The One-Second Man Is Truly Terrifying

Ever since Jiang Yao left the planet where the Lingtong Race raised their young, everyone—from the escorts led by Prose to the examiners led by Kuman—had kept their eyes tightly shut.

He knew this must be related to the Lingtong Race's Bloodline Divine Ability, "Spirit Pupil," but the general education at school had never touched upon the details of "Spirit Pupil." What this bloodline ability, which allowed the Lingtong Race to stand tall in the vast universe, actually looked like remained a mystery.

Even in the Virtual Universe, due to the restrictions of his Planetary Level clearance, Jiang Yao had been unable to find any definitive information.

The Taihuan Token Envoy might have known more, but he hadn't communicated it to him, and Jiang Yao hadn't asked.

However, the curious Jiang Yao was in no state to observe carefully at this moment.

The golden-haired youth's eyes seemed to possess an infinite gravitational pull, and Jiang Yao's entire consciousness was sucked in within a split second.

An incredibly fierce will rushed toward him head-on.

In the less than one-thousandth of a second that his mind remained clear, Jiang Yao seemed to see a blurry figure, resembling a tiger or a leopard with three tails, and then he felt as if he had fallen into an endless abyss.

It was like the unfathomable bottom of the sea; he wanted to struggle, but endless undercurrents and whirlpools were pulling at him, dominating him.

Having stepped into the Planetary Level, Jiang Yao no longer needed to breathe, yet he now felt like a mortal with no strength to truss a chicken, struggling hopelessly for survival in the suffocating abyss, unable to catch his breath.

Just as he was about to suffocate and sink into oblivion, a call seemed to come from a shore countless light-years away.

"Jiang Yao! Jiang Yao!"

The repeated calls allowed him to forcibly gather a sliver of will just as he reached his limit.

Whose call was it?

It was so familiar...

It was the Taihuan Token Envoy!

The call coming from afar was like a point of light, growing from weak to strong, illuminating the darkness.

A glimmer of light appeared before Jiang Yao, and the shimmering reflections on the water surface shone into his eyes, allowing him to see the surface of the sea.

Like a drowning man grabbing a straw, Jiang Yao swam desperately toward the shimmering surface above, and the undercurrents that had made it impossible for him to break free vanished.

His face broke the surface, and he gasped for air, famished and desperate, easing the terror of suffocation.

The sound of his own ragged breathing was so abrupt that it brought Jiang Yao back to his senses.

He scanned his surroundings and realized he had returned to the trial grounds, surrounded by youths standing with their eyes closed, their expressions pained.

And what greeted him were the astonished "gazes" from Prose and the others.

Although everyone except Kuman had their eyes closed, the focus—which felt almost tangible—was so intense that Jiang Yao could feel it on his skin.

One had to know that even when facing Mo Li's stunning, completely peerless performance in the first round of assessments, Prose had only shown a hint of a smile; he had certainly not been this astonished.

"That was only 3 seconds, right?"

"Didn't Gaichen take 19 seconds during his assessment?"

"Although Gaichen has an outstanding will, his will alone doesn't count as top-tier. I remember the best record in history was 9 seconds."

"I took 27 seconds back then."

"This is probably at least near the will intensity of a Stellar Level, right?"

"It should be. Even if there are some errors due to different examiners, it shouldn't be by much."

"What was his name again?"

"Jiang Yao, control... 49, mental power output 4 times, the mental power amplitude rating given by Lord Kuman is 45."

"This talent..."

"Could it be... that Lord Kuman... didn't control it well just now?"

"Hmph!" The golden-haired youth had already finished the assessment and closed his eyes again. Hearing this, he snorted coldly: "Are you questioning me?"

The assistant examiner who had spoken just now shut his mouth sheepishly. This man was the favorite disciple of the clan leader, and his talent was considered top-tier in the history of the Yanhe Lineage of the Lingtong Race. He had always been arrogant and aloof; how could he tolerate anyone else's questioning?

However, although Kuman had rebuffed the questioning, his expression was no longer cold and stern. His "gaze" drifted toward the silently standing Jiang Yao, wondering what he was thinking.

Jiang Yao was currently calm and composed, watching the youths around him gasping for air as if they had returned to the Apprentice Level and needed to breathe to sustain their lives. He felt quite fortunate.

