In a dim space, a pure white arrow, shimmering with gold, pierced the darkness. The thick, viscous black mist that had filled the space—so dense it had nearly dyed the entire world black—looked like a sheet of pitch-black cloth beneath the golden-glinting arrow. As if cut cleanly in half by a pair of scissors, as the "cloth" split apart, the blackness receded like a tide, and white and golden light swiftly filled every corner of the space.
As the black mist vanished, a colossal, twisted shadow—hidden within the thick darkness—was struck precisely by the white arrow. It was then pinned firmly in the void. The hideous shadow let out a blood-curdling scream. Black mist gushed forth from every part of its body. It looked just like a filthy, black-water-filled balloon that had been accidentally punctured.
The pure white arrow, gleaming with golden light, spun through the air, its tip continuously emitting waves of terrifying, annihilating power. Under the force of this power, the massive shadow beast and its black mist were swiftly dispersed. In just a brief moment, the enormous shadow that had nearly filled the entire space had completely vanished. All that remained was a massive crystal core, pulsing with black light, firmly pinned in the air by the pure white arrow.
Lu Sheng walked slowly out from the source of the light. With a calm and composed demeanor, he gently pulled the pure white arrow from the void, and the crystal core retracted along with it.
"The power of the Extreme Yang Law condensed to its utmost limit, blended with the archery techniques of the Sixth Realm—the result is far better than I had anticipated."
Sheng gazed at the pure white arrow in his hand, which had almost solidified into a tangible form. The arrow was engraved with numerous golden patterns, which seemed to grow upon it as if they were natural markings, making it appear exquisitely beautiful.
With a casual flick of his wrist, Sheng transformed the pure white arrow, adorned with these magnificent patterns, into countless beams of white light that swiftly vanished into the air.
"This technique is called…"
Sheng paused to think for a moment, then declared, "Annihilation, Billion Sun Arrow! Like the destructive light released when a hundred million stars explode, piercing the darkness—it is the heaviest burden that all impurity cannot bear! Annihilation, Billion Sun Arrow!"
"Next is… The eighth stage, I suppose." Sheng muttered to himself.
Ever since he first created this killing move—centered on the power of the Extreme Yang Law—during the third round of the selection trials, he had continuously refined and improved it. Thanks to the Extreme Yang Law's innate ability to suppress beasts, Sheng's pace in clearing the rounds grew faster and faster.
The General-rank Beasts in the sixth and seventh stages far surpassed those in the earlier stages in strength, yet the time he needed to clear them actually grew shorter and shorter. Almost every time, he finished them off with a single strike, without any hesitation.
"This proves that the full potential of the Sun-Shattering Arrow is far from being fully realized…" "If only there were a Level 14 General-rank Beast standing still, letting me shoot an arrow at it."
Sheng suddenly found himself missing the "Lord of Oblivion" from the Interdimensional Battlefield of the Hundred Great Star District.
He was genuinely curious: just how many of the Lord of Oblivion's true-form eyes could a single arrow from him shatter now?
"I wonder if I'll encounter a level 14 Beast in the later stages," Sheng mused.
The level 13 beast guarding the seventh stage was already quite powerful, its strength nearly matching the combined might of all the Level 13 beasts he had encountered so far. If the difficulty of the stages continued to rise, Sheng seriously considered he would eventually face a genuine level 14 beast. But as it turned out, he was overthinking it.
Even in the Dark Side universe, a level 14 Beast would be considered a "big shot" among the beasts. Capturing and imprisoning such an entity alive was an extremely difficult task. And even if it were possible, there was absolutely no way they would send "newcomers" like them—who had only just advanced to level 13—to attempt such a challenge.
Sheng passed the seventh trial and found the entrance leading to the next stage. He then walked inside. When he saw the guardian of the eighth trial, he froze in his tracks.
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At the Galaxy Summit, the Celestial Throne academy.
Two towering figures—one domineering, the other serene—stood amidst the starry sky. Like raging thunder and flowing glaciers. As distinct as day and night. Though they were merely projections from a broadcast, they instilled a deep sense of awe in every senior student of the Celestial Throne academy present. After all, to clear all seven trials—and to do so in such a short time… The martial prowess displayed here was already greater than that of most among them.
Among the crowd, the gaze of many was fixed entirely on the figure projected onto the random screen. The shock this figure caused them surpassed even that of Dilius. Everyone had long anticipated Dilius strength. Yet this figure actually appeared capable of standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Dilius—and having been a complete unknown before the selection—it was truly beyond belief. After all, Dilius possessed the legendary Sovereign-class Blood.
"His name is Sheng…" Someone murmured softly, glancing at the latest report in their hands.
"He ascended to level 13 almost simultaneously with Dilius just before the selection began. The two had a brief skirmish, and he even managed to slightly outshine Dilius!"
"Unbelievable..."
"I thought this year's competition would be a one-man show for Dilius, I never expected such a dark horse to emerge out of nowhere. Compared to Dilius, the performances of the other three Monarch-level contestants this year are almost half as good, yet Sheng has managed to keep pace with Dilius and stand shoulder to shoulder with him."
"Could he possibly have a Sovereign-class Blood too?" Someone spoke up in disbelief.
But they were quickly contradicted.
"No, that's impossible."
"Two Sovereigns cannot emerge in a single era; the fortune of a galaxy cannot simultaneously nurture two Sovereign-level beings. He's likely just at the peak of the Monarch level—the kind that's infinitely close to Sovereign level…"
"That's still incredibly impressive and extraordinary."
"I never expected two people from this cohort to clear the seventh stage. They're going to tie for first place." Someone remarked with awe.
"Not necessarily."
"Huh?"
The first person looked at the objector in confusion, only to see the latter gazing thoughtfully at a certain point atop the Galaxy Summit.
"After the seventh stage, in theory, one should have met the requirements to unlock that legendary path. And that path… How could it possibly allow two people to tread it at the same time?"
"What path?"
The speaker's gaze drifted toward the very peak of the Galaxy Summit as he spoke softly.
"The legendary… King Coronation Path."
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Translation notes by dhoo
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Annihilation, Billion SunArrow
破滅億日之矢, pòmiè yì rì zhī shǐ: 破滅 to be shattered/annihilated 億 hundred million 日 sun 之 's 矢 arrow
億 is 1000,000 aka 100,000,000 aka a hundred million. But for the sake of simplicity and efficiency, I chose to call it "billion"
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King Coronation Path
封王之路, fēng wáng zhī lù: 封 to close, to confer (a title) 王 king 之 's 路 road, path