Prelude

Across the continents and islands of the Virtual Universe, the million-plus peerless geniuses from the 1008 Universe Countries were being transported to their respective gathering places.

Beside a teleportation point on a floating island.

A broad plaza, dotted with trees and grass, floated in the air. A large crowd had gathered there—hundreds of people at a glance, men and women of all different appearances. Still, at least a quarter of them looked somewhat like Earthlings.

It seemed Earthlings had fairly mainstream looks in the universe.

"You're here?"

"Heh, this'll be fun!"

Greetings rang out around Lu Yan'an as people called to one another. During the nearly three years of the Reincarnation Battle, many of them had forged deep friendships.

"Nightmare, you made it?"

Illusion Dream darted out from some corner and greeted Lu Yan'an.

Hearing Illusion Dream's voice, Lu Yan'an turned and smiled. "Yeah. You got here pretty early, too!"

Illusion Dream was still the same as ever, dressed in black-and-gray armor. His amiable, breeze-like presence made people warm to him at once. But after nearly three years of the Reincarnation Battle, his strength—hidden beneath that friendly demeanor—had changed beyond recognition!

Suddenly...

Boom!

An invisible pressure swept across the entire plaza. The thousand peerless geniuses all went pale, their bodies trembling slightly despite themselves.

Lu Yan'an thought it was nothing much. This was only an aura of will meant to pressure Star Levels, and he could practically ignore it. But when he saw Illusion Dream trembling beside him, he froze. Then he immediately caught on. What a sly old fox. He's putting on quite a show! Lu Yan'an cursed inwardly, then began to tremble involuntarily.

Illusion Dream saw his rather clumsy acting and curled his lip, thinking, Nice try. You're not fooling anyone. But in the end, he said nothing and simply waited for instructions.

Before long, footsteps sounded, and an ape-man in azure armor approached. The boundless aura that naturally emanated from him was as deep and vast as the ocean.

"The thousand geniuses of Ganwu Universe Country will be under my command, as ordered by the Lord."

The ape-man's voice was cold, like an autumn frost in November. "I am the Lord's foremost Divine General, titled 'Marquis Cangming.' You may address me as 'Lord Marquis Cangming.' Is that clear?" he introduced himself.

"Understood!"

All 1,000 peerless geniuses answered in unison, despite themselves.

"That Marquis Cangming's pressure is terrifying," Lu Yan'an remarked, glancing around at everyone's sweaty faces. If he hadn't already reached a state of perfect composure, he wouldn't have fared any better than the rest.

Before this Immortal Expert, the 1,000 geniuses were as weak as ants. Fear came naturally—it was instinct, impossible to suppress.

"Lu Yan'an! Ming Feng!" Marquis Cangming's gaze settled on Lu Yan'an and Illusion Dream. Illusion Dream's real name was Ming Feng.

"You two have the best chance among this batch from Ganwu Universe Country of avoiding elimination. The Lord has high hopes for your performance in this Genius Tournament. Don't let him down. Understood?" Marquis Cangming said bluntly. His gaze, however, remained fixed on Illusion Dream, and a rare trace of warmth appeared in his eyes.

"Yes!" Lu Yan'an and Illusion Dream answered respectfully.

Then Marquis Cangming swept his gaze over everyone else and said coldly, "As for the rest of you, you have practically no chance. You'd better start planning ahead!"

Many of the young people below clenched their fists, but none dared to disagree with the verdict of a Marquis-level Immortal.

"Hmph! Don't like what you're hearing? Strength isn't something you talk about. You show it in battle!" the ape-man said coldly. "The strongest among you is only at Lu Yan'an's level. But according to our intelligence, the number of geniuses emerging in this first Genius Tournament is beyond anyone's wildest imagination!"

"Someone at Lu Yan'an's level would be lucky to make the top hundred. Advancing any further will be harder than climbing to heaven! As for the rest of you, it's not that I lack confidence in you." Marquis Cangming sighed. "No matter how I look at it, I don't think any of you have a chance!"

"Forget it. What's the point of telling you all this?" He waved a hand, sounding weary, and changed the subject. "All right. Move out!"

The thousand geniuses were then transported together under Marquis Cangming's command, arriving in a newly created dimension within the Virtual Universe.

It was a vast continent.

There were 1,008 skyscrapers surrounding a beautiful central plaza, lush with greenery. At that moment, young men and women from various Universe Countries strolled and chatted across it. There were at least a hundred thousand of them.

Ganwu Universe Country's team had been assigned Building 0623. Marquis Cangming led them toward the plaza.

"Descend!" Marquis Cangming's voice boomed.

The geniuses of Ganwu Universe Country quickly descended, landing at the edge of the plaza. They then followed the road toward Building 0623. The plaza had a dedicated path leading to each building.

The buildings were ranked according to the strength of their respective Universe Country Lords. Lord Ganwu ranked in the lower half among the 1,008 Universe Country Lords, so his country's building was number 623.

"Look, Building 0623 belongs to Ganwu Universe Country. I heard their team is pretty strong, though. They even have two genius Illusionists!"

"Yeah, I've heard that too. Illusionists are such a pain. I hate that kind of fighting style. Real geniuses should face off head-on!"

"Brother, that's not even the worst part. The worst part is that both of them are genius warriors who've comprehended a trace of the Origin Law! Put those two professions together, and they're a real headache. They've got both control and damage!"

Across the plaza, geniuses from other Universe Countries watched Ganwu Universe Country's team from afar and began discussing them.

There were over a million geniuses from the various Universe Countries, so naturally, they couldn't all know one another. But after gathering intelligence, the names of the most exceptional geniuses had already spread far and wide.

The ones in Ganwu Universe Country who had earned that kind of attention were undoubtedly Nightmare and Meng Huan, the two genius Illusionists. They weren't merely Illusionists; they were also warriors who had comprehended the laws. Compared with other geniuses, they were far more dangerous in actual combat. Admittedly, the first Genius Tournament was full of hidden talent, but mainstream warriors and Controllers were inherently at a disadvantage against Illusionists!

The geniuses of Ganwu Universe Country heard the discussions from teams belonging to other Universe Countries in the distance, and most of them felt annoyed.

As the thousand most outstanding geniuses in Ganwu Universe Country, weren't they all the pride of heaven?

Every one of them had been fawned over and respected. But here, they weren't even worth talking about; they'd been reduced to background scenery. How could they possibly accept that?

Cosmic Humans were generally immature when it came to cultivating their minds! Even many people considered "strong" lacked the composure to control their own power. This was true not only among the upper echelons; the state of mind these geniuses displayed now was proof enough. Without a certain level of spiritual cultivation, one could never reach the pinnacle of strength!

Illusion Dream wasn't bothered by the other geniuses' discussions in the slightest, and neither was Lu Yan'an! They hadn't come to this Genius Tournament to win other people's praise. What they sought was to truly become part of the Virtual Universe Company's Core Layer. What did it matter if people talked? It wouldn't affect the final outcome at all!

"Don't hold back this time! Pretending to be weak so you can catch people off guard is fine, but keep pretending to be a pig long enough and you'll really become one," Lu Yan'an said to Illusion Dream, with a trace of reproach over their previous peak battle.

"You don't need to worry. The trump cards I've been hiding will definitely surprise you! But you should worry about yourself first. Don't let me be the only one left by the time we reach the final showdown. That'd be embarrassing!" Illusion Dream replied with a grin, slipping in a gentle jab without missing a beat.

After that, the two genius Illusionists from Ganwu Universe Country said no more. They exchanged smiles.