67: Chapter 67 The Top Sixty-Four

After the third round of the National Competition concluded entirely, the number of participants was whittled down from 128 to 64.

It was already late at night when Shen Ye returned to the Wanxiang University student dormitory, the reflection of the Wanxiang Giant Tower shattered into countless dark golden specks of light on the lake's surface.

He leaned against the window, clutching the amulet with the stitched-wrong corner that Liu Yang had given him, his thumb unconsciously rubbing over the crooked stitches.

The matchup table for the next round would be released tonight.

Qin Shu said the match scheduling algorithm tended to pit top competitors from different Divine Kingdom systems against each other early on; if that were true, his and Cang's initial Divine Kingdoms would likely collide in the Top 64.

When Teacher Cang Yue revealed Cang's weaknesses to him in the preparation area, her tone was as calm as if she were delivering a sand table simulation report, but Shen Ye knew the weight behind that report.

His communicator vibrated once.

Lin Tianyin sent an encrypted file with a title consisting of only four characters: "Bai Ye: Preliminary Investigation."

Shen Ye opened it, and the file's front page contained a brief note: "The following data is sourced from public recordings of internal school mock battles, not official match records. Bai Ye's Time Stop has never been forced to reveal its full extent in actual combat; this analysis is for preliminary reference only."

Bai Ye, SSS-rank Talent: Time Stop, Divine Kingdom Attribute: Eternal Hall.

On the day of his awakening, the detection stele shattered in front of him—not because of the stele's quality, but because his talent rank exceeded the detection limit.

In the first three rounds of the National Competition, all of his opponents conceded within a very short time—not because they were defeated, but because they realized their clansmen would have their attacks easily neutralized by Time Stop no matter how they attacked, so they voluntarily gave up.

The file included several clips of internal school mock battles, in which opponents attempted to use firepower coverage to break through the Time Stop domain.

However, all attacks would stop in mid-air upon entering the domain, only to be finished off by a strike from Bai Ye, who would appear behind them out of nowhere—he was as calm doing anything as if it were the most ordinary task; from mock battles to getting food in the cafeteria, he always had the same expression.

Shen Ye compared Bai Ye's combat data with his own Divine Kingdom development time and reviewed it several times.

Bai Ye did not have Double Time; his development period was exactly the same as an ordinary Awakened—one day in the outside world was one year in the Divine Kingdom.

Whereas Shen Ye himself had one day in the outside world equal to two years in the Divine Kingdom.

For an ordinary Awakened, the Divine Kingdom development time from awakening to the National Competition was about one year, while Shen Ye's Divine Kingdom time had already neared a century.

The law priority of Time Stop was extremely high; based on existing data, it could interrupt the causality chain of almost all law-driven attacks within the stopped domain, and Twilight Sword Qi was likely no exception.

But if there was a massive gap in Divine Kingdom time between the two sides, the underlying consumption logic of law confrontation would be completely different—his clansmen used a pure accumulation several times that of their opponent to forcefully withstand the opponent's law suppression.

Footsteps came from outside the door, extremely light and with an even rhythm; it was Gu Qinghan.

When she pushed the door open, she held a data pad in her hand, her ice-blue eyes looking exceptionally focused in the dim light.

"Your next opponent is not Cang, but another SS-rank—Han Yuan, from East Sea Province, Divine Kingdom Attribute: Deep Sea Abyss Prison."

"His combat style belongs to the same Deep Sea system as Lin Yuan, whom you encountered in the Provincial Tournament, but with a higher grade. The quantity, size, and law density of his Abyssal Whale clansmen and Undercurrent Apostles crush those of Lin Yuan. More troublesome is his core tactic called 'Abyssal Assimilation'—it can directly assimilate the opponent's water-type clansmen and all liquid matter into his undercurrents."

"It counters Daoist Quan."

Shen Ye said.

"Correct. But this is actually a good thing—if you use Yan Shan to break his abyssal barrier, Yan Shan's Rock Pattern belongs to an earth-type variant and is not affected by assimilation."

"Moreover, the impact resilience of his Spiral Mineral Crystal spiritual energy against torrents has already been verified in the Sea of Thousand Realms Mist. The seabed torrents of East Sea Province are naturally high-pressure; compared to the Ash King's law scorch marks, each has its own difficulty."

Shen Ye thought for a moment.

