The Sky Screen Opens-Who Could Have Guessed the Tenth Place?

In an instant, without a sound.

A colossal sky screen unfurled from the edge of the void.

It was like a painting spanning the entire Primal Universe, even more vast and profound than the last one.

The light flowing across its surface was not dazzling, yet every living being who looked up felt something indescribable gently brush against the depths of their soul.

It was not a pressure, but the scrutiny of a pure, emotionless Great Will.

Every Universe Strongest One and every Universe Master in the Primal Universe stopped whatever they were doing.

Above Chaos City, City Lord of Chaos slowly raised his head.

In the Virtual Universe headquarters, Founder Giant Axe gently set down the battle report in his hands.

Deep in the Demon Ancestor Secret Realm, Tremor Demon Ancestor and Dream Demon Ancestor opened their scarlet eyes at the same time.

Inside the Zerg Queen's palace, the graceful figure reclining on the throne slowly sat upright.

The Machine Race Divine Kingdom, the ancestral lands of the Starry Sky Behemoth Alliance, the Demon Beast Alliance Main Hall, the Prison Race Ancestral Mountain, the Crystal Race Holy Palace... and the independent powerhouses scattered throughout the Primal Universe.

Inside Shihua Island Master's Black Abyss Palace, at the edge of True Void Demon God's Flame World, and in E Zhou's Meteor Fortress.

They all turned their gazes toward the sky screen that had descended once more.

Meanwhile, on an unremarkable planet at the edge of the Milky Way Galaxy, Yang Yu sat cross-legged atop the mountain peak conjured by Jin King Palace. The Fire Dao at his fingertips quietly faded away.

He lifted his wine flask, a faint smile appearing at the corner of his mouth.

"It's been a million years." He murmured softly, "Let's see how capable the little fellows who make the list are this time."

Profound, unfathomable text slowly appeared across the sky screen.

[Sky Screen Ranking: The Primal Universe's Third Reincarnation Era—The Top Ten Geniuses Below Immortality!]

[Note: The sky screen is a manifestation of the Great Will of the Hunyuan Void. Its evaluations are absolutely fair and impartial!]

[Those who make the list will all receive rewards. The higher their rank, the richer the reward!]

[Evaluation criteria: A comprehensive assessment of talent, comprehension, temperament, will, and future potential.]

[Note: Ratings are divided into the following tiers, from highest to lowest: SSS, SS, S, A, B, C.]

When the final line appeared, the entire Primal Universe erupted.

The last Sky Screen Ranking had listed the top ten powerhouses, all of whom were Universe Strongest Ones standing at the very summit of the Primal Universe.

Those supreme treasures, Divine Power Burning Technique, and Hunyuan Void Fire Spirit Fruit—every reward had been enough to change the fate of an entire race.

And when the final rankings were revealed, Founder Giant Axe of humanity had placed second, while Mountain Sitting Guest had claimed first place with his God King realm.

The balance of power throughout the Primal Universe had been completely reshuffled.

But now, the theme of the second ranking was actually geniuses "below Immortality."

Countless gazes met among the stars, and countless thoughts clashed within countless souls.

What did this mean? It meant that the young prodigies trapped just short of Immortality, the World Lords laboring away in the secret realms of the various peak races—all of them would have the chance to stand on this stage.

And the fruits of each race's efforts over the past million years would receive the fairest possible judgment on the sky screen.

"The top ten geniuses... below Immortality..." Founder Giant Axe stood in the Virtual Universe's great hall, a confident smile crossing his rugged face. "Humanity's potential is nothing to scoff at."

City Lord of Chaos reacted as steadily as ever. He stood in the inner hall of the City Lord's Manor, hands clasped behind his back before a stone wall carved with names, his eyes fixed on the line at the bottom of the sky screen.

"Evaluation criteria: a comprehensive assessment of talent, comprehension, temperament, will, and future potential." He repeated the words slowly, a hint of anticipation flickering in his eyes. "As for temperament and will, Hong's performance in the Illusion Sea was nothing short of astonishing. And when it comes to comprehension, Luo Feng is even... I've personally kept a close eye on him all these years. I know his progress better than anyone. Humanity will claim at least two of the top ten spots!"

At that moment, City Lord of Chaos was brimming with confidence!

Demon Ancestor Secret Realm.

Dream Demon Ancestor and Tremor Demon Ancestor immediately drove every Universe Master from their subsidiary races out of the hall, leaving only the core powerhouses of the Monster Race behind.

The atmosphere inside was as oppressive as the stillness before a storm.

"It's been a million years..." Dream Demon Ancestor murmured, her silver serpent body twisting uneasily. "We poured every rare resource in the Ancestor Treasury into Demon Wing and Frost Parasite. If they can't even make the top ten..."

