Pan-Spirit Alliance Virtual Network, Genius Tournament exclusive section.
The instant the countdown to registration hit zero, it was as if billions of mental-energy bombs had been thrown into the entire section, sending it into a state of utter frenzy.
The languages of countless races and civilizations turned into a surging torrent of data, sweeping through every subchannel and discussion board.
The curves on the real-time popularity charts shot vertically upward, almost piercing the top of the virtual interface.
"It's starting! It's finally starting!"
"I've signed up! I'm not aiming for the top hundred—just one win!"
"His Highness Liuguang will prevail! Glory to the Spirit Race!"
"May the Light of Holy Radiance shine upon the Star Sea!"
Cheers, encouragement, slogans, battle cries. Text, voices, holographic images, animated totems—every kind of information collided and intertwined, forming a deafening roar that swept across the entire information network of the Pan-Spirit Alliance.
The real world was just as spectacular.
Whether in technologically advanced interstellar cities or outposts on remote resource planets; whether in grand race assembly halls or noisy bar-lined streets; whether aboard the lounge decks of warships or in academy plazas.
Countless virtual screens, holographic projections, and even rudimentary public information boards were showing content related to the Genius Tournament. Any device with the basic ability to connect to the Pan-Spirit Alliance Virtual Network was almost certainly broadcasting it.
This had long since become more than just a competition.
It was a supercultural phenomenon reaching every corner of the Pan-Spirit Alliance, a carnival for all to join, and a collective outpouring of racial pride and emotion.
Even the weak races, unknown throughout the Star Sea and without a single contestant expected to make the top ten thousand, would gather before public screens to cheer for talented contestants from other races whom they admired