In terms of treasures, Zero, ranked tenth, received the attack-type Supreme Treasure Black Flame Blade, while Frost Parasite, ranked ninth, received an armor-type Supreme Treasure.
Although attack-type and armor-type Supreme Treasures were both Supreme Treasures, their practical uses belonged to entirely different categories.
An attack-type treasure was used to kill enemies; an armor-type treasure was worn to stay alive.
And in this universe, staying alive was always more important than killing enemies.
That was especially true at the level of Universe Strongest. An armor-type Supreme Treasure was enough to reshuffle the rankings of combat strength.
Back then, Tremor Demon Ancestor had relied on his armor to endure Giant Axe's axe strikes until now.
Now the Monster Race had gained another one. With the Divine Power Burning Technique as well, its days would clearly be much easier.
In the Monster Race's ancestral lands, Tremor Demon Ancestor stared at those four characters, silent for a long time.
Dream Demon Ancestor was unusually quiet as well.
Of course she remembered that the Dream Scale Armor they had lost back then had been an armor-type Supreme Treasure.
Now the Monster Race had finally obtained another armor-type Supreme Treasure.
"Mist Veil Armor..." Tremor Demon Ancestor slowly raised his head. Beneath his serrated shell, his eyes shone with an unprecedented light. "A million years. At last, my Monster Race has another treasure worthy of being a true foundation, as well as the Divine Power Burning Technique."
There was no doubt about it.
Frost Parasite was only a World Lord now, so it couldn't use either the Supreme Armor or the Divine Power Burning Technique.
The best option was to hand them over to Tremor Demon Ancestor and Dream Demon Ancestor, strengthening the Monster Race as a whole.
Far away in Chaos City, Luo Feng merely glanced calmly at the armor phantom appearing on the Sky Screen. His gaze was mild and his expression composed.
On an unnamed planet at the edge of the Milky Way, Yang Yu set down his wine flask, his eyes betraying no emotion.
He looked down at the ripples of law that spilled out as that frigid domain merged with the Mist Veil Armor, as if examining an old blueprint that had been refined over and over.
"An armor-type Supreme Treasure went to the ninth place, and the Divine Power Burning Secret Technique was included in the reward too. The Sky Screen is being quite generous this time."
He narrowed his eyes slightly. "Looks like the rewards for the eight above them will be even better than I thought."
Above them, words silently condensed on the Sky Screen once more.
[TOP 8: Insect Race's Miao Yi]
The instant that line appeared, the graceful phantom reclining on the crystal throne in the Zerg Queen's palace slowly sat upright.
The Eternal Pearl in her palm gave off a hazy starlight, making her already breathtaking face seem even more unreal.
The corners of her lips lifted slightly, revealing a smile she had suppressed for a long time.
It wasn't wild delight, but rather the composure of someone thinking, "This is only as it should be."
"Miao Yi. Eighth place."
The Queen's voice was melodious, like pearls falling onto a jade plate, but every Insect Race Mother Emperor in the hall could hear the pride in it. "Of the three candidates I personally selected, her talent wasn't the greatest. But her comprehension and will were the best."
Behind her, three peak World Lord-level Zerg Warriors hovered silently.
Ren's eyes remained cold as he silently watched the name on the Sky Screen.
Miao Yi was of the same race as him, but the Insect Race had never been sentimental.
A ranking was a ranking, and strength was strength.
Not being selected among the top three meant that, in the Queen's eyes, his potential was still inferior to Miao Yi's.
He accepted that. But acceptance didn't mean submission.
"Eighth place." Ren repeated the name in a voice only he could hear, then closed his eyes.
At the same time, in the Demon Ancestor Secret Realm, the nerves Tremor Demon Ancestor and Dream Demon Ancestor had just relaxed slightly after Frost Parasite made the list tightened once more.
The Mist Veil Armor Frost Parasite had received still shone with an enticing light, yet Miao Yi of the Insect Race had followed right after and made the rankings. Their newly kindled hope was doused with cold water.
It was certainly good that one member of the Monster Race had made the list, but their competitors hadn't been idle either—and one of them had even ranked above the Monster Race.
"Miao Yi..." Tremor Demon Ancestor murmured the name. "The Zerg Queen really did a good job of keeping her hidden.
"I remember some information about this Mother Emperor. She wasn't the most outstanding one, yet she ranked eighth."
"She's eighth, and Frost Parasite is ninth." A complicated glint flashed through Dream Demon Ancestor's serpentine eyes. "That means that, in the overall assessment of talent, comprehension, temperament, and will, Miao Yi is at least a step above Frost Parasite. The Insect Race..." A cold light flashed in her eyes, and she left the rest unsaid.
At the Demon Beast Alliance Main Hall, the Beast Ancestor didn't lose his temper this time.
