Fierce Battle

Lin Yuan only needed a short amount of time each day to complete his 10 matches, so he spent the majority of his time on cultivation.

Lin Yuan had not yet been matched against the top-ranked Brian.

However, battling the top few dozen students in the Sacred Land still provided Lin Yuan with inspiration, leading to improvements in his application of secret techniques and practical combat skills.

In his 192nd match, Lin Yuan encountered a slightly more troublesome opponent: Ling, a spiritual master controller ranked fourth among the Universe Level students in the Sacred Land.

This young woman had a deep understanding of the Law of Light Origin and had even grasped a trace of the Law of Time Origin, making her incredibly fast. The attacks she unleashed by manipulating her telekinetic weapon were extremely bizarre, proving even more difficult to deal with than the martial artist Resk.

Relying on his own astonishing defensive capabilities, Lin Yuan had to put in quite a bit of effort to secure the victory.

After this battle, Lin Yuan had a rough grasp of the strength levels among the Universe Level students in the Nine Flame Sacred Land.

Excluding Lin Yuan himself, there were at least four people who had grasped a trace of a superior origin law: Brian, Resk, Ling, and Cohen.

Although Barry had not grasped a superior origin law, his extremely powerful illusion abilities meant his true strength was second only to Brian and Lin Yuan.

Ranked behind these individuals were students who had grasped two inferior origin laws; there were about two of them, though they had only just begun and their insights were not deep.

Following them were the students who had grasped a single inferior origin law.

From the strength of these students, it was clear that the Nine Flame Universe Kingdom was highly successful in cultivating geniuses.

Lin Yuan remembered that among the Star Level geniuses from the Ganwu Universe Kingdom who participated in the Genius Tournament, perhaps only one—or even none at all—could make it into the top 1,000 across the entire universe each session.

Yet, among the next batch of geniuses from the Nine Flame Sacred Land participating in the Strongest Tournament, at least seven or eight had the potential to enter the top 1,000 in the universe. Even if they failed this time, there was still hope if they tried a few more times.

It was evident that the Nine Flame Kingdom Lord placed great importance on the cultivation of geniuses, and the various Law Towers within the Sacred Land were the most powerful proof of this.

In his 209th match, Lin Yuan met the chubby Cohen, and as the two had agreed, he let the little fatty lose the duel quite gracefully.

Finally, in his 223rd match, Lin Yuan was matched against the number one Universe Level student of the Sacred Land, Brian.

Lin Yuan had begun preparing for this battle long ago. He had watched the combat footage of Brian fighting other top-ranked students several times over.

The weapon Brian used was a silver longsword, and he had a deep understanding of the Law of Space Origin, seemingly having touched upon a trace of the essence of the Law of Space Origin. As for inferior origin laws, he had grasped both the Law of Water Origin and the Law of Wind Origin.

Brian's combat style was sharp and efficient; in every duel, he would unleash hundreds of phantom images at once, ending his opponent instantly with a single strike of his silver longsword.

In the Virtual Universe, inside the Spectator Hall.

The match between Lin Yuan and Brian was the focus of the Immortals' attention.

Inside the hall, the sound of discussion was constant.

"Of all the Sacred Land ranking tournaments, this match is the most worth watching."

"Indeed. After so many tournaments, we finally have a second person capable of defeating Barry."

"But in my opinion, it's unlikely Lin Yuan will win. Let's just see how long he can hold out; it would already be impressive if he doesn't get insta-killed by Brian like the other students."

"This Brian is a member of the Desolate God Race. He even has a King-level Immortal in his clan personally guiding him. I don't know why he didn't receive his training in the Wild Universe Kingdom instead of coming to our Nine Flame Universe Kingdom."

"Who knows? It might have something to do with the Kingdom Lord."

Not far away, Marquis Yuankun listened to these discussions without taking them to heart.

Although Marquis Yuankun did not believe Lin Yuan could defeat Brian this time, given his young disciple's talent and speed of progress, he believed Lin Yuan's future achievements would be no less than Brian's.

"Teacher, Junior Brother is already very strong. If it weren't for Brian coming to our Nine Flame Universe Kingdom from the Wild Universe Kingdom, Junior Brother would already be number one in the Sacred Land," Marquis Golden Sword said from the side.

"Being number one in the Sacred Land doesn't represent everything. Of all the past number ones, how many have become Immortals like you?" Marquis Yuankun replied.

"The path of cultivation cannot be judged by a single moment. Talent, hard work, and opportunity are all indispensable. When you teach your own disciples, you must not make rash judgments based on their performance at any one time."

"Yes, Teacher," Marquis Golden Sword replied respectfully.

At that moment, in a corner of the Spectator Hall, sat a burly, red-haired, ordinary Immortal Military Lord—the Immortal mentor Moke.

Mentor Moke was very low-key. He did not participate in the discussions, instead sitting alone on a sofa in the corner, watching the Battle Space where Lin Yuan was located.

Among all the Immortals present, Mentor Moke was likely the only one who understood Lin Yuan's true strength.

This battle... it should be a real fight. Brian doesn't understand Lin Yuan's methods, so it's possible he might fall for a trick.

Mentor Moke thought to himself.

In the Virtual Universe, inside the Battle Space.

On a desolate planet.

Lin Yuan looked at the figure appearing in the distance.

It was a silver-haired youth, similar in height to Lin Yuan, wearing silver battle robes and holding a silver longsword. His skin was dark, his gaze as sharp as a blade, and he looked toward Lin Yuan with a calm expression.

The silver-haired youth was none other than the number one Universe Level student of the Sacred Land, Brian.

Neither of them spoke.

The countdown began automatically.

"Three, two, one!"

The battle erupted in an instant!

Brian flickered, manifesting hundreds of afterimages. Each figure of the silver-haired youth appeared incredibly real, wielding a silver longsword as they lunged at Lin Yuan from all directions with a speed so great that even Lin Yuan struggled to track them.

At the same time, Lin Yuan fully unleashed his domain, channeling the Earth Tremor secret technique to protect himself while firing off a series of condensed, earth-yellow shockwaves.

However, each shockwave could only hold off a few afterimages at most, proving completely unable to stem the tide of Brian's onslaught.

"Pfft! Pfft! Pfft! Pfft! Pfft!"

Hundreds of sword shadows struck at Lin Yuan simultaneously, causing the mountain phantom protecting his body to gradually crumble, on the verge of shattering completely.

This attack is too strong; I can't hold it off at all!

Lin Yuan exclaimed inwardly.

"Burning Universe Flame Wild Axe! Appear!"

"Swish!"

A dark red Giant Axe suddenly appeared in Lin Yuan's hands. The moment he gripped the weapon, white flames ignited fiercely along the blade.

The Holy Land Ranking Tournament allowed students to carry multiple weapons, though very few chose to do so, as mastering even one weapon was already difficult enough.

The silver-haired youth's brows twitched at the sight.

"Scorching Flow!"

Lin Yuan roared, swinging the dark red Giant Axe repeatedly as streams of scorching flames erupted outward.

Each burst of flame contained the profound mysteries of the Law of Fire Origin, possessing astonishing power that caused every afterimage struck by the fire to shatter and dissipate.

In the blink of an eye, more than half of the hundreds of afterimages had been wiped out.