The arrogance in the young man’s eyes slowly faded, replaced by a wild grin.

  Like a predator who had just found its prey, he scanned William up and down with interest. At the same time, a thought transmission swiftly came from the other side.

  "Your divine domain is quite large. It seems that in this competition, only you are qualified to be my opponent. I'm looking forward to your performance."

  Hearing this overly dramatic statement, William’s mouth twitched as he resisted the urge to mock him.

  Just from these words alone, William was already 80% sure—this was another overconfident, na?ve young man who had yet to experience the harsh realities of the world.

  William was truly curious. The final year of high school was already more than halfway through, yet there were still people like this?

  Anyone who had spent a long time in the Resource Well should have learned to be cautious by now. How was this guy still so arrogant?

  "The competition hasn’t even started, and he’s already showing hostility. He must be really confident in his own strength… and not very smart."

  Suppressing his urge to ridicule, William put on a friendly smile, waved at the young man, and sent a thought transmission back.

  "Your divine domain is quite large as well. You must be quite powerful. Since this competition follows a battle royale format, how about we work together to eliminate the others first, then fight for the championship later?"

  Upon receiving William’s message, Cedric showed nothing but a cold sneer in return.

  "Heh… Looks like you're weaker than I expected. Only the weak need to rely on alliances."

  Hearing Cedric’s response, William dropped his smile and simply looked away, no longer interested in entertaining this fool.

  After just two exchanges, he was already done talking with this arrogant kid whose ego was bigger than his brain.

  Zous, who had been silently observing their conversation from the sidelines, finally spoke up once he saw William ignoring Cedric.

  "Be careful with that guy," Zous warned. "He’s probably one of those privileged kids with deep family resources, someone who brute-forced his way to becoming a demigod through sheer wealth."

  "People like that are never weak. He’s going to be one of your toughest opponents in this competition."

  William raised an eyebrow at Zous’s words and nodded thoughtfully.

  "So he’s a ‘God-born’ rich kid. No wonder his divine domain has already grown to 15 million square kilometers, yet he’s still acting like a reckless fool."

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  From William’s perspective, Cedric completely lacked the cautious temperament that naturally developed from years of struggling in the Resource Well.

  He probably only followed his teachers there as a mere formality, strolling around the outermost areas and bullying rookies with divine domains of only a few tens of thousands of square kilometers before heading home.

  After all, with unlimited resources at his disposal, there was no need for him to risk his life venturing into the deeper regions.

  Just then, a powerful divine voice echoed across the sky from the judge’s location.

  "I am the chief referee appointed by the Alvia Star Education Department for this competition. All participants, please gather immediately."

  Upon receiving this message, William didn’t hesitate. He exchanged a quick farewell with Zous before maneuvering his divine domain toward the central area.

  The other competitors also began moving, converging toward the center of the battlefield.

  Once all the participants had gathered, William took a quick glance around.

  As expected, the divine domains of the 600-plus contestants matched his earlier observations—most were under a million square kilometers.

  A few had surpassed that threshold, but they weren’t significant enough to pose a major threat.

  Only he and Cedric had divine domains as vast as 15 million square kilometers, making them stand out like giants among the competition.

  When all the students had arrived, the chief referee, along with two assistant referees and the battlefield overseer, finally revealed their demigod spirit forms in the void.

  The chief referee—a middle-aged man with a calm expression—stepped forward, glancing at the gathered contestants.

  Raising his hands, he clapped them together. A booming sound rippled outward, capturing everyone’s attention and focusing it on him.

  Once he had their undivided attention, the referee began explaining.

  "This competition follows a battle royale format. All participants will establish a connection with the overseer’s divine domain and send their followers into the battlefield."

  "Any followers that die within the overseer’s domain are permanently eliminated. Once a participant can no longer send followers into the battlefield, they are considered disqualified."

  "Directly invading another participant’s divine domain through the competition grounds is strictly forbidden. Any violators will be eliminated."

  "During the competition, demigod spirit forms are prohibited from leaving their own divine domains to observe the battlefield. Violators will be eliminated."

  At this point, the referee raised his hand, and over 600 cards materialized in the void, each one flying toward a specific contestant.

  "These are Divine Thought Shielding Cards. Once you establish a connection with the overseer’s divine domain, immediately use this on your divine domain’s barrier."

  "It will temporarily block your perception of the outside world. If your demigod spirit form steps outside your domain’s barrier, the shielding will vanish, and you will be considered to have voluntarily forfeited the competition."

  "Once a participant is eliminated, they are strictly forbidden from interfering with the battlefield in any way."

  "The maximum duration of the competition is one month. When time runs out, the participant who has eliminated the highest number of enemy followers will be declared the champion."

  "If there are any questions, now is the time to ask."

  The referee stood in the void, waiting for ten seconds.

  Seeing that no one spoke, he nodded slightly and gestured to the battlefield overseer.

  Upon receiving the signal, the overseer immediately began maneuvering his 100-million-square-kilometer divine domain toward the contestants.

  Simultaneously, over 600 glowing rings appeared around the battlefield, spaced evenly to ensure fair distribution.

  The referee’s voice rang out once more.