"That little guy's 'Plowing' tactic looks simple and brutal, but it actually shows a great deal of wisdom. He's using the smallest effort to screen out his opponents as efficiently as possible. Anyone who can withstand his enhanced Black Stone Prison for even a moment has at least touched the threshold of a law or possesses some special means. They're elites worth fighting personally. As for those who can't even withstand the domain, they were bound to be eliminated anyway. They won't die unjustly." King Bibo leisurely added.
Everyone present was a powerful King. Their vision and powers of observation far surpassed those of ordinary people, and they could gauge a genius's potential from even the most basic techniques.
"Exactly! This is what a Genius Tournament should be! If they all fight one by one, taking forever to finish, when will it end? The little guy's approach is much more satisfying! At this rate, I doubt it'll take ten days for him to clear out most of World Zone 39 all by himself. By then, won't the points and ranking be his for the taking?"
The watching Immortals nodded in agreement. At their level, they had long grown accustomed to the cruelty of the universe. The Genius Tournament was a great culling, and Qin Zhao's overwhelming ability to sweep the field didn't strike them as excessive. If anything, it proved just how great his potential was.
"But acting this way may make him a target for everyone," King Fengyan said, frowning slightly. "If the other talented fighters in World Zone 39 who have some real strength recognize the threat he poses, they might join forces for a while."
At that, King Lanchen's lips curved into a faint smile. "Join forces? Before absolute strength, a rabble banding together is nothing but a gift of points delivered to his doorstep. I actually hope they do join forces. It'll give my disciple a chance to stretch his legs. His Black Stone Prison hasn't faced a worthy challenge yet."
Having witnessed his disciple create the Black Stone Prison from nothing, King Lanchen knew better than anyone how powerful it was. If Qin Zhao's opponents were Domain Lords or Universe Levels, then this approach really could backfire. But this was a Genius Tournament for Star Levels, and everyone's basic strength was restricted to the ninth rank of Star Level! Against the Black Stone Prison, powerful enough to overwhelm Domain Lords, Qin Zhao could achieve a complete rout!
Everyone turned their attention to the screen once more.
In World Zone 39, Qin Zhao continued to maintain his Death Domain. Like a moving natural disaster, he steadily advanced 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 long since surpassed a million, and his ranking had surged into the top thousand, continuing to climb at a steady pace.
Just as King Lanchen had predicted, Qin Zhao's "steamroller" approach to hunting had begun to draw the attention and wariness of some of the true powerhouses in World Zone 39. After sensing the heart-chilling fluctuations of his domain from afar, some talented fighters with considerable strength chose to avoid his edge and flee to more remote areas. Others glanced around uneasily and began contacting people in secret, seemingly plotting something.
Yet Qin Zhao, at the heart of the storm, didn't care in the slightest. He even hoped that some fearless fools would come to him of their own accord. As he maintained the Black Stone Prison, most of his mind was absorbed in refining his control over the domain, especially the part of Soul Assault guided by the mysteries of "Vitality." In actual combat, it seemed to have improved by an almost imperceptible degree.
Come on. The more, the better. Qin Zhao's gaze remained calm as he continued to command his Death Prison deeper into the desert—and toward the top of the points rankings—with unwavering determination.
Time slipped by amid the slaughter.
Qin Zhao controlled the Black Stone Prison like a god who commanded death, sweeping through the desert regions of World Zone 39 with Plowing. Wherever he passed, all life vanished, leaving only sand compressed by terrifying gravity, smooth as a mirror. His points soared, and his ranking held steady in the top ten of World Zone 39, even breaking into the top five for a time.
However, on the third day of the preliminary round, Qin Zhao slowly came to a halt. He hovered in midair, still maintaining the Black Stone Prison with a radius of a thousand kilometers, but the slaughter within it had temporarily stopped. Frowning slightly, he looked at the points on his arm screen. They were still increasing, but much more slowly than before.
"The efficiency's dropped." Qin Zhao understood. After three days of near-frantic culling, hardly any survivors remained in the vast desert region around him. Those left were either extremely powerful, having narrowly escaped from the edge of his domain, or exceptionally good at hiding, buried deep out of sight. It was no longer realistic to open his domain and earn hundreds or thousands of points at a time as he had before.
More importantly, he could feel that the density of "prey" in this area had dropped sharply. If he continued advancing aimlessly, he would likely waste most of his time searching for scattered targets, getting half the results for twice the effort.
"The preliminary round lasts a month, and only three days have passed." Qin Zhao's gaze flickered. "Those left are slippery little eels or tough opponents with some real strength. Instead of wasting time and effort dragging them out one by one, why not..."
An idea occurred to him.
With a thought, the nine Black Stone Cores maintaining the Death Domain abruptly changed their trajectories. Rather than circling around Qin Zhao, they flew toward a particularly tall, pillar-like weathered rock formation in the middle of the desert below.
"Vmmm—!!!"
The nine Black Stone Cores embedded themselves deeply in different parts of the rock formation, linked tightly to one another by the invisible power of laws. The next moment, the Black Stone Prison, which covered a radius of a thousand kilometers, shuddered. It stopped moving and became fixed in place, centered on the rock formation! Its power had not weakened. The chaotic gravity and invisible soul pressure still filled the area, as if the place had become an eternal forbidden death zone.
Qin Zhao himself flickered and appeared atop the highest point of the rock formation, as if he had teleported there. He sat cross-legged, his War Blade laid across his knees, and slowly closed his eyes.
He had actually... stopped hunting of his own accord, fixed the Black Stone Prison in place, and begun cultivating!
This move left the survivors struggling to stay alive at the edge of the domain or spying from afar baffled. It also came as a mild surprise to King Lanchen and the others watching from outside the Virtual Universe.
"Oh? He's stopped?" King Fengyan raised an eyebrow. "Does he think his efficiency is too low and plan to wait for his prey to come to him?"
"I don't think so," King Bibo said, shaking his head. "By fixing his domain here, he's drawn a boundary around a forbidden zone. Anyone with any sense would avoid going in. This seems more like... a declaration. Or perhaps he's changed his strategy."
King Lanchen looked at his disciple, seated like a mountain on the screen, and a glimmer of understanding and approval passed through his eyes. "He's raising a gu."
"Raising a gu?" King Jinlan mused.
"Exactly." King Lanchen nodded. "Only three days have passed in the preliminary round, and most contestants haven't accumulated many points yet. Even if he wiped out all the remaining survivors now, the total points he'd gain would still be limited. By holding his ground here, he's giving up active hunting and allowing talented fighters in other regions time to develop and build up their points."
"By the middle and later stages of the tournament, those who are still alive will all be elites among elites, and the points they've accumulated will be substantial. When he makes his move then, each person he hunts could be worth as much as dozens or even hundreds are now! And those who make it to the later stages will be more worthy opponents to hone himself against."
"More importantly," King Lanchen continued, his gaze deep, "he isn't wasting his time. Look closely. Faint ripples of space surround him. He's clearly comprehending the Law of Space and practicing his Ten Thousand Line Flow movement technique. He's turned this fixed domain into a place to cultivate, waiting for prey while improving himself. He's doing both at once."
At his words, everyone looked closely. Sure enough, although Qin Zhao sat cross-legged with his eyes closed, the space around him was subtly distorted, as if countless figures were being drawn along and moving in rhythm. It was clearly a sign that he was deeply comprehending Ten Thousand Line Flow. He had actually turned this noisy preliminary-round arena, filled with slaughter, into a quiet cultivation chamber!
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