Yuan’s Ascension

The battlefield was left in a stunned silence.

Amidst the quiet, two streaks of light flared simultaneously, yet only one figure materialized in the plaza—Wu Yuan.

His demeanor was calm and composed, as if the awe-inspiring strike had been executed by someone else.

Silence reigned once more.

Even as the second battle of the fourth round commenced, the Supreme Geniuses couldn't tear their gaze away from Wu Yuan. Figures like Inconstance, Li Guang, and Bai Shui now viewed him through a lens of newfound respect.

Wu Yuan's decisive strike had been nothing short of phenomenal, an overpowering force that obliterated High Immortal Wan Bao. If Ming Jian had made them take him seriously, pondering whether they would need to muster all their strength to defeat him, Wu Yuan's final strike introduced an overwhelming sense of despair—his power was so formidable, it felt invincible.

"Unbelievably terrifying."

"Wu Yuan's final strike reminded me of Zhu Shan."

"Indeed! That invincible presence, that relentless edge—utterly unstoppable." Voices mixed with awe and excitement echoed from the distant viewing platforms.

They were already eliminated, their hopes of making it further in the Crossroads dashed. At the moment, most of them only hoped to observe stronger geniuses and grander battles.

…

Wu Yuan's body refiner self joined the cluster of Eldritch Court geniuses, standing alongside Qi Jue, Xuan Rong, Hou Xiao, and others.

"A pity about Wan Bao."

"Yes. Had he not faced Wu Yuan, Wan Bao might have secured a spot in the top twenty."

The sentiment resonated among the Eldritch Court’s Supreme Geniuses. There were no objections to Wu Yuan's victory over Wan Bao, only a shared sense of loss that High Immortal Wan Bao's potential might have carried him further, if not for having been matched up with Wu Yuan.

"It's different," Zhu Shan's voice resonated in the minds of Wu Yuan, Qi Jue, Xuan Rong, and the others: "If you observe carefully, you'll find the battle match-ups take into consideration both current strength and potential.

“Wan Bao's strength is decent, but firstly, the Heavenly Domain Emissary might not know if he was hiding his true power. Secondly, Wan Bao took nearly a million years to reach his current strength, having fully realized his potential, while many Supreme Geniuses have only cultivated for three hundred to four hundred thousand years and still have room to grow," Zhu Shan said calmly.

"Of course, for the Heavenly Domain Emissary, one must first be a Supreme Genius before potential even matters. If one cannot reach Sovereign-level comprehension, potential becomes irrelevant."

The many Eldritch Court geniuses nodded, reflecting on his words. As they recalled the battles they had witnessed, they found that this was indeed so.

Those Supreme Geniuses who encountered difficulties early on were mostly those approaching their lifespan limits. Conversely, those extremely young ones with great potential mostly won with relative ease.

…

Time flowed on, and the battles in the fourth round concluded. All combatants were Supreme Geniuses. Whether it was Wu Yuan, Zhu Shan, and other participants, or the thousands of eliminated geniuses in the viewing stands, all watched the fights with intense focus.

Each battle was a breathtaking spectacle, stirring the hearts of all who witnessed them. These clashes between Supreme Geniuses resembled life-or-death struggles between Sovereigns, which hardly occurred in ordinary times.

While various Saintdoms kept countless recordings of battles between Sovereigns, no recording could ever compare to the raw ferocity of live combat.

"Mu Long won!"

"You Feng won, his mastery of the Primordial Technique is indeed formidable, increasing his strength greatly. He has hope of reaching the top ten."

"Inconstance won again, still without moving a single step, the Great Dao of Destiny is truly mysterious." Up till now, Inconstance's methods still put the Supreme Geniuses on edge.

Those who comprehended the Great Dao of Destiny were rare. Among this group of Supreme Geniuses, Inconstance was the only one.

In the sixteenth battle, Zhuo Haiyue fought Gamang. Before the fight, most geniuses believed Gamang would win as he had been a Supreme Genius for a long time, while Zhuo Haiyue seemed to have broken through not long ago. However, this battle was incredibly fierce.

"What?"

"Gamang lost?"

"The Abyssal Devil race's Gamang lost."

"Zhuo Haiyue won, advancing to the top forty." Shock spread as Zhuo Haiyue revealed astounding strength in this battle, her thunder knives and thunder techniques making their hearts tremble.

"It's the 'Violet Night Thunder Art', the ancestor of many thunder techniques."

"Violet Night Heavenly Thunder." Quite a few Supreme Geniuses recognized this supreme inheritance, revealing shocked expressions.

This type of grand divine arts hadn't been wielded by the younger generation for a long time.

The battles continued.

"Zhu Shan won!"

"Lie Jin and Ming Jian both won easily too." Many geniuses discussed quietly.

Some battles were spectacular, though where there were clear differences in strength, victory could be easily predicted in advance.

Finally, all forty battles of the fourth round concluded. This also meant the top forty had been determined.

"The dozen or so Supreme Geniuses who shone in the Divine Domain stage and during the Primordial Steps Trial mostly haven’t met yet."

