Chapter 656 - 650: Closed Beta Complete! Two Lives, Worlds Apart!

After the Lord of the Red Lotus lectured, Ma Ran obtained the [Ye Fengqing’s Time Stop Territory] medal.

The Power of Time Stop is strong, but it also has a problem.

Its performance effect is singular, lacking in novelty. Although it provides immediate combat power enhancement, it offers little additional benefit for future development.

Once or twice, instantly killing the enemy directly, the audiences can still watch with relish, feeling, "Ah, the Lord of the Red Lotus/Prophet is indeed amazing."

Watching it too many times, people would feel it lacks flavor, even becoming blindly confident, thinking Ye Fengqing is invincible in the Cosmos, Ma Ran’s combat power is unparalleled, whoever comes is killed. The decreasing attention is minor; this is even more detrimental to the feedback from the [play] ability.

So...

After a period of research, Ma Ran developed a new brilliant use of the derivation ability of the medal!

The Time Stop Territory covers and encloses a "secret realm," peeling it away to adjust its temporal flow!

Due to the presence of the [Prophet] medal, it’s rarely needed against powerful enemies.

But...

Incorporated into performances, not only can it save energy, but the acting effect is better, more conducive to feedback from the [play] ability!

Testing, applying, mastering, thinking, comprehending, understanding, and improving.

For any extraordinary power, Ma Ran not only wants to know what it is but also why it is so.

Even if he gets a superpower manual or inheritance perfectly suited to Earthlings that he can directly cultivate, Ma Ran still thoroughly digests it from start to finish, trying to incorporate his understanding and insights, innovate, and see if he can derive an ability that surpasses the limits of the inheritance, breaking the so-called "Great Perfection."

Medals like [Sword Master] and [Devil Child], which fall into Ma Ran’s hands, are all played with creativity.

Small techniques like "fixed-point crossing" and "analyzing memory fragments" are mastered effortlessly.

The secret realm originally developed by the [Sword Master] medal itself has some qualities that defy cosmic law; combined with the abilities of the [Ye Fengqing’s Time Stop Territory] medal, Ma Ran can fully consume extra energy to temporarily adjust the time flow of the secret realm.

Since ancient times, space and time are inseparable; after in-depth research into "space" extraordinary knowledge, Ma Ran also found that this thing has a very high degree of similarity and overlap with "gravity" in essence.

Intercepting time, adjusting the time flow...

Clearly a "top-level ability" that sounds quite grand and even only exists in the illusions of ordinary people and even ordinary Extraordinary Ones.

But...

Ma Ran, who can achieve this level, only finds it plain and effortless when truly setting out to practice, dull and tedious.

Compared to this, setting up a grand stage, finding the right audience, delivering a spectacular performance, and upgrading medals like [Sword Master], [Devil Child], and [Profound Immortal] to the same level as the [Prophet] medal is, in Ma Ran’s view, even more challenging.

Only a lifeform acknowledged by the will of the Great Cosmos can break through to a level equivalent to Upper Rank Gods.

So...

For someone who has already been acknowledged once, when encountering that invisible shackle again, what will the will of the Great Cosmos react like?

Recognize again?

Or feel insulted and fly into a rage, turning hostile on the spot?

Too little information, making precise judgments is impossible, even with the prophetic ability of the [Prophet] medal, Ma Ran cannot know what will happen.

He just feels...

Some interesting things might happen by then.

The cosmic will taking direct action?

Or perhaps the Divine Court’s seven Upper Rank Gods joining forces for a siege?

Just thinking about it, Ma Ran feels a faint surge of blood-boiling excitement.

Fighting with heaven, the joy is endless!

Fighting with the earth, the joy is endless!

Fighting with gods, the joy is endless!

...

Earth time, five days later.

Bang!

He Nanguang fell from high in the air, landing on an elastic board.

Due to the superpower erosion of [Yukong], his bones were two pounds lighter, and upon landing, he didn’t bother seeking medical personnel to treat his injuries, immediately opened a bottle of special calcium tablets, like eating jelly beans, poured half a bottle into his mouth, and crunched them down.

"Still overestimated myself."

He Nanguang gasped for breath, trying hard to swallow the calcium tablets into his stomach, looked around, and sighed, "This simply isn’t work meant for humans."

Not far away, Liu Huadie, Li Xing, Zhang Qianren, Jin Yina, Zhou Yu, Ogata Shitou, and others had also finished a battle, their faces full of exhaustion.

Because Ma Ran adjusted the time flow between the secret realm and Earth, just five days had passed in the outside world, but in reality, everyone had been relentlessly striving in the "Extraordinary Paradise" for forty-three days.

What 996? To data testers of "Extraordinary Paradise," it’s all a joke.

For all forty-three days, everyone lived the "good life" of 007, working from midnight to midnight every day, with no days off.

This is what truly meaningful "blessing" is!

Ma Ran’s generosity and openness are by no means false; a "special admission certificate" for each Guardian and the "experience points" earned during this time are enough to let everyone chew up all grievances and swallow them to digest.

