"

  Sovereign Glacia watched the stunned Selina, her own thoughts drifting back to the past.

  In her prime, even she had to look up to geniuses of that caliber. In comparison, Selina’s innate talent was far inferior to hers, and the girl currently lacked the boundless resources she once commanded.

  However, Glacia took solace in one thing: Selina had her. With a million-year-old sovereign as a personal mentor, Selina’s future achievements wouldn't necessarily fall short of Glacia’s own peak. If all went well, the girl would eventually gather the mythical materials needed to reconstruct Glacia’s physical form.

  Twenty minutes earlier.

  Lance had returned to the Tier 6 warship and immediately plunged his consciousness back into the [Holographic Simulation Space].

  Upon entering, he noticed something new: the simulation was now filled with shimmering, translucent filaments that looked like threads of light weaving through the void.

  After consulting with the system, Lance realized these were Law Filaments. They were manifestations of the fundamental laws of the universe. Once Lance was strong enough to officially touch the power of Laws, this space would provide a staggering million-fold boost to his comprehension speed.

  This was the true, terrifying potential of the [Primeval Law Body] the system had mentioned.

  "The power of Laws... stuff out of myths and legends," Lance mused, looking at the glowing threads. "It sounds incredible, but at what level can I actually start touching them?"

  He turned to his internal data. "Intellect, what do you have on Law Power?"

  He needed to know how this world defined "Laws." While his Tier 7 Intellect was powerful—equivalent to a [Stellar Class] being—its knowledge base felt increasingly limited as Lance climbed the power ladder. He made a mental note to upgrade it as soon as possible.

  [System Alert: Law Power is the supreme energy that peak [Star Sea Realm] experts must master before ascending to the [Universal Class]. Laws allow a warrior to manipulate the fundamental energies of heaven and earth to manifest world-shaking attacks.]

  [Note: A tiny fraction of supreme paragons can begin comprehending Laws at the 7th or 8th Rank of the [Star Sea Realm], or even lower. Theoretically, anyone who masters a Law possesses combat power comparable to the [Universal Class]. Detailed archives are restricted; further explanation is unavailable.]

  "Mastering a Law grants [Universal Class] combat power?" Lance’s pulse quickened. "Does that mean if I master one now, I can theoretically erase anyone below the [Star Sea Realm]? I definitely need to spend more time studying these filaments."

  He set the goal for later. For now, he needed to focus on the basics: his spear and movement techniques.

  "Huff!"

  Lance drew a long, steady breath. He reached into the void, and a long spear materialized in his grip. Though it was a holographic construct, in this space, it felt indistinguishable from the [Black Flame Spear] in reality.

  "Meteor Spear Art!!!!"

  Lance roared, launching into a flurry of strikes. The [Meteor Spear Art] consisted of two distinct phases: the Training Forms and the Ultimate Arts. The Training Forms integrated the foundational strikes into a seamless flow, which was what Lance was practicing now. The Ultimate Arts were the high-consumption, high-lethality finishers used only in life-or-death combat.

  [System Alert: You have completed one cycle of the [Meteor Spear Art]. Gained massive spear technique comprehension. Proficiency +10,000!]

  His proficiency was skyrocketing. He didn't stop, immediately beginning the next cycle.

  [System Alert: You have completed one cycle of the [Meteor Spear Art]. Proficiency +10,000! Congratulations! Your Spear Mastery has reached: [Master - Peak]! Damage Multiplier: +800%!]

  A few minutes later, another chime confirmed his advancement. He had reached the [Master] rank in spear techniques—a level of mastery that Lance knew was extremely rare. In the entire history of the human Federation, fewer than ten individuals were recorded to have reached this height.

  An eight-fold multiplier to his raw power was a staggering boost. Lance pushed on, alternating between his spear forms and the [Flame Dragon Flash] movement technique.

  [System Alert: [Meteor Spear Art] cycle complete. Proficiency +10,000!]

