Advancement

Arena Melee was divided into a thousand groups, with 200 groups competing each day.

The first day featured Groups 1 through 200.

Only one person from the Black Dragon Mountain Empire had passed the preliminaries: Lu Yan'an. He had placed first in his group, earning a direct advancement spot as a true prodigy. Although he didn't need to compete in the arena battles, that didn't stop him from taking a seat in the audience to watch one of his old rivals.

As it happened, Illusion Dream was in Group 66, which competed on the first day.

In a specially created plane within the Virtual Universe, a vast, boundless river surged through the entire space. Islands dotted its waters, and each island held a Martial Arena.

An island.

The stands inside the Martial Arena were packed with spectators, stretching farther than the eye could see. The atmosphere was electric, and everyone eagerly awaited the upcoming Arena Melee.

"Ladies and gentlemen!"

A sweet, clear voice rang in the ears of the arena's billion spectators.

A giant virtual projection of a beautiful commentator appeared above the Martial Arena. She was a sweet-faced girl with rabbit ears, and she was introducing the upcoming competition.

"Coming up is Group 66 of the Arena Melee! Let me introduce the hundred talented fighters in this group."

"First, Illusion Dream, from the Cangming Empire. He placed twelfth in World Area 44 during the preliminaries."

As the rabbit-eared girl introduced him, a screen appeared beside her, displaying footage of Illusion Dream during the preliminaries, along with some basic information.

"Illusion Dream is invincible! Illusion Dream is invincible!"

A thunderous cheer suddenly erupted throughout the arena. A huge crowd in one section was shouting Illusion Dream's name at the top of their lungs. Looking closely, one could see Lu Yan'an had quietly joined them.

"Second..."

"Third..."

Each time the rabbit-eared commentator called out a name, cheers rang through the arena, growing more fervent with every introduction.

Amid the cheering crowd, Lu Yan'an remained unmoved. He simply watched the dashing figure on the arena floor.

After a long while.

As the countdown rang out, the Martial Arena roared, and a hundred elite fighters appeared inside it.

Inside the Martial Arena.

Illusion Dream held a silver spear and swept his gaze over the other ninety-nine contestants. Information he'd studied flashed through his mind. After sifting through it, he chuckled. "Not a single one of you can put up a fight!"

Boom!

Boom!

Explosive currents of air erupted as the hundred talented fighters charged into battle!

Standing at the center of the arena, he unleashed his illusion in an instant. A hundred-meter radius around him was engulfed by an illusory realm, and one after another, the fighters were caught in it before they could escape!

Thud!

Thud!

One figure after another lost consciousness and fell to the ground. The contestants nearby saw the bizarre scene and scrambled to get away from Illusion Dream. Soon, the area within five hundred meters of him had been cleared!

But among those who had fallen across the arena, one figure suddenly stirred. A strange sight: someone rubbed his head and got back to his feet!

Illusion Dream immediately took an interest in him.

Lu Yan'an, watching from the stands, also recognized the man at once. Wasn't this the Controller who had tried to ambush him when he first entered World Area 45, only to take one of his illusions head-on and still manage to escape? He hadn't expected the man to make it into the top thousand in World Area 45!

"You managed to withstand my illusion. That's impressive! Now I'm curious how you did it. Would you tell me?" Illusion Dream spoke with courteous humility, but as he strode forward, his words took on an unmistakably oppressive edge.

The other contestants saw that Illusion Dream's attention had shifted to the Controller and breathed a sigh of relief. As they slipped away from the danger, they also pressed their attacks.

"I'm a Controller from the Mechanical Race. Half my body has been replaced with machinery. External mental and soul attacks can't fully affect my Spiritual Force; the mechanical parts of my body divert them." The Controller was straightforward enough. Seeing how powerful Illusion Dream was, he immediately gave in and laid it all out.

"I see." Illusion Dream nodded, marveling at the endless wonders of the universe. Then, with a casual thrust of his spear, he pierced the Controller's throat. "I thought I'd finally found someone like me." He sounded a little disappointed.

"Take this!" At that moment, a long-haired young man with a wild tangle of hair laughed loudly. He covered a hundred meters in a single stride, closing in on Illusion Dream as he brought his blade down in a vicious slash, hoping to take him out before he could react.

"What good is a cheap trick like that?" Illusion Dream shook his head, plainly scornful of the ambush. The aura of the Origin Law of Wind rippled around him, and in the next instant, he vanished from where he stood.

"Gold may be unyielding and full of yang energy, but only if you can hit your target. You actually think you can outpace someone who has grasped a trace of the Origin Law of Wind? That's brainless." Appearing behind the ambusher, Illusion Dream spoke coolly, his tone tinged with contempt.

As he spoke, he thrust his spear backward. The weapon, infused with a trace of the Origin Law of Wind, pierced straight through the ambusher's back.

After that, no one dared go near Illusion Dream. Everyone kept their distance. By the time Group 66's arena battle ended, the contestants still standing were looking at him with wary, fearful eyes...

After Illusion Dream advanced from the chaotic arena battle, Lu Yan'an stopped following his matches and focused entirely on his own cultivation.

Qiu Long Planet.

A silver ring lay on the bed in a hotel room. To an outside observer, it looked like nothing more than a decorative ring—if one ignored the two Mithril Guards stationed beside it!

Though it looked plain and unremarkable, the silver ring actually held an immense world within it!

The vast land stretched for hundreds of millions of kilometers, mostly consisting of continents. The endless plains were scattered with countless stones and clods of earth, while at the center of the continent lay a blue sea hundreds of thousands of kilometers across. Its waters were calm and still.

Suspended in the air of this world, Lu Yan'an sat cross-legged with his eyes closed, comprehending the secret art Time Realm. Most powerful fighters cultivated their understanding of the Laws through years of accumulated practice, gradually growing stronger. But without a clear direction, their studies could become scattered and inefficient. Lu Yan'an was different. By studying secret arts, he could work backward to deepen his understanding of the Laws, lowering the barrier to comprehending them!

His Dark Radiance Body talent was expressed most strongly in his comprehension of the Origin Law of Light. But the Law of Light was itself a lower-level law of the Law of Time. Combined with the insights he gained by working backward from the secret art, his comprehension of the Origin Law of Time was no less impressive!

In just three months, he had mastered the second level of the secret art Time Realm, Fleeting Years, and could use it. Yet this small achievement didn't go to his head. He continued quietly contemplating the union of light and time, and how to wield them together. While combining light with the secret art he was comprehending, he had faintly grasped a chance to fuse the Laws of Light and Time...

Illusion Dream had faced practically no opponents in the arena battles, but he was determined to join the Reincarnation Battle. After defeating one opponent, he deliberately killed himself before the battle was over, choosing to enter the losers' bracket and endure the long, grueling Reincarnation Battle.

The Reincarnation Battle was broadcast like an endless television series.

Over the two and a half years of the Reincarnation Battle, Illusion Dream's strength and combat experience grew rapidly through the intense fighting. In the end, he advanced through the internal selection with a perfect record and secured a spot.

And so, the thousand prodigies from Ganwu Universe Country who had passed the selection began preparing for the ultimate showdown between the various Universe Countries!