Breaking Through

Most of the geniuses who had entered the Trial Tower had already come out.

Only a few crafty ones were still inside, having deliberately taken their time early on to build up their strength and climb higher in the rankings.

Including Ling Xuan and Cao Benqi, who were still clearing the stages, there were only five left.

"Though this Yanshen Cao Benqi is a bit arrogant, his strength really is nothing to scoff at." In the crowd, a black-robed youth nodded slightly, his eyes full of admiration. "He's fought his way through every stage and reached the seventh floor of the Seventh Trial Tower. Maybe he really can make it all the way through."

By comparison, many of them hadn't even set foot in the Sixth Trial Tower. Most had been eliminated in the Third Trial Tower, their attempts ending in defeat. The gap between them and Cao Benqi was enormous.

Among them, Feng Lishuang and Leng Yanqiu had achieved the best results. Even so, they'd only made it to the first floor of the Sixth Trial Tower before being ruthlessly eliminated.

"Lishuang, Yanqiu, which of the two do you think has a better chance of reaching the top, Ling Xuan or Cao Benqi?" Ren Yaoli was outgoing, and she was the first to ask.

The three of them had similar talent and strength, and were all women. Knowing that after the Genius Tournament they'd be heading to Shenshi Secret Realm, second only to the Giant Axe Secret Realm, they had started getting to know one another early on and had already grown quite close.

"Judging by their progress so far, Yanshen is the fastest, but Yanmo Ling Xuan is no slouch either. It's hard to say who's better." Feng Lishuang furrowed her delicate brows and slowly shook her head.

"Hmph, they're both equally full of themselves. But compared to Cao Benqi, who's both ugly and arrogant, I'm still rooting for Ling Xuan." Leng Yanqiu made no secret of her admiration for Ling Xuan.

"Pfft!" The girl's candid remark drew chuckles from those around them, and the tense atmosphere eased a little.

Meanwhile, on the seventh floor of the Trial Tower.

"Die!"

Ling Xuan unleashed his full power, holding nothing back.

Using the Great Void Art, he flickered in and out of sight like a ghost among the Zerg army. Each time he appeared, the Three-Pointed Double-Edged Spear in his hand flashed with a fierce blade of light. Wherever it passed, Zerg Warriors were cleaved in two, their green blood splattering across the ground and instantly corroding it into deep pits.

The Zerg Mother Empress saw this and let out an angry shriek. The six butterfly-like wings on her back beat furiously, sending wave after wave of Soul Attacks streaking toward Ling Xuan like arrows.

But Ling Xuan remained calm. He pushed the power of Xiantai First Heaven to its limit, his Xiantai crystal clear. Amid the heavenly music of the Great Dao, a golden radiance rose and blocked every Soul Attack.

Then he flashed forward, appearing behind a gigantic Blood Mantis. His blade glinted, and the mantis's head flew high into the air.

"Burning Wave Horizontal Slash—Ninefold Wave!" Ling Xuan roared. Blazing flames rose from the Three-Pointed Double-Edged Spear, and a surging crimson wave, carrying boundless heat and power, swept toward the Zerg army.

The Zerg Warriors caught in its path were swallowed up in an instant, reduced to ashes that vanished into the air.

In the blink of an eye, a vacuum hundreds of meters wide opened up in the ranks of the Zerg.

The Zerg Mother Empress was utterly enraged. She gave it everything she had, and every Green Mantis and Blood Mantis still alive went berserk.

At last, the Zerg Legion, stretching as far as the eye could see, was about to reveal its true might.

"Great Void Art." The frenzied swarm surged toward him, exactly as Ling Xuan had hoped.

The next moment, Ling Xuan's figure seemed to plunge into water. It turned into a ripple in space and merged into the Void.

The Zerg Mother Empress immediately let out a piercing shriek. She remembered how this human had suddenly appeared beside her moments ago. Now that the Zerg army wasn't around her, she might be caught off guard by Ling Xuan's attack.

"Whoosh!"

With the speed of someone in the Xiantai realm, Ling Xuan merged into the Void and crossed dozens of kilometers in an instant, appearing beside the Zerg Mother Empress. With no Zerg Warriors to protect her, she was utterly vulnerable. A cold gleam flashed from the Fire God Absolute Domain Blade, and the Zerg Mother Empress's beautiful head was sliced off.

He cleared the seventh floor of the Seventh Trial Tower with ease. Ling Xuan had successfully conquered every Trial Tower.

In a vast, desolate world, corpses littered the boundless ground as far as the eye could see. Some were as enormous as planets, while others were even smaller than humans. Yet every corpse radiated a terrifying aura that made the heart tremble.

A towering, burly man about three meters tall stood not far away. He wore an extraordinarily intricate, ancient-looking suit of Dark Red War Armor and matching boots, and a scaled tail extended from beneath his battle skirt.

