Chapter 86: Dragon or Worm?

Jiang Yan successfully advanced to the 800th place in the ranking.

He gradually began to feel some pressure, immediately summoning the Chaotic Void Ancestral Spirit from the start, with a layer of Astral Qi manifesting on the surface of his body.

With the attribute boost from his Doppelganger, Jiang Yan’s defense reached Epic Tier.

Ten seconds later.

“Congratulations, Player, on your victory in battle.”

“Hmm, it seems I can’t achieve an overwhelming victory. I still need to put in some effort.”

Jiang Yan pondered and decided to take his upcoming opponents more seriously.

【700】

【600】

【300】

Jiang Yan still hadn’t lost a single match. It was worth noting that the opponents he had encountered so far were all at a Realm above Sixth Rank but below Seventh Rank. He had initially thought the Realm fluctuations within the top ten thousand would be significant, but it seemed Jiang Yan had worried too much.

It appeared that no creature could reach the Seventh Rank before the age of 25, at least not in this battle zone.

Finally, with just himself and his Saber, Jiang Yan fought his way into the top hundred.

After entering the top hundred, the pressure increased sharply. However, Jiang Yan could still manage.

【Name】: Kashu

【Ranking】: 68

Kashu was quite different from the previous opponents, his entire body exuding a strong metallic texture. His head, shoulders, knees, and various other body parts were equipped with unfamiliar devices.

These devices didn’t seem to be installed after birth; instead, they appeared to have grown out of Kashu’s bones. Beneath the densely packed holes, a faint, chilling glow shimmered. An ordinary person glancing at them would likely experience the uncanny valley effect.

As soon as the two met, they immediately attacked.

With a flick of his hand, Jiang Yan summoned several blades condensed from the Ancestral Spirit behind Kashu.

Kashu didn’t lag behind either. The holes on his body opened wide, and several red rays of light shot toward Jiang Yan.

Biu! Biu! Biu!

The red rays struck the Astral Qi, emitting several dull thuds. Soon, white smoke began to hiss out from the points of contact.

At the same time, Jiang Yan’s Saber slashed at Kashu. There was no sound of cutting into bone as expected. Upon closer inspection, a light screen had appeared around Kashu at some point, covering his entire body without any gaps.

In their first exchange, both emerged unscathed.

“Interesting, you actually dodged my Annihilation Beam.”

Just as Kashu, relying on his Invincible Barrier, was about to fire more lasers at Jiang Yan, he suddenly heard a crisp sound from behind.

Crack—

Kashu’s heart skipped a beat, and a look of horror appeared on his face.

“Could it be!”

Crack—

Behind him, cracks began to appear on the protective light screen. Soon, the cracks spread continuously until they covered the entire screen.

“No!”

Jiang Yan flicked his fingers lightly, his gaze calm as he looked at the light screen on Kashu’s body.

A massive black Saber, ten meters tall, swiftly descended.

“Congratulations, you have triggered Dual Casting.”

The two blades were unstoppable, shattering the light screen in an instant before plunging into Kashu’s body without losing momentum.

“Congratulations, Player, on your victory in battle.”

【Ranking】: 68

“【User xxxx sent Meteor Shower ×1】”

“【User xxxx sent Salute ×1】”

“【User 153xx1224 sent Spaceship ×1】”

“Streamer, I’m the Saber cultivator who just fought you. Can I learn Saber Technique from you?”

The user who sent the Spaceship turned out to be the Saber cultivator whose Saber Jiang Yan had shattered.

After being defeated, the saber cultivator marveled at the profound mystery of Jiang Yan’s saber technique. He had been unable to understand why his own saber had shattered. After much hesitation, he still wanted to seek out this Jiang Yan who had defeated him, hoping to learn the secret from him.

Since he intended to learn, a meeting gift was essential, so he sent an expensive spaceship.

Jiang Yan saw the full-screen spaceship effect and understood the saber cultivator’s intention.

Taking advantage of the time before his next match was found, Jiang Yan spoke casually:

“That saber strike relied on hard work.”

“Hard work?” The saber cultivator was utterly perplexed. “Could it be that my usual diligent cultivation wasn’t hard work enough?”

Jiang Yan said no more. In fact, he wasn’t lying—hadn’t he honed his Saber Intent precisely through his relentless effort of grinding Traits?

“Match found!”

【Name】: Yuan Qi

【Ranking】: 20

Thirty seconds later, Jiang Yan cleaved Yuan Qi in two with a single saber strike.

“Matching in progress…”

“Match found.”

…

“Victory in battle.”

“Match found.”

“Victory in battle.”

【Name】: Jiang Yan

【Ranking】: 10

What no one could have imagined was that the top scorer from the College Entrance Exam, who had just finished the exam not long ago, would embark on a ranking climb, and even fight his way through all obstacles to reach the top ten of the Myriad Realms Ladder, where masters were as numerous as clouds!

The audience held their breath, not daring to be distracted in the slightest, afraid of missing any exciting moments. Only a few scattered bullet comments appeared.

As Jiang Yan’s ranking climbed higher and higher, the popularity of his live stream room reached its peak among all streamers across Blue Star. No internet celebrity, star, or even a Martial Saint publicly teaching the principles of the Martial Way could compare to Jiang Yan at this moment.

In Linjiang City, Old Wang almost wanted to crawl into the TV to see if the Jiang Yan inside was the brash young man he knew.

At Divine Capital Martial University, the originally crowded Spirit Gathering Chamber was now empty. Everyone was staying in their dorm rooms, eagerly awaiting Jiang Yan’s next battle.

Only a few overachievers took advantage of the empty chamber to enjoy it alone, but just as they were about to absorb Qi, they inexplicably opened Jiang Yan’s live stream room, causing them to miss their cultivation opportunity.

Among the high-level officials of Blue Star, a group of powerhouses remained silent, all nervously watching the matching time on the screen.

Perhaps this young man who had appeared out of nowhere would bring new glory to their race!

On Star Star, Babata’s eyes blazed with fury. The other ministers dared not utter a word, silently praying that Jiang Yan would not succeed. Otherwise, if the Grand Marshal unleashed his wrath, they, as subordinates, would all suffer the consequences.

“Matching time: 108 seconds.”

“Matching time: 109 seconds.”

…

Among the top ten of the Myriad Realms Ladder, aside from Jiang Yan, there were probably only a few others online, so the matching speed was quite slow.

If no match could be found, the game system would likely arrange for him to fight those ranked lower than him.

On a certain planet, Wang Hai finished his cultivation and stretched his limbs, which hadn’t moved in nearly a month, murmuring to himself:

“It’s been a long time since I last fought on the ladder. I need to stabilize my ranking.”

After saying this, he lay down in the Game Capsule.

“Match found.”

“Huh, this match came so quickly? It seems my old rivals are online too.”

He curled his lips slightly, anticipating an exciting spar.

Soon, the opponent’s panel appeared in his view.

【Name】: Jiang Yan

【Age】: 18

【War Zone】: 158369

【Ranking】: 10

Wang Hai narrowed his slender eyes, noting Jiang Yan’s age.

“His face is unfamiliar; he likely hasn’t been active in high-tier matches before.”

“And this age…”

Wang Hai was somewhat puzzled.

“Never mind. Whether he’s a dragon or a worm, we’ll know after one battle.”