The Stunning Brilliance of That Sword Strike

Seeing Yu Duan appear, Chi Li smiled and asked, "I heard from An Yao that you've made great progress these past few days?"

Yu Duan waved his hand dismissively: "It's only been a few days, how could there be any obvious progress? I still can't even execute the Light Splitting Stab."

An Yao couldn't help but roll his eyes: "You still think your progress isn't fast? It took me decades to master the Light Splitting Stab; are you really planning to master it in a month?"

To be honest, An Yao's rate of progress was already far from slow; he was considered a genius among geniuses throughout the entire universe country.

An Yao was only a little over four hundred years old this year, which was still very young for a Star Level fighter.

It takes decades to master the first level of the Light and Time Sword, and then thousands of years of bitter cultivation to have a slight hope of mastering the second level.

As for the third level, one shouldn't even think about mastering it while at the Star Level.

If one could master the third level of the Light and Time Sword at the Star Level, they would be able to go toe-to-toe even with Bolan.

"That's not quite it, but one still needs to have goals. If I can master the Light Splitting Stab sooner, that would naturally be better."

Yu Duan hurriedly waved his hands. Although his words were humble, he gave off a feeling of great confidence.

The source of this confidence was naturally the Book of Causality.

It had been 33 days since he had "pre-paid" for the insights into the light laws required to cross the threshold, but Yu Duan had managed to grind the progress bar for repaying the cost to 1 year and 6 days.

Even if there were no further opportunities, at his current speed, he would be able to pay off this "loan" in about eight years.

Just as Yu Duan was chatting with his friends, the entire assembly area suddenly erupted in noise.

"It's Senior Brother Yalunsi!"

"Senior Brother Yalunsi is here!"

In an instant, the gazes of numerous Star Level students converged on the figure that had appeared abruptly in the plaza.

He wore dark golden battle armor and stood about four meters tall. He belonged to the Dragon-Man Race, carried a dark golden long staff on his back, and wore a fairly friendly smile as he greeted many acquaintances.

"Is that Senior Brother Yalunsi?"

Yu Duan sent a telepathic message to Chi Li beside him.

Chi Li nodded imperceptibly: "Yes, the absolute number one Star Level student in the Sacred Land, far surpassing the second-place Senior Brother Pengnuolai. It is said that he can execute the third level of the Yan Shen Bing!"

This time it was Yu Duan's turn to be stunned for a moment.

The third level of the Yan Shen Bing? The Heaven Sword Style!

Are you kidding me!?

Mastering the third level of the Yan Shen Bing at the Star Level is not something that can be achieved just by the passage of time!

"Then why didn't Senior Brother Yalunsi get selected for the top one thousand in the last Genius Tournament?" Yu Duan asked via telepathy.

Chi Li glanced at Yu Duan with her purple eyes and said with a light smile: "During the last Genius Tournament, Senior Brother Yalunsi was just over a hundred years old, with the first level of the Yan Shen Bing perfected, ranking 1756th in the entire universe."

Hearing this, Yu Duan immediately understood why the Sacred Land allowed this senior brother to participate in the Genius Tournament a second time.

Generally speaking, after participating in a Genius Tournament once, the Sacred Land would not allow you to keep lingering at the Star Level without advancing, as it would be a waste of resources.

But in Yalunsi's case, he was truly born at the wrong time.

Only someone like Luo Feng, who broke into the Taichu Secret Realm at just a few decades old, was an extremely rare exception.

If Yalunsi were to compete after the age of five hundred, he would have roughly the level of Luo Feng during the final stages of the Genius Tournament, guaranteeing a spot in the top ten of the universe, with even a hope of fighting for first place.

"Then is Senior Brother Pengnuolai, who is in second place, in the same situation?"

Facing Yu Duan's telepathic message, Chi Li shook her head imperceptibly: "Senior Brother Pengnuolai's talent is not much better than mine or An Yao's; it's just that he is the only son of a super Immortal."

"You must know that Immortal spirits are almost unable to conceive offspring unless they obtain some special opportunities."

Oh—so he has a background.

Immortal spirits generally leave behind offspring before breaking through.

Of course, it is not impossible to conceive offspring after breaking through to become an Immortal, although it is very rare.

Just like the prince of Manka Star, who is mentioned alongside Luo Feng as one of the three heroes of Taichu.

"Boom!"

Suddenly, a vast pressure swept across the entire expansive palace.

In an instant, all the Star Level students, including Yu Duan, felt a tremendous sense of majesty and oppression. It was as if they had turned into a small boat, tossing on an ocean in the midst of a storm, ready to capsize at any moment.

