As the Time Venerable, Venerable Plain Robe had already seen the extent of Lu Yan'an's mastery of the Law of Time from the recordings of his Trial Tower runs long ago! Others might not understand, but as a Time Venerable, he knew very well that one could not comprehend Time Acceleration without first gaining insight into slowing time!
Although slowing and accelerating time were two approaches to manipulating it, neither was inherently stronger than the other. The latter was more like a variation of the former, like the two sides of light and darkness!
Though they displayed different characteristics, both were, in essence, derivatives of the Law of Time.
That was why the Venerable had said what he did. He wanted to see just how far Lu Yan'an had advanced in his understanding of the Law of Time!
In the arena.
Giving it his all, Lu Yan'an darted back and forth through the sea of time like a fish.
Time within five meters of him had frozen still. Every attack from Xun Kong stopped completely as soon as it entered that five-meter radius, unable to reach him at all!
Lu Yan'an strode forward and quickly came to a stop in front of Xun Kong. Looking at his opponent, who was close enough to touch yet helplessly frozen in time, he smiled faintly. "Still don't understand? The moment I decided to use my full strength, you lost any chance of turning this around!"
"Time Stasis means I can't be hit by anything except the power of the Law of Time! Even your mastery of space, which has already reached the Thousand Line Flow level, is useless. That's what they mean by 'space reigns supreme, time commands respect'!"
With that, he raised his blade and brought it down in one clean stroke!
"Lu Yan'an" versus "Xun Kong"—Lu Yan'an wins!
"How is that possible?!"
The moment Lu Yan'an unleashed his Peak Secret Technique—Pseudo Time Stasis—the entire crowd nearly stopped breathing.
Most of the 1,008 powerful undying beings sprang from their seats, their faces stunned!
Even after the Venerable explained what had happened, everyone present was still dazed!
It was just too unfair! That was the only thought anyone had after watching the battle. Time Stasis was one of the three heaven-defying secret techniques of the Law of Time.
Stasis, annihilation, reversal: the three heaven-defying secret techniques of the Law of Time—Time Stasis, Time Annihilation, and Time Reversal—corresponded to the three heaven-defying secret techniques of the Law of Space: Space Lockdown, Space Strangling, and Teleportation.
Even if Lu Yan'an had only grasped the rudiments of Time Stasis, it was enough to leave everyone present amazed!
"Once Lu Yan'an went all out, Xun Kong couldn't even fight back!"
"That was a straight-up instant kill."
"That guy must've just been treating the Genius Tournament like a game. He's made it all the way to the finals, and no one's even forced him to show his true strength!"
"Lu Yan'an's understanding of the higher Origin Laws is far beyond Xun Kong's! It's not just his comprehension—even his ability to apply them is on another level. Sigh, Xun Kong really is talented, too. He reached the Thousand Line Flow level at Star Level! He just picked the wrong opponent. What a shame!"
The 1,008 undying beings who had watched the match gradually came out of their daze and began discussing it.
Xun Kong's understanding of the Law of Space was impressive. It surpassed that of most World Lords and was even comparable to that of some undying beings! But no matter how you looked at it, Lu Yan'an had shown himself to be far superior!
Understanding the Origin Laws had always been the foundation of a powerful being, but it wasn't the only thing that mattered.
Yet Lu Yan'an had reached a level where he left everyone else far behind in both understanding and control of the Origin Laws! And so, a final that few had expected him to win ended in this fashion.
"Buddy, we're up!" Illusion Dream patted Xun Kong on the shoulder and grinned.
Still dazed, Xun Kong was pulled back onto the arena by a force.
"Looks like you're not in the mood to keep going, either. Let's make this quick, okay?" On the ornate, splendid arena, Illusion Dream regarded Xun Kong, who still seemed somewhat out of it, and spoke with a hint of helplessness.
As soon as he finished speaking, more than three thousand Space Phantoms appeared across the arena—over a thousand more than Xun Kong had managed to create at full strength!
"Are all the geniuses from your Ganwu Universe Country monsters?" King Liekong gave Marquis Cangming a malicious look. "How did you manage to find two geniuses of this caliber at once?"
Marquis Cangming looked just as bewildered. After rubbing his eyes again and again to make sure he wasn't seeing things, he was overjoyed—but he didn't dare show it. Under the envious, jealous, and resentful looks of the undying beings around him, he could only answer with a modest, awkward grin. "Just luck, just luck!" Then he fell silent, afraid of offending some big shot.
