Technological advancement begins with devouring.

Chapter 93 The Phantom King, The Test (1st Update)

virtual universe.

"Qinya" pointed to a woman with a fluffy tail like a fox and purple fur all over her body and introduced her: "'Erso', this is one of the super strongmen of my Cosmic Mercenary Alliance, 'Phantom King'.

This woman, who looked like a fox spirit, possessed an incredibly powerful aura. Even though she was actively controlling it, Jiang Chen still felt a chill run down his spine.

Phantom King?

Jiang Chen recalled the other party's information in his mind: a being who had crossed the threshold of 'Invincible King' and was considered extremely powerful among the Immortal Kings.

In the original work, she once targeted 'Hong', which indirectly led to the exposure of Earth's secrets.

However, in this world, these things have not yet happened, and Jiang Chen will not harbor any hostility towards the Illusionary Spirit King because of this. He immediately bowed respectfully and said, "Greetings, Lord Illusionary Spirit King."

"This little rascal, Qinia, came to me begging for a chance." The voice of the Phantom King seemed somewhat ethereal, yet it carried a strange power that seemed to be able to stir one's soul: "I will give you a chance. If you pass the test, you can join the 'Death Realm' of the Cosmic Mercenary Alliance."

'Qinya' had already explained to Jiang Chen the classification of geniuses in the Cosmic Mercenary Alliance.

Broadly speaking, similar to Virtual Universe companies, they are divided into four tiers.

Among them, 'Death Realm' is modeled after the genius of the virtual universe company 'Apocalypse Realm'.

Although it is the lowest tier, being able to become a core genius that the five giants focus on cultivating is itself an extremely rare thing.

The human race of the 1008 Cosmic Kingdom produces an immense number of stellar and cosmic-level beings in each generation. Only the most outstanding individuals, at most tens of thousands, have the opportunity to join the five giants and become core geniuses.

Moreover, as long as you can successfully join the Cosmic Mercenary Alliance, you still have a chance to improve your 'evaluation level'.

Jiang Chen immediately asked, "May I ask, Lord Illusionary Spirit King, what exactly is the test?"

"You're not following the conventional internal promotion path, so the challenges will be more difficult, requiring you to overcome three hurdles."

With a wave of his hand, the Phantom King caused the group's location to suddenly change, and they appeared on the edge of a cliff.

Ahead, the endless black ocean churned and roared, whipping up wave after wave of giant waves that crashed against the rocks at the bottom of the cliff.

"This is the 'Sea of ​​Illusions.' As you walk onto the islands ahead, countless illusions will be generated. The further you go, the stronger the illusions become. They are a great test of will and consciousness."

The Phantom King looked at Jiang Chen and said, "Considering that you are only at the Stellar level, you only need to pass the first island to pass."

The Sea of ​​Illusions?

Is this the illusionary sea I know?

Jiang Chen was puzzled, but before he could think about it, he heard the Illusionary Spirit King point to a small island that was faintly visible in the waves ahead and say, "I have granted you temporary access. You can go and explore it now."

"Yes, Lord Phantom King."

Jiang Chen respectfully accepted, and the next moment, he soared into the air, transforming into a streak of light as he flew towards the distant island.

-

"Qinya." The Phantom King looked at 'Qinya,' who had recommended Jiang Chen to participate in the trial, and asked, "You used your authority to vouch for and recommend this kid to participate in the assessment. What is your relationship with him?"

“Lord Phantom King…” Qinia bowed and replied, “‘Erso’ is just a genius that I discovered in the Black Dragon Mountain Empire branch. I am not familiar with him. I only recommended him to participate in the assessment because of his outstanding talent.”

“Interesting…” The Phantom King nodded thoughtfully and said softly, “I thought he had some connection with your family.”

As the undisputed king of the Cosmic Mercenary Alliance, Phantom King may not be considered a high-ranking member, but he still possesses extremely high authority.

In addition, having spent a long time in the Qianwu Universe, she was naturally very familiar with the geniuses within the Qianwu Universe branch and knew everything about Qinia.

This silver-haired girl was not a commoner genius, but a member of a powerful family in the Qianwu Universe. She usually associated with the elites of various families.

However, the Phantom King did not dwell on this topic too much. Her curiosity about Jiang Chen stemmed entirely from Qinia's recommendation.

"Have you ever thought about what would happen if he couldn't even pass the first test?" The Phantom King looked at Qinia with a half-smile.

