Time has finally come to an end.
In the last half day, a few more people gritted their teeth and managed to get over two hundred images, but most others just sat on the edge of the world, watching helplessly as the countdown slowly reached zero.
When that cold, mechanical voice rang out again, the entire illusory world trembled violently. All ninety-nine inscriptions dimmed simultaneously, and the seven-colored light, golden patterns, and crimson flames—all the fragments of the laws—vanished in the same instant.
The world is like a shattered mirror, the fragments scattering and spinning, then quickly reforming.
In the blink of an eye, the enormous circular room was back in everyone's sight.
On the high platform, the host from the Xuan Yao Pavilion stood with his hands behind his back, his expression still calm and composed.
He surveyed the entire hall, his voice echoing throughout. "The second round of elimination matches is now over."
All eyes were on the list, where names were densely packed, and the name at the very top was, without a doubt, the one at the very top.
"Lin Du."
The first name the host called out was this one.
He raised his head, his gaze piercing through the crowd and landing precisely on the young man standing in the corner.
He paused for a moment, then nodded slightly, his voice carrying a rare warmth, "You're very good."
Chen Du exchanged a glance with him, made no further moves, and simply nodded slightly.
All eyes turned to him, some with awe, some with envy, some with resentment, and some with deep curiosity.
The host didn't say anything more and continued reading.
One name after another was called out, and everyone whose name was called breathed a long sigh of relief, their tension of the past month finally easing.
Those whose names weren't called lowered their heads silently; some closed their eyes, some clenched their fists, and some simply turned and walked towards the edge of the hall.
Two hundred and thirty names were recited, taking almost the time it takes for an incense stick to burn.
As the last name was called, some in the hall rejoiced while others remained silent.
Those who can stand here are all Ninth Tier geniuses under five hundred years old, and would be the pride of their respective planets if they were outside.
However, in this arena of Cosmic Genius Battle, out of 2,300 people, only 230 people ultimately crossed this threshold.
The rest of the people stopped there.
The host waited until the murmurs in the hall subsided slightly before continuing, "The two elimination rounds are over. Next up is the official competition. You two hundred and thirty people will represent 0771 Star Domain and compete against the geniuses from the other eight thousand eight hundred and eighty-seven starfields in the next round."
"Eight thousand eight hundred and eighty-eight star regions, with two hundred and thirty people selected from each star region, the total number of people entering the official competition is estimated to be around two million." He paused, his gaze sweeping over the qualifiers who had just breathed a sigh of relief, "And the spots in the official competition are for the top ten thousand."
The hall fell silent for a moment. Two million people were vying for ten thousand spots.
One out of two hundred.
These exceptional talents, who had just emerged from a 1 in 10 elimination round, hadn't even had time to celebrate when they heard an even more brutal number.
Even after overcoming numerous difficulties to make it into the official competition, only one in a hundred will ultimately stand on the final stage.
The host didn't give them time to process the information and continued, "The official competition will be held in three months. At that time, the Spirit Realm will broadcast the entire alliance live. You will no longer be facing opponents from the same star region, but from the strongest young generation of the entire Azure Human Alliance. Go back and prepare well."
After he finished speaking, his figure slowly disappeared.
In the hall, the 230 finalists remained silent, exchanging glances. They all saw the same thing in each other's eyes: pressure, and... an even deeper fighting spirit.
Chen Du had barely exited the Spirit Realm before his computer terminal was flooded with messages, before he could even catch his breath.
A row of unread notifications filled the screen, with red numbers jumping around incessantly.
He glanced at them briefly; the senders were a motley crew. It was the same old tune, but this time, there were even a few family forces from distant star systems.
The content is largely the same, but the core message is the same: invite him to join.
Several factions even included portraits and strength descriptions of their powerful subordinates, all of whom were at least at the Twelfth Tier.
Chen Du scanned the lines one by one, his face expressionless.
The conditions offered by these forces sound tempting, but in essence, they all want to gamble on him.
They valued his future potential, not him as a person.
He continued scrolling until a message marked "high priority" popped up.
The sender's identifier was crystal clear -- Lord of 0771 Star Domain.
Chen Du's expression turned serious, and he immediately clicked to connect.
A flash of white light, and the figure reappeared before him.
The Star Domain Lord was still wearing that gray robe, his face was thin and his eyes were as deep as the starry sea.
This time, however, his smile was even wider than before.
"You're very good," the Star Domain Lord said, his tone filled with undisguised praise. "In the second round of the elimination tournament, you came in first place overall, with 340 images, more than 100 more than the second place. You've completely exceeded my expectations."
He paused, his gaze falling on Chen Du, as if he were re-evaluating the young man. "When we spoke last time, I said I thought highly of you, but to be honest, at that time I just thought you were worth watching. I didn't expect you to give me such a pleasant surprise."
Chen Du bowed slightly. "You flatter me, Star Domain Master."
The Star Domain Lord waved his hand, his smile gradually fading, and his tone turned serious. "However, there's something I need to tell you."
He raised his hand and waved it, and a star map unfolded between the two of them.
The space was filled with countless tiny points of light, but they were distributed very unevenly.
The central area is as dazzling as a galaxy, while the edges are as sparse as scattered grains of sand.
The Star Domain Master pointed to a tiny point of light at the edge. "This is 0771 Star Domain. We are extremely far from the central region of the Azure Human Alliance. It can be said to be a remote star domain. Among all star domains, our strength can only be considered below average, and the gap in strength between us and the top star domains is enormous."
Chen Du nodded; he completely understood.
Just like cities, the gap between first-tier cities and fourth- or fifth-tier cities is huge.
Moreover, the differences are multifaceted.
Resources, inheritance, number of strong individuals, genius cultivation system, and even spiritual energy concentration and Star Marrow production are all on completely different levels.
The Star Domain Lord continued, "So, although you won first place in the Star Domain, I hope you can achieve an even better ranking and ultimately break into the top one thousand."
He shook his head and smiled, "Of course, this is extremely difficult for you. You may not know, but the top geniuses in those leading star regions grow up immersed in Star Marrow from a young age, and many of them can reach the Tenth Tier rank before they are five hundred years old. You, a seventeen-year-old Ninth Tier, are still too weak in their foundation."
Chen Du didn't speak, he just listened quietly.
The Star Domain Lord looked at him, his voice becoming more solemn. "Remember, even if you make it into the top ten thousand, the higher your ranking, the more amazing the benefits will be for you."
After all, even though they are all able to join the three major forces, their status is vastly different. Those ranked 10,000th are only Star-Dust Members; those ranked 1,000th are Star-Ring Members; and those ranked in the top 100 are directly Star-Core Members, personally guided by experts at the Twelfth Realm or even Thirteenth Realms.
Furthermore, you can't even imagine how powerful the three major forces are. The treatment of any one of their Star-Core Members is better than that of the chief retainers of most forces in our star field."
As he said this, he took out a jade slip from his sleeve and gently pushed it toward Chen Du.
The jade transformed into a beam of light, which entered Chen Du's brow.
A new piece of information suddenly appeared in Chen Du's sea of consciousness, densely recording the names of various resources, cultivation techniques, secret realms, and elixirs, all of which were rare items that could only be accessed within the three major powers.
He glanced at them briefly and was slightly shaken. The quality of those items far surpassed everything he currently possessed.
One type of Star Marrow Essence alone is enough to allow a Ninth Tier individual to break through to the Tenth Tier within three months.
"Because of your astonishing performance, I must reward you now." The Star Lord's voice rang out again, carrying an undeniable solemnity. "This is what you deserve. Tell me, what do you want?"