Horizontal Sweep

At Qin Zhao's words, his mind sank into his body. He was fully equipped with a second-tier Origin Force battle suit, boots, and helmet, and wore an ordinary Space Ring on his finger. Inside the ring were the War Blade and shield he was accustomed to using. Aside from his standard equipment, the only things he could bring into the World Zone were his own insights and understanding of the laws—and those were his greatest reliance.

"Group teleportation commencing. Countdown: 60...59...58..."

The cold countdown echoed between Heaven and Earth, like war drums beating in everyone's hearts. The continent, which had been somewhat noisy, fell instantly silent. Trillions of geniuses, whether brimming with confidence or inwardly apprehensive, held their breath and used the last moments to prepare themselves.

Qin Zhao slowly closed his eyes. King Lanchen's instructions flashed through his mind: "Hunt efficiently. Just sweep through them."

He also recalled King Yanlong's burning gaze and his expectation that Qin Zhao would "break into the top ten in the entire universe." More than anything, he felt his own longing for the path to the peak, and excitement at the prospect of clashing with the universe's countless geniuses. Pressure? Yes. But above all, his fighting spirit was boiling!

"10...9...8..."

The countdown entered its final ten seconds.

Qin Zhao opened his eyes, his gaze clear and sharp as a blade. His aura was restrained to the utmost, yet he seemed like a volcano on the verge of eruption.

"3...2...1! Teleport!"

Boom!

As the final word, "Teleport," rang out, the boundless Assembly Continent—and the densely packed countless geniuses, numbering in the trillions—blurred all at once, turned insubstantial, and then vanished completely!

A brief sensation of passing through space and time washed over him. For Qin Zhao, whose soul consciousness had reached the peak of the Domain Lord level, the teleportation caused almost no discomfort.

The next moment, his feet touched solid ground, and he found himself in an entirely new environment.

A dry, scorching wind swept sand across his helmet, making a fine rustling sound. Before him stretched an endless desert beneath a yellowish sky. Several hazy, dark-red stars hung overhead, casting light that gave off little warmth. In the distance lay rolling dunes and the ruins of enormous, crumbling stone structures of an unfamiliar style, as if bearing witness to this world's former civilization and present desolation.

"World Zone 39." Qin Zhao glanced at the screen on his arm, which displayed his information—

Participant: Qin Zhao (Noah Universe Kingdom)

Points: 0

Rank: None

Current World Zone: World Zone 39

World Zone Introduction: ...

Below that was a brief explanation of the rules: Kill an opponent and gain half of their points. The rankings updated in real time, and death ended the preliminary contest. The contest would last one year, and the top 1,001 participants at its conclusion would advance.

"A desert environment... Those who've comprehended the Law of Earth have a slight advantage."

At a thought, Qin Zhao sent out his Spiritual Force like quicksilver pouring across the ground, silently sweeping over hundreds of kilometers around him. He was a warrior, but he also possessed Spiritual Force; it simply couldn't compare with his Origin Force abilities.

The moment his Spiritual Force swept past, Qin Zhao sensed hidden malice and killing intent in more than one place. This seemingly lifeless desert had been surging with undercurrents since the preliminary contest began. In some places, fierce clashes of Origin Force and screams had already broken out.

"As expected, there's no shortage of people eager to get themselves killed." Qin Zhao remained indifferent. His goal was to hunt efficiently and rack up points quickly. He had no interest in playing hide-and-seek with these "campers," who were just hoping to get lucky.

Just as he was about to take the initiative, three fierce attacks suddenly shot out from a cluster of enormous weathered stone pillars about fifty kilometers behind him!

A scorching blade of flame tore through the sky, sweeping toward him on a wave of hot air! Close behind it came dozens of ice spikes glittering with an eerie blue chill, along with a silent mental spike that stabbed straight toward the depths of his soul! The three-person squad—a warrior, an elemental Controller, and an Illusionist—worked together with practiced coordination. They had clearly been lying in ambush, making him, this "lone target," their first prey.

