Chapter One: Another Void Assessment

Qinghe Prefecture.

Prefecture City.

Returning to the Martial Academy and feeling the much more desolate atmosphere within, Chen Fan experienced a complex swirl of emotions.

During the recent beast calamity, the Martial Academy had dispatched nearly all its forces. Countless disciples had lost their lives in the campaign to exterminate the beasts.

Chen Fan had missed the Myriad Phenomena Phantom Realm assessments twice, yet his ranking in the phantom realm had actually risen by several positions!

This was because some of the disciples ranked ahead of him had sacrificed their lives amidst the beast plague.

In the Bright Sun Tower, two disciples possessing Grandmaster-level strength had perished.

"Beasts at the seventh level and above are far too terrifying. Even Grandmasters possess merely mortal flesh..."

Chen Fan had witnessed the strikes of seventh-level beasts and had even crossed swords with ordinary seventh-level Grandmasters. Not only did these beasts possess extraordinary abilities, but their vital blood and physical bodies were monstrously powerful.

Originally, the Bright Sun Tower had thirty-one disciples, and with Rong Wuchen's promotion a few months prior, the number had increased by one.

Yet, in the aftermath of the beast plague, due to the deaths of two individuals, the number of Bright Sun Tower disciples was actually one fewer than it had been a few months ago.

The vacant slots in the Bright Moon Tower and the Myriad Stars Tower were even more numerous!

Not long after Chen Fan's return, the new quarterly assessment of the Myriad Phenomena Phantom Realm commenced. The disciples, eager and pumped up, swarmed into the Myriad Phenomena Plaza to kick off a fresh round of trials.

Everyone was filled with excitement and anticipation.

Although the Martial Academy had suffered significant losses, opportunities had also become far more abundant!

...

Meanwhile.

Over the past few days, news regarding Chen Fan defeating a Grandmaster head-on in Yandu City had gradually reached the upper echelons of the Martial Academy.

Ye Wuji had learned the exact details from his own sworn brother, leaving him both pleasantly surprised and deeply shocked:

"To rival a Grandmaster at the age of sixteen—Chen Fan's strength should rank him among the top three even within the Bright Moon Tower, shouldn't it? I never expected his strength to progress at such a pace, becoming more outrageous with every single step..."

When Chen Fan first entered the Martial Academy and managed to break into the top three hundred, although it was already an astonishing feat, it was not unprecedented in history!

Some individuals with special physiques, aided by fortuitous encounters and grand opportunities, could achieve such strength at a young age.

Yet, a mere year and a half later, Chen Fan was actually capable of comprehending the realm of oneness and rivaling a Grandmaster. That was simply too terrifying...

Every three years, disciples of Qingming Martial Academy bathed in the Huaqing Pond, and a few disciples under the age of eighteen secured slots for the Huaqing Pond, gaining the opportunity to enter a state of enlightenment. However, for someone's strength to improve as rapidly as Chen Fan's, there was simply no parallel!

The reason the identity of a Bright Moon Tower disciple mattered so much was not only because of the various resources available, but also because it granted access to train in the various secret realms belonging to the Martial Academy. The reason most Bright Moon Tower disciples were at the sixth martial level while exhibiting a massive gap between their upper and lower limits was precisely because these secret realms allowed for rapid growth.

Within the Martial Academy, quite a few disciples made breakthroughs by leaps and bounds within secret realms or ancient ruins.

Yet, none advanced at a speed quite like his.

...

Given that Chen Fan had previously sat at the very bottom among Bright Moon Tower disciples and had scarcely visited any secret realms or ruins, his progress naturally stunned everyone.

...

As the new quarterly assessment of the Myriad Phenomena Phantom Realm began once again, Chen Fan naturally made his way to the Myriad Phenomena Plaza.

By this time, he had become a major celebrity. The moment he arrived, he immediately attracted widespread attention.

"Chen Fan! It's Chen Fan, he's here!"

"Chen Fan has come to take the Myriad Phenomena Phantom Realm assessment!"

The news of Chen Fan defeating a Grandmaster with his sword was no secret. Disciples with deep backgrounds within Qingming Martial Academy had already obtained wind of it.

Moreover, nearly half a year had passed since his last participation in the assessment, so everyone naturally wanted to witness Chen Fan's true current strength!

Chen Fan, however, paid no mind to these gazes.

His realm was already sufficiently high. As long as he could elevate his cultivation level as quickly as possible, he could swiftly bridge the gap to ascend to the Grandmaster realm.

He needed more Origin Points; whether for exchanging resources or sustaining the Myriad Illusions Array, a greater quantity of Origin Points was essential!

