The next second, he found himself inside a magnificent palace hall.
Looking around, he spotted Ares, Isabel, Naraku, Raymond, and a host of other Imperial Star Geniuses. Clearly, all of them had been keeping a close eye on registration from the very start.
"Haha, Li Wen, I knew you'd come!" Ares greeted him with a hearty laugh, fighting spirit blazing in his golden eyes. "You saw the Golden Ranking, right?"
Li Wen nodded. "I saw it as soon as I came in. Quite the spectacle. I just haven't found the registration link yet."
"The registration link?" Ares smiled, looking as though this was exactly what he had expected.
"There's no rush. As usual, once registration officially opens, the Source Network first releases the announcement and the Golden Ranking to build excitement and let the news spread.
"The actual registration portal won't appear until exactly noon, Imperial Star time. It'll show up simultaneously on every Virtual Universe user's interface. We've still got plenty of time."
"I see." Understanding dawned on Li Wen, and he silently marveled at the importance of information.
Even with Star Nexus helping him search, he would probably have wasted quite a while longer if Ares hadn't explained this unwritten custom.
Everyone soon launched into an excited discussion about the approaching genius tournament.
Their conversation revolved around potential opponents, the empire's seeded contestants, glorious past achievements, and the irresistibly generous rewards.
Isabel sat quietly to one side, occasionally glancing at Li Wen.
Naraku, Raymond, and the others were deeply curious about him. How far would this fellow from a basic empire, who had worked one miracle after another, go in the genius tournament?
Time slipped quietly by as they chatted.
There were still nearly four hours until noon, and none of them wanted to sit around waiting.
They