Are you all here to compete for second place?

After the Ganwu Kingdom Lord left, Zhulong King finally composed his expression. "Cultivate well. Do not let this distract you, and do not become arrogant. This is only the beginning; once you enter Chaos City, there will be plenty of Universe Lords willing to take you as their disciple."

"Yes, Ancestor." Ling Xuan nodded with a calm expression and immediately resumed his cultivation.

Ling Xuan continued to immerse himself in the comprehension of the Void Sutra and the laws of space.

Three years passed in the blink of an eye, and the remaining spots for all the major universe kingdoms were finalized.

"Kid, your progress over these three years has been gratifying, but you are still some distance away from that super genius. Do not be careless," Zhulong King cautioned.

"Rest assured, I will make my move," Ling Xuan said confidently.

"You brat, confidence is a good thing. Go on then." Zhulong King smiled and patted Ling Xuan on the shoulder.

On the other side, his two sisters at home also sent him encouraging emails, telling him to work hard and achieve great results, and that they would be watching his matches from home.

After replying with a confirmation, Ling Xuan teleported to the gathering point.

It was a floating island above the Ganwu Continent.

Whoosh!

Ling Xuan appeared at the teleportation point on the floating island.

"Mr. Ling Xuan, please follow me this way." A Universe Level warrior standing next to the teleportation point, dressed in a uniform, smiled and pointed toward a path to the side.

"Thank you." Ling Xuan nodded with a smile and walked along the path.

A moment later—

Ling Xuan saw a large crowd gathered in a plaza surrounded by beautiful flowers and plants not far away. At a glance, there were hundreds of people, both men and women, with diverse appearances.

"The Yanmo is here."

"That cold-blooded Yanmo!"

Many young men and women looked over.

"Do his eyes never even blink?"

These hundreds of people were all those who had secured a spot; the Ganwu Universe Kingdom was sending one thousand geniuses this time.

Most people only watched Ling Xuan from afar and whispered among themselves, not daring to step forward to greet him.

Anyone who had watched his match videos felt that Ling Xuan was not easy to get along with; he killed anyone he saw and wouldn't even let them finish a sentence.

Moreover, the powerhouses of all major factions believed that with Ling Xuan's strength, he would definitely secure a spot in the Giant Axe Secret Realm.

Suddenly—

"Boom!" An invisible pressure blanketed the entire plaza, causing the faces of the one thousand peerless geniuses to turn pale, their bodies trembling involuntarily.

Then, accompanied by footsteps, a giant wearing red battle armor with a red scale on his forehead walked over, carrying a blood-colored heavy sword on his back. The aura he naturally exuded was as if the Grim Reaper had arrived.

That aura, heavy with the scent of blood, made people feel fear involuntarily!

Standing over eight meters tall, he was considered a giant even among the human race.

"The 1,000 geniuses of the Ganwu Universe Kingdom, by the order of the Kingdom Lord, I am leading the team." The giant's voice boomed. The eyes beneath his helmet glowed with a cold, eerie light, and his invisible pressure swept over like a tidal wave. "You may call me 'Blood Sword Marquis'. Do you understand?"

"Understood!" The uniform response was laced with a hint of trembling.

The 1,000 peerless geniuses from the Ganwu Universe Kingdom, despite being exceptionally proud, could not help but straighten their backs and respond in loud voices.

Ling Xuan stood in the middle of the formation, slightly lowering his head to hide his edge. When facing powerful existences, he was the most obedient and honest child.

This Blood Sword Marquis looks even stronger than Ancestor Manlong Marquis. He truly is a powerhouse who follows the Ganwu Kingdom Lord. Ling Xuan lowered his eyes, secretly observing the giant before him and evaluating the other's strength.

Seeming to notice Ling Xuan's gaze, Blood Sword Marquis turned his head, the pressure in his eyes instantly transforming into appreciation. "Ling Xuan, the Kingdom Lord thinks very highly of you. Do not let him down."

In truth, if the Kingdom Lord hadn't given him a heads-up beforehand, he would have been tempted to take this gifted youth under his wing right then and there.

"Yes!" Ling Xuan immediately raised his head, his expression respectful.

"Follow me!" Blood Sword Marquis said no more, his scarlet cape fluttering in the wind as he turned.

One thousand geniuses followed closely behind, and in the blink of an eye, they were teleported above a strange continent.

On this continent, one thousand ancient towers were scattered like stars in the sky, arranged in the shape of a giant axe.