The higher his ranking in the Myriad Phenomena Phantom Realm, the more Origin Point rewards he would receive.

Besides, since he had already exposed his Grandmaster-rivaling strength in Yandu City, there was entirely no need for him to conceal himself any longer at this moment!

...

Upon entering the illusion realm, he slaughtered beasts at maximum speed, quickly reaching the limits he had previously encountered.

Ten sixth-level beasts materialized simultaneously before him.

Chen Fan remained relatively relaxed. "My cultivation is still at the fifth level, but my true strength has increased by far more than tenfold—a hundredfold at least. The difficulties of the past are now..."

Sword light flashed brilliantly in his hand.

Following a technique of Jade Rainbow Piercing the Sun, lightning force surged, and dozens of sword qi swept across the space. In a flash, those ten sixth-level beasts turned into fragments and vanished without a trace!

Chen Fan raised an eyebrow slightly. "The beasts in the phantom realm are virtually the weakest of their kind in the outside world..."

In the outside world, the upper and lower limits of sixth-level beasts varied drastically, with strong and weak alike. Yet within the illusion realm, beasts of the same tier had almost no difference in strength; they all belonged to the weaker tier compared to the outside world!

With all ten beasts completely wiped out, Chen Fan's ranking in the Myriad Phenomena Phantom Realm directly surged into the top two hundred.

To Chen Fan's surprise, however, the next round of assessment did not feature beasts of higher strength; instead, sixth-level beasts appeared once more!

Across the vast, open arena, a dense multitude of sixth-level beasts was gathered.

There were so many they defied counting at a glance—at least a hundred of them.

"Over a hundred sixth-level beasts... Well, that makes sense. The gap between the sixth and seventh levels is too vast. Even a hundred sixth-level beasts might not necessarily be harder to deal with than a single seventh-level beast."

Chen Fan raised an eyebrow, understanding dawned upon him.

Compared to the beast tides Chen Fan had endured, the actual number of these beasts wasn't truly that high.

However, every single one of them was a sixth-level beast, and their average strength was far greater than that of the previous beast tide. Gathered together, they still posed quite a formidable trouble!

If it were back when he had just comprehended the Lightning Intent, he might have had to rely solely on the movement technique of oneness to dodge and slowly wear these beasts down through attrition. But now...

Chen Fan's eyes grew stern. Lightning coiled around the sword in his hand, and sword radiance instantly left his blade, scattering in all directions.

Executing the Jade Rainbow Piercing the Sun infused with both Lightning Intent and Slaughter Intent, dozens of sword qi soared into the sky. It was practically an ultimate area-of-effect weapon; the sky-filling sword radiance surged, devouring the lives of one beast after another.

Meanwhile, Chen Fan's body flickered repeatedly like flashes of lightning.

Although these beasts were wildly ferocious with astonishingly terrifying strength and speed, not a single one of them managed to even graze Chen Fan.

In less time than it took to burn half an incense stick, all hundred of these beasts had been cleanly slain by Chen Fan.

With the complete annihilation of these hundred beasts, his ranking directly climbed into the top fifty!

Apart from the disciples of the Bright Sun Tower, only the absolute top-tier disciples of the Bright Moon Tower could ever hope to reach such a rank!

"By slaughtering these one hundred beasts, my rank has jumped by a hundred places. The gap between the upper and lower limits of sixth-level strength is truly enormous."

Chen Fan shook his head, feeling neither particularly fatigued nor out of breath.

To him, defeating these hundred sixth-level beasts was still a breeze!

His gaze then shifted toward what lay ahead...

...

At the Myriad Phenomena Plaza.

Zhan Yi stared intently at the Myriad Phenomena Pot before him, watching Chen Fan's rank leap into the top fifty, and narrowed his eyes.

"In less time than it takes to burn half an incense stick, Chen Fan has already broken into the top fifty. Truly formidable. However, the next layer of trials will require facing genuine seventh-level beasts, which are incomparable to ordinary seventh-level Grandmasters from the outside world. I wonder if Chen Fan will still be able to win?"

At this very moment, numerous onlookers had also gathered around the Myriad Phenomena Plaza.

They all wished to see where Chen Fan's ultimate ranking would land.

Yan Lincong stood in a corner, gazing with a dazed expression at Chen Fan's ranking within the Myriad Phenomena Phantom Realm, feeling a rather bitter taste in his heart.

As someone possessing the Blood Physique, he had also participated in the recent beast rebellion.

Tempered by blood and fire, he had already broken through to the fourth level, making him quite exceptional among the Martial Academy disciples.

Yet, with his cultivation level fixed right there, although his ranking had risen, the gap between him and Chen Fan had only grown wider!