Our Time Is Running Out

White Cloud City.

Lu Yuan had barely stepped out of the teleportation hall when he spotted two Cat-kin women waiting by the roadside.

The Cat-kin on the left had silky black hair that cascaded like a waterfall, delicate and adorable cat ears, and a face of breathtaking beauty.

She was gazing absently at warcraft streaking past along the street, her eyes unfocused.

To her right stood a beautiful Cat-kin with white hair and white ears, bolt upright beside the black-haired one, her expression grave and respectful — the picture of a model attendant.

Lu Yuan walked over with a smile and waved in greeting.

"Yeye. Small White."

Yeye snapped back to attention, her gaze sharpening as she looked at Lu Yuan and gave a small nod. "Mm."

Small White offered a respectful little bow. "Young Master Lu Yuan."

Lu Yuan looked at Small White with a helpless expression. "Small White, you're always so formal — it makes me uncomfortable."

"This is the proper etiquette for an attendant to a princess," Small White said seriously.

Yeye was watching Lu Yuan with a hint of expectation, saying nothing.

Lu Yuan caught her look and smiled, pulling out two elegant boxes.

"The strawberry cake and chocolate mousse I mentioned last time."

During this period of training, whenever he needed a break, Lu Yuan would occasionally spar with Yeye. He had discovered that she truly loved eating — she had grown obsessed with desserts lately, and whenever he had the chance, he would bring sweets from the Red Maple Empire into the Land of Origin for her.

It had gotten to the point where the first thing Yeye asked whenever she saw him was whether he had brought anything good to eat.

Yeye smiled contentedly, took the two boxes, and tucked them into her Battle-mark Space.

"I ordered a massive five-tiered cake loaded with all kinds of fruit," Lu Yuan said. "I'll bring it in next time I enter the Land of Origin."

Yeye's eyes lit up and she nodded enthusiastically. "Good."

Small White glanced at the time. "Your Highness, Young Master Lu Yuan — we can talk on the way. It's time for the challenge."

A glint flashed in Yeye's eyes. She nodded. "Mm."

Black light flared around Yeye's entire body, and an enormous black cat appeared before the three of them — over five meters tall and ten meters long, with a pair of great black wings folded across its back.

This was Yeye's contracted mount. It was breathtakingly beautiful, a perfect match for Yeye herself.

According to Yeye, it had been caught in the Upper Layer of the Land of Origin by her Battle Saint Ancestor — a Feral Beast of extraordinary genetic potential, known as the Night Sky Fiend.

Rumor had it that at its peak, the creature could grow to Battle Emperor Rank — and if it encountered the right opportunity, might even have a chance at Battle Saint.

The great cat was magnificent in every way, except that — perhaps because she was female — she took a particular dislike to men. Lu Yuan had ridden her once before and nearly gotten swatted climbing on.

He still hadn't forgotten.

The great cat had clearly spotted Lu Yuan. Her golden pupils gleamed with a warning light.

Yeye ran a hand through her fur and said softly, "Xiaoxiao, be good."

The great cat let out a contented purr.

Lu Yuan seized the moment and swung himself onto her back.

The great cat went rigid, on the verge of an explosion — but Yeye kept stroking her, and the cat turned to fix Lu Yuan with a glare of unmistakable displeasure before grudgingly allowing him to stay.

Lu Yuan curled his lip. *This cat is way too arrogant. One of these days I'll get a stronger Feral Beast mount, and then we'll see who's laughing.*

After Xiaoxiao was sufficiently appeased, Yeye and Small White also climbed onto her back.

Then Xiaoxiao spread her massive wings, her body dissolving into an afterimage as she vanished from the spot.

The Gene Warriors lingering along the street watched with envy as she disappeared.

"What kind of Feral Beast mount was that?" one Kaman said. "The aura was overwhelming — just standing near it, my knees were going weak."

"A beast with that presence must have extraordinary potential. That Cat-kin has to be the heir of some major faction."

"You don't know who that Cat-kin is?"

A nearby Elf looked at them in surprise.

The others turned with curious expressions.

"You know her?"

"Of course I do. She's a princess of the Tianming Empire — Yeye. A descendant of the Tianming Saint! How do you not know? Most intelligence organizations have her pegged as a top-ten contender on the Prodigy Rankings for this generation."

"A Saint's descendant?! No wonder."

Understanding rippled through the crowd.

"Wait — look at the direction they're heading. Isn't that toward the Prodigy Rankings?"

