Golden-Winged Thunder Roc

As soon as the rankings were announced, some rejoiced while others despaired across the plaza.

In one corner of the plaza, a group of Golden-Winged Thunder Roc Race geniuses wore grim expressions, their gazes fixed on a young man standing among them.

The young man was tall and slender, his entire body covered in dark golden feathers. His eyes flashed like lightning, and faint thunder patterns flickered between his brows. He was Lei Yu, the most dazzling genius of this generation of the Golden-Winged Thunder Roc Race.

Ranked 1,101st.

Just one place short of Earth level.

"How is this possible?!" He had trained like mad these past years, neglecting nothing—domains, secret techniques, actual combat. He had ranked 823rd in the previous Ranking Tournament. He had thought he could at least break into the middle ranks of Earth level this time, yet not only had he failed to advance, he had fallen behind.

How could he accept this? How could the elders of his clan accept it? He was one of the noble Eighteen Imperial Clans! Though his clan ranked toward the bottom among the Eighteen Imperial Clans, they still could not accept one of their geniuses failing even to enter Earth level!

No one around him spoke. They all knew it was not that Lei Yu had not worked hard. It was that everyone else had worked harder. Rankings did not lie.

"I refuse to accept this." Lei Yu raised his head, lightning churning in his eyes. "The previous trials were fundamentally unfair to a genius like me, one who excels in speed. In a one-on-one fight, I can definitely climb higher!"

He turned, his gaze locking onto the 823rd name on the rankings. "I will challenge him and reclaim the glory that belongs to me!"

Silver Horn stood in the center of the plaza, looking up at the rankings as he considered whom to use his three challenge attempts on.

Suddenly, a cold mechanical notification sounded in his mind:

"Golden-Winged Thunder Roc Race—Lei Yu has challenged you. Your ranking is higher than your opponent's. Your opponent has 3 challenge attempts remaining, and you are not currently in battle. The challenge will begin in ten breaths. Please prepare yourself."

Silver Horn raised an eyebrow slightly.

Someone had come after me already? Looks like they don't think much of my strength.

He glanced at Lei Yu's ranking—1,101st—then looked at his race. The Golden-Winged Thunder Roc Race, one of the Eighteen Imperial Clans, famed for speed and the Lightning Law.

Silver Horn smiled faintly. "Then let them understand the gap between us."

In the center of the plaza, space twisted as a massive arena rose from nowhere.

Silver Horn and Lei Yu were teleported to opposite ends of the arena at the same time.

The watching Demon Race geniuses immediately erupted. Members of the Golden-Winged Thunder Roc Race surged toward the edge of the arena, shouting encouragement for their clan's genius.

"Lei Yu! Lei Yu!"

On the other side, however, only a handful cheered for Silver Horn. Scorpio, Frost Blade, Shadow Stinger, Tian Hua, Demon Snail, and a few other World Lords merely watched in silence.

"Can Silver Horn win?" Scorpio asked nervously.

Frost Blade did not answer. He simply stared at the arena without blinking.

On the arena, the countdown ended.

Lei Yu moved.

His figure became a streak of golden lightning as he shot straight toward Silver Horn!

The Golden-Winged Thunder Roc Race's extreme speed was displayed to the fullest at that moment. Lei Yu beat his wings fiercely, blasting rings of visible thunder patterns through the air. He moved so quickly that dozens of afterimages remained across the arena, each crackling with electric arcs.

"So fast!" someone below the stage exclaimed.

Silver Horn did not move. He slowly closed his eyes, then opened them again.

The sixth level of the Space Domain, fully unleashed.

Centered on Silver Horn, every one of Lei Yu's paths, every change in direction, every burst of acceleration became as clear in his perception as ripples in water.

His speed had become his weakness instead.

Lei Yu's defenses were not strong. The Golden-Winged Thunder Roc Race was inherently a race with strong offense and weak defense. Their combat philosophy was: "Defeat the enemy before the enemy can hit me." Silver Horn, meanwhile, happened to excel in the Space Law. As long as he could predict Lei Yu's trajectory, he could set a killing move at the most precise point.