Yan Shan's Rock Pattern had withstood the heavy bone-blade slashes of Void Clan Warriors in the Sea of Thousand Realms Mist and had also resisted the recoil of the Vajra Barrier in the Provincial Tournament.

But to have him single-handedly withstand the continuous impacts of Abyssal Whales in the abyssal seawater, he needed to confirm one thing.

Sinking his consciousness into his Divine Kingdom, he appeared at the entrance of the Body Refining Cave.

The Body Refining Cave was something Yan Shan had spontaneously built deep within the mineral vein; the cave walls were covered in body refining techniques and maps of the mineral vein's orientation.

At this moment, Yan Shan was sitting cross-legged on the stone slab in the center of the cave, the Rock Pattern on his right arm flickering faintly in the dim light.

In front of him lay several fragments of Void Race bone blades brought back from the Sea of Thousand Realms Mist—after Tie Chui had polished them with Spiral Mineral Crystal powder, the edges of the bone blade fragments had become extremely thin, which could be used to test the toughness and erosion resistance of the Rock Pattern in a high water-pressure environment.

"There is a type of seabed torrent in East Sea Province that is heavier and denser than the mist of the Sea of Thousand Realms Mist; pressing down on you feels like a mountain."

Shen Ye said.

Yan Shan did not look up.

He picked up a bone blade fragment, tested the edge with his rough thumb, and then punched the fragment.

The bone blade fragment embedded several inches into the stone slab; the Rock Pattern on Yan Shan's right arm hardened at the same instant, followed immediately by an even heavier punch that smashed the fragment into powder.

Stone debris fell onto the edge of the stone slab, and he reached out to brush away the dust.

"As long as I can still throw a punch, I can withstand it."

Shen Ye withdrew his consciousness and opened his eyes.

Gu Qinghan had not yet left; she was leaning against the wall opposite him, her fingers making a soft, rustling sound as they swiped across the data pad.

"Han Yuan's Abyssal Assimilation is currently only effective against water-type clansmen. Your Daoist Quan, Mu Sheng, and Jin Lin are all non-water-type and are not affected by assimilation. Yan Shan is an earth-type variant and is also immune. You still have plenty of usable combat power; you don't need to hide anything this match."

Shen Ye nodded.

Gu Qinghan straightened up, stopping for a moment when she reached the door.

"Teacher Cang Yue asked me to tell you—that ancient God King statue in Cang's initial Divine Kingdom is a law creation of the ancient God King level."

Yan Shan had withstood the Ash King's law scorch marks in the Sea of Thousand Realms Mist; his Rock Pattern's resistance to ancient laws had been verified through actual combat, but the law density of the God King statue was higher.

Her suggestion is to continue letting Yan Shan accumulate actual combat experience against high-order laws; every stress test of the Rock Pattern's toughness is paving the way for your duel with Cang.

"Additionally, she said the request to access File No. EW-071 has entered the Eternal University approval process, and it's just one step away—she asks that you must formally fight Cang during the National Competition, as this is a hard condition for the application to be approved."

Shen Ye said: "Understood."

After Gu Qinghan left, Shen Ye stood alone by the window.

The dark golden halo atop the Wanxiang Giant Tower shone quietly in the night; Jiang Yue was still in the Ancient Texts Library deciphering the fragments brought back from the Sea of Thousand Realms Mist, while Teacher Cang Yue's sand table data, Lin Tianyin's law analysis, and Su Wanqing's resource channels were all operating for the same goal.

He stood in front of the window for a while, then drew the curtains and sat down cross-legged.

Sinking his consciousness into his Divine Kingdom.

Jin Lin was dismantling the Three-Dragon Sword Radiance again before the sword stele; every trajectory of sword intent was more solid than before;

Yan Shan had tested all the bone blade fragments in the Body Refining Cave; after the Rock Pattern on his right arm hardened, he could face high water pressure head-on without breaking;

Tie Chui was rushing to produce the next batch of Spiral Fire-Marrow Pills; although Han Yuan's Abyssal Assimilation could assimilate liquid matter,

the Fire-Marrow was in a high-temperature plasma state—he had discovered after using it in the Sandstorm last time that there was room to improve the stability of the Fire-Marrow, so he had improved the quenching process this time, allowing the Fire-Marrow to extend its burning time in high water-pressure environments.

Everything was being prepared.

Tomorrow, the Top 64 battle.