69: Chapter 69 Yun Qianqian

On the day of the Top 32 battle, Shen Ye received an encrypted file from Jiang Yue in the players' tunnel.

It wasn't a twilight script deciphering, but a law structure comparison map—she had obtained Yun Qianqian's public combat data of the Sea of Laws from Lin Tianyin and performed a new cross-analysis using the linguistic genealogy methodology of ancient civilizations.

This map dismantled the energy flow of the Sea of Laws layer by layer, marking the energy attenuation curve and possible fatigue threshold for every law node.

A line was appended to the final page: "Yun Qianqian's law affinity has a hidden weakness—all law consumption relies on the energy reserves of the Sea of Laws itself. If the energy consumption rate exceeds the recovery rate, the entire law system will collapse on its own. Use Yan Shan."

Shen Ye forwarded the map to Gu Qinghan and then stepped onto the first battle stage of the Wanxiang University Main Stadium.

Opposite him, Yun Qianqian had already deployed her Kingdom Projection—the Sea of Laws.

It wasn't water, fire, or any other element.

It was boundless law radiance, spreading out from beneath her feet in all directions, dyeing the entire battle stage a flowing pale gold.

Star Spirits rose from the Sea of Laws, each one a manifestation of pure law, their forms unstable and constantly shifting within the light.

Unlike Luo Xinghe's Starry Vault in the Provincial Tournament—Luo Xinghe's Starry Vault was starlight, while Yun Qianqian's Sea of Laws was the law itself behind the starlight.

In the audience, Qin Sese sat side-by-side with her elder sister, Qin Youyou.

Qin Youyou didn't have a match today and had specifically come to watch this SSS-level duel.

Looking at the Sea of Laws on the stage, she suddenly whispered, "This law density is even higher than last year's champion."

Qin Sese gripped her stone spear tightly and said nothing.

The referee raised their hand.

Shen Ye deployed the Land of Cultivation.

Jin Lin, Mu Sheng, and Daoist Quan were in the front; Yan Shan was in the middle; Tie Chui and Qing Ye were in the back.

This lineup was exactly the same as when he fought Han Yuan, but today there was one extra person—Qing Ye.

Her Spirit Plant Guidance Pill was an auxiliary pill modified from the spiral foundation establishment pill; after consumption, it could briefly enhance a vassal's resistance to law erosion.

Yan Shan had already taken one before entering the stage.

The referee's hand dropped.

Yun Qianqian took the initiative.

Star Spirits surged from the Sea of Laws, not in the starlight-condensed form of Luo Xinghe's in the Provincial Tournament—every one of Yun Qianqian's Star Spirits was a manifestation of the law itself.

A single Star Spirit could switch freely between a fireball and a sea of fire; any divine art would undergo a qualitative change in her hands.

One Star Spirit raised its hand, and what condensed in its palm was not a fireball, but a miniature sun.

Another Star Spirit swung its arm, producing not an ice arrow, but an absolute zero frozen domain.

The law-reinforced light barrier above the stage trembled violently under the impact of the dual laws.

Jin Lin, Mu Sheng, and Daoist Quan acted simultaneously.

Jin Lin leaped into the air, releasing his flying sword as the Three Dragon Sword Light spread out, deflecting the trajectory of the first wave of Star Spirit attacks; Mu Sheng's Guidance Viness extended along the law slabs, corralling the scattered Star Spirits from both flanks; Daoist Quan's Spiral Water Silks wove into a net in the air, further squeezing the Star Spirits' movement space.

The multi-layered guidance system had countered the Wind Elemental in the Provincial Tournament and the Sword Spirits in the National Competition; now, it faced the law-manifested Star Spirits head-on.

The guidance trajectories were still precise, but the law density of the Star Spirits was too high—the extent to which they were pulled off course by the sword intent and water silks was far smaller than previous opponents, each one struggling continuously at the edge of the guiding force, liable to break free at any moment.

Yan Shan stepped into the Sea of Laws.

He stepped onto the surface of the sea paved with law radiance, as law pressure surged from all directions.

Unlike Han Yuan's abyss water pressure—which was physical high pressure that Yan Shan's Rock Patterns could endure through Spiral Spiritual Power guidance.

Yun Qianqian's law pressure was at the level of laws, acting directly on the energy structure within the Rock Patterns.

The Rock Patterns on Yan Shan's right arm trembled slightly under the law pressure; the old scar on his chest, split by the Void Race's bone blade, was firmly covered by new Rock Patterns, and was now enduring a purer law impact than the Ash King's domain in the Sea of Thousand Realms Mist.

He had previously endured the Assimilation Law at the bottom of the abyss, but the Assimilation Network there was connected in series, allowing for node-by-node infiltration and dismantling.

But the Sea of Laws here had an extremely high density, pressing down on him like a giant net with countless nodes pulsating simultaneously.

He did not retreat.

Qing Ye's Spirit Plant Guidance Pill slowly released the nurturing power of the Law of Life within him; the spirit plant fibers were like countless miniature vines, guiding the law erosion energy outward through his Rock Patterns rather than resisting it head-on.

Tie Chui's Spiral Fire-Marrow Pill was ready in his palm—Tie Chui had repeatedly tested the law permeability of the Fire-Marrow Pill in a high-temperature plasma state before the match, confirming it could burn continuously in a non-liquid environment and consume the energy reserves of law nodes.

