The Ten-Year Assessment

Yin Congyang had a feeling that he wasn't completely clueless about the laws and domains of wind, lightning, and light. But compared with the Law of Five Elements, they were like walking versus driving a Ferrari—on completely different levels. So he didn't dare entertain any thoughts about the laws of wind, lightning, and light, let alone the higher-level Law of Time. He might spend ten thousand or even a hundred thousand times as long studying them and still get nowhere.

If he really wanted to study the laws of time, he would have to wait until he became an Immortal—preferably a Venerable.

Previously, held back by the fact that his Five Elements Domain was not yet complete, Yin Congyang had never dared to explore the laws associated with the domains he had already formed. He was afraid that if he accidentally comprehended even a trace of an Origin Law, it would greatly increase his strength at first but might interfere with the formation and fusion of his Five Elements Domain. Now, however, he no longer had any such concerns.

From here on, his first goal was to keep tempering his body and advance his body and soul to the limit of Planetary Level as quickly as possible. Second, he would continue practicing axe techniques, close combat, Illusion Technique, and other means of defeating enemies. Third, he would keep cultivating his Domain, striving to push it higher as soon as possible. Fourth, he would begin exploring the Universe Origin Law. The Five Elements laws were lower-level laws beneath the Law of Space, and Yin Congyang had ambitions in that regard as well. He hoped to study the Law of Space while comprehending the Five Elements Origin Laws, because he knew that every top genius in the universe had achieved profound insight into higher-level laws to become a once-in-an-era talent.

The Genius Tournament results were no surprise. Luo Feng lost to Rong Jun and fell into the losers' bracket. Now that more than nine thousand matches were nearly over, Luo Feng's Mo Sha Race clone had been born, and his progress was naturally rapid.

Thunder God hadn't made it through the first round of selection, and Hong had also lost in the arena battles.

Afterward, Luo Feng boarded a ship bound for the Initial Universe, while Hong went to cultivate with his dying World Lord teacher, Luo. That left Thunder God alone to watch over Earth. He occasionally ventured into the Black Dragon Mountain Starfield, but with Stellar Level and Universe Level slaves at his disposal, he was safe enough.

In the blink of an eye, Yin Congyang had been at the Elite Training Camp for nearly ten years. The midterm assessment, held in his fifth year, had required him to fight each of the other students and take an assessment in the Virtual Universe. The Virtual Universe assessment was divided into theory and combat.

The theory test covered the general knowledge they had studied over the previous five years: precautions for adventuring in the universe; how to distinguish common races, their strengths and weaknesses, and their relationships with one another; preparations and precautions for exploring Cosmic Secret Realms; the functions of various common treasures in the universe; how to identify them; and more. It consisted of hundreds of thousands of questions, all fill-in-the-blank or analytical. Students had to get at least ninety percent correct to pass, so it was quite difficult.

For the combat test, each student faced various enemies and scenarios generated by the Training Camp Intelligent System. It was scored on points, with the highest scores going to those who survived to the end or cleared the entire challenge.

A few years earlier, when Yin Congyang had perfected his Five Elements Domain, he had advanced directly to Domain Second Layer, comparable to the ninth layer of a Domain. By the fifth-year assessment, he had reached Fourth-Level Domain, with astonishing power. As a result, he had ranked first both in fights against the other students and in the Virtual Universe combat assessment. From his first day at the Training Camp to the present, Yin Congyang had never lost a fight against any of the students!

The theory test was relatively easy for Yin Congyang, whose soul was powerful. Besides, he was deeply curious about the many races, secret realms, rare treasures, and other things in the universe. He could hardly wait to learn more.

Nearly five more years had passed since the midterm assessment. Now the ten-year final assessment was just around the corner, followed by the Life-and-Death Trial.

Over the past few years, Yin Congyang had already pushed his Domain to the eighth layer.

Each of the nine layers of a Domain was harder to reach than the last, and each was more powerful than the one before. His eighth-layer Domain was several times more powerful than a ninth-layer Domain at the same level. Unfortunately, although he had gained some insight into all Five Elements Origin Laws and had crossed the threshold of the Law of Gold and the Law of Water, he still couldn't see the slightest glimmer of insight into the Law of Space.

Yin Congyang had crossed the threshold of some of the Universe Origin Laws of metal, wood, water, fire, and earth, and was close to crossing it for others. This had also greatly increased the power of his axe techniques. Even without using his Domain, hardly any of the other students at the Training Camp could put pressure on him.

And that wasn't all. For all these years, the energy surging from his Dantian had continuously evolved his body and soul. After so long, both were nearing the critical point of their limits. But the closer they came to the limit, the slower their evolution became. A year ago, he had already felt that he was close, yet even after another year, he was still hovering just short of the limit.

Still, he wasn't in much of a hurry. He had estimated that it would take about ten years or so to reach the threshold for advancing to Star Level, even with the abundant Universe Origin Energy in the Green Pouch Secret Realm accelerating his body's evolution.

"Beep!"

His Optical Computer alerted him that he had received an email from the Training Camp Intelligent System.

The subject line was straightforward: The ten-year assessment is about to begin.

Yin Congyang opened the email and read it carefully. The message was simple: all students were about to reach their tenth year at the Training Camp, and the first Life-and-Death Trial was approaching. It was time for a comprehensive assessment.

