Tit-for-Tat

Ling Xuan walked into the Trial Tower, transforming into a streak of light as he flew toward the first tower. The pillar at the entrance of the tower, which stood over ten kilometers tall, bore the mark '1', indicating it was indeed the first Trial Tower.

The opponents in all seven Trial Towers were identical; only their individual strength varied. The first floor of each consisted of 10,000 Blood-Haired Mammoths.

One point was awarded for every Blood-Haired Mammoth killed, and upon slaying all of them, one would receive 10,000 points and be teleported to the second floor.

"Let's begin, then." Ling Xuan leaped into the midst of the roaring, stampeding herd of Blood-Haired Mammoths. A sweep of his blade erupted, and a massive group of the beasts was instantly slain.

The 10,000 Blood-Haired Mammoths didn't even last ten strikes before they were all wiped out, and he was immediately teleported to the second floor.

It wasn't that he didn't know it was nearly impossible to clear all seven towers based on his current level of law comprehension, nor was he unaware of how Luo Feng had once stayed in the Trial Tower for the full ten days to buy time for cultivation and achieve greater breakthroughs.

But in reality, Luo Feng had relied mostly on his two clones to cultivate while his main body fought. Ling Xuan had no clones; he could not split his consciousness to cultivate and comprehend while fighting, nor could he afford to abandon his defense to train.

Furthermore, Luo Feng's Mosha Race clone had just been gestated at that time, a period of rapid growth. A few extra years of comprehension meant a meteoric rise in strength. Ling Xuan's rate of progress, however, was constant; even with a few more years, he wouldn't be able to clear the Tongtian Tower through law comprehension alone. That method was only suitable for Luo Feng, or for contestants like Sword of Life Yi Feng who wanted to secure a better ranking in the Trial Tower—it was not suitable for the current Ling Xuan.

Battles in the trial space were not broadcast to the entire universe; only the changes in the leaderboard were made public.

However... the Immortal beings from the various Universe Kingdoms had the authority to watch the trial progress of every participant.

Ling Xuan's family was also watching this trial under the authorization of the Temple Envoy.

"This Cao Benqi fellow is truly ruthless; he rushed to first place the moment he started," Ling Yue exclaimed.

"Third Brother's speed isn't slow either. His points are biting at his heels; the two of them reached the second floor almost one after the other," Ling Xue noted.

"Mm, come on, Third Brother, surpass him!" Ling Yue nodded, her eyes flashing with intensity.

"I didn't realize Third Brother had become this strong without me noticing. These are 10,000 Star Level 9 demon beasts, and each one is stronger than Dad," Ling Xue cried out. "Third Brother could take out Dad in one strike now."

"You brat, what kind of nonsense are you spouting?" Ling Father, feeling displeased, gave his second daughter a flick on the forehead. "Watch the match quietly. What kind of behavior is this, being so noisy? Don't disturb the honorable Envoy."

Ling Tianhe felt a wave of annoyance whenever he remembered how he had been casually wiped out by his own son the moment he entered the world zone, and that the brat hadn't even known he was among the crowd.

Ling Xue rubbed her sore head, whimpering as she hid in her mother's arms, muttering that her father didn't love her anymore.

"Third Brother is no ordinary genius; he is destined to soar," Ling Yue murmured.

"Alright, everyone, watch the match quietly." Ling Mother held her daughter, smiling as she rubbed the bump on her head.

"Heh, it is no matter. Young people should have some vitality," the Temple Envoy said with a smile, shaking his head. With his Immortal-level consciousness, he could easily play games, watch the match, listen to their chatter, and even provide guidance to some youngsters in reality all at the same time.

If he didn't want to listen to them, he could just as easily remain completely unaffected; it all depended on his own whim.

"Blood Sword, your Ganwu Universe Kingdom is performing quite well this time. Ling Xuan's points are staying very close; it's hard to say who will win or lose!"

The 1,000 powerful Immortals could all easily see the leaderboard and watch the trial situations. Since they represented their respective Universe Kingdoms, they naturally hoped the geniuses of their own kingdoms would shine brighter to save face.

For these beings who had lived through eternal ages, face and dignity were of great importance.

"It's alright," Blood Sword Marquis nodded slightly, sitting in his wide chair while looking at the two screens in front of him.

The two screens corresponded to Cao Benqi and Ling Xuan. The two had cleared the first Trial Tower one after the other and had now entered the second.

