330: Chapter 265: Three to One Victory, Advancing to the Finals

As Lin Zhou's figure emerged from the teleportation light and reappeared in the Xinghai University rest area, he was greeted by tsunami-like cheers and excitement.

"Boss! Awesome!" Wang Meng was the first to rush over, his massive fist slamming hard onto Lin Zhou's shoulder (though he controlled the force), his face full of undisguised worship and excitement. "Three matches! We won! We completely crushed them! Hahaha!"

Although Qin Qing maintained her cold and detached expression, a bright luster flickered in her eyes. She nodded slightly at Lin Zhou, her voice a hint softer than usual: "Clean and decisive. Your counter-measures against the Abyss Law, especially the application of the Civilization Pure Land, were exemplary."

As a deity who revered Order and Law, she clearly identified deeply with Lin Zhou's method of using Law to counter and disintegrate Abyssal corruption.

Su Yueyao stood quietly to the side, her moon-white fighting attire spotless, a faint, heartfelt smile on her exquisitely beautiful face.

She did not speak, simply watching Lin Zhou with eyes that seemed to contain moonlight, her gaze filled with relief, admiration, and a trace of hard-to-detect... pride.

When Lin Zhou looked at her, she nodded gently; everything was understood without words.

Zhou Yan also clapped vigorously, his honest face full of excitement: "Brother Lin, too strong! That collision of Divine Kingdoms, that surging river... it was like 'washing' the opponent inside and out! If I were Shadow Killer, I'd probably be left with psychological trauma!"

Even the usually steady and serious Wang Zhenyue Wang Zhenyue wore a rare, gratified smile.

He walked over and slapped Lin Zhou's shoulder hard (making Lin Zhou feel that the force was even greater than Wang Meng's punch): "Good lad! Well done! Dean Lu's commentary on the 'game of civilizations' was truly spot on! Your fighting style has turned a Divine Kingdom conquest battle into a lecture on Civilization · Enlightenment! That Shadow Killer... will probably take a long time to sort out those 'distracting thoughts' in his Divine Kingdom after going back."

His tone carried teasing, but also undisguised appreciation.

Lin Zhou responded to his teammates' enthusiasm one by one, a smile on his face, but deep in his eyes, he remained calm.

Victory was certainly gratifying, but he cared more about the ideas verified and the problems exposed during the battle.

The scouring and assimilation effect of the river of civilization on alien Laws was even better than he had expected, especially against extreme attributes like "Chaos," "Evil," and "Ignorance," where it had almost natural suppression and conversion advantages.

However, the consumption was also extremely huge; in that battle just now, his Divine Power reserves had dropped by nearly 40%, and he had consumed over 5000 civilization points.

If he hadn't quickly locked onto the core and won in one blow, dragging it into a war of attrition would have been very disadvantageous.

"Just luck." Lin Zhou said modestly, then immediately spoke seriously, "Shadow Killer relied too much on external Abyssal forces. His own Divine Kingdom Law foundation was not solid, and there were logical contradictions internally (the conflict between stealth, assassination, and Abyssal chaos), which is why we were able to seize the opportunity. If we were up against a Divine Domain with stable Laws and unified will, it wouldn't have been this easy."

"Not arrogant in victory, good!" Wang Zhenyue Wang Zhenyue nodded approvingly, "Your analysis is correct. However, being able to keenly discover the opponent's Law weaknesses and strike them in the most appropriate way is a quality a top commander should have. All of you, learn well from Lin Zhou."

At this moment, on the giant light screen in the center of the arena, the System's final judgment was clearly displayed:

[Galaxy's 97th Top University Exchange Tournament · Junior Year Group · Xinghai University vs War God Academy]

[Total Score: 3 : 1]

[Xinghai University, Advances to Finals!]

"Wow—!"

The results were announced, and the whole arena was in an uproar, followed by even more boiling cheers from Xinghai University supporters!

Three to one! And winning three consecutive matches, crushing them directly!

This was extremely rare in the history of confrontations between the two academies in recent years!

Especially after Qin Qing's loss in the first match and the unfavorable situation, Wang Meng and Lin Zhou had successively played two classic comeback and crushing matches, completely shattering the Aura of the War God Academy!

"Won! Really won!"

"Wang Meng's 'Civilization Roar' tore through the steel defense line, Lin Zhou's 'Civilization Pure Land' plus 'Divine Kingdom scouring' disintegrated the Abyssal assassin... too spectacular!"