In the center of the axe blade was an empty plaza with a rugged and bold style.

Several towering ancient trees stood at the edge of the plaza, their bark covered in mysterious patterns, and the bones of ancient savage beasts were vaguely visible in the hollows of the trees. Sculptures of ancient savage beasts dotted the plaza, so lifelike that they seemed ready to wake up at any moment.

"My lord, your team from the Ganwu Universe Kingdom has been assigned to Ancient Tower No. 0825." A staff member in white robes, exuding a gentle aura, stepped forward and bowed respectfully to Blood Sword Marquis.

"Hmm, understood. It's this number every year; I wonder what it even means." Blood Sword Marquis muttered in a low voice, then waved his hand, leading the one thousand geniuses to descend toward Ancient Tower No. 0825.

The massive team that suddenly appeared in front of the ancient tower immediately attracted everyone's attention, and discussions broke out one after another.

"Did you see that? The one walking at the very front is the 'Yanmo' Ling Xuan from the Ganwu Universe Kingdom. It is said he is a strong contender for the top two this year."

"Is that so? He looks ordinary and unremarkable!" A werewolf genius raised an eyebrow, his face full of doubt.

"Shh, quiet!" A young man from the ape race covered his friend's mouth, looking nervous. "I've seen his combat videos. He hacked his way from the south side of the city to the north without even blinking. Be careful, or he might actually come over and slash you."

"No way? Are the people of the Ganwu Universe Kingdom really made of dough, letting him go on a killing spree?" someone else questioned.

Everyone here was a top-tier genius from their respective universe kingdoms; how could they not know the difficulty of hacking one's way from the south side of the city to the north?

Even though many people have methods to deal with group fights, that only applies to being surrounded by hundreds or thousands of people.

Furthermore, those opponents must all be weaklings with strength vastly inferior to their own.

Yet, a city contains at least hundreds of thousands of powerhouses.

"What do you know!" the Ape-man youth shook his head helplessly. "Ling Xuan's strength is simply not in the same dimension as ours. He is hailed as a peerless genius who appears at least once every ten thousand eras. In previous genius battles, he would have absolutely secured first place. It is a pity that this session produced an even more monstrous guy."

"Ten thousand eras?" Hearing this, someone widened their eyes in disbelief and rolled their eyes. "Our planet's history hasn't even been that long. To have two monsters emerge at the same time, we are truly unlucky. Otherwise, I might have been the number one in the universe!"

"Stop talking, look over there." At this moment, the conversation shifted abruptly as someone pointed in a certain direction.

"Is that the Tianfeng Clan prodigy, the Phoenix Maiden Feng Lishuang, who definitely has the strength to contend for the top ten this session?"

"And there is the equally gifted illusionist, the Baili Clan illusionist Ren Yaoli, who looks pure and cute but is actually mischievous. The opponents who have fought her were defeated without even reacting. She definitely has top-ten strength."

"Wow, such a cute girl is actually an illusionist? I really want to experience her illusions and challenge my weak points!"

"This contestant from the Ganwu Universe Kingdom, wipe the drool from the corner of your mouth. I can hear your schemes clearly even from the Gulun Universe Kingdom."

"Over there, over there, the strongest spirit reader controller of this genius battle, Leng Yanqiu. I heard her Yanshen Weapon has already been cultivated to the second level. She is also a strong contender for the top ten."

Just as everyone was discussing, a violent fluctuation came from the sky above the plaza again, and another team descended.

The members of this team were generally taller and more robust. The person in the lead was ten meters tall, his skin covered in dark red scales, with a curved single horn growing from the center of his forehead. His limbs were thick and powerful, and while his appearance was similar to an ordinary human, he exuded a heart-palpitating, violent aura.

"Is that the absolute first place of this genius battle, the Yanshen Clan peerless genius, the Yanshen, Cao Benqi?"

"He certainly looks like someone not to be trifled with. I feel like if he hit me once, I would have to lie in a medical pod." The werewolf genius who had previously dismissed Ling Xuan was now staring at Cao Benqi, his eyes filled with awe and admiration.

The team from the Yanshen Universe Kingdom slowly walked to the center of the plaza and came to a halt.

Cao Benqi took a large stride forward and stood in the most conspicuous position in the plaza. Facing the envious and fearful gazes of millions of geniuses from over a thousand universe kingdoms, he curled his lips into a disdainful arc and spoke coldly:

"You all!"

After a brief pause, that oppressive voice rang out once again:

"Are you all here to compete for second place?"