Chapter 118: The Essence of the Spatial Law (Part 4)

One day later, the ranking battles began.

To be honest, before the Genius Tournament started, Jiang Chen had been quite looking forward to it. Even during the first round of the Cosmic Nation preliminaries, he still held onto that anticipation.

But as time passed and Jiang Chen’s strength continuously improved, by the time of the cosmic finals, he no longer felt the slightest interest in the upcoming matches.

Jiang Chen’s true self had already reached the Domain Lord level. Thanks to the advantage of the system library, he had gained remarkable insight into the top ten fundamental laws.

Even when relying solely on the mainstream methods from the Devouring Star World, facing these stellar-level prodigies was like playing house with children—utterly effortless.

These prodigies’ power was simply too weak for Jiang Chen, offering no challenge whatsoever.

He couldn’t even reveal his trump cards, much less gain any real improvement.

He might as well set up powerful opponents in the virtual universe to battle against; that would better expose his own shortcomings.

Still, no matter how unmotivated he felt, Jiang Chen had to go through the motions to secure his benefits after joining the Virtual Universe Corporation.

With a wave of the Nine Swords Sovereign’s hand, a hundred massive silver arenas, each about ten kilometers in diameter, appeared in the square. They were surrounded by black nets, and two hundred prodigies were teleported onto the arenas.

According to the rules, once the match began, the area around each arena would rapidly collapse, shrinking the arena’s size.

This method forced the contestants to quickly reach a decisive outcome.

No matter how slow the battle, each round would end within minutes.

On one arena, Jiang Chen faced a youth named Panagiotis Giraldi, who resembled an ape.

The Ape Clan was a major group among humans. Though not possessing the top-tier bloodlines like the Manka Star People or the Wild God Clan, their large population had produced many strong warriors.

Jiang Chen appeared on the arena piloting a mech. Without any exchange of words, he raised the mech’s right arm.

A missile shot out from the cannon, detonating violently at the arena’s center.

Boom!

A high-energy ray instantly vaporized the entire arena, leaving only Jiang Chen, protected by a psychic shield, hovering above the battlefield.

The match ended in an instant!

Witnessing this scene, the eight hundred prodigies watching couldn’t help but twitch their eyelids.

The blast covered the entire arena, leaving no place to hide—only the option to endure it head-on.

As for the blast’s power...

Although the shockwave was completely absorbed by the black net surrounding the arena, preventing it from spreading outward, the terrifying internal turbulence alone was enough to imagine the cataclysmic destruction at the moment of explosion.

Among all the stellar-level prodigies in this Genius Tournament, not one could withstand such an attack.

It wasn’t a question of confidence; it was simply impossible to survive an explosion of that magnitude.

This weapon was designed by Jiang Chen to counter Domain Lord-level foes. Even scaled down due to material constraints, it was far beyond what these stellar-level fighters could endure.

When the blast unfolded, a single thought crossed every stellar prodigy’s mind:

The champion of this Genius Tournament was already decided beyond doubt.

On another arena, Beran had also easily defeated his opponent. Watching the huge mushroom cloud from the explosion in the distance, his fingers tightened around the sword’s hilt until his knuckles whitened.

“Jiang Chen...” Beran muttered his name, a trace of dissatisfaction stirring in his heart.

He admitted he couldn’t withstand such an explosion himself, so naturally he couldn’t rank higher than Jiang Chen.

But the method Jiang Chen used was something Beran couldn’t accept.

He was a very traditional prodigy who believed that warriors should win through mastery of laws and secret arts.

Treasures were important, but true strength came from within.

Beran disliked Jiang Chen’s style of relying entirely on external tools.

Yet no matter how much he disliked Jiang Chen internally, he had to admit that under the current tournament rules, victory was impossible.

“There are two spots in the Primal Secret Realm. The first one is out of my reach, but the second—I must seize it!”

As he was teleported off the arena, Beran silently vowed to himself.

Luo Feng, Rong Jun, Uka...

One by one, these prodigies, though engaged in their own battles, all noticed the terrifying explosion on Jiang Chen’s arena.

