Geniuses Gather, The Great Wind Rises

"Is the Peak Genius Tournament starting already..."

At the peak of the snowy mountain, Yu Duan, dressed in white robes, opened his eyes. His gaze was clear and transparent, dignified yet spirited.

This is the true Heart of Innocence. A mind like a child's, thoughts without fixed patterns, unaffected and unrestricted by cognitive inertia. No wonder my comprehension could improve.

Yu Duan could clearly feel the changes within himself, especially after fully mastering the Heart of Innocence and being able to enter the state of Unity of Heaven and Man at any moment; it was vastly different from before.

Children understand nothing, yet they are curious about everything. Their thinking is pure, and their way of viewing things is unconventional, often giving adults a fresh perspective or even providing some form of inspiration.

This is the influence of one's state of mind on comprehension.

However, as people come into contact with more things, understand more, and master more principles, they often lose the natural instincts of their childhood.

Only by going from simple to complex, and then transforming the complex back into simplicity, can one allow their natural instincts to soar once more, regaining that pristine, untainted agility and brightness.

Only then is it the true Heart of Innocence, rather than merely the ignorance and curiosity of a mischievous child.

"Tianran, help me register for the Peak Genius Tournament."

As Yu Duan's words fell, the optical computer on his right arm lit up, and the little sprite Tianran saluted: "Understood, Master!"

The news that registration for the Peak Genius Tournament had begun flooded every social platform on the Virtual Universe network almost the instant it was released.

As a grand event held once every five thousand years, there was never a shortage of onlookers. After all, watching the excitement is an instinct for social animals.

"Ahhh, I wish the tournament could have been held three hundred years later; I would definitely have been able to promote to Star Level by then!"

"I heard that the peerless geniuses who make it into the top one thousand in the entire universe will receive astonishing, massive rewards!"

"The betting is open, the betting is open! A prize-winning quiz: who will take first place in this Star Level genius tournament!"

In just a few minutes, more than 7.9 billion Star Level contestants had registered across the approximately 20,000 star sectors under the jurisdiction of the Beiming Universe Kingdom.

And the number of registrants was still jumping at an extremely rapid pace.

To prevent those who were in deep cultivation from missing the news and failing to register, the registration period for the tournament lasted for one month.

Even if someone paid no attention to the outside world, they would basically receive the news from friends or family within that month.

Across the entire human race in the universe, any Star Level contestant who considered themselves talented was already sharpening their blades, hoping to show off their skills in this upcoming grand event and be noticed by a powerhouse to be taken as a disciple.

In the blink of an eye, a month passed.

The registration portal for the Peak Genius Tournament closed, and Yu Duan also received an email sent by the official Virtual Universe Company.

Within the territory under the Beiming Universe Kingdom alone, approximately 1.16 trillion Star Level geniuses had registered to compete.

"The number of registrants for this tournament has actually exceeded 1.1 trillion, even more than the last one."

Ku Mixiu, standing beside Yu Duan, naturally saw the content of the email on the virtual screen and sighed with emotion.

"Who had the highest ranking in the universe kingdom in the last tournament?" Yu Duan asked accordingly.

"It was a little girl named Ersivike. Her comprehension of the Origin Law of Wood was quite good. As a fighter, she ranked 967th in the Trial Tower."

"She eventually entered the fourth secret realm of the Giant Axe Dojo's core layer. This result is considered relatively poor among the recent tournaments."

Although the Beiming Universe Kingdom was not among the top tier of the 1008 great universe kingdoms, it was still a major power ranked in the top hundred in terms of territory and scale. Basically, every tournament saw geniuses selected for the top 1000.

On average, every hundred thousand years or so, a genius capable of rushing into the top 100 would emerge.

As for the top ten of the tournament, or even taking first place, that was very rare.

The last time a genius from the Beiming Universe Kingdom took first place in the tournament was over 4,000 tournaments ago.

"I wonder if this tournament will see the birth of a heaven-defying genius who only appears once every ten thousand or even one hundred thousand epochs."

Yu Duan thought of Bolan, who would be in the same batch as Luo Feng in the future, though he did not know how many years remained until that period.

After all, the human civilization of the universe did not have a universal calendar, and Yu Duan had not yet come into contact with those characters mentioned in the original work.