"They'll make it." Tremor Demon Ancestor's voice was low and firm, but the slight tremor in his eyes beneath his serrated shell betrayed his inner turmoil. "Frost Parasite endured three thousand years of a frozen trial alone in the extreme cold secret realm. His will and Law Comprehension both achieved a breakthrough. Demon Wing is somewhat weaker, but his speed and progress in fusing laws have reached a century-long peak among the royal bloodlines. Tenth place would be fine. As long as one of them makes the list, our Monster Race will have a chance to turn things around."

Zerg Queen's palace.

The queen had already risen from her throne. The Eternal Pearl in her palm gave off a hazy starlight, making her face seem dreamlike.

Behind her, three Zerg Warriors, carefully cultivated for a million years, hovered in silence.

Ren, Shadow, Erosion.

All three had endured countless trials over the past million years. Each was a rare genius in the history of the Insect Race.

"This queen would like to see how many places the Insect Race claims among the top ten geniuses."

Her voice was pleasant, but it carried a deep, tightly suppressed tension.

She knew all too well that if the Insect Race had few names on the list—or none at all—she would be in an extremely passive position in the next reshuffling of the Primal Universe.

Demon Beast Alliance Main Hall.

Beast Ancestor sat on the alliance leader's throne, his dark golden scales gleaming coldly in the dim light.

Behind him stood Lie Tianzun, Star Devourer, and Blood Fang.

These three peak World Lord-level demon beasts all possessed ancestral bloodlines. When it came to physical strength, they were nearly invincible among their peers.

At his largest, Lie Tianzun could cover a small region of the starry sky, while Blood Fang excelled at speed and assassination.

"The top three will probably be claimed by that freak, Luo Feng of humanity. His progress in fusing laws left everyone his age far behind long ago." Beast Ancestor tapped the armrest as he analyzed the situation. "But there can only be one first place. As long as one of you three claims a spot in the top ten, you won't have disgraced the alliance. Especially you, Blood Fang. You might not have the greatest talent of the three, but your temperament and will have consistently ranked first among those the Demon Beast Alliance has cultivated over the past million years."

Inside the Machine Race Divine Kingdom, Father God's computational core was making frantic calculations.

Zero.

The World Lord-level Machine Race warrior who had risen above three million candidates cultivated in parallel.

He stood on the platform before Father God's main body. His cold, mechanical frame betrayed no emotion.

"The Law Fusion Strike Module has reached a mid-stage bottleneck, but we have calculated sixty-four thousand possible response scenarios for the Genius Ranking." Father God's voice traced a steep curve across the holographic display. "The estimated probability of making the list... exceeds 98%! A top-ten position is within reach."

At the same time, throughout the Prison Race Territory, inside the Crystal Race Holy Palace, Snow Border Alliance, and the Starry Sky Behemoth Alliance's mountain hall.

Every faction, every great power occupying its own territory, looked up and held its breath beneath the same sky screen.

An untold number of Universe Masters interrupted their disciples' training for the first time ever. Countless King-level Immortals even intervened personally to steady the energy currents disturbed by the sky screen's arrival in secret realms. They did it only so their young geniuses could witness this unprecedented event in the best possible condition.

While countless eyes across the Primal Universe remained fixed on the sky screen, the inscrutable text finally began to reveal the tenth-place entry.

[TOP 10: Machine Race "Zero"!]

The instant those words appeared.

The powerhouses watching the sky screen across the entire Primal Universe were almost all shaken at once.

"It's him?"

It wasn't that the ranking was especially high. It was that no one had expected the tenth place to go to someone from the Machine Race.

The Machine Race was a people born without souls.

Their warriors were intelligent lifeforms, immune to Soul Illusions and possessed of an exceptionally cold and ruthless fighting style.

But in turn, they had no true "souls," and could not undergo the same temperamental transformations as flesh-and-blood beings to attune themselves to the Universe Operation Rules.

For a long time, every race had generally believed that the Machine Race could never score highly in the "temperament and will" category of the sky screen's evaluation.

Yet now, the sky screen had declared it plainly: Zero of the Machine Race had claimed tenth place among the top ten geniuses of the Primal Universe's Third Reincarnation Era!

Inside the Machine Race Divine Kingdom, Father God's computational core jolted.

Billions of data streams all stalled for 0.03 milliseconds at once.

For Machine Father God, whose computational capacity was measured in trillions of times the speed of light, even such a brief pause was enough to prove the depth of his shock.

"He made the list." Father God's voice rang through the holographic projection, carrying an almost imperceptible tremor. "Zero made the list."

Zero, standing on the platform, remained expressionless, but the temperature inside his mechanical core was rising at the fastest rate within its safe operating range.

It was his unique signal of excitement.