But when Ma Ran uses people, he truly shows no reservations.

The old man and the youth are being used as full-grown men.

Women are used as men.

Men are used like livestock.

Even the coldest-hearted capitalist might feel ashamed upon seeing this.

Even the strongest Earthling cannot withstand such treatment.

It was only because Ma Ran had arranged for a large number of Extraordinary Healers for these workers, otherwise, it’s likely that many testers would have died suddenly on the spot within the first week.

It’s not because they couldn’t beat those projections.

It’s because they were dying from overwork.

As everyone knows, when a person is as tired as a dog, it’s hard to keep up appearances.

In this environment, over forty days passed, and the Guardians who were initially somewhat unfamiliar with each other had mostly become familiar.

At the moment the construction of the Paradise was completed, almost everyone collapsed directly to the ground, motionless, too lazy to even catch their breath, looking like a field of corpses.

In fact, it proved that the initial batch of testers was completely insufficient, so during this time, Ma Ran had to conscript dozens more batches of Extraordinary Ones from various academic societies.

The total number of combat tests had already far exceeded the original promise of "13,200 sessions" and had reached as many as 103,000!

During the closed testing phase, "Strongman Paradise" averaged 3,023 battles per day.

Regardless of whether they were purely Pillar Level, Under Development Level Superpower Users, or those from "Burning Martial" and Seven Vortex Swordsmanship Cultivators, everyone quickly grew accustomed to each other’s presence amidst the fiery and "pleasant work."

Zhu Hanyi, who originally always wore fluttering white clothes, was now lying on the ground with no image to maintain.

He struggled to prop himself up with his hands, leaning against a gray ceramic wall, and sighed weakly: "Finally... it’s finally done!"

Not far away, Wan Haihao wasn’t any better off, drenched in sweat from head to toe, with dry clots of blood being softened by the sweat, easily wiped away with a towel.

This Sword Master’s Direct Disciple grinned broadly, let out a couple of hearty laughs, and loudly said, "Brothers and sisters, the closed test of ’Strongman Paradise’ is officially over! Does anyone have any thoughts?"

As soon as he finished, Bradley, the Undying Gentleman from the United Kingdom, pushed open the door of the testing room and collapsed to the ground, gasping for breath, using his best Level Ten Mandarin to respond: "Shit! Shit! Shit! I’m exhausted!"

The Earth Civilization Guardians from various countries also chimed in, finding amusement amidst their hardships and sharing their work impressions.

"Those three ’shit’ words are brilliantly used! Can anyone do a reading comprehension on them?"

"The repeated exclamations vividly portray and convey Bradley’s current emotions, lively and expressive."

"In a word, brilliant!"

"I feel like these forty-plus days have made me complete a lifetime’s worth of work. Damn, before coming here, I never imagined I’d be so diligent!"

"Count me in."

"Although I’m exhausted to the point of wanting to sleep for several months, I have to admit, this period felt very real and fulfilling!"

"Yes! I will never forget this memory for the rest of my life."

"Are you going to thank Brother Ran for giving you this unforgettable memory?"

"I was about to say, but suddenly it feels like your words have a sarcastic tone..."

"It’s not an illusion; he’s indeed being sarcastic. Usually, he works hard but immediately starts with the sarcasm when resting, simply obnoxious."

"Hahaha! It’s finally over! How refreshing!"

"This is the real Strongman Paradise! Thanks to our joint efforts, it’s not an empty shell anymore! It’s a ’Extraordinary Paradise’ ready to operate, helping people all over the world defy fate!"

Upon hearing this, Su Qiangwei quietly patted Ma Ran.

In her small, gently clenched hand, golden light swirled and formed into a pure gold wireless microphone: "Benevolent one, as of today, the closed test of ’Strongman Paradise’ is finally completed."

"How do you feel about this?"

Ma Ran listened to the enthusiastic discussion of the Guardians around him.

Feelings...

Ma Ran didn’t have much to say.

However, seeing the smiles on everyone’s faces, the light in their eyes...

Ma Ran felt that all his efforts since his rebirth were ultimately meaningful.

Bradley, the Undying Gentleman, in his past life was tortured to destruction by aliens until all his cells were reduced to ashes, his undying power unable to revive him.

William, the Light Speed Gentleman, died in the Union’s desperate Photon Ascension experiment.

Gray, the God, perished in the Faith Campaign, all his believers annihilated, his Rebirth authority unable to function anymore.

Zhang Qianren, the Haotian, died in the Collapse Campaign, all his appointed Celestial Court officials perishing in battle.

Among the Guardians present, except for a few lucky ones, the vast majority had fallen before Ma Ran, the Prodigy, rose to prominence.

In this lifetime...

Those tragedies did not happen.

A gentle smile spread in Ma Ran’s eyes.

His gaze lowered slightly, falling on Su Qiangwei’s face.

"It’s wonderful."