He glanced at Lord Juefeng, his gaze so calm it was almost indifferent. "It's no surprise the Insect Race took eighth place. The Queen's soul-screening method really is effective at finding talent."
But the Beast Ancestor immediately changed tack. "It's only eighth place. In the previous ranking of the strongest, the Zerg Queen herself only came seventh. Her disciples and descendants will only prove their worth if they can surpass the Queen's own ranking."
Blood Fang listened quietly off to the side, but he was thinking about something else: if even a talent like Miao Yi had only ranked eighth, just how monstrous were the seven above her?
Above them, Miao Yi's battle projection began to unfold.
It showed a fantastical starry illusion.
In the background, countless points of starlight were twisted by some invisible force into dazzling, multicolored vortices. They looked like countless translucent eyes slowly opening and closing in the void, while the laws fluctuating across the entire battlefield shifted in a deeply abnormal way.
A slender figure hovered in the very center of the battlefield. Four pairs of transparent wings, thin as a cicada's, grew from her back, and a layer of pale purple shell covered her body.
It was the distinctive appearance of an Insect Race Mother Emperor.
Unlike the usual idea of the Insect Race hiding in the depths of a Mother Nest and directing armies into battle, Miao Yi had not brought a single Zerg Warrior with her.
Faint soul fluctuations swirled around her as she faced three Immortals working together to surround her.
The moment the battle began, all three opponents moved at once.
One swung a blade, its radiance plunging toward Miao Yi like a river of stars pouring down from the heavens.
Another opened its mouth and spewed dark purple flames. The tongues of fire twisted into a wall, sealing off every avenue of escape.
The third vanished into the void, waiting for a chance to deliver a fatal strike.
Miao Yi merely gave her wings a gentle flutter.
In that instant, her figure split into six phantoms. All six spread their wings, each radiating a complete soul fluctuation that interlocked with the others.
This wasn't an ordinary clone technique.
Each phantom was a complete vessel for soul attacks. The blade's radiance passed through two of them, the flames swallowed another three, and the last vanished into thin air in the void.
By then, the real Miao Yi had already appeared soundlessly behind the attacker who had disappeared into the void. She gently placed her slender palm against the back of its head.
A nearly imperceptible soul shriek soundlessly poured into the depths of its consciousness.
The attacker didn't even have time to scream. Its eyes rolled back, and it lost consciousness, plummeting out of the void.
She hadn't even struck with her blade, yet one enemy was already down.
The entire process was as swift as a meticulously choreographed play, with Miao Yi as its leading lady, unhurriedly carrying out her role to the end.
Her mastery of illusions was beyond "remarkable" for someone of her level.
It was an "art" that perfectly blended her own soul fluctuations into the laws of the battlefield's space.
She didn't need to unleash a widespread soul shock, nor did she need to conjure layer upon layer of false worlds. Her illusions were extraordinarily restrained: each one targeted a single enemy, and each illusion lasted less than a second, yet that was enough to kill.
She didn't show off, and she didn't waste a single trace of soul power on enemies who didn't matter.
The projection continued.
In the battles that followed, Miao Yi's style was entirely different from those of Zero and Frost Parasite.
Zero was mechanical, with precision carried to the extreme. Frost Parasite was icebound, with the patience of deep cold. Miao Yi, on the other hand, was all about the silent infiltration and control of souls.
Her opponents often hadn't even reached her before her illusions had already ensnared their minds. Then a soul attack, condensed to the utmost, would end the battle.
If the first soul spike failed, she calmly followed with a second, then a third. She never changed her rhythm or panicked, like a hunter waiting quietly on a web for its prey to run out of strength.
Anyone with a discerning eye could see that the terror of her style lay not in its explosive power, but in its margin for error and composure.
Each of her illusions was precisely directed, never affecting other targets.
And the strength of every soul attack fluctuated within an extremely narrow range, revealing just how precisely she controlled her soul power.
While most World Lords in the Primal Universe were still probing the basic principles of soul attacks, Miao Yi had already pushed her precision in soul control to the threshold of Immortal Level.
When the battle projection ended, the entire Primal Universe fell briefly silent. Alien scouts who had suffered greatly against Miao Yi's style all found the same thought crossing their minds: the Insect Race was indeed the Insect Race. Even when fighting alone, they were steeped in an instinct for toying with souls.
[Insect Race's Miao Yi. Ninth-level World Lord.]
[Law Comprehension: Initial King.]
[Will: Initial Marquis.]
[Overall Evaluation: Talent and comprehension, A+; will, A+; temperament, C+.]
[Her comprehension, will, and potential for growth make her worthy of eighth place among the Primal Universe's top ten geniuses below the Immortal level in the Third Reincarnation Era.]
[Ranking complete.]
[Reward: Divine Power Burning Secret Technique, First Stage.]
[Reward: Domain-type Supreme Treasure, "Tianlan Domain."]
