Marquis Immortal

"Good grief!" Qin Ming couldn't help exclaiming.

Nine billion two hundred million people, spread across ninety-two cities, meant that each city would hold an average of more than a hundred million contestants!

The land area of the entire Earth in his previous life had been only about 149 million square kilometers.

And the Eighth World Sector before him covered just over seventeen million square kilometers.

Evenly divided among the cities, each one would cover less than two hundred thousand square kilometers—not even as large as one of the major provinces in Huaxia in his previous life.

His gaze shifted to the rules for earning points.

[Killing a contestant grants 1 point and lets you claim half of their current points. The higher their rank, the greater the reward.]

[The dead will still be ranked. If you have enough points, you may still make the top 1,001 even if you die partway through the trial, as your points will only be halved. Do your best to earn points.]

[Reminder: Each person has only one life. Death ends your trial, and your points will be halved.]

With such a terrifying population density and such brutal rules, the contestants were clearly being encouraged to slaughter one another!

Sure enough, before Qin Ming had a chance to look around, a series of booms rang out outside. Contestants had already begun fighting.

At the same time!

"Bang!"

The door to his room was kicked open.

A contestant as thin as a bamboo pole leaned inside, baring his teeth in a savage grin. "You're my first."

"Idiot."

Qin Ming's thoughts stirred.

A streak of sword light flashed past.

His opponent didn't even have time to react before his head hit the floor.

"Points..."

Qin Ming lowered his head and looked at the screen on his bracer. The information displayed had already refreshed:

Contestant: Qin Ming (Windfall Empire)

Points: 1

Rank: 10,000,086

In just a few short breaths, his rank had fallen to over ten million.

That meant that, even though the competition had only just begun, more than ten million Star Level geniuses had already fallen.

"The trial lasts an entire month. At the start, the population is dense, so the fighting will be at its fiercest.

"By contrast, as the trial goes on, fewer people will be left alive. Those who survive will have racked up a huge number of points. Killing one of them then will be more efficient than killing hundreds or even thousands now."

Qin Ming remained calm. He already had a plan.

"I'm no bloodthirsty maniac, and I'm certainly not some cosmic bully who can claim he was influenced by the Golden Horned Behemoth... There's no need to rush into a killing spree."

"The longer this goes on, the greater my advantage will be. I'll wait until the last ten days before hunting down the truly powerful ones!"

Within the Eighth World Sector, contestants could fly no higher than about nine thousand meters above the ground. Any higher, and an invisible barrier blocked them.

Above that barrier, spaceships drifted through the sky.

In a private room aboard one of them, Qin Ming's family patriarch, his parents, and several of his siblings had gathered.

"I can't believe the Genius Tournament trial isn't broadcast to the public," Qin Ming's eldest sister, Qin Lan, remarked.

"If you want to watch the battles, you have to come to the World Sector in person and ride a spaceship to look down on them. And it isn't cheap."

"Big Sis, it's not hard to understand," Qin Shou, his second-oldest brother, replied with a smile.

"Nine billion two hundred million people fighting all at once—how could they broadcast it in real time? Looking down from above is the only way."

Through the spaceship's simulated exterior view, the Qin family could look down and see bloody battles breaking out in city after city across the continent.

They could zoom in at will and see each contestant's face clearly.

Of course, they couldn't observe anyone hiding inside a building.

"Big Sis, Third Brother's rank keeps dropping."

The speaker was Qin Ming's little sister, Qin Xue, who was only six years old. She held a screen displaying the Eighth World Sector's live rankings.

Qin Ming, Points: 108, Rank: 10,010,000.

"Xue, your third brother is hiding his strength," Qin Lan explained gently.

"The trial lasts a whole month. If he reveals his strength too early, everyone might gang up on him. No matter how strong he is, he won't be able to fight off hundreds or thousands of people at once."

According to the information they had gathered beforehand, in past tournaments, Star Level geniuses who had mastered the Ninefold Domain had almost always passed the trial.

Those with good luck even had a chance of making the top thousand in the Ganwu Universe Kingdom and qualifying for the final tournament.

So, unless Qin Ming had the bad luck to run into a peerless genius who had comprehended a law right from the start, passing the trial was practically a sure thing.

Above the First World District, aboard a luxurious spaceship, a group of elegantly dressed young men and women held wine glasses and enjoyed a feast as they watched the bloody battles below through the simulated exterior view.

"Haha, look! Just as I expected, the top-ranked contestant is a genius from a star region directly under our Universe Kingdom!" A handsome man nearly two meters tall, dressed in an ornate robe, laughed as he raised his glass.

"Tsk, tsk. Yu Guiwan, your Starfall Empire is making a name for itself this time. The only contestants in the top ten are from your empire," someone beside him chimed in.

The man called Yu Guiwan smiled faintly. "You flatter me, Your Highness."

"The Starfall Empire has always produced more powerful experts than any other vassal state under our Ganwu Universe Kingdom," the handsome man known as the heir remarked, before changing the subject.

"By the way, Yu Guiwan, I've heard rumors that your empire's Ancestor has already reached the Marquis level?"

"I've heard that too!"

"Yu Guiwan, care to tell us more?"

The Ganwu Universe Kingdom had a vast territory, and naturally, the Ganwu Kingdom Lord stood at the top.

Below him were the many powerful Marquis- and King-level figures.

Those granted the title of Marquis in the Ganwu Universe Kingdom didn't necessarily possess the true power of a Marquis Immortal. The title might simply be a reward from the Kingdom Lord for outstanding service.

But the Starfall Ancestor had reached the Marquis Level through his own strength. That was worth far more than an honorary title.

Throughout the universe, people felt a powerful sense of pride in their home regions and empires.

If an empire produced a supreme expert, the entire empire would be filled with pride, and other star regions and nations would look upon it with greater respect.

That was one reason the heir was especially courteous to Yu Guiwan.

Yu Guiwan's smile didn't change as he smoothly changed the subject. "I wouldn't dare speculate about the Ancestor. But I've heard that you, Your Highness, have been officially confirmed as Marquis Jinshui's heir?"

At those words, a hint of smugness rose on the handsome man's face.

He was able to discuss another empire's Ancestor because his own father was a genuine Marquis Immortal, and he himself had already been named his father's heir.

"Fenglin Yizhen." The heir suddenly turned his gaze toward a silent young man nearby.

"How come I haven't seen anyone from your Windfall Empire on the rankings?"

"Yeah, Yizhen."

"Last time, I don't think a single person from the Windfall Empire even made the top ten thousand, did they?"

"Forget last time. In the past few tournaments, the Windfall Empire hasn't produced a single contestant who could make the top ten thousand." This time, the one who chimed in was the heir to the Black Dragon Mountain Empire.