Matters at Headquarters

After arriving at headquarters, Feng Hui was soon led into an oval hall.

The entire hall was ingeniously designed, with transparent walls and ceiling that unreservedly presented the magnificent starry sky outside to every visitor who stepped inside.

Standing here, one truly felt as if placed within the vast universe, dancing with the stars and singing with the galaxy, genuinely experiencing the mystery and boundlessness of the cosmos and one's own insignificance, thereby igniting the aspiration to become a super powerhouse and roam the universe.

In the hall, some of the geniuses who had already arrived sat together in small groups.

Where there are people, there are factions, and in many places, a gap exists between veterans and newcomers.

Within the Virtual Universe Company, the old members of the four secret realms almost all looked down on these newcomers who had just been selected through the Genius War to join the core layer.

However, the veterans were indeed far stronger than the newcomers and had the capital to be arrogant.

After all, most newcomers would be eliminated by the veterans to the next secret realm during their first Secret Realm Qualification Battle.

Very, very few newcomers could survive their first Secret Realm Qualification Battle and remain in their original secret realm.

The two sides were clearly divided, with almost no interaction between them.

As for the newcomers who entered the Virtual Universe Company's core layer together, during the three-year journey, they often cultivated in the virtual universe and occasionally interacted.

Over those three years, aside from a very few extremely reclusive individuals, many had become friends, at least occasionally gathering for small talk.

Perhaps many of them had been extremely aloof in the past, being the top super geniuses of their respective star systems and star regions, unmatched among their peers.

But aloofness stemmed from loneliness—without encountering opponents of the same caliber, there was naturally no common ground.

After all, dragons do not associate with snakes.

And those who could enter here were all ranked in the top 1,000 of the entire universe in the Genius War, each a peerless genius who recognized each other's strength, making it natural to form friendships.

Of course, because of the treatment tier differences set by the Virtual Universe Company from the start, there were also gaps between different secret realms.

Moreover, members of the same secret realm were all in the same zone of the virtual headquarters, making it convenient to interact.

Thus, newcomers in the same secret realm naturally grew closer, which was evident from where they sat.

The few from the Taichu Secret Realm sat together, those from the Heaven and Earth Secret Realm sat together...

Those from different secret realms rarely mixed. In just three years, the 1,000 newcomers who had just joined the core layer had naturally formed their own circles.

Those from the Doomsday Secret Realm resented those from the Heaven and Earth Secret Realm, and those from the Heaven and Earth Secret Realm resented those from the Taichu Secret Realm...

Geniuses were all proud, especially since the Virtual Universe System had directly drawn matches for battles. Some didn't even get a chance to fight before being assigned to the Doomsday Secret Realm or Heaven and Earth Secret Realm, and many geniuses were dissatisfied back then.

All were peerless geniuses, and none believed they would forever be inferior to others.

Moreover, many had come from humble beginnings without good secret techniques. Over these three years, they had received points from the Virtual Universe Company, purchased secret techniques to cultivate, and greatly improved their strength, making them even more discontent.

Not to mention them—even Feng Hui, feeling his own strength had skyrocketed, was itching to challenge the upper secret realms.

It was only human nature, and it was precisely the competitive atmosphere the Virtual Universe Company's higher-ups wanted to foster.

The secret realm qualifications determined by the Genius War were not set in stone. The capable rise, the incapable fall—that was how it should be.

Within the core layer of the Virtual Universe Company, it was like sailing against the current: if you didn't advance, you fell back.

As time passed, soon all 1,000 geniuses selected through the Genius War had arrived.

"Everyone, follow me. Do not resist."

A cold, icy voice suddenly rang out.

Then, a freezing, mighty force enveloped the assembled 1,000 geniuses, carrying them away like a streak of light, as cold as an iceberg.

"Swoosh"

Moments later, the geniuses, shivering from the irresistible icy force, were set down.

Only then did they see that it was a black-robed man with an icy, cold expression and a body of frost crystals who had brought them here.

"All aboard the spaceship."

When the geniuses had recovered from the cold, the black-robed man with frost crystals said coldly.

Looking up, a massive palace appeared before them.

Its shape resembled a medieval castle on Earth, with towering spires piercing the sky, yet its overall structure exuded an ancient, chilling feel.

The palace's surface seemed covered in a thin layer of frost and snow, as if even time had frozen before it, and the endless chill seemed capable of freezing the surrounding air.

Under the starlight, the palace appeared especially cold and hard, covered in countless tiny carvings depicting ancient and mysterious runes.

They flickered with a deep blue light, like countless stars dancing in the night sky. The void around the palace seemed devoured by this chill, forming twisted patches of light and shadow.

"Is this really a spaceship?"

Many geniuses were dumbfounded.

No matter how they looked at it, it seemed like a palace, not a spaceship at all.

"It's different from the G-Class Spaceship I know!"

A genius who seemed to have an especially deep background muttered to himself.

"Could this be... a flying palace-type heavy treasure?"

Feng Hui speculated inwardly.

It wasn't a G-Class Spaceship, yet it had this shape and exuded such a powerful aura. Combining this with descriptions from the original work, he guessed it was a heavy treasure of the flying palace type used by the Venerable hosting the Genius War.

It seemed the Universe Venerable hosting this Genius War was stronger than the Nine Swords Venerable from Luo Feng's era, since he could actually use a flying palace heavy treasure!

Urged on by the black-robed man, Feng Hui boarded the castle-shaped palace vessel along with the others.

Inside the vessel, the Black Armor Silver Horn Venerable, who was hosting the Genius War, stood there casually. Though he appeared nonchalant, the invisible pressure he radiated naturally made him the center of attention.

This was a Universe Venerable. In a world where all power resided in oneself and the strong ruled, a Universe Venerable not only enjoyed supreme status and glory but also possessed the terrifying ability to rewrite rules and influence the fates of countless people.

Hosting the Genius War was nothing more than a pastime for them.

It did have some significance, after all, the geniuses nurtured in this Genius War would become his subordinates once they grew.

But to think the hosting Universe Venerable would care deeply about it—that was overthinking things.

Feng Hui had read the original work and knew very well that, based on the probability of past Genius Wars, out of the 1,000 geniuses recruited in one Genius War, fewer than ten would survive to become Undying after ten million years.

Moreover, their batch was a very ordinary and mediocre one.

Having a few more Undying subordinates, perhaps not even one who could become a King Undying, held limited significance for a Venerable.

No wonder this Universe Venerable appeared so indifferent and unconcerned.

"Everyone's here, huh. Then, let's set off. To the Primordial Universe."

The Black Armor Silver Horn Venerable cast a lazy glance at the crowd and gave a casual order.

The castle-shaped vessel immediately took off, and moments later, it passed through a checkpoint, entering the cosmic passage leading to the Primordial Universe.