The End

The final day of the preliminaries.

At this moment.

All eyes were on them.

The preliminaries had reached their final stretch. The fighting in every World Zone had grown brutally fierce, but most of it involved people ranked around 1,000 in points. Their positions could rise at any moment—or just as easily fall. Under this intense pressure, everyone gave it their all, fighting for one of the spots representing the Ganwu Universe Country!

But the standings among the true top contenders had already become clear.

The major powers of the Ganwu Universe Country were keeping a close eye on the super-talents emerging from these 100 World Zones. Among them, none drew more attention than Lu Yan'an and "Illusion Dream"!

The two of them had raised the ceiling for the talented fighters across all 100 World Zones. They were hailed as the "Illusion Twin Stars" of World Area 44! Both were genius Illusionists, both super-talents who had comprehended the Universe Origin Law, and they seemed to have been cut from the same mold. Some powerful figures in the Ganwu Universe Country even praised them as having what it took to enter the Virtual Universe Company's Core Layer, and said they could compete for a top-100 spot—or even higher.

What did it mean to rank among the top 100 talents from 1,008 Universe Countries?

Just the Ganwu Universe Country alone had more than a trillion contestants!

They were the true chosen of heaven, and naturally drew even more attention. Especially on the final day, their peak battle in the primeval forest had pushed the atmosphere of the Genius Tournament in the Ganwu Universe Country to its climax! Their endless trump cards and seemingly limitless talent filled every spectator watching from the Ganwu Universe Country with pride, as if they shared in the glory!

Many believed that, judging solely by this peak showdown, World Area 44 had the strongest contestants of all 100 World Zones.

And the peak showdown between Lu Yan'an and Illusion Dream was also the strongest battle between contestants from the Ganwu Universe Country!

Inside the massive building on the floating island above Ganwu Continent.

Among the densely packed thrones, the many great and eternal beings watched the thrilling battle and fell silent.

After a long while.

"This battle hardly looked like a showdown between two Illusionists! You could call them martial artists without a hint of exaggeration."

"As martial artists alone, they aren't quite among the very best. But add their identities as Illusionists, and they instantly become part of the tiny group at the very top!"

The Immortals present had exceptionally discerning eyes. A Star Level genius who had comprehended only a Lower Origin Law as a martial artist would never catch their attention! But if that genius was also an Illusionist, everything changed. It was a qualitative leap!

As everyone knew, in a one-on-one fight, an Illusionist was the last opponent anyone wanted to face. Even a genius who had comprehended a Higher Origin Law would be helpless against such an opponent unless they had cultivated their spiritual soul!

"Even setting aside their abilities as Illusionists, they're both strong enough as martial artists to qualify from the Ganwu Universe Country!" one Immortal exclaimed.

And it was true. Among the more than ten trillion contestants registered in the Ganwu Universe Country, they could barely scrape together a thousand Star Level geniuses who had comprehended an Origin Law—even a Lower Origin Law!

"Hahaha! With those two around, at least we can give the ruler a decent report, can't we? Besides, judging by their last conversation, both of those youngsters are still hiding trump cards!"

"Indeed. They're both prospects for the Virtual Universe Company's Core Layer!"

At this moment.

Countless people had witnessed the scene.

Lu Yan'an's fame had already spread far and wide, and the powerful figures from the various factions watching the battle were now utterly astonished. They all praised the peak showdown between the two genius Illusionists!

Although he had successfully claimed first place, Lu Yan'an hovered in midair with a calm expression, yet felt rather unhappy. He knew this was already the best possible outcome: he had secured a qualifying spot, while Illusion Dream had gotten the chance to hone himself in the Reincarnation Battle. They had both achieved their aims.

But his pride wouldn't let him accept a spot this way. Even if he had revealed all his strength in the end, he still didn't want to win through what felt like charity! Unfortunately, Illusion Dream had acted too quickly. Lu Yan'an hadn't even had time to stop him!

"So in the end, it really was just good luck?" Lu Yan'an gave a self-deprecating laugh. He knew he had benefited greatly from what had happened, but he was still unhappy! He wanted to claim first place fair and square!

"Fine, fine. You'd better keep your neck clean for the finals!" he thought viciously. His lone, tiny figure hovered above the primeval forest, the only thing in that vast world that remained completely still.

Everyone watching remembered that moment, and they remembered that young man. Throughout the long, endless ages, countless peerless figures had emerged in the vast universe. But at that moment, Lu Yan'an was the brightest star in their eyes!

"Countdown to the end of the preliminaries: 60... 59... 58..." A deep, majestic voice echoed in the minds of all the survivors across the 100 World Zones.

"Damn it, I'm ranked 1,002. I was so close. I have to risk it—kill!"