  [System Alert: [Flame Dragon Flash] cycle complete. Proficiency +10,000!]

  The notifications blurred together as his skill ranks climbed.

  "Attention: The trial period has concluded. All candidates who have not returned to the extraction points are officially disqualified!!"

  Twenty minutes had passed. An icy, synthesized voice echoed through the massive hangar of the Tier 6 warship.

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  Lance withdrew from the simulation and opened his eyes. He scanned the hangar and saw a sea of geniuses, but the crowd was significantly thinner than before. A quick headcount revealed that only about 300,000 people remained out of the original million.

  As the High Speaker had predicted, the mortality rate had exceeded sixty percent.

  These were the greatest geniuses from over a million habitable worlds, yet more than half had been wiped out in a single school exam. Lance couldn't help but wonder if the High Speaker was actually a secret spy for another race—the man had just deleted a generation of human elites with a single proctoring session.

  If these hundreds of thousands had lived, the majority would have eventually become [Grandmasters]. Losing that many potential high-level warriors in one day was a staggering blow to the sector’s future strength.

  Clank!

  The massive hangar doors groaned and finally sealed shut, locking the survivors inside the mountain of metal.

  "System, open my [User Status Panel]!"

  [User Status Panel]

  Name: Lance

  Reconstruction Quota: 1/5

  Martial Rank: [Grandmaster (Rank 1)]

  Soul Rank: [Gold Tier, Rank 10] (Tier 6 Metamorphosis, 191,000 / 300,000)

  Constitution (CON): 11,400 (1 pt = 30,000kg of force)

  Soul: 10,000

  Skills: Spear Mastery ([Master - Peak], +900% dmg, 20,000/100,000), Movement Mastery ([Master - Peak], +900% speed, 10,000/100,000)

  Traits: [Undying God-Body] ([Eternal Rank], +300% Combat Power), [Primeval Law Body] ([Desolate Grade], 100,000x multiplier), [Solar Stellar Flame] (S-Rank), [Holy Light Power] (SS-Rank), [Infernal Dark Flame] (SSS-Rank).

  Techniques: [Titanium War Art] (Rank 4 Low), [Eternal Soul Protocol] (Immortal Grade, Rank 5 Broken), [Heavenly Demon Disintegration Art] (Rank 8).

  War Arts: [Titanium Collapse Fist] (Rank 4 Low, 400%), [Meteor Spear Art] (Rank 6 Mid, 1000%), [Solar Flare Blast] (Rank 6 Peak, 1500%), [Flame Dragon Flash] (Rank 7 Mid, 1500%), [Star War Body] (Rank 7 Mid, 1500%).

  Items: [Black Slayer Set] (Rank 7 Mid), [Black Flame Spear] (Rank 7 Mid), [Star-Thunder Wings] (Rank 8 Mid).

  Pet: [Infernal Cerberus-Dragon] (Noir) (SSS-Rank, Tier 4, 9-Star).

  Lance’s entire [User Status Panel] had undergone a staggering transformation. Whether it was his Constitution (CON) realm or his overall combat output, he was fundamentally a different being than he had been just hours ago.

  Most importantly, he finally understood the true classification of his core trait.

  "An [Eternal Rank]? The name certainly fits the [Undying God-Body]," Lance mused. "This rank must be a tier above the [Immortal Grade]."

  Looking at the classification—a rank the system hadn't even mentioned until his recent upgrade—Lance felt a surge of awe toward the potential of his healing factor. It was hard to believe this started as a pathetic, F-Rank trait that he had painstakingly forced through evolution.

  "With my current strength, I don't have to worry about my foundation for a long time. Finally, my life is actually secure!"

  The thought brought a small, confident smile to his lips.

  "Hmm?"

  Lance’s brow suddenly twitched. He felt a spiritual probe—a [Soul] scan that felt both powerful and irritatingly familiar.

  It’s that mysterious soul inside Selina again. Is she ever going to give it a rest?

