While everyone was discussing it.
The words on the Sky Screen once again silently took shape.
[TOP 6: Crystal Race · Sha Ying!]
The moment this line appeared, the Crystal Race Holy Palace fell into absolute silence for a full five breaths.
The Crystal Race Holy Lord sat upon the crystal-clear throne, the golden third eye between his brows suddenly widening.
The fifteen Universe Masters of the Crystal Race around him all looked up. Their flawless crystal faces were filled with disbelief.
The Crystal Race had always been at the bottom among the Primal Universe's nine superpowers. They had no supreme treasures, no top-tier fighters among the strongest in the universe, and even their territory was so remote that the Insect Race and Machine Race could not be bothered to reach for it.
Not a single member of the Crystal Race had made the Sky Screen's Strongest Ranking.
In the contest for the top ten of the Sky Screen's Genius Ranking, no faction had ever considered the Crystal Race a threat.
And now, Sha Ying.
The only World Lord in their race with anything to show for himself in the million-year wave of geniuses had placed sixth on the Genius Ranking!
One place above Blood Fang of the Demon Beast Alliance.
"Sha Ying..." The Crystal Race Holy Lord's voice trembled slightly, indescribable emotions roiling in his golden third eye.
He had held his position for countless eras and had witnessed every moment the Crystal Race was bullied by the Monster Race, ignored by the Insect Race, and left far behind by humanity.
He had once thought the Sky Screen's two rankings would both consign the Crystal Race to oblivion, just as the first ranking of the strongest had.
But now, Sha Ying's name hung high above them on the Sky Screen, shining brighter than even the Beast Ancestor's personal disciple.
In the center of the palace, a Crystal Race warrior knelt on one knee.
His build was completely unlike that of most Crystal Race warriors. He was no towering, powerful crystal giant, but had a streamlined body covered in translucent, sand-gold crystal armor. Every inch of his carapace flowed faintly, visibly to the naked eye, as if his entire body were pieced together from countless tiny crystal grains.
A golden eye also rested between his brows, but its light was faint and restrained, like an unpolished gemstone.
He was Sha Ying.
The Holy Lord's voice rose unusually high, though he did not even notice. "No one of our race has ever appeared on the Sky Screen. You are the first. Sha Ying, you have made the entire Crystal Race hold its head high before the Primal Universe."
Sha Ying did not answer at once. He slowly rose, pressed his right fist to his chest, and bowed to the Holy Lord.
The movement was slow and solemn, like the final bow of his life.
In the Demon Ancestor Secret Realm, Dream Demon Ancestor's heart, which had just eased slightly after Frost Parasite made the list, was wrenched tight again.
Blood Fang's seventh place had already been a thorn in her side. Now even the Crystal Race—a minor power among the peak races, usually lagging at the rear—had placed above the Monster Race.
Her silver serpentine body twitched restlessly twice, and her snake eyes brimmed with resentment.
"The Crystal Race? That Crystal Race without even a supreme treasure? Its disciple can rank sixth?" Dream Demon Ancestor's voice was so shrill it seemed ready to tear through the palace.
Tremor Demon Ancestor remained silent beside her.
He was not as furious as Meng Cha, but the faint twitching of his eyes beneath his serrated shell betrayed his shock.
The Crystal Race had hidden itself more deeply than he had imagined. Sha Ying's sixth place meant that, in the combined assessment of talent, comprehension, temperament, and will, he was at least S-ranked.
Inside the Zerg Queen's Palace, the queen set down the Eternal Pearl. For the first time, a hint of gravity appeared on her pretty face.
She had originally thought sixth place would probably go to Lie Tianzun of the Demon Beast Alliance or He Qiu of the Starry Sky Behemoth Alliance. She had not expected the Crystal Race to snatch the spot.
She remembered the name Sha Ying. He was the Crystal Race's only noteworthy genius in a million years, but the Insect Race's intelligence network had never managed to compile a complete assessment of his combat style or strength.
"Quite the hidden depth," the queen murmured. A cold glint flashed in her beautiful eyes.
In the Demon Beast Alliance Main Hall, the joy the Beast Ancestor had felt when Blood Fang received a True God-level Will Secret Technique was abruptly doused.
Blood Fang ranked seventh. The Crystal Race's Sha Ying ranked sixth.
One place above Blood Fang.
Lord Juefeng's nine heads all swayed at once as he cautiously glanced at the alliance leader, afraid he might fly into a rage on the spot.
But the Beast Ancestor merely leaned back in his chair and remained silent for a long while.
Blood Fang was the best card he had to play. The Demon Beast Alliance's foundation ultimately fell short of the Four Peak Races, so seventh place had already surpassed his expectations.
He slowly let out a breath, his dark-golden scales rising and falling like a tide in the dim light. "Above sixth place is the battlefield of truly top-tier geniuses. Seventh place is already the limit for Blood Fang."