"With Your Highness's aptitude, you are not the least bit weaker than those geniuses born once every ten thousand epochs," Ku Mixiu complimented.

In reality, in terms of law attainment, Yu Duan's attainment in the Law of Time, when converted to the equivalent level of the Law of Space, still had a long way to go before reaching the 'Hundred Phantom Bodies'.

But a genius at Bolan's level could manifest thousands of phantom bodies.

However, considering the age factor, the gold content of Yu Duan's talent was not at all inferior to Bolan's, so Ku Mixiu's statement was not merely flattery.

"Master, the Beiming Sacred Land order: all Star Level students must log in to the virtual universe immediately to assemble!"

Tianran suddenly popped out, projecting a screen flashing with red light above its head, which displayed the official notification email from the Beiming Sacred Land.

Virtual Universe, Beiming Sea.

Endless starlight surged, condensing into a vast, seemingly illusory platform with a diameter exceeding 10,000 kilometers.

Hundreds of millions of young figures knelt on this starlight platform. At the very front were Yu Duan, Yalunsi, and hundreds of other prodigies who had stepped across the threshold of the Origin Laws.

In front of these prodigies stood towering figures—the 24 super-powerhouses under the Lord of the Kingdom, the weakest of whom were at the peak of the Fenghou level.

These super-powerhouses were currently standing respectfully beside a figure shrouded in hazy white mist.

That figure stood tall, and an invisible chill began to permeate the air, as if freezing space itself solid.

"The preliminary round is about to begin..."

A cold, magnetic voice rang out, its gender impossible to discern.

"You are the elites of the universe kingdom, the pillars of the future, nurtured by the Sacred Land for decades, centuries, or even millennia! Therefore, you should be stronger than the geniuses from the outside!"

"In this preliminary round, there are one hundred and one thousand qualifying spots, and I expect you to occupy sixty percent of them!"

As that cold voice spread, the vast galaxy that had been in constant motion froze, as if transforming into an icy river of stars.

"Go now, and do not disappoint me!"

"Yes, Kingdom Lord!"

In an instant, hundreds of millions of figures were almost all teleported away, leaving only five behind: Yu Duan, Yalunsi, Pengnuolai, Delisi, and Teng De.

With the oath-taking ceremony concluded, the Beiming Kingdom Lord naturally would not linger.

The one tasked with lecturing Yu Duan and the other four was the First Divine General, who served under the Kingdom Lord.

The leader was the First Divine General, who had dragon horns growing from his head and was encased in crimson battle armor.

"Yu Duan, the requirement set for you by the great Kingdom Lord and Lord Qinghuan is to take first place in the Genius Tournament."

The First Divine General spoke, his voice booming with an explosive quality.

Upon hearing this, Yu Duan hurriedly bowed and said, "This junior will certainly give his all and try his best not to fail the expectations of the Kingdom Lord and my teacher."

In terms of attainments in the laws, Yu Duan was still a notch behind Yalunsi.

There was no way to bridge that gap in the remaining time; unless he had a true epiphany, it would be impossible to defeat Yalunsi.

The First Divine General smiled upon hearing this: "Do not worry, Yalunsi will not become a threat to you."

As his voice fell, the First Divine General's gaze shifted to Yalunsi and Pengnuolai.

"The two of you may not have the opportunity to compete for higher rankings, so I hope you prepare yourselves mentally and do not act on impulse."

Feeling the immense pressure contained within that gaze, Yalunsi and Pengnuolai, even if they were confused, dared not ask and could only lower their heads: "Yes, my lord!"

Finally, the First Divine General looked at Delisi, who had stepped across the threshold of the fire and earth laws, and Teng De, who had achieved success in the first stage of the God-Splitting Weapon.

"Delisi, the Sacred Land's requirement for you is to charge into the top 100 if possible!"

"As for Teng De, based on the standards of the previous session, your strength is likely in the top 3,000 to 5,000, so keep a steady mindset and treat this as a trial."

Hearing this, Delisi and Teng De both hurriedly bowed and acknowledged the order.

With that, the First Divine General nodded slowly, waved his hand, and said in a deep voice: "Depart!"