Ranking Battle

The next morning.

A thousand peerless geniuses gathered in the Central Plaza.

Lu Yan'an mingled with the crowd and glanced at the green-skinned, bald warrior in the distance. The warrior looked dazed and remained silent, clearly still reeling from yesterday's blow.

"Venerable!"

A thousand and eight undying beings bowed respectfully in the distance.

"Mm."

Venerable Plain Robe hovered in the air and gave a slight nod. Then he turned to look down at the thousand young people and said, "Today is a good day. In the span of a single day, we will select the top hundred, the top ten, and the first-place winner from among you."

"Are you all ready? The decisive battles begin now!"

The Venerable looked down at the crowd, then waved his right hand. A hundred enormous arenas appeared in the Central Plaza, each surrounded and covered by a black mesh barrier. At the same time, two hundred peerless geniuses, including Lu Yan'an, were teleported into the arenas.

Two people stood in each arena. Most of the powerful undying beings and the talented elites who weren't eligible to compete focused their attention on the arenas for the top twenty in the Trial Tower!

A young man with disheveled hair and a wild air about him saw Lu Yan'an standing before him and could only manage a bitter smile. He'd drawn the big bad by accident. What was he supposed to do now?

Among all the contestants, the two opponents nobody wanted to face most were undoubtedly Lu Yan'an and Illusion Dream! How could anyone fight an Illusionist who had comprehended a Higher Origin Law?

With no other choice, he gripped his War Blade and bowed slightly. "I'm Carlson, ranked eighty-second in the Trial Space. Please go easy on me."

Lu Yan'an smiled in response. "Lu Yan'an, ranked fifteenth in the trials!"

The moment he finished speaking, lightning surged around Carlson. He charged toward Lu Yan'an at blinding speed!

His blade swept out, unleashing a torrent of thunder!

But Lu Yan'an didn't even change expression as the attack closed in. He merely lifted his hand and instantly unleashed the illusion technique Huo Shen! Carlson's consciousness and attack were shattered at once. Lu Yan'an watched as Carlson's momentum carried him forward, then leveled the long blade in his left hand. One strike was all it took to finish him off!

Carlson had lost!

With his victory in the first battle, Lu Yan'an entered the top hundred. His prize money rose to one hundred Hunyuan Units, and he qualified to enter the Virtual Universe Company's "Heaven and Earth Secret Realm."

"First, on behalf of the Virtual Universe Company, congratulations to all you young people standing in the arenas!" Venerable Plain Robe hovered in the air, looking down at the hundred young men and women. "You've now qualified to enter the 'Heaven and Earth Secret Realm' of our Virtual Universe Company! The Virtual Universe System has selected the twenty best among you. I will announce who they are now."

"According to the Virtual Universe System's selection, I will announce the list of twenty."

After what had happened before, no one dared question the rules this time.

The hundred young geniuses standing in the arenas, fresh from their victories, grew tense. They had won, but only twenty of them would qualify for the next battle—the one that would determine the top ten!

Venerable Plain Robe began announcing the twenty names selected by the Virtual Universe System.

"Xun Kong!" The monster who had reached the second level of the seventh tower in the tower-climbing trial!

"Mo Yue!"

"Ming Feng!"

"Yi Ran!"

"Lu Yan'an!"

As the names were announced one by one, those who weren't called could hardly hide their anxiety. Every one of them had won, but only twenty would advance to the next battle!

"Fu!"

"Kelvin!"

"The twenty selected by the Virtual Universe System are the same twenty I just announced," Venerable Plain Robe said with a gentle smile. "Please rest and recover from the energy you spent in your battles. The next round will begin shortly. As for who your opponents will be, the Virtual Universe System will tell you automatically when the time comes!"

The Virtual Universe Company's habit of testing people one step at a time explained why it was keeping the matchups secret for now. It was likely another special test of the contestants' mental fortitude.

Lu Yan'an didn't care at all. He'd watched the others, and there wasn't a single person here who could match him!

Whoever he drew, it made little difference. The only ones he really cared about were Illusion Dream and Xun Kong, who was ranked first. Apart from those two, whose Law of Space made him wary, nobody else posed a threat!

All he hoped was that he wouldn't draw Illusion Dream too soon. It wasn't that he was afraid. Since they came from the same Universe Country, the later their internal clash came, the better!

About half an hour later.

"Rumble..." The entire Central Plaza began to shake. Ten colossal arenas slowly rose from its center, each covered by layers of black mesh. At the same time, Lu Yan'an and the other nineteen contestants, who had been resting, were instantly teleported into the arenas.

Inside the arenas.

"Damn!"

"Fu actually drew Xun Kong, the 'Blade of Severing Space'? What a shame for such a pretty girl."

"And Illusion Dream's opponent is Ming Feng? He's up against the martial artist Kelvin!"

"That guy's unlucky too. He's no weakling—his real strength could put him in the top ten—but now he's up against a ridiculous Illusionist."

"And Mo Yue! His trial ranking was higher than Nightmare Lu Yan'an's, but facing an Illusionist is just awful. Everyone was guessing who'd be unlucky enough to draw Xun Kong, Illusion Dream, or Nightmare. Who would've thought it'd be those three? Well, I suppose it makes sense!" The other geniuses watching from a distance burst into laughter.

On the arena.

Fu stood with a solemn expression, gripping her slender sword as she stared coldly at the gray-robed young man before her.

Everyone could guess how it would end. Fu was a peerless genius who had comprehended both the Origin Laws of Water and Wind, but there was still a considerable gap between her and Xun Kong, ranked first in the Trial Tower!

The other two arenas featuring Illusionists weren't worth watching either. In front of two Illusionists who had comprehended Higher Origin Laws, Kelvin and Mo Yue had already lost the advantage of speed. They had virtually no chance of turning things around!

Ten arenas, ten battles.

Every clash between the peak talents in those arenas represented the limit of what a Star Level genius could achieve! With so many stars shining brightly, everyone was doing their utmost to show their brilliance!

The ten arenas waited for the signal to begin.

"Let the battles begin." Venerable Plain Robe's voice carried from afar, echoing in everyone's ears. Almost at the same moment, the battles erupted across all ten arenas!

Xun Kong showed no mercy. He unleashed a secret technique in a single strike, and Fu hadn't even had time to react before the battle was over.

The battles involving Lu Yan'an and Illusion Dream were much the same. Each used an illusion technique to control their opponent, then ended the match with a single blade strike. Their attacks seemed cut from the same mold.

One by one, the winners of the ten arena battles were announced.

Xun Kong, Ming Feng, Lu Yan'an, Yi Ran, Jiao, Lilan, Liuyun, Aike, Noah, and finally Sailin!

At that moment.

Venerable Plain Robe rose into the air, and his invisible pressure drew the attention of all one thousand human geniuses.

"Congratulations to the ten winners. You've made the top ten. Your prize money has risen to one thousand Hunyuan Units, and you may enter the 'Primordial Secret Realm.'" The Azure-Robed Purple-Scaled Man smiled. "The battle for the top ten was exciting. The outbursts from a few of you young ones truly surprised me."

"Xun Kong, Ming Feng, Lu Yan'an, Yi Ran, Jiao, Lilan, Liuyun, Aike, Noah, and Sailin—congratulations to all ten of you!"

"In a little while, we'll select the top five from among you. The first-place winner of the Original Secret Realm will then be chosen from those five."

Venerable Plain Robe said warmly, "The Virtual Universe System established the matchups according to the rules it set in advance. The time each of you took to win your previous battle varied. The fastest will face the slowest, the second fastest will face the second slowest, and so on!"