When the battle projection ended, the spectators across the entire Primal Universe were deeply shaken by this beautiful yet deadly fighting style.
[Snow Border Alliance's Bing Yan. World Lord Level, ninth order.]
[Law Comprehension: Peak King.]
[Will: Peak Marquis.]
[Overall Evaluation: Talent and comprehension, SS; will, SS; character, A+.]
[Her comprehension, will, and potential for growth merited fourth place among the top ten geniuses below the Immortal level in the Third Reincarnation Era of the Primal Universe.]
[Review complete.]
[Reward: Divine Power Burning Secret Technique (Second Stage). (Note: When activated, it can increase strength by two levels.)]
[Reward: Palace-type Supreme Treasure: Fire Flame Tower.]
[Reward: One True God-level Will Secret Technique.]
When "Divine Power Burning Secret Technique (Second Stage)" appeared on the Sky Screen, the Universe Strongest Ones of the major forces across the Primal Universe fell silent.
A full two-level increase in strength!
The Sky Screen's rewards had once again taken everyone by surprise.
In the Demon Ancestor Secret Realm, Tremor Demon Ancestor's pupils contracted sharply.
The last time the Sky Screen's Powerhouse Rankings had appeared, he'd placed ninth and received nothing more than the Black Scale Armor.
This time, a junior World Lord ranked fourth had obtained a Divine Power Burning Secret Technique that could raise her combat strength by two levels, along with a Palace Supreme Treasure and a Will Secret Technique.
The difference between them was no longer a matter of individuals. It was the tilt of fortune toward an entire reincarnation era.
The Zerg Queen tightened her grip on the Eternal Pearl, her knuckles turning faintly white.
Bing Yan had obtained both a Palace Supreme Treasure and the second stage of the Divine Power Burning Secret Technique. Her reward was more than a level above Miao Yi's.
That old fellow Snow Border True God, who'd been marginalized for so long, had finally made a complete comeback.
In the Snow Border Alliance Main Hall, Bing Yan received the three glowing orbs that descended from the Sky Screen. A moment later, she offered Snow Border Alliance Leader the contents of the secret technique, along with the Fire Flame Tower.
As Snow Border True God accepted the treasures, he looked at her. His snow-white furred chest rose and fell slightly, and ice crystals formed at the corners of his aged eyes.
The patience and loneliness he'd endured for countless eras had been worth it!
While everyone was still wondering what effect the Divine Power Burning Secret Technique (Second Stage) would have, the light above the Sky Screen paused briefly, then the words rearranged themselves.
[TOP 3: Prison Race's Bei Shang]
Boom!
At that moment, the major powers of the Primal Universe—and the True Gods among them—could no longer sit still.
Deep within the Prison Race Ancestral Mountain, in the black hall perpetually shrouded in an aura of evil, Prison Race Devil Ancestor sprang to his feet from the throne.
Beneath the silver shell covering his head, his red eyes fixed on the name displayed on the Sky Screen. The evil aura swirling around him churned violently, like smoke lashed by a gale.
"Bei Shang! Third place!" Prison Race Devil Ancestor's voice was hoarse and shrill, filled with joy he'd suppressed for countless eras.
The Prison Race, a chaotic people born in the most evil place in the Primal Universe, had always been looked down upon by the other powers among the pinnacle races.
The Monster Race disliked their mixed bloodlines, while the Insect Race thought they lacked the unified will of a Mother Emperor.
The humans simply treated them as an inferior race.
Even Prison Race Devil Ancestor himself hadn't made the Sky Screen's Powerhouse Rankings.
His secret techniques were far inferior to those of Founder Giant Axe, True Void Demon God, and the others.
Now, Bei Shang's name hung high on the Sky Screen—not tenth, not seventh, but third!
He'd surpassed the Starry Sky Behemoth royal family, Bing Yan of the Snow Border Alliance, and all the geniuses the pinnacle races had carefully nurtured for a million years.
In the center of the hall, a slender figure knelt on one knee.
Among the Prison Race, he was one of the least imposing in build. He had no massive muscles, no fearsome carapace, no flames wreathing him. He wore only the standard black armor of a Prison Race warrior, leaving his arms and lower legs exposed.
His skin was dull, dark gray. Only the short horns curving backward from his forehead and the eyes burning with black flames testified to the purity of his Prison Race bloodline.
His face was expressionless. The black flames in his eye sockets burned quietly, unlike the flamboyant, violent flames of other members of the Prison Race. They were more like a bottomless pool of black water.
"Your disciple, Bei Shang, thanks Devil Ancestor." His voice was calm and low, as if he were speaking of something that had nothing to do with him.
Prison Race Devil Ancestor looked at him, a tumult of emotions stirring in his red eyes.
Pride, anticipation, greed, ambition.
Bei Shang was his own disciple, the purest individual he'd selected from the Prison Race's countless chaotic bloodlines. For a million years, he'd personally sent him into the deepest forbidden secret realm of the Prison Race's ancestral grounds to be tempered again and again.
