"No... He was nowhere near Void Emperor's caliber." Ling Xuan shook his head.
Void Mirror laughed. "Kid, you know the Emperor better than I do?"
"How could I know Void Emperor? I just saw what that kid was made of after fighting him." Ling Xuan smiled.
"Hahaha, you've got a way with words, kid." Void Mirror Deity was extremely pleased with Ling Xuan's answer.
"Master, who are you talking about?" Puff curiously flopped onto Ling Xuan's shoulder, her big eyes wide with curiosity.
"We're discussing an unparalleled powerhouse." Ling Xuan pinched Puff's cute nose.
"Is it that nasty guy who provoked you just now?" Puff wrapped her arms around Ling Xuan's big hand and cooed. "He was so mean!"
"You think he counts as a super powerhouse? You're giving him far too much credit." Ling Xuan smiled, his eyes full of admiration. "I mean a truly unparalleled powerhouse, both in strength and in character."
"Puff wants to hear this lord's story, too."
"All right, then. I'll tell you the story of Void Emperor..."
That afternoon, a voice entered Ling Xuan's consciousness. "All participants from the 1,000 Universe Countries, assemble at Giant Axe Plaza."
Ling Xuan immediately rose to his feet without thinking, flew out of his room, and arrived at the vast Giant Axe Plaza.
By then, quite a few geniuses were already waiting at Giant Axe Plaza.
Soon, all one million geniuses from the various Universe Countries had gathered in the plaza.
"So this is what it's like to have admin privileges?" Ling Xuan grumbled inwardly. In the Virtual Universe, he didn't even have the chance to request outside assistance.
"What happened?"
"Huh? Why am I here? I was just in my room."
The million geniuses in the formation were all stunned. Even Cao Benqi, who had always looked down on everyone, wore an expression of utter disbelief.
"One day, I'll wield this kind of power too, and hold the lives and deaths of others in my hands."
"Welcome to the Peak Genius Tournament, hosted by the Giant Axe Martial Arena." Just as everyone stood there in confusion, a cold voice rang out.
Perhaps the events of that morning had left the Universe Venerable displeased. Though he said "welcome," his tone was chilly.
"One thousand Universe Countries, each of which selected one thousand participants, for a total of one million geniuses." Venerable Beiyan stood in the air, looking down at the million geniuses below. "The Giant Axe Martial Arena will choose the strongest one thousand among you and bring you into the core of our organization."
"You one million will compete for those one thousand places."
"Here are the rules."
"Tomorrow, each of you will enter a separate Trial Space. The Giant Axe Martial Arena has prepared one million Trial Spaces, one for each of you."
"Each Trial Space contains seven Trial Towers! Each tower has seven levels!"
"Start by challenging the first Trial Tower. Clear all seven levels, then move on to the second Trial Tower... Keep going until you die or are kicked out of your Trial Space!"
"Your scores in the Trial Space will be used to calculate your points."
"Those ranked 1st through 100th won't need to be screened further. They'll be accepted directly into the core of the Giant Axe Martial Arena, earning 100 of the available spots."
"Those ranked 101st through 7,300th will fight in an arena tournament to compete for 900 spots."
"As for everyone ranked below 7,300th... You'll all be eliminated!"
Venerable Beiyan's words left the million geniuses below stunned.
With one million participants, a single Trial Space would eliminate more than 990,000 of them. In other words, most people were really just here to see what it was like!
"You have one day to look up information and prepare." With that, Venerable Beiyan left without offering any further explanation.
Ling Xuan returned to his room and sent his two older sisters the exact time of the competition. He told them to bring their parents to the Temple, where they could watch his match in the Virtual Universe with the help of the Temple Envoy.
Only those at the Immortal level or above had permission to view the Trial Tower challenges.
He also sent the Temple Envoy an email asking for his help.
The Temple Envoy readily agreed. He had always been very pleased with Ling Xuan, who was also a super genius of their clan. He had already planned to watch Ling Xuan's match; now he'd just have a few more youngsters watching with him.
The next morning.
