The Genius Tournament Begins

Time flies, Years pass quickly.

For a star with a lifespan of tens of thousands of years, a hundred years is merely a period of seclusion, a time to practice a secret technique.

However, for Jiang Yao, these nearly two hundred years of cultivation had already surpassed the lifespan of his previous two lives.

"Both 'Eye of Zhenhuang' and 'Zhenhuang Sacred Body' have been cultivated to the second level, possessing four times the Soul Amplitude and Body Amplitude."

Jiang Yao at the core of a star. The violent energy radiating outwards from the inside suddenly became docile and obedient when it reached him. The high temperature of tens of millions of degrees seemed to be like air to him.

You could even say he is part of the star.

This is all thanks to the changes, or rather, evolution, brought to his body by operating the <Nine Transformations of the Desolate God>.

Almost every time he transforms into Bizhang, his body undergoes a leap in physical strength.

By now, his body's genes have reached 45 times. Although this is nothing compared to the Desolate God Bizhang, it is an unimaginable achievement for a human body.

If he could achieve immortality now, the basic divine body of Ordinary Immortal is usually 100 times the combat power of a World Lord, while his basic power would reach 4500 times. If we add the 4 times Body Amplitude of the second level of the "Zhenhuang Sacred Body", that would be at least 100 times the World Lord Power.

This already surpasses the basic power of a god's body at the Initial King, and of course, this does not take into account factors such as Undying Body and comprehension of the Origin Law.

However, as the body's genes improve, the effects of transforming into Bizhang also weaken. Of course, it can still continue to improve, but only gradually.

Along with the improvement in physical genes, there is also an increase in the degree of compatibility with the four Origin Law of fire, light, space, and time.

In addition, while cultivating the Sui Divine Weapon and the Xing Divine Weapon, Jiang Yao also took the opportunity to cultivate a secret technique of Mental Power Amplitude that he had seen on Yuluo Island in the Jiuyuan Holy Land to its highest level—36 times.

Generally speaking, the limit of the Mental Power Amplitude of a Realm Lord is 100 times. However, considering the 4 times Soul Amplitude of the second level of the "Eye of Zhenhuang", Jiang Yao's Mental Power Amplitude has already broken through the traditional limit, reaching 144 times.

Furthermore, Jiang Yao's soul essence underwent another transformation due to the advancement of the Xu Yuan Space to the second level. If he were to encounter the Soul Attack of Cang He, a cosmic-level genius from the Guluo Secret Realm, he would have no worries at all.

Jiang Yao's expression suddenly changed. He had received an email and immediately entered the Virtual Universe.

The Virtual Universe, Kasolo Island, Lanhui City, is ablaze with lights and bustling with crowds.

Jiang Yao arrived at the rooftop of a building and saw four people with surprised and delighted expressions.

The Old Patriarch of the Yanhe Branch, Meng Yi, the current Patriarch, Dika, as well as Prose and Kuman.

"You haven't had any contact with us all these years. Yinhu Island spread rumors that you died in some trial. At first, no one in the clan believed it, but you haven't sent us a single message. Even Lord Kasa personally went to ask His Majesty Kasolo, but His Majesty ignored us."

"Over the years, more and more people in the tribe have come to believe the story of Yinhu Island. If you hadn't emailed me a few days ago, I wouldn't have believed it even if I had told Dika and Prose!"

Tall and bearded Meng Yi excitedly pulled Jiang Yao aside and launched into a tirade of complaints.

Jiang Yao smiled and said, "These past few years I've been diligently cultivating under my teacher's guidance. As for why I haven't contacted you... it's mainly because Yinhu Island once sent someone to assassinate me. For my safety, I used this trick to create the illusion that I'm dead, thus fooling Silver Yinhu Island. At least to prevent them from making any more moves."

"What?! Yinhu Island has sent assassins to kill you again?!" The tall, young-looking Patriarch of the Yanhe Branch, Dika, was first shocked and angry, then somewhat worried. "And now you've suddenly contacted us, what if the news leaks out..."

Jiang Yao shook his head. "It doesn't matter if the news leaks, isn't the Genius Tournament about to begin?"

"Genius Tournament?" Dika chuckled. "Yes, yes, we've been fighting against Longshan Company for years, we almost forgot about it."