In addition to the standard combat matches and the theory test in the Virtual Universe, this assessment would include a challenge in the Heaven-Reaching Tower.

The Heaven-Reaching Tower challenge was simple. It was a hundred-story tower, and on each floor, it simulated an opponent at the same level as you. The challenge began with opponents who had no Domain, then advanced through the first, second, and subsequent Domain layers up to the ninth. After that came Law Comprehension, lower-level laws, gaining recognition from a law, and finally, higher-level laws.

There were additional gradations as well. Even within the first Domain layer, for example, opponents could have Force Amplitudes of ten, twenty, fifty, eighty, or a hundred times.

The email concluded by saying that anyone who passed the fifty-first floor of the Heaven-Reaching Tower could join the Core Layer of the Virtual Universe Company.

Yin Congyang felt a little excited when he reached the end. He sent a call request to Instructor Golden Lion, and it was answered before long.

"Instructor, I read the email from the Training Camp Intelligent System," Yin Congyang said, suppressing his excitement and asking calmly, "It says that anyone who passes the fifty-first floor of the Heaven-Reaching Tower can join the Core Layer of the Virtual Universe Company. Could you tell me what kind of strength that floor requires?"

"Hahaha!" Instructor Golden Lion laughed heartily. "You're not the first to ask me that. Do you remember what I told you when you first arrived ten years ago? The floors I've reached in the Heaven-Reaching Tower aren't enough to get you Planetary Levels directly into the Core Layer. I'll tell you: I'm currently on floor thirty-nine. That's after I crossed the threshold of the Law of Gold over the past ten years, greatly increasing the power of my secret technique..."

He paused, then continued, "It's the same for Planetary Level, Star Level, and Universe Level. The opponents on each floor are at your current level. If you're Planetary Level Nine, then so are they. If you're Stellar Level One, then so are they. Their physical strength and telekinetic power are exactly the same as yours. What differs is their Domain, Law Comprehension, Force Amplitude, secret techniques, and other factors. The strength required for floor fifty-one is roughly a ninth-layer Domain, a Force Amplitude of seventy times, deep insight into some lower-level law, having crossed the threshold of some higher-level law, and top-tier secret techniques... So, are you confident?"

Yin Congyang opened his mouth, momentarily dumbfounded. "That's an incredibly high standard. Even members of the Core Layer might not be able to pass it, would they?"

"Not necessarily," Instructor Golden Lion replied cautiously. "Some of the more junior members of the Core Layer might not pass, of course. But I estimate that the top ten from this Genius Tournament could manage floor fifty-one. You know that first-place contestant from a few years ago? Even at Stellar Level Nine, he had profound insight into the Law of Space. During the selection matches, he could already create hundreds of incarnations. I wouldn't be confident facing him even if he were Stellar Level Nine. And he's definitely reached Universe Level by now. If I fought him now, I'd probably be lucky to escape with my life..."

Yin Congyang understood. He was talking about "Death God" Bolan, an astonishingly talented prodigy at the Stellar Level. Luo Feng couldn't compare with Bolan at that level.

Perhaps noticing Yin Congyang's speechless expression, Instructor Golden Lion considered it for a moment, then offered a little reassurance. "In a real fight, your abnormal physical strength might let you pass a few extra floors. But in the Training Camp's Heaven-Reaching Tower, everyone has the same physical strength, so you'll be at a disadvantage..."

Yin Congyang didn't mind that at all. "That's fine. Then I can see how many floors I could pass with the physical strength of an ordinary Planetary Level Nine. Besides, the opponents in the Life-and-Death Trial probably won't all be Planetary Level. Otherwise, it wouldn't be much of a life-and-death ordeal. So it's all right. By the way, Instructor, how long after the assessment does the Life-and-Death Trial begin?"

"Mm." Instructor Golden Lion nodded approvingly. "That's the right way to think about it. The Heaven-Reaching Tower is the fairest test, so just do your best to climb as high as you can. Don't worry about the Core Layer. That's something you only need to think about in the later stages of Star Level. There'll be other ways to advance then. The Heaven-Reaching Tower is one of the quickest, but also one of the most difficult. As for the Life-and-Death Trial, it usually begins around seven to ten days after the assessment. And I'm warning you, don't take it lightly. The mortality rate for every Life-and-Death Trial is around thirty percent. We instructors aren't allowed to accompany you. You're on your own..."

"A Life-and-Death Trial? How could I take that lightly?" Yin Congyang first said playfully, then turned solemn. "The teacher I haven't met yet left me a message: 'Always maintain a sense of awe toward the universe.' How could I possibly take the Life-and-Death Trial lightly? Thank you for the warning, Instructor!"

"Always maintain a sense of awe toward the universe..." Instructor Golden Lion murmured, repeating the words. He looked at Yin Congyang with a complicated expression.

After chatting for a while, Yin Congyang ended the call and reviewed his current combat strength, estimating how many floors of the Heaven-Reaching Tower he could pass.

His body was about to reach the limit of Planetary Level Nine, and the same was true of his soul and Spiritual Force. But in the Heaven-Reaching Tower, both his physical strength and Spiritual Force would be set to the standard for Planetary Level Nine, so he would have no advantage there. His soul power, however, was still a significant advantage, since it was a crucial trump card when using Illusion Technique.

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