Faced with the sudden assault, Qin Zhao didn't even turn around. He merely tilted his head slightly, his gaze seeming to pierce through space and settle behind the pillars where the three were hiding.

"Vmm—"

An invisible, formless force, so heavy it was suffocating, suddenly descended! Centered on Qin Zhao, the space within ten kilometers seemed to solidify. The air stopped moving, and the airborne sand froze in place. The incoming flaming blade and dense hail of ice spikes seemed to be trapped in invisible amber. Their speed plummeted and their light dimmed, until they finally crumbled and dissipated a hundred meters from Qin Zhao!

Black Stone Prison—basic gravity field, deployed!

The sneers on the faces of the three hiding behind the pillars instantly turned to shock and terror! They felt as if they'd been buried beneath ten thousand meters of earth, terrifying pressure squeezing them from all directions. Not only could they no longer move their bodies, but even the circulation of Origin Force within them had grown sluggish and difficult! The Illusionist who had launched the mental attack suffered even worse. The instant his mental spike touched the gravity field, it struck an invisible, massive wall. The backlash made him grunt as blood seeped from his eyes, ears, nostrils, and mouth!

"Oh no! We picked a fight with the wrong person! He's crossed the threshold of the Origin Law!" The Flame Warrior roared inwardly as he struggled, yet couldn't even lift a finger.

Qin Zhao still didn't turn around. He simply raised his right hand, spread his fingers, and gave a gentle clench in the direction of the stone pillars.

"Rumble!"

The dozens of enormous stone pillars, each a hundred meters tall, and the ground beneath them seemed to be seized by an invisible giant hand! The terrifying gravity instantly increased dozens of times over!

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

Three soft thuds rang out in succession. Under the sudden, overwhelming pressure, the three ambushers and the pillars where they hid were crushed like watermelons, instantly becoming three clouds of blood mist. The Virtual Universe System then refreshed them out of existence.

The points on Qin Zhao's arm screen jumped from 0 to 3. He had done it easily, without the slightest effort.

Yet at the sight of this, his brow furrowed slightly.

"Too slow," Qin Zhao thought. "Going out to find them one by one and kill them one by one is inefficient. This World Zone is vast. Even with a trillion people scattered across it, I'll need a more efficient method if I want to rack up points quickly."

His gaze swept once more across the boundless desert. Within the range of his Spiritual Force, he sensed dozens of scattered life signs—some lying in wait, some moving, and others already fighting.

"In that case..." Qin Zhao's gaze sharpened as he made his decision. "I'll stop wasting time and just sweep through the whole area!"

At a thought, he stopped holding back.

"Whoosh!" "Whoosh!" "Whoosh!"...

Nine metal spheres, each about the size of a fist, formed in his hand. They were pitch-black, with naturally occurring, strange patterns across their surfaces that seemed to contain the rhythmic pulse of the earth.

This was a special version of the Black Stone Prison that Qin Zhao had developed specifically for the preliminary contest! Each metal sphere represented a force field. By moving the nine spheres along a set trajectory, he could extend the range of his Black Stone Prison by a full ten times! Its original coverage of just over a hundred kilometers would instantly expand to more than a thousand kilometers.

Guided by Qin Zhao's will, the nine Black Stone Cores gave off a deep hum, then transformed into nine streaks of black light and shot out in different directions from him. In the blink of an eye, they had flown more than a hundred kilometers. Then, centered on Qin Zhao, they took up positions around a huge spherical area.

Next, Qin Zhao raised both hands slightly, his vast reserves of Origin Force surging as he drove the Law of Earth Origin he had comprehended!

"Vmm—!!!"

A terrifying force field, ten or even a hundred times stronger than before, erupted with the nine Black Stone Cores as its nodes, instantly covering a vast circular area with a radius of more than a thousand kilometers, centered on Qin Zhao!

This time, it wasn't merely Gravity Binding.