The former arrogance had completely faded, replaced by a resolute determination. Kuman was somewhat disappointed. "Is it already the Genius Tournament?"

Jiang Yao fell silent, wanting to offer comfort but ultimately remaining silent.

Because Prose and Kuman are already cosmic-level powerhouses, even top-tier ninth-order cosmic-level powerhouses, they are no longer able to participate in the upcoming Genius Tournament.

If their domains hadn't been below the ninth level, the two of them might have already become Domain Lord thanks to the abundant supplies of treasures from their clans.

Not only Prose and Kuman, but in fact, most of the stellar-level geniuses of the Lingtong Race who participated in the selection battle back then were raised to the ninth level of the cosmic level under the cultivation of the Nutrient Pod, and some even became Domain Lord.

After overcoming their initial passivity, and with the news of Jiang Yao's death during a trial being widely publicized on Yinhu Island, the Lingtong Race, feeling they had lost all their support and abandoned any hope of survival, instead unleashed an astonishing fighting spirit.

No longer fearing being intercepted by the Four Sacred Lands, they remain safely on various inhabited planets, not daring to step outside their territory; such an end would only be a slow death.

Instead, it completely unleashed the accumulated resources of the Lingtong Race, and a massive amount of treasures were transported by high-priced Virtual Universe Company transport ships and Universe Mercenary to various branches within the territory of the Kasolo Empire, as well as to the 216 star systems of the Main Sect.

In addition, they purchased a large number of space-class slaves and a massive amount of weapons and warships.

If it weren't for the requirement of cultivating the domain to become a domain Domain Lord, given the Lingtong Race's capabilities, they would have cultivated far more than just a large number of universe-level beings.

While this resulted in a significant depletion of the race's resources, it also led to a substantial increase in combat power, enabling them to launch attacks on all sides and virtually wipe out all the "Star Pirates" within their territory.

They even organized fleets to fight against the cosmic warriors of the Four Sacred Lands outside the territory of the Lingtong Race.

The Four Sacred Lands were caught off guard for a while, since they wouldn't use Sacred Land accumulated Four Sacred Lands to upgrade all their warriors to the cosmic level on a large scale.

Because of the domain barrier, the number of Domain Lord is far less than that of Universe Lords, not to mention World Lords. Therefore, only a few fleets that harass and attack the Lingtong Race are led by Domain Lord, while the majority are Universe Lords.

The Lingtong Race now holds a significant advantage among the core forces of the cosmic warriors.

Although the Lingtong Race was still at a disadvantage against the combined forces of the Four Sacred Lands, they had essentially pushed the battle line from within their territory to outside their territory.

Under the threat of Kasolo, the Immortal Expert of the Four Sacred Lands will not take direct action. At most, they will send world lords to wipe out a large number of the Lingtong Race's forces in one fell swoop.

The Lingtong Race was not to be outdone. Their remaining dozen or so Realm Lords launched attacks from all sides, aided by a large number of Planet Destroyer Cannon and laser cannons they had purchased, as well as various treasures accumulated within their clan. Although they also lost several Realm Lord Elder, their opponents suffered far more casualties.

The Four Sacred Lands wouldn't risk their lives against the Lingtong Race, treating their World Lord Level experts as expendable resources. Therefore, their offensive eased slightly, and they stopped sending realm lords near the Lingtong Race's territory, engaging in a protracted war of attrition with the Lingtong Race, treating it as training exercise.

Although the Lingtong Race suffered heavy casualties in this fierce battle, a large number of powerful individuals emerged as a result. Among the group of stellar-level geniuses from three hundred years ago, several Domain Lord experts were even born.

Even Prose and Kuman became well-known cosmic-level powerhouses in the Longshan Federation, and quite a few Longshan Federation cosmic-level beings died at their hands.

Because the Yanhe Branch was only a remote branch, the Four Sacred Lands were focused on dealing with their Main Sect and did not spare any energy to target the Yanhe Branch.

Therefore, the main enemy of the Yanhe Branch is the Longshan Company.

With Meng Yi, the Domain Lord, in charge, and a large number of cosmic-level warriors, the Yanhe Branch and Longshan Company were locked in a fierce battle.

