As the voice of the will of the universe continued to resound, one participant after another appeared upon their assigned platforms.

The number of unoccupied seats steadily dwindled.

Before long, nearly every powerhouse had taken their place.

In the end, John was the only participant who had yet to be seated.

Platform No. 1 stood above all the other supreme powerhouses, overlooking every living being below.

It waited for its rightful owner to arrive.

At that moment, the twenty-nine participants who had already taken their seats turned their attention toward John.

Every one of them carefully studied this extraordinary powerhouse.

A variety of emotions appeared in their eyes, making their expressions extremely complicated.

The three women of Valhalla looked at John with absolute trust, admiration, and reverence.

Powerhouses such as Soren, Lyric, and Leon regarded him with deep vigilance, and even traces of fear could be seen in their eyes.

As for Kaine, Cedric, and the other participants affiliated with the Skyvault Consortium, their reactions were mixed.

Some were envious or jealous.

Others took pride in the fact that John belonged to the same faction as them.

At this moment, the entire universe was also waiting for the first-ranked powerhouse to reveal his true identity.

John had become the focus of countless gazes.

Finally, the majestic voice of the will of the universe rang out.

[Ranked first, John of the Skyvault Consortium. Please take your seat.]

The announcement resembled the voice of the Great Dao itself.

It echoed throughout the entire universe, instantly drawing the attention of countless powerhouses toward the projection in the heavens.

John listened to the announcement.

His figure flickered and instantly appeared above Platform No. 1.

He hovered in midair before slowly sitting down cross-legged.

At the same time, John’s image appeared for the first time before countless living beings and powerhouses throughout the universe.

The moment they saw him, innumerable creatures seemed to stop breathing.

They stared at the figure upon the highest platform in disbelief.

A group of High Gods from the Eternal Summit looked at John and swallowed nervously.

Their hearts trembled.

"So this is John, the powerhouse temporarily ranked first?"

Meanwhile, a Sovereign-rank powerhouse from Mount Crys was also observing John.

His gaze flickered as he thought,

"This man actually cultivates the Space-Time Law as his primary law."

"He certainly possesses tremendous courage."

"As expected, the younger generation fears nothing."

This Sovereign possessed an extremely powerful mastery of the Law of Causality.

Even though he was merely observing a projection created by the will of the universe, he was still able to discern John’s primary law almost instantly.

A Sovereign-rank powerhouse from the Treasure-Rich Mountains silently thought,

"It seems the greatest opponent facing the supreme prodigy of our faction will be John."

A Sovereign from the Demon King Council sighed inwardly.

"What a pity."

"This John is an enemy of the Demon King Council."

"If such an unparalleled genius could have joined our Demon King Council instead, how wonderful would that have been?"

A Sovereign-rank powerhouse from the Eternal Summit studied John for a moment before speaking in a low voice.

"Judging from his appearance alone, this man is clearly not an easy opponent."

"He possesses overwhelming killing intent and is undoubtedly ruthless and decisive."

"Spiritual light flows between his eyes, while the fortune surrounding his body is so powerful that it nearly obscures heaven and earth around him."

"His spiritual brilliance is also extraordinarily intense."

"He must be an extremely intelligent individual."

"Both his talent and fortune are exceptional."

"There is a strong possibility that he will become one of our greatest opponents in the future."

When the Holy Spirit Sovereign saw John seated upon the highest platform, however, a faint smile appeared on his face.

He silently said,

"John, prepare yourself for the road to the summit."

"You are destined to be the true protagonist of this tournament."

Inside the tournament secret realm, all thirty participants had taken their seats after John settled upon Platform No. 1.

In the next instant, the will of the universe used the Law power permeating the realm to construct a massive arena composed of countless overlapping spatial layers.

There were five such arenas in total.

Because of the spatial layers surrounding them, the true interior of each arena was comparable to an enormous plane.

These isolated dimensions existed to block all outside interference.

Even if a violent Law turbulence erupted directly above an arena, none of its power would descend onto the battlefield.

Instead, the disturbance would be drawn into the surrounding secret space.

On one hand, these spatial barriers completely prevented outside powerhouses from interfering with the matches.

On the other hand, they allowed the combatants inside to unleash their full strength and potential without restraint.

When the participants saw the five arenas taking shape, they quickly formed a rough guess about the upcoming format.

This round would most likely consist of arena battles.

The top thirty would be reduced to fifteen, meaning nearly half of the remaining participants would be eliminated.

Based on the number of arenas, ten contestants would probably participate during each round.

After three rounds, all fifteen battles would be decided.

The top-thirty competition would almost certainly feature direct clashes between numerous supreme powerhouses.

The powerful independent cultivators would likewise be matched against the prodigies of the supreme factions.

Whether in terms of overall strength or intensity, the top-thirty competition was destined to attract the attention of the entire universe.

After all, this round was far more dangerous than every previous stage.

It was also the unavoidable path every participant had to cross before entering the finals.

At that moment, the will of the universe began announcing the rules of the top-thirty competition.

[One: This stage is the top-thirty-to-top-fifteen competition. Only fifteen advancement positions are available.]

[Two: This stage will be divided into three rounds. Ten powerhouses will participate in arena battles during each round.]

[Three: The final victors of the arena battles will successfully advance into the top fifteen.]

[Four: No methods will be restricted during the arena battles. Participants may choose whether to kill their opponents or allow them to live. A participant may also surrender voluntarily and receive the corresponding top-thirty reward.]

[Five: The final matchups will be arranged according to ranking. Rank 1 will face Rank 30, Rank 2 will face Rank 29, Rank 3 will face Rank 28, and so forth.]

[Participants ranked first through fifth will face those ranked twenty-sixth through thirtieth. Their battles will all take place during the third round.]

[Participants ranked sixth through tenth will face those ranked sixteenth through twentieth. Their battles will take place during the first round.]

[Six: After all matches have concluded, the top-fifteen rankings will be determined according to previous records and each participant’s final performance during this round.]

[Seven: The top-thirty competition will be broadcast live throughout the entire universe. All participants are advised to prepare themselves mentally.]

After all the rules had been announced, John took a deep breath.

His opponent had already been decided.

It was Warren, the mysterious player from a spacetime universe who was currently ranked thirtieth.

According to the tournament format, Holly would face the participant ranked twenty-ninth, while Lyric would face the participant ranked twenty-eighth.

In truth, John did not care who his opponent was.

So far, he had yet to encounter anyone capable of placing him under truly significant pressure.

What he had always been curious about was the reward for claiming first place in the Myriad Worlds Tournament.

Would it be enough to help him break through to the Sovereign rank?

Or perhaps it might even allow him to advance directly into the Grand Sovereign rank.