Central Plaza.
On the five exquisitely crafted arenas, the battles for the top five spots came to an end one after another.
"Xun Kong" versus "Sailin"—Xun Kong won!
"Ming Feng" versus "Noah"—Ming Feng won!
"Lu Yan'an" versus "Aike"—Lu Yan'an won!
"Yi Ran" versus "Liuyun"—Liuyun won!
"Jiao" versus "Lilan"—Lilan won!
Apart from Illusion Dream and Lu Yan'an, who competed as Illusionists, the other three were all warriors. Strictly speaking, even Illusion Dream and Lu Yan'an were warriors!
"Excellent. These battles for the top five were truly exciting and full of surprises." Venerable Plain Robe smiled as he looked at the thousand young people before him.
"Everyone, take a rest first. The Reincarnation Battle for the top five will begin shortly. The rules are simple: each of the five must fight the other four once. The winner of each match earns one point, and the final rankings will be determined by points. First place will be awarded to the highest-ranked contestant."
"The geniuses emerging from this first Genius Tournament are of an exceptionally high caliber, so you must all strive even harder for a place in the Original Secret Realm. Don't squander this opportunity. This is the Universe Peak Genius Battle! It's a platform provided by the Virtual Universe Company for you to showcase your abilities! You have nothing to worry about!"
After speaking, the Venerable's gaze swept over the top five contestants. His eyes lingered on Lu Yan'an for a moment longer, carrying a hint of meaning.
Feeling the Venerable's gaze, Lu Yan'an couldn't help getting goosebumps. He hadn't expected the Venerable to see through his hidden strength based solely on his earlier performance in actual combat!
All the geniuses present were also left baffled by the Venerable's words.
It was clear that he was speaking to the top five contestants. Compared with those three, the other geniuses were far too weak. Though they didn't yet know the specifics, it was obvious that this had nothing to do with them! They just needed to focus on watching the competition.
Half an hour later.
The final Reincarnation Battle for the top five began.
Lu Yan'an sipped from a bowl of fruit wine. Beside him, Illusion Dream sat idly, and the two watched the battles taking place on the distant arena.
"Aike's defense is ridiculous! He just happened to run into a freak like you. Anyone else who faced him would've been blown to bits!" Illusion Dream exclaimed, watching Lilan and Liuyun clash on the arena.
"Heh, that's rich coming from you! Don't even try to act modest. I know you too well. You're making yourself sound weak. Aike's physical defense is absurd, sure, but he has almost no defense against soul attacks. He just relies on his willpower to endure them! That's an obvious weakness for Illusionists like us!"
Lu Yan'an curled his lip. Illusion Dream was such a sly old fox, and he was still putting on an act in front of him.
Illusion Dream smiled awkwardly at his words, but said nothing more, as if conceding the point.
The battles among the top five continued one after another. Suddenly, the Venerable stopped the competition.
"Since you two have each already lost three matches, let's decide the bottom two places first," Venerable Plain Robe said with a faint smile. To keep the suspense, he had decided to determine fourth and fifth place before beginning the contest for the top three.
With a wave of his hand, he teleported the two contestants onto the arena.
"Those two are pretty unlucky. They've both already lost three matches. Now it's just a question of who can hold on to the last shred of their dignity." Lu Yan'an shrugged, looking completely innocent.
And so, Lilan and Liuyun began their final battle, fighting to preserve their pride.
Both were warriors, and their strength was quite evenly matched. After they fought to a standstill for a while, the battle grew increasingly fierce! But as the arena continued to shrink, Liuyun, who relied on his speed advantage, was ultimately defeated by the arena's rules. After taking a heavy slash from Lilan, his defeat became clear. And with that, the battle for fourth and fifth place was over.
On the exquisitely crafted arena.
The gray-robed young man with a Breeze Longsword on his back looked solemnly at Lu Yan'an, standing in the distance.
Xun Kong was silent for a moment before suddenly praising him. "You're the Star Level contestant I've ever been least confident about defeating! That illusion technique you used earlier was truly powerful. If I hadn't been prepared, I might have lost to you."
