"I want to see just how strong you are!"
Chu Yuan unleashed his Third-Level Fire Domain and charged at the black-armored warrior.
"Domains are useless against me. Don't waste your strength!"
The black-armored warrior unleashed his domain as well. Their domains collided, pushing back and forth as each tried to suppress the other, but they ultimately proved evenly matched and exploded together.
Rumble!
Endless flames gushed out, sweeping through the entire trial space.
Both Chu Yuan and the black-armored warrior were swallowed by the flames.
Riiip!
A streak of blade light tore through the sea of fire. Chu Yuan burst out fearlessly, appearing before the black-armored warrior in an instant and slashing diagonally down at his neck.
The black-armored warrior tilted his head to dodge the slash. The Fire Prison Blade in his hand suddenly thrust forward like a venomous snake flicking its tongue, aimed straight at Chu Yuan's heart.
Chu Yuan immediately pulled back, flipping over as he kicked the edge of his opponent's blade and evaded the strike.
With his blade kicked off course, the black-armored warrior carried the momentum into a spin. His blade light traced a circle in midair and came slashing toward the back of Chu Yuan's head.
Chu Yuan turned and held his blade across himself, firmly blocking the strike head-on.
With a tremendous clang, both men darted thirty meters backward.
Their brief exchange had lasted less than a second, yet danger had lurked at every turn.
The slightest carelessness could have meant death beneath the other's blade.
"If that's all you've got, you can die!"
The black-armored warrior growled and charged in with his blade.
Chu Yuan's gaze was icy, utterly fearless. "You're boasting too soon. You're the one who'll die!"
Chu Yuan held his blade horizontally at his side. Fierce flames blazed along its edge, and its hazy light resonated with his domain as its artistic conception abruptly changed.
"Ash Annihilation Blade · Return to the Ruins!"
Chu Yuan vanished from where he stood, shooting forward and trailing a long pillar of fire behind him.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Chu Yuan swung his blade furiously. The blade light formed an impenetrable net that enveloped the black-armored warrior, giving him no chance to catch his breath.
The black-armored warrior fought as he retreated, his blade light flashing like lightning as he precisely blocked every killing move Chu Yuan unleashed.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Their blades collided fiercely. At times, they tangled in close combat; at others, they separated the instant they touched, only to collide again at incredible speed.
Every exchange unleashed a terrifying shock wave that swept in all directions.
In the blink of an eye, the two had fought more than a hundred exchanges.
Two streaks of light, one red and one black, flashed rapidly, fighting from the ground into the sky, then dropping from the sky back to the ground.
After more than a hundred exchanges, Chu Yuan had figured out his opponent's moves, and more and more openings appeared.
Seizing the instant when his opponent's old force was spent and new force had yet to rise, Chu Yuan abruptly compressed the Flame Domain around him, concentrating its power on a single point!
"Ash Annihilation Blade · Severing the Flow!"
Chu Yuan dove down and delivered a horizontal slash!
Splat!
A head flew high into the air. The black-armored warrior's body shattered, dissolving into motes of light.
[Trial participant Chu Yuan has cleared the third floor! Transport to the fourth floor will begin shortly!]
Whoosh!
Space shifted, and Chu Yuan arrived on the fourth floor.
Mist gathered once again, this time condensing into a silver-armored warrior.
He looked at Chu Yuan with a trace of appreciation in his eyes. "Reaching the fourth floor on your first attempt at the Trial Tower-you're quite good."
"I'll strike only once. Watch closely, and don't blink!"
The silver-armored warrior swung his blade. Its light flashed like a silver shuttle of lightning, so fast its path was impossible to make out.
Chu Yuan's eyes widened as his gaze raced to catch the silver-armored warrior's movements. His body reacted before his mind, raising his blade to block.
Whoosh!
The silvery-white blade light left a mark in the void. Chu Yuan's vision went black, and when he came to his senses, he was already outside the Trial Tower.
What fast blade technique!
Chu Yuan recalled that strike. He had already responded in advance, yet he had still been a step too slow, resulting in his head being cut off.
It wasn't just that I couldn't keep up with his speed. There was his domain, too. His domain was stronger than mine and suppressed me outright, greatly weakening both my reactions and my movements.
Chu Yuan carefully examined the reasons for his defeat.
He was not discouraged. Only by learning from failure and recognizing his shortcomings could he know how to make up for them and grow stronger.
As Chu Yuan emerged, another name appeared on the Trial Tower rankings.
The name appeared among the entries for those who had cleared the third floor.
[External member Chu Yuan Leinuo has cleared the third floor of the Trial Tower.]
"Whoa, not bad! He really cleared the third floor."
A genius beside Telian glanced at the rankings, then at Chu Yuan, looking somewhat surprised.
"He's all right, I suppose. So-so."
Another genius nearby curled his lip and snorted disdainfully. "On my first attempt, I went straight to the sixth floor."
"Jiabase, don't set the bar too high for newcomers. Clearing the third floor on his first attempt at the Trial Tower is already impressive."
"Exactly. Do you think everyone's like you, with a World Lord teaching them from childhood?"
"Chu Yuan Leinuo-have any of you heard of him? Who's his teacher?"
"No idea. Never heard of him."
"His surname is Leinuo. What family is the Leinuo Family?"
"Found it. The Leinuo Family is the second most powerful force in the Purple Radiance Empire, second only to the imperial family. Their patriarch is a Universe Level 9 Giant Axe Warrior."
"Chu Yuan Leinuo is a core member of the Leinuo Family. This year, he's... thirty-two!"
The genius looking up the information suddenly widened his eyes. His voice cracked, and he looked as though he had seen a ghost.
"Thirty-two? You read that wrong, didn't you? He's only thirty-two this year?! Are you kidding me?!"
When they learned that Chu Yuan was only thirty-two, the geniuses all went wild, staring at him in disbelief.
Jiabase, who had shown his disdain earlier, was particularly dumbfounded, his expression blank.
Clearing the third floor of the Trial Tower on a first attempt was nothing to make a fuss over, but if the challenger was only thirty-two, that changed everything.
Youth meant great potential.
Among Star Level geniuses hundreds or even thousands of years old, a thirty-two-year-old was undoubtedly an infant.
At thirty-two, Chu Yuan had comprehended a Triple Domain and could clear the third floor of the Trial Tower.
Given another hundred years, which floor could he reach?
What about after two hundred years, or three hundred?
They simply dared not imagine it.
"A monster! This guy will definitely be a monster in the future. As long as he doesn't die, he'll definitely clear the ninth floor of the Trial Tower. Even the tenth floor might be possible."
Jiabase muttered to himself.
He had been taught by a World Lord expert since childhood, yet he had only comprehended a domain at a hundred years old. After that, he had devoted more than three hundred years to cultivation before finally breaking through to a Sixth-Level Domain.
Yet this newcomer before him had already attained a Third-Stage Domain at thirty-two. Who knew how many times better he was than Jiabase?
When the ordinary geniuses looked at Chu Yuan again, the contempt in their eyes had vanished, replaced by awe.
There were differences even between geniuses, and sometimes those differences were as vast as heaven and earth.
Even Telian, who had just cleared the ninth floor of the Trial Tower, looked at Chu Yuan with a hint of gravity.
Another formidable rival.
He could foresee that before long, Chu Yuan would catch up to him and stand shoulder to shoulder with him.
I thought he was just an ordinary newcomer. I never expected a monster!
For a time, the many geniuses were filled with mixed feelings.