Ten-Year Assessment

Yin Congyang had a feeling—he couldn't say he had no connection at all to the laws and domains of wind, lightning, and light, but compared to the Five Elements Laws, it was like the difference between walking speed and driving a Ferrari; they weren't even on the same level. So he didn't dare entertain any thoughts about the laws of wind, lightning, light, or their superior, the Law of Time—those were things that might not yield results even after spending ten thousand or a hundred thousand times the effort.

If he were to truly study the laws of the time system, that would have to wait until he became an immortal, or better yet, a venerable.

Previously trapped by the incomplete Five Elements Domain, Yin Congyang had never dared to delve deeply into the laws of the various systems that had already formed domains, afraid that if he accidentally comprehended a sliver of the original law, it might boost his power in the short term but hinder the formation and fusion of the Five Elements Domain. Now, however, he had no such concerns.

Next, he needed to continue tempering his body, evolving both body and soul to the limit of the Planetary Level as quickly as possible; second, to keep training in axe techniques for close combat and Illusion Techniques as means to defeat enemies; third, to keep cultivating his domain, striving to push it up layer by layer; and fourth, to begin exploring the original laws of the universe. The Five Elements Laws were subordinate to the Law of Space, and Yin Congyang also had ambitions for the Law of Space, hoping that while comprehending the original Five Elements Laws, he could also dabble in the Law of Space, because he knew that the top geniuses in the universe all delved deeply into superior laws before becoming geniuses that appear once in billions of epochs.

The results of the Genius Tournament were no surprise. Luo Feng lost to Rong Jun and entered the loser's bracket. Now, with over nine thousand matches nearly finished, after nurturing his Mo Sha Race clone, his progress had been extremely fast.

Thunder God didn't make it through the first round of selection, and Hong also failed in the arena battles.

Afterward, Luo Feng boarded the spaceship heading to the Initial Universe, while Hong went to train with his dying World Lord teacher, Luo, leaving Thunder God alone to guard Earth, occasionally venturing out to explore and take risks in the Black Dragon Mountain Star Field. But with Star Level and Universe Level slaves around, safety wasn't an issue.

In the blink of an eye, Yin Congyang had been at the Elite Training Camp for nearly ten years. During the midterm assessment in the fifth year, he not only had to fight each trainee individually but also undergo assessments in the virtual universe, which were divided into theory and practical combat.

The theory assessment covered various common-sense theories learned over the previous five years: precautions for venturing and taking risks in the universe, identification of common races, their strengths and weaknesses, enemy and ally relationships, preparations and precautions for exploring universe secret realms, the uses of common treasures in the universe, how to identify them, and so on. There were hundreds of thousands of questions, all fill-in-the-blank and analysis problems, requiring a 90% correct rate to pass, so it was quite difficult.

The practical combat assessment had each person face various enemies and scenarios simulated by the Training Camp Intelligent System, also using a points system, with the highest points going to those who survived to the end or cleared the entire challenge.

A few years ago, when Yin Congyang's Five Elements Domain reached completion, he had already directly broken through to the Second-Layer Domain, comparable to the Ninth-Layer Domain. By the five-year assessment, he had broken through to the Fourth-Layer Domain, with even more astonishing power. So whether it was fighting other trainees or the practical combat assessment in the virtual universe, he came in first—from the first day at the training camp to now, Yin Congyang had never lost a single match against any trainee!

As for the theory assessment, for someone with a powerful soul like Yin Congyang, it was relatively simple. Besides, he was very curious about the various races, secret realms, and rare treasures in the universe, eager to learn as much as possible.

After the five-year assessment, another five years passed, and soon the ten-year major assessment would arrive, followed by the Life-and-Death Trial.

Through these years of cultivation, Yin Congyang had long pushed his domain to the Eighth Layer.

The Ninth-Layer Domain was harder to reach with each layer, and its power also increased with each layer. His Eighth-Layer Domain was several times more powerful than a Ninth-Layer Domain at the same level. Unfortunately, although he had some understanding of the original Five Elements Laws and had already crossed the threshold into the Laws of Gold and Water, he still couldn't see a glimmer of insight into the Law of Space.

For the original laws of the universe—Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth—Yin Congyang had crossed the threshold for some and was about to cross for others. This also greatly increased the power of his axe techniques. Even without using his domain, few trainees at the camp could put pressure on him.

Not to mention the continuous fluctuations in his dantian over the years, steadily evolving his body and soul. After so many years, his body and soul evolution was nearing the critical point of the limit. But the closer he got to the limit, the slower the evolution became. A year ago, he had already felt he was near the limit, but after another year, he was still circling just before it.

Still, he wasn't too anxious. His earlier estimate had been that it would take about ten years to reach the threshold for breaking through to the Star Level, and that was in the Green Pouch Secret Realm, where the abundant original universe energy could accelerate body evolution.

"Beep!"

His Optical Computer alerted him to an email from the Training Camp Intelligent System.

The email's subject was straightforward: Upcoming Decennial Major Assessment.

Yin Congyang opened the email and read it carefully. The content was simple: all trainees had been at the camp for nearly ten years and would soon face their first Life-and-Death Trial, so it was time for a summary assessment.

