Where Dreams Begin

The next morning.

"Everyone, please prepare. We will begin the collective teleportation shortly to send all participants to their respective Trial Space." A crisp, pleasant voice echoed throughout the entire plane space. All the geniuses in the 1,008 buildings had long since risen, waiting for this initial elimination.

Suddenly—

BOOM!

An invisible, peculiar force descended upon the entire plane space, causing all the young geniuses within it to be teleported away in an instant.

Lu Yan'an appeared instantly on a massive meteorite floating in the cosmic starry sky. This meteorite was nearly a hundred kilometers long and rectangular in shape.

Surrounding him was the vast, boundless starry sky.

Built upon this meteorite were seven Trial Towers. Each Trial Tower was as tall as a mountain, standing over ten kilometers high and spanning several kilometers in diameter.

The seven Trial Towers were situated at different positions across this massive meteorite.

Lu Yan'an couldn't help but sigh in his heart: "As expected of the place where City Lord Luo's dream began in the original story; it is truly magnificent!"

Thinking this, he looked down at his wrist, where a screen displayed information, just like the internal preliminary selection within the Ganwu Universe Country.

Participant: Lu Yan'an (Ganwu Universe Country)

Points: 0

Ranking: None

Current Trial Space: No. 00

There are seven Trial Towers in the Trial Space, each with seven levels.

The first Trial Tower: Each level grants a maximum of 10,000 points. Successfully clearing all seven levels yields a maximum of 70,000 points.

The second Trial Tower: Each level grants a maximum of 100,000 points. Successfully clearing all seven levels yields a maximum of 700,000 points.

The seventh Trial Tower: Each level grants a maximum of 10 billion points. Successfully clearing all seven levels yields a maximum of 70 billion points.

Note: Once you die, the trial ends.

There are two ways to pass each level:

1: Kill all targets within the level to receive the maximum points and be teleported directly to the next level.

2: If you fail to kill all targets, you will be teleported to the next level after 10 days, provided you are still alive, to continue the trial.

When all participants have died, the trial ends, and the final rankings are determined.

Below is the leaderboard.

Lu Yan'an looked at the content on the screen and couldn't help but chuckle.

"The trial rules are exactly the same as in the original story. It seems this method of screening will continue all the way to the end! And the final condition for determining the ranking is that everyone must die! It seems the Virtual Universe Company is determined not to let anyone pass all the trials!"

He had learned from the original story about the standards set for the "seven Trial Towers," which were never intended for anyone to pass. Even a freak with talent as great as Bolan had failed at the first level of the seventh Trial Tower!

Generally speaking, the accumulation of Star-level geniuses is limited. Among the millions of geniuses present, the vast majority are only a few hundred years old, and none are over a thousand. At this level, talent cannot be easily compensated for by time! Because Star-level talent and accumulation are quite limited, the Virtual Universe Company is very confident in the difficulty of the Trial Towers, enough to wipe out all participants!

Lu Yan'an looked at the seven Trial Towers standing before him, his eyes shining with brilliance.

"The place where the dream begins, I have arrived too!"

THUD!

Lu Yan'an transformed into a streak of light and flew to the front of the first Trial Tower. The door pillar at the entrance of the tower, which stood over ten kilometers high, bore the mark "1"—this was indeed the first Trial Tower.

He entered the tower.

Lu Yan'an watched the text on his wrist screen change: First Trial Tower, Level One: 10,000 Blood-haired Mammoths.

For every beast killed, you receive one point. Killing them all grants 10,000 points, and you are teleported directly to the second level.

If you do not finish killing them, surviving for ten days will teleport you directly to the second level.

Death means the trial ends.

"Then let's begin!" Lu Yan'an wore a smile, but the fighting spirit in his eyes was burning fiercely.

"ROAR!"

His expression changed abruptly as he watched the scene forming before him. This was a world of grasslands. Across the endless plains, Blood-haired Mammoths were scattered everywhere. As soon as he appeared, the sky-covering herd of Blood-haired Mammoths let out bursts of angry roars!

