The tenth day of the preliminaries.
After all the other geniuses had been eliminated one after another, either because they ran out of Source Energy or made tactical mistakes, the entire Pan-Spirit Alliance Virtual Network's attention had narrowed to two match-space numbers that were still flashing.
Lin Yi and Edith.
At this moment, the screen was split into two side-by-side views.
On the left was a deep-blue figure sitting cross-legged above a barren gray-rock plain, with his clone darting around to finish off enemies. On the right was a silver-haired girl seated on a throne in the Light-Dark Domain, accompanied by her elegant, sword-wielding mirror image.
The two battlefields differed greatly in terrain and style, but the pressure bearing down on them was rising in tandem to a terrifying level that would leave ordinary Star Core-level cultivators breathless just watching.
By now, the weakest Insect Race members emerging in each wave had energy readings at the peak of the Star Core level. Elite individuals and command units consistently ranked in the middle and late stages of the Star Vortex Rank.
Their carapaces bore natural markings that resisted the erosion of rules. Their attacks carried the Insect Race's distinctive energy corrosion and mental interference, and they coordinated as if they were one.
Even the absolute suppression of their double Nine-Fold Domains could no longer create the kind of absolute death zone where anything that entered was instantly annihilated.
Under prolonged attrition and extreme pressure, the subtle differences gradually became apparent to the countless pairs of eyes watching.
"Viewers, as you can see, both prodigies' domains remain stable, and their clearing efficiency is still astonishing. But our system data shows a discernible difference in their microscopic energy-utilization metrics."
On a Tianlan Star Sea media livestream, a simplified comparison chart of their dynamic