49: Chapter 49 The Thirty-Two Strongest

After the second round of the Provincial Tournament concluded, half of the sixty-four participants were eliminated, leaving thirty-two.

When Shen Ye returned to the camp, it was already dark. The lights from the dome of the main venue in the distance were reflected on the surface of the artificial lake, shattering into countless golden specks of light.

He ran into Fang Yan in the cafeteria—Fang Yan had lost his second round.

He lost to a participant from a previous year with an SS-grade talent who held a reserved qualification. His Cultivation Divine Kingdom attribute was Lava Giant City, the same type as Gu Changming's but one grade higher.

Fang Yan's Rock Giant triangular loop was melted through by the opponent's purer flames; the cores softened and deformed under the high heat, causing the loop to snap.

Fang Yan was very calm, saying that his Provincial Tournament ended here, and he would stay in the provincial capital to watch Shen Ye and Lu Chuan continue to fight.

His tone when he said this was as steady as usual, like a rock whose edges had been smoothed by flowing water; it had hit the dam, accepted defeat, but did not shatter.

Lu Chuan also won.

His Undead Sea still maintained a crushing momentum in the Provincial Tournament, but he was winning with increasing difficulty.

The second-round opponent was an S-grade Ice type. An Ice Seal Aura caused the Undead Knight's skeletal horses to constantly slip on the ice, and the Skeleton Warrior's reorganization speed dropped significantly after being frozen into ice blocks.

Lu Chuan eventually won the match by using a Stitched Giant to forcibly smash through the opponent's ice wall.

After watching the recording, Shen Ye noticed a detail—Lu Chuan's right hand had been clenched throughout the latter part of the match, his knuckles white, exactly the same state as when he pushed his Blood War Aura to the limit during the finals.

The Provincial Tournament had only reached the second round, and Lu Chuan had already been forced to reveal his trump card.

Returning to the dormitory, Qin Shu had already projected the bracket for the top 32 onto the light screen.

From 128 people eliminated down to 32, every remaining person was the strongest contestant who had fought their way out of their respective cities. There were no weaklings, only the difference between strong and stronger.

Shen Ye found his name—his third-round opponent was Lin Yuan, a previous year's reserved qualifier with S-grade talent and a Cultivation Divine Kingdom attribute of Deep Sea Abyssal Prison.

"Deep Sea Abyssal Prison."

Qin Shu flipped the data pad to the corresponding intelligence page. "A top-tier variant of the Water-type Cultivation Divine Kingdom—it's not ordinary water, but the pressure of Abyssal seawater. Every drop is as heavy as a thousand jun. His kin are Abyssal Whale and Undercurrent Apostles. The Abyssal Whale is massive, and the water pressure it can withstand in the deep sea becomes its attack power in turn; the Undercurrent Apostles are elemental creatures that can travel freely in water, manipulating undercurrents to entangle enemies. His fighting style is to first flood the entire battle platform with Abyssal seawater, then have the Undercurrent Apostles strangle the opponent in the water. In the last round, he faced an S-grade Earth type who tried to resist by building a dam with rock walls. He summoned five Abyssal Whales to charge the rock walls simultaneously, and it only took a very short time to smash them."

Shen Ye watched the battle recording of Lin Yuan on the light screen.

When the Abyssal seawater spread across the battle platform, its color was a deep blue approaching black.

That kind of water was not a condensation of ordinary water elements; the Abyssal laws were embedded between the water molecules—not the same thing as the Devouring Abyss power of the Void Race, but the principle was similar: both embedded a suppressive effect at the level of laws into basic elements.

"Weakness."

Shen Ye said.

"Abyssal seawater requires continuous consumption of divine sense to maintain. Lin Yuan's divine sense strength is considered top-tier among S-grades, but the higher the density of the Abyssal seawater laws, the greater the consumption. In his battle recordings, all matches ended in a short time. It's not that he doesn't want to drag it out; he can't afford to."

Qin Shu turned a page. "Additionally, the Abyssal Whale has almost zero resistance to sonic attacks. In a deep-sea environment, the speed of sound propagation is several times faster than in air, but the Abyssal Whale's sensory organs have only adapted to changes in water pressure; their defense against sonic vibrations is almost zero."

Sonic waves.

Shen Ye thought for a moment.

His Cultivation Divine Kingdom did not have kin specialized in sonic attacks.

However, Elder Quan's spiral water flow could generate cavitation bubbles when rotating at high speed, and the bursting of these bubbles would produce intense localized shockwaves.

If he could push the rotation speed of the spiral water flow to the limit—he closed his eyes and sank his consciousness into the Cultivation Divine Kingdom.

Elder Quan sat cross-legged by the spirit spring, remaining silent for a while after hearing Shen Ye's description.

He extended his hands, which had been tucked into his sleeves, and three spiral spirit springs slowly rotated in his palms, accelerating faster and faster.

Under the high-speed rotation, the water flow began to generate extremely tiny bubbles. The bubbles spread from the center of the spiral to the edges, emitting a very faint crackling sound when they burst.

"Not enough."

Shen Ye said.

Elder Quan nodded and merged the three spirals into one.