Even Prison Race Devil Ancestor had nearly died when he'd once braved that forbidden secret realm himself. Bei Shang had made it out alive.
From that moment on, he'd known that Bei Shang was the greatest surprise of this reincarnation era for the Prison Race.
In the Crystal Race Holy Palace, the joy Crystal Race Holy Lord had felt when Sha Ying obtained the Water Fire Palace was doused in an instant.
Bei Shang was ranked third, placing just ahead of Sha Ying.
That chaotic, evil race next door had surpassed his own.
Crystal Race Holy Lord's feelings immediately grew complicated.
The Zerg Queen said nothing more.
She held the Eternal Pearl in her palm, her beautiful eyes reflecting the black-flame eyes on the Sky Screen. No one knew what she was thinking.
In Chaos City, Luo Feng and Hong sat side by side on a cultivation terrace.
They weren't surprised that Bei Shang had placed third.
Though the Prison Race was the only pinnacle race absent from the Powerhouse Rankings, it invested no less in nurturing geniuses than any other faction.
Prison Race Devil Ancestor had poured all his resources into Bei Shang alone. Such an all-or-nothing approach would either yield nothing or send him soaring.
Bei Shang had clearly done the latter.
The battle projection of Bei Shang began to unfold slowly on the Sky Screen.
It showed an extremely bizarre battlefield.
It wasn't outer space or a sea of chaos flows, but an Abyss Cage formed entirely from black, evil energy.
Its walls were piled with countless twisted faces of wailing souls, each mouth wide open in a silent scream.
This was the complete form of the Prison Race Forbidden Secret Realm, as well as Bei Shang's signature domain.
He wasn't fighting just one opponent.
Three King-level Immortals from other races had been thrown in there by Prison Race Devil Ancestor.
But throughout the battle, not one of them managed to seize the initiative, even once.
Bei Shang had released his Abyss Domain from the very start, trapping all three of them inside. The surrounding laws weakened sharply, and even the laws of space stagnated by at least one increment within the cage.
Two words summed up Bei Shang's fighting style: ruthless precision!
Unlike He Qiu, he didn't crush his enemies with physical strength. Unlike Blood Fang, he didn't rely on speed. And unlike Frost Parasite and Bing Yan, he didn't wear his opponents down with ice or attrition.
His hands were covered in a layer of black, carapace-like Supreme Treasure. Each strike sent out a condensed black claw-shadow at blinding speed, from a tricky angle, aimed with pinpoint accuracy.
Throats, hearts, brows, the vulnerable joints beneath the ribs—every attack went straight for a vital point.
Their laws and senses suppressed by the Abyss Domain, the three opponents struggled like trapped beasts. With every claw they blocked, another weakness was exposed.
The first opponent had his throat pierced by a single claw.
The second opponent's divine body collapsed under Bei Shang's thirty-second consecutive strike.
The third opponent barely managed to escape the Abyss Domain. But less than ten meters from the cage, Bei Shang's figure appeared out of nowhere above him. One slash of his claw sent him crashing back into the depths of the prison.
The entire battle was clean and decisive, without a single unnecessary exchange.
Bei Shang's fighting style was extremely efficient. It wasn't that he didn't want to keep fighting; every claw was calculated in advance, wasting not a trace of Origin Force.
In actual combat, a style that pushed efficiency to its limit was far more threatening than flashy displays of the laws.
As the battle projection slowly faded, the spectators across the entire Primal Universe grew deeply wary of Bei Shang's fighting style.
[Prison Race's Bei Shang. World Lord Level, ninth order.]
[Law Comprehension: Peak King.]
[Will: Initial King.]
[Overall Evaluation: Talent and comprehension, SS; will, SS+; character, A+.]
[His comprehension, will, and potential for growth merited third place among the top ten geniuses below the Immortal level in the Third Reincarnation Era of the Primal Universe.]
[Review complete.]
[Reward: Divine Power Burning Secret Technique (Second Stage).]
[Reward: Palace-type Supreme Treasure: Ice Source Fortress.]
[Reward: One True God-level Will Secret Technique.]
[Reward: One True God-level inheritance. (Note: This inheritance can guide a cultivator all the way to the True God Limit.)]
When the words "True God-level inheritance" appeared on the Sky Screen, the entire Primal Universe fell silent.
A True God-level inheritance.
A complete inheritance that could guide a cultivator all the way to the True God Limit.
Unlike Supreme Treasures and Will Secret Techniques, an inheritance represented a ceiling.
A True God-level inheritance meant that as long as Bei Shang didn't die before reaching it, he could steadily make his way to the level of a Universe Strongest One. So long as he survived, he would become a True God!
In the Demon Ancestor Secret Realm, flames seemed ready to shoot from Dream Demon Ancestor's serpentine eyes.
Her Frost Parasite had placed ninth and received only the first stage of the Divine Power Burning Secret Technique and the Mist Veil Armor.
But the young Prison Race genius in third place had obtained not only a Palace Supreme Treasure, a Will Secret Technique, and the second stage of the Divine Power Burning Secret Technique, but also a complete True God-level inheritance.