He admitted it quite frankly.
"But I'm going to win this battle!" Xun Kong's gaze was utterly serious. "You're a greater threat to me than that 'Illusion Dream.' But let me tell you one thing: relying solely on an Illusionist's tricks will never get you far!"
Hearing this, Lu Yan'an didn't answer at once. Instead, he looked Xun Kong in the eye and said seriously, "Today, I'll tell you something too: weakness and ignorance aren't obstacles to survival. Arrogance is."
"But clearly..."
Lu Yan'an's cool, detached eyes shone like stars. His calm yet powerful voice echoed in Xun Kong's ears. "I'm far stronger than you can imagine!"
Xun Kong furrowed his brow slightly. He felt Lu Yan'an was being far too arrogant. Xun Kong was the one ranked first in the Trial Tower, so why did Lu Yan'an's tone make it sound as if he were the one ranked fifteenth?
Without another word, he slowly drew the Breeze Longsword from his back. "Then let's begin!"
A flash of azure sword light erupted!
"Cangming, do you think Lu Yan'an has a chance of winning under these circumstances?" King Lieyu asked with a smile.
"If he can use the secret technique he used in his previous match against Aike, then he definitely has a chance! The key now is which of them is faster!" Marquis Cangming analyzed with a smile. Lu Yan'an's explosive performance had given him a glimpse of a possible showdown in the internal competition within Ganwu Universe Country.
"Hahaha, I don't think Lu Yan'an has any chance at all!" said an immortal giant, tall and imposing, his aura as deep as the starry sky.
Marquis Cangming shook his head. "Marquis Luanxing, take a look at what's happening before you speak! There's no shame in accepting reality."
Marquis Luanxing was the immortal leading the delegation from Tianmeng Universe Country, Xun Kong's home. He was also one of the few immortals present who could just barely be considered a Feng Wang.
"Hahahaha, it's all right if you don't know. I'll tell you: Xun Kong's true level of comprehension isn't the barely-a-thousand Phantom Bodies he showed when he cleared the tower! His comprehension of the Law of Space is far beyond a thousand Phantom Bodies! It even vastly exceeds the spatial law comprehension of 'Ming Feng' from your Ganwu Universe Country!"
As soon as he finished speaking—
Two thousand gray-robed young men suddenly appeared on the arena, densely filling almost half of it. Everyone watching was startled.
"Two thousand Phantom Bodies? Is his comprehension of space really that outrageous? That's already close to the level of Ten Thousand Line Flow!"
The spectators and immortals present were so stunned they were almost numb to it!
"Clang!"
A brilliant azure sword light suddenly blazed forth, breathtakingly beautiful, like the only splash of color in the world! It sent ripples through the surrounding space, exuding an intense sense of pressure as it slashed toward Lu Yan'an!
"What a dazzling sword strike..."
"There's no suspense anymore!"
"Lu Yan'an is sure to lose!"
These thoughts flashed through everyone's minds in an instant.
But in the very next moment, their minds went blank. The scene before them was far more dazzling and shocking than the sword light on the arena!
"Fsh!"
Lu Yan'an's expression was calm, and the fluctuations of time around him grew increasingly distinct. He suddenly took a step forward, and the fluctuations of time surrounding him reached their peak!
"The Venerable just told me to show my true strength and compete for a place in the Original Secret Realm. I'd planned to save this secret technique for that guy, 'Illusion Dream,' but you're lucky—you get to see it early!"
Lu Yan'an began to move continuously. The time around him gradually froze, no longer flowing!
"What is that?" One of the immortals present drew a sharp breath.
"That's right. It's a Peak Secret Technique—Time Stasis! It's only a rough prototype, but for someone at Star Level to accomplish this with his comprehension of the Law of Time is unprecedented!"
A voice filled with admiration answered the immortal's question.
The speaker was none other than Venerable Plain Robe! He watched Lu Yan'an's youthful version of "Time Stasis" with great interest, a trace of admiration on his face!
And it was at that moment that Venerable Plain Robe began to take an interest in Lu Yan'an!
Before you continue