This assessment, besides the basic combat and theory tests in the virtual universe, would also include a challenge of the Heaven-Reaching Tower.

The Heaven-Reaching Tower assessment was simple: a tower with 100 floors. Each floor would simulate an opponent at the same level as you, starting from no domain, then First-Layer Domain, Second-Layer Domain... up to Ninth-Layer Domain, followed by law comprehension, subordinate laws, law acknowledgment... and superior laws.

There were further subdivisions. For example, within the First-Layer Domain, there were distinctions like force amplitude of 10 times, 20 times... 50 times... 80 times... 100 times, and so on.

The email ended by saying that anyone who could pass the 51st floor of the Heaven-Reaching Tower could directly enter the core layer of the Virtual Universe Company.

Seeing this, Yin Congyang got a bit excited. He initiated a communication request to Instructor Golden Lion, and it was quickly connected.

"Instructor, I read the email from the Training Camp Intelligent System," Yin Congyang said, suppressing his excitement and asking calmly, "It says that passing the 51st floor of the Heaven-Reaching Tower allows entry into the core layer of the Virtual Universe Company. Could you tell me roughly what strength is needed for the 51st floor?"

"Hahaha," Instructor Golden Lion laughed heartily. "You're not the first to ask me this. Remember what I told you when you first arrived ten years ago? My floor count on the Heaven-Reaching Tower isn't enough for you Planetary Level guys to directly enter the core layer. I'll tell you, I'm currently at floor 39 of the Heaven-Reaching Tower. That's after I entered the threshold of the Law of Gold in these ten years, greatly increasing the power of my secret techniques..."

He paused and then continued, "For Planetary Level, Star Level, and Universe Level, it's all the same. Each floor simulates someone at your exact level. If you're Planetary Level Nine, they're Planetary Level Nine; if you're Star Level One, they're Star Level One. Physical fitness and telekinetic force are exactly the same. The differences lie in domain, law comprehension, body force amplitude, secret techniques, and other external factors... The strength for the 51st floor of the Heaven-Reaching Tower is roughly Ninth-Layer Domain, force amplitude of 70 times, deep comprehension of some subordinate law, entry into the threshold of some superior law, top-tier secret techniques... What do you think? Confident?"

Yin Congyang opened his mouth, a bit dumbfounded. "Such high standards—even core layer members might not be able to pass, right?"

"That's not necessarily true," Instructor Golden Lion said cautiously. "If it's a relatively junior core layer member, of course they might not pass. But for the top ten of this Genius Tournament, I estimate they could pass the 51st floor without issue—you know the first-place winner from a few years ago? At Star Level Nine, he had a deep comprehension of the Law of Space, able to manifest hundreds of avatars during the selection matches. Even I wouldn't be confident facing him at Star Level Nine, let alone now that he's definitely entered Universe Level. If I fought him now, I'd be lucky to escape with my life..."

Yin Congyang understood. He was talking about the "Death God" Bolan, a truly brilliant genius at the Star Level. Luo Feng couldn't compare to Bolan at that stage.

Seeing Yin Congyang's speechless expression, Instructor Golden Lion thought for a moment and added somewhat comfortingly, "If it were in reality, with your freakish physical fitness, you might pass a few more floors. But in the training camp's Heaven-Reaching Tower, everyone has the same physical fitness, so you'll be at a disadvantage..."

Yin Congyang didn't mind that. "That's fine too. I can see how many floors I can pass with a normal Planetary Level Nine physique. Besides, in the Life-and-Death Trial, the opponents probably won't all be Planetary Level—otherwise, it wouldn't be a true life-and-death tempering. So it's okay! By the way, Instructor, how long after the assessment does the Life-and-Death Trial begin?"

"Hmm," Instructor Golden Lion nodded approvingly. "It's good that you think that way. The Heaven-Reaching Tower is the fairest. Just push as high as you can. Don't worry about the core layer—that's something to consider in the late Star Level. There will be other promotion channels then. The Heaven-Reaching Tower is the fastest but also the hardest. As for the Life-and-Death Trial, it's usually about 7 to 10 days after the assessment. And I'm warning you, don't take it lightly. Every Life-and-Death Trial has a mortality rate of around 30%. Instructors aren't allowed to follow. Take care of yourself..."

"A Life-and-Death Trial, huh? How could I not take it seriously?" Yin Congyang first made a playful remark, then turned solemn. "My teacher, whom I've never met, left me a saying: 'Always maintain reverence for the universe.' How could I dare to underestimate the Life-and-Death Trial? Thank you for the reminder, Instructor!"

Instructor Golden Lion murmured the phrase "Always maintain reverence for the universe..." and looked at him with a complex expression.

After chatting for a while, they ended the call. Yin Congyang sorted out his current combat power and estimated how many floors of the Heaven-Reaching Tower he could pass.

His body was about to reach the limit of Planetary Level Nine, and so were his soul power and Spiritual Force. But in the Heaven-Reaching Tower, physical fitness and Spiritual Force were standardized at Planetary Level Nine, so that gave him no advantage. However, his soul power was still a major asset—for executing Illusion Techniques, soul power was a crucial trump card.

Eighth-Layer Domain, threshold crossed into the Laws of Gold and Water, Law of Space not yet entered.