Charge!

The next morning, in the lobby on the first floor of Building 0087, where the Beiming Universe Kingdom was stationed.

One thousand geniuses from the universe kingdom gathered together, each inevitably feeling a bit nervous.

Out of one million and eight thousand geniuses, this Trial Tower stage would eliminate all but a tiny fraction.

To be precise, it was less than a fraction; there were only seven thousand three hundred spots to advance.

"Are you all nervous?"

The voice of Qinghuan King suddenly appeared, and then everyone saw a figure in white robes appear abruptly before them.

"Little ones, let me impart some experience to you."

Qinghuan King spoke in a gentle tone: "For geniuses of your level, as long as you don't do anything foolish, you will certainly pass the first two Trial Towers."

"So, don't rush to clear the levels at the start. While the opponents generated by the Trial Tower aren't strong yet, carefully analyze their attack patterns and their strengths and weaknesses. This will allow you to earn more points. Do you all understand?"

Sharing exam-taking tips like this did not actually violate the rules of the Virtual Universe Network.

It was just that most immortals dared not say anything, fearing it would leave a bad impression on the Virtual Universe Company.

"Understood!"

Over a thousand geniuses responded in unison, their previously tense states of mind relaxing significantly.

Qinghuan King nodded with a smile, then shared some interesting anecdotes and minor episodes that had occurred in previous Genius Battles with the geniuses.

After about five minutes, an ethereal and gentle female voice echoed throughout the entire plane.

"All contestants, please prepare. Mass teleportation is about to begin. Everyone will be transported to their respective trial spaces. Countdown: 10, 9... 3, 2, 1!"

In an instant, everyone became serious.

As the countdown hit zero, an invisible, immense power rippled out, instantly locking onto every person's figure and teleporting the millions of young geniuses away.

Trial Space.

This was a deep, starry sky with dim lighting; only a few stars dotted the distant space, emitting a faint glow.

In the center of this space lay a rectangular asteroid, roughly one hundred kilometers long and nearly thirty kilometers in both width and height.

"Swish!"

With a flash of light, Yu Duan appeared out of thin air on the asteroid.

In front of Yu Duan stood seven towering, ancient pagodas, each about ten thousand meters high.

Yu Duan raised his right hand, where a light screen on his wrist guard displayed his personal information and point ranking.

Contestant: Yu Duan (Beiming Universe Kingdom)

Points: 0

Ranking: None

Trial Space: No. 00870001.

Rules: Kill the targets generated within the Trial Tower to earn points. Once you die, the trial ends.

First Trial Tower: Each level grants a maximum of 10,000 points. Clearing all seven levels yields a maximum of 70,000 points.

Second Trial Tower: Each level grants a maximum of 100,000 points. Clearing all seven levels yields a maximum of 700,000 points.

And so on, with the point rewards for each Trial Tower increasing tenfold.

Clearance Method: Kill all targets on the current level to be immediately teleported to the next; surviving for more than 10 days will also trigger a teleportation to the next level.

Yu Duan cast his gaze toward the first Trial Tower, which was the only one with an entrance on the first level.

"I wonder what kind of creatures will be generated as opponents in the seven levels of the Trial Tower for this Genius Battle."

The opponents generated within the Trial Tower changed every Genius Battle and were adjusted accordingly, though the difficulty remained fundamentally the same.

Swish!

In an instant, his weapons, battle suit, and other equipment manifested directly onto Yu Duan's body.

The next moment, Yu Duan transformed into a streak of light and entered the first Trial Tower.

"Hum!"

In an instant, the entire space-time shifted abruptly, transforming into a vast, desolate Gobi desert!

At the edge of the Gobi, a series of deafening, muffled roars suddenly erupted.

"Moo!!"

Then, one after another, giant beasts covered in black scales and possessing heads similar to bulls emerged.

They were numerous, dense, and packed together, resembling a black tsunami charging from the distance.

"Black-Scaled Mad Bull? Never heard of them."

The information for the first-level opponents appeared on his light screen, but Yu Duan had never heard of such weak, mindless beasts.

Rumble...

The Gobi Desert trembled violently as a sea of sand surged forward, accompanied by a black torrent of beasts.

"Hum..."

Centered on Yu Duan, countless black and white rays of light rippled outward, flickering like day and night, like yin and yang.

