In the vast Dark Universe, a blood-red triangular ship hundreds of meters long sped past at a constant thirty times the speed of light, heading straight for the Virtual Universe Company's headquarters in the entire universe.
Inside the ship, a young man with short black hair and black clothes sat cross-legged.
His name was Feng Hui.
Several months earlier, when Feng Hui regained consciousness, a piercing voice suddenly rang in his ears. "Virtual Universe Company!"
Still bewildered, Feng Hui instinctively turned to look. In the crowd stood a youth over six meters tall, golden from head to toe, with a single black horn on his head. His face was twisted with fury, and his eyes burned with madness as he shouted:
"I'm absolutely certain I can make the top 100 in the Genius War, maybe even the top 20!
"Why? Why did the Virtual Universe System eliminate me outright?
"Why did they send me straight to the worst of the Four Great Secret Realms, the Doomsday Secret Realm? I refuse to accept this! I refuse!!!"
"Virtual Universe Company? Genius War? Doomsday Secret Realm?"
The familiar words seemed to trigger something. Feng Hui felt a stab of pain, and countless fragments of memory surfaced in his mind.
It turned out that he had just bought a jade pendant at an antique market on Blue Star. As he left the market, he accidentally dropped it. When he picked it up, he saw a crack running through its middle. The moment he got it in his hand, the world spun around him. His body instantly disintegrated, and a wisp of his true spirit, carried by a streak of purple light formed from the pendant, tore through space and time.
The pendant carried him through the void for who knew how long. The crack deepened until, at last, it seemed unable to hold on any longer. It split completely in two, and Feng Hui split with it. His true spirit was divided into two parts: one fell with half the pendant into a vast world, while the other, together with the remaining half, dropped into a small sphere surrounding that world.
The original owner of the body he had transmigrated into was also named Feng Hui. He was a stellar-level peerless genius from the Human Race of Yuanchen Universe Country, taking part in the "Cosmic Humans—Peak Genius War" hosted by the Virtual Universe Company in the Virtual Universe.
He had distinguished himself in the Universe Country Selection Battle and ranked 237th in the Peak Grand Finals trial.
He had just won three consecutive matches in the arena elimination battles, earning the right to enter the Virtual Universe Company's Core Layer.
However, the Virtual Universe System had judged that he was not among the hundred best of the 900 geniuses selected through the three rounds of elimination battles. He had not even qualified for the final arena battle and had been sent straight to the worst of the Four Great Secret Realms, the Doomsday Secret Realm.
Just as he was seething with resentment, Feng Hui from Blue Star had arrived, carried here by the pendant.
As the memories in his mind merged with the scene before him, Feng Hui felt a storm rise within him.
Wasn't this—
Wasn't this the world of Swallowing Starry Sky?
Feng Hui had been a longtime avid reader, and he had read Swallowing Starry Sky many times because he loved it. He had never imagined that the pendant would bring him into this world. Here were Immortal Gods, whose lifespans were endless and who could never die; Universe Venerables, who ruled a Cosmic Kingdom and commanded countless galaxies; Universe Masters, who could Reverse Time and Space and bring the dead back to life; and even the great beings known as the strongest in the universe, who could make their words become law and stood at the very pinnacle of existence.
For now, though, none of that had anything to do with him. Feng Hui gave a bitter smile. The famous Peak Genius War was already over by the time he had arrived; the result was settled, and he had no choice but to accept his assignment to the Doomsday Secret Realm. Among the Virtual Universe Company's four secret realms for its Core Layer, the Doomsday Secret Realm was the outermost. If a Doomsday Secret Realm Member met someone from one of the three higher secret realms, they had to address them as "Your Highness" unless the other person was an Immortal or higher.
The names of the Four Great Secret Realms were easy enough to understand. Imagine a world evolving: first, it existed as a unified whole in its "primordial" state. Then it gradually began to take shape, entering the "primordial beginning" stage. Eventually, it formed a vast world: "Heaven and Earth." And when it declined and faced destruction, that was naturally "Doomsday." Primordial, Primordial Beginning, Heaven and Earth, Doomsday—the stages of a world's evolution also reflected the hierarchy within the Virtual Universe Company.
Fortunately, Doomsday Secret Realm Members still belonged to the Core Layer and could likewise enter the Primordial Universe to study its laws. There was still a chance he could achieve more in the future.
For now, they were merely stellar-level geniuses, and their paths to becoming strong had only just begun. Getting an early start didn't mean staying ahead at every step.
But whatever the case, Feng Hui's journey in the Genius War had come to an end.
There would still be arena battles to compete for places in the Primordial, Primordial Beginning, and Heaven and Earth Secret Realms, but he had no chance to take part. He could only watch from the sidelines. His Peak Genius War was over.
From the information in his memories, Feng Hui could also be certain that this was not the same Genius War that the original protagonist, Luo Feng, had participated in.
The top trial ranker in this Genius War was not Bolan, but Guge, a genius from the Ape Race.
However, Feng Hui couldn't yet tell whether this timeline was before or after Luo Feng's Genius War.
"Phew." Feng Hui took a deep breath. It didn't matter. Whether the timeline was before or after Luo Feng's, as long as he went far enough on the path to becoming strong, he would meet Luo Feng again someday, at the heights.
Some of the geniuses were still protesting and shouting that it was unfair, as if their complaints and demands could make the Virtual Universe Company give in. But Feng Hui, who had read the original novel, knew that this was nothing but wishful thinking.
The Virtual Universe Company, one of the five great powers of the Original Universe Human Race, had no shortage of geniuses.
Every ten thousand years, the Virtual Universe Company held a Genius War throughout the universe for those at the Stellar Level, as well as a Strongest Battle for those at the Cosmic Level. Over the years, it had recruited countless heaven-blessed talents and exceptional geniuses. It was fair to say that geniuses were everywhere and the strong were as numerous as clouds.
In that situation, a bunch of youngsters who hadn't yet grown up and had only enough talent to enter the outermost level of the Core Layer expected the Virtual Universe Company to change the rules of the final battle? They were simply arrogant and delusional.
The dissatisfied geniuses seemed to be making too much of a fuss. Many of the 1,008 powerful Immortals in the distance shouted angrily, and a terrifying Consciousness Pressure spread through the air. It pressed down on the 800 people who had lost their right to compete in the final battle. The young geniuses of every race, Feng Hui included, turned pale, their bodies trembling and their legs shaking uncontrollably.
"Damn it, I've barely transmigrated, and I'm already getting a show of force!"
Feng Hui clenched his fists. The veins bulged and twisted like earthworms as he strained to resist the terrifying Consciousness Pressure from the Immortal Experts, silently roaring in his heart.
As Feng Hui struggled to withstand the Consciousness Pressure, the Half Jade Pendant in his sea of consciousness suddenly began to glow.
"Right, this pendant brought me here. It must be an incredible treasure. Could this be my golden finger?"
As the pendant's glow grew brighter and brighter, an unfamiliar chaotic world appeared in Feng Hui's consciousness.
"Hm? It seems... I'm inside an egg?"
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