73: Merging of Fish-Men and Humans: The Rise of a Legalist Cruel Official (Part 2)

The transformation of the Legalist Enforcer was like installing the strictest supervision and Execution System into the precision machine that was his Divine Domain. The internal atmosphere of the Divine Domain was instantly rectified, and efficiency improved once again. And the establishment of the "Enforcement Hall" also gave Lin Zhou more professional forces that he could mobilize.

He entrusted the daily monitoring of the Death Passage and the maintenance of the barrier entirely to Snik. The cold and ruthless traits of the Legalist Enforcers became an advantage at this moment; they would not feel fear or waver due to the eerie sounds or Mental Energy erosion occasionally coming from the other side of the passage, consistently executing their guard duties and recording every subtle change in detail.

After a few days, according to Snik's report, although the passage was unstable, no new undead creatures had crossed through. The aura of death from the other side seemed to have been effectively blocked and purified by the "Aura of Law Barrier". However, relying on the trait of "Criminal Law Insight", Snik discovered a subtle pattern—the stability of the passage seemed to fluctuate faintly with the changes in the lunar phase of the Prime Material Plane (Lin Zhou's Divine Domain)!

"Lunar phase?" Lin Zhou pondered thoughtfully. He thought of Su Yueyao's Moon God Divine Domain, the Moonlight Power, and the Lunar Rules. Could this death passage be related to "Lunar" or some kind of periodic stellar power?

He temporarily set aside this question; the top priority was to improve his immediate combat capability to deal with the school selection tournament. With sufficient food and a stable internal environment, the progress of the Elite Training Camp was advancing by leaps and bounds.

Under the guidance of Elwin, the Literary Heart Elves Spell group successfully mastered the joint spellcasting technique "Aura of Righteousness Barrier"—fifty elves chanting together could condense a massive Aura of Righteousness light shield, possessing extremely strong physical and magical resistance, especially effective against darkness, undead, and Chaos attribute attacks.

The Tiangong Dwarves Breaker, led by Bronzebeard, mastered the "Earth-Shattering Strike" array. Fifty dwarves striking the ground simultaneously could trigger a small-scale seismic wave, effectively disrupting enemy formations and causing additional damage to buildings and underground units. The "Runic Battle Armor" and "Armor-Piercing War Hammer" they were equipped with had also been optimized again, with their attributes slightly improved.

As for the newly born Legalist Enforcers, in addition to daily Law enforcement, they also began specialized combat training. Snik refined the application of the "Net of Law", teaching the adjudicators how to quickly construct small-scale Law Domains to imprison powerful enemies or grant their own side "Order Blessing" (slightly improving attack accuracy and defensive stability).

On this day, while Lin Zhou was reviewing the achievements of the Elite Training Camp, Zhao Hao's boisterous communication came through again.

"Old Lin! How is the preparation going? Registration for the school selection tournament starts next week! I heard that several veteran powerhouses from the third year are all eager to get started!" Zhao Hao's voice was still full of energy. "By the way, is everything okay on your end? A few days ago, I felt some abnormal energy fluctuations from your Divine Domain?"

Lin Zhou's heart stirred slightly; although Zhao Hao looked careless, his perception was actually quite sharp. He did not hide anything and briefly mentioned the matter of the death passage, only saying that he had discovered an unstable spatial rift with some leakage of death aura, which had already been brought under control.

"Death aura? Damn! Why do you always run into such hellish business!" Zhao Hao exclaimed exaggeratedly, then lowered his voice. "But you have to be careful. These randomly appearing spatial rifts sometimes connect to some troublesome places. If you need help, just say the word. My Dragon is quite interested in undead creatures!"

"I can handle it for now, thanks." Lin Zhou said. Although Zhao Hao's motive might just be wanting a fight, he accepted the sentiment.

"Hehe, that's good. By the way, we'll see who's better in the selection tournament! Don't blame me for stealing your spotlight then!" Zhao Hao ended the communication with high spirits.

Just after finishing the call with Zhao Hao, a communication request from Su Yueyao arrived quietly. On the light screen, she was still beautiful and otherworldly, but there seemed to be a hint of contemplation between her brows.

"Classmate Lin, sorry to bother you. Recently, I sensed some abnormal movement in the Lunar Star Power, which seems to have a faint resonance with some dormant death planes. Just now, I vaguely sensed similar fluctuations in the direction of your Divine Domain, I wonder..." Her words were tactful, but her concern was evident.

Lin Zhou admired the precision of Su Yueyao's perception, so he told her in more detail about the death passage and the situation where it might fluctuate with the lunar phase.

