Tactical Shift

"This little guy's 'Plowing' tactic may look simple and brutal, but it actually contains wisdom. He is using the minimum cost to conduct the most efficient screening. Anyone who can endure his enhanced Black Stone Prison for even a moment is at least an elite who has touched the threshold of the laws or possesses special means, making them worthy of his personal attention. As for those who can't even withstand the domain, they were meant to be eliminated anyway; their deaths are not unjust," King Bibo added leisurely.

Everyone present was a powerhouse at the King level; their vision and observational skills were far superior to others, allowing them to discern the potential of these geniuses from basic techniques alone.

"Exactly! This is what a genius competition should be! If they fought one by one like old women, how long would that take? The little guy is doing it so refreshingly! At this rate, I reckon he could clear out more than half of his World Zone 39 all by himself in less than ten days! By then, points and rankings will be as easy as picking them up, won't they?"

The Immortals watching the battle nodded in agreement. At their level, they had long since grown accustomed to the cruelty of the universe. The genius competition was meant to be a process of weeding out the weak, and the overwhelming clearing ability displayed by Qin Zhao did not strike them as excessive; instead, it only proved his immense potential.

"However, acting in this manner will likely make him a target for everyone," King Fengyan frowned slightly. "Other geniuses with some strength in World Zone 39 might temporarily join forces if they realize the threat he poses."

Upon hearing this, a faint curve appeared at the corner of King Lanchen's mouth: "Join forces? In the face of absolute strength, a coalition of rabble is nothing more than a gift package of points delivered to his doorstep. I, for one, look forward to them teaming up; it would be just the thing to let my disciple stretch his muscles. His Black Stone Prison hasn't encountered a decent challenge yet."

Having witnessed his disciple create this Black Stone Prison from scratch, King Lanchen knew its power better than anyone. If Qin Zhao's opponents were Domain Lords or Universe Level, such a tactic might indeed risk a disaster. But the problem was that this was a Star Level genius competition, where everyone's base strength was restricted to the Star Level 9! Facing a Black Stone Prison capable of suppressing Domain Lords, Qin Zhao could basically achieve total domination!

The crowd's gaze turned back to the screen.

Inside World Zone 39, Qin Zhao continued to maintain his Death Domain, moving like a mobile natural disaster, advancing steadily across the vast desert. Wherever he passed, the yellow sand was compressed by an invisible force until it was as hard as iron, leaving behind a clear "Clear Sky Path" devoid of any signs of life. His points had already surpassed one million, and his ranking had cut into the top one thousand like a hot knife through butter, continuing to climb at a steady pace.

Just as King Lanchen had predicted, Qin Zhao's "steamrolling" style of hunting had begun to attract the attention and wariness of some true powerhouses within World Zone 39. Some talented individuals with considerable strength, upon sensing the heart-palpitating fluctuations of that domain from afar, either chose to avoid the edge and flee to more remote areas, or their eyes flickered as they began to secretly communicate, seemingly brewing something.

However, Qin Zhao, at the center of the storm, remained indifferent. He even hoped that those unafraid of death would take the initiative to deliver themselves to him. While maintaining the Black Stone Prison, most of his focus was immersed in the insights of fine-tuning his domain, especially the soul-assaulting aspect guided by the mysteries of the "Force of Life," which seemed to have made an imperceptible improvement in actual combat.

"Come on, the more the better," Qin Zhao muttered to himself, his eyes calm and waveless as he continued to drive his Death Prison, advancing unswervingly toward the depths of the desert—and toward the very top of the leaderboard.

Time slipped away quietly amidst the slaughter.

Qin Zhao manipulated the Black Stone Prison like a god wielding death, plowing through the desert region of World Zone 39. Wherever he went, life vanished, leaving behind only sand that had been compressed by terrifying gravity into a smooth, mirror-like surface. His points soared, and his ranking firmly occupied the top ten of World Zone 39, even breaking into the top five at one point.