Upon hearing the Phantom King's words, Qinia's heart sank, and her mind raced with thoughts, wondering if the Phantom King might be planning to secretly suppress 'Erso'?

However, she didn't dare to ask, but lowered her head and said in a deep voice, "'Erso' crossed the threshold of the Law at the third level of the Stellar Realm. Although I don't know much about other aspects, someone who can comprehend the Law must have a strong will under the nourishment of the Law. I think he can still get through the first island."

After a pause, Qinia continued, "But if 'Erso' fails the challenge, even if I, as the recommender and guarantor, am not implicated, the bigwigs in the alliance will doubt my judgment, which will be detrimental to my future development."

"You seem to know quite a bit about these things," the Illusionary Spirit King said curiously. "If that's the case, why did you still recommend this little guy to participate in the assessment? You yourself are just a genius from the 'Blood Battle Secret Realm.' Although Domain Lord-level geniuses have more resources and authority, getting a recommendation spot isn't easy for you either, is it?"

'Blood Battle Secret Realm' is comparable to 'Heaven and Earth Secret Realm' from Virtual Universe Company, and belongs to the third tier.

Among the five giants, the attitude towards core geniuses is basically the same: the higher the talent and the higher the ranking, the more attention they will receive.

It's rare for a genius ranked lower to even produce an ordinary immortal, so they naturally won't have much say.

It took Qinia some effort to obtain a 'stellar-level assessment recommendation spot'.

"I was just taking a gamble on him."

Before the invincible and peerless Phantom King, Qinia dared not conceal her thoughts and truthfully said, "If 'Erso' can become a core genius of the Alliance, as his recommender, I will ultimately have done him a favor. If he can grow into a great talent in the future, I believe this favor will bring me great rewards."

The Phantom King looked at Qinia, a strange light flashing in his eyes.

In her opinion, Qinya's talent was no less than that of the geniuses in the previous two secret realms. However, perhaps due to the influence of her family, she spent too much energy on befriending powerful people and geniuses, and failed to focus all her attention on cultivation, so her talent could not be fully realized.

However, the Phantom King had no intention of reminding Kinia.

Although the latter has good talent, his path is completely opposite to that of the Illusion King. No matter how outstanding his talent is, he is destined not to become the Illusion King's disciple.

As the Phantom King, he wouldn't interfere with the choices of a junior who had nothing to do with him. Instead, he adopted a spectator's attitude, wanting to see if Qinia's future development would be as she expected.

"Let's see how that little guy gets through the challenges."

The Phantom King's casual remark drew Qinia's attention back to 'Erso'.

-

The moment Jiang Chen stepped onto the island, his consciousness was dragged into an illusion.

Earth.

With the birth of the Golden Horned Beast, one powerful figure after another fell, even Luo Feng, who was close to Jiang Chen, died in the battle against the Golden Horned Beast.

"Brother Chen, my brother..."

"Ah Chen, why don't you go and save Luo Feng!"

Luo Hua, Xu Xin, Wei Wen, and others all angrily denounced Jiang Chen.

However, in Jiang Chen's eyes, this scene was somewhat absurd.

"The Illusionary Sea, that's all?"

Jiang Chen looked at Wei Wen in front of him.

They looked quite similar, but Jiang Chen felt that the face was like a character created in a game, with a strange sense of disharmony.

Suddenly, a message appeared in Jiang Chen's mind.

[Spiritual Ascension]: Increases Intelligence, Spirit, and Mystic attributes by 30%, increases Spirit Resistance by 40%, and increases Spirit Resistance tier by 1.

This was a special skill that Jiang Chen had previously redeemed.

The increase in attributes is secondary; the core of this specialty is the improvement in 'mental resistance'.

Suddenly, a thought popped into Jiang Chen's mind: "Could it be that the flaws I feel in this illusion are the result of the [Mindful Ascension] feat?"

According to the Phantom King, although the initial trials of the 'Phantom Sea' are simple, they are still extremely difficult for a star-level being.

Anyone who can get past the first island is considered an exceptionally talented genius.

To combat illusions, consciousness and willpower are both very important.

However, consciousness is related to the strength of a strong person's soul, but it depends more on the level of their mental power.

Willpower is what makes each individual different.

Some people have strong wills and incredibly powerful minds; one unit of their 'intensity of consciousness' can exert the power of ten units of a small country.

Those with weak willpower cannot even fully exert their own mental strength.

The two types of beings naturally have different abilities to resist illusions and illusionary attacks.