"Hehe." The pig-faced Envoy within the Taihuan Token revealed a slightly lewd, smug expression: "How about that? I'm still quite useful, right?"

Ever since the Taihuan Token appeared a short while ago, this winged pig who called himself the Taihuan Token Envoy had been arrogant and then "crazy" toward him. After calming down, he had made excuses that the underlying laws and architecture of the Source World were completely different, so the inheritance techniques needed to be modified and studied carefully before they could be taught, which was why he hadn't fulfilled the responsibilities a proper cheat should have.

This time, he had given Jiang Yao a pleasant surprise.

Wealth, companions, techniques, and land—wealth was placed first for a reason.

The difference in resources enjoyed by the high, middle, and low grades mentioned by Prose was vast. Those with high-grade talent were provided with 12 Muya Crystals a year, 3 uses of an A-grade nutrient pod, and 1 liter of Sangshi Liquid.

12 Muya Crystals plus the A-grade nutrient pod were enough to push a first-order Planetary Level to the third order within a year. Of course, beyond that, the required Muya Crystals and nutrient fluid would increase geometrically.

The Sangshi Liquid could even increase the quality of mental power and even serve to nourish the soul; ordinary Spirit Readers below the fifth-order Planetary Level couldn't afford it.

Who would complain about having more resources invested in themselves?

Although it counted as cheating, Jiang Yao, who held the Taihuan Token, didn't feel guilty. He was only worried about whether his outstanding performance in will intensity alone would be enough to earn a high-grade rating.

Clearly, Kuman and the others, as examiners, along with Prose, were also having a headache over Jiang Yao's grading.

"His mental power talent is mediocre, even poor. Even if we give him a high-grade rating just for his outstanding will intensity, he will definitely be demoted to low-grade after a year."

"That is true. Since there are no effective means to increase willpower intensity at the Planetary Level, willpower assessments are only conducted during the initial talent grading. They are never repeated in subsequent evaluations or grand competitions."

"No matter how high one's willpower intensity is, one must first reach the Stellar Level. Because of our Lingtong Race's Bloodline Divine Ability, breaking through to the Stellar Level is difficult, and the requirements for telekinetic amplitude are extremely harsh. With such mediocre spiritual telekinesis, the resources required to reach the Stellar Level would be astronomical."

"Exactly. For willpower intensity to be important at the Stellar Level, one must first possess powerful spiritual telekinesis. Without a strong foundation in telekinetic amplitude, even the greatest willpower cannot play much of a role."

Prose glanced at Kuman, who had remained silent, and suggested, "I believe that, regardless, we should follow the regulations. It would be unjust not to grant him a High-Grade rating with such high willpower intensity. As for a year from now, it will depend on whether this kid can step up."

"If, in a year, this child can master the Seven Turns of Heaven's End and reach the first turn with a 6x telekinetic amplitude, we can report it to the Council of Elders and see if the old fellows are willing to devise a specialized training program for him. If he fails to reach that, then we let nature take its course and wait to judge the situation again in three years."

"Such powerful willpower is certainly good, but he must at least reach a passing level in telekinetic amplitude training for the clan to justify allocating resources to him."

"Lord Prose is kind-hearted. While I do not agree with breaking the training system that has stood for so many epochs just to create a specialized program for him—after all, even a genius like Gaichen did not receive such treatment—I do believe a High-Grade rating is appropriate. As for whether he can maintain that High-Grade status in the future, that will be up to him."

Seeing that Kuman did not voice any objections, the group reached a final decision and announced the results of the third round of willpower assessment and the final talent grading.

Jiang Yao's "3-second" result was as overwhelmingly ahead as Mo Li's result in the first round, leaving the other youths greatly astonished.

The 3-second man was truly terrifying!

At the same time, he also earned the resentful hostility of Mo Li, a genius who had led the others in the first two rounds but only ranked 41st in the willpower assessment.

However, telekinetic talent is the most highly valued, so Mo Li was still logically rated as High-Grade talent.

Jiang Yao also successfully entered the High-Grade list. In addition to him, there were two other youths who had pushed through to the fifth layer of the light screen during the second round's telekinetic burst assessment, making a total of 4 people recognized as High-Grade talent.

There were 10 youths in the Mid-Grade, and the remaining nearly 50 were only rated as Low-Grade.