A Green Demon stared after the departing Night Sky Fiend, eyes going wide as a thought struck him.

The others stiffened.

"Don't tell me there's a Prodigy Rankings challenge today?!"

Excitement swept through the gathered onlookers.

"Let's go watch!"

Getting onto the Prodigy Rankings was simple in principle — just defeat someone already on the list and take their place. Since the Prodigy Rankings were issued by the Land of Origin itself, any challenge would be adjudicated by the Will of the Land of Origin.

Every challenge between ranked prodigies took place on the Prodigy Arena, and every such event was something of a grand occasion.

After all, setting aside the sub-rankings for Battle General and Battle Master Rank, only a hundred young prodigies across the entire White Cloud Star Domain could appear on the main Prodigy Rankings.

How vast was the White Cloud Star Domain? How many races called it home?

Just the young generation alone was numbered in the trillions.

From that ocean of trillions, only a hundred were chosen. The sheer weight of that honor went without saying.

For that reason, Prodigy Rankings challenges were always spectacular events, drawing crowds of Gene Warriors as spectators. Intelligence brokers especially — virtually every major organization kept someone stationed beneath the rankings every single day, hungry for first-hand information.

Now, with a descendant of the Tianming Saint apparently about to challenge the Prodigy Rankings, interest surged naturally.

People called out to their companions and streamed toward the rankings.

Xiaoxiao was fast. In no time, they arrived at the central district of White Cloud City.

The five golden rankings floated above the central district; the closer they drew, the more immense and majestic they felt.

Below the five rankings lay a vast plaza paved in white stone.

Xiaoxiao touched down gently, folded her great wings, then gave Lu Yuan a low growl — clearly urging him to get off her back.

Lu Yuan grinned and ruffled her black fur. Just as her temper was about to snap, he jumped off.

Yeye and Small White hopped down as well.

Yeye popped the last small piece of cake into her mouth, chewed slowly, and swallowed.

She hadn't been able to resist — she'd sneaked a piece out while riding.

Lu Yuan noticed the smear of white cream at the corner of her mouth, and his expression turned slightly odd.

He pointed to the same spot on his own face and smiled. "Yeye, you've got some right here."

Yeye blinked, then flicked out her little tongue and licked the cream cleanly away.

Lu Yuan quietly looked elsewhere. *Some things are probably not appropriate for a pure-hearted young man like me to be watching.*

He swept his gaze across the plaza and found quite a few Gene Warriors lingering about.

"Are all these people here to challenge the rankings?" he asked, puzzled. "Some of them look pretty old — are they after the King Rankings or the Emperor Rankings? By the way, how does a challenge actually work?"

He took in the vast plaza with open curiosity.

Small White glanced at the Gene Warriors and explained. "The vast majority are scouts for major factions and intelligence organizations, stationed here to gather information. Whether it's the Prodigy Rankings, King Rankings, Emperor Rankings, Grand Emperor Rankings, or Saint Rankings — the moment a challenge begins, they'll be the first to know."

Realization dawned on Lu Yuan, followed immediately by a mildly uncomfortable look. "So every single challenge gets watched? That means all your trump cards get exposed to everyone? Why doesn't the Land of Origin just hold the challenges in some private space?"

It seemed trivially simple for a being with the Will of the Land of Origin — creating a private space would be nothing. Yet it insisted on this grand public spectacle. The more he thought about it, the stranger it seemed.

Yeye heard this and gave a gentle nod. "I asked the Ancestor the same thing."

Lu Yuan smiled. *She really does think alike.*

"What did the Ancestor say?"

Yeye was quiet for a moment, then spoke with a trace of bewilderment.

"The Ancestor said the Land of Origin wants to inspire more people to cultivate harder — to let the powerful figures on the rankings serve as pacesetters."

"Pacesetters?"

Lu Yuan looked blank.

Yeye recalled the look on her Ancestor's face when she had posed that question — a heaviness that had lingered. She furrowed her brow and said softly,

"The Ancestor said... our time is running out."

"Running out? What does that mean?"

Lu Yuan stared at her blankly, more confused than before.

"The Ancestor didn't explain. Just said I'd understand once my cultivation was high enough."

Lu Yuan frowned slightly. Something about those words left him unsettled.

*What kind of time is running out?*

*Surely we're not all about to die?*

He shook his head and changed the subject, smiling. "Are you making your challenge today, Yeye? Who are you going after?"

Yeye shook her head. "I need to pass the qualification challenge first."