He neither retreated nor dodged.

He merely stepped forward and held his dagger horizontally across Lei Yu's path.

The movement was small, even seemingly casual.

Yet empowered by the Space Law, that step landed precisely at the weakest point in Lei Yu's charging trajectory. The dagger tip tilted upward slightly at a vicious angle, aimed directly at Lei Yu's throat.

Lei Yu saw the dagger as well.

His pupils abruptly contracted.

He wanted to stop, but he was moving too fast. Inertia carried his body onward. He could clearly see the patterns on the blade and even feel the chill of its tip piercing the air.

It's over.

The next instant, Lei Yu's neck slammed into the dagger.

A flash of blade light. His head flew into the air.

Instant kill.

The entire plaza fell silent.

The Golden-Winged Thunder Roc Race's cheers stopped abruptly. Everyone stood with mouths agape, staring in disbelief at the head rolling across the arena and the silver-white figure still standing there.

"Th-that's it?" someone muttered.

"Not even one exchange? Lei Yu just ran into the dagger himself?"

"No, it wasn't a coincidence." A knowledgeable genius spoke solemnly. "It was prediction through the Space Law. That Silver Horn calculated Lei Yu's trajectory before Lei Yu even attacked and placed the dagger there in advance."

"In other words, Lei Yu wasn't fighting Silver Horn. He was fighting his own speed."

The moment those words were spoken, the crowd exploded into uproar.

"That's terrifying. Just what level has his comprehension of the Space Law reached?"

"No wonder he rose from outside the top ten thousand to the eight hundreds. That wasn't luck."

At the elevated seats reserved for World Lords, several World Lords also seemed thoughtful.

"The sixth level of the Space Domain?" A Snake Race World Lord narrowed his eyes. "Reaching the sixth level at the Stellar level... this little fellow's talent is even greater than we imagined."

World Lord Demon Snail chuckled without saying anything, the wrinkles on his face spreading with his smile.

Tian Hua nodded slightly, a trace of satisfaction flashing through his eyes.

Previously, many Demon Race members had considered Silver Horn a lucky fellow who had somehow climbed to 823rd, or thought that compared to the other famous geniuses ranked above him, Silver Horn seemed more like an easy target. After witnessing this challenge, they all fell silent.

Silver Horn left the arena, his consciousness returning to the plaza.

He reviewed the battle in his mind. The sixth level of the domain truly provided perception far beyond the fifth. Lei Yu's speed had been fast, but in Silver Horn's perception, it had seemed like slow motion. Still, if he faced a defensive opponent, this tactic of "predict and instantly kill" might not work so well.

Just then, the system notification sounded again.

"Starry Sky Giant Tortoise Race—Xing Pan has challenged you. Your ranking is higher than your opponent's. Your opponent has 3 challenge attempts remaining, and you are not currently in battle. The challenge will begin in ten breaths. Please prepare yourself."

Xing Pan, ranked 1,326th. A member of the Starry Sky Giant Tortoise Race, one of the Eighteen Imperial Clans, renowned for extreme defense. Their offensive power was ordinary, but their defense was monstrously strong. It was said that a World Lord-level Starry Sky Giant Tortoise could expand its body until it was as large as a star, crushing planets beneath a single foot.

Silver Horn frowned slightly.

"After defeating a speed-type opponent, now a defense-type opponent has come."

He looked toward the other side of the arena, where a massive tortoise demon had already stepped onto the stage. Its body was covered in dark green scales, while its shell was filled with natural earth-element secret patterns, heavy as a mountain. Its aura was steady and its movements slow, yet it exuded an oppressive feeling of utter immovability.

Below the stage, Lei Yu, who had just been instantly killed, had revived and squeezed into the crowd to watch the match. His feelings were complicated. He hoped Xing Pan could avenge him, yet he also hoped Silver Horn would win. At least then, it would prove that his defeat had not been unjust.