Soon, the second and third batches followed and completed their challenges. This time, neither batch managed to surpass Phosseh's performance.
However, one participant from the second batch and another from the third batch, ranked 73rd and 86th respectively on the Power Rankings, stood out.
Despite their relatively low rankings, both defeated a Tier-6 Low-Phase monster and even put up a solid fight in the next difficulty level before being defeated.
Their performances did not match Phosseh's, but they still exceeded expectations. Many believed these two would easily make it into the top twenty based on what they showed.
More importantly, an obvious pattern had emerged. The top performer of each batch so far had come from the Orion Vanguard.
Before long, the fourth batch began.
The moment it started, the top screen changed, and instantly drew everyone's attention.
The 2nd Power Ranker, Regaz, had taken the lead.
He breezed through each difficulty level without slowing down. Even when facing a Tier-6 Low-Phase monster, he defeated it in a single exchange, and Regaz continued onward, clearing the next difficulty level just as smoothly.
Only when he entered the 18th difficulty level, facing a Peak Tier-6 monster, did Regaz begin to reveal his true strength.
Regaz possessed four innate talents, all at Grade-9, one from each category: elemental, weapon, martial, and variant.
His Variant talent, which greatly boosted comprehension, allowed him to rapidly improve mastery across all his talents. It was the reason he had reached Tier-6 before Day 30.
Aside from him, only Olivia had achieved the same feat, but unlike Regaz, she relied heavily on Modified Enlightenment Incenses to do so.
That alone highlighted just how terrifying his talent truly was.
When the battle began, Regaz went all out. His lightning elemental talent paired seamlessly with his martial talent, creating devastating synergy.
Dark-purple thunder wrapped around him as he wielded Judgement Thunder, a higher-grade lightning element.
Even though the Peak Tier-6 monster possessed a Pseudo-Domain, Regaz fought through it. After a long and intense battle, he emerged victorious.
Anyone watching could tell. Whether it was his combat sense or how well he combined his abilities, Regaz showed why he was ranked second.
Those seeing him fight for the first time finally understood why he was ranked second, just below the unfathomable top ranker, Jay.
And that realization sparked a new wave of curiosity. If Regaz could defeat a Peak Tier-6 monster, just how terrifying was Jay?
Regaz didn't stop there. He took the ten-minute interval to recover his stamina, spirit energy, and injuries, then moved on to the 19th difficulty level.
This time, his opponent was a Tier-7 Low-Phase monster.
The entire colosseum held its breath. It was the first time anyone was witnessing a Tier-7 monster, even if it was only within a Reality Emulator.
Shock spread across their faces when Regaz was defeated in under a minute.
The fight lasted that long only because Regaz didn't rush in blindly. He tested the monster, attacking and retreating to understand its abilities.
But the moment the monster unleashed a true Domain, the battle became completely one-sided.
Unable to resist, Regaz was swiftly overwhelmed and expelled from the Reality Emulator.
While many were still reeling from the shock of witnessing the power of a Tier-7 monster, the Tournament Manager of the Myriad Beast Sect, Malmir, moved swiftly.
He didn't even wait for Regaz to fully recover before stepping forward with a broad smile on his face.
Malmir said with clear admiration, "Truly outstanding, Regaz. Reaching Tier-6 before Day 30 and defeating a Peak Tier-6 monster places you among the rarest prodigies."
He then spoke more directly, no longer hiding his intent.
"I represent the Lumen Crest Clan, the top Universal Hegemony. Should you choose to join, you will be treated as a core prodigy of the clan. Cultivation resources, guidance, and benefits far beyond what other hegemonies can offer will be made available to you."
It was blatant. Shamelessly so.
A moment later, the other two Tournament Managers caught up. Seeing Malmir act first, both rolled their eyes almost in unison.
Felaric rolled his eyes lightly. "You really couldn't wait, could you?"
The Bloodfang Cult leader scoffed. "So much for reaching out during the Round-1 break."
Despite their words, neither of them held back.
The Bloodfang Cult Leader spoke next, extending his own invitation on behalf of the Hex Reptilia Clan, while the Red Elven Emperor followed, offering Regaz a place within House Nihareth, promising status and long-term backing.
If Phosseh's performance had surprised them, Regaz's strength had shaken them deeply. Reaching Tier-6 alone was already monstrous, but defeating a Peak Tier-6 monster placed him dangerously close to their own level.