"A qualification challenge? You need to qualify before challenging the Prodigy Rankings?"

Lu Yuan was taken aback.

He had been thinking about challenging the Prodigy Rankings himself — but his plan had always been to wait until Battle Venerable Rank, fully temper most of his Transcendent Genes, and reach a certain cultivation level first. He had never bothered looking into the specifics.

That there was even a qualification requirement was news to him entirely.

Beside him, Small White explained on Yeye's behalf. "It was established by the Will of the Land of Origin. Only after passing the qualification challenge can one face someone already on the rankings. The opponents in the qualification challenge are genius fighters manifested by the Land of Origin itself."

Lu Yuan nodded with dawning understanding. "So you have to clear the qualification before you can challenge anyone on the list? That's actually pretty reasonable."

The rewards from these rankings were extraordinarily generous, so of course people would try for them — and some would try regardless of whether they had any real chance. Without a qualification barrier, those already on the rankings would never get a moment's peace.

How many people lived in the entire White Cloud Star Domain? Anyone on the rankings would probably be challenged constantly the moment they stepped into the Land of Origin.

A qualification requirement made perfect sense.

"So how do you get the qualification?" Lu Yuan asked.

Yeye pointed to a spot farther ahead — directly beneath the golden rankings floating in the sky, five smaller ranking boards stood in the plaza.

"You go there to apply for the qualification challenge. If you die in the qualification challenge, you're expelled from the Land of Origin."

Lu Yuan raised an eyebrow. That would certainly make anyone stop and think twice before applying.

No point throwing away your cultivation time in the Land of Origin on a reckless challenge.

He looked at Yeye. "Are you okay? You've got this?"

Yeye gave a small nod. "The Prodigy Rankings qualification challenge puts you against a peak Battle Venerable with one Boss Grade gene, one Chief Grade gene, one Lord Grade gene, and two King Grade genes. For me, it won't be difficult."

Lu Yuan nodded slightly. The opponent sounded a bit underwhelming, honestly.

It really was quite manageable.

Even he could handle a peak Battle Venerable of that caliber without much effort now.

He had five Emperor Grade genes, after all. That was nothing to take lightly.

For most people, though, it was probably hell mode.

A Boss Grade first gene alone already eliminated almost all ordinarily Awakened Gene Warriors — for someone with a regular Awakening to inscribe a Boss Grade gene as their very first would be absurdly difficult, nearly impossible.

And then each subsequent breakthrough required a step up in gene quality, with the final two being King Grade — that was equivalent to having King Grade genes inscribed at the Battle General Rank.

Even for those with Innate Chief Grade or Innate Lord Grade Awakenings, that was far from guaranteed.

The qualification challenge shut out 99.99% of the young generation across the entire White Cloud Star Domain.

Anyone who could actually clear it truly deserved to be called a prodigy.

And that was just the qualification.

Those actually on the Prodigy Rankings were surely far stronger still.

Lu Yuan cast a glance at the top few names on the main Prodigy Rankings, his eyes flickering with quiet thought.

*I wonder if any of them have an Innate Emperor Grade Awakening.*

*Even without that, they're probably all Innate King Grade at minimum, with every gene they've inscribed at King Grade or above.*

The three of them made their way to where the golden rankings stood.

Then Lu Yuan watched as Yeye stepped up to the Prodigy Rankings and raised her left hand — where her Gene Battle Mark resided — close to the board.

Streams of golden light pulsed from the rankings and linked with her Gene Battle Mark.

Then, not far away in the plaza, a white arena roughly two kilometers across materialized out of thin air — and Yeye, who had been standing before the rankings, vanished on the spot, reappearing on the arena.

A grand, resonant voice rang out.

"Prodigy Rankings — Qualification Challenge, established."

Everyone in the plaza had already begun converging on the arena the moment it appeared. When the booming proclamation sounded, a surge of excitement swept through the crowd.

"It's a Prodigy Rankings qualification challenge!"

"Hurry — find out which prodigy triggered it! Maybe we can recruit them for our organization!"

Lu Yuan and Small White watched the arena.

On it, another figure took shape beside Yeye, solidifying from nothing.

It was a Kaman in leather armor, wielding two long swords.

Lu Yuan studied the Kaman — eyes sharp and lively, utterly indistinguishable from a real person — and felt a flicker of surprise.

*So this is the arena guardian manifested by the Will of the Land of Origin?*

*It looks completely real.*