Kasa, the Domain Lord in charge of this selection tournament, was in high spirits after investing in Jiang Yao ahead of time. He said respectfully to Jiuyuan, "This child fought desperately during the ambush on Yinhu Island and collapsed his Bloodline Divine Ability. The clan therefore allowed him to train on Yulu Island. It seems his results have lived up to the clan's investment."
Jiuyuan's eyes were deep, and he showed no obvious expression. But the other Domain Lord beside him, an elderly man, heard the sarcasm in Kasa's words and hurried to speak.
"After questioning Meng Yi and the other Star Level members of the Yanhe Lineage who experienced that ambush, we concluded that the new Bloodline Divine Ability Jiang Yao awakened must be one that contains an exceptionally powerful ancient will.
"But the Virtual Universe Network cannot simulate the will contained in a Bloodline Divine Ability—not in the Genius Tournament, at least. So Jiang Yao's Bloodline Divine Ability won't be much stronger than other high-grade abilities in the tournament."
The power of the Lingtong Race's Bloodline Divine Abilities did depend heavily on the ancient will they contained. That was why many Star Level and even Universe Level members kept their eyes closed, striving to suppress the ancient will and let it build up strength, so it could unleash power beyond their normal level at a critical moment.
It was a kind of amplification technique.
But every advantage came with a cost. In reality, when members of the Lingtong Race used their Bloodline Divine Abilities, they put enormous strain on their bodies and souls. This was especially true after they unleashed the power they had been holding back for a long time: both the ability's power and their physical strength would fall to a low point, and they would need time to build them up again.
The Virtual Universe had no such limitation—or, rather, it greatly reduced it. They could use their Bloodline Divine Abilities continuously for long periods, without having to worry about the ancient will within them.
All things considered, the Lingtong Race had an advantage in the Genius Tournament held on the Virtual Universe Network.
Jiang Yao's Bloodline Divine Ability, whose power clearly defied common sense, was evidently the result of an exceptionally powerful ancient will within it—not because the ability itself was all that extraordinary.
After all, the secret techniques embedded in the source of the Lingtong Race's bloodline all came from demonic beasts and ferocious beasts whose Gene Levels were no more than twice that of the Lingtong Race. They were meant only to give the Lingtong Race a powerful advantage against other human experts of the same rank. Crossing a major level to fight was simply impossible.
Otherwise, the Lingtong Race wouldn't be in its current state, and its Gene Level wouldn't be what it was today.
In the Virtual Universe, during the Genius Tournament, this kind of combat strength—caused by the excessive will contained in a Bloodline Divine Ability—was effectively crippled by more than half.
It had to be said that the Lingtong Race's higher-ups had accidentally guessed the truth about Jiang Yao's Bloodline Divine Ability.
The essence of the Bloodline Divine Ability Jiang Yao had faked was indeed the will of Desolate God Bizhang.
The elderly Domain Lord's explanation was also meant to justify why they hadn't included Jiang Yao among this tournament's seeded contestants and invested heavily in his development. He had simply been born at the wrong time. His one means of fighting above his level, his Bloodline Divine Ability, couldn't display the same overwhelming power in the tournament as it did in reality.
But Jiang Yao had reached the Fourth-Level Domain in just seventeen years. There was no doubt that this had changed everything.
Whether to cover up the selfish motives of certain Main Sect Elders or to promptly adjust their plans for Jiang Yao's training, the elderly Domain Lord had to find a way to smooth things over in front of the ancestor.
Jiuyuan paid no attention to the Domain Lord's attempt to smooth things over. The clan's Elders might care greatly about the Lingtong Race's Bloodline Divine Abilities, but as an Immortal God, he didn't care in the slightest that some genius had awakened a never-before-seen high-grade ability.
Immortal Gods were the foundation of a race, the foundation of a power. Bloodline Divine Abilities offered little more than an advantage in combat against humans of the same rank at the Universe Level, Domain Lord, and World Lord stages.
For example, Meng Yi had used the high-grade ability Jihan Horn to stay alive against the Peak Domain Lords on Yinhu Island.
But even a high-grade ability could only grow to the World Lord stage. It was useless not only against Immortal Gods, but even against Peak World Lords who had gained recognition from an Origin Law.
To Jiuyuan, who had lived through countless eras, anything that couldn't help someone become an Immortal God was meaningless, no matter how dazzling the talent behind it might be.
And now, he held the chance to give the Lingtong Race a new Immortal God—one who could stand at the pinnacle of the Immortal Gods. It was a chance to transform the Lingtong Race from the ground up.
To the Lingtong Race, and to him, it meant no less than the moment their ancestor had stepped out of that unknown secret realm.