"Yes, that's right!"

"Among the top forty, over twenty have comprehended the Three Thousand Foundation Diagrams of the Primordial Doctrine."

"Seems so."

"None of the remaining participants are easy targets!" Thousands of observing geniuses discussed quietly.

As the competition progressed, certain patterns became apparent, clearly showing that this iteration of the Megaverse Crossroads favored those skilled in the Primordial Doctrine.

Of course, if one's strength was sufficiently terrifying, like Zhu Shan, would they care about the Heavenly Domain Emissary's preferences? No matter the opponent, they would sweep through them all.

…

"Reaching the top forty means you have each defeated at least one person with Sovereign-level comprehension, proving your excellence," The Heavenly Domain Emissary stood in the void, looking down at the geniuses below: "In some past Megaverse Crossroads, you would have great hope of reaching the top ten in strength alone."

Silence fell as many geniuses nodded inwardly.

Indeed! Historically, there were some Megaverse Crossroads with only twenty or thirty Supreme Geniuses, how could their quality compare to this generation?

"However, rules are rules, only ten can obtain Xiantian artifacts," the Heavenly Domain Emissary spoke slowly: "But I will let you meditate peacefully for ten days as an additional reward for reaching the top forty.

“These ten days of cultivation may rival your past one thousand years of cultivation. At the end of the ten days, the fifth and sixth rounds will be held consecutively to determine the final top ten," the Heavenly Domain Emissary said.

Ten days of meditation? Additional reward? Wu Yuan, Inconstance, Lie Jin and the others revealed surprised expressions. They had thought the next round would begin immediately.

Whoosh~ Whoosh~ Before they could ponder further, Wu Yuan, Zhu Shan, Zhuo Haiyue, and the other forty geniuses simultaneously vanished from their spots, disappearing from the sight of all observers.

"Ten days of secluded cultivation?"

"What?" On the viewing platform, thousands of geniuses showed puzzled expressions. They too had thought the top ten would be quickly determined.

"Let's wait patiently," High Immortal Dong Yang gently shook his head.

"These Supreme Geniuses are probably undergoing some special opportunities, perhaps to help them further raise their strength." Bai Yi said.

"Mm." High Immortal Dong Yang nodded slightly.

Those still in the running were all Supreme Geniuses who had experienced several rounds of intense battles. Most had gained insights from both their battles and the Primordial Doctrine over the past thousand years. The numerous clashes along with the promise of a Xiantian artifact were also a test of their spirits.

The combination of these numerous aspects could indeed induce sudden epiphanies among these Supreme Geniuses or even spur them to achieve major breakthroughs.

"I hope Ming Jian can gain something," Bai Yi transmitted. "His current strength is still somewhat lacking compared to the top ten."

"There's hope," High Immortal Dong Yang transmitted back. "As for Zhuo Haiyue, she's becoming increasingly unfathomable. Her power grows stronger each time, who knows if she can break into the top ten."

"Top ten?" Bai Yi sighed inwardly.

Both Ming Jian and Zhuo Haiyue were far stronger than her, yet just hundreds of thousands of years ago, she had been the number one genius of the Taiyuan Divine Court.

…

Hmm? Where is this? Wu Yuan's body refiner self felt his vision blur.

He had arrived at a mysterious place where a small lake lay before him. Surrounding it was pure emptiness.

The lake water? Wu Yuan was slightly startled, quickly noticing something special about the water in the lake.

"Sit in lotus position above the lake to absorb the Chaos Origin Spring. You have ten days to meditate." The Heavenly Domain Emissary’s gentle voice resonated in Wu Yuan's spirit.

Chaos Origin Spring? What is that? Wu Yuan had never heard of it before. But he didn't dawdle or ask questions, immediately sitting down in lotus position and cultivating silently.

Hiss hiss~ Strands of mysterious power floated up from the lake, entering Wu Yuan's body and his twelve Yuan Souls.

Hmm? Wu Yuan's eyes widened in disbelief.

It felt like a sudden epiphany, no, the effect was ten or hundred times better than an actual epiphany. Wu Yuan's body refiner self felt his perception of the Great Dao of Creation had grown hundreds or thousands of times clearer. Under the effects of the tranquil lake below, his entire being seemed to be completely immersed in the essence of the Great Dao of Creation.

Buzz~ Countless insights were flooding continuously into his mind.

This! This! Wu Yuan was completely dumbfounded. What kind of treasure was this Chaos Origin Spring? The support it provided for Dao comprehension seemed far superior to Primordial Matter.

Hmm? The effect of this treasure is rapidly weakening? Wu Yuan quickly noticed this. The effectiveness seemed to last only a short term.

According to the Heavenly Domain Emissary, the Chaos Origin Spring's effect only lasts ten days. After that, this treasure will likely not be as effective.

Deciding not to think further, he immediately calmed his mind and fully devoted himself to comprehending the Great Dao of Creation.

In another mysterious location.

Spacetime. Wu Yuan's qi refiner self had also calmed down and focused on comprehending the profundities of the Great Dao of Spacetime.

Both true selves were making rapid progress.