The First

Qin Zhao was no longer satisfied with hunting in the desert region. With a flicker of his figure, he pushed his Hundred Line Flow movement technique to the limit. Hundreds, even thousands of solid afterimages, like a migrating flock of birds, streaked across the sky and headed toward the other terrains of the world zone.

On the desolate Gobi Desert, several Earth-style law geniuses who excelled in concealment thought they were hidden deep underground, merged with the rock. Suddenly, an indescribable pressure descended from the sky, as if the entire earth were being gripped and squeezed by an invisible giant hand! Before they could even scream, they and the surrounding rock strata were crushed into basic particles and completely annihilated.

In a dense "forest" made of a certain hard crystal, a team of Spirit Readers specializing in combined attacks was resting, having set up layers of mental power surveillance. A black-robed figure appeared among them like a ghost without any warning, not even causing the slightest ripple in their alert network.

The next moment, an invisible soul shock swept through like a storm. The eyes of these Spirit Readers instantly dimmed, their consciousness dissipated, and their bodies slumped to the ground, turning into nothingness. From start to finish, Qin Zhao did not even move a finger.

On a vast, metallic-lustered plain, two geniuses who had respectively comprehended the Origin Law of Gold and the Origin Law of Fire were locked in a fierce duel, their force collisions erupting with brilliant light.

Suddenly, the movements of both combatants froze simultaneously. They were horrified to find that the surrounding air had become as viscous as glue. The terrifying gravity not only bound their bodies but also interfered with the circulation of force within them, making even their thoughts seem sluggish. Following that, a cold blade light, like lightning tearing through the night sky, swept past gently. Two heads, filled with shock and unwillingness, soared into the sky.

Deep underground rifts filled with corrosive energy mist; frozen lakes with floating icebergs and bone-chilling cold; shattered plains riddled with distorted force fields and unstable spatial structures...

No matter how complex the terrain or how harsh the environment, nothing could stop Qin Zhao's footsteps, nor could it provide the slightest shelter for the geniuses hiding within.

The Black Stone Prison sometimes shrouded a region like an invisible canopy, ruthlessly wiping out all life within its range; sometimes it condensed into a destructive torrent, precisely scouring away stubborn strongholds; and sometimes it transformed into ubiquitous force field traps, causing those who thought they were safe to perish instantly.

Qin Zhao's figure became a beacon of death. Wherever he passed, all things were extinguished, and his points accumulated like a snowball. The gap between him and the second-place contestant grew wider and wider, reaching a desperate level.

Virtual Universe, the exclusive viewing plane for the Noah Universe Kingdom.

King Lanchen, King Bibo, King Jinlan, King Fengyan, Yan Ji, and Yinfeng, among other Immortals, were still watching Qin Zhao's performance. But at this moment, the expressions on their faces had shifted from initial appreciation and surprise to calmness, and even a hint of boredom.

"It's no longer suspenseful," King Jinlan yawned. "This little guy is practically bullying people. I think the remaining people in World Zone 39 are almost traumatized by him."

"Indeed, it's dull," King Fengyan spread his hands. "I thought that 'God-Slaughtering Alliance' would let him stretch his muscles a bit, but I didn't expect... sigh, they didn't even qualify to make him draw his blade for a serious strike."

King Bibo covered her mouth and chuckled, "You all, don't set your expectations so high. For Qin Zhao, this preliminary is just a formality. His stage is in the final battles to come. Right now, he's just warming up and earning some points along the way."

King Lanchen looked calmly at the black-robed figure on the screen, who kept flickering, each appearance accompanied by a surge in points and a solidified ranking. He said faintly, "He is sweeping through with absolute strength, saving time and focusing on cultivation; his goal has already been achieved. First place in this preliminary is already in his pocket."

Just as the King-level Immortals said, the following days were more like a monotonous harvest for Qin Zhao.

The number of survivors in World Zone 39 decreased at the speed of an avalanche, and the resistance was so weak it was almost negligible. Many times, Qin Zhao didn't even need to show himself; he only needed to trigger the power of the Black Stone Prison from afar to suppress and kill hidden opponents remotely.

His points had long since exceeded one billion and were still growing at an astonishing rate, firmly occupying the top spot and leaving the second-place contestant behind by a multiple-fold gap.

Days passed one by one.

When the preliminary reached its final hour, there were fewer than a hundred geniuses left alive in the entire World Zone 39, excluding Qin Zhao. These people were all those who had pushed their concealment skills to the limit or possessed special life-saving means. Like frightened rabbits, they scattered into the most remote and inconspicuous corners of the world, trembling and praying for time to end quickly.

Qin Zhao stood in the center of the world zone, at the peak of the Sky-Propping Rock Mountain where he had once sat for ten days. He did not go for a final search, because it was no longer necessary. His points and his ranking could no longer be shaken by anyone.

He overlooked this world that he had almost completely "purified"—the desert, the Gobi, the crystal forest, the ice lake... The once noisy sounds of slaughter and energy collisions had long since disappeared, leaving only deathly silence. The wind and sand remained, but they could not stir up the slightest vitality.

The screen on his arm clearly displayed the final information:

Participant: Qin Zhao (Noah Universe Kingdom)

Points: 14936452119

Ranking: 1

World Zone: World Zone 39

Nearly 1.5 billion points! A landslide first place!

"Ding--"

A clear prompt sounded in the minds of all surviving contestants and echoed throughout the entire World Zone 39.

"Preliminary elimination has ended!"

"Teleportation is about to begin!"

Light flashed. At the peak of the rock mountain, Qin Zhao's figure, along with the last hundred or so lucky ones in every corner of the world zone, disappeared simultaneously. The world zone preliminary officially came to an end at this moment. With his undisputed, overwhelming absolute strength, Qin Zhao slaughtered billions of geniuses and accumulated a staggering amount of points, forcefully winning first place in World Zone 39!

As his consciousness returned to reality, Qin Zhao slowly opened his eyes in King Lanchen's cultivation plane. The month of slaughter and cultivation in the preliminary did not make him feel the slightest bit tired; on the contrary, due to the high-intensity application of laws and the tempering of his will, the force in his body became even more refined and pure. With a thought, he connected to the Virtual Universe network.

Virtual Universe, the exclusive plane of the Noah Sacred Land—Noah Sacred Mountain Square.

Light flickered constantly as figures were teleported back. Compared to the grand occasion before the start of the preliminary, where hundreds of millions of geniuses gathered with soaring fighting spirit, the square now appeared much emptier. A rough count of the returning figures showed only about one million. These were the geniuses among the direct elites of the Noah Universe Kingdom who had successfully survived the preliminary in their respective world zones.

After a brief silence, a huge wave of sound erupted in the square, filled with various emotions.

"Hahaha! I passed! 799th place, that was a close call!"

"Damn it! I was only seventeen places away! Just a little bit more points!"

"Sigh, bad luck, I was ambushed by a hidden law genius on the last day..."

"Survived... finally survived..."

Excited cheers, unwilling roars, regretful sighs, and the relief of surviving a disaster... all kinds of sounds intertwined. Everyone who could stand here was an elite, but the cruelty of the preliminary still exceeded the expectations of many. Fighting their way out of trillions of geniuses, even for the elites of the Noah Sacred Land, the elimination rate was shockingly high.