59: Chapter 59 Thirty consecutive wins, entering the top three thousand

Provincial Capital Prodigy Arena.

Su Bai stood at the entrance, looking up at the massive building.

Seeing it by day was even more breathtaking than at night.

The gate was twenty meters high and ten meters wide, and it was currently wide open.

There were no guards at the door, nor any security equipment.

Because they weren't needed.

Su Bai stepped inside.

The moment he passed through the gate, he felt the entire world change.

It wasn't a visual change, but a deeper tremor that touched his soul.

He found himself standing in an endless void.

There was no solid ground beneath his feet, no sky above his head, and no boundaries around him. Only endless darkness and countless points of light flickering within it.

Some of those light points were near, some far, some bright as stars, and some dim as fireflies.

Every point of light was a world projection of a Creator.

Su Bai looked down at his feet.

There, a point of light was also flickering.

It was a gray-white point of light, shrouded in Yin Qi, deeper and more eerie than the others.

The Netherworld World.

"Welcome to the Consciousness Universe."

A voice rang out in the void, devoid of any emotion, sounding like a mechanical synthesis.

"This is the core space of the Prodigy Arena. The consciousnesses of all contestants converge here to conduct world battles."

"The rules are as follows:"

"First, all contestants begin random matching from the ten-thousandth rank. Winners gain ten points, and losers lose ten points."

"Second, the top one hundred on the leaderboard will be eligible to participate in the final 'national top scholar' competition."

"Third, during the battle, any unit death will be forcibly resurrected by the arena rules, consuming none of the Creator's own resources."

"Fourth, surrendering ends the battle. If you forcibly fight to the death and refuse to retreat, you bear the consequences yourself."

"Fifth..."

Su Bai listened to the rules, but his gaze swept across the surrounding points of light.

Ten thousand points of light were scattered across this endless Consciousness Universe.

Some points of light were moving, converging in a certain direction; those were the players currently being matched.

Some points of light were stationary, as if waiting; those were the players currently spectating or resting.

Some points of light were flickering violently, with countless phantoms faintly visible fighting inside; those were the players currently in combat.

Su Bai withdrew his gaze.

His point of light began to move.

The matching had begun.

The information of his first opponent appeared before him almost instantly.

[Opponent Number: 14237]

[World Rank: Rank 4]

[World Type: Martial Arts Civilization]

[Comprehensive Evaluation: B+]

[Battle Record: None (Newcomer)]

Su Bai raised an eyebrow.

A newcomer.

Just like him.

The next second, a channel condensed in the void, connecting his point of light with another.

At the other end of the channel was a young face.

The moment that person saw Su Bai, he first gave a polite smile, but then his smile froze.

Because he saw the world projection behind Su Bai.

The gray-white Yin Qi surged like a boundless sea.

Within the Yin Qi, an abyss, an ice plain, a forest, a wasteland, and an ocean were faintly visible.

In the abyss, countless Shadow Demons were swimming.

On the ice plain, countless Ice Crystals were arrayed.

In the forest, countless Mushroom People were busy.

In the ocean, countless Naga were patrolling.

On the wasteland, more than two thousand Yin Soldiers were lined up neatly.

As for those deeper auras, those existences that made his soul tremble, he didn't even dare to look at them twice.

Rank 5.

This was a Rank 5 world.

The young man's face went from frozen to pale, and then from pale to deathly white.

He opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but nothing came out.

Three seconds later.

"I deliberately entered late, and yet I get matched like this in my first round? What the hell! Curse this matching mechanism, I surrender!"

The channel instantly dissipated.

Su Bai hadn't even had the chance to say a single word.

[Battle Ended]

[You have won, Points +10]

[Current Ranking: 9,991st]

Su Bai: "..."

He stood in the void, looking at the channel that had already disappeared, and remained silent for two seconds.

This was the matching for the national prodigy list?

A zero-frame start?

He had originally just wanted to test the rules, see the opponent's strength, and warm up a bit.

But the opponent just surrendered.

Without even giving him a chance to speak.

Su Bai sighed softly.

He glanced at his ranking: 9,991.

He had jumped from ten thousand to nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-first.

He had moved up nine places.

Not bad.

He withdrew his gaze and began to think about strategy.

According to this trend, the further he went, the stronger the opponents would be.

But before the top one thousand, there probably wouldn't be many Rank 5 worlds.

After all, there weren't many Rank 5 Creators in the entire country.

Most were still Rank 4, or even Rank 3.

And his Netherworld World, although it had only just reached Rank 5, was likely stronger than many established Rank 5 worlds in terms of comprehensive strength.

Over two hundred thousand units, nine heroes, three civilizations, and a daily output of over eight hundred Power Of Faith.

There was also the Ghost King, a Rank 5, six-star existence.

Plus the twin skills of the Black and White Impermanence and Ox-Head and Horse-Face.

And Lan, the newly promoted Rank 5, five-star leader.

With this kind of configuration, he didn't need to reveal his trump cards at all before the top one thousand.

He wouldn't even need to use Hero Units.

Su Bai raised his head, his gaze falling on the flickering points of light.

Then so be it.

Before the top one thousand, he would stop holding back and just steamroll through.

He would pull his ranking up as fast as possible.

He would save his precious time for the final sprint.

He clicked on match.

Second round.

The moment the channel opened, a figure wearing a black robe appeared on the opposite side.

The person looked a few years older than Su Bai, in his early twenties, with a cold face and sharp eyes. Behind him was a world burning with flames.

[Opponent Number: 08834]

[World Rank: Rank 4]

[World Type: elemental civilization (Fire)]

[Comprehensive Evaluation: A-]

[Battle Record: 3 Wins, 1 Loss]

When the black-robed Creator saw Su Bai's world projection, his pupils constricted slightly.