The difference could no longer be explained by a mere difference in ranking.
Tremor Demon Ancestor slowly closed his eyes beside her.
He wasn't angry. He felt only a helplessness so complete that even struggling seemed futile.
The Monster Race had already given everything it had, emptying its entire Ancestor Treasury, and all it had to show for it was ninth place.
Every name above that was like a dull knife repeatedly scraping against his heart.
In the Zerg Queen's hall, for the first time, there was no expression at all on the queen's lovely face.
Miao Yi had placed eighth. She'd obtained her Soul-type Supreme Treasure, the Eternal Pearl, through her own performance on the Sky Screen's Powerhouse Rankings years ago.
Now, the Prison Race genius in third place had received a complete True God-level inheritance. It meant that the Prison Race—the chaotic people she and every other pinnacle race had once looked down upon—now had the means to keep producing Universe Strongest Ones.
In the Demon Beast Alliance Main Hall, the Beast Ancestor's rhythmic tapping on the armrest stopped completely.
Blood Fang had placed seventh and received a True God-level Will Secret Technique and a Domain Supreme Treasure, but no inheritance.
An inheritance was the hardest gap to bridge.
A Will Secret Technique was a weapon, and a Supreme Treasure was equipment, but an inheritance was a path.
With a path, one could go farther.
They had no such path. They could only find their own way.
At the Prison Race Ancestral Mountain, after receiving the contents of the inheritance from Bei Shang, Prison Race Devil Ancestor gazed up at the dark red eyes in the Sky Screen, his emotions impossible to describe.
For the first time in his life, he felt that light had seeped through the black ceiling of the hall.
The light on the Sky Screen paused briefly. It gave the crowd little time to take in the news before the words rearranged themselves again.
This time, the words appeared more slowly than ever before, as if the Sky Screen itself were deliberating over its choice of words.
[TOP 2: Human Hong!]
The instant that line appeared, the entire Hong Alliance erupted.
In the Virtual Universe's great hall, Founder Giant Axe's rough features broke into a huge grin.
He slapped his thigh, his hearty laughter making the ceiling rumble. "Second place! Hong! A disciple of my Giant Axe Martial Arts Arena!"
Void Gold Master stood behind him, his golden hair falling to his chest. Even his usually stern face held a rare smile.
Of course he was proud. He'd personally taught Hong for hundreds of thousands of years.
He still remembered the news that Hong had broken through the twentieth island of the Illusion Sea. That day, he'd stood at the edge of the Illusion Sea and watched the pillar of light soar into the sky. He'd had only one thought: This disciple is destined for greatness.
Now Hong was second on the Genius Ranking. His judgment had been right.
In the inner hall of Chaos City Lord's Mansion, City Lord of Chaos stood before the stone wall carved with names, his hands behind his back as he gazed toward the Sky Screen. A pleased smile curved his lips.
Hong.
Luo Feng's second brother, and a core genius of the Giant Axe Martial Arts Arena.
Unlike Luo Feng, whose talent had erupted across every field, Hong had reached the limits of the World Lord level in character and will.
When Giant Axe had taken Hong as a personal disciple, City Lord of Chaos had declared that he was destined for greatness.
Now Hong had placed second on the Genius Ranking. City Lord of Chaos was naturally proud.
Luo Feng was City Lord of Chaos's personal disciple, and Hong was a core genius of the Giant Axe Martial Arts Arena. They were both human. Humans had claimed two places in the top ten, both among the very highest ranks.
On Earth, in the Milky Way Galaxy,
Lei Shen sat cross-legged in the Thunder Dojo that Ancestor Tree Venerable had built for him, arcs of electricity crackling around him.
When he saw Hong's name on the Sky Screen, he froze for a moment, then grinned. "Big Brother came in second! I knew it. Back on Earth, you were always the toughest of the three of us. You challenged the Illusion Sea at the Universe Level and even got Founder Giant Axe's attention. Who could possibly beat that?"
He slapped the stone table in front of him, then added, "I'm a personal disciple of Ancestor Tree Venerable now, after all. When I spar with you later, Second Brother, you can't beat me until I'm rolling all over the ground like before."
In the Demon Ancestor Secret Realm, Dream Demon Ancestor's serpentine eyes brimmed with complicated emotions.
Humans... humans again.
On the last Powerhouse Rankings, Founder Giant Axe of the human race had placed second. Now Hong, a human, was second on the Genius Ranking.
And the list wasn't finished yet. Only one place remained above him. Who would take it?
She didn't dare think further, but her serpentine instincts rang out in alarm: the top spot was very likely to go to a human as well.
Tremor Demon Ancestor remained silent for a long time, then said quietly, "The humans are unstoppable in this reincarnation era."
In the Zerg Queen's hall, the queen clutched the Eternal Pearl more tightly than ever.
Of the three Mother Emperor geniuses she'd carefully nurtured, only Miao Yi had made the rankings, and she'd placed eighth.
The human race, meanwhile, had yet to see Luo Feng appear, and Hong had already claimed second place.
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