"There's no time!"

"Brother, just let me kill you and transfer half your points to me. Once I get out, I'll reward you handsomely."

"Get lost! You think I'd believe that? You're just hoping to get something for nothing. Come on, let me kill you, and I'll reward you afterward."

"Yeah, right!"

In the final moments of the countdown, every World Zone descended into chaos.

Beneath the bright moon, the primeval forest was utterly silent.

It seemed as if Lu Yan'an was the only one in the entire World Zone, hovering in the air as he waited in silence.

"10... 9... 8... 7... 6... 5... 4... 3... 2... 1! Transfer."

All the survivors across the 100 World Zones vanished at once. Then the virtual worlds collapsed and disappeared one by one, and everything faded into nothingness. At the same time, the final rankings in each World Zone were made public.

The preliminaries were over!

The qualifiers had been decided!

Lu Yan'an was transferred to the sky above Black Dragon Mountain Island.

"Beep!" "Beep!" "Beep!" "Beep!" "Beep!" "Beep!"...

A string of notification sounds rang out.

"Lu, you've got 496 incoming calls. Oh, now it's 500. Ah, the number's still going up." Lord Shen's familiar voice sounded in his ear.

"Hahaha, Lord Shen, it's been so long since I heard your voice. I'm really not used to it." Lu Yan'an paid no attention to the incoming calls.

During the World Zone preliminaries, contestants couldn't use their virtual assistants. That was a rule set by the Virtual Universe System.

Lord Shen praised him. "You've really made a name for yourself. You've far surpassed what we expected of you!" It hadn't expected that Lu Yan'an, who had trained for such a short time, could reach this level so quickly!

"Hahaha, let's leave the Virtual Universe first!" Lu Yan'an said. Then, with a single thought, he logged off.

Virtual Universe, Cangming Island.

Killing Space.

"Simulated battle!" Illusion Dream called out. "Opponent: 'Nightmare.' Set his combat strength to the strongest level he displayed in the preliminaries."

Whir...

A figure appeared in the enormous training arena. A closer look revealed that it was Lu Yan'an, dressed in plain clothes with a pair of gauntlets on his hands—the very same appearance he'd had when fighting in World Area 44.

But his eyes were vacant, and he stood motionless, like a machine.

"Begin!" Illusion Dream commanded.

Boom!

The simulated Lu Yan'an's eyes lit up in an instant, and he charged straight toward Illusion Dream.

His advance was earth-shattering.

The aura and sharpness infused with the Origin Law of Light brought with them overwhelming pressure.

If Illusion Dream wanted to face Lu Yan'an head-on, he first had to withstand that immense pressure and impact. The power it contained was enough to make anyone's heart tremble.

Boom!

Illusion Dream raised his spear in front of him. As his aura flared, streams of blue air swirled around him, transforming his entire bearing.

He was like a god of the wind emerging from a hurricane!

He watched Lu Yan'an rapidly close the distance, then suddenly burst into astonishing speed himself! His figure abruptly split into two! It was the Space Law!

Boom!

Both identical figures thrust their spears at the same time.

In an instant.

Vast amounts of energy poured out. Lu Yan'an blocked one of the thrusts, but the other pierced straight through his body!

Whoosh!

A moment later, Lu Yan'an's figure vanished.

"Judging by the strength he's shown so far, he's no match for me. The real question is what trump cards he's hiding!" Illusion Dream mused. Having revealed the Space Law, he had easily defeated the simulated Lu Yan'an.

In World Area 44, he hadn't shown his full strength—not even revealing the Higher Law of Space! With just a glimpse of his abilities, he had nearly swept through World Area 44!

His comprehension of the Space Law was his greatest trump card, one he had never revealed to anyone.

"But in the end, he's just a simulation! We have five years. When the finals come, let's fight to our hearts' content!"

He had held back in the preliminaries only so he could shine even brighter in the finals!

The preliminaries were over!

The top 1,001 from each World Zone qualified, making a total of 100,100 contestants from the 100 World Zones. At the same time, the top-ranked contestant from each World Zone automatically secured a spot in the final selection.

The top 1,000 contestants from the Ganwu Universe Country were eligible to participate in the overall Genius Tournament among the Cosmic Humans. Those 1,000 contestants would represent the entire Ganwu Universe Country and fight against the numerous geniuses from the other Universe Countries... to determine the most peerless figures among all Cosmic Humans.

The Ganwu Universe Country had 1,000 spots. Now that the top contestant from each World Zone had directly secured a spot, 100 spots had already been taken.

The remaining 100,000 contestants would compete for the remaining 900 spots.

At this stage, the preliminaries had given way to the long arena battles and Reincarnation Battle!