"Something's off... The ordering of the Time Origin Law isn't the same as I understood it."
Yu Duan sat cross-legged on the rooftop, frowning, with the Light and Time Sword resting across his knees.
Clang!
A sudden sword ring burst forth. Countless fine lines surfaced on the clear, pristine blade, interlinking to form a complex and profound Secret Pattern Diagram.
A rich black-and-white radiance flowed across the blade and spread in all directions, forming a field that flickered in and out.
Yu Duan sorted through his understanding of the Time Origin Law while contemplating the changes in the Law of Time.
Many insights he had once considered correct—insights that could draw upon the power of the Time Origin Law—now seemed entirely wrong.
More accurately, Yu Duan's understanding wasn't wrong, but... it wasn't precise enough. It was too imprecise, too narrow.
"According to the logic I used before, the mysteries of the time ordering are indeed like that. But if I approach them from another angle, I'll make new discoveries."
Yu Duan pondered, organizing his insights and comparing them against the fluctuations of the Law of Time that filled the natural environment, testing them against one another.
The change in his state of mind had brought him his greatest gain: he could now view and comprehend the mysteries of the Source Law from multiple dimensions, directions, and perspectives.
The more he comprehended, the more he felt that his former self had been like someone peering at a leopard through a tube—narrow-minded and one-sided. He'd seen a single black spot through a tiny hole and decided the whole leopard must be black.
"Phew... I'll study it again after my consciousness returns to the real world."
During the preliminary contest, there was no Silver Pupil for him to study, nor anyone who could guide Yu Duan.
Not only would his progress be too slow, but Yu Duan was also worried he might misunderstand something and waste his time.
"I've sat here motionless for twelve whole days. Those who haven't been eliminated by now should have earned at least some points."
Yu Duan rose to his feet, and the Light and Time Sword quivered as he gripped it in his right hand.
The next instant, Yu Duan transformed into a dazzling streak of light and appeared at the very front of the twenty-fourth level of the flying base almost in the blink of an eye.
There was a passage here that led to the levels above.
The flying base was a huge, shuttle-shaped—or perhaps olive-shaped—spaceship with seventy-two levels.
Its widest cross-section lay in the middle, on the thirty-sixth level.
That level should have the most contestants—and the greatest number of strong ones.
On the thirty-sixth level of the flying base, two figures stood close together inside a spacious, comfortable hall.
"Ice Demon, have you heard? There's a super-monster on the twenty-fourth level. Supposedly, he destroyed the whole level and turned it into ruins."
A blonde woman dressed in golden battle armor spoke. She glanced at the blue-haired young man beside her, who was wiping down a saber, and asked curiously.
The young man's impassive face showed a flicker of astonishment. "Destroyed the whole twenty-fourth level? Did he have nothing better to do?"
Even experts like them, who had mastered domains, couldn't casually smash apart buildings made of B9-grade materials.
Who would waste their time chopping up buildings?
"I heard... he just unleashed his domain, and every building within its range was pulverized."
As the blonde woman spoke, she realized her story sounded rather far-fetched.
She had seen geniuses who possessed the Ninefold Domain and had stepped into the Source Law.
But she'd never heard of anyone whose domain had such overwhelming force. B9-grade materials were far sturdier than the bodies of Star Level ninth-stage fighters.
If they could do that, what would be the point of fighting someone at the same level? They could just unleash their domain and kill their opponent outright.
The blue-haired young man thought for a moment. "Is your source reliable?"
"Well... hard to say. Someone begged for mercy while I was hunting today and offered me information in exchange for his life, so I agreed."
The blonde woman continued, "I heard that monster's domain is the Dark Domain. Everything within its range was annihilated. He's now fighting his way up from the twenty-fourth level."
"If it's true, then he must be a genius who's mastered the mysteries of a Higher Origin Law. You're a member of the imperial family. Have you heard of anyone at that level in your Universe Country?"
The blue-haired young man's expression grew even more grim.
"Light Domain, a Higher Origin Law... I might know who it is. There's a good chance the report is true. Come on, let's get out of here first."
The blue-haired young man known as Ice Demon didn't hesitate for a moment. He set off at once, fleeing toward the levels above.
The blonde woman hurried after him.
The two of them had known each other before the contest. They came from the same mid-level Universe Country, the Lanting Empire.
Although they'd only met at family gatherings before and weren't close, at least they knew each other's background and could trust each other as teammates in the preliminary contest.
"Come on, tell me what's going on!" the blonde woman called after him.
"I'll explain once we reach the top level."
About half a day after the two left the thirty-sixth level and headed higher, Yu Duan arrived there.
Rumble!
A blazing domain of light swept outward like a star shrunk countless times over, crashing down with unstoppable force. In just a few seconds, it had crossed the entire thirty-sixth level.
Who knew how many people were caught without a chance to react and eliminated on the spot.
Towering buildings and other structures were pierced straight through, then collapsed with a crash.