When the words "Domain-type Supreme Treasure" appeared on the Sky Screen, the entire Primal Universe was shaken once more.
A Domain-type Supreme Treasure!
There was no doubt that this was even rarer than armor-type or attack-type treasures.
The Zerg Queen herself already possessed a Domain-type Supreme Treasure, but when the Sky Screen had ranked the top ten strongest, her reward had been the soul-type Supreme Treasure, the Eternal Pearl.
Now her junior, Miao Yi, had actually obtained a Domain-type Supreme Treasure: Tianlan Domain.
"Tianlan Domain..."
The Zerg Queen murmured the name, a light unprecedented in her beautiful eyes.
Of course she knew what a Domain-type Supreme Treasure meant.
When one's strength was suppressed to the peak of the sixth level inside the Primal Universe, the suppressive power of a domain treasure was unmatched.
With Ice Wind Domain, the Beast Ancestor had nearly crippled the Monster Race a million years ago. Miao Yi's Tianlan Domain was no less powerful than Ice Wind Domain, and might even be stronger.
That meant the Insect Race would have an even greater advantage in the Primal Universe from now on!
Naturally, things felt very different over in the Monster Race.
In the Demon Ancestor Secret Realm, unwillingness and jealousy flashed through Dream Demon Ancestor's serpentine eyes.
She was certainly pleased that Frost Parasite, ranked ninth, had received the Mist Veil Armor.
But the Insect Race had ranked eighth and received Tianlan Domain, a treasure a full tier above the Mist Veil Armor. She simply couldn't swallow her frustration.
"Why? They're both in the lower half of the top ten, so why did the Insect Race get a reward an entire tier better at eighth place?"
Tremor Demon Ancestor was silent for a long while before saying quietly, "Domain treasures are rarer than armor-type treasures. The Sky Screen doesn't distribute rewards according to rank, but according to overall evaluation."
Dream Demon Ancestor looked at him.
The first half of what he said was the instinct of a Data Analysis Beast; the second half was reason forcing him to swallow his bitterness.
The Monster Race had suffered enough over the past million years. They couldn't let their morale collapse again at a time like this.
At the Demon Beast Alliance Main Hall, the Beast Ancestor's tapping on the armrest slowed noticeably.
He himself possessed a Domain-type Supreme Treasure.
Ice Wind Domain's power had helped him conquer territory time and again over the past million years.
Now a junior World Lord of the Insect Race had also obtained a Domain-type Supreme Treasure. The Zerg Queen would undoubtedly use it later, but he couldn't help feeling conflicted.
"From now on, when the Insect Race's juniors fight others in the Primal Universe, Tianlan Domain alone will be enough to cut their opponents' strength by thirty percent before the battle even begins." All nine of Lord Juefeng's heads swayed at once, and a hint of unease colored his voice.
"It's fine." After a brief silence, the Beast Ancestor calmed down instead. "Let's see what the rewards for the next few are."
Behind him, Blood Fang quietly exhaled, his mood both heavy and expectant.
Eighth place had already received a Domain-type Supreme Treasure. What about seventh and sixth?
The Machine Race Divine Kingdom.
Father God's computational core was rapidly comparing past combat models for Zerg Queens using domain-type Supreme Treasures.
Zero had already gained the upper hand with the Black Flame Blade, but the appearance of Miao Yi's Tianlan Domain had immediately added another variable to the close-quarters suppression strategy he had originally devised.
Under domain suppression, the Machine Race's long-range precision attacks would be disrupted. And at close range, if they couldn't quickly break through the domain and land an effective assassination, their assault would be worn down by an endless barrage of illusions.
In that case, the Machine Race would have to give careful thought to its future wars with the Insect Race Alliance.
On an unnamed planet at the edge of the Milky Way, Yang Yu drained the last drop from his flask, a knowing smile rising at the corners of his mouth.
"They're willing to give even a Domain-type Supreme Treasure to eighth place. The Sky Screen's rewards are pretty good this time." He set down his flask and sent his gaze through layer upon layer of spacetime, toward the depths of a blood-red sea.
Waves surged as Luo Feng's Blood Sea Clone silently grew larger.
"But the ones above her are each more monstrous than the last. If they don't hand out rewards worthy of them, this year's Genius Ranking will end with a whimper."
He withdrew his consciousness from the Zerg Territory and didn't look back.
As soon as Miao Yi received Tianlan Domain, the Queen had already adjusted her plans for the Insect Race's future generations of geniuses. That wasn't what concerned him.
He only needed to ensure that Luo Feng built a solid enough foundation at the World Lord level, so that none of the other geniuses on the rankings could overtake him temporarily with a single reward from the Sky Screen.
Based on Luo Feng's performance over the past few years...
Luo Feng had spent nearly a million extra years at the World Lord level, and his foundation was already exceptionally solid. There was no need to worry that he would accomplish less than he had in the original story.
Before you continue