The Immortal's Evaluation

"Rest assured, Ancestor." Qin Ming smiled faintly, seeing through these rules with utter clarity.

"Kaluo, Windfall, Ganwu—these are our direct superiors. As long as we fulfill the proper courtesies toward these three parties, that is sufficient. As for the other powers..."

His tone was unhurried: "Send a unified reply, saying that I am in seclusion preparing for the upcoming finals and am not receiving guests for the time being. They will understand."

In this world where strength reigned supreme, a super-genius who had claimed first place in their world sector of the Peak Genius Tournament, with boundless prospects, possessed such "privileges."

Rather than spreading his energy thin on social maneuvering, it was better to make his stance clear. True experts only cared about the height you could ultimately reach, not momentary social polish.

Qin Ming enjoyed a rare period of peace for some time.

A few months later, the Emperor of the Kaluo Empire personally visited Lanfeng Planet, accompanied by a special envoy from the Windfall Empire's royal family.

The rewards they brought were so generous that even the entire Qin Family felt breathless.

The Emperor of Windfall Empire issued an official decree, permanently granting the entire Liusha Star Sector, currently under the Qin Family's management, to the Qin Family—or rather, to Qin Ming.

This meant that the Qin Family would transform from mere "administrators" of the star sector into its true, lawful "lords," a fundamental shift in their status and authority.

However, what slightly surprised Qin Ming was that neither the Kaluo Emperor nor the Windfall envoy, after announcing the rewards, made any hints of recruitment, nominal appointments, or demands for future allegiance beyond routine encouragement and congratulations. They soon took their leave.

This seemed unusual, but after a moment's thought, Qin Ming understood the reasoning.

The high-ranking officials of Windfall Empire knew well: a monstrous genius who had seized first place in their world sector of the Ganwu Universe Kingdom's Peak Genius Tournament could never be bound by a mere medium-level universe kingdom.

In the Ganwu Universe Kingdom, true top-tier prodigies would almost inevitably be absorbed into higher-level organizations like the Ganwu Dojo, or even behemoths like the Virtual Universe Company and the Giant Axe Dojo.

Water flows downhill; people strive upward. This was an unshakable truth of the universe.

Rather than making recruitment offers that would be rejected—and might even provoke resentment—it was wiser to generously grant substantive rewards and forge a bond of goodwill.

When Qin Ming eventually rose to prominence, this early generosity and respect might yield unexpected returns.

"Quite clever." Qin Ming gazed in the direction of the departing spacecraft, understanding in his heart.

Three years passed in the blink of an eye.

Virtual Universe, Ganwu Dojo Core Battle Arena.

A thousand of the strongest fighters, culled from billions of geniuses across the Ganwu Universe Kingdom, gathered here.

They came from different star sectors and different humanoid races, but without exception, they represented the pinnacle of stellar-level combat power in the Ganwu Universe Kingdom.

Everyone's gaze focused on the towering figure on the elevated platform ahead.

That was an immortal existence of the Ganwu Universe Kingdom.

He simply stood there, making no moves, even restraining all deliberate pressure.

But the fundamental gap in life level alone transformed into an invisible torrent, causing most of the geniuses below to pale, cold sweat soaking their battle suits.

It was a reverence born from the depths of the soul, impossible to suppress.

Only Qin Ming, standing at the very front, remained calm, his gaze steady.

The immortal's gaze swept across the crowd, finally landing on Qin Ming. A faint, almost imperceptible curve seemed to tug at the corner of his icy mouth.

"You are not bad."

Three simple words, yet they struck like a hammer against every genius's heart.

To receive personal recognition from an immortal existence was itself a supreme honor.

Then, that icy voice resounded once more throughout the arena.

"Congratulations."

"You one thousand are the finest selected from billions of star systems in the Ganwu Universe Kingdom, earning the right to represent our universe kingdom and compete against geniuses from all other universe kingdoms!"

"However, the difficulty of the peak showdown will far exceed any battle you have fought before!"

"One thousand and eight universe kingdoms!

Among them, there are kingdoms with territories far vaster than our Ganwu Universe Kingdom, with star systems far exceeding ours!"

"Due to differing selection schedules within each universe kingdom, the final universe-wide genius peak showdown will officially begin one year from now.

This year is your last and most crucial opportunity for improvement!"

His gaze, cold as ice, slowly swept across every face below—some excited, some nervous, some defiant—his voice devoid of emotion.

"Make good use of this year. To be honest with you..."

"Aside from Qin Ming, none of you currently have the qualifications to break into the top one thousand of the finals."

With those words, the immortal's figure silently dissipated, leaving behind a thousand geniuses with turbulent hearts.

Almost simultaneously, a barrage of burning, sharp, and even resentful gazes, laced with unwillingness and scrutiny, focused squarely on Qin Ming.

Everyone standing here was a peerless genius, proud and unwilling to admit inferiority.

Yet that immortal had bluntly stated that aside from Qin Ming, none of them could enter the top one thousand of the finals!

Facing an Immortal, none of them dared to argue.

But Qin Ming was only first in the Eighth World Sector—and there were ninety-nine others present who held that same "first" title. Many in the crowd were unconvinced.

After all, some believed they hadn't fought for first place because they wanted to temper themselves through the arena matches.

Others were convinced they had hidden trump cards, and their true strength was in no way inferior.

In their minds, those who had taken first in their world sectors during the preliminaries were just mediocre talents afraid to push themselves.

"Qin Ming!"

A crisp, pleasant female voice—tinged with a hint of complicated emotion—sounded not far from where Qin Ming stood.

Yet Qin Ming didn't even turn his head to see who the voice belonged to.

The Immortal's seemingly casual "evaluation" before leaving had been like splashing cold water into a pot of boiling oil, instantly igniting the competitive drive and fighting spirit of every genius present.

Staying here now would be no different from making himself a target for all, inviting endless challenges or probing.

He had no interest in wasting time on such pointless contests of pride.

With a flicker of thought, his figure dissolved into a streak of light before the eyes of the crowd, directly logging off and withdrawing from the Virtual Universe.

"That bastard!"

Back where she stood, the woman who had called out to him stomped her foot in frustration, her delicate face filled with annoyance and a trace of barely concealed shame.

If Qin Ming had spared a glance, he would have recognized her—the first-place champion of the city in the Eighth World Sector whom he had dismissed with the comment, "Your illusion techniques are like a honey trap," and sent flying with a single sword strike. The silver-haired, heterochromatic-eyed illusion genius.

Of course, if Qin Ming had seen her, he would have been even more surprised.

After all, this was someone who couldn't even withstand a single sword strike from him, and whose illusions were pathetically weak.

If even she could make it into the top thousand of the Ganwu Universe Kingdom, it seemed the Ganwu Universe Kingdom truly had no one left.