"Hahaha, you came at just the right time!"
Pengnuolai laughed heartily and strode several kilometers forward.
"Buzz!"
Space hummed and warped. In an instant, five of Pengnuolai's figures appeared at once, each wielding a Liedi Blade as they all slashed at Yu Duan.
This was the first time Yu Duan had seen a Spatial Phantom. When he'd fought Yalunsi before, his opponent hadn't used any movement techniques at all.
Put simply, a Phantom Body worked by using the power of the Space Origin Law to make the user's body appear at two or more spatial coordinates simultaneously.
"Boom!"
The enormous Liedi Blade cleaved through the air with a crash like an explosion.
Combining the two Source Laws of earth and space, Pengnuolai's attack was astonishingly fierce!
Whoosh!
Suddenly, Yu Duan's figure seemed to transform into a blazing storm, his speed soaring who knew how many times over in an instant!
Using two Upper Laws for movement produced entirely different effects.
The effect of the Time Origin Law was speed—extreme speed!
In an instant, Yu Duan had escaped the range of the attacks from two of Pengnuolai's figures, moving more than ten times faster than Pengnuolai.
"Whoosh!"
Endless black currents spread out wherever Yu Duan passed.
Almost instantly, the circular Arena, over a hundred kilometers in diameter, was completely transformed into a Domain of No Light.
"Pfft!"
The sound of a blade piercing flesh rang out. Pengnuolai's expression froze as he stared in disbelief at the gaping wound that had suddenly appeared in his chest.
Killing intent had erupted soundlessly. One sword strike had cut through everything within dozens of kilometers.
It was a complete crushing victory. In terms of mastery of the Laws, Yu Duan utterly outclassed Pengnuolai. They were on entirely different levels.
In theory, the second stage of the Light and Time Sword could be used once one crossed the threshold of the Law of Light and the Law of Time. But even within the threshold, there were different levels.
It was like using the second stage of the Yan Shen Armament, the Piercing Heaven Style.
Not only did one need a solid understanding of the Law of Gold, one also needed a grasp of space sufficient to perform the Nine Illusion Bodies.
But Pengnuolai's mastery only allowed him to create five Phantom Bodies.
"The battle is over. The winner is Yu Duan!"
In the examination hall, many students who were resting between matches had been watching this battle.
From the moment darkness had covered the entire battlefield to Pengnuolai's defeat almost immediately afterward, none of them had managed to react.
"Senior Brother Pengnuolai lost?"
"The Time Origin Law—that was the power of the Law of Time!"
Everyone present was a gifted student, so they understood at once. The entire hall erupted into an uproar.
Whoosh!
Two streaks of light flashed, and Yu Duan and Pengnuolai were teleported out.
Everyone immediately looked their way, but no one dared approach and disturb them.
Pengnuolai had also come back to his senses. He looked at Yu Duan with burning excitement. "Was that... the second stage of the Light and Time Sword?"
He had spent two thousand years studying the Space Origin Law, yet still hadn't mastered the second stage of the Liedi Blade.
Whether it was the Nine Great God Weapons of the Controller or the Fighter weapons wielded by Yu Duan and the others, the second-stage secret techniques were a hundred or even a thousand times harder to perform than the first stage!
Even for a Mosha Clan member at Universe Level, it would take years of steady effort to advance from crossing the threshold of a Law to reaching this level.
A Universe Level being sensed the Source Laws more than ten times as clearly as someone at Star Level. On top of that, the Mosha Clan were born favorites of space, with a terrifying talent for the Law. Even they needed years.
For a human prodigy at Star Level, even with the bloodline of a Domain Lord, it would take over a thousand years to master the technique without a treasure that could improve their talent for the Laws.
"I was lucky enough to have an epiphany."
Yu Duan had become the very picture of a lucky man.
Don't ask. If you did, he'd just say he'd been lucky enough to have an epiphany. He didn't know why it had happened, either.
No one was likely to press him further.
"Each generation truly surpasses the last. With my level of ability, even if I entered the Core Layer of a peak power, I wouldn't receive very good treatment."
Pengnuolai sighed with feeling. He understood his own position well.
His mastery of the Laws seemed impressive, but he was too old. Even if he entered the Core Layer of a peak power, he'd receive the worst treatment.
"I'm curious, Senior Brother. Why haven't you advanced to Universe Level?"
Yu Duan couldn't help asking.