However, when the preliminary round reached its third day, Qin Zhao slowly halted his advance. He hovered in mid-air, the Black Stone Prison with its thousand-kilometer radius still maintained, but the slaughter within had temporarily ceased. He frowned slightly, looking at the points on his arm display, which were still growing slowly but at a speed far inferior to before.

"The efficiency has dropped," Qin Zhao realized. After three days of his near-manic clearing, the vast desert area centered on him had very few survivors left. Those remaining were either extremely strong, having narrowly escaped the edge of his domain, or were experts at concealment, hiding deep away. It was no longer realistic to expect hundreds or thousands of points to roll in the moment he opened his domain.

More importantly, he could feel that the density of "prey" in this area had dropped significantly. Continuing to advance aimlessly like this would likely waste most of his time searching for scattered targets, yielding half the result for twice the effort.

"The preliminary round lasts for a month, and only three days have passed," Qin Zhao's eyes flashed. "What's left are either slippery eels or tough nuts with some strength. Rather than wasting time and effort to dig them out one by one, it's better to..."

A thought arose in his mind.

With a shift of his will, the nine black stone cores maintaining the Death Domain suddenly changed their trajectory. They no longer moved around Qin Zhao but flew toward a towering, pillar-like weathered rock mountain in the center of the desert below.

"Hum—!!!"

The nine black stone cores embedded themselves deeply into different sides of the rock mountain, tightly linked to each other through the invisible power of the laws. The next moment, the Black Stone Prison covering a thousand-kilometer radius shook violently; its range stopped moving and, centered on this rock mountain, became completely fixed! The power of the domain did not diminish; the chaotic gravity and invisible soul pressure still filled the area, as if turning this place into an eternal, forbidden dead zone.

As for Qin Zhao himself, his figure flashed, appearing at the highest point of the rock mountain like a teleportation. He sat cross-legged, his battle blade across his knees, and slowly closed his eyes.

He had actually... voluntarily stopped hunting, solidified the Black Stone Prison here, and entered a state of cultivation!

This move not only left the survivors struggling for life at the edge of the domain or peeking from afar in bewilderment, but also left King Lanchen and the others watching from outside the Virtual Universe feeling slightly surprised.

"Oh? He stopped?" King Fengyan raised an eyebrow. "Does he think the efficiency is too low and intends to wait for rabbits to hit the stump?"

"Doesn't look like it," King Bibo shook his head. "He solidified the domain here, which is equivalent to marking out a forbidden zone. Who with any sense would take the initiative to break in? This looks more like... a declaration, or rather, he has changed his strategy."

King Lanchen looked at his disciple sitting on the screen like a mountain, a flash of realization and approval in his eyes: "He is 'raising a venomous insect'."

"Raising an insect?" King Jinlan mused.

"Exactly," King Lanchen nodded. "The preliminary round has only passed three days, and most participants don't have many points yet. Even if he clears out all the remaining survivors now, the total points gained will be limited. By holding this position, he is effectively giving up active hunting, giving geniuses in other areas time to develop and accumulate points."

"When the middle and late stages of the competition arrive, those who survive will be the elite of the elite, and the points they have accumulated will be a considerable number. By then, when he strikes, killing one might be worth dozens or hundreds of kills now! Moreover, those who survive to the later stages are more qualified to serve as opponents for him to hone himself."

"More importantly," King Lanchen's gaze was profound, "he hasn't wasted any time. Look, there are faint spatial ripples around him; he is clearly comprehending the Law of Space and practicing his Ten Thousand Line Flow movement technique. He is using this solidified domain as his own place of cultivation, waiting for rabbits while simultaneously improving himself. Efficiency and cultivation, both achieved."

Hearing this, the crowd looked closely and indeed discovered that although Qin Zhao sat with his eyes closed, the space around him was faintly distorted, as if countless figures were pulling and rhythmically moving—a sign of deep comprehension of the Ten Thousand Line Flow. He had actually turned this bustling, slaughter-filled preliminary arena into his own private meditation chamber!