From a distance, a "trench" suddenly appeared through the middle of the built-up areas.
Whoosh!
Swish!
"..."
In an instant, countless streaks of light shot up from every corner of the thirty-sixth level, so densely packed they were beyond counting. Like a meteor shower in reverse, they soared in every direction before racing toward the passages at the two far ends of the level.
Even though more than ten days had passed since the preliminary contest began, over a million people were still gathered in the seventy-two levels of this World Zone's largest space. Those who could stay on this level were almost all experts who had mastered domains.
But now, all these so-called experts were fleeing for their lives. Only a tiny handful stayed behind, shouting, "Senior Brother Yu Duan, I'm from the Beiming Sacred Land too!"
Unfortunately, Yu Duan didn't know them.
Rumble!
In the blink of an eye, that dazzling meteor shot back from the other end, leaving a blazing white tail across the sky.
Yu Duan caught up with them from behind. Even though the Star Level fighters at their peak were fleeing at tremendous speed, over a hundred thousand contestants failed to react in time and were trapped by Yu Duan at the passageway.
During the chase, anyone brushed—or even grazed—by Yu Duan's Time Domain was left missing a limb or two, if they survived at all.
"Is he even human? He's a B9-grade Orbital Cannon in human form!"
Someone stared in despair at Yu Duan blocking the exit and spoke in a trembling voice.
Beneath the blazing domain of light, they could make out only a vague silhouette hovering in midair, like a deity descended into the mortal world.
"We can't outrun him. If we join forces and attack together, we might still have a chance!"
Someone shouted. A brilliant Crimson Treasure Wheel spun wildly in his palm, a formidable telekinetic weapon.
The next instant, the telekinetic weapon shot out, spinning at terrifying speed and emitting a shrill whine.
"Kill!"
"Break through!"
"..."
That telekinetic attack was like a signal to charge. In an instant, tens of thousands of attacks burst forth, countless in number, like the final roar of cornered beasts. With the resolve of those who had no way back, they unleashed everything they had.
Hum!
In that instant, the blazing domain of light abruptly transformed into a pitch-black Domain of No Light.
It was as if every ray of light had been swallowed by an invisible darkness. Even Star Level experts could no longer see their hands in front of their faces.
Boundless fear and panic gripped the hearts of the contestants.
When they could see Yu Duan, desperation had still given them the courage to attack.
But once the darkness completely engulfed them, they lost all courage and thought only of escaping.
Before they could move, however, fine, starry patterns rippled across the dark domain almost as soon as it spread.
In an instant, everyone felt a tingling numbness throughout their bodies.
The delicate, starry patterns effortlessly seeped into them. The powers of the Time and Light Origin Laws swept through their fragile cells, easily destroying their vitality.
A gust of wind swept past, and countless figures turned into fine grains of sand and dust, scattering through the world.
Moments later, the dense Darkness Domain began to contract.
At some point, Yu Duan's figure had appeared behind them, easily avoiding the tens of thousands—perhaps even over a hundred thousand—of full-force attacks unleashed by the Star Level contestants.
They were too slow.
Even their weapons, secret techniques, and other attacks were far slower than Yu Duan's movement technique.
Yu Duan could annihilate experts of this level with his domain alone, but he had to shrink it to within a hundred meters to do so. At that size, it couldn't cover much ground.
The reason he could almost instantly kill everyone within hundreds of kilometers was that he could fly fast enough.
What mattered most was his instantaneous burst of speed.
Take Universe Level ninth-stage fighters as an example: in space, their top speed was generally around 1,500 kilometers per second.
But they needed to fly for a while to accelerate to that speed.
Yu Duan, who had mastered the entry-level Time Flow Shadow movement technique, needed only a few seconds to reach his top speed.
"My current points are definitely enough to keep me in first place in the World Zone. I don't need to go out of my way to hunt anyone else."
Yu Duan raised his right hand, and his wrist guard's screen displayed his information.
Contestant: Yu Duan (Beiming Universe Kingdom) Points: 173246845 Rank: 1
Whoosh!
A glimmer of light flashed across Yu Duan's palm, and the Light and Time Sword appeared on his back.
"I'll spend the remaining dozen days practicing my movement technique. If I run into anyone, I'll kill them. If I don't, so be it."
A blazing white radiance curled around Yu Duan's body. Then he transformed into a streak of light and shot across the sky.
A month for the preliminary contest wasn't all that long.
Starting on the twelfth day, the departments in the various Universe Countries tasked with gathering intelligence on geniuses all discovered Yu Duan.
In just one day, he'd gone on a frenzied killing spree, and his points had soared from under a million to 170 million.
He had set a record for the fastest point increase in this preliminary contest—by far.
Naturally, Yu Duan also became the most monstrous genius to emerge in this preliminary contest.
Countless people carefully analyzed his record, eager to find out just how strong Yu Duan was.
But from beginning to end, right up until the preliminary contest ended, Yu Duan had never once fought with all his strength.
Before you continue