"Fluctuating with the lunar phase..." Su Yueyao pondered for a moment, moonlight flowing in her eyes. "The power of the Lunar does indeed have a connection with some ancient death rules, especially those planes involving the concepts of Soul rest and eternal night. If the passage is stable, perhaps... I can borrow the Moonlight Power to help you stabilize or even temporarily expand the passage for limited exploration. Of course, you must bear the risks yourself."

Lin Zhou's eyes lit up! This was undoubtedly good news! If Su Yueyao's Moonlight Power could intervene, it might not only provide a safer way to explore but could even help him better understand and perhaps utilize this death passage by leveraging the Lunar Rules!

"In that case, I thank you in advance, Classmate Su. Once I am prepared, I will discuss the exploration with you in detail."

"I await your good news." Su Yueyao nodded slightly and ended the communication.

The attitudes of the two potential allies gave Lin Zhou more confidence. He suppressed the urge to explore immediately and decided to focus on the upcoming selection tournament first. Only by demonstrating sufficient value and strength could he occupy a more active position in any potential future cooperation.

Time flew by, and the day for registration for the school selection tournament finally arrived.

The Central Temple Plaza of Yuncheng No. 1 High School was bustling with noise. Almost all third-year students, as well as some confident second-year Geniuses, had gathered here. The competition rules and precautions were scrolling on a huge light screen.

The selection tournament was divided into two rounds: The first round was a preliminary melee. All registrants would have their consciousness uploaded to a simulated battlefield for a chaotic brawl, and the last one hundred survivors would advance.

The second round was the arena ranking battle. The top 100 would draw lots for duels to determine the final top ten, who would represent the school in the Star Domain High School League.

The rewards were extremely generous, especially for the top ten, who would not only receive precious cards and resources but also receive the school's full support in cultivation and gain extra points in the college entrance examination!

As soon as prominent figures like Lin Zhou, Zhao Hao, and Su Yueyao appeared, they attracted countless gazes. Especially Lin Zhou, whose SSS+ evaluation at the end of the last semester had already spread throughout the school. Many people wanted to see how far this Genius who followed a unique civilization path could go in the school tournament.

"Hmph, it's just luck, happening to run into an assessment scenario suitable for his performance." An discordant voice sounded. Lin Zhou turned his head and saw a tall, thin student with sinister eyes looking at him coldly. This person was named Zhou Feng, whose Divine Domain was the "Shadow Demon Wolf". He was also a veteran powerhouse of the third year and had always been at odds with Zhao Hao.

Zhao Hao immediately glared back: "Zhou Feng, stop with that sarcastic tone! If you have the ability, let's see the real results in the arena!"

Zhou Feng snorted coldly and did not reply, but the provocation in his eyes was intense.

Lin Zhou's expression was calm; he did not get angry. Strength was not something to be argued with words.

Soon, the registration ended, and the first round of the preliminary melee was about to begin. All participants entered the designated Divine Domain connection pods, and their consciousness would be connected to a super-large simulated battlefield through the school's Divine Network.

"Old Lin, Classmate Su, let's meet up after we get in! Let's clear out those small fry first!" Zhao Hao rubbed his hands in excitement.

Su Yueyao frowned slightly, seemingly not agreeing with this strategy, but she did not object either.

Lin Zhou was noncommittal. In a melee, there were too many variables; acting according to circumstances was the best policy.

"Hum—!"

With a slight dizziness, Lin Zhou's consciousness separated from his body and descended into a vast and boundless simulated battlefield.

He appeared in a hilly area with soft soil under his feet and low shrubs all around. The sky was a simulated blue sky with white clouds, but faint energy fluctuations permeated the air, indicating that this was not real.

Simulated battlefield environment: random terrain (hills), area approximately 1000 square kilometers. Contains a small number of resource points (can temporarily recruit troops, recover Divine Power) and wild monsters (can obtain temporary buffs upon defeat). No time limit, until 100 people remain.

Lin Zhou quickly sensed his own state. His Divine Power was limited to 5000 points (simulation standard), and the number of summonable dependents and Mental Energy were also restricted accordingly, but the attributes and skills of hero units and core dependents were fully simulated. With a thought, the phantoms of the three heroes—Elwin, Bronzebeard, and Snik—as well as one hundred Literary Heart Elves, one hundred Tiangong Dwarves, and one hundred Legalist Enforcers slowly condensed around him. This was the force he could use at the start of the simulated battlefield.

Almost at the same time he descended, the sounds of weapons clashing and Spells exploding came from not far away! The battle had entered a white-hot state from the very beginning!

Lin Zhou did not rashly join the melee. He ordered Snik to send out a small group of Enforcer scouts to investigate the surrounding intelligence, while he led the main force to occupy a small hill that was easy to defend and difficult to attack, calmly observing the battlefield situation.

Chaos was danger, but also an opportunity. His Hundred Schools Divine Domain was most suitable for finding that glimmer of survival in such a complex situation, and even... controlling the overall situation.