66: Chapter 66, Third Round

In the third round of the National Competition, Shen Ye's opponent was Sun Mo, a seeded player from previous years with an S-rank talent and the Kingdom Attribute Quicksand Domain.

This was already his second encounter since the Provincial Tournament.

In the last Provincial Tournament, he had fought a similar type of player—the same Sandstorm Law, the same sand worms and Sand Demons.

The difference was that Sun Mo's Quicksand Domain was stronger than that of the opponent in the Provincial Tournament: there were more sand worms, the Sand Demons were larger, and even the dust itself carried a law-level erosion effect.

When Qin Shu sent over the intelligence, he only attached one sentence: "Use that dual-perception system from the Provincial Tournament—it broke through the Sandstorm last time, and it can do it again. Daoist Quan's Water Silk Law fluctuation detection and Mu Sheng's vibration sensing network are the natural counters to the Quicksand Domain."

On the day of the match, Shen Ye stepped onto the Seventh Battle Stage of the Wanxiang University Main Arena.

Opposite him, Sun Mo had already deployed his Kingdom Projection—Quicksand Domain. Endless yellow sand poured out from the Kingdom Projection, covering the surface of the law-reinforced battle stage and reducing visibility to near zero.

Sand worms shuttled through the sea of sand, revealing only the rows of sharp sand blades on their backs; Sand Demons rose from sand vortices, dust condensing into massive humanoid forms that dictated the flow of the entire Sandstorm with every punch.

The referee raised his hand.

Shen Ye deployed the Land of Cultivation.

This time, he didn't summon a large force—only Jin Lin, Mu Sheng, and Daoist Quan, as well as Yan Shan and Tie Chui.

This lineup was streamlined, but it was enough to handle the Sandstorm: Yan Shan's Rock Patterns could face the physical impact of the Sand Demons head-on, and Tie Chui's Spiral Fire-Marrow Pills had just undergone a new round of improvements, allowing them to maintain high temperatures without being extinguished in the dust.

Jin Lin, Mu Sheng, and Daoist Quan were responsible for the perception system, while Yan Shan and Tie Chui handled the front-line defense.

The referee's hand dropped.

Sun Mo was the first to strike.

Sand worms charged from all directions simultaneously, Sand Demons swung their giant arms down from the air, and the dust itself was constantly eroding the surface of the law-slabs—the exact same tactics as the opponent from the Provincial Tournament, but everything was stronger.

Shen Ye didn't retreat.

Daoist Quan and Mu Sheng struck at the same time, deploying the exact same dual-perception network used against the Sandstorm in the Provincial Tournament—Water Silk Law fluctuation detection combined with vine vibration sensing—silently within the Sandstorm.

The cores of the sand worms were clearly identifiable within the composite perception network, and the energy flow of the Sand Demons was marked line by line by the Water Silk Law fluctuations.

Jin Lin's flying sword followed immediately.

His sword intent guidance system was no longer targeted at single enemies; it had been upgraded from the precise point-kills of the Provincial Tournament to area coverage—dividing his sword intent into dozens of extremely fine guidance sword-silks, each one entangling a sand worm and pulling them off course at a minute angle using their own momentum.

The sand worms' charging trajectories were disrupted, causing them to collide with each other and expose their cores.

Jin Lin leaped into the air, one sword per worm, performing precise point-kills.

Sun Mo gritted his teeth and recalled all the Sand Demons, contracting them into a maximum defense at the core of the Quicksand Domain—the dust density was pushed to the limit, and layers of Sand Demons blocked the front of the wind vent.

This move had forced out Shen Ye's light-element technique penetration during the Provincial Tournament, but this time, Shen Ye did not use the Holy Light.

Yan Shan and Tie Chui stepped forward simultaneously.

The Rock Patterns on Yan Shan's right arm suddenly hardened as he punched into the outermost layer of the Sand Demon array. Spiral spiritual power was transmitted backward along the energy patterns inside the Sand Demons, causing them to disintegrate from within.

Tie Chui threw the improved Spiral Fire-Marrow Pills into the center of the Sand Demon array. The pills exploded in the dust, and the high temperature melted the law patterns at the dust nodes.

The Sand Demons' defensive array collapsed under the dual internal strikes, completely exposing the wind vent.

Jin Lin's flying sword pierced straight down from the sky, skewering the wind vent in a single strike.

The Quicksand Domain shattered.

Sun Mo's Kingdom Projection trembled violently and then collapsed.

The referee raised his hand.

Amidst the cheers of the crowd, Shen Ye recalled his vassals. Jin Lin sheathed his sword, Yan Shan relaxed his fist, and Tie Chui bent over to pick up several core fragments of the Sand Demons—he said these could improve the high-temperature resistance of the Spiral Fire-Marrow Pills and shouldn't be wasted.

Back in the preparation area, Qin Shu was already waiting in the tunnel.

He turned the data pad around. On the screen, Wanxiang University's core candidate list had been updated again—behind Shen Ye's name was a new remark: "Vassal coordination efficiency continues to improve; non-combat type vassals have demonstrated autonomous tactical innovation capabilities in actual combat. Recommended for inclusion in the core-level priority observation list."

Also on the list for the same period were SSS-rank players like Bai Ye, Chi Yan, Cang, and Yun Qianqian.

Shen Ye handed the data pad back without saying much.