After all, of the eleven Domain Lord directors of Longshan Company, only four are truly in charge, rather than just nominal ones.

With the abundant treasures provided by the Main Sect, Meng Yi has already advanced to the ninth level of the Domain Lord level. Coupled with his Bloodline Divine Ability, which is famous for its defense, he is not afraid of the four directors of Longshan Company.

Jiang Yao could fully sense the terrible price the Lingtong Race had paid over the past few hundred years, and the transformation that followed, from Meng Yi and the others' seemingly casual narration.

He couldn't help but chuckle to himself, "This must be Teacher Kasolo's 'special care'."

Kasolo once told him that Jiuyuan sent him an email before he died, asking him to take care of the Lingtong Race.

However, Kasolo only issued a decree for 10 eras to protect them, but he didn't provide complete protection; he only provided half of the protection. After that, he seemed to completely abandon the Lingtong Race.

It now seems that Kasolo was there to make the Lingtong Race what they are now.

This powerful immortal, whose clan was wiped out and who fought his way up from the Outer-Region Battlefield, had a completely different ideology from Jiuyuan's; he believed only in blood and fire.

If the Lingtong Race still harbors the same fear of losing too many members as they did after Jiuyuan's fall, even demanding that their members not leave the inhabited planet at will, and placing all their hopes on Jiang Yao and Kasolo, then Kasolo probably wouldn't care about the fate of the Lingtong Race at all.

It was only after the Lingtong Race rose up and risked everything to fight the Four Sacred Lands head-on that Kasolo threatened the Immortal God of the Four Sacred Lands for ten eras against bullying the weak and attacking the low-level powerhouses of the Lingtong Race.

"Actually, there's nothing to regret. My talent wasn't that great to begin with, and after so many life-or- Life-and-Death Battle, my domain is only at the sixth level. If I were at the Stellar level, it would be even more impossible for me to reach the Sixth-Level Domain now. Even if I participated in the Genius Tournament, it wouldn't really make any sense."

Prose seemed to have no regrets, speaking with great nonchalance.

Suddenly, an enormous black notice appeared out of thin air above the Kasolo Island, with dazzling white characters flashing on it!

The Virtual Universe Company's once-every-ten-thousand-year Peak Genius Tournament of the Cosmic Humans's most outstanding human geniuses has begun!

Because the land and space occupied by Jiuyuan City required a large amount of wealth to be leased from the Virtual Universe Company, after Jiuyuan's death, the number of outsiders in Jiuyuan City decreased significantly, and commerce declined. As a result, the Lingtong Race abandoned Jiuyuan City, so most of the Lingtong Race lived in Lanhui City, the center of Kasolo Island, in the Virtual Universe.

Countless people in Lanhui City, including Jiang Yao and Meng Yi, looked up in awe at the words on the notice under the light.

Kuman's disappointment had vanished. He stopped looking at the huge notice and turned to Jiang Yao with a bright gaze. "You should be confident, right?"

Meng Yi, Dika, and Prose also looked at Jiang Yao.

What exactly is the level of certainty? Is it the certainty of ranking in the top 1,000 of Xuanshang Universe Country? Or is it the certainty of entering the Virtual Universe Company?

They didn't even dare to ask too many questions.

Although the Lingtong Race rekindled their fighting spirit amidst blood and fire, the sacrifices they made were irreparable. Not only Elder Luo of the Yanhe Branch, but also six of the dozen or so Realm Lord Elder in the Main Sect had died, leaving only ten Realm Lords in the once-famous Jiuyuan Holy Land.

Unlike cosmic or even Domain Lord, world lords cannot be forged through hundreds of years of blood and fire.

If this kind of attrition continues, the future of the Lingtong Race will remain bleak. The Four Sacred Lands, led by Yinhu Island, saw this and obeyed Kasolo's orders, while also deliberately reducing the intensity of their conflict with the Lingtong Race.

However, for the Lingtong Race to escape their predicament, what they need is not the birth of several World Lords, but an Immortal God, or a peerless genius who can shine brightly in the universe.

Jiang Yao remains the only hope for the Lingtong Race.

"Don't worry, I'm confident!"

Jiang Yao is ready to face the Genius Tournament, and the pressure and danger that may come with it.