The next morning.
A thousand peerless geniuses gathered at Giant Axe Plaza.
Ling Xuan blended into the crowd. Everyone had heard his muttering yesterday, nearly making him die of embarrassment, so today he had to keep a low profile.
Cao Benqi was still glaring at him as if he wanted to tear him apart.
"Your Excellency!"
A thousand Immortals in the distance bowed respectfully.
"Mm."
Venerable Beiyan nodded slightly, then turned to look down at the thousand young people below. "Today is a fine day. In the space of one day, we'll select the top hundred, the top ten, the first-place winner, and the runner-up from among you."
"Are you all ready? The decisive battles begin now!"
With a casual wave of his hand, Venerable Beiyan caused a hundred enormous arenas to appear across the plaza. Black mesh enclosed the edges and tops of every arena.
More than two hundred geniuses were teleported into the arenas, two to each one.
Ling Xuan's opponent was a man with blue scales on his head, dressed in Azure Battle Armor. He gripped a broad-bladed greatsword, its heavy build marking him as a strength-focused fighter.
"Damn it! I can't believe I got Flame Demon Ling Xuan in the very first match. I could've made the top ten." The man sounded deeply troubled, his face full of helplessness and resentment.
"..."
Ling Xuan was speechless. If he and Cao Benqi weren't so outrageously strong, he felt like every one of these guys would think he could take first place.
The Virtual Universe System matched you against me. That's already a dignified way out for you, kid. And you're still not satisfied?
"Brother, at least you can go home and tell people you only ever lost to the champion. Be content." Ling Xuan raised his blade, and scorching flames instantly wrapped around it as blade light flickered along its edge.
He swung hard. A blazing arc of fire, wrapped in waves of heat and resembling a crimson dragon, swept toward his opponent. He called out, "Flame Blade First Bloom!"
"Don't even think about it!" the blue-scaled man roared, raising his greatsword high. The heavy Law of Earth surged outward like a tide, gathering into an ochre shield before him.
Light shimmered across the shield's surface. It looked like a towering mountain, utterly impregnable.
But the instant the fiery blade arc touched the shield, the seemingly solid barrier shattered like thin ice beneath the blazing sun. The strike crashed straight into the man's broad-bladed greatsword.
"Crack!" The tremendous force knocked the sword flying. The blade's momentum carried on, slashing across the Azure Battle Armor. Scales fell away, and blood sprayed.
The man screamed as he flew backward like a kite with its string cut, slamming into the black mesh at the edge of the arena. He collapsed, unable to fight on.
Ling Xuan was teleported out of the arena and back down to the plaza.
Cao Benqi was already waiting there.
"You... took too long." Cao Benqi shot Ling Xuan a sidelong glance and sneered.
"Sure, sure. You're fast, the fastest. You're so fast." Ling Xuan rolled his eyes and went to watch the other matches.
What mattered was seeing how his friends from the Genius Tournament were doing: the three women, Leng Yanqiu, Feng Lishuang, and Ren Yaoli.
The duels across the hundred arenas varied in length. Some, like Ling Xuan and Cao Benqi's, ended with a single move.
Others were evenly matched, turning into hard-fought battles that lasted more than ten minutes before the first round finally ended.
"Congratulations to the young contestants still standing in the arenas." Venerable Beiyan looked down at the hundred young men and women. "First, congratulations on making the top hundred. You'll be allowed into the Kaitian Secret Realm of the Giant Axe Martial Arena. Now we have to pick the best twenty among you."
"Based on the Virtual Universe System's selection, I'll announce the twenty names."
The hundred young geniuses who had just won and were still standing in the arenas grew tense. They might have won, but only twenty of them were qualified to compete in the next round. That round would determine the top ten!
"Cao Benqi!"
"Ling Xuan!"
"Feng Lishuang!"
"Leng Yanqiu!"
"Ren Yaoli!"
"Amaterasu!"
"Naruto!"
"These are the twenty contestants selected by the Virtual Universe System," Venerable Beiyan said. "Take some time to rest, recover your energy, and get yourselves ready. The next round will begin shortly. As for who your opponents will be... you'll find out when the battle starts!"
A group of young men and women sat wherever they pleased on Giant Axe Plaza.
Ling Xuan and Feng Lishuang chatted casually with the others, exchanging thoughts about the matches and their insights into the Laws.
Cao Benqi continued to radiate hostility, looking like he wanted everyone to stay away.
When he saw Ling Xuan say something that made Ren Yaoli laugh so hard she leaned back, and even the usually aloof Feng Lishuang smile behind her lips, his fingers tightened around his halberd shaft until his knuckles turned white. A cold sneer escaped him. "Ling Xuan, soon I'll personally eliminate you. I'll make you taste defeat, crush you under my heel, and drag you into the depths."
Half an hour later, the plaza suddenly began to tremble.
Ten enormous arenas, each a hundred meters tall, erupted from the ground. Dark-purple lightning coursed across their surfaces, and domes woven from black strands enclosed them, like ten cages designed to suppress power.
White light flickered around Ling Xuan and the others. The next instant, they vanished and appeared in their respective arenas.
After stepping into his arena, Cao Benqi glanced casually at his opponent, then looked toward the other arenas in search of Ling Xuan.
"Lucky you. They've handed you another soft target." His tone was as calm as if he were talking about the weather. He didn't even change his grip on his halberd.
The young man shouted angrily, "Cao Benqi, I know I'm no match for you, but aren't you taking me a little too lightly?"
Dozens of flying discs hovered and hummed in the void around the young man, their metallic edges gleaming coldly.
The discs spun rapidly through the air, forming the phantom of a hundred-meter-long beast. It opened its huge mouth full of sharp teeth and lunged at Cao Benqi with a shriek that seemed to tear through the air.
"The weak are so noisy, even when they're whining." Cao Benqi finally looked up, a trace of disdain flashing in his blood-red eyes.
He slowly raised his great halberd. A speck of crimson light appeared at its tip, and he swung it forward as if without a care.
In an instant, a dark-red arc of halberd light tore through the sky, moving too fast for the naked eye to follow.
The moment it struck, the beast's phantom exploded like a bubble. Its body, formed from the flying discs, broke apart into countless fragments.
The remaining discs whirled through the air, desperately changing direction as they tried to attack from different angles.
Cao Benqi, however, seemed to have anticipated everything. His great halberd moved like an extension of his arm, drawing afterimages before him.
"Clang! Clang! Clang!" Metallic impacts rang out without pause. The halberd's blade struck the center of each disc with perfect precision. Like kites with their strings cut, they flew to the edge of the arena and embedded themselves deep in the ground.
The young man's eyes widened. Before he could make another move, Cao Benqi had already appeared in front of him.
The great halberd descended in a heavy blow, carrying a fierce killing intent.
"Pfft!" Blood sprayed as Cao Benqi's halberd split his opponent in two. Then, without looking back, he waited at the edge of the arena to be teleported away.
Before long, Ling Xuan was teleported over as well.
"You're late again." Cao Benqi shook his head with a cold laugh.
"Sure, sure. When it comes to speed, you're faster." Ling Xuan spread his hands helplessly.
"Hmph. How can you ever become strong if you're so careless and relaxed?"
Ling Xuan sighed helplessly. He hadn't expected Yan Di to be such a chuuni as a kid. It seemed he'd decided Ling Xuan was an opponent he absolutely had to defeat.
The other contestants in the top ten finished their battles one after another.
Thanks to '自由de风' for the monthly ticket, and thanks to '无忧的风' for the monthly ticket.
Thanks to both Young Master Fengs for the monthly tickets.
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