"Heh, it's just that the difficulty of the first few towers is too low. Once they reach the fifth, sixth, or even the seventh, the gap will be fully revealed," the Marquis-level Immortal from the Yanshen Universe Kingdom said with disdain.

Blood Sword Marquis's expression turned cold, but his own words lacked the bite to retaliate. He could only pray in his heart that Ling Xuan would step up, achieve a breakthrough in the heat of battle, and slap the other man in the face.

Seeing that Blood Sword Marquis had stopped speaking, the Marquis-level Immortal did not press the issue, instead chatting with other familiar acquaintances about the state of the battle.

On the leaderboard, the two were one after the other, quickly widening the gap between them and the third-place contestant.

Just as predicted before the match, the two were firmly locked in the top two spots.

The difficulty of the first five Trial Towers was not high, and the two were neck-and-neck in speed. Occasionally, Ling Xuan would even overtake the score and jump into first place.

While others were still in the third or fourth Trial Towers, the two had already reached the sixth.

However, starting from the sixth Trial Tower, the gap between the two began to show.

When Cao Benqi cleared the first floor, Ling Xuan still had 10 mammoths left.

By the second floor, when Cao Benqi had wiped out all the Nine-Headed Pythons, Ling Xuan still had 50 left.

It had to be said that because he fought the Demon Race in the secret realm every day, Ling Xuan was quite experienced in this stage and managed to keep the score close for the time being.

The 1,000 Metal Lifeform Tuoluo Race on the third floor began to widen the gap, and this time, Ling Xuan fell behind by 60.

By the time Ling Xuan reached the Zerg Mother Empress on the seventh floor, Cao Benqi had already finished off the warriors guarding her, with victory clearly within his grasp.

"Third Brother, come on!" Ling Yue prayed for Ling Xuan, hoping her brother would earn more points and receive more resources and attention.

"Wow!! Third Brother has secured second place for sure!" Ling Xue was more optimistic. In her eyes, being the second-best human in the entire universe was already incredible—one strike per dad.

Ling Father had no interest in dealing with the crazy girl Ling Xue at this moment; his eyes were fixed intently on Ling Xuan, who was fighting amidst the swarm of insects. Only his tightly clenched fists betrayed his inner tension.

At this moment, other people from Manlong Planet were also watching the leaderboard data in the Virtual Universe. As the only hope for Manlong Planet in hundreds of millions of years, Ling Xuan received everyone's attention and encouragement.

Seeing Ling Xuan's points fall behind Cao Benqi's, they all broke into a cold sweat for him.

It wasn't that they thought second place was bad, but they hoped he could take first!!!

"Come on, Ling Xuan."

"Yanmo, watch out, there are bugs behind you!!"

At this moment, other geniuses had already been eliminated from the Trial Tower.

Countless powerhouses had already gathered in the plaza. These geniuses who had been eliminated early on chose not to leave immediately; even those who had only come to see the world wanted to see it through to the end before departing.

"See that? Cao Benqi of the Yanshen Universe Kingdom is the strongest. He has already pulled ahead of that Ling Xuan."

"The competition isn't even over yet, and you're already celebrating?" The geniuses from the Ganwu Universe Kingdom were not about to be outdone. They might fear a peerless genius like Cao Benqi, but they certainly didn't fear the other Yanshen Universe Kingdom geniuses who had been eliminated around the same time as them. At this moment, they all stood up to spontaneously defend Ling Xuan of their own universe kingdom.

"Stop being stubborn. One step behind means every step is behind. Do you really think this Ling Xuan can defy the heavens? In my opinion, the seventh floor of the sixth trial tower is Ling Xuan's limit."

"That's still better than a piece of trash who was eliminated after only reaching the third trial tower." A giant savage wearing black animal skins stepped out from the Ganwu Universe Kingdom side.

"And which tower did you reach?" the man retorted, unconvinced.

"The fourth," the giant savage said with contempt.

The man immediately fell silent. No one on the Yanshen Universe Kingdom side spoke up to help him; instead, they looked at him with disdain.

Just how much dog food did he give you for you to suck up to Yanshen like this?

You're here risking your life to lick his boots and help him put down Ling Xuan, but have you even asked yourself if he knows who you are?

Even if Yanshen knew, when he gets carried away and mocks the entire crowd later, will he include you?

Won't he still call you a piece of trash just the same?

That's enough.

Tone it down and just watch the match in silence.

Thanks to Piaofeng Gulang for the 5 monthly tickets, thanks to Book Friend 20220407223845441 for the 2 monthly tickets, and thanks to Lao Guo for the 1 monthly ticket.