The First Genius Tournament

Seeing that Lu Yan'an seemed intrigued by the grand event he had mentioned, Tian Chen pressed his advantage.

"This is an incredibly rare opportunity. If you seize it, you could even enter the Core Layer of the Virtual Universe Company directly!" As he spoke, Tian Chen wore an envious expression.

At his words, Lu Yan'an immediately understood. This had to be the Universe Genius Tournament held once every five thousand years in the original story! But the timing was wrong. It was supposed to take place more than two thousand years later, during City Lord Luo's era. Why was it suddenly happening two thousand years early? Lu Yan'an couldn't make sense of it. As he pondered, he looked at Tian Chen in front of him, and his eyes suddenly lit up. Wasn't there an employee of the Virtual Universe Company right here?

"Lord Tian Chen, could you tell me more about this?" Lu Yan'an asked, pretending to be very interested.

Seeing that Lu Yan'an seemed to be taking the bait, Tian Chen got straight to the point.

"The senior leaders of the five major organizations—the Virtual Universe Company, the Giant Axe Dojo, the Universe First Bank, the Universe Galaxy Bank, and the Universe Mercenary Alliance—discussed and established this cultivation opportunity. It's open to all Star Level humans. Anyone who meets the conditions set by these five organizations can directly gain Core Layer status and access to their cultivation resources."

He looked at Lu Yan'an and continued, "Of course, our internal wager doesn't require you to gain Core Layer status. You only need to stand out in the preliminary selection and earn a qualifying spot! If you qualify, the wager will allow you to enjoy the benefits of an internal member as an external member. How does that sound?"

"How does the preliminary selection work?" Lu Yan'an asked curiously. He wanted to know whether this selection, happening more than two thousand years ahead of schedule, would be the same as in the original story.

"I'm not too sure about that. After all, this is the first time the five giants have jointly organized an event like this! The information I have is limited."

Tian Chen shook his head, indicating that he didn't know much about it either.

"First time?" Lu Yan'an seemed to have noticed something, and he looked almost incredulous.

"You mean this is the first time they've held this kind of selection competition?"

"Of course! Have you ever heard of the major powers holding a selection competition before?" Tian Chen gave him a puzzled look, as if he couldn't understand how Lu Yan'an could be unaware of such basic knowledge.

"Haha, of course I haven't. I was just curious!" Lu Yan'an said with an ingratiating smile. But inside, his thoughts were in turmoil, and he couldn't calm down for a long time.

The first Genius Tournament! How could this be?! Lu Yan'an shouted inwardly, stunned by the sudden news.

Ever since he had been reborn into this world, its similar cultural background and way of life had led him to believe that he had been reborn on Earth, just two thousand years before the story began. As he understood it, people in every era had a commonly accepted name for the world they lived in. People in this era simply called their world "Source Star."

And after he had entered the universe and seen places resembling those in the original story, such as Qiu Long Planet and the Black Dragon Mountain Empire, he had become even more certain that he had arrived more than two thousand years before the story's events.

Until Tian Chen's words completely upended his understanding of the world!

He hadn't come to a point two thousand years before the original story's timeline, but to an even earlier era: the Source Star Era! Pu Ti had once said in person that before City Lord Luo, Earth had had two other candidates for the Star Tower. In the era of the first candidate, Earth had been called the Shanhai Realm; in the era of the second, it had been called Source Star!

Now, the pieces of the puzzle gradually fell into place in Lu Yan'an's mind. At last, he understood why he had never heard about the Genius Tournament in the Virtual Universe, and why he could travel freely between Qiu Long Planet and Earth despite Hu Yanbo's secret technique.

He had thought Lord Shen had casually lifted the restriction, but now it was clear that he had been completely wrong. He was a full 8.2 billion years away from the original story's timeline!

Eight-point-two billion years—a span of time so vast! After all, Master of Yunmo Star, Hu Yanbo, had lived for only a little over sixty million years in his entire immortal life. At that moment, his thoughts were in disarray.

Seeing Lu Yan'an's troubled expression, Tian Chen assumed the wager's requirements had frightened him. He hurried to reassure him. "Don't worry. Even if you fail to qualify in the preliminary selection, once you join the Virtual Universe Company as an 'internal member,' we'll still do everything we can to cultivate you. You don't need to feel so much pressure!"

"I understand. Thank you for thinking so highly of me, Lord Tian Chen. I agree to sign the wager with the company!" Lu Yan'an no longer wanted to keep up appearances. After quickly achieving his goal, he readily agreed. Right now, he just wanted to be alone with his thoughts.

Tian Chen was delighted to hear how readily Lu Yan'an had agreed.

"Hahaha, since that's settled, we're colleagues now. How about this? I'll send you your S-Grade Bloodline Evolution Agent first." He had Lu Yan'an provide a delivery address.

Without giving it much thought, Lu Yan'an gave him the address of the hotel where he usually stayed on Qiu Long Planet.

After confirming the address was correct, Tian Chen nodded.

"The Bloodline Evolution Agent should reach you within a week at the latest. Make sure you're there to receive it. And use it as soon as it arrives to avoid any trouble!" He patted Lu Yan'an on the shoulder, offering a word of advice. As someone who had risen from the bottom of the universe, he had witnessed far too many killings and robberies. A precious item like an S-Grade Bloodline Evolution Agent was especially worth protecting.

Lu Yan'an nodded.

"Spend the next six months or so preparing. I hope the first genius I've ever developed will surprise me, hahaha!"

"Yes, sir! I'll take my leave now." Lu Yan'an clasped his hands and said respectfully.

"Go on, go on." Tian Chen waved him away.

Lu Yan'an turned and left the Quiet Room.

His mind was in turmoil. The first Universe Genius Tournament? It was as if fate had played a joke on him!

No wonder he had the chance to obtain Pu Ti's inheritance. Pu Ti had deliberately left it on Source Star to select geniuses. If nothing unexpected happened, the first person from Source Star to venture into the universe—Feng Yunruo—was Zuoshanke's third disciple's second candidate! In the original story, Feng Yunruo had failed the life-and-death inheritance, and Source Star had fallen into decline, even suffering destruction at one point. Only eighty billion years later, after Earth had been reformed, had natural development brought forth City Lord Luo, the chosen son of fate.

"If I was born only to witness Source Star's destruction, then I choose to become strong and change my homeworld's fate!" Lu Yan'an had never felt so driven. He knew all too well that the weak had no say in this universe. If he wanted to change his fate, he had to keep growing stronger—strong enough to break every shackle, strong enough that no one would dare offend him!

And now, he had an opportunity to change his fate! His eyes shone. To compete on the same stage as the universe's greatest geniuses and defeat them one by one—what greater honor could there be?

"The Peak Genius Tournament, here I come! Geniuses of the universe, just you wait!"