The greater the pressure Jiuyuan felt, the more cautious he became.
Unless absolutely necessary, he didn't intend to choose someone from among the existing Domain Lords and World Lords whose potential had been exhausted. Even with this treasure, even with access to an unparalleled inheritance, whether the recipient could reach the intended heights would still depend on their own effort and talent.
Of course, he would consider more than talent. He would also consider character and loyalty to the race.
If they risked so much to cultivate someone with such a precious opportunity, only to end up with an ungrateful traitor, they'd have no one but themselves to blame.
Such things were not uncommon in the universe. Not every expert had a good relationship with the race they came from, and it wasn't always the race's own fault. Plenty of people were naturally capricious and cold-hearted.
So Jiuyuan did lean slightly toward choosing a genius from the Main Sect to receive the inheritance.
But at this moment, his inclination had begun to shift. After all, loyalty to the race couldn't feed you, and the Origin Laws didn't care whether you were loyal to your people. Besides, loyalty could be cultivated.
Jiang Yao had no idea he had attracted the attention of the clan's higher-ups. He had focused his attention on the opponent before him.
Standing before him was a three-meter-tall teal monster with three pairs of arms and a mouthpart on its head that made his skin crawl.
"Qiaojia Race?"
Jiang Yao recognized his opponent at once. The Qiaojia Race didn't belong to the Human Race, but to the Zerg Alliance. Its members reached Star Level Nine upon adulthood.
The Qiaojia before him had only just come of age. Its eyes were vacant, and it said nothing. Clearly, it had no intelligence; it was merely an opponent simulated by the Virtual Universe.
Though adult members of the Qiaojia Race were Star Level Nine, they were indeed among the weakest opponents at that level. Even when the Virtual Universe granted one of them a Fourth Layer Domain, it was still among the weakest Domains of its rank.
Jiang Yao sent the Red Shadow Blade darting through layer upon layer of afterimages, vanishing into a crimson world!
Fire Domain!
The teal Qiaojia spread a Fourth Layer Domain of alternating blue and white frost. Blue-white and crimson collided first!
Jiang Yao didn't kill his opponent outright. This was one of the few chances he had to fight an enemy. Until now, he had practically lived in a greenhouse.
He calmly controlled the elusive fourth-tier Telepathic Weapon, the Red Shadow Blade, to drive back and wound the roaring Qiaojia again and again.
Rather than fighting the Qiaojia, he seemed to be exploring and familiarizing himself with the techniques for using a Fourth-Level Domain, while practicing his attacks with the Red Shadow Blade.
Even so, in less than a minute, he had battered the teal Qiaojia to the brink of death.
A streak of blood flashed past, and the Qiaojia's head flew into the air.
The vast majority of the more than ten thousand Star Level geniuses from the Main Sect and its branches had also passed the first round. This showed that the Virtual Universe really had matched them with the weakest opponents of their respective levels.
As he gradually got used to fighting, Jiang Yao swiftly killed his second opponent.
"The first round was warriors, the second Controllers, and the third will probably be Illusionists."
Sure enough, his third opponent was an adult member of the Yunmeng Race. They belonged to the Human Race and specialized in creating illusions.
The beautiful Yunmeng girl's eyes flashed, and Jiang Yao felt illusions spring up around him.
It didn't even last an instant. Jiang Yao broke the illusion without interest, and a streak of red light ended his unsuspecting opponent's life.
Against an Illusionist, the stronger your will, the better.
Jiang Yao's usual opponent was the will of Desolate God Bizhang. This opponent's illusion was nothing to him.
But while Jiang Yao found it easy, most of the other geniuses faced their greatest challenge yet in the third round.
Illusionists stood alongside warriors and Controllers for a reason. Those without a sufficiently strong will could barely even resist.
Nearly half the contestants had already fallen to the Illusionists in the third round—even with the Lingtong Race's Bloodline Divine Abilities giving them a great advantage in tempering their will. The Yunmeng Race's Illusionists were famous throughout Xuanshang Universe Country.
The eliminated geniuses reappeared in the square. Above them, virtual images showed the battles of the contestants who had yet to be eliminated.
For the Elders who were keeping a close eye on Jiang Yao, it wasn't surprising that he had cleared the third round with ease. According to reports from the Yanhe Branch, this Planetary Level talent had possessed willpower on par with Star Level experts.
Kasa, the Domain Lord in charge of the selection tournament, turned to check Ancestor Jiuyuan's expression. Seeing that he still looked impassive, Kasa thought, The first three rounds were no challenge. But things will be different once the fourth round begins. I wonder if this kid can get through it.
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