Rank 5.

But he didn't surrender.

Because he saw that Su Bai's world rank had only just been promoted, and its aura was still unstable.

Furthermore, his world was fire-based, which countered many Yin Qi Worlds.

"Rank 4 against Rank 5, there's a chance," he said coldly. "Let me see how much substance you, a newly promoted Rank 5, actually have."

Su Bai glanced at him.

He didn't say a word.

He just lightly raised his hand.

Behind him, the gray-white Yin Qi of the Netherworld World surged like a sea.

Four portals opened simultaneously.

The first portal came from the Shadow Demon Abyss.

Thirty thousand Shadow Demons flooded out from the abyss, scattering into the void, their gray-white eyes coldly staring at the burning world opposite them.

The second portal came from the Mycelium Deep Forest.

One hundred thousand Mushroom People emerged from the forest, forming a neat phalanx, with gray-white spores drifting around them.

The third portal came from the Extreme Cold Ice Plains.

Twenty-three thousand Ice Crystals surged out from the ice plains, standing behind the Mushroom People like a series of ice-blue walls.

The fourth portal came from the Deep Blue Sea Abyss.

Two hundred thousand Naga flooded out from the ocean, occupying the other half of the void. Their silver-gray scales and pale gold eyes were so dense they looked like the ocean itself.

Over three hundred thousand units.

Four races.

The black-robed Creator's cold expression turned into a frozen one.

His fire world had a population of only fifty thousand.

He only had two Hero Units.

He only had three thousand Rank 3 units.

And the other side...

He looked at the overwhelming gray-white tide, at those powerful races, and at the massive numbers, his lips trembling slightly.

"You... you're..."

Su Bai looked at him and said calmly:

"Fighting?"

The black-robed Creator was silent for three seconds.

Then he gave a bitter smile.

"Fight my ass."

"I surrender."

The channel dissipated.

[Battle Ended]

[You have won, Points +10]

[Current Ranking: 9,856th]

Su Bai withdrew his gaze and continued matching.

Third round.

The opponent was a girl who looked not much older than him. Her world was a Plant Civilization, a lush forest with countless vines and giant trees.

She was stunned for a second when she saw Su Bai's world projection.

"Rank 5? So many units?" she murmured to herself. "How am I supposed to fight this?"

Su Bai looked at her, waiting for her to surrender.

But she didn't.

She took a deep breath, raised her head, and a flash of stubbornness appeared in her eyes.

"I know I can't win."

"But I want to see where the gap is between me and a true powerhouse."

She raised her hand, and the forest behind her began to grow wildly, with countless vines stretching toward Su Bai's world.

Su Bai looked at her, a hint of approval flashing in his eyes.

But approval was one thing, and battle was another.

He raised his hand again.

Over three hundred thousand units moved simultaneously.

Shadow Demons vanished from their spots, reappearing all over the forest in the next second, their sharp claws severing vines while shadow energy corroded the trees.

The Mushroom People's spores drifted down, causing the giant trees to wither and the vines to rot.

The Ice Crystals' Extreme Cold Domain expanded, freezing the temperature of the entire forest.

The Naga surged out from the ocean, using their tridents to pierce through the plants that tried to fight back.

The battle lasted for less than three minutes.

The girl's world opposite him was already nothing but ruins.

She stood in the debris, her face pale, but her eyes were very bright.

"I lost."

"But thank you for letting me see this."

"I will catch up."

She surrendered voluntarily.

The channel dissipated.

[Battle Ended]

[You have won, Points +10]

[Current Ranking: 9,342nd]

Su Bai looked at the disappearing channel and remained silent for a second.

This girl was somewhat interesting.

But that was all.

He continued matching.

In the fourth round, the opponent was a middle-aged man with a Rank 4 mechanical civilization. His expression changed when he saw Su Bai's Rank 5 world, but he didn't surrender. He sent out his entire mechanical army, attempting to use a steel torrent to counter the Netherworld's biological army.

In the end, his mechanical army was sliced into scrap metal by the Shadow Demons' Space Folding.

In the fifth round, the opponent was a youth who looked even younger than Su Bai. His world was an alien civilization, rearing tens of thousands of Ferocious Beasts. He confidently believed that numbers could make up for the rank gap.

In the end, his Ferocious Beasts were frozen into ice sculptures by the Ice Crystals' Extreme Cold Domain.

The sixth round, seventh round, eighth round...

The same plot kept playing out.

Su Bai didn't even use a single Hero Unit, crushing his opponents one after another relying solely on the armies of the four races.

His ranking jumped from over nine thousand to over eight thousand, then to over seven thousand, and then to over six thousand.

Four hours later.

His ranking stopped at 3,142nd.

[Current Ranking: 3,142nd]

[Consecutive Victories: 31]

[Points: 310]

Su Bai glanced at the number and nodded slightly.

Top three thousand now.

Almost there.

He was just about to match for the next round when he suddenly felt the surrounding atmosphere was a bit off.

Many of those light points that had been floating quietly were now "looking" in his direction.

It wasn't a physical gaze.

But a gaze of consciousness.

Su Bai raised his head, his gaze sweeping over those points of light.

He could feel that many of those points of light were communicating something.

He couldn't hear that communication, but he could perceive it.

The general meaning was:

"That Rank 5 newcomer won again."

"Thirty-one consecutive wins now."

"He still hasn't used any Hero Units?"

"Just how many units does he have?"

Su Bai withdrew his gaze, his expression calm.

He had only one goal:

Grind into the top one thousand with the lowest energy consumption and at the fastest speed.

And save his true trump cards for the tough battles to come.

He clicked on match again.

The thirty-second round.