"All participants, please get ready. We'll soon transport everyone to their respective Trial Spaces." A clear, melodious voice echoed throughout the entire plane of existence. All the geniuses in the thousand ancient towers had risen early, waiting for the first round of eliminations.
First came the elimination round, then the final battles.
But in terms of sheer brutality, the elimination round was clearly more nerve-racking.
"Good luck!"
"Do your best." Outside Ancient Tower No. 0825, many of the geniuses from Ganwu Universe Kingdom wished one another well. It was too brutal: the first round would eliminate more than a million people. Of the thousand geniuses present, probably fewer than a dozen would still be here afterward.
"Yanmo, good luck! Wipe the floor with that idiot from the Yanshen Clan!"
"Yeah, Yanmo, we're all rooting for you. That Cao Benqi acts like he's a Universe Venerable or something. He really thinks he's invincible. Take first place in the Trial Tower and teach that bastard a lesson!"
Ling Xuan smiled at their cheers and encouragement. "Good luck to you, too. Try to earn a spot."
"Was Yanmo talking to us just now?"
"Holy crap, Yanmo, who kills without blinking, actually smiled at me!"
"Ah!! I'm going to die, Yanmo, darling~"
Suddenly—
Boom!
An invisible, mysterious force descended upon the entire plane of existence, instantly transporting all one million young geniuses away.
They found themselves on a massive, roughly rectangular meteorite nearly a hundred kilometers long, floating in the depths of space.
Whoosh!
Ling Xuan appeared on the meteorite and looked around. A tiny star shone in the distance, and several ordinary, lifeless planets drifted not too far away.
The objective of this trial stood on the meteorite: seven Trial Towers.
Each Trial Tower loomed like a mountain, more than ten kilometers tall and several kilometers wide.
The seven Trial Towers stood in different parts of the vast meteorite.
Ling Xuan looked down at his wrist. A screen was mounted there, just like during the preliminary selection inside Ganwu Universe Kingdom.
Participant: Ling Xuan (Ganwu Universe Kingdom) Points: 0 Rank: None Trial Space: No. 0176350. Each Trial Space contains seven Trial Towers, each with seven levels. First Trial Tower: Each level can earn a maximum of 10,000 points. Clearing all seven levels can earn a maximum of 70,000 points. Second Trial Tower: Each level can earn a maximum of 100,000 points. Clearing all seven levels can earn a maximum of 700,000 points. ... Fourth Trial Tower: Each level can earn a maximum of 10 million points. Clearing all seven levels can earn a maximum of 70 million points. ... Seventh Trial Tower: Each level can earn a maximum of 100 billion points. Clearing all seven levels can earn a maximum of 700 billion points. Note: The trial ends upon death. There are two ways to pass each level: 1. Kill all the targets on that level to earn the maximum points and be transported directly to the next level. 2. If you fail to kill all the targets, you will be transported to the next level after 10 days, provided you are still alive. The trial ends when all participants have died. The final rankings will then be determined. The rankings are listed below.
"All of them die? They're certainly confident!" Reading the rules, Ling Xuan recalled what he knew about the Trial Towers.
The Trial Towers were said to have been designed, like Primal Tongtian Mountain, with no expectation that anyone would clear them. Only super geniuses who appeared once every ten million eras could pass Primal Tongtian Mountain. Could the Seventh Trial Tower be the same?
"Then I'll try to clear these Trial Towers first. I can't let myself lose momentum." Ling Xuan looked at the rankings, a surge of fighting spirit rising within him.
If the Trial Towers were set up like Primal Tongtian Mountain, then Cao Benqi, a super genius who appeared once every hundred million eras, could definitely clear them.
Though Yan Di's temperament in his later years had become his weakness, and his comprehension was poor, he had made no further progress after reaching the level of Universe Master.
But in his youth, with the Yanshen Clan's talent for naturally evolving their life Gene Multiplier, he was an absolute catastrophe among human geniuses.
An increase in the life Gene Multiplier could strengthen one's affinity for laws.
In the cultivation system of the Primal Universe, before reaching the level of Universe Master, affinity for laws was a major measure of a genius's potential.
Before you continue