The Virtual Universe, the 17th World Sector of the Gulun Universe Kingdom's preliminary selection.
Above a transparent barrier nine thousand meters high.
One spaceship after another flew past.
Inside one of them, the Jiang Family and the Luo Planet Alliance's leaders watched the islands below, covered in dense silver forests, through the virtual exterior view.
Jiang Ying, who had already reached the Star Level, asked in puzzlement, "The trees are so dense. Can we even see anyone?"
Beside her, Angemon, the leader of the Huanming Guard, who was clearly Dragon-Man and wore Black Scale Armor, laughed. "This World Sector seems to be modeled after Silver Wood Planet, the sacred planet of the He-Wing Clan.
"But it has far fewer islands than Silver Wood Planet—only ninety-one. Each one is covered in forests of Silver-Vein Wood over a thousand meters tall, making them ideal for hiding.
"Both the ground and the branches and leaves of the Silver-Vein Wood have been set to C9 Rank hardness.
"When the preliminary selection first begins, most contestants will surely hide beneath the Silver-Vein Wood's branches and leaves. They'll be very difficult to spot.
"But as time passes and the Silver-Vein Wood is continually destroyed in battle, the viewing conditions should improve."
Ever since the Blood Demon King had threatened Marquis Huanming over the treasure in Flint Star World, Marquis Huanming had dispatched a Huanming Guard unit to station itself on Luo Planet.
The leader of the Huanming Guard, Angemon, was a Peak World Lord powerhouse.
After Jiang Luo was accepted as a nominal disciple by the Gulun Kingdom Lord, the undying sent by Blood Demon Planet immediately left the Huanming Star Sector.
But Marquis Huanming did not withdraw the Huanming Guard unit protecting Luo Planet.
Angemon himself had no complaints about remaining on Luo Planet. On the contrary, he considered it a wonderful opportunity.
After all, Jiang Luo was all but certain to enter the Core Layer of the Giant Axe Arena.
Countless people wanted to make connections with him, but had no chance.
The Huanming Guard led by Angemon was said to protect Luo Planet, but it looked more like the Jiang Family's personal guard.
Yue Qin sounded disappointed. "Then it'll be hard to see A-Luo, too?"
Although the family often met in the Virtual Universe, they had only heard about Jiang Luo's reputation as an unparalleled genius.
The Jiang Family and the citizens of Luo Planet were still somewhat dazed by the news that Jiang Luo had entered the Ancient Wheel Hall and become a disciple of the legendary Gulun Kingdom Lord.
The Gulun Kingdom Lord seemed impossibly distant.
Even though everyone could connect to the Virtual Universe Network and broaden their horizons, the Gulun Kingdom Lord remained an abstract figure to them, someone they could hardly comprehend.
The Huanming Star Sector was already the limit of the known universe to them.
When they heard that Jiang Luo would take part in the Universe Human Peak Genius Battle, the Jiang Family and Luo Planet's leaders had been eager to see the legendary figure who had left their world.
Every person on Luo Planet was also keeping an eye on the rankings for the 17th World Sector.
Angemon looked a little embarrassed. "The other World Sectors are much the same. In the 16th, for example, the contestants are all underwater.
"The 75th is a city made up of skyscrapers. Most contestants are fighting inside the buildings, so you can hardly see them there, either."
There was something he did not say: these sightseeing spaceships that had come to the World Sector were really there to offer people the psychological comfort of feeling like they were right in the thick of things.
"But we can watch the rankings. With His Highness Jiang Luo's strength, he's sure to rank near the top of the 17th World Sector!"
Jiang Feng comforted his wife. "Angemon is right. The point rankings give us a clear picture, too."
The other Luo Planet Alliance leaders chimed in, all staring intently at the rankings on the spaceship's screen.
To the Jiang Family and the people of Luo Planet, Jiang Luo's strength and talent still seemed more like a legend than something real.
They only knew that anyone accepted as a nominal disciple by a Universe Country Lord had to be a peerless genius among peerless geniuses.
This Peak Warrior Battle had opened the eyes of the Jiang Family and the people of Luo Planet.
The Universe Country alone had 190 billion Universe Level powerhouses sign up...
The Jiang Family and the people of Luo Planet had no idea just how great a being the Universe Country Lord was, but they knew what it meant to be a Universe Level powerhouse.
They were powerful enough to dominate an entire star system.
And in the Universe Country, 190 billion Universe Level powerhouses had signed up for the Peak Warrior Battle. That meant nearly two billion Universe Level contestants per World Sector!
And according to Angemon, Jiang Luo could rank near the top among nearly two billion Universe Level powerhouses!
That was what finally gave the Jiang Family and Luo Planet's leaders some sense of Jiang Luo's standing.