The rotation speed of the three-in-one spiral water flow suddenly increased, the number of bubbles multiplied several times over, and the sound of them bursting became as dense as a rainstorm hitting a window.

Still not enough.

Elder Quan compressed the diameter of the spiral water flow to half of its original size, and the rotation speed doubled again.

This time, the bubbles were no longer tiny particles visible to the naked eye, but had transformed into a continuous Cavitation Cloud.

The Cavitation Cloud flickered in the water flow, and each flicker was accompanied by extremely dense microscopic vibrations.

Shen Ye probed his consciousness into that Cavitation Cloud and sensed that the intensity of the shockwaves was enough to tear apart rock walls several zhang away.

"You can stop."

Shen Ye said.

Elder Quan slowly finished his technique, tucked his hands back into his sleeves, his white hair dampened by water vapor and sticking to his back, and let out a long breath.

He had practiced this Cavitation Cloud technique for a whole Cultivation Divine Kingdom year.

The competition day arrived quickly.

Shen Ye stood on the battle platform, with Lin Yuan opposite him.

The S-grade from Haicheng No. 1 Middle School wore a dark blue school uniform, had a gaunt face, and eyes of a very pale gray-blue, like light filtering up from the bottom of the deep sea.

The Deep Sea Abyssal Prison spread out the moment the referee's hand fell.

It didn't spread toward the ground, but toward the entire battle platform.

The gray-white law slate was submerged by the dark blue Abyssal seawater, which was blocked by law-reinforced edges of the battle platform, forming a square artificial deep sea.

The Abyssal Whales floated up from the deep sea, their massive bodies casting oppressive shadows on the seabed.

The Undercurrent Apostles wove through the water, their transparent bodies blending with the color of the seawater, making them almost indistinguishable to the naked eye.

Shen Ye unfolded the Land of Cultivation.

Over four thousand kin lined up within the Kingdom Projection, but they did not all enter the water.

Jin Lin stood by the water's edge, hand on the hilt of his sword.

Mu Sheng's vines extended along the edge of the water surface, and the small white flowers at the tips of the vines skimmed the water, sensing the flow of the undercurrents.

Elder Quan stood by the water's edge, hands tucked into his sleeves, the water mist around him condensing but not dispersing.

An unexpected move—Shen Ye had all his kin retreat above the water surface.

Lin Yuan was stunned for a moment.

The pressure of the Abyssal seawater was at the level of laws; as long as one stood in the water, one would bear a weight of a thousand jun.

If the opponent didn't enter the water, the Abyssal Whales and Undercurrent Apostles would have to surface to attack, and their combat power would drop significantly once they left the water.

But if the opponent never entered the water, he could also choose not to attack.

Both sides stood in a standoff, waiting to see whose patience would run out first.

But Lin Yuan couldn't afford to drag it out.

The higher the law density of the Abyssal seawater, the greater his divine sense consumption.

He ordered the Abyssal Whales to attack.

Five Abyssal Whales leaped from the seabed simultaneously, their giant mouths opening, the pressure of the Abyssal seawater condensing into dark blue compressed water bombs in their mouths, which bombarded Shen Ye's kin formation.

Elder Quan made his move.

The hundred-person Dharma Cultivator squad formed seals simultaneously, a hundred streams of water extending from their fingertips and weaving into a spiral water net in the air.

The water net did not intercept the compressed water bombs head-on but wrapped along the flight trajectory of the water bombs, applying guidance in the same direction as the spirals of the water bombs.

The compressed water bombs were guided and deflected, all five missing their targets and exploding against the law-reinforced edges of the battle platform.

After the loud noise, the gray-white law slate remained unscathed.

Lin Yuan gritted his teeth and sent out all his Undercurrent Apostles at once.

The Undercurrent Apostles surged from beneath the water surface, their transparent bodies manifesting in the air, and Undercurrent Entanglement surged toward Shen Ye's kin formation from all directions simultaneously.

Elder Quan merged the three spiral spirit springs in his palms, the triple spiral rotating at high speed, forming a rapidly rotating Cavitation Cloud area beneath the water surface.

The Cavitation Cloud operated silently in the deep sea, countless microscopic bubbles bursting simultaneously, and high-frequency shockwaves spread in all directions.

The Abyssal Whales' sensory organs were the first to fail—they were extremely sensitive to changes in water pressure, and the frequency of the shockwaves far exceeded their endurance limits.

The five Abyssal Whales simultaneously let out low hisses, their massive bodies twisting in pain within the deep sea.

The Undercurrent Apostles' transparent forms constantly twisted and deformed in the shockwaves, and the Undercurrent Entanglement lost its precision, colliding with each other and turning into chaotic water currents.

Lin Yuan's expression changed.

He tried to recall the Abyssal Whales and Undercurrent Apostles, but the high-frequency vibrations of the Cavitation Cloud had already covered the entire water area of the battle platform.

Finally, he was forced to retract his Kingdom Projection.

The Abyssal seawater retreated from the battle platform, revealing the gray-white law slate as it had always been.

The Abyssal Whales and Undercurrent Apostles all returned to the Cultivation Divine Kingdom. Lin Yuan stood at the edge of the battle field, clutching his knees and panting heavily—he wasn't physically injured, but his divine sense was overdrawn.