Such a huge commotion, though its power was absorbed by the protective net, was impossible to ignore.

However, the prodigies on the arenas only briefly glanced before resuming their focus on the matches.

---

Except for a few who were distracted and eliminated by their opponents, this small incident caused no major disruption.

Those who were eliminated due to distraction could only blame their own lack of composure and susceptibility to interference.

True prodigies not only had to be strong but also maintain unwavering focus during battle.

No matter how strong, if easily distracted and unable to maintain concentration, their strength was useless.

A few minutes later, the first round ended.

After a thirty-minute break, twenty prodigies selected by the Virtual Universe stepped back onto the arenas to compete for the top ten spots.

Jiang Chen once again crushed his opponents effortlessly.

His avatar “Uchiha Shisui” easily eliminated the “General Mo” from Augus Planet.

In the third elimination round, Jiang Chen’s two avatars faced the “Light Saber” Dream Snail Wing Tribe girl Aichen and the Manka Star’s prince, Uka, both winning with ease.

After three rounds, only five contestants remained on the arenas.

Jiang Chen’s two avatars, the “Reaper” Beran—previously recognized as the number one in the Cosmic Nation preliminaries—Long Yun, who had eliminated Luo Feng in the original story, and Luo Feng himself, who had advanced smoothly because he avoided facing Long Yun in the last round due to Jiang Chen’s presence.

These five would decide the first and second places, competing for entry into the Primal Secret Realm.

“You five will compete in the final round,” the Nine Swords Sovereign announced. “The rules are simple: one-on-one battles on the arena. Each of you must fight every other competitor. A win earns one point; a draw or loss earns none. Rankings will be determined by total points to decide first and second place.”

“The first match: Uchiha Shisui versus Luo Feng.”

The Nine Swords Sovereign waved his hand, summoning a massive silver arena in the center of the square.

Jiang Chen’s avatar “Uchiha Shisui” and Luo Feng were teleported onto the arena.

Above the arena floated a huge countdown timer.

“Uchiha Shisui...” Luo Feng looked at Jiang Chen’s avatar with a solemn voice. “Although we come from the same Cosmic Nation, I don’t know you well. I’ve seen your battles and admit I’m no match for you. But in this fight, I want you to give your all. Let me see just how far apart we truly are!”

Among the five, Luo Feng believed he had the least chance to claim a spot in the Primal Secret Realm.

He was at peace with this, simply wanting to challenge strong opponents and improve himself.

As for the outcome, he was prepared to lose all four matches, so he didn’t care much.

Jiang Chen inwardly chuckled at Luo Feng’s words.

The disguise of this avatar even fooled Luo Feng; surely no one else would detect it.

“All right, I will give it my all.”

Jiang Chen raised his right hand and drew a short blade strapped to his back.

The sixty-centimeter-long blade resembled a short katana, classified as a close-combat “short weapon.”

The saying “shorter is more dangerous” didn’t always apply among cosmic elites, but in most cases it did.

“Uchiha Shisui” was naturally a combat style pursuing extremes, favoring unconventional swordplay.

“Though I’ll use full strength, I won’t go too far; I don’t want to shatter Luo Feng’s morale... For this match, I’ll demonstrate the use of spatial laws.”

The countdown in the sky reached zero.

Both Jiang Chen and Luo Feng moved simultaneously.

Jiang Chen charged forward, while Luo Feng stepped on his Dark Cloud Shuttle, transforming into a streak of light, attempting to quickly widen the distance.

“Uchiha Shisui” was a warrior avatar.

Luo Feng was a psychic tactician with longer attack range.

Gaining distance naturally favored Luo Feng.

“Sky Piercer Style!”

Luo Feng shouted, and the residual divine weapon behind him quickly disassembled into eighty-one small swords.

Every nine small swords combined into a slightly larger golden sword.

Nine golden swords again combined into a long sword over one foot long.

Mysterious runes faintly shimmered on the blade’s surface, exuding an ancient aura.

This was the divine weapon’s second form—Sky Piercer Style.