"Since passing the first island is considered passing the test, there's no need for me to continue. I can wait until I join the 'Cosmic Mercenary Alliance' and then test myself slowly."

A thought flashed through Jiang Chen's mind, and he mobilized his mental energy with all his might, launching a fierce attack.

Click! Click!

A sound of shattering glass rang out.

The entire illusory world collapsed rapidly under Jiang Chen's mental assault.

Jiang Chen raised his head and looked at the island beneath his feet.

The island is very small; you can see its entirety at a glance.

Behind them was the road they had come from, while ahead lay a passageway, at the end of which the outline of another small island could be vaguely seen.

Without continuing his advance, Jiang Chen transformed into a streak of light and flew back to the cliff he had come from.

"Lord Illusion King," Jiang Chen bowed respectfully and asked, "I have broken through the illusion of the first island. Does this mean I have passed this test?"

"You passed the first illusion island in less than five minutes. You did well, very well!" The Illusion King smiled as he looked at Jiang Chen and asked, "I see you still have energy to spare. Why not continue?"

Seeing that Jiang Chen could tell he still had energy left, the Phantom King wasn't surprised. He smiled and replied, "Anyway, no matter how many more I try, I'll only ever be a member of the 'Death Realm.' Passing is enough; why waste my energy?"

"Interesting little fellow..."

The smile on the Phantom King's face grew even wider as he asked, "What if I said that the better you perform, the more extra rewards I would give you?"

An added bonus?

Jiang Chen's heart stirred. Without asking what the reward was, he simply said, "Since Lord Illusionary Spirit King has made a request, I am willing to continue until I am unable to go any further!"

"Hehe..." The smile on the Phantom King's face vanished instantly. "I was just joking. I can't change the rules of the Cosmic Mercenary Alliance. Now that you've passed the first test, the second test is next."

With a flick of his finger, the scene abruptly changed.

Looking at the familiar scene before him, Jiang Chen couldn't help but ask in confusion, "Killing Space?"

Indeed, this is the 'Killing Space' within the Killing Arena.

"This is my 'killing space'," the Illusion King explained, then said to Jiang Chen, "You have ten minutes to prepare and choose your weapons and battle suit. You cannot choose technological weapons, but there are no other restrictions; you can bring a maximum of ten. As for the battle suit, you can only choose Tier 2."

"Where is my opponent?" Jiang Chen asked.

The enemies within the killing space are arbitrarily set by the master.

This is the killing space of the Phantom King, and the opponents are naturally set by the Phantom King.

"Logically, it's more interesting if you don't know the enemy's strength. However, the Alliance doesn't restrict this aspect, so telling you in advance isn't out of the question."

With a smile, the Illusionary King said to Jiang Chen, "Your opponents are ten thousand enemies who possess the same strength of Force and psychic power as you, and use the same weapons and battle suits. The only difference is that these opponents have not mastered the laws; they are all only at the 'ninth level of the Domain' level."

Hearing the words of the Illusionary Spirit King, Jiang Chen's eyes widened in surprise.

Ten thousand enemies at the 'Ninth Level of Domain', who are otherwise on par with me?!

Even though Jiang Chen has already crossed the threshold of the laws, he is not confident that he can win at this level.

Of course, this is under the premise of only exposing the 'Wind Law'.

If they were to reveal their full strength, they could easily crush them.

Although Jiang Chen's understanding of each element of the law is not deep, he has mastered the six elements of earth, fire, water, wind, light, and darkness, making his abilities incredibly comprehensive. When he unleashes his full power, any enemy of the same level who has not crossed the threshold of the law will not be able to break through Jiang Chen's defenses, will be slower than him, and will not be able to withstand his attacks.

Even if it's a slow and steady process, Jiang Chen can wear down all his enemies to death.

However, simply revealing the 'wind element law' significantly increases the difficulty.

Wind-type characters excel in speed and are also quite good at attacking, but they don't offer any significant boost to defense.

They would at least be unable to withstand the attacks of an opponent at the 'Ninth Level of Domain'.

This means that Jiang Chen has a very low margin for error; once hit, he will at least be injured.

When injuries accumulate to a certain extent, combat effectiveness will naturally be greatly reduced.

Conversely, if he can use his speed advantage to perfectly avoid all of the enemy's attacks, then the scales of victory will tip in Jiang Chen's favor.

Jiang Chen quickly devised a strategy, selected his battle attire and weapons, and said to the Illusionary King, "Lord Illusionary King, I am ready."