Yan Qie saw that there was no way to retreat, and killing intent surged in his heart.
The brave prevailed when two enemies met on a narrow road.
"Die." Wu Yun swung his staff coldly. The pressure, far greater than that of a white dwarf, did nothing to slow his attack. He charged toward Yan Qie at three thousand kilometers per second.
The staff shone like a star, leaving countless afterimages and trails of flowing light.
"Light? No, that can't be right. He cultivates the Law of Water and Space Law. Even an idiot wouldn't comprehend both water and light at the same time." King Pujin discerned something subtle in the flowing light.
A fierce gale swept across a hundred thousand miles. Yan Qie drew his blade and struck, releasing his World Projection at the same time, hoping to crush Wu Yun's countless trails of light.
He was a Peak World Lord, while Wu Yun was only a fourth-stage World Lord. Even if Wu Yun's Law Comprehension was high, his World Projection shouldn't be a match for Yan Qie's.
Boom!
The staff and blade collided. Yan Qie was sent flying, spinning through the air until he could no longer hold on to his blade, which fell to the ground.
There was no contest of technique. It was simply overwhelming strength defeating skill, an absolute crushing of his opponent. Yan Qie was far out of his depth.
"Such strength! How can he only be a fourth-stage World Lord?!" someone exclaimed in shock.
Wu Yun continued to accelerate. He could crush opponents at any level.
The people present had reached, at most, the tenth level of the Heavenly Bridge. Most of them had only reached the ninth, putting them at the level of Elite World Lord Warriors.
"No, no, no!" Yan Qie quickly righted himself, but terror seized him. He frantically sped toward the exit. Wu Yun's attacks could seriously injure him from thousands of kilometers away.
If Wu Yun got close, Yan Qie would probably be pulverized in two moves.
"His Law Comprehension is stronger than that of an ordinary Immortal God," King Pujin remarked. "He might have had other opportunities, too. He can actually crush a Peak World Lord with ease."
King Pujin was curious. If Wu Yun already had this strength as a fourth-stage World Lord, then at his peak he should be a fairly powerful World Lord General—worth five hundred million military credits.
Wu Yun sneered. He wouldn't have cared if this were some other kind of test.
But in a situation where they were allowed to fight one another, Wu Yun would certainly kill Yan Qie. The man had dared to insult him as soon as he walked in.
"I can pass. Can you?" Wu Yun rapidly closed in, continuing to send taunts to disrupt Yan Qie's composure. "You useless piece of trash. Is running all you can do?"
They had been only a few thousand kilometers apart, and Wu Yun was twice as fast as Yan Qie.
Yan Qie was at least fifteen thousand kilometers from the edge of the Martial Arena. There was no way he could escape within ten seconds.
"What do I do?!" Before Yan Qie could come up with a plan, Wu Yun was already right in front of him. An unimaginably powerful blow crashed down, unleashing billions of streams of light.
A World Lord General was practically guaranteed to crush an Elite World Lord Warrior like Yan Qie. Wu Yun slammed him into the ground again.
Boom!
Fortunately, the Martial Arena was made of sturdy material that could withstand even King-Level Immortals fighting inside it. Yan Qie hit the ground without leaving so much as a dent, blood spraying from his mouth.
Wu Yun immediately brought his staff down again, smashing the Peak World Lord into a pulp.
Having finished, he stood motionless and pointed imperiously at the other eighteen World Lords. "You have half an hour to decide who the other person to qualify will be."
His swift, decisive attack had truly shaken them.
The eighteen World Lords understood that if they failed to decide before time ran out, Wu Yun would step in again to help them "save face."
"Kill!"
The arena descended into chaos.
"Interesting." The horn on King Pujin's forehead twitched. "If this kid's Law Comprehension improves a little more and he reaches the Peak World Lord level, he'll be able to match an ordinary Immortal God."
A World Lord capable of matching an ordinary Immortal would have to be a member of the Heaven and Earth Secret Realm or even the Primordial Secret Realm in the Virtual Universe Company.
As for World Lords in the Original Secret Realm, it would be embarrassing if they couldn't match a peak Army Lord while still at the World Lord level. The cream of the crop could even match Initial or high-tier King-Level Immortals.
They didn't need the full half hour. In just over ten minutes, the World Lords had decided the winner. Some had buckled under the pressure and fled early. The one left standing was a black-armored World Lord.
His Law Comprehension was probably around the tenth level of the Heavenly Bridge, and he was very close to fully comprehending a lower-level law.
"Excellent." King Pujin smiled in satisfaction. "You're all qualified to join the Core Layer of the Giant Axe Arena. I'll upload the battle recordings to the Virtual Universe, and the higher-ups will decide which Secret Realm you'll enter."
King Pujin worked for a Venerable, too.
The members recruited through the Genius Battle and Strongest Battle generally joined under the Venerable in charge of hosting that particular event. This method of recruitment, however, was based on which King-level expert conducted the assessment.
For instance, King Pujin's direct Venerable was Venerable Shihuo. If Wu Yun and the others entered the Core Secret Realm, then when they eventually reached the Immortal Level, they would also come under Venerable Shihuo.
Several World Lords who had fled the Martial Arena early now walked out with their heads hanging.
The qualification slots were extremely precious. Every Elite World Lord Warrior wanted to enter the Core Layer of one of the five great powers. Otherwise, they could only keep earning military credits on the Outer Realm Battlefield.
The black-armored World Lord was thrilled. He had fought on the Outer Realm Battlefield since his Domain Lord days, battling his way up to become an Elite World Lord Warrior.
His Law Comprehension was even comparable to that of the most ordinary Immortals, but he had still greater ambitions. After breaking through, he wanted to reach the high-tier Army Lord level directly—or even become a Marquis-Level Immortal.
Army Lord Immortals and Marquis-Level Immortals were worlds apart in status.
He could hardly advance further with the resources available to him. He wanted to enter the Core Layer of one of the five great powers and had gone to great lengths just to earn this slot.
A moment later.
King Pujin said in great shock, "Wu Yun of the Ganwu Universe Kingdom will join the Giant Axe Secret Realm. Pan Wu of the Nanhu Universe Kingdom will join the Taiwu Secret Realm."
The very name Giant Axe Secret Realm spoke volumes about its standing.
The Taiwu Secret Realm was on par with the Doomsday Secret Realm.
"Venerable Shihuo thinks highly of you." King Pujin patted Wu Yun on the shoulder. "The next Secret Realm Qualification Battle is in thirty thousand years. I hope you won't get eliminated before then."
Venerable Shihuo held an exalted position. King Pujin could hardly believe that he thought so highly of Wu Yun.
Weren't there plenty of World Lords with talent and strength like this?
Wu Yun himself hadn't expected Venerable Shihuo to favor him. The other was a High Universe Venerable, and his time cultivating had been short. The higher-ups valued him more than an ancient Venerable like Ganwu Kingdom Lord.
Wu Yun had never even dared to imagine joining the Giant Axe Secret Realm.
The rest was no longer King Pujin's responsibility. Wu Yun and the black-armored World Lord returned to the hall and waited for the staff to come escort them.
Normally, whether one joined the Virtual Universe Company or a power like the Giant Axe Arena, World Lords had to go outside and risk their lives to gain experience.
They would go to a Universe Secret Realm or the Outer Realm Battlefield.
But since Wu Yun and the others had just joined, they would be given a period of time to develop—roughly a thousand years.
After a thousand years, they would have to go out and gain experience.
Before you continue