  Lance was speechless. Did she really think he was unaware? She ignored the hundreds of thousands of other students and focused solely on him. It was becoming a nuisance. Fortunately, ever since he first detected Sovereign Glacia’s aura, he had been maintaining his [Eternal Soul Protocol] to keep his [Soul] perfectly masked.

  Even now, despite her power, she had no idea of his true realm or his actual strength.

  "Hiss! This boy has leveled up again? [Gold Tier, Rank 10]... Could it be that he really did slay that [Grandmaster (Rank 1)] Cinder Demon on his own!?"

  On the other side of the hangar, a voice filled with shock echoed in Selina’s mind.

  "Master, are you talking about Lance?" Selina asked immediately.

  "Who else would I be talking about? Compared to him, these other so-called geniuses are just tall grass in a field of weeds," Sovereign Glacia grumbled. "And why do you get so flustered every time I mention his name, girl?"

  "Wh-What? I don't! Master, stop making things up!" Selina’s face flushed a deep crimson as she frantically denied the claim in her mind.

  "I wonder which planet a lady as beautiful as you hails from? I am Tavish, from the Theta System. I managed to secure the 91st spot on the leaderboard—nothing much, of course."

  A young man with a longsword strapped to his waist and clad in ornate armor approached Selina, a practiced, arrogant smile on his face.

  The moment Selina had entered the hangar, Tavish and dozens of other "young masters" had taken notice. A beauty of her caliber who also possessed such high combat talent was a rarity even in the capital.

  "That’s Tavish! I can't believe he made it to 91st!"

  "Yeah, he’s got insane luck. His combat ranking in the Solaris Intermediate Sector was barely in the top two hundred before this. He must have hit the jackpot during the trial to get into the top hundred."

  "Keep your voice down. Regardless of how he got in, he’s a Solaris Academy student now. That means he’ll eventually eclipse everyone else. If he overhears you, you're dead meat!"

  The surrounding candidates watched Tavish with a mix of awe and envy, and looked at Selina with pity.

  Selina, however, didn't even grant Tavish a glance.

  Her cold indifference sparked a flicker of rage in Tavish’s eyes. He had just reached the pinnacle of his life, achieving a feat that thousands of his peers could only dream of, and he was being ignored by a "failed" candidate? It stung. But the disrespect only made his desire for her more intense.

  "I heard that every Solaris Academy student is allowed to bring one attendant with them. I was wondering if you’d be interested?" Tavish said, his voice dropping into a cold, predatory smirk. "I can guarantee that if you follow me, we can share all the resources I receive. What do you say?"

  He was confident. No sane person could refuse an offer like that.

  In the Federation, the attendant slots for Solaris Academy were highly coveted, often sold for astronomical sums of [Credits] or kept for close relatives. Although they were "attendants," they were allowed to attend classes and train alongside the students. Aside from lacking the formal identity and the stipend of resources provided by the Academy, there was no difference.

  For many, it was the only backdoor into the highest halls of learning. Tavish, as a scion of a major family, already had plenty of resources at home—his elders were at least [Great Grandmasters]. Offering this slot to a stranger was a gesture of immense, almost reckless wealth.

  The surrounding girls immediately looked at Selina with pure, unadulterated jealousy.

  Most of them were geniuses in their own right, but their families weren't top-tier. Having failed the exam, their path would likely end at the [Grandmaster] stage. But if they could enter the Academy as an attendant, they would have a genuine chance to reach the [Great Grandmaster] realm.

  They were all beautiful, but compared to Selina, they lacked something fundamental. It wasn't just about features; it was her aura, a transcendental grace that no amount of technology or plastic surgery could replicate.

  Still, everyone felt Tavish was being wasteful. That slot, if sold, could net enough resources to sustain a [Great Grandmaster] for decades.

  "So? If you agree, we can sign the contract right here and now," Tavish pressed, leaning in closer.

  System Notification: A massive stockpile has been detected!

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