tinged with surprise and doubt, rang out, like a spark falling into a haystack, instantly igniting the same thought in the hearts of many.
Someone chimed in, "I don't believe it either."
"It wouldn't matter if it were anyone else, but Chu Wujiu, Xiang Haoran, Li Xuan... any one of these individuals is exceptionally talented, let alone working together."
"Exactly! It would be one thing if he lost to Qin Wangchuan in a one-on-one fight, since Xiang Haoran was indeed defeated by a single finger attack before. But how can it be explained that he was defeated even when everyone ganged up on him?"
"Impossible, absolutely impossible! This is outrageous! Even the strongest has its limits!"
The wave of doubts surged again, even more intensely than before.
It wasn't that they didn't believe in the existence of strong individuals, but rather that the current narrative had completely overturned their understanding of cultivation common sense and power levels.
A mere Half-Venerable, yet he alone reigns supreme among all the supreme beings?
This is not powerful, it's almost absurd.
All eyes were once again focused on the eyewitness, waiting for a reason that would convince them, or at least make them understand.
But he didn't say anything.
At this moment, words are inadequate.
The gap in understanding, the advantage in numbers, and common-sense reasoning—these arguments are all fragile and easily refuted in the face of someone who personally experienced that battle.
As time went by, more and more pale-faced survivors were brought out.
Those names that had just been repeatedly mentioned— Chu Wujiu, Xiang Haoran, Li Xuan, and many more trial participants who had returned from the Eleventh Layer level—appeared one after another in the plaza.
There was no joy on their faces, only an almost tangible weariness mixed with a resentful silence.
All previous doubts vanished instantly in the face of this Deathly Stillness silence, like bubbles hitting a reef.
It can happen very quickly.
As more details of that battle were pieced together in countless whispers.
Mysterious Ring, Dragon Scale, Saint Law, Supreme Dao Technique —these words flew like sparks in the crowded square.
With each passing place, it ignited a new whisper of awe, spreading at an astonishing speed.
With his own Half-Venerable mark, he suppressed the sixteen Supreme Being of the era and crushed the combined forces of dozens of Half-Venerable!
The Mystic Ring protects the body, making one impervious to all magic!
Clad in Dragon Scale, it is impervious to Myriad Tribulations!
When the Saint Law descends upon the world, all paths bow down!
The name Qin Wangchuan, like an undisputed, blazing Great Sun, at this moment completely overshadowed the brilliance of all the previous stars.
Some people have even started calling him that.
Calamity.
The Calamity of All Living Things.
Or perhaps: Our calamity.