His gaze passed through the player tunnel and landed on the top of the deep blue giant tower on the distant Lake Heart Island—the golden halo at the tip of the Ancient Archives was flickering slightly in the twilight.

Just a few more matches.

Once he entered the core level, Lin Tianyin would be able to help him apply for borrowing privileges for the Ancient Archives.

The first of the four archival records Jiang Yue needed was right there.

When he reached the hall, Shen Ye encountered an unexpected person in front of a vending machine.

It was a tall girl wearing the dark green uniform of Eternal University, standing alone by the vending machine with a miniature sand table floating in front of her.

On the sand table, every battle stage and player tunnel of the Wanxiang University Main Arena was clearly visible. The vassal array data from Shen Ye's fight with Sun Mo was slowly scrolling along the edge of the sand table.

She looked up, and her gaze met Shen Ye's.

"Teacher Cang Yue."

She spoke first, "Eternal University, Cang's younger sister."

Shen Ye remembered the name.

Qin Shu's intelligence had mentioned that Cang possessed an SS-rank Initial Divine Domain and was the inheritor of an Ancient God King Ruin, making him one of the top seeds in this year's National Competition.

Teacher Cang Yue had an S-rank talent in Kingdom Management, specializing in kingdom resource allocation and Tactical Sand Table Deduction.

Her appearance here was no coincidence.

"I analyzed the data from the simultaneous resonance of the four thousand vassals in that last battle."

Teacher Cang Yue's finger swiped lightly across the sand table, bringing up a set of spiritual power resonance curves for Shen Ye's vassal array. "Look here—the spiritual power frequencies of four thousand people achieved a high degree of consistency under the coordination of the Spirit Synchronization Net. The resonance efficiency far exceeds all known similar tactics on the market. This kind of scheduling ability is unique among the National Competition players."

Shen Ye said nothing.

Teacher Cang Yue withdrew her finger, and the data on the sand table slowly faded.

"I didn't come to find you for pleasantries. There is an undisclosed file regarding the Twilight Civilization in Eternal University's deep database, numbered EW-071. The archival notes mention two keywords: 'Four Keys' and 'return of light and dark'—they should be highly relevant to what that archaeological researcher by your side is looking for. This file requires special borrowing privileges, which I don't have. But I can help you get it."

"The condition?"

"Fight a match against my brother."

Teacher Cang Yue said, "His Initial Divine Domain is currently the only Ancient God King Ruin inheritance among the National Competition players; ordinary opponents can't even touch his tactical upper limit. Since entering Eternal University, he has been looking for an opponent who can force him to get serious, but he hasn't found one yet. The vassal synchronization resonance you just showed is the pressure test intensity he needs. If you agree, I will apply in the name of the Eternal University Tactical Research Group to use this duel as a law pressure test for the Initial Divine Domain—this can bypass many approval processes and allow me to legally access file EW-071. Of course, the premise is that you officially meet in the National Competition schedule, not a private challenge. But this year's schedule matching algorithm is already halfway through, and the next round of matchups is about to be announced—I can tell you, the algorithm tends to let top players from different kingdom systems meet as early as possible."

Shen Ye was silent for a moment.

Fighting Cang was not in his original plan.

But file EW-071 mentioned the "Four Keys" and "return of light and dark"—which perfectly matched the prophecy of the Twilight Shelter.

Jiang Yue had spent so long deciphering fragments, and Tie Chui, Yan Shan, Chen, and Ye were also working hard in their respective directions; the clues for the Four Keys had finally reached this stage.

And Teacher Cang Yue being able to directly bypass the permission approvals to get this file was a very heavy bargaining chip.

As for Cang—with his current strength, he might not be guaranteed to win against an SS-rank Initial Divine Domain, but having come this far in the National Competition, he would have to face an opponent of this level sooner or later.

"I agree."

Shen Ye said.

Teacher Cang Yue nodded and put away the sand table.

She turned to walk a few steps, then stopped.

"My brother's Initial Divine Domain contains a statue of an Ancient God King that can automatically counterattack all law-based attacks. Although your Twilight Sword Qi is a fusion of light and dark, it is still essentially law-driven—when fighting his statue, use more physical attacks. That Body Refiner of yours named Yan Shan will be the breakthrough point."

Shen Ye stood in place, watching Teacher Cang Yue's back disappear at the end of the player tunnel.

What Teacher Cang Yue just said didn't seem like a spur-of-the-moment thought—a tactical analyst wouldn't easily reveal her own brother's weakness without being absolutely certain.

Unless she had already performed many deductions on the sand table and confirmed that Yan Shan's spiral spiritual power had a unique penetration effect against the law defense of the Ancient God King statue, she wouldn't dare tell this key information to an outside player before the match.

The opponents of the National Competition, the tactical research group of Eternal University, the undisclosed files of the Twilight Civilization—these clues were converging in the same direction.

He remembered what Qin Shu had said in the Sea of Thousand Realms Mist: The sharpest blade on the battlefield should be polished on the battlefield.

The next round's matchup table would be announced tonight.

If the schedule matching algorithm really worked as Teacher Cang Yue said, tending to let top players of different systems meet early, then his duel with Cang might be right before his eyes.

Shen Ye walked toward the independent student dormitory of Wanxiang University.

In the night outside the window, the reflection of the Wanxiang Giant Tower swayed gently on the lake surface.

Tomorrow, keep winning.