I Slipped Just a Little

The third floor, the fourth floor... all the way up to the seventh floor.

In the center of the vast desert, there is a green area with a huge sphere, about 60 or 70 meters in diameter, emitting poisonous gas.

"This is the Zerg Hive? It feels like I've seen it somewhere before," Xu Qing said, looking at the thing.

However, after thinking for a long time, he couldn't recall where he had seen it before; perhaps he had seen pictures of it online.

"You can pass the level as long as you kill the Zerg Mother Empress inside," Xu Qing glanced at the screen.

Then, Xu Qing directly manipulated the silk threads, transforming them into a whip several hundred meters long, and lashed it towards the Mother Nest.

Bang!

The Mother Nest exploded, and the Zerg Mother Empress inside was also reduced to fragments.

"That's it? That's too easy. Didn't they say the Zerg Mother Empress could spawn Zerg Warrior? How come I haven't seen a single one? Did I kill them before they even spawned?" Xu Qing scratched his head.

Could it be that he didn't follow the standard procedure? For example, should he wait until he gets close to the Mother Nest, allowing the Zerg Mother Empress to spot him, and then start spawning Zerg Warrior to attack him?

Xu Qing couldn't understand it, and he was soon teleported away to the second Trial Tower.

Upon reaching the second Trial Tower, Xu Qing could sense that the strength of the opponents on each floor had increased significantly.

However, it was still very easy for him.

This applies not only to Xu Qing, but also to other geniuses.

In the first and second Trial Tower, no geniuses were eliminated. It was only in the third Trial Tower that geniuses began to be eliminated, and in large numbers at that.

The second one... the third one... the fourth one... the fifth one.

Xu Qing fought his way through the challenges, eliminating all his opponents, and his score had reached 777.7 million.

The sixth Trial Tower.

Xu Qing looked at his points and ranking; he had risen to eighth place.

"Ah, I'm already eighth?" Xu Qing hadn't paid much attention to his ranking, and he didn't expect to jump straight into the top ten after passing the fifth Trial Tower.

At this moment, ten thousand Blood-haired Mammoth had already charged in front of them.

Among them, many of the Blood-haired Mammoth possess domains, which are completely different from the Blood-haired Mammoth in the previous Trial Tower.

Xu Qing leaped up and hung upside down in the air, arms crossed, looking thoughtful, his two long antennae from his lobster head swaying back and forth.

"What is he doing? Why is he not moving?"

Xu Qing had already attracted everyone's attention when he passed through the third Trial Tower and entered the fourth Trial Tower.

Even the Immortal beings from various Universe Country have begun to take notice of this unique lobster-headed genius.

When Xu Qing passed the fourth Trial Tower, he shocked the Immortal; yet another dark horse had emerged.

The most unexpected was the emergence of the Immortal Thirteen of the Ganwu Universe Nation. Besides Luo Feng and Rong Jun, another genius performed so exceptionally well.

This means that the Ganwu Universe Nation will have three geniuses in the top 1,000, which is nothing short of a miracle.

In previous Genius Battle, the Ganwu Universe Nation has only produced a handful of students who have entered the top 1,000, let alone two, let alone three.

"Huh? What's going on?" Immortal Thirteen looked puzzled as he saw Xu Qing hanging upside down in the air, motionless.

The same goes for the other Immortal. "What's wrong with this little guy?"

Xu Qing used his Spiritual Force to manipulate the silk threads and forcefully passed through the five Trial Tower. This unique contestant left a very deep impression on many powerful individuals.

"Should I keep pushing? I'm already in the top ten. What if I push harder and reach number one? No, that's too high-profile. Let's end it here," Xu Qing thought.

The next second, Xu Qing's body plummeted and was engulfed by the swarm of Blood-haired Mammoth.

"This..."

The Immortal who witnessed this scene were all astonished. What happened? Had something gone wrong? Otherwise, how could such a strange thing happen?

However, Virtual Universe Company would never resort to such low-level tricks.

"It looks like he gave up on the trial himself!" one of the Immortal remarked.

"In that case, it does look very similar," the other Immortal nodded in agreement.

Even the Immortal Thirteen of the Ganwu Universe Nation couldn't refute it, otherwise there would be no way to explain what happened to Xu Qing.

"Thirteen, this little guy from your Ganwu Universe Nation has quite a personality," the Immortal teased.

"That brat," Immortal Thirteen cursed inwardly, but remained outwardly calm. "He probably realized he couldn't make it through, which is why he gave up on the trial."

"Hehe, really? It doesn't seem like it. Judging from the speed at which he cleared the first five Trial Tower, this kid is definitely holding back."

