The description of Hand of the Saint continued.

[For example, progress in the innate Law of Destiny may be transformed directly into progress in the innate Space-Time Law.]

[However, the acquired Law of Karma may only be transformed into another acquired law of the same grade, such as the Yin-Yang Law.]

[In summary, the Left Hand of Law can extract, refine, and transform law power.]

[Second Ability: Right Hand of Origin.]

[The right hand can devour all forms of Origin power.]

[Origin-based attacks launched by enemies may be absorbed and converted for the user’s own use.]

[Origin power may also be extracted from items, secret realms, natural environments, and living beings.]

[A portion of the Origin energy will be lost during extraction or devouring.]

[The user may extract the Origin of a secret realm, the Origin of a treasure, or the Origin within a cultivator.]

[After reaching the middle stage of cultivation, the user may even extract and devour the Origin of the Great Dao.]

[Description: A Human Divine Art evolved from Hand of God, one of the Eight Divine Arts of Humanity. Its name is Hand of the Saint.]

John finished reading and could not suppress his admiration.

"This skill is extraordinary."

The Left Hand of Law alone could solve one of his greatest cultivation problems.

John had already accumulated comprehension of nearly three thousand laws. However, the progress of his most important Space-Time Law remained slow because so few cultivators practiced both the Spatial Law and the Law of Time at the same level.

Now he could transform other innate law comprehension into Space-Time Law.

The conversion would cause some losses, but John possessed such an enormous reserve of law fragments that the cost was negligible.

The Right Hand of Origin was equally terrifying.

Any enemy who attacked him with Origin power risked having that power swallowed and turned against them. Treasures, secret realms, natural environments, and even living cultivators could all become sources of nourishment.

Once his cultivation advanced far enough, he would be able to devour the Origin of the Great Dao itself.

Hand of the Saint was not merely a combat skill.

It was a supreme cultivation tool.

At the same time, the three female members of Valhalla received their own ranking rewards.

Each reward was something unprecedented in the known universe.

Holly’s excited voice appeared in the private group channel.

[Holly: I actually ranked second! This is wonderful!]

A moment later, she seemed to remember something and began complaining.

[Holly: Unfortunately, the Great Dao didn’t reveal my name.]

[Holly: No one got to witness how impressive I am. What a waste.]

Odelle immediately comforted her.

[Odelle: You only care about the public announcement.]

[Odelle: Do not become too obsessed with the position. We already received the actual rewards.]

Hilt agreed.

[Hilt: Revealing our rankings too early would only attract attention and suspicion.]

[Hilt: The other participants would prepare specifically against us during the advancement stage.]

[Hilt: Isn’t it better to defeat them when they are completely unprepared?]

Holly considered the argument for several seconds.

[Holly: You are both right.]

[Holly: Your perspective is much broader than mine. I hadn’t thought of that.]

John smiled as he read their conversation.

The four members of Valhalla had occupied every hidden position in the top four.

All of them had received extraordinary rewards from the will of the universe.

As for the fact that his own name had not been revealed, John did not care.

As Odelle had said, public recognition brought no practical benefit.

The rewards were already in his possession.

The countdown continued.

100.

50.

10.

When it reached zero, an irresistible force descended.

John’s body disappeared from the secret realm and was transferred elsewhere.

His vision blurred for less than a ten-thousandth of a second before becoming clear again.

One participant after another appeared in the new battlefield, each wearing an alert and confused expression.

The secret realm was vast.

Mountains rose into the clouds. Ancient forests stretched beyond the horizon. Rivers of divine light flowed through valleys, and broken stars floated in the distant sky.

The environment had clearly been designed to allow hiding, pursuit, ambushes, and long-range battles.

The voice of the will of the universe began explaining the advancement-stage rules.

[The advancement stage of the Myriad Worlds Tournament is about to begin.]

[Rule One: All remaining participants will be randomly assigned to three secret realms.]

[Each secret realm will contain one hundred participants.]

[Rule Two: Every participant will receive a numbered badge.]

[The numbered badges form linked hunting and protection relationships.]

[For example, after receiving Badge No. 1, a participant may become the target of Badge No. 2.]

[At the same time, the holder of Badge No. 3 may be required to protect the holder of Badge No. 1 and hunt the holder of Badge No. 2.]

[Rule Three: A participant who kills their designated hunting target will earn advancement qualification.]

[Anyone who kills a participant other than their designated target will be eliminated immediately.]

[If a participant fails to protect their designated protection target, they will also be eliminated.]

[Rule Four: The total duration of this stage is twenty-four hours.]

[Rule Five: Each secret realm contains only ten advancement positions.]

[Only thirty participants from the three secret realms will advance.]

[Rule Six: The final-stage ranking is now active.]

[The first participant to obtain advancement qualification will temporarily occupy first place.]

[Rule Seven: Every successful advancement will be announced throughout all three secret realms.]

John listened quietly.

The rules formed a closed chain of hunting and protection.

Every participant had one person they needed to kill and one person they needed to keep alive.

The restriction against killing unrelated participants made brute force far less useful than before.

When the explanation ended, a new notification appeared.

[Ding! You have received Badge No. 1.]

[Your hunting target is the holder of Badge No. 2.]

[Kill the holder of Badge No. 2 to obtain advancement qualification.]

[Your protection target is the holder of Badge No. 3.]

[If the holder of Badge No. 3 is killed, you will be eliminated.]

[Do not kill participants other than your designated hunting target.]

[Violating this rule will result in immediate elimination.]

[The advancement stage will begin in three seconds.]

[3.]

[2.]

[1.]

[0.]

The competition began.

John quickly summarized the relationship.

"I hold Badge No. 1."

"I must kill No. 2 and protect No. 3."

This advancement stage was far more interesting than the earlier battles.

It resembled the law of the jungle, but with a strict limitation: each participant could hunt only one designated target while simultaneously protecting another.

John’s first priority was to locate the holder of Badge No. 3.

"Who is No. 3?"

Throughout the secret realm, every participant was asking a similar question.

They had received their own badges and instructions, but the identities of their targets remained concealed.

If indiscriminate killing had been permitted, the process would have been simple.

However, killing the wrong person meant immediate elimination.

Revealing one’s own number was equally dangerous.

No rational participant would publicly announce their badge.

Some considered testing each person one by one.

"In this stage, everyone is a participant, and everyone is also a hunter."

"Why not move immediately and probe them one after another?"

Others rejected the idea.

"Impossible."

"No one will voluntarily reveal their number."

"Once your identity is exposed, your position becomes far more dangerous."

Several participants looked toward cultivators known for the Law of Karma or the Law of Destiny.

"Those who cultivate Karma and Destiny should possess the greatest advantage."

"Their causal connections and divination techniques may allow them to locate their targets."

In reality, the cultivators of those laws were suffering in silence.

Saint-grade Karma Law could not identify their hunters or targets.

The Law of Destiny was equally restricted.

Perhaps a power at the transcendent Saint grade might break through the interference, but none of the ordinary participants possessed that level of mastery.

The rules of the secret realm suppressed every conventional deduction method.

For a time, the situation entered a complete deadlock.

One hundred High Gods stood scattered across the enormous world.

Every person was a hunter.

Every person was prey.

Yet no one dared make the first move.