The third round of the Provincial Tournament, top 32 to 16, passed.

In the last row of the stands, the admissions officers from the four universities were all taking notes.

The admissions officer from Wanxiang University finished writing the last line, adjusted Shen Ye's observation priority to the highest level, and added a note in the remarks column: "Kin demonstrated a self-created tactic in an S-grade battle—independently developing countermeasures against specific opponents without detailed instructions from the deity. This ability is extremely scarce in the Independent Pioneer Sequence."

The admissions officer from Cangqiong University wrote: "The Cavitation Cloud tactic was independently invented by the kin, not taught by the deity. The kin's independent innovation ability has surpassed the vast majority of S-grade contestants in the Provincial Tournament, suitable for the Independent Pioneer Sequence."

The admissions officer from Shenyu University wrote: "Core candidate, recommended to be directly included in the interview list."

The admissions officer from Eternal University wrote: "Extremely high resource utilization efficiency; the Cavitation Cloud achieves maximum tactical effect with minimal spiritual power consumption. Highly compatible with the logistics system of Eternal University."

Shen Ye withdrew his kin, nodded to Lin Yuan, and turned to walk off the battle platform.

As he walked into the contestant passageway, a girl wearing the uniform of the Provincial Association was leaning against the wall, holding a data pad.

She had long silver-gray hair, and her eyes were a very pale ice-blue—exactly the same as Gu Changfeng's.

An Ice Domain, not combat-oriented, but analytical.

Her Cultivation Divine Kingdom could freeze and analyze every detail of a Kingdom Projection.

"Gu Qinghan."

She straightened up. "Special tactical analyst for the Provincial Association, Gu Changfeng's sister. I said I wanted to see you after the Provincial Tournament ended, but I changed my mind."

She looked at him. "In the match against Lin Yuan just now, your kin used the Cavitation Cloud—that wasn't something you taught them. When I was reverse-engineering the development process of the Cavitation Cloud, I discovered that one must have a sufficiently long, continuous period of time specializing in one direction to complete a self-created tactic of this level. And from your awakening until now, it hasn't even been two months in the outside world. Your time doesn't add up."

Shen Ye did not speak.

"You don't need to explain."

Gu Qinghan tucked the data pad under her arm. "I came to find you, not to expose your secrets. My research topic is 'The Correlation Between Kin's Autonomous Consciousness and Combat Power Limits,' and your kin are the samples with the strongest autonomous consciousness I have ever seen. I only want to request one thing—let me audit your tactical deductions. You don't need to reveal any secrets; just let me observe your kin and your tactical coordination. In exchange, I will provide complete tactical analyses of all opponents, including their trump cards that have never been revealed."

She extended her hand. "Shall we cooperate?"

Shen Ye looked into her eyes.

Ice-blue, exactly the same as Gu Changfeng's, but with an extra layer that Gu Changfeng didn't have—not calmness, but a deeper curiosity, surging like an undercurrent beneath the ice.

She didn't want to pry into his secrets; she wanted to know where the limits of the kin's autonomous consciousness lay.

"Cooperate."

He said.

Gu Qinghan withdrew her hand, without another word, and turned to leave.

Her silhouette stretched long under the lights of the contestant passageway; her silver-gray hair and her back were exactly the same as Gu Changfeng's.

The two siblings: one charging at the front, one analyzing at the rear.

Shen Ye stood where he was, watching her silhouette disappear at the end of the passageway.

"The Provincial Tournament isn't over yet, but his team is taking shape bit by bit—Su Wanqing is responsible for resources, Jiang Yue is responsible for ancient texts and secret realm mechanisms, and Gu Qinghan is responsible for tactical intelligence."

Three women, three completely different fields, covering all the areas where he was currently weakest.

"He doesn't need them to fight for him; he needs them to help him see what he cannot see."

Returning to the camp, Qin Shu was already in the training room.

He projected the intelligence on the next round's opponent onto the light screen, but Shen Ye did not look at it immediately.

He first sent a message to Su Wanqing: "Gu Qinghan has taken the initiative to come to me for cooperation. Her Ice Domain can extract more detailed data from the Kingdom Projection than the Sandstorm domain. I need to integrate the two intelligence systems before the next round."

Su Wanqing replied quickly: "Gu Qinghan's parents work at the Provincial Association, and her brother is Gu Changfeng. The internal analysis reports she can obtain are several levels faster than my channels. But her terms for cooperation must be high—the depletion to the Cultivation Divine Kingdom for every sample analyzed by the Ice Domain is visible."

Shen Ye replied: "She only wants to audit."

Su Wanqing was silent for a moment.

"The entry point she chose is very precise. Your kin's autonomous consciousness is indeed a topic that researchers like her would be fascinated by."

She paused. "By the way, the second batch of profits from the foundation establishment pill has been transferred to your account. Also, the several kin characteristics you asked me to observe and pay attention to, there are some leads—but I still need more sample time."

"No rush."

Shen Ye ended the call and finally cast his gaze toward the light screen.

"Top 16, the real battle has just begun."