While fighting such a monster wasn't the same as defeating seasoned warriors like them who had lived and battled for centuries, the potential on display was undeniable.
Even if Regaz wasn't the Omega Chosen they were searching for, missing out on recruiting him would be a loss.
Regaz, however, showed none of the reverence expected of someone standing before rulers of a Super Cluster.
He didn't bow or rush to agree, and said plainly.
"I'll consider your offers, and give you an answer before the Tournament ends."
None of the managers took offense. Pride like his was expected from someone of his caliber.
As Regaz returned to his team's seating area, his gaze shifted across the colosseum and landed on Jay.
Jay noticed the look immediately. Though Regaz's soul was shielded by a powerful spirit item, he understood the meaning behind that look.
It was defiance.
A silent declaration that he had grown, that he no longer saw himself beneath Jay, and that he intended to compete for the ALPHA PRIME title.
Jay met his gaze and answered with nothing more than a faint smirk.
If this had been a week ago, Regaz might have posed a challenge. But now, things were different.
The breakthrough Jay had been looking forward to had already happened, on Day 26.
By relentlessly cultivating his ORIGIN PHYSIQUE, fully using all 96 hours per day in the Trial World, Jay had pushed his overall stats to 20,000 and broken past the 2nd Universe Limit.
With that breakthrough, a multitude of possibilities opened up to Jay.
First and foremost, his power in INVERSE Mode saw its looted stat cap increase from three times to four times, allowing his total usable looted stats in that mode to reach a staggering 80,000.
Tier-7 evolution was fundamentally different from all previous evolutions. Instead of increasing distributed stats by fifty percent, it doubled them outright.
Tier-8 evolution went even further, tripling overall stats, while Tier-9 evolution quadrupled them.
Because of this exponential growth, the gap between tiers became a chasm that was nearly impossible to cross. Defeating higher-tier opponents grew far more difficult than before.
That was why, even with 80,000 stats, Jay still could not compare to Tier-8 beings, whose minimum overall stats started at 160,000.
Even so, having a trump card like that gave him confidence for the Final Tournament.
He didn't relax because of it. Jay isolated himself from all social contact and continued his grueling cultivation routine day after day. He didn't even return to Earth during that period.
Throughout his cultivation, he constantly used Modified Enlightenment Incenses. With how much he consumed, their comprehension enhancement effect was active almost all the time.
Even so, their impact on improving his mastery over Origin Energy was minimal compared to how much they would help others' talents.
Days passed.
Then, on Day-29, Jay unexpectedly achieved another major breakthrough. His mastery over Origin Energy reached 4%, unlocking further improvements, most notably a new Innate Exclusive Skill.
║OVERDRIVE║
It was directly tied to INVERSE Mode and could only be activated while in that mode. However, its duration was limited to just thirty seconds.
That was barely one-hundredth of the time INVERSEMode itself lasted, which was about fifty minutes, the same as his level.
The moment Jay activated║OVERDRIVE║, his entire perception shifted. For those brief moments, he felt power beyond description.
Greater than when he first entered INVERSEMode on Day-1, greater than when he unleashed║HEAVEN BREAKER║on Day-10, greater than anything he had ever experienced.
For the first time in his life, Jay tasted what true power felt like.
In that state, he felt like he could challenge Tier-8, maybe even Tier-9. He couldn't be certain, simply because there was no one around powerful enough to serve as a comparison.
Those thirty seconds left a deep mark on him. They showed him that he was on the right path. A path toward absolute, unquestionable power.
Even now, seated in the Colosseum, recalling that experience filled him with lingering awe.
Then Jay let out a quiet sigh, regret creeping into his thoughts.
'If only I had known…'
║OVERDRIVE║had given him complete confidence for both the Final Tournament and the Bloodline Realm, but that confidence was short-lived.
After exiting║OVERDRIVE║, Jay discovered that he could no longer re-enter it, or even activate INVERSE Mode again.
Both had entered cooldown. Not a time-based one, but one that required Origin Energy to recharge.
The only reliable source of Origin Energy was through INVERSE Mode itself.
With it unavailable, Jay had lost access to what was effectively an unlimited energy supply.
Still, he was not helpless.
The solution lay in a technique he had learned through his Unique Talent, just like║Momentary Materialization Technique║,║HEAVEN BREAKER║, and║ORIGIN PHYSIQUE║.
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Due to ongoing piracy concerns, the final 22 chapters of Volume 3 (Ch.351 to 372) are not posted publicly. They are exclusively available through:
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