Annihilation Divine Fire!

At the core of the Solar System's sun.

As Jiang Ming's Earthling true body entered a long period of seclusion, his Fire God clone also began comprehending and cultivating in seclusion.

As time passed, the sun gradually changed color.

Earth.

Ninth Astronomical Observation Center.

"Director! Strange white spots have appeared on the sun. They are suspected to be solar flares."

A young man in a fitted long coat hurried into an office and shouted at a bald old man seated inside.

Hearing the young man's words, the bald old man's expression turned grave as well.

Solar flares could cause extremely severe electromagnetic storms.

Although Earth had begun making contact with the universe and integrating with extraterrestrial civilizations,

a large number of its devices were still antiques from earlier eras, and those antiques still sustained Earth's society.

If a solar flare truly occurred, it would deal an enormous blow to Earth's economy.

The old man began issuing order after order, ensuring that if a flare truly occurred, Earth's losses would be kept to a minimum.

He personally stood in the observation room, watching the changes on the sun.

The white spot on the sun gradually expanded, growing from the pinprick size first observed.

Seeing this slow growth, the old man heaved a sigh of relief, though he was also puzzled.

The Ninth Astronomical Observation Center's report was quickly submitted upward.

Earth had long since been unified, with the Earth Federation, jointly formed by all Earth nations, ruling over the entire Earth civilization.

Yet neither the great scientists of the Earth Federation nor the Intelligent programs could analyze the sun's strange changes.

But the sun was intimately connected to Earth, so the matter was reported layer by layer.

In the end, it reached Luo Feng and the others.

"What did Teacher put inside the sun?"

Among the stars, Luo Feng and the other two were aboard a spaceship heading toward the sun.

"Jiang Ming once said that he had left something in the sun. When Earth faced a crisis, we could seek aid from the sun. So I suspect that the thing Jiang Ming left in the sun has changed."

Hong spoke.

"What level of power would it take to trigger celestial changes in the sun?

That's a star."

Thor stared at the sun simulated by the spaceship and spoke with a strange expression.

With his strength, he could see the white spot on the sun's surface with his naked eye even in space.

"I don't know, but it shouldn't be anything bad. The thing Teacher left in the sun shouldn't harm Earth."

Luo Feng said uncertainly.

As they discussed it, the white spot on the sun's surface rapidly grew larger, soon forming a white patch across its surface.

"What terrifying energy fluctuations. If this energy fluctuation appeared on Earth, it could easily destroy an entire continental plate."

Hong looked at the sun detection data displayed on the spaceship's screen.

At that moment, Babata jumped out of Luo Feng's intelligent optical brain.

"Did Jiang Ming put a Star Devouring Behemoth inside the sun? The sun's energy has actually decreased! Not by much, but it really has decreased."

Babata's astonished voice rang out, and two sets of comparative data appeared on the screen.

"How is that possible? It decreased by this much?"

Luo Feng's expression immediately changed as he looked at the data on the screen. One set was observation data from several years ago, while the other was current observation data.

There was an obvious discrepancy between them.

Although such a decrease was nothing to the sun, it was still a star!

What kind of thing could cause its energy to noticeably decrease?

Just as the three were astonished, Fire God Jiang Ming, deep within the stellar core, received a notification.

"Hm? Why have they come?"

Having cultivated in seclusion inside the sun year-round, Jiang Ming had naturally set up numerous warning devices around it.

Now that Luo Feng and the others' spaceship had arrived, it was naturally detected by those warning devices.

But Jiang Ming had only just emerged from his cultivation state, and he quickly sensed something unusual.

At some unknown point, the temperature around him had risen to an extremely terrifying level, and it was still continuing to spread.

Blazing flames rose across the surface of his body.

"So Annihilation Divine Fire has entered the first level."

Seeing the changes in his body, Jiang Ming immediately understood the reason.

As a special lifeform, the Fire God clone's current human-like appearance was actually merely a mimicry.

Its true body was that mass of crimson fire from the time it had been nurtured.

As his strength increased, the Fire God clone began to display new divine abilities.

Annihilation Divine Fire appeared to be flame, but it was actually an ultra-high-temperature, ultra-high-energy plasma-like substance. This divine fire possessed terrifying penetrating power that could pierce nearly anything.

As Jiang Ming controlled the Annihilation Divine Fire covering his body and drew it back into himself,

the temperature within the star, which had been constantly rising, also began to gradually fall.

Inside the spaceship, Luo Feng's heart stirred.

"I'm heading into the Virtual Universe."

With that, his consciousness entered the Virtual Universe.

Black Dragon Mountain Island.

The Virtual Universe still simulated the distinction between day and night. At this moment, it was nighttime in the Virtual Universe.

Within a manor, Luo Feng and Jiang Ming appeared at the same time.

"There's no need to go to the sun. That was something I left behind. It's fine now, so don't worry about it."

Jiang Ming said to Luo Feng.

Hearing Jiang Ming's words, Luo Feng nodded. Since Jiang Ming had sought him out at this moment, he had already guessed the reason.

"Alright."

Luo Feng nodded, then suddenly remembered something.

"Oh, right. Some time ago, that Ninth Prince seemed to have been demoted to serve as lord of a remote planet."

Since Thunder World, Luo Feng had been keeping watch on Brolyn's movements.

Some time ago, he learned that Brolyn was now serving as lord of a barren planet.

"Oh, him? I should thank him."

At the mention of Brolyn, a smile appeared on Jiang Ming's face as well. Brolyn had made his grandfather buy the Crystal ball's triple password from him.

Though he had no idea where Brolyn's grandfather had gotten so much money, Jiang Ming was quite satisfied with the price.

"Has Hargreaves caused you any trouble?"

Jiang Ming asked. Hargreaves was Brolyn's grandfather. After buying the 'secret technique' from Jiang Ming, Jiang Ming had deliberately kept an eye on him for a while.

But when he later saw that Hargreaves made no unusual moves, Jiang Ming gradually stopped paying attention to him.

"No. Earth has been very stable these past few years."

Luo Feng shook his head.

As the two chatted, a massive proclamation appeared in the night sky.

Light glimmered around the black proclamation, while line after line of text within it radiated dazzling white light.

"Universe Humans—Peak Genius Tournament!"

"Held once every ten thousand years!"

"About to begin!"

"Jointly organized by the Virtual Universe Company and all Universe Countries!"

"Are you a genius? Unable to find an opponent of the same level and rank?..."

Standing beneath the night sky, Jiang Ming looked up at the floating proclamation, and a surge of lofty ambition rose within him.

No words were needed, nor were any unnecessary actions.

Jiang Ming merely stood there, gazing faintly at the proclamation, yet in Luo Feng's eyes, it was as though Jiang Ming stood atop the proclamation itself, challenging the entire universe!

Jiang Ming's ambition also stirred Luo Feng. Looking at the proclamation, his blood began to boil.

"Universe Genius Battle? Interesting!"