Blood-red, dense fur, a pair of sharp, long tusks, and eyes filled with madness and a desire for destruction. These were the Blood-haired Mammoths, the apex predators of this grassland!

"RUMBLE! RUMBLE!"

With an incredibly violent aura, the Blood-haired Mammoths trampled the grass with their thick, iron-like hooves, charging toward Lu Yan'an in a swarm.

"Tch!" Lu Yan'an sneered, and the illusion technique Huo Shen was immediately activated. His formless spiritual energy radiated outward, creating an illusionary zone within a five-hundred-meter radius around him.

"BOOM!"

In an instant, the many Blood-haired Mammoths within the range of his spiritual energy trembled, swayed, and bled from their seven orifices before their soul auras were instantly extinguished. Meanwhile, the mammoths outside the illusion continued to charge forward without fear of death. Before long, the grassland world was stained red with blood, and the corpses of Blood-haired Mammoths were everywhere!

Lu Yan'an simply stood there, not having moved a single step, and not even a drop of blood had touched the area within a hundred meters of him!

"Illusion techniques have nothing to fear from group attacks, especially low-quality ones like these!" To him, enemies of this caliber didn't even count as a warm-up. Although these Blood-haired Mammoths looked intimidating, that was all there was to them; anyone present could punch right through them!

Suddenly, Lu Yan'an, having completed the first level of the trial, vanished from the first floor. When he opened his eyes again, he had already arrived at the second floor...

In the Virtual Universe, 1008 Immortal beings were standing around the central plaza, chatting casually. They couldn't easily leave their posts during this gathering; after all, this was the first Genius Tournament, and they would eventually have to give an account to their respective country lords.

The eliminations in the Trial Space were not broadcast to the entire universe; only the changes in the rankings were made public.

Only the final arena duels would be broadcast publicly! However, the Immortal beings from the various universe countries had the authority to watch the trial progress of every participant.

"There really are quite a few geniuses who hid their strength during the internal selections of their universe countries! This is an unexpected surprise!"

"Indeed."

These Immortals were commenting on the geniuses who had put on astonishing performances. Since the top 100 in the trial rankings would directly receive a spot, there was no longer much point in hiding their strength. This caused many true powerhouses who had been concealing their abilities to erupt, which greatly surprised the Immortal beings.

"Marquis Cangming, those two little guys from your Ganwu Universe Country are at a huge disadvantage in this kind of assessment!" An Immortal spirit with azure hair said to Marquis Cangming. "The Trial Space is, after all, just a trial, not a one-on-one duel! Furthermore, the creatures arranged inside include metal lifeforms and mechanical puppets, all of which are immune to soul attacks. Those who specialize in soul attacks are at a great disadvantage."

One-on-one, human versus human.

The talents selected this way would be somewhat different from those who cleared the Trial Tower.

Marquis Cangming nodded, also feeling quite a headache. Who could have known the Trial Tower would have this kind of test? But the rules of the Virtual Universe Company could not be defied by anyone; they could only be accepted.

"Indeed! Our Ganwu Universe Country is in a difficult spot now!" Marquis Cangming said with a helpless expression.

"It's fine, aren't they also martial artists who have grasped a trace of the origin laws? They still have a great chance, even if they might be at a slight disadvantage!" an Immortal spirit who was on good terms with Marquis Cangming comforted him from the side.

"That's right, don't worry, Cangming. The Virtual Universe Company must have taken these factors into account! You don't need to be so troubled." Another Immortal spirit chimed in.

"I'll take your word for it. I hope so!" Marquis Cangming sighed and said.

He looked at the screens displaying Lu Yan'an and Illusion Dream with hopeful eyes, wishing in his heart that their strength as martial artists could keep up with the average level of all the geniuses in the entire universe!

You two must make me proud! Marquis Cangming shouted in his heart.