"War God Academy really suffered a big loss this time; they were studied thoroughly, and their trump cards were broken."

"What exactly is the structure of Lin Zhou's 'Civilization Divine Domain'? It feels like the methods he used in every match were different, but the core seems to be that kind of... um, reasoning? And then the enemy was 'persuaded' or 'confused' by the reasoning..."

"In the future, when you meet Star Sea, especially this Lin Zhou, you must never let him start 'reasoning', and don't let his river touch your Divine Kingdom..."

In stark contrast to the jubilation on Star Sea's side, the War God Academy's rest area was shrouded in oppressive silence and unbelievable humiliation.

Bewitching Heart kept her head down, her expression unclear, but the pink-purple Aura radiating from her body was chaotic.

Iron Curtain's metallic skin seemed to have dimmed, and he stared blankly at his own hands, as if unable to accept the fact that he had been defeated by a single roar.

The most miserable was Shadow Killer; when he was teleported back, his face was as pale as paper, his eyes unfocused, and his body was still uncontrollably trembling slightly, as if the chanting of the Hundred Schools and the eerie whispers of his own demon kin discussing "freedom and Order" were still echoing deep within his Soul.

The chaos and conflict of the Laws within his Divine Kingdom would probably take a long time to calm down, and might even leave permanent hidden dangers.

"Lin Zhou... Star Sea... Just you wait..." Lei Hao squeezed these words out from between his teeth, his voice low and hoarse, containing monstrous hatred, "The Ancient Battlefield... we can't get in, but you won't be able to explore it in peace either! The finals... hmph!"

He didn't continue to make threats, because any words seemed pale and powerless in the face of the 3:1 score.

He turned abruptly and left the rest area first, without a word, carrying a low-pressure Aura.

Seeing this, the others had no choice but to follow crestfallen, disappearing into the teleportation light.

A highly anticipated strong-versus-strong dialogue had ended prematurely in such a one-sided crushing manner, which most people had not expected before the match.

The name of Xinghai University's "civilization warlord" Lin Zhou, and his mysterious and varied "Civilization Divine Domain," spread even faster with this great victory, becoming the biggest dark horse and topic of this exchange tournament.

However, in places the audience could not see, an undercurrent was surging.

War God Academy, Dean's Office.

This was a room full of iron-blooded and rugged style, with huge battle axes and shield emblems hanging on the walls, as well as portraits of famous past War God alumni.

The air was filled with a faint scent, similar to a mixture of steel and blood fire.

At this moment, the atmosphere in the room was heavy.

The Dean, a middle-aged man with a build as burly as a bear, a resolute face, and eyes as sharp as an eagle—【War God】 Hong Lie (Powerful Divine Power, LV2200+), was standing with his back to the huge floor-to-ceiling window, watching the match recording segments playing repeatedly on the light screen in front of him, especially the details of Lin Zhou's battle.

Behind him stood several senior academy officials and veteran tactical analysts, each with a serious expression.

"Is the analysis report out?" Hong Lie's voice echoed in the room like muffled thunder.

An elderly deity wearing glasses with graying hair (the academy's chief data analyst, with a low Divine Rank but profound knowledge) stepped forward and brought up another light screen, which was covered in dense data streams and analytical conclusions.

"Dean, the preliminary analysis is complete. Target Lin Zhou, Divine Domain type 'Civilization', specific composition unknown, but the displayed capabilities have high complexity and Law interference characteristics."

"Its tactical core is not some single powerful skill or kin specialty, but a complete 'Law application methodology' based on an unknown ideological System."

"Specific performance: First match (Qin Qing vs Bewitching Heart), limited by the map, it was not fully displayed, but the discipline and resistance shown by his kin in extreme adverse environments far exceeded estimates. Second match (Wang Meng vs Iron Curtain), the key point was that 'roar'; our instruments captured an extremely weak, non-energy, non-divine-art Law disturbance, which was exactly this disturbance that interfered with the core command logic of the Iron Curtain magic statue, combined with the explosive power of the Behemoth to break the defense in one go. Third match (Lin Zhou vs Shadow Killer) was the most typical: first, weakened high-Order summoned creatures with unknown Law means of 'defining illegal'; then, purified and backlashed Abyssal Soul attacks with a Domain suspected to be transformed by 'Fire of Civilization'; finally, drove the Divine Kingdom to conduct Law-level collisions and scouring, its 'river of civilization' manifestation contained a huge amount of complex information flow, which could effectively infiltrate, interfere with, and even assimilate alien Law structures, especially having suppression against 'Chaos', 'Disorder', and 'Ignorance' type Laws."