But what followed was a far more complicated round of calculations.

Father God's computational core whirred rapidly, cross-referencing the reward with the intelligence they had gathered on the geniuses of every race.

He knew the Machine Race's weaknesses all too well. Zero was a miracle produced through the parallel cultivation of three million candidates and a staggering expenditure of resources, but the level of the reward from the sky screen would directly determine the Machine Race's position in this contest of geniuses.

Demon Ancestor Secret Realm.

Shock and envy flashed through Dream Demon Ancestor's enormous serpent eyes. "The Machine Race? Those soulless lumps of metal can make the list?"

Tremor Demon Ancestor said gravely, "Zero... I've heard that name. He was ranked first among the elites in Machine Father God's seed project. The Machine Race invested a fortune in this batch of geniuses over the past million years. They built fifty War Factories just for him. I've heard his Law Fusion Strike Module is now the best in the entire race. Even so, making the top ten means the sky screen's evaluation criteria aren't quite what we expected."

"Whatever the criteria are," Dream Demon Ancestor snarled, "if the Machine Race can make it, why can't Demon Wing and Frost Parasite?" Her usual gloom was overtaken by the urgency in her voice.

Zerg Queen's palace.

The queen furrowed her brow slightly. She had expected the tenth place to go to some independent genius from a minor race who had suddenly risen, or a tough contender built up with the Demon Beast Alliance's resources. She hadn't expected it to be Zero of the Machine Race. What did this mean? It meant that the sky screen had recognized the Machine Race's investment in cultivating geniuses over the past million years.

"The Machine Race has no souls. Temperament and will should have been its weakness. If Zero made the list, his talent and comprehension must be terrifyingly high." The queen's voice remained calm, but her fingers had turned slightly white where they gripped the Eternal Pearl. Behind her, Ren's eyes glimmered with a cold light.

"But he's only tenth. There are still nine places above him. It's impossible for the Insect Race's geniuses to be inferior to a hunk of metal."

Ren said nothing, silently watching the sky screen. His nature as a Zerg Warrior meant he wouldn't experience complex emotional fluctuations like a human, but at that moment, the combat instincts within him were awakening with unprecedented intensity.

Demon Beast Alliance Main Hall.

Beast Ancestor looked at the name on the sky screen. His expression shifted for an instant before quickly returning to normal.

"Zero... I've heard Father God mention him." He spoke quietly to those around him. "The Machine Race kept him well hidden. Of the three million candidates they cultivated in parallel, only one made it through. It's no surprise he made the list. The real question is that he's in tenth place. If the nine spots above him are all divided among the disciples of humanity, the Insect Race, and our three races, then it's hard to say which of us will place ahead of the Machine Race."

Blood Fang stood behind Beast Ancestor, his scarlet eyes fixed on the sky screen. His reason told him that tenth place was only the beginning, but his pride wanted that name to be his.

At the edge of the Milky Way Galaxy.

Yang Yu slowly nodded.

"Zero... a little fellow from the Machine Race." He searched his memories for the name.

Over the years, as Yang Yu traveled through the Primal Universe, he had indeed seen quite a few memorable geniuses. Zero was one of them.

He lifted the wine flask and took a drink, a playful smile curling his lips. "Even you only ranked tenth. The little fellows of this reincarnation era really are impressive."

While the entire Primal Universe was still debating who had claimed tenth place.

Zero's battle projection began to unfold across the sky screen.

In a starry sky filled with chaotic flows, Zero's mechanical body gleamed silver-white. Countless energy circuits covered its streamlined shell, like a finely detailed star chart.

Its opponent was a Peak World Lord-level Special Lifeform demon beast with a Gene Level of nearly a thousand times the norm. It was as massive as a mountain, its entire body wreathed in ghostly blue flames. Its aura was so powerful that even an ordinary Marquis Immortal would have quailed before it.

At the start of the battle, the Special Lifeform demon beast lunged at Zero with overwhelming force.

The ghostly blue flames poured down in a vast torrent, burning great rifts through space. Tongues of fire closed in from every direction like living creatures.

Zero made no attempt to dodge.

Just as the flames were about to reach it, its streamlined shell suddenly unfolded.

Tens of thousands of wafer-thin Energy Deflection Blades activated at once, forming a rapidly spinning transparent shield around it. The instant the flames struck the shield, they were broken down layer by layer and scattered harmlessly through the starry sea as specks of light.

"That's the Machine Race's Energy Deflection Array."

This conclusion flashed through Machine Father God's computational core.

It was the third-generation Energy Deflection Array he had specially optimized for Zero, capable of weakening the direct impact of energy-based attacks to one-thousandth of their original force.

Among all beings below Immortality in the entire Primal Universe, there was no one else who could match this top-tier battlefield defense technology.