Advancement

The arena melee is divided into one thousand groups! Two hundred groups are held each day.

The first day covers Group 1 through Group 200.

Lu Yan'an is the only one from the Black Dragon Mountain Empire to pass the preliminary selection, and he is a genius who qualified directly by finishing first in his group. Although Lu Yan'an does not need to participate in the arena battles, it does not stop him from coming to the spectator stands to observe his old rival.

As it happens, Illusion Dream, who is in Group 66, is scheduled to compete on the first day.

In a plane space specially created within the Virtual Universe, a vast and boundless river surges. There are islands scattered throughout this river that runs through the entire space, and each island features a martial arts arena.

On an island.

Inside the arena, the spectator stands are packed with a sea of people, stretching as far as the eye can see. The atmosphere in the entire arena is incredibly heated, and all the spectators are filled with anticipation for the upcoming arena melee.

"Greetings, everyone!"

A sweet and crisp voice reaches the ears of the one billion spectators in the arena.

A massive virtual projection of a beautiful commentator appears above the arena. She is a sweet-looking girl with rabbit ears, introducing the upcoming match.

"The match about to take place is the Group 66 arena melee. Allow me to introduce the one hundred genius experts of this group."

"The first is Illusion Dream, from the Cangming Empire. His previous ranking in World Area 44 was 12th."

Following the rabbit-eared girl's introduction, a screen appears to the side, displaying footage of Illusion Dream from the preliminaries along with some brief information.

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

A thunderous cheer erupts in the arena. A large crowd in one section is cheering wildly, shouting the name of Illusion Dream. Looking closely, the figure of Lu Yan'an has quietly blended into the crowd.

"The second is..."

"The third is..."

Every time the rabbit-eared commentator calls out a name, waves of cheers erupt throughout the arena, incredibly intense.

Among the cheering crowd, Lu Yan'an remains completely unmoved; he simply stares at the rather dashing figure on the field.

A long while later.

Amidst the sound of the countdown, the arena lets out a roar, and one hundred absolute elites appear within the arena.

Inside the arena.

Illusion Dream holds a silver spear, his gaze sweeping over the other 99 people as information he had previously reviewed flashes through his mind. After filtering through it, he gives a light laugh: "Not a single one of them is worth fighting!"

"Boom!"

"Boom!"

Violent air currents erupt, and the 100 genius experts in the arena immediately begin to clash and charge!

He stands in the center of the arena, and his illusion technique is activated instantly. A hundred-meter radius around him is immediately shrouded in an illusion. One genius after another is unable to dodge in time and is locked in by his technique!

"Thud!"

"Thud!"

One figure after another instantly loses consciousness and collapses to the ground. The surrounding contestants, seeing this eerie scene, desperately flee from the area around Illusion Dream! Soon, a five-hundred-meter radius around him is cleared!

However, among those falling in the arena, an anomaly suddenly appears—someone actually touches their head and stands back up!

Seeing this, Illusion Dream becomes interested in him.

Down in the spectator stands, Lu Yan'an suddenly recognizes this person. Isn't this the controller who tried to ambush him when he first entered World Area 45, only to run away after taking a hit from his illusion technique? He didn't expect this guy to have actually made it into the top 1,000 of World Area 45!

"To be able to withstand my illusion technique, you are truly impressive! I am a bit curious now, how did you do it? Can you tell me?" Illusion Dream's words sound very humble and polite, but coupled with his gradual forward steps, they suddenly become incredibly oppressive!

The other contestants in the arena, seeing Illusion Dream's attention drawn to that controller, breathe a sigh of relief. While silently moving away from this dangerous place, they also intensify their own fighting!

"I am a controller of the Mechanical Race; half of my body has been modified by machinery! External mental and soul attacks cannot fully affect my telekinesis, as they are diverted by the mechanical parts on my body." The controller is quite straightforward; seeing how powerful Illusion Dream is, he immediately gives up and lays it all out.

"So that's how it is!" Illusion Dream nods, marveling at the wonders of the universe. Then, with a casual thrust of his spear, he pierces the controller's throat. "And here I thought I had met a kindred spirit," he says, sounding a bit disappointed.

"Take this strike!" At this moment, a disheveled young man with messy hair laughs loudly, steps forward a hundred meters to close the distance with Illusion Dream, and slashes a sharp blade directly at him, attempting to take him out before he can react.

"What is the point of such petty tricks?" Illusion Dream shakes his head, seemingly disdainful of such ambush tactics. The aura of the Origin Law of Wind fluctuates around him, and the next moment, he vanishes from his spot.

"Metal, while extremely rigid and masculine, requires you to actually hit your target. In front of someone like me who has grasped a trace of the Origin Law of Wind, you actually want to compete on speed? You truly have no brain!" Moving behind the ambushing warrior, Illusion Dream says calmly, his tone carrying a hint of contempt.

As he speaks, he stabs backward, and the spear carrying a trace of the Origin Law of Wind pierces directly through the ambusher's heart!

From then on, no one dares to linger near Illusion Dream, and everyone keeps their distance. By the time the Group 66 arena battle ends, the surviving contestants look at him with eyes filled with lingering fear...

After Illusion Dream advances from the arena melee, Lu Yan'an stops paying attention to his matches and focuses entirely on his own cultivation.

Qiu Long Planet.

On a hotel bed, a silver ring lies. From the outside, it looks like nothing more than a decorative ring, provided one ignores the two Mithril Guards standing watch beside it!

Although this silver ring appears plain and unadorned, it actually contains a vast and boundless world within!

The vast land spans hundreds of millions of kilometers, primarily consisting of solid ground, with endless gravel and soil covering the terrain. In the center of the continent lies a blue sea spanning hundreds of thousands of kilometers, its surface calm and tranquil.

High in the air of this world, Lu Yan'an sat cross-legged with his eyes closed, contemplating the secret technique, Time Realm. For ordinary powerhouses, comprehending laws and cultivating is a process of accumulation, where strength grows gradually; however, learning without a system is ultimately complex and inefficient. Lu Yan'an was different; he could use the study of secret techniques to reverse-engineer his comprehension of laws, thereby lowering the threshold for mastering them!

Although his talent, Dark Radiance Body, manifested primarily in the comprehension of the Origin Law of Light, the light law itself was a subordinate law of the time law. Coupled with the reverse-engineering of his secret techniques, his grasp of the Origin Law of Time was not lacking in the slightest!

In just three months, the second level of the secret technique Time Realm, Fleeting Years, was comprehended and unleashed! Yet, Lu Yan'an was not intoxicated by this minor achievement and continued to quietly contemplate the combination and application of light and time. While studying the secret technique of light-time fusion, he vaguely grasped a glimmer of an opportunity to fuse the laws of light and time...

Illusion Dream basically did not encounter any opponents during the arena battle stage, but he could not resist the urge to join the Reincarnation Battle! In the end, after defeating an opponent, he took the initiative to commit suicide, choosing to enter the defeated group to engage in a long, high-intensity Reincarnation Battle.

The Reincarnation Battle broadcast played on, much like a television series.

During the two and a half years of the Reincarnation Battle, Illusion Dream's strength and combat experience grew rapidly under such intense fighting. Ultimately, he passed the internal selection with an undefeated record without any difficulty, securing a spot to advance.

With this, the one thousand geniuses from the Ganwu Universe Country who had passed the selection began preparing for the peak showdown between all the universe countries!