"So far, we've only seen him use the ninth Wood Domain. There must be some Origin Law he hasn't revealed yet."

All the Immortal speculated.

Immortal Thirteen actually thought so too; he was certain that Xu Qing had comprehended the Origin Law.

However, Xu Qing hid himself too well and was never exposed.

"A melee -Spirit Controller, what a weirdo," Immortal Thirteen couldn't help but mutter to himself.

Xu Qing's figure appeared in the square.

"Is this what it feels like to be killed? It's like being knocked unconscious, it's weird," Xu Qing was still savoring the taste of death.

"Look, it's that lobster-headed guy, the dark horse of the Ganwu Universe Nation, Spirit Controller manipulates threads for close combat!"

Xu Qing's appearance attracted the attention of many geniuses.

"Hey, is it okay for you to call me 'Lobster Head'? Do you know my nickname? Flying Little Azure Dragon. You can call me Uncle Little Azure Dragon, understand?" Xu Qing walked over and said with his arms crossed.

Those geniuses were clearly much weaker in front of Xu Qing, after all, he was ranked eighth, while many of them had been eliminated.

They dared not speak in front of Xu Qing.

"Am I that scary? Why are you so afraid of me? How boring," Xu Qing said, turning and walking into the restaurant.

Many geniuses were dumbfounded when they saw Xu Qing walk straight to the restaurant as soon as he came out; that damned sense of relaxation!

At this time, Luo Feng was still trying to conquer the Trial Tower Trial Tower. He wasn't progressing very quickly; he was cultivating as he went.

Besides him, there are other geniuses who are also continuing to challenge the Trial Tower. For example, Bolan, who is ranked first, has already entered the third level of the sixth Trial Tower.

Xu Qing's speed in clearing the levels wasn't much different from Bolan's.

And so, more than a month passed, and the trial came to an end.

At the same time, Xu Qing finally managed to eat at all ninety-eight restaurants here, enjoying the cuisines of many different Universe Country, albeit in a purely conscious way.

"It's a pity we can't take it to go, otherwise Sister Xin and Linlin Ruoruo could have some," Xu Qing muttered to herself.

First floor of the building.

A thousand geniuses from the Ganwu Universe Nation gathered here, with Immortal Thirteen standing at the front.

"You all performed very well this time, except for a few individuals who were a bit mischievous," Immortal Thirteen's gaze swept over the crowd, lingering on Xu Qing for a second.

Now everyone knew who he was talking about.

"Report! I just slipped!" Xu Qing shouted.

"Hmph, slipped? Whether it was slipped or not, you know in your heart," Immortal Thirteen glanced at him and snorted. Xu Qing did make it into the top ten after all, so he wasn't angry.

Everyone was very curious: what exactly did Xu Qing do?

"Besides Luo Feng, Rong Jun, and Xu Qing, who can directly enter the Core Layer of the Virtual Universe Company, three other people have made it into the selection process and are qualified to compete for the remaining nine hundred spots."

"Apart from them, the rest of you are done here. You can either return directly to reality, or wait for the Virtual Universe System to teleport you back."

"That's it, you guys come with me," Immortal Thirteen said, beckoning to Xu Qing and the others.

"Brothers, see you again in the martial world. Don't forget to treat me to a meal then," Xu Qing said to the geniuses as he left, looking as if they were old friends.

"Get lost, you're so shameless!"

"You think we'd treat you to a meal? Dream on!"

After Xu Qing and his group disappeared from sight, everyone in the hall started swearing.

They were all eliminated, and their spirits were already low. Xu Qing then went and provoked them even more.

Hearing the curses behind him, Xu Qing met their strange looks and had a betrayed expression. "I treated them like brothers, and they've really hurt me. They act like it's a death sentence to treat me to a meal. They're so stingy. They deserve to be eliminated!"

Upon hearing this, even Immortal Thirteen couldn't hold back, revealing his true colors so quickly.

"Pfft..." Rong Jun said he really couldn't help it, as could the other three people.

Luo Feng was much calmer, because he was already used to it.

Immortal Thirteen led Xu Qing and the others to a conference hall.

"There's another Qualification Battle tomorrow, so you three better perform well," Immortal Thirteen said, looking at the three of them.

"Understood," the three replied respectfully.

Then, Immortal Thirteen looked at Xu Qing, Luo Feng, and Rong Jun, saying, "The ranking in the Trial Tower doesn't mean anything. You'll understand that soon enough."

"After the 1,000 spots are decided, there will be a final ranking battle, which will be the grand final of this year's Genius Peak Battle."

"At that time, you one thousand people will be divided into different levels and receive different standards of training from the Virtual Universe Company."

