"Not good! Everyone below Second Grade Elite, withdraw from the battlefield immediately!"
Huo Yun shouted sharply.
Of everyone present, he was probably the only one who could hold his own against Bai Yuan for a few moves.
Naturally, he had become the group's anchor.
As soon as he spoke, many Second Grade Elites quickly pulled back from the fight.
But some stayed. Perhaps they were confident in their own strength, or perhaps they couldn't accept the thought of backing down, so they chose to face the blades bearing down on them.
Fifteen blades weren't just incredibly fast. Under the cover of the Gold Domain, they carried a razor-sharp intent that seemed capable of cleaving through space itself.
Seeing a blade rush toward him, one of the Second Grade Elites who had stayed let out a cold snort and thrust his sword forward.
But the blade's power far exceeded his expectations.
The instant blade and sword collided, a terrifying shockwave traveled along the sword and into his arm, leaving it completely numb.
The next moment, everything went black.
At the same time, on another life planet far away, his true self slowly opened his eyes.
"I couldn't even withstand a single strike? Is a Domain's amplification really that terrifying?"
That man's "death" was like a bucket of ice water dumped over everyone who had stayed.
The other Second Grade Elites abandoned any lingering hope and withdrew from the battlefield, not daring to stay a moment longer.
Only then did many of them truly realize how frightening a Domain could be.
Aside from Huo Yun, who had comprehended a Domain, and the few who had fought Domain users before, none of those present had experienced it firsthand.
That was exactly why Huo Yun had so decisively ordered anyone outmatched to leave the battlefield.
If Bai Yuan were the only one fighting, Huo Yun could still barely keep him occupied and help the others hold on.
But now fifteen blades were coming at them from different directions. Huo Yun couldn't be in fifteen places at once and simply couldn't cover them all.
As for the First Grade Elites, they were certainly strong enough not to be taken down by a single blade.
After all, the blades' main source of damage was the Domain's amplification, while Bai Yuan's Mental Power Amplitude wasn't especially high.
"What do we do now?" someone asked anxiously.
Huo Yun looked at Bai Yuan in the middle of the battlefield. Surrounded by all kinds of Telekinetic Weapons, he remained composed and handled everything with ease.
His effortless poise startled Huo Yun.
If Huo Yun had been in his place, he would probably have lost already.
"Have you tried a Soul Attack?" Huo Yun asked gravely.
"We tried that ages ago. It had no effect at all," another person replied with a shake of his head.
Huo Yun's expression turned utterly solemn.
They couldn't beat him, mental attacks were useless, and even overwhelming him with numbers had barely worked...
How could anyone be this difficult to deal with?
Bai Yuan swept his gaze across the battlefield and said gravely, "I know you can't bring yourselves to surrender, but I can't lose this fight, so forgive me!"
If he won the wager, he would receive forty billion Universe Coins, a sum that was crucial to him.
He wanted to buy a Bloodline Evolution Agent, buy Universe Realm slaves, and cultivate Plant Lifeforms, among other things.
He had plenty of plans for all of it, but he simply didn't have the money to make them happen.
Boom!
The Gold Domain around Bai Yuan suddenly expanded!
Under everyone's astonished gaze, its blinding golden light surged outward, crushing Huo Yun's Fire Domain with overwhelming force.
"Domain Second Layer!" Huo Yun cried out in shock.
He was already at the peak of Planet Ninth Rank, and breaking through to the Star Realm was all but certain.
Even he had been surprised to comprehend a Domain before reaching the Star Realm.
But Bai Yuan had not only comprehended a Domain too—
he had reached the second layer!
It was enough to make anyone despair by comparison.
Against Bai Yuan, who had reached the second layer of his Domain, the so-called elites present were no longer his match.
The World Lords watching knew this, of course, but not one of them stepped in to stop the fight.
Everyone they had brought here was an exceptionally talented elite.
And letting them witness a genius who outshone them, experience firsthand that there was always someone better, was precisely what could ignite their true fighting spirit and potential.
Even if they lost this battle, as long as it awakened their yearning and unwillingness to accept defeat, the price was worth paying.
Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang...
Flashes of blade light streaked across the battlefield, defeating one genius after another.
The fifteen blades followed Bai Yuan like shadows, circling him as they moved in concert with the War Blade in his hand.
Bai Yuan alone had completely suppressed the First Grade Elites of the various factions.
Not one of them could withstand even a single one of his strikes head-on—not even Huo Yun, who had already mastered a Domain.
Nearby, Bai Kaluo and Lion Sha were locked in combat with their opponents. Catching sight of Bai Yuan cutting through the battlefield, their fighting spirits surged, and their attacks grew fiercer and more relentless.
"That's enough. Everyone, stop."
At last, a World Lord spoke.
If he didn't step in now, Bai Yuan might really kill his way through the entire battlefield.
At his words, everyone withdrew and quickly opened up some distance.
Every survivor stared at Bai Yuan in fear. Just moments ago, he had been like an emotionless god of slaughter, with no one able to stand against the blades he sent their way.
In reality, they had Star Ninth Rank guards with them whenever they went on missions, so their lives were rarely in danger and the chance of dying was slim.
And in the Virtual Universe, everything was fake anyway, so there was no need to worry about death.
Yet the look on Bai Yuan's face as he felled one person with every strike, especially the unshakable coldness in his eyes, sent a real chill through them.
"Well? I told you to bring a few Special Grade Elites. You didn't think I was making that up, did you?"
Bai Kuangren stood up and addressed the eight World Lords beside him.
The eight World Lords exchanged glances in silence. One of them couldn't help shaking his head. "Special Grade Elites aren't stones in a mine that you can just dig up whenever you want. Where am I supposed to find you a Planet Realm Special Grade Elite?"
The various factions did have Special Grade Elites, but nearly all of them were in the Star Realm or Universe Realm. There truly wasn't a single Planet Realm expert who had reached that level.
"Then I won this wager?"
"Yes, you won," one World Lord sighed. "I never expected the Blade Clan to be so lucky as to produce a genius like him."
The World Lords couldn't hide their envy.
Even among Special Grade Elites, there were different levels of ability.
The talent Bai Yuan had shown clearly placed him among the best of the Special Grade Elites.
He could even rival those monsters who comprehended a trace of the Origin Law while still in the Star Realm.
Whether he could truly measure up to them, however, would depend on how far he could go in the future.
"Bai Yuan, my young friend, I'm Basiha. You may call me Mr. Basiha. On behalf of Black Dragon Mountain, I formally invite you to become a Special Grade Elite. I'll also petition the Emperor to put you in charge of a star system. If you have any other requests, you can tell me."
The speaker was a burly man in deep blue armor and a helmet.
Bai Yuan recognized him.
Basiha came from Black Dragon Mountain, one of the Two Great Holy Lands in the Black Dragon Mountain Star Sector. He was probably a Peak World Lord as well.
He had always stressed that the cultivation of geniuses should be both fair and rigorous.
He believed that true geniuses should earn everything through their own efforts. He advocated for the reasonable distribution of resources and opposed spending too much of the Holy Lands' resources on a select few geniuses.
For that reason, Bai Yuan had a fairly good impression of him.
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