As more and more palace doors opened, the entire Stygian Starfield was boiling in excitement. 

Although there were numerous palace doors, congestions could still be spotted everywhere. Those who were trying to squeeze in were stacked together before the palace doors, heads next to one another.

Over two billion ghostly immortals had swarmed towards the 10th Grade Palace of an Immortal King. Fortunately, the 10th Grade Palace of an Immortal King was sufficiently huge and was comparable to a colossal star. For example, the Chakravarti-raja Star was similar and had sufficient entrances to it too.

Tensions, chaos, clamor, and vulgarities were erupting and hurled across constantly. Various emotions could be seen in this place. 

Overall, close to a million people passed through the palace doors into the 10th Grade Palace of an Immortal King per ten breaths of time. Once they got in, they seemed to vanish instantly and weren't seen blocking the entrance.

Judging by this speed, it wouldn't take more than two hours for more than two billion ghostly immortals and immortal lords to get in. Standing for afar, one could see the congested crowd that had gathered outside the 10th Grade Palace of an Immortal King diminishing swiftly.

As part of the first batch of people that got in, Wu Yu instantly realized that he regained his battle strength the moment he got in.

However, he couldn't use it at all. This was because he was instantly caged in a one-zhang glowing sphere the moment he entered and was fixed to a spot. Immortal fog filled his surroundings and masked his vision. At least for the moment, he couldn't look far and could only wait patiently.

"Could it be that the real contest will only start after everyone gets in?"

 Wu Yu conjectured. This was because he was trapped within the glowing sphere. He was fixed in one spot, and the glowing sphere wouldn't budge an inch. Wu Yu had attempted to attack it, but even the Submerged Cloud Seal didn't have any effect.

After attempting for some time, Wu Yu gave up on moving. For now, it was serene. Although a large number of people had gotten in, Wu Yu couldn't see anyone else

"I wonder what the Jade Emperor arranged this time."

It wasn't a pleasing experience as time passed, and all one could do was wait. It was especially so for the restless Wu Yu.

After roughly an hour, and just as Wu Yu's patience was wearing thin, something finally changed!

The murky immortal fog that surrounded him started thinning before vanishing completely. Wu Yu had a clear look at everything outside instantly. He was stumped, and it was a spectacular view to behold!

The interior of the 10th Grade Palace of an Immortal King looked just like a massive spherical space, and they were within it! 

Along the walls of the sphere were countless glowing spheres, clearly over two billion of them. Each glowing sphere had a person within!

Over two billion ghostly immortals and immortal lords were trapped within these glowing spheres which appended to the walls of the massive sphere!

Looking out, one would feel like they had trypophobia.

The two ends were far apart, and the spheres on the other end resembled droplets of water. However, one could see that each glowing sphere had a person within.

Initially, the crowd was confused by what they saw. However, astonishment took over their faces shortly after!

At this point, it was clear that the 10th Grade Palace of an Immortal King had been shut! Those who were in here were already in! This was the reason why the changes had occured!

With his Eyes of Fire and Gold, Wu Yu could get a better view.

Over two billion immortals and ghostly immortals were adhered to the inner walls, and there was ample space in the middle.

The space in the middle wasn't completely empty.

Instead, glowing paths that resembled a bee's hive formed a three-dimensional network, seemingly made for containing countless spheres!

The bottom of the hive was flat, but the sides were erected! These were formed with identical hexagons and octagons.

As for the purpose of the erected hive, Wu Yu didn't have a clue for now.

Soon, the most illustrious item within the massive sphere left Wu Yu's eyes gleaming.

A different glowing sphere rose from the middle of the massive sphere!

Within that glowing sphere were four huge columns, and a Rainbow Pearl levitated at the top of each column!

"Indeed, there's a total of ten! And there are four here!"

The four Rainbow Pearls were shown immediately. Clearly, this was for over two billion immortals and ghostly immortals to contest at the same time, including numerous Hell Masters, ghostly kings, and descendants of immortal emperors!

The probability of winning was simply too low. For every half a billion people, only a single person would get one.

The two billion glowing spheres that were adhered to the walls, the three-dimensional hives, the central glowing sphere, and the four columns with Rainbow Pearls formed the entirety of the 10th Grade Palace of an Immortal King! 

"And then? To see who can rip apart this glowing sphere and make his way there? Or is there more to the glowing paths in the middle?"

The Jade Emperor was like a game designer. Everything had to follow his rules, and the key now was to understand the rules of this game!

