A low, resonant hum vibrated through the void.
With a casual flick of his right hand, Lance sent the Void Core hurtling into the starry expanse ahead.
"Array, ignite!"
At his low command, the formation roared to life.
Vrummm!
In an instant, a torrential flood of boundless energy erupted from the heart of the array.
Pillars of majestic power surged outward, instantly enveloping the surrounding space for thousands of light-years.
"Sht, that's World Lord Class power!"
"Formation fluctuations... it’s a trap! We’ve been set up!"
"Retreat! Now!"
...
The sudden surge of power caused the Domain Lord Class experts—who had been fighting blindly—to turn pale with shock.
Even a fool knew sothing was wrong with the opening of this Secret Realm, but they had assud the only issue was that the realm’s level might be too high. Now, they realized with horror that the entire thing was a calculated snare.
Feeling the overwhelming fluctuations of the formation, these experts didn't hesitate. With grim expressions, they bolted in every direction, pushing their speed to the limit to tear into Dark Space.
Whirrrr!
But it was too late. The formation, covering light-years of space, reached full activation.
A single point of pitch-black light flickered into existence within the Abyss.
In a heartbeat, that speck expanded outward with violent force, transforming into a terrifying black hole spanning several light-years in diater.
A gravitational pull capable of shredding the very Spatialis of the region erupted from its center.
The blinding radiance that had previously seared everyone's eyes was instantly devoured by the black hole. The brilliance vanished, replaced by an all-consuming, infinite darkness.
Even the Divine Perception emitted by these powerful cultivators was swallowed whole.
Super-experts who had already slipped into Dark Space were forcibly dragged back into reality.
"Dammit, what kind of array is this?"
"Is this a legendary Tier 13 formation? It's over... there's no escape!"
"Hell! Soone save ! I'll give you everything I own!"
"With this level of gravity? You think soone can save you? Just accept it and die!"
...
Countless experts and geniuses fell into utter despair. The gravitational force far exceeded their physical and spiritual limits.
Ultimately, that cataclysmic pull dragged everyone present into the black hole, where they were systematically shredded into nothingness.
Protected by the protocols of The Virtual Universe, the Legacy Tokens remained unscathed. They coalesced in the center of the black hole, rging into a massive, glowing sphere.
In just a few minutes of Chronos, the powerful array had completely purged the entire battlefield.
Even the World-King Peak legacy was torn into infinite fragnts by the formation’s raw fury.
Yet, countless more experts were still charging toward this location.
Though the blinding light had vanished, these newcors assud the Secret Realm had finally opened. They accelerated even further, diving headfirst into the black hole and being reduced to scrap before they could even process what was happening.
"It's over."
The slaughter lasted for several hours of Chronos. During that ti, the blood-qi of countless Domain Lord Class cultivators surged toward Lance like a flood. It eventually condensed into a massive Necrotic Energy core, which hovered silently above his Consciousness Hub.
Based on the energy reserves in this core, killing a mid-to-late stage Eternal Class expert would be trivial.
However, it was still far from enough to threaten an Immortal Class. Lance didn't mind. He knew it was impossible to fuel his weapons for that level of combat simply by harvesting Battle Aura from Domain Lord Class fodder.
As for the World Lord Class exam zones, Lance had no intention of testing those waters yet. The reason was simple: if he went there now, he would just be throwing his life away.
Even if he upgraded his array to Tier 13, it wouldn't matter. He lacked the necessary Chronos.
To build an array capable of easily wiping out World Lord Class experts, Lance would need at least a Mid-Grade Legendary Grade Tier 13 array.
Constructing an ordinary array took him only a few minutes, but attempting to build a Tier 13 Legendary Grade array in a short ti was a pipe dream. It would take at least seven or eight hours of Chronos to set up.
A Legendary Grade array was called "legendary" because its very existence defied the norm. It required a flawless foundation. Not only did the base have to be free of any Exploits, but it also had to be integrated with dozens of auxiliary arrays of the sa tier.
Without that, a perfectly built base would only result in a Perfect Grade formation.
That was the difference. Lance could throw together a Perfect Grade array in minutes, but a Legendary Grade one required hours of ticulous work. So super-arrays even required days of setup.
