This was already the speed he took pride in, enough to crush every newcomer of the same batch.
He had even deliberately revealed quite a bit of his strength early in the battle, all to widen the gap.
To establish his unquestionable position as number one among this batch of newcomers and pave the way for the coming struggle over resources.
But now?
How long had the second batch been inside? He estimated it had been barely over a minute.
Yet someone had already cleared the first floor and charged into the second, far faster than him.
This was not merely a slight surpassing. It was a nearly crushing gap.
It trampled the record he had been so proud of beneath its feet.
No matter who this latecomer was—Li Wen, who appeared low-key yet possessed an exceptional bone age, or some other person hiding their strength—
It meant that his position as "first" in this combat-power assessment had become highly uncertain.
A faint, imperceptible gloom flashed through the depths of Kains Radiance's eyes.
The surprised and probing gazes cast over by the first batch felt like thorns prickling his back.
In the end, he could only forcibly suppress the surging emotions in his heart and cling to a sliver of self-comforting luck.
He accepted an earlier old member's view: perhaps—perhaps he was merely fast? The later floors were where the real truth would show.
Yet even he found that thought pale and powerless.
After all, was speed not also part of strength?
Being fast enough to crush every puppet on the first floor was itself a terrifying level of power.
He could only nail his gaze firmly onto the light screen and wait to see how that point of light performed on the second floor.
Inside the Heaven-Piercing Tower, Li