The First Round of Eliminations

Just then, a gigantic spaceship descended with a thunderous roar. Its majestic design, sharp lines, and overwhelming presence made it impossible to miss. Two prominent characters were emblazoned on its hull: "Xuanling."

The hull was made of an unknown metal, its surface carved with mysterious totems and runes that seemed to contain some kind of power. They shimmered faintly.

Once the ship had landed, its outer hatch opened.

"Whoosh!" "Whoosh!"

In perfectly ordered ranks, people flew out in teams. One after another, a full thousand Cosmic Level youths from the Dongdi Clan streamed out of the ship.

"That's—the people from Xuanling Academy."

"They won't be easy to deal with."

Some of the Dongdi Clan's other prodigies, who had already disembarked, began discussing them warily.

"Xuanling Academy..."

Watching the scene, Teacher Wala seemed to recall something.

"A considerable number of the prodigies who make it through the Eastern Domain Tournament each time come from Xuanling Academy. Every student who comes from there to compete in the tournament is someone you can't afford to underestimate."

"Enough. There's no need to worry about them for now. You'll face them in the tournament soon enough."

"For now, let's go register."

On the way to registration, Teacher Wala gave them another reminder.

"The first round of the Eastern Domain Tournament is mainly meant to eliminate those whose Law Comprehension is insufficient. It serves as a screening round, and there's no danger to your lives."

"But the second round will be real combat, and it'll be dangerous."

"Don't let your guard down."

At the tournament plaza, all eighteen million or so Cosmic Level youths participating in the Eastern Domain Tournament had arrived.

Teacher Wala had already taken a seat in the Observation Stand surrounding the plaza.

The weakest people allowed to watch from here were Marquis-level Immortals. There were also many powerful King-level Immortal gods.

Several powerful figures were talking among themselves.

"I didn't expect White Dragon, the son of the Heavenly Dragon King, to take part in the Eastern Domain Tournament."

"Indeed. The moment Lord Heavenly Dragon King broke through, he became a King-level Immortal. His battle prowess is comparable to a Venerable's, and his standing in the clan surpasses that of ordinary Venerables. His only son ought to have the right to enter Dongdi Tower and receive its inheritance directly."

"But now that his son's here, it'll be difficult for everyone else to compete for first place. I've heard he's devoted himself to raising and training his son."

"Not necessarily. Let's see how much of his father's bravery he inherited."

Just then, a Green-Robed Woman suddenly appeared on the throne at the very center of the Observation Stand. Her green robes gave her an air of elegant nobility, while her features seemed veiled behind clouds, indistinct and hazy.

Her figure was ethereal, as if she existed in a different dimension.

The powerful figures who had been talking immediately fell silent out of respect when she appeared.

"The first round of the Eastern Domain Tournament is a Law elimination trial."

"Children of my Dongdi Clan, your consciousnesses will be projected into a wondrous treasure—the Law Tower."

Her indifferent voice, accompanied by a terrifying pressure, spread across the entire plaza.

"Inside the Law Tower, you will all have identical bodies at the peak of the Cosmic Level, with exactly the same basic strength. What will be assessed is the level of your Law Comprehension."

"Each floor of the tower has nine gates, and each gate has a guardian. Everyone will begin at the first gate on the first floor. Defeat the guardian to advance to the next gate."

"Fight your way through the Law Tower to the best of your ability. Reach as many floors and gates as you can."

"Once everyone has finished challenging the tower, you will be ranked according to the floors and gates you cleared."

"The top 640,000 will advance to the next round. Everyone else will be eliminated!"

"Don't hold back your strength. The top 1,000 in the Law Tower will receive special protection. They won't be matched against one another in the brutal, bloody second round, preventing them from failing after facing an overly powerful opponent too early."

"Prepare yourselves. The first round of eliminations is about to begin."

An invisible ripple swept across the plaza, and the consciousnesses of all eighteen million or so Cosmic Level youths participating in the Eastern Domain Tournament entered the Law Tower.

In the Law Tower, before the first gate on the first floor.

Feng Hui suddenly appeared there. His footsteps rang dully against the solid floor.

Before him stretched a vast space. The first floor of the tower was exceedingly tall, and gems that glittered like stars were embedded in its lofty ceiling, casting a gentle glow throughout the hall.

His gaze traveled along the exquisitely carved stone pillars within the tower. Ancient, mysterious symbols etched into them seemed to tell a history unknown to all.

"Beep."

Feng Hui looked down at his wrist. A screen there displayed some information.

"Participant: Feng Hui (Jia 312 Academy)

Floors and gates cleared: Floor 0, Gate 0

Rank: None

Law Tower space: Number 0647 9583

Note: Once you die, your personal Law Tower challenge will end.

Each floor has nine gates, and each gate has a guardian. Defeat the guardian to advance to the next gate. Defeat all nine guardians to advance to the next floor.

Once all participants have died, the first round of the Eastern Domain Tournament will end, and the final rankings will be decided.

The rankings are listed below."

"Participant Feng Hui, please select your weapon."

A huge, indifferent voice echoed through the tower.

Feng Hui casually chose a black longblade that felt right in his hand. All the weapons here were of the same grade, since the trial was meant to assess Law Comprehension. Differences in weapons couldn't be allowed to affect the results.

"Whoosh!"

He transformed into a streak of Flowing Light and flew straight to the first gate.

"Whoosh." A Golden Figure appeared out of thin air at the gate, also wielding a longblade. It was the first gate's guardian.

Feng Hui brought his blade down in a single slash, defeating the guardian before he could even react.

Second gate, third gate, fourth gate... ninth gate.

The first floor of the Law Tower wasn't particularly difficult. Feng Hui quickly cleared all nine gates and reached the second floor.

"This Law Tower is quite similar to humanity's Heavenly Bridge. The first floor is about as difficult as the first layer of the Heavenly Bridge, except it's divided into nine gates, with the difficulty increasing at each one."

"From the looks of it, the Law Tower can assess a challenger's level of Law Comprehension in finer detail than the Heavenly Bridge."

For example, even if two people had both cleared the first layer of the Heavenly Bridge, their skill levels could still differ. On the Heavenly Bridge, those differences weren't very clear.

But the Law Tower used nine gates to determine precisely where someone stood within a given floor.

That made it easier to measure one's progress, which greatly benefited cultivation.

As expected of a Holy Land Universe with a history stretching back countless years. The Law Tower alone showed how highly developed its cultivation civilization was, with far more complete facilities.

Feng Hui's human body had only cleared the fourth layer of the Heavenly Bridge, but that had been a long time ago.

After fully comprehending the first nine fundamental mysteries of the Time Law and Law of Space, his strength had improved tremendously.

However, he didn't lack opportunities to study the Chaos Tablet, nor did he currently need points. He had been busy cultivating and studying in Chaos City, so he hadn't tried to clear the fifth layer.

Now that his Dongdi Clan clone had entered the Law Tower...

He might as well use it to test the current level of his Law Comprehension.