Chapter 527: 527
In just ten short days, Lin Shen's skills were nearly researched to death, with countless methods for restraining Lin Shen emerging ceaselessly, so much so that Lin Shen himself watched with great interest.
However, most of the skills that could truly restrain Lin Shen were not going to be made public.
When the rank battles began, the Heavenly Emperor, accompanied by Tian Congyun, lay on a beach chair on Cloud Island, watching the tapestry in the starry sky.
"Tian Congyun, do you think that young man can withstand the test?" asked the Heavenly Emperor casually.
Tian Congyun knew what the Heavenly Emperor meant, a formidable genius's emergence, or the appearance of a new skill, was not actually scary.
In the universe, there is no truly invincible skill; once someone makes an outstanding breakthrough, they will be studied by the strong throughout the universe, who will find various methods to counter them.
Many newly developed skills, or geniuses who stunned the universe, began seemingly invincible, nearly unbeatable by anyone.
Later, however, they gradually faded into obscurity because they were thoroughly researched by others; they couldn't adapt to being targeted, and so they could only become mediocre.
Those who can withstand such tests, and can rise against the tide in such environments, have the chance to become truly strong.
Every renowned strong being in the universe has gone through this phase; not being able to get past this phase is what they call a genius envied by the heavens.
It's not that the geniuses are envied by the heavens, but that these geniuses can't bear the pressure they should, they haven't withstood the test, and they are just slightly better ordinary people.
Di Esi was someone who had withstood such a test, no matter how others studied him or targeted him, as long as there was no overwhelming difference in level, no person or skill could suppress him.
"The Chief of the Heavenly Institute is resolute in will and nimble in mind and spirit; he should be able to withstand the test. Yet now, the whole universe is researching how to target him, and it's inevitable that he will face some setbacks. As long as his path remains unbroken, he will eventually stand out," Tian Congyun speculated, voicing what he believed to be the thoughts of the Heavenly Emperor.
He knew the Heavenly Emperor currently held Lin Shen in high regard, but that did not necessarily mean the Heavenly Emperor wished for Lin Shen to have an easy time during this rank battle.
Lin Shen might think that the Heavenly Emperor wanted him to defeat Kristin because of some grudge.
But based on Tian Congyun's understanding and speculation of the Heavenly Emperor, he believed this could be a test given to Lin Shen by the Heavenly Emperor.
If Lin Shen can't overcome this threshold and falls into mediocrity, then he doesn't deserve to be valued by the Heavenly Emperor, much less deserve cultivation from him.
The Heavenly Emperor is looking for someone who can reestablish the Celestial Master Institute, not just a flash-in-the-pan genius.
Lin Shen can lose, but he cannot become mediocre.
"That young man is certainly not one to give up easily. Let's see what interesting performance he'll put on amid the targeting by various races," the Heavenly Emperor said in a good mood because An Rong wasn't nagging in his ear.
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At the beginning of the rank battles, the Scroll of Light and the Light Shadow Sprite appeared before him again.
"Respectfully, congratulations to the participant for achieving first place in the elimination rounds; your initial ranking in the rank battles is first place at the Ascension Level. You can select your own main stage planet," said the Light Shadow Sprite as it pointed at the cosmic scroll. Ten planets slowly emerged from the distant stars, growing larger and larger: "These are the Planet Battlefields for the top ten rankings at the Ascension Level. As the first in the Ascension Level rankings, you have the priority to choose."
The Light Shadow Sprite then introduced the distinctive features of each of these ten planets. Every planet battlefield had its own special environment.
Actually, for ordinary Ascenders, the influence of the planetary environment is relatively minor, not as significant as for a Nirvana Being.
However, for Lin Shen, the harsher the environment, the more it worked in his favor.
Evolution Theory allowed him to quickly adapt to harsh environments, whereas his opponents might not be able to do so as swiftly.
Challenging environments could also enhance his Super-Base Pattern talent, which was a significant boost too.
After listening to the Light Shadow Sprite's introduction, Lin Shen immediately chose one of the planets.
"Are you sure you want to select Evil Speech Planet as your main battlefield?" the Light Shadow Sprite asked again.
"Confirmed," Lin Shen answered with certainty.
The conditions on Evil Speech Planet were quite advantageous for Lin Shen.
On Evil Speech Planet, terrifying hurricanes rose at every moment, and monstrous tornado storms moved across the heavens and earth like colossal pillars, with thunder roaring and flashing in the gloomy sky.
Thunder roared and winds howled.
The sound of thunder and the howl of the wind were like curses from demons, instilling fear, hence the planet's name.
If one were caught in those terrifying tornadoes, or struck by lightning, even if it wasn't fatal, for Ascenders it would be anything but easy.
Of course, in the ranking battles of the Ascension Level, the Planet Battlefields that appeared were all within what Ascenders could endure. There wouldn't be a battlefield that Ascenders couldn't survive.
The adverse environment of Evil Speech Planet not only offered Lin Shen a home-field advantage but also masked the fluctuations caused by using Finger Sand, making it even harder to detect—truly a chosen spot.
"Main battlefield Evil Speech Planet confirmed. Ranking battle rules are as follows: no time limit, you may only challenge opponents ranked up to ten places higher than you, and can only be challenged by those up to ten places lower. The ranking battle ends after twenty-four cosmic hours without challenges, or if no challenges are completed. The top ten at the end of the battle will proceed to the next round of cross-level ranking battles..." The Light Shadow Sprite repeated the detailed rules, then brought Lin Shen into the Scroll of Light and to Evil Speech Planet, with its rolling thunder and howling winds.
As soon as Lin Shen arrived on Evil Speech Planet, he was nearly blown off-balance by the howling winds.
In the sky, lightning clashed and thunder boomed, the overcast clouds filled with electricity that flickered like spider webs.
The thunderous noise seemed to explode right by his ears, one after another, overlapping and becoming a continuous rumble.
Everywhere between heaven and earth, there were huge tornadoes moving, the dark clouds in the sky drawn in by the funnels, forming visible grey tornadoes that looked like giant columns traversing the sky.
Lightning was occasionally sucked into the tornadoes, crackling inside, with flashes spreading across the surface.
Even without directly encountering those tornadoes and lightning, the unceasingly blowing winds made flying laborious.
Flying against the wind was noticeably slower, and flying with the wind easily led to loss of control over speed and force, often contorting one's posture.
"This place is truly extraordinary," Lin Shen said, feeling as if the thunder and wind were about to deafen him.
In such a place, if someone could still detect him using Finger Sand, that would indeed be impressive.