In Chaos City, Luo Feng and Hong sat side by side on a cultivation terrace.
Blood Fang's combat projection had just faded when Sha Ying's name appeared on the Sky Screen.
They had encountered the Crystal Race during their long years of training. It was a special race born with crystal bodies, giving them a natural advantage in defense. Their ability to withstand material attacks far surpassed that of flesh-and-blood lifeforms of the same level.
But because of their crystalline bodies, the Crystal Race often lacked the same spark in their Law Comprehension as humans or the Insect Race. A Crystal Race member who could fight his way to sixth place on the Genius Ranking was certainly no simple opponent.
Looking at Sha Ying's name on the Sky Screen, Luo Feng suddenly felt a subtle stirring in his heart.
His Golden Horned Beast clone and Blood Sea Clone both followed paths that emphasized the physical body, and each possessed a foundation for defense that let them challenge those above their level.
But Sha Ying followed an extreme defensive path completely different from that of the Golden Horned Beast.
He did not rely on scales or a carapace to withstand attacks. Instead, he used the ability to reassemble his crystal grains to break up, redirect, and dissipate them.
He ran this defensive principle through his mind, trying to make a preliminary comparison with the true body's transformation in the Seven Changes of Yan God. But he found that their underlying approaches to fusing laws were completely different.
The more an opponent's style differed from his own, the more they were worth studying.
Above them, Sha Ying's combat projection slowly unfolded.
It showed a silent starfield shrouded in sand and dust.
Countless fragments of shattered planets loomed in the yellow sand behind him. Sandstorms surged from every direction like ocean waves, enveloping the entire battlefield in a hazy, yellow chaos.
A slender, sand-gold figure stood motionless at the storm's center. The golden third eye between his brows glowed faintly, like a dust-covered piece of amber.
His opponent was a Peak Marquis beast, its body as massive as a mountain range and covered in thick stone armor. Every step sent visible ripples through the void.
The battle turned white-hot the instant the beast charged.
The stone-armored beast drove forward on all four legs, its entire body hurtling toward Sha Ying like a rocky meteor flung from a slingshot.
Shock waves burst from the seams in its carapace, pulverizing the space in its path.
Sha Ying did not dodge.
Just as the beast was about to collide with him, his body exploded apart.
He did not shatter. He deliberately transformed into billions upon billions of sand-gold crystal grains, scattering like dust whipped up by a gale.
The beast's full-force charge passed through the cloud of grains. It was like throwing a punch with all its strength into empty air. With nowhere for the force to go, the beast's own momentum sent it tumbling away.
The grains swiftly reassembled in the void, and Sha Ying's form took shape behind the beast.
The golden third eye between his brows glimmered faintly. A beam of light, condensed to the utmost, soundlessly shot toward the back of the beast's neck.
The beam struck a hairline gap in the stone armor, pierced through, and emerged from the beast's throat.
The beast's charging momentum had not yet fully dissipated. It staggered twice, then crashed to the ground.
In the following projections, Sha Ying's combat style could only be described as "strange."
His crystalline form gave him an unparalleled margin for physical error.
Whenever a material attack struck him, he could instantly disassemble and reassemble the affected area, transferring the impact beyond his body.
In one projection, a beast skilled in speed and poisonous stingers struck him dozens of times in succession. Every thrust was precisely placed, yet at the moment of contact, Sha Ying neutralized each one by breaking up the grains in the affected area. The stingers never pierced beyond the outer layer of his carapace.
His counterattacks were just as unusual.
Rather than using weapons, he shaped the crystal grains into sand-gold spears or chains that trapped his opponent from every direction. Then he concentrated all his power into a single beam-like spear and drove it into a vital spot.
The entire fight resembled an extremely patient sandstorm.
It slowly enveloped, penetrated, divided, and ground down its opponent until every last trace of resistance was exhausted.
His combat style was just like the quicksand pits Luo Feng had encountered on the outskirts of the Ancestral God Secret Realm: the harder one struggled, the faster one sank.
When the combat projection ended, more words appeared on the Sky Screen.
[Crystal Race 'Sha Ying.' Ninth-rank World Lord.]
[Law Comprehension: High King.]
[Will: High Marquis.]
[Overall Evaluation: Talent and Comprehension S-Rank, Will S-Rank, Temperament B-Rank.]
[His comprehension, will, and growth potential make him worthy of sixth place among the ten greatest geniuses below the undying level in the Primal Universe's Third Reincarnation Era.]
[Ranking complete.]
[Reward: Divine Power Burning Secret Technique (First Stage).]
[Reward: Palace-type supreme treasure · Water Fire Palace.]
[Reward: One True God-level Will Secret Technique.]