Angemon shook his head slightly. These native humans were still too ignorant.
Still, it was quite a legend that His Highness Jiang Luo had been born into such a weak native bloodline.
"It's starting!" Jiang Ting's eyes shone as his body trembled with excitement.
Everyone else in the Jiang Family was a "lifestyle player" in the Virtual Universe.
He was the only one truly passionate about combat.
Even when gaming, he preferred combat-focused games.
He had even spent a great deal of money to experience fighting firsthand in the Killing Field, but had quickly been beaten so badly that he'd nearly given up.
Usually, he could only watch the deathmatch broadcasts from the Giant Axe Arena to satisfy his craving.
Once the others on the spaceship learned that it would be difficult to see the contestants at first, they all fixed their eyes on the point rankings.
Only Jiang Ting continued to stare hopefully at the islands below, covered in forests of Silver-Vein Wood.
Suddenly, Jiang Ting cried out, "I see Big Brother! He's flown above the treetops!"
"What?"
Everyone on the spaceship looked down.
Sure enough, they could see a figure in a white Force Battle Suit flying out of the silver forest and hovering high in the air.
Angemon was startled. "His Highness Jiang Luo is being far too reckless!"
At the start of the preliminary selection, everyone would hide among the branches and leaves. Someone like Jiang Luo, brazenly flying above the treetops, would easily attract a concentrated attack.
Jiang Luo's vision blurred, and he found himself in darkness.
Layer upon layer of branches and leaves blocked out the light above him. Only scattered flecks of light fell on the ground.
"Sure enough, it's C9 Rank hardness..." Jiang Luo reached out and touched the bark of the tree beside him.
This World Sector was clearly well suited to hiding and launching surprise attacks.
At least, in the early stages.
C9 Rank hardness couldn't withstand attacks from powerful Universe Level fighters.
To him, these forests of Silver-Vein Wood, each tree over a thousand meters tall, were nothing more than cardboard that happened to be a little tougher.
Jiang Luo pushed off the ground and shot upward like an arrow.
He burst straight through the thousand-meter-high treetops.
His action was like a candle flaring to life in the dark, immediately drawing the attention of contestants hidden in the Silver-Vein Wood forest.
"Someone's already flown out above the treetops? What an idiot!"
"Haha, I didn't expect points to come to me so soon!"
"Soul Attack!"
A burly man standing on a thick branch looked up with a menacing grin. Three shuttle-shaped psychic weapons shot upward like lightning.
In the blink of an eye, they burst through the dense canopy and flew toward Jiang Luo in a triangular formation.
Jiang Luo had just emerged above the treetops and entered the open sky when he sensed more than ten invisible waves shooting toward him one after another.
Soul Attacks!
Soul Attacks were impossible to dodge.
In an instant, they reached his sea of consciousness.
Jiang Luo remained calm. A star that illuminated all directions turned slowly in his sea of consciousness, effortlessly blocking the Soul Attacks of more than ten Universe Level spirit readers.
For this Strong Ones Battle, he had spent the past two years cultivating the Primordial Spirit Secret Technique Primordial Spirit Star from the Cangyuan Map universe.
The Primordial Spirit Star might not stand out in other areas, but its stability and defensive power were astonishing.
For offense, he had the Demon Awl Forbidden Technique.
For defense, the Primordial Spirit Star.
He was exceptionally well prepared when it came to Soul Secret Techniques.
Once he had accumulated enough wish power to exchange for the Pre-Character Secret from the Nine Character Secret, he would have nothing left to worry about when it came to his soul.
Facing the three cone-shaped psychic weapons attacking from below, Jiang Luo merely glanced at them.
Spatial fluctuations spread outward.
The three psychic weapons immediately seemed to freeze in place, suspended in midair and unable to move.
Clearly, the ambusher wasn't very strong. He hadn't even crossed the threshold of a Law.
In this World Sector, he might not even rank in the top one thousand and one—or the top ten thousand.
If the attack had come from a Universe Level spirit reader who had crossed the threshold of the Origin Law, Jiang Luo's Spatial Imprisonment would only have greatly slowed the weapons, rather than stopping them completely.
"Spatial Law?! This is bad!"
The burly man who had launched the ambush was scared out of his wits and immediately fled. "Damn it, how did I run into a freak like this right off the bat? I should've known better. Anyone brazen enough to fly above the treetops like that is either an idiot or a super powerhouse..."
Jiang Luo's use of Spatial Imprisonment had also frightened many Universe Level contestants hiding in the forest below.
When they saw more than a thousand brilliant streams of light burst from the Glazed Long Spear on his back, their faces changed dramatically.
"Flint God Weapon?"
"A peerless expert!"
"Run!"
"Good heavens... is that the Lotus Domain?!"
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