The old analyst pushed up his glasses, his tone filled with unconcealable confusion and amazement: "We tried to reverse-engineer his skill principles, but found... it could not be parsed. It's not that the energy structure is too complex, but the root of his power seems to be different from all the Divine Arts, magic, and Law application modes we know. It is closer to... a direct manifestation of a 'concept' or 'thought'."

"'Thought's' direct Law manifestation?" Hong Lie raised his thick eyebrows and turned around, sharp light flashing in his eyes.

"Yes, Dean." Another researcher specializing in Law studies added, "We suspect that the core of his power does not come from some powerful ancestor, pantheon, or Universe Law fragment, but from a complete, self-consistent 'Civilization Ideological System' that can be highly understood and identified by his kin. He is using this set of 'thoughts' as a lever to pry and apply Laws. That is why his methods look varied and difficult to guard against, because 'thought' itself can derive countless ways of application."

"To use an inappropriate example, other deities are like learning and using fixed 'skill books' one by one, while he... seems to have mastered the underlying logic and grammar of 'writing skill books'."

Hong Lie was silent for a moment, his fingers tapping on the metal table, making a thumping sound. "In other words, it is impossible to copy his tactics through simple observation and imitation? And there is no targeted suppression method based on energy or Law type?"

The old analyst gave a wry smile: "At least for now, yes. Unless we can completely parse the 'Civilization Ideological System' behind him, or... use absolute power and Law intensity to conduct the rudest crushing, not giving him the chance to use the 'thought lever' to maneuver. But from his battle with Shadow Killer, his understanding and application of Laws are at a very high level, and general 'absolute power' suppression will probably also be weakened or converted by him finding Law loopholes."

"Absolute power crushing..." A flash of severity crossed Hong Lie's eyes, but then he shook his head.

Xinghai University was no pushover, and it was difficult for extreme situations where the Divine Rank gap was large enough to ignore all techniques to occur in the match.

He pondered: "Continue to study, especially the records of his Discussing the Dao with Karls (Mechanical Divine Domain), there may be key information in it. In addition, pay attention to his subsequent matches, especially... if he can enter the finals, how he will perform when facing those arrogant guys from the Galaxy Royal Academy. Perhaps we can see more things from their confrontation."

"Yes, Dean!"

While the War God Academy's analysis conclusions were strictly kept confidential, on the Xinghai University side, Lin Zhou had already returned to the temporary residence with the team.

The excitement brought by the great victory gradually settled, transforming into thinking and preparation for the upcoming finals.

In the personal lounge, Lin Zhou sat cross-legged, his mind sinking into his Divine Kingdom.

After a high-intensity Law confrontation and ideological manifestation, his Divine Kingdom was not without changes.

On the contrary, the river of civilization seemed to have become a bit more solid because it had successfully scoured and assimilated part of the Abyssal and Shadow Laws (even if they were negative), and the waves of wisdom flowing in the river seemed more agile.

The faith of the kin in the Divine Kingdom was also more firm and pure, and the quality of the Power Of Faith provided had improved.

He even felt that his understanding of the 【Law】 divine office had deepened a level in the process of "defining illegal" and building the "Civilization Pure Land".

And he had a more profound understanding of "Civilization" itself, that power of inclusion, transformation, and enlightenment.

"Thought as the core..." Lin Zhou savored the wonderful feeling of driving Laws with concepts during the battle, "Sure enough, true power does not lie in how many skills one has mastered, but in the 'Dao' of understanding the world and defining Laws."

He vaguely felt that he seemed to have touched another key to the path of a deity—the deepening and expansion of the divine office, perhaps not limited to a certain field, but in the practice and interpretation of the 'Dao' one holds.

Just as he was immersed in his insights, the communicator vibrated gently; it was a message from Su Yueyao:

"Congratulations. Today's battle was admirable. The Fire of Civilization cleanses impurities, only then is its purity revealed. Rest early, the enemy in the finals is extraordinary."

The words were concise, but carried deep concern and a reminder.

Lin Zhou felt a warmth in his heart and replied: "Thank you. Same to you. In the finals, we fight side by side."

Turning off the communicator, Lin Zhou looked at the boundless starry sky outside the window.

War God Academy was just the first obstacle.

The real challenge, the final ticket to the "Ancient Battlefield", was still waiting for them ahead.

And his "Way of Civilization" would face more severe tests on a larger stage.