When the words "palace-type supreme treasure" appeared on the Sky Screen, the entire Primal Universe shook once more.
A palace-type supreme treasure! It was a top-tier treasure rarer than domain-type treasures, and among all types of supreme treasures, only soul-type treasures were more valuable.
It could suppress and seal enemies, protect one's own Universe Masters as they retreated safely, and provide its bearer with absolute protection beneath the suppression of the Primal Universe's Supreme Rule.
The Zerg Queen had once relied on the Queen Palace to dominate the Universe Ocean. Founder Giant Axe had been able to swallow and suppress more than twenty Monster Race Universe Masters directly a million years ago thanks to the Void-Breaking Boat.
And now, a World Lord-level genius had obtained a treasure of this caliber.
Inside the Crystal Race Holy Palace, the Holy Lord sprang to his feet.
He opened his mouth, the light in his golden third eye flashing violently.
This was the Crystal Race's unique way of expressing emotion: the brighter the light, the more turbulent the feelings. For countless eras, he had struggled to obtain a supreme treasure for his race. He had risked his life to scour the dangerous regions of the Universe Ocean, nearly perishing several times, but had never found anything.
And now, his disciple Sha Ying—a young man at Peak World Lord Level—
had received the first supreme treasure in the history of the Crystal Race directly from the Sky Screen.
And it was not an offensive treasure, nor an armor-type treasure, but a palace-type one.
"The Water Fire Palace..." The Holy Lord's voice was hoarse and low, heavy with the release of burdens carried for countless eras. "At last, our race has a palace supreme treasure."
Sha Ying received the orb of interwoven water and fire as it descended from the Sky Screen. He quietly examined it for a moment, then knelt on one knee and presented it directly to the Crystal Race Holy Lord.
Far away in the Demon Ancestor Secret Realm, Tremor Demon Ancestor's pupils contracted slightly.
The Crystal Race had received a palace-type supreme treasure. This meant that from now on, even in the direst of situations, they had a trump card to fall back on.
Dream Demon Ancestor repeatedly scanned the line of rewards on the Sky Screen. The fury in her snake eyes gradually gave way to an indescribably complicated expression.
The Zerg Queen said nothing more.
She held the Eternal Pearl in her hand, her beautiful eyes reflecting the interwoven light of water and fire on the Sky Screen. No one could tell what she was thinking.
Inside the Demon Beast Alliance Main Hall, the Beast Ancestor expressionlessly tapped the armrest twice. He looked at Blood Fang, then at the Sky Screen, and said nothing.
On an unremarkable planet at the edge of the Milky Way Galaxy, Yang Yu lifted his wine flask, pausing with its mouth at his lips.
His spiritual sense swept across the Crystal Race Territory and lingered on Sha Ying for a breath.
Immediately afterward, the words on the Sky Screen began to scroll again.
[TOP 5: Starry Sky Behemoth Alliance 'He Qiu']
On the ancestral world of the Starry Sky Behemoth Alliance, atop a colossal divine mountain suspended in the void, a winding dragon slowly opened its eyes.
Nine sharp horns spread like a crown across the Old Beast God's head. Each one gleamed with ancient metallic luster beneath the light of the Sky Screen.
His immense body coiled around the mountain peak. Every scale was as vast as a mountain, and each breath sent visible ripples through the surrounding space.
"He Qiu, fifth place."
The Old Beast God's voice was low and resonant, steeped in the vicissitudes of countless eras. "Not bad. You surpassed the Monster Race, Insect Race, Demon Beast Alliance, and Crystal Race. You haven't disgraced the Starry Sky Behemoth Alliance."
Below him, an enormous behemoth, slightly smaller but still colossal, lay prostrate in the void.
Its appearance resembled the Old Beast God's to some extent, but its scales were a deep, dark blue-green. Natural golden secret patterns were etched onto each scale. As it breathed, the patterns glimmered faintly, like countless tiny golden dragons moving beneath its scales.
Five sharp horns grew from its dragon head, each straight as a sword, its tip gleaming coldly.
He was He Qiu.
The strongest World Lord the Starry Sky Behemoth Alliance had cultivated in a million years, sparing no resources.
"Thank you, Progenitor." He Qiu's voice was much younger than the Old Beast God's, yet just as deep and resonant, carrying an innate majesty.
He raised his head. His dark-golden dragon eyes reflected his name on the Sky Screen, and there was no wild joy in them, only calm certainty.
Starry Sky Behemoths were among the Primal Universe's most powerful special lifeform races. Their natural gene levels far exceeded those of lifeforms at the same level, and their bloodlines gave them an overwhelming advantage over most flesh-and-blood lifeforms.
He Qiu was among the very best of them. From the day he hatched, he had stood above countless living beings.
In his eyes, fifth place was not an honor. It was the bare minimum.
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