"He actually made it through. It seems humanity has produced another peerless genius." Chaos City Lord opened the message the Virtual Universe had sent him and clicked on Ling Xuan's battle video.

"What a fascinating secret technique. These movements let a mere Star Level genius merge with the Void and move as if by teleportation. The technique is so exquisite that even I can't compare. It seems he's had another fortuitous encounter."

The video continued with Ling Xuan unleashing his full power.

"From the looks of it, this is probably a special inheritance from before the Great Destruction. He's a promising young man." Chaos City Lord sighed. With a thought, he brought up all of Ling Xuan's information.

"He's also Zhulong's descendant. Looks like I don't stand a chance." At last, Chaos City Lord shook his head helplessly and closed Ling Xuan's video.

A little while later, another email arrived, marked with a special insignia. Chaos City Lord opened it.

"Two super geniuses who could clear the Trial Towers appeared this time. I'll have to keep a close eye on these youngsters."

A few minutes earlier, back at Giant Axe Plaza, everyone had stared in astonishment at the points leaderboard.

NO.1 Ling Xuan (Ganwu Universe Kingdom), points: 77777770000

NO.2 Cao Benqi (Yanshen Universe Kingdom), points: 67777770000

"Yanmo has overtaken Yanshen! He's the first to clear every Trial Tower!"

"What? How is that possible?" The geniuses from the Yanshen Universe Kingdom couldn't believe it. Yanshen had been in the lead the whole time, at one point even a full floor ahead.

No one had expected such a stunning reversal just as the final floor was about to decide the winner.

At the same time, on the seventh-floor space, Cao Benqi noticed that his points had dropped from first place to second. Rage and shock surged through him.

He was already killing the Zerg Warriors at incredible speed. The Zerg Mother Empress couldn't replenish them nearly fast enough. But killing Zerg Warriors didn't earn any points; only the Zerg Mother Empress on the entire seventh floor counted.

He could hack away at Zerg Warriors until next year and it wouldn't matter. And with the Zerg Mother Empress launching Soul Attacks from time to time, he had to focus all his efforts on defending his mind.

"Damn it! If this were real, how could these filthy bugs stop me?" Cao Benqi thought the test was completely unfair.

In the Genius Tournament, everyone's physical body in the Virtual Universe had been set to that of an ordinary Star Level ninth-stage fighter. They were all exactly the same.

But in reality, he was a gifted martial artist whose body had evolved naturally to six times the normal genetic level. His base strength was six times greater.

He also had plenty of treasures from his race at his disposal.

The rules of the Genius Tournament only held him back.

"Damn filthy bugs! Die!" In a fit of rage, Cao Benqi unleashed his full power.

The Zerg Warriors became targets for his fury. He swung his great halberd again and again.

After a fierce battle, he finally found an opening and killed the Zerg Mother Empress the Zerg Warriors had been protecting.

NO.1 Ling Xuan (Ganwu Universe Kingdom), points: 777,7777,0000

NO.2 Cao Benqi (Yanshen Universe Kingdom), points: 777,7777, 0000

NO.3 Leng Yanqiu (Longyun Universe Kingdom), points: 18,8297, 0000

NO.4 Feng Lishuang (Tianfeng Universe Kingdom), points: 15,4578, 5544

NO.96 Ren Yaoli (Gulun Universe Kingdom), points: 3,6542, 6524

"Third Brother's in first place!" Ling Xue jumped up in excitement. "Eldest Brother, did you see? Third Brother took first place!"

"That's right, Third Brother's in first place—the top genius in the entire universe!" Ling Yue's eyes glistened with excited tears.

They'd never imagined their younger brother could soar so high. After all, even on Manlong Planet, their family was just an ordinary one.

Their parents were both ordinary Star Level powerhouses.

They'd never expected Ling Xuan to claim first place in the overall rankings of the universe's human geniuses and clear every Trial Tower.

They'd never even dreamed of such an achievement, yet their own Third Brother had done it.

"Calm down, calm down. This is only the Trial Tower. There are still competitions to come." Father Ling said he was calm, but there was no hiding the grin on his face. If he'd had a tail, it would have been sticking straight up in the air.

"Hahaha!" the Temple Envoy laughed. "Even if it's only the Trial Tower rankings, they're already an excellent result. Go ahead and celebrate."

With that, the Temple Envoy actually left the Virtual Universe.

"If I'd known this kid was so capable, I would've put more pressure on him. I went too easy on him." The Temple Envoy paced around excitedly inside the Temple.

After a while, even the Temple felt too small. He left it and flew straight out into the vast reaches of space.

In the Virtual Universe, he was an elder. He couldn't lose himself in excitement like that junior.

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