Yan Shan found the first law node, smashed a punch into it, and Spiral Spiritual Power conducted backward along the law network.

But Yun Qianqian's law network was different from Han Yuan's—Han Yuan's Assimilation Network was in series; if one node was destroyed, the entire chain broke.

Yun Qianqian's law network was in parallel—every node had an independent energy circuit.

Yan Shan shattered the first node, but the surrounding nodes immediately filled the energy gap, and the Sea of Laws showed no fluctuation.

Shen Ye's mental link reached the ears of all his vassals simultaneously: "Stall."

The multi-layered guidance system fully deployed.

Jin Lin, Mu Sheng, and Daoist Quan no longer tried to guide the Star Spirits to specific locations, but focused entirely on deflecting their attack trajectories to prevent them from interfering with Yan Shan; Tie Chui threw a new batch of improved Spiral Fire-Marrow Pills deep into the Sea of Laws, where the fire marrow burned continuously in the law radiance, each pill's burning point consuming the energy reserves of the law nodes.

This wasn't a decisive strike, but the cumulative energy consumption of each node was slowly approaching the fatigue threshold Jiang Yue had marked.

Yan Shan continued forward.

Second law node, a punch smashed in, Spiral Spiritual Power conducted backward.

Third node, fourth node.

With every step, he endured the frontal impact of the Sea of Laws, his Rock Patterns constantly shattering and being covered by new ones.

Fine beads of sweat seeped from his forehead, but the rhythm of his punches did not slow.

Deep within the spiral ore crystals, the Earth Spiritual Root body-refining cultivators had told their successors countless times: The earth doesn't care about pain.

Yan Shan had never cared.

Yun Qianqian finally sensed something was wrong.

Her Sea of Laws was being continuously dismantled from within by an extremely subtle but persistent permeation force; although the damage to each node wasn't fatal, after dozens of nodes were destroyed, the energy recovery speed of the Sea of Laws began to show a slight lag.

She immediately recalled all Star Spirits, shrinking them into an ultimate law defense in the core area of the Sea of Laws—the Star Spirits layered upon each other, their law radiance internalizing, forming a rotating law storm around the core area.

Shen Ye had been waiting for this exact moment.

Yan Shan stood firm, the Rock Patterns on his right arm trembling violently under the impact of the law storm; he raised his fist, concentrating all the spiritual power from the spiral ore crystals into this one punch.

No charging, no shouting.

Just a simple punch smashed into the densest core node of the law storm.

Spiral Spiritual Power conducted backward along the parallel network, simultaneously piercing through the energy reserves of all remaining nodes in the law storm.

At that instant, the energy consumption rate of the Sea of Laws exceeded the threshold of its recovery rate.

The entire law system collapsed on its own.

Yun Qianqian's Kingdom Projection shook violently and then disintegrated.

The referee raised their hand.

The stadium was dead silent for a moment, then erupted.

Shen Ye recalled his vassals.

Yan Shan walked back to his side from the afterglow of the Sea of Laws, his pace steady; the Rock Patterns on his right arm had shattered in several places, and a corner of the old scar on his chest had also peeled off, but new Rock Patterns were slowly growing from the cracks.

He nodded to Shen Ye and walked back into the Kingdom Projection.

Shen Ye turned and walked off the battle stage.

Qin Sese stood up, carrying her stone spear, and threw a forceful punch into the air.

Qin Youyou sat beside her, her ancient war spear resting across her knees, her gaze following Yan Shan's back for a long time before she spoke after a moment of silence: "He wasn't just enduring. In the abyss, the Sea of Thousand Realms Mist, and the Sea of Laws—each pressure stronger than the last—he has tempered himself into a different form."

She stood up. "Among the National Competition contestants, he's the first who can convert physical attacks into law-level permeation and destroy a parallel law network. In the next round against Cang, he has a chance."

On the other side of the stands, Teacher Cang Yue held a miniature sandbox.

Data from all the law nodes Yan Shan had just shattered was slowly scrolling across the sandbox, each line confirming her previous predictions—after enduring the Assimilation Law at the bottom of the abyss and the Ash King's law scorch marks in the Sea of Thousand Realms Mist, the permeation ability of his Rock Patterns against high-level laws had already broken through the upper limit she could estimate.

She put away the sandbox and sent a message to Shen Ye: "The application to access File EW-071 has entered final approval. Your next opponent is Cang. After this match, win or lose, this file will reach you on time."

Her fingertip tapped lightly on the edge of the sandbox. "Also, my brother watched your match against Yun Qianqian. He said your Yan Shan can try his hand against his Divine Statue."

Back in the dormitory that night, Shen Ye opened his spiritual power logbook and added a note after Yan Shan's name: "After enduring the dual law pressures of Han Yuan and Yun Qianqian, the Spiral Spiritual Power within the Rock Patterns can permeate backward along parallel law networks and simultaneously pierce all nodes. He now possesses the combat capability to challenge SSS-level law-type Kingdoms across tiers. Next step: Ancient God-King level."

He put down his pen; outside the window, the dark gold halo of the Wanxiang Giant Tower's peak glowed quietly in the night over the lake.

Jiang Yue's law structure map, Gu Qinghan's tactical analysis, Qing Ye and Tie Chui's pill improvements—behind this victory, not a single person was redundant.

Tomorrow, against Cang.