However, Wu Yu didn't have to think about it. This was because when the 10th Grade Palace of an Immortal King slammed shut and the immortal fog dissipated, the game started abruptly after ten breaths of time without any announcement!

The glowing sphere that Wu Yu was in detached from the inner walls and rolled forward into a cell of the three-dimensional hive.

The size of the cell could just fit a glowing sphere nicely.

At the same time, Wu Yu could see almost all glowing spheres detaching from the inner wall and rolling towards the various cells in the middle. These cells were either hexagonal or octagonal. There wasn't any regularity in the shapes, but all of them could basically fit a glowing sphere.

Soon, Wu Yu could see two glowing spheres rolling into the same cell!

What could possibly happen when two glowing spheres rolled into a cell that could only fit one?

What happened next jolted Wu Yu's memories of what happened in the Maelstrom Silver Dagger Sphere. The clash of two people then was now the clash of two spheres in this place.

It was the same on Wu Yu's end. The moment he got in, another glowing sphere from the side crashed into his glowing sphere.

At this moment, over two billion glowing spheres collided at the same time!

Following flashes of light, Wu Yu found himself pulled into a new world. This felt extremely similar to when he was in the Maelstrom Silver Dagger Sphere and two people got pulled into a mini world after colliding in the stopped space!

Just as he had expected, once he stabilized himself, he found himself in a scenic mini world. It was a sufficiently huge battlefield, and the only difference was that the surrounding barriers weren't a water veil but a static light veil. Wu Yu could roughly see the changes to the surrounding dozens of cells. It was similar elsewhere and basically involved two glowing spheres fusing into one upon collision. At the same time, the two people would be shrunk down like ants and faced off in the scenic world.

If it wasn't for the fact that all the cells were full, one could probably see further!

Currently, there were at least a billion cells. The was similar and involved the collision between a pair, and the pair of people were pulled into a mini world to battle!

Wu Yu understood immediately!

"The rule of the game is one-on-one face offs!  The victor will advance forward and eventually reach the central glowing sphere. Oh wow! With two billion people, how many victories will it take to decide the final four? Moreover, the battles are one after another without any rest. It's also inevitable to encounter ghostly kings and Hell Masters in the process! How will I reach the end?"

Wu Yu was a little overwhelmed.

To verify his thoughts, Wu Yu turned to the ghostly lord in front of him. He was probably just at the third tier of the Immortal Lord Realm. This guy clearly wasn't a match for Wu Yu. The moment the guy saw that he had encountered the White Chalk Ghostly Lord, Wu Yu severely injured him with a punch!

After sustaining the injury, changes started happening again. The mini world collapsed and Wu Yu was back in his glowing sphere. There were other ongoing battles in other mini worlds. Looking back, the one he had just fought also had a glowing sphere next to him. However, he was hanging on the interior wall, looking as though he was on the brink of death. He could only watch as Wu Yu advanced.

"It seems like even if I lose, I won't have to leave immediately. In fact, I might even have a chance to start anew. However, how frustrating would it be to restart after battling so many rounds? I still have to constantly kill my way to the center. Under these harsh rules, will there be anyone who could make it to the very end? Possibly someone with overwhelming strength?"

Although he was lamenting, he wasn't lagging in speed. When he returned to the glowing sphere after defeating his opponent, his glowing sphere rolled forward to the next cell. Wu Yu was surprised that someone was already there. That man had just experienced a battle too, and when Wu Yu arrived in his glowing sphere, they were pulled into a mini world once again!

This man was slightly stronger, a 7-realm ghostly lord. He had probably finished off a weak ghostly lord and hadn't understood the rules before encountering Wu Yu. While standing rooted to the ground, he asked, "White Chalk Ghostly Lord, are we supposed to engage in battles all the way to decide the final four from over two billion people?" 

"You got it right," answered Wu Yu.

"In other words, I'm out?"

"You got that right too!"

Wu Yu dismissed him swiftly and rolled into the next cell. However, looking across, he wasn't particularly quick. A large number of ghostly kings and Hell Masters had entered the stopped space and experience with this game. Now they were charging ahead, and no one was able to hold them back.

"I wonder if there's any restrictions on the Hell Masters and ghostly kings. Otherwise, me and the others won’t stand a chance against them."

These conjectures could only be verified when Wu Yu encountered a real ghostly king!

Fortunately, he had endless battle endurance. From the beginning, he was relying on his physical strength to defeat his opponent and send them out. However, he soon realized that as he progressed, the opponents he had to face had also killed their way to where they were. Basically, it was reasonable that those he had to face subsequently would be stronger than before.

Previous Chapter

Next Chapter