This entire black-and-white domain was woven from countless black and white threads; there were no distinct boundaries, as light and darkness were perfectly intertwined, appearing as if a black-and-white grinding stone had manifested out of thin air.

"Roar!"

As the giant black beasts charged within a hundred meters of Yu Duan, they were instantly torn apart by the countless black and white rays, with pure forces of annihilation and decay ravaging their bodies in an instant.

In the span of a single breath, the massive black bulls collapsed without a sound into mists of blood and fragments, staining the Gobi Desert red.

Wave after wave of giant beasts charged forward one after another, and before long, the entire Gobi was thoroughly soaked in blood.

Countless limbs of all sizes and black scales lay scattered across the ground, a chilling sight to behold.

Yet, within the few dozen meters surrounding Yu Duan, the desolate Gobi remained as it was, as if nothing had happened. Of the tens of thousands of Black-Scaled Mad Bulls, not a single one could breach this perimeter.

"Whoosh!"

Yu Duan's figure was teleported away, entering the second level of the Trial Tower.

The opponents on the second level of the Trial Tower were 10,000 Rock-Armored Demon Crocodiles.

During the process of millions of geniuses clearing the stages, the immortal leaders of the various Universe Kingdoms were naturally watching.

A rest area had appeared in the previously empty central plaza, where the immortal leaders of the major Universe Kingdoms sat casually.

"This young disciple of Qinghuan King is certainly fast at killing; he's already cleared the first Trial Tower."

"He isn't using the power of the Law of Time at all, so it's impossible to judge exactly what level he has reached."

"That Kedi from the Yuanchen Universe Kingdom is also impressively fast, though his proficiency in movement techniques still needs improvement."

"The fastest one is indeed this Yalunsi. Tsk, it's been many sessions since I've seen someone 'suppressing their level' like this. I wonder what the Virtual Universe Company's stance is."

"Hard to say. Yalunsi's talent is about on par with the average first-place winner of past genius battles. It's unclear if the Virtual Universe Company will give him a chance to enter the Primal Secret Realm."

These leaders of the 1008 major Universe Kingdoms were all immortal spirits. The oldest among them was even more ancient than Yucheng Venerable, who was presiding over this genius battle, having personally witnessed Yucheng Venerable participate in a genius battle himself.

They had seen every kind of situation and were well-versed in the style of the Virtual Universe Company.

Geniuses?

The Virtual Universe Company was never short on geniuses.

Even the first-place winner of the genius battle, unless they were of the caliber that appeared only once every few hundred thousand years, would not receive too much special attention.

There had been cases like Yalunsi's in the past.

If a genius had been cultivating for thousands of years and barely reached the level of the top 1000 in the universe, they would basically encounter an insurmountable opponent during the arena duels and be eliminated directly.

Similarly, when it came to competing for spots in higher-level secret realms later on, the situation was much the same; they would basically drop down a level.

Furthermore, since there were already two monster-level geniuses in this session, the possibility of giving out three spots for the Primal Secret Realm was truly slim.

If one considered the possibility of Yu Duan and Kedi potentially stumbling when facing Yalunsi, they might not even be given the chance to compete for the top ten.

While these immortal leaders were conversing, Yucheng Venerable and Qinghuan King were watching the battle in a different way.

They were able to "enter" the interior of the Trial Tower directly.

However, no one could see them, and they had no authority to exert any influence within the Trial Tower; this was the convenience of the Virtual Universe Network.

As long as the Virtual Universe did not permit it, even if two people were face-to-face, it would be impossible for them to discover each other's existence, effectively placing them in two parallel universes.

Inside one of the Trial Towers, Yucheng Venerable and Qinghuan King stood right beside a young man, but the youth remained completely unaware, even when his domain enveloped the two of them, it had no effect.

"This Kedi is truly extraordinary."

Qinghuan King watched the youth currently engaged in slaughter, intuitively perceiving the other's mastery of the laws.

Even though Kedi was not going all out, every move he made naturally resonated with the changes in space; this could not be hidden from Qinghuan King and Yucheng Venerable.

Yucheng Venerable smiled and said, "Teacher Qinghuan King, who do you think is stronger, Yu Duan or this Kedi?"

Qinghuan King pondered for a moment, comparing his own young disciple with Kedi's comprehension of the laws, and then replied, "It's a toss-up."

"It just depends on which of the two can achieve a significant breakthrough during this stage of clearing the Trial Tower."