Their power was imnse, but for Lance's current needs, they weren't a necessity.
The first phase of the exam was nearing its end. Even if Lance upgraded the exam tier, he wouldn't have enough Chronos to build another array.
"Let’s see if any of these spoils are worth a Reconstruction. Otherwise, my Reconstruction Quota will refresh once the first phase ends."
Lance’s eyes flickered. With a light tap of his foot, he drifted toward the black hole.
Since he was the architect of the formation, it had no effect on him. Even if the array were several major realms stronger, it wouldn't matter. It would be a joke if his own creation attacked him.
Entering the black hole, Lance was t with the sight of a massive sphere of light.
Inside the sphere, countless Legacy Tokens were compressed tightly together.
"Good grief. If I claim all of these, what will my score even look like?"
The sheer scale of the loot montarily stunned him. Driven by curiosity, he reached out.
Hummmm!
A ripple of energy pulsed through him. Suddenly, the mountain of Legacy Tokens surged toward Lance like a tidal wave, disappearing into his body.
In an instant, Lance felt the storage Spatialis provided by The Virtual Universe for Legacy Tokens hit its limit. Clearly, even the system hadn't anticipated a single candidate obtaining such a staggering number of tokens.
While there were many Array Masters among the geniuses, few could craft Perfect Grade arrays, let alone Legendary ones. Most were Tier 11 Array Masters who could barely produce a Tier 7 Perfect Grade formation.
Furthermore, their setup speed was abysmal, and The Virtual Universe forbade them from bringing pre-built arrays into the exam. Consequently, most Array Masters were at the bottom of the food chain in terms of combat power. A Tier 11 array couldn't be built in a day, and sotis not even in a month.
No one was a freak of nature like Lance.
Fortunately, The Virtual Universe detected the overflow and imdiately expanded Lance’s storage Spatialis ten-thousand-fold. The tokens that had been stuck halfway suddenly vanished into his inventory.
[System Notification: Based on your Legacy Token count, your total points have reached: 121 quintillion!]
[Global Announcent: The rank 1 position on The Leaderboard has been updated. Candidate: Lance. Current Points: 121 quintillion!]
The prompt echoed in Lance's mind, followed by a booming announcent that reverberated throughout the entire exam zone. Countless candidates froze in place, utterly stunned by the broadcast.
Lance’s eyes narrowed slightly.
This single move had wiped out over a hundred quintillion Domain Lord Class experts. The Secret Realm’s appearance had drawn people from an incredibly vast area, and many were still rushing in to their deaths.
On average, each person hadn't even contributed a single full point.
It made sense. Though a day of Chronos had passed, less than half the candidates had even encountered a Secret Realm. Even those who did found it difficult to secure a legacy. A low-level legacy only provided a few dozen Legacy Tokens.
Yet, whenever one appeared, it attracted thousands, millions, or—in this case—quintillions of competitors. With so many mouths and so little food, the average point gain was naturally low.
Furthermore, Domain Lord Class Secret Realms were relatively rare and took a long ti to clear. If an average cultivator found one, they might not even finish it before the first phase ended, leaving them with zero points.
So might argue this was unfair to talented but unlucky individuals. However, the reality was that any super-expert with sufficient strength would eventually find a Secret Realm. If they couldn't find a small one, a massive, conspicuous one was easy to spot. If they found neither, they simply didn't et the system's criteria for a "genius."
Since many of the victims already possessed tokens, the points aggregated on Lance, catapulting him to the top.
His score surpassed the second-place holder—who had ten billion points—by a factor of a hundred million.
The mont Lance’s score appeared, the Domain Lord Class battlefield erupted.
"121 quintillion points?! How is that possible? Even inheriting a Peak God-King Class Secret Realm only gives a hundred quadrillion points."
"Exactly! It’s only been one day. Even if he found an Eternal Class legacy, there wouldn't be enough Chronos to finish the trial!"
"Dammit, is he cheating?!"
"Dream on. You think there are Exploits in The Virtual Universe? Have you ever heard of a single one?"
"True... he must have actually secured an Eternal Class legacy sohow. Regardless, unless sothing unexpected happens, this Lance is the undisputed monster of The Leaderboard."