Yalunsi had spent several thousand years mastering the third stage of the Yan Shen Armament, aiming to become the best in the whole universe.
But Pengnuolai was only a prodigy on An Yao's level. Wouldn't it be better to advance to Universe Level and compete for a ranking in the Strongest Battle?
Pengnuolai didn't answer Yu Duan's question. He only shook his head.
Clearly, he didn't want to talk about it. Seeing this, Yu Duan said no more.
In the blink of an eye, another three days passed.
The full thirty-five days of ranking matches had concluded, and Yu Duan ultimately placed sixty-seventh.
The main reason was that he'd lost more matches than he'd won during the first ten days. From day ten to day twenty, he began winning more often than he lost.
After mastering the second stage of the Light and Time Sword, he lost only one match—to Yalunsi. Under the Sacred Land's reward rules, Yu Duan received a prize of one Hunyuan Unit.
One trillion Universe Coins was an enormous sum for Yu Duan at the moment.
There was hardly anywhere for him to spend money in the Sacred Land, aside from buying various recovery potions.
Even the best and rarest recovery potions for someone at Star Level couldn't cost more than a hundred million Universe Coins a year.
"What?!"
Yu Duan's shocked voice echoed through his palace.
"Teacher, you're saying it'll take one Hunyuan Unit to raise this little fellow to the ninth level of Universe Level?"
Yu Duan stared at his teacher in disbelief.
At that moment, a creature like flowing mercury was bouncing happily beside Yu Duan's right hand.
A feeling of joy and affection emanated from the mercury-like creature.
King Qinghuan nodded calmly and looked at Yu Duan with a smile. "That's about right."
"I can prepare a spaceship for you, but even the most top-tier spaceships have to be fused with a support Metal Lifeform. Otherwise, they can't be considered top-tier."
King Qinghuan pointed to the little fellow in Yu Duan's hand and explained.
"Don't look down on this little fellow. Its name is Liujing. It's the most top-tier support Metal Lifeform, and even purchasing one is restricted. Even a Peak King gets only one purchase quota."
A support Metal Lifeform could form armor, turn into a weapon, and even fuse with a spaceship. It had all kinds of uses.
Liujing was among the very highest tier of support Metal Lifeforms, much like the Star-Eating Grass among support Plant Lifeforms.
But Liujing had a much higher chance of becoming an Immortal than the Star-Eating Grass. Even if it failed, it wouldn't die outright. As long as one was willing to spend money, it could be saved and try to break through again.
That was the main reason there were restrictions on purchasing Liujing.
In addition, support Metal Lifeforms had a much higher ceiling than support Plant Lifeforms of the same level.
That was because support Metal Lifeforms could fuse with all kinds of metals, greatly increasing their own defense.
A Liujing that had advanced to Peak King was a terrifying Metal Lifeform capable of fusing with G-Grade Metal.
There was no need to explain how valuable that was. Of course, there was no need to explain how much metal it consumed, either.
"But... I only just got one Hunyuan Unit as a prize. I haven't even had time to enjoy it yet." Yu Duan looked pained.
King Qinghuan smiled. "Of course I know. I gave you this little fellow precisely because you've got money now. It just so happens that raising it also takes one Hunyuan Unit."
"Teacher, you're shamelessly taking advantage of your age and digging a pit for your own student!" Yu Duan looked utterly heartbroken.
"Hahahaha... Don't neglect this little fellow."
King Qinghuan's shameless laughter echoed through the palace. As it faded, his figure vanished from Yu Duan's palace as well.
Watching the mercury-like blob bounce happily in his hand, Yu Duan felt both happy and miserable.
"You're going to eat me into poverty sooner or later!"
Under the optimal cultivation plan, evolving Liujing to the peak of the ninth level of Universe Level would take a little over one Hunyuan Unit. Yu Duan still didn't have quite enough money.
Advancing it to Domain Lord Level would require hundreds of Hunyuan Units, a fortune equivalent to the combined wealth of tens of thousands of Domain Lord Level powerhouses.
Raising it to World Lord Level would take hundreds of thousands of Hunyuan Units, more than most Immortal Gods could afford.
Of course, great investment brought great returns. A Liujing cultivated to the peak of World Lord Level could fuse with F-Grade Metal.
Its defense would leave most Immortal Gods helpless. And since it had no soul, it was immune to Soul Attacks. It was terrifyingly powerful.
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