"The final ranking battle is very important. The three of you must give it your all. The higher your ranking, the greater the benefits."

Immortal Thirteen gave Xu Qing and the other two careful instructions.

"Especially you, don't hold back in this final battle," he said, staring at Xu Qing, giving him a special reminder.

Anyone could see that Xu Qing was still hiding his true strength; he hadn't yet revealed it.

"I wasn't holding back at all. This is all I've got. Really, I swear on my favorite food," Xu Qing lied through his teeth.

Immortal Thirteen's eye twitched suddenly, but because he was wearing a helmet, no one could see it.

This little guy is really going to be mischievous, isn't he? He's lived for billions of years, and this is the first time he's ever felt his hands itching to be touched.

"Ahem, Lord Thirteen, please rest assured, we will do our best," Luo Feng said at the opportune moment.

"Luo Feng, who is he to you?" Immortal Thirteen had been curious for a long time.

Luo Feng answered truthfully, "I am his brother-in-law."

Immortal Thirteen was surprised, as were the other three; they hadn't realized the two were related in this way.

Only Rong Jun knew about this long ago.

"Alright, now it's up to you to see how you perform," Immortal Thirteen said, turning and leaving after giving his instructions.

"Xu Qing, just how much strength are you hiding?" Rong Jun couldn't help but ask.

Xu Qing rolled her eyes. "Which eye of yours saw me hiding my strength? Didn't you hear what I just said?"

After saying that, Xu Qing turned and left.

Rong Jun looked at Luo Feng, Luo Feng shrugged and turned to go back to his room.

"These two guys," Rong Jun said, speechless. What harm would it do to say something?

Time quickly passed to the next day.

The mysterious powerful figure reappeared before Xu Qing and the others, and all the Immortal bowed to him, saying, "Venerable!"

"Venerable?" Xu Qing's eyes were filled with curiosity. Could it be a level above Immortal?

It's a pity we can't contact Babata here; otherwise, we could probably find out by asking Babata.

Soon, the Venerable announced that the top 100 participants in the trial would be qualified to enter the core of the Virtual Universe Company, while the remaining 7,000-plus contestants would compete in a tournament.

The tournament will consist of three rounds, with exactly nine hundred people remaining in the end. The person who wins all three matches will secure a spot.

In the audience, Xu Qing and the other top 100, along with various Immortal beings, including that Venerable, were watching the battle.

The three rounds of arena battles will be quick, taking no more than half an hour.

The arena battle ended in the time it took Xu Qing to take a nap.

"Xiao Qing, it's time to assemble," Luo Feng shook him awake.

"Oh," Xu Qing said lazily as she followed the crowd to the square.

"Congratulations! You are the top one thousand people in the entire Human Race of the universe in this Genius Battle. Our Virtual Universe Company will do its best to train you. If any of you do not wish to join the Virtual Universe Company, you can bring it up. The company will not force you and will also provide corresponding rewards," the Venerable said.

Naturally, no one spoke up. Joining the Core Layer of the Virtual Universe was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

As one of the five major powers among Human Race, its prestige is beyond doubt.

"Very good. Next, as you've probably guessed, there's the final ranking battle."

"Even though you are among the top 1,000 people, there are still strong and weak individuals among them. Therefore, the company cannot treat everyone the same. Competition is the main theme."

"Among you thousand people..."

Next, the Venerable explained the rewards for different rankings.

The most generous prize is awarded to the first and second place winners, who will receive a bonus of 10,000 Hunyuan Unit, allowing them to enter the Initial Universe to comprehend the Origin Law, and then join the Primal Secret Realm of the Virtual Universe Company.

Those who rank third through tenth will receive a prize of one thousand Hunyuan Unit, which will allow them to enter the Initial Universe to comprehend the Origin Law and join the Tai Chu Secret Realm.

The eleventh to the hundredth place winners will receive a prize of one hundred Hunyuan Unit, which will allow them to enter the Initial Universe to comprehend the Origin Law and join the Heaven and Earth Secret Realm.

The final 900 will receive a prize of 10 Hunyuan Unit, which will allow them to enter the Initial Universe to comprehend the Origin Law and join the Doomsday Secret Realm.

The only difference, besides the bonus, is the type of secret realm you join.

Of these Four Great Secret Realms —Primordial, Absolute Beginning, Heaven and Earth and Earth, and End Times— Primal Secret Realm is undoubtedly the best place.

"The prize money for the top ten is so much!" Xu Qing didn't pay attention to anything else, only the prize money.

Luo Feng was speechless; this was probably one of his old habits—a penny-pincher.