...
At the Domain Lord Class level, no one seriously believed soone could cheat within The Virtual Universe. They all speculated that Lance had obtained, at the very least, a Low-Grade Eternal Class legacy.
While they marveled at his terrifying luck, they were even more shocked by his talent. Without imnse talent, one couldn't possibly secure an Eternal Class legacy within a single day.
Luck and talent were both indispensable. Clearly, Lance possessed both in spades.
Elsewhere in the Domain Lord Class exam zone, in a secluded corner, a beautiful girl in white robes struck out with her palm, freezing an opponent solid. She, too, heard the announcent regarding Lance's score.
"That brat is in the Domain Lord Class zone? How?" Glacia wondered. "When I saw him last, he was only at the Planetary Realm. How did he reach Domain Lord Class so fast? Is it just soone with the sa na?"
The girl was Sovereign Glacia. Thanks to the two powerful pills Lance had sent her, she had made a full recovery and returned to her peak.
In fact, she was stronger than ever. During her years of wandering, her Domain had beco Fragnted. She used this unique opportunity to rebuild, increasing her Law Threads to over seven thousand.
She had reached her current limit. With her Domain reconstituted and her mastery of The Glacial Canon reaching Transcendent Mastery, her combat strength now rivaled the top ten on the Second-Tier Divine Kingdom Leaderboards.
Without a major stroke of luck, she couldn't improve further.
"No... with how much that brat likes to hide his strength, this doesn't sound like him at all. It must be a coincidence—soone with the sa na. But could it really be that big of a coincidence?"
Glacia was conflicted. She knew Lance’s talent was monstrous, but jumping to the top of the Domain Lord Class Leaderboard in just a few days was hard to swallow.
Swish!
Suddenly, the cold whistle of sothing cutting through the air ca from behind her.
Glacia’s expression shifted instantly. She rallied her B-Rank Trait: Frost Lord, concentrating the icy energy at her back.
BOOM!
An earth-shattering explosion followed. A long blade slamd into her back, halted only by the sudden conjuration of ice. The impact was still enough to make Glacia cough up a spray of blood.
She didn't hesitate. Her slender right hand whipped around, thrusting a palm backward.
A massive Great Glacial Seal manifested, grinding toward her assailant.
"Hmph!"
The attacker let out a cold snort and swung their blade with violent force. A brilliant arc of saber-light slashed through the Abyss, colliding with the Great Glacial Seal.
CRACK-BOOM!
Another thunderous explosion rocked the area. Both the seal and the saber-light shattered upon impact, dissolving into a flurry of snow that filled the void.
"Hm? You still have the strength to fight back? It seems I’ve run into a decent genius."
The attacker sounded genuinely surprised.
She was the top genius of the Blade Sovereign's Dominion, Dorian Edge.
Her ruler was the Blade Sovereign, an Immortal Realm powerhouse of the God-Emperor level. As his primary disciple and the top genius of the Dominion, Dorian rarely t an equal in her own tier.
The only place she expected a challenge was on the Universal God-Realm Leaderboards. She hadn't expected to encounter a super-expert of her own caliber just as the first phase was ending.
Glacia turned around, her eyes landing on a girl with black hair and white pupils. The girl stared back at her with eyes devoid of any emotion.
"The Glacial Reach Domain!"
Glacia didn't waste ti with words. With a low shout, a wave of bone-chilling cold erupted from her, expanding in every direction. In an instant, everything within a ten-million-kiloter radius was subsud by her Domain.
Sensing the intensity of the frost, Dorian’s expression soured slightly.
"What a powerful Domain. She must have at least seven thousand Law Threads. I was planning to save this for my fight with First Senior Brother, but I suppose I'll have to use it on you."
Dorian realized a quick victory was out of the question. Without hesitation, she drew a second, pitch-black blade from her back.
"Equilibrium Domain, open!"
With a fierce roar, Dorian brought the black and white blades together. A torrent of dual-colored energy exploded outward.
A black-and-white Domain, also spanning ten million kiloters, surged forth, violently clashing against Glacia’s Glacial Reach Domain.
System Notification: A massive stockpile has been detected!
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