72: Chapter 72 Top 8

The day after defeating Cang Ming, Shen Ye received the matchup list for the National Competition quarterfinals.

His next opponent was named Bai Ye.

When the news spread, Shen Ye was eating breakfast in the cafeteria.

With the yolk of a spirit beast egg still hanging from the corner of his mouth, the messages Liu Yang sent from the upper bunk had already blown up his communicator — "You have to fight Bai Ye?! That Time Stop Bai Ye?! The number one seed of the National Competition?!"

Below it followed Su Wanqing's intelligence summary, Gu Qinghan's tactical prediction, and a voice message from Qin Sese — she was tapping the floor with her Savage Stone Spear, saying that Bai Ye's Time Stop couldn't even be broken through by her Mammoth Giant Elephant, and telling Shen Ye to be careful.

Lu Chuan only sent one line: "He is very strong. But your Yan Shan can withstand the Sea of Laws, so maybe he can also withstand Time Stop. Give it a try."

Shen Ye finished replying to the messages one by one and returned to his dormitory.

Lin Tianyin was already waiting at the door, holding a data pad, and handed him the final confirmation report on the resonance frequency of the Wanxiang University twilight crystal.

"Chen and Ye have pre-set the resonance frequency at the Twilight Altar. Once the activation threshold is reached, the twilight crystal in the Ancient Archives will resonate and manifest."

She pushed up her glasses, "Activating the twilight crystal requires your twilight energy to be verified through resonance on-site within the Ancient Archives, which requires you to enter the core area of the Ancient Archives yourself."

"Permissions." Shen Ye said.

"The core layer. Quarterfinalists automatically obtain the qualification of Wanxiang University core candidate students, and core candidate students have the permission to apply for entry into the general reading area of the Ancient Archives. However, the core area requires the status of an official core student, which can be processed on the first working day after the National Competition ends."

Lin Tianyin turned the page of the data pad, "The timing is just right — finish the finals, get the core student status, activate the crystal, and locate the next key."

Shen Ye nodded.

Lin Tianyin didn't linger, turned around, and went to the laboratory.

On the day of the quarterfinals, the Wanxiang University Main Arena was packed.

When Bai Ye stepped onto the battle platform, the entire arena went quiet for a moment.

His school uniform was a custom deep gold from Shenyu University, forming a sharp contrast with the deep blue of Wanxiang University.

His expression was very calm—not cold, but a kind of deeper composure, unhurried and impatient, like time itself.

When his Kingdom Projection unfolded, there was no golden light filling the sky, no pressure of laws.

The Eternal Hall just floated quietly behind him — a hall condensed from pure Time Law, where every stone pillar was a frozen fragment of time.

Bai Ye stood at the center of the Time Law, like a clockmaker standing inside a clock.

Shen Ye unfolded the Land of Cultivation.

Jin Lin, Mu Sheng, and Daoist Quan were in the front, Yan Shan was in the middle, Hou Tu was kneeling deep in the Body Refining Cave with both palms pressed to the ground, Tie Chui and Qing Ye were in the back, and Xiao Zhi's Spirit Synchronization Net covered all the kin.

This lineup had fought from the first round of the National Competition until now, with every match forged under extreme pressure.

The referee's hand dropped.

The Time Stop domain spread from under Bai Ye's feet in all directions, shrouding the entire battle platform in frozen Time Law.

Jin Lin's sword intent guiding threads solidified in mid-air, Mu Sheng's Guidance Vines maintained its curved arc without extending further, and Daoist Quan's spiral water threads stopped just an inch away from the Star Spirit.

Time Stop was not an attack of laws; it did not inflict damage on any single target, it simply froze time itself.

Shen Ye's Spirit Synchronization Net was still operating — Xiao Zhi's spirit synchronization was a link on the level of consciousness, unaffected by the flow of time — but the actions of his kin were completely locked.

Bai Ye passed through the frozen battlefield, walking towards Yan Shan.

His pace was unhurried, the Kingdom Projection of the Eternal Hall rotating slowly behind him, every step like a clock hand moving on a dial — precise, constant, without any unnecessary movement.

He walked up to Yan Shan, who was maintaining a punching posture, his right arm's Rock Pattern trembling slightly — he was still throwing the punch under the extreme suppression of Time Stop, just not fast enough to overcome the freezing of time.

Bai Ye did not attack.

He reached out, pressed his palm against the surface of the Rock Pattern on Yan Shan's right arm, and closed his eyes to perceive for a moment.

Then he did something that no one expected — he withdrew the Time Stop domain.

"Your kin is still throwing a punch within Time Stop."

Bai Ye's voice was not loud, but the whole arena heard it, "I have tried many opponents. Lu Chuan, whom you beat in the City-level Competition, Gu Changfeng, who played a doubles event with you in the Provincial Tournament, and Yun Qianqian and Cang Ming, who were eliminated by you in the National Competition — they all discovered that their tactical systems had room for improvement after battling you. After fighting them, I wanted to try it myself: whether your kin could continue to move forward within Time Stop."

He paused for a moment. "He did it."

The referee was stunned for a moment, then raised his hand to announce that Shen Ye had advanced to the semifinals.

There were no cheers in the stands — everyone was still immersed in that scene just now.

The Time Stop domain was actively withdrawn, not because Shen Ye broke it, but because Bai Ye felt he had already obtained the answer he wanted.

Just like that, he calmly withdrew his Kingdom Projection, turned around, and walked off the battle platform, his back unhurried, as composed as when he arrived.

Shen Ye withdrew his kin.

The residual warmth of the Time Law still lingered on the Rock Pattern of Yan Shan's right arm; it was an extremely subtle change in the pattern left behind after the Time Law permeated into the interior of the Rock Pattern — unlike Abyssal Assimilation, the Sea of Laws, or the reverberations of the Ancient God King.

The Time Law did not hurt him, but it left a new trace of tempering within his body.

Yan Shan looked down at his right arm, clenched his fist, and said to Shen Ye: "It's easier than salvaging fatigue nodes in Yun Qianqian's Sea of Laws."

Shen Ye did not speak.

He walked off the battle platform, passed through the contestant passage, and headed towards the semifinal arena.