On the arena, Xun Kong was already so dazed he couldn't bring out even seventy percent of his strength. Facing Illusion Dream's three thousand Space Phantoms only made things worse! He could barely resist before he was killed in an instant!
"Ming Feng" versus "Xun Kong"—Ming Feng wins!
"So we've finally made it to this last battle, Illusion Dream!"
On the arena, Lu Yan'an and Illusion Dream met each other's gaze and smiled in understanding.
"Yeah. I didn't expect it either! Nightmare, I never thought you'd be my opponent in the final battle!" Illusion Dream still found it hard to believe. The two best opponents from the same Universe Country and the same World Zone were now facing each other in the final of the Universe Peak Genius Battle!
"Then let's begin! Let's finish what we started in our last battle!"
With that, they moved quickly toward each other.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!" The spear, imbued with the Law of Space, and the blade, wreathed in the Law of Time, clashed again and again! The shockwaves swept across the arena, stirring up the dust.
Their fighting styles were as familiar as ever: one was an elegant martial artist, the other a master strategist!
Every lightning-fast exchange was accompanied by nearly eight hundred sharp wits between them combined.
The battle was much the same as their previous encounter in the World Zone, even though both had switched to using the higher Origin Law they were best at!
They were both wary of each other! For Illusion Dream, Lu Yan'an's Time Stasis secret technique was an obstacle he couldn't overcome. For Lu Yan'an, Illusion Dream's three thousand Space Phantoms were just as difficult to deal with!
Time Stasis sounded powerful—and it was—but it had one enormous drawback for Lu Yan'an: it consumed too much energy! With the Origin Force and recovery capabilities simulated by the Virtual Universe, he couldn't use the technique for more than ten seconds! In reality, he doubted he could use it at all!
If Xun Kong hadn't fought to the death in their previous match, but had instead kept his distance and worn Lu Yan'an down, Lu Yan'an wouldn't have been able to last.
Illusion Dream had clearly realized this, too. Keeping his distance and conserving his strength, he put pressure on Lu Yan'an, forcing him to make the first move so he could wait for an opening and turn the tide!
But both of them were smart. Lu Yan'an, in particular, had plenty of experience dealing with stalemates like this.
"Are you planning to wait for the arena to shrink?" After failing to break through for some time, Illusion Dream suddenly realized what Lu Yan'an was planning. Since my secret technique takes too much energy to use continuously, I'll wait until the arena shrinks and you have nowhere to run before using it!
It was an obvious plan, but unfortunately, Illusion Dream had no way to stop him!
For the first time, he fully understood City Lord Luo's helplessness.
The arena slowly shrank, leaving less and less space to maneuver. With no other choice, Illusion Dream could only risk everything! In an instant, his three thousand Phantoms filled the arena!
"Finally!" Lu Yan'an gauged the distance and realized he could kill every Phantom on the arena within ten seconds. He immediately unleashed his Peak Secret Technique, "Time Stasis." Every Phantom that came within five meters of him was frozen in time!
"You didn't really lose. If not for this arena..." After killing all the Phantoms that had fled in every direction and claiming victory, Lu Yan'an felt a little disappointed. In the end, he had relied on the rules. It didn't feel like a fair win!
The 1,000 geniuses and 1,008 powerful undying beings stood in the Central Plaza and listened to Venerable Plain Robe speak.
"First place."
"Second through tenth place."
"Eleventh through hundredth place."
"One hundred and first through one thousandth place."
"All four groups have now been selected. The first Universe Humans Peak Genius Selection Battle has come to a perfect close today." Venerable Plain Robe smiled. "You are the seeds selected by the first Genius Tournament, and your quality is so impressive that even I can't help but praise you! I believe that in ten or a hundred eras, many of you will be renowned throughout the universe."
His gaze fell on Lu Yan'an, laden with meaning.
"Someone will contact you shortly and take you to the Virtual Universe Company's headquarters, where you'll gather before heading to the Initial Universe."
"From this day on, your paths will be anything but ordinary."
"The Virtual Universe Company will give you our full support. Whether you become a supreme being renowned throughout the universe, an ordinary powerhouse, or fall along the way is up to you. Work hard. Your paths to becoming powerful have only just begun!" Venerable Plain Robe's voice echoed in everyone's minds.
And with that, the first Genius Tournament officially came to a close.
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