Facing Jiang Chen’s avatar, Luo Feng held nothing back, immediately unleashing his long-hidden trump card!

The golden sword was wrapped in golden air currents, like a comet streaking toward Jiang Chen.

“An impressive attack.”

Jiang Chen raised his blade to meet the golden sword.

At the moment their weapons clashed, the reverberation from the blade’s impact surprised him.

Compared to their last encounter before the Genius Tournament finals, Luo Feng’s Sky Piercer Style had grown significantly stronger.

“To have pushed Sky Piercer Style to this level, he must be close to mastering the Sword Domain. Maybe before reaching the Initial Universe, Luo Feng could wield the Sword Domain. Hmm... Although I’ve tried to avoid influencing him, compared to the original timeline, his strength has improved.”

That thought flashed through Jiang Chen’s mind, but he struck without mercy.

With a single slash, he knocked Luo Feng’s recombined golden sword aside.

In the next instant, Jiang Chen unleashed the “Myriad Phantoms” secret technique.

Eighteen “Uchiha Shisui” avatars appeared on the arena, fanning out to surround Luo Feng.

“Eighteen phantoms?”

“Didn’t he say he can summon over five hundred phantoms?”

A trace of confusion crossed Luo Feng’s mind.

Suddenly, his eyes widened.

“The movement pattern of these phantoms...!”

Like a flash of divine light, Luo Feng was momentarily stunned.

On the arena, Jiang Chen’s eighteen phantoms moved with exquisite precision, appearing at specific “nodes” with each flicker.

The entire sequence was perfect, filled with a unique rhythm.

This special rhythm subtly revealed a wonderful realm.

A realm deeply coveted by all prodigies cultivating spatial laws.

Luo Feng vaguely sensed that “Uchiha Shisui” was demonstrating the most correct path to mastering spatial laws!

—

Outside the arena, the immortals watching the battle widened their eyes.

Even the Nine Swords Sovereign could no longer maintain a calm expression.

Looking at “Uchiha Shisui” on the arena, he gasped, “Spatial nodes?! This kid has grasped the essence of the spatial law?!”

“No, not just one essence. Each of his eighteen phantoms uses a different spatial node to advance!”

“He has mastered eighteen essences of spatial law?!”

“Stellar-level prodigies achieving this level of insight into spatial law?!”

One immortal after another, including the Nine Swords Sovereign, whispered excitedly, discussing “Uchiha Shisui’s” performance.

On the arena, Luo Feng faced Jiang Chen’s unpredictable and traceless movements, unable to pinpoint his true location.

The huge gap in spatial law mastery resulted in a staggering speed difference.

With a few flickers, the eighteen phantoms crossed several kilometers, rushing before Luo Feng.

A slash came down; a tiny dragon-head-shaped fireball flickered on the blade’s tip.

Luo Feng instinctively recalled his divine weapon, unleashing a full-power strike to block Jiang Chen’s attack.

But the divine weapon passed through without any obstruction, effortlessly piercing the figure and flying onward.

“Phantoms?”

Just as the thought formed, Luo Feng suddenly realized the danger.

“No good! ‘Phantom Shisui’s’ specialty is instantly swapping places between the true body and phantoms without leaving a trace!”

He instinctively glanced back at the figure just identified as a “false body.”

A subtle gleam flashed along the blade’s edge as an invisible illusion enveloped Luo Feng’s consciousness.

“It’s over!”

The moment his mind was pulled into the illusion, Luo Feng knew he had lost.

Though his will was strong, it was not infallible.

Even before, Galasi’s illusions affected him.

Jiang Chen’s illusions, however, were from the Soul Master “Phantom King,” far stronger and more intricate.

Though Luo Feng immediately broke free, he still inevitably faltered for a moment.

In that instant—

Swoosh!

A slash severed Luo Feng’s head from his body, sending it soaring into the sky.

The wound at his neck was scorched black by intense heat, not a drop of blood dripping.

“Uchiha Shisui”—victory!

Luo Feng—defeat!

(The End of this Chapter)