Then, a burly figure appeared. This was an Immortal of the Dragon-Man Race, with a single horn on his forehead and dark golden scales covering his cheeks.

The moment this Immortal spirit appeared, a massive pressure, like a mountain, descended upon everyone.

"The ranking battle is about to begin. The first stage is the highest assessment for the Star Level students of the Beiming Sacred Land..." the majestic and cold voice of the Dragon-Man Immortal echoed.

There are over a hundred million Star Level students in the Beiming Sacred Land; if they were to fight one-on-one, when would it ever end?

Therefore, the first stage of the assessment is similar to the one Yu Duan took when he first joined the Sacred Land: entering a dedicated combat space to fight against virtual opponents.

The virtual opponent assessment consists of ten levels, with the opponents and the students themselves both at the peak of the Star Level 9.

The opponent in the first level only has a first-level domain, and so on.

The tenth level features a virtual opponent who has barely crossed the threshold of the origin laws and possesses rich combat experience.

Only geniuses who could pass the first stage—those who had stepped across the threshold of the Origin Laws—would be selected, while the rest would be scored based on the number of levels cleared and their performance during the first stage.

The second stage would consist of one-on-one duels using a points system, with ten matches held every day; the winner would receive one point, and rankings would be determined by the final point totals.

"...Now, the assessment begins!"

After the Immortal of the Dragon-Man Race announced the rules in a methodical manner, he waved his hand.

In an instant, hundreds of millions of young people were teleported directly into their own exclusive spaces.

In the combat space, above a dilapidated steel city.

The figure of Yu Duan suddenly appeared, and then a cold, mechanical voice rang out.

"Star Level student supreme combat assessment begins. First stage, Level One Domain!"

As the mechanical voice faded, countless pale blue glimmers condensed, forming a familiar crystal-headed figure holding a golden spear.

"Swish!"

A brilliant sword light flashed out, the fluctuations of the Light Origin Law streaking across a hundred kilometers of sky in an instant, leaving behind a white, phantom rainbow.

Yu Duan's figure seemed to vanish into thin air, then instantly teleported behind the crystal-headed man.

Of course, it was impossible for Yu Duan to teleport; it was simply that his movement speed was so fast that, to an entity of the same level with a Level One Domain, it was no different from teleporting.

Behind Yu Duan, the crystal-headed man, who had just been about to strike, froze in place as a gaping hole suddenly appeared in his chest, and the next instant, he dissipated entirely.

"Hum!"

The air vibrated, and crystal light condensed once more, forming a new bald figure as a Level Two Darkness Domain spread out from his body.

However, to Yu Duan, there was no difference between a Level Two Domain and a Level One Domain.

"Swish!"

Gorgeous light and shadows rippled out, the refraction of light casting false illusions until it seemed as if several Yu Duans had appeared simultaneously.

The next moment, the searing white Light and Time Sword pierced through the back of that figure once again.

Still a one-hit kill!

About two minutes later, as the crystal-headed man with the Level Nine Light Domain was decapitated by Yu Duan's sword, the cold prompt sounded once more.

"Star Level student supreme combat assessment, tenth stage: Initial threshold of the Laws!"

This time, what emerged was not a crystal-headed man, but a figure completely shrouded in a black robe, holding a pair of crescent blades.

"Be careful!"

The black-robed figure spoke, and the next instant, the silhouette transformed into a streak of dark light, the fluctuations of the Light Origin Law carving a perfect arc through the air.

Boom!

The two crescent blades, accompanied by the expansion of the Darkness Domain, seemed to transform into two true crescent moons hanging in the vast night, instantly slicing through Yu Duan's chest and abdomen at incredible speed.

However, at that very instant, Yu Duan's severed figure suddenly turned illusory, dissipating like a phantom of light.

"Whoosh!"

A magnificent Starlight Domain instantly spread across a range of several hundred meters.

With stars interwoven, hundreds of Yu Duan's figures bathed in the radiance, each phantom illusion positioned at a specific node, echoing the operation of the Light Laws.

"Clang!"

A brilliant sword chime rang out, as if tens of thousands of sword lights had bloomed at once, each figure radiating intense fluctuations of the Light Origin Law, making it impossible for the black-robed man to distinguish the real from the fake.

Sword and starlight reflected one another, light and shadow flickering, dazzling and complex beyond comprehension.

Within this scene lay a special charm, extremely similar to the grand spectacle of falling stars that Yu Duan had witnessed in his dreams at the moment of that special lifeform's birth.

"Swish!"

The starlight dissipated, and the swordplay concluded.

Yu Duan's figure stood tall in mid-air, slinging the Light and Time Sword back onto his shoulder.

"Star Level student supreme combat assessment, passed!"