Eagle Nation: Recruit the Geniuses, Conquer the Primordial World in Three Days!

Eagle Nation had topped the National Destiny Trial rankings for many rounds in a row.

Those victories had earned Eagle Nation a great many ultimate rewards.

Three years ago, for example, winning that round had brought them an extraordinarily valuable and powerful item.

It could recall a contestant already undergoing National Destiny Training, send them into a new world, and let them compete in the rankings all over again!

Though Eagle Nation had obtained the item three years earlier, it had never intended to use it.

For one thing, using it came at a tremendous cost: it would drain a large portion of the national destiny of the user's country!

Even with Eagle Nation's deep reserves, using the item would deal it a crippling blow!

For another, they had never believed any country could force them to use it.

Now, with Li Yi crushing them in the National Destiny Trial, Eagle Nation finally remembered that it had such an item!

As the Intelligence Department councilor relayed the experts' analysis, realization dawned on the faces around him.

"That's right! With Dragon Nation's national destiny, what impressive talent could Li Yi possibly have gained in the Primordial World? He was just lucky enough to survive in that terrifying place!"

"No wonder his cultivation hasn't advanced at all. He probably knows his talent is terrible, so he found somewhere to hide!"

"With Eagle Nation's national destiny, our Super Genius is bound to gain talent far beyond Li Yi's in that world! He might catch up on all those lost cultivation levels in a single day. Three days on Blue Star, and he'll reach the top of the Primordial World!"

Within seconds, the Eagle Nation councilors, who had been disheartened and almost despairing over the National Destiny Training rankings, regained their old arrogance!

That explained why Li Yi's cultivation had remained stuck!

It was not because he was a top expert in the Primordial World!

His talent was poor, and he was too afraid to venture out and seek opportunities, so his cultivation had stalled!

Li Yi was not the powerful one. The Primordial World that had suddenly appeared was!

Li Yi had merely been lucky enough to survive there by hiding!

They could use the special item to recall Serafino and the other geniuses, then send them in. They would fall behind at first, but with Serafino's talent, he might catch up in just one Blue Star day!

Robert, speaker of Eagle Nation's council, nodded slightly. The proposal tempted him, though he still had some concerns.

"It's a good proposal! But the cost of using that item is too high. It will drain half of Eagle Nation's national destiny."

"A sudden loss that large would hit our country far too hard!"

Even a leading power like Eagle Nation could not withstand losing half its national destiny in an instant!

A drop in its experts' cultivation would be the least of its worries. The talents its Super Geniuses gained upon entering the new world would also be much weaker!

Hawk nodded slightly, still smiling. The strategists had clearly considered that problem too.

"Mr. Speaker, the strategists have already taken that into account!"

"They suggest extending permission to use the item to other powerful countries, excluding Dragon Nation."

"In other words, we invite nine more countries to use it with us!"

"That way, we'll lose only five percent of our national destiny! The impact on Eagle Nation will be minimal!"

"Once Serafino and the others arrive in the Primordial World, they'll still be Super Geniuses far above everyone else!"

At that, Hawk lifted his chin without realizing it.

It was not blind arrogance, but pride backed by years of experience!

If every country lost five percent, Eagle Nation's national destiny would still be the strongest, far ahead of even second-place Cherry Blossom Nation!

Its national destiny was formidable, and so would be the talents its contestants gained upon arrival!

Eagle Nation would never have invited nine other countries to activate the item together unless it was utterly confident!

Hearing this, Robert nodded and gave the order without hesitation.

"Good! Take charge of it."

"Use the item as soon as possible and recall Serafino and the other geniuses."

"When the next day's training rankings come out, I want to see Eagle Nation back on the list!"

"Show those foolish Dragon Nation people that it's the Primordial World that's powerful, not their so-called Super Genius Li Yi..."

In the Primordial World, at Purple Cloud Palace.

Hongjun sat high on the Jade Platform. Below him, Yuanshi and the other three had been completely taken in by his words.

Hongjun took the opportunity to distribute several Innate Spiritual Treasures, both as initiation gifts and to put his Disciples at ease.

Of course, the gifts could not compare with those of the original timeline.

In that timeline, he had claimed all the rewards from the Demon Calamity and attained Merit Sainthood!

He had treasures to spare and enough power to soon merge with the Heavenly Dao. By then, those treasures would have been of no use to him.

But Li Yi's involvement had left Hongjun with few treasures, and he was only at the Peak Quasi-Saint realm himself. Naturally, he could not afford to be generous!

Laozi and Yuanshi each received a Supreme-grade Innate Spirit Treasure, though both were among the poorest of that grade.

Even so, parting with them pained Hongjun.

If Laozi and Yuanshi had not belonged to the Pangu Orthodox, borne great Karma, and seemingly been chosen by the Heavenly Dao itself to become Heavenly Dao Sages, he truly would not have given them away.

As for Zhunti and Jieyin, he gave each only a High-grade Innate Spirit Treasure.

After hastily distributing the treasures, Hongjun did not linger. He vanished from the Jade Platform.

Yuanshi and Laozi exchanged bows with Zhunti and Jieyin, then went their separate ways.

After the lecture ended, Kunpeng could not shake a vague sense of unease.

As one of the Primordial World's craftiest old schemers, Kunpeng did not hesitate to change course once he sensed something was wrong.

He abandoned the direct route back to the North Sea and headed west instead, intending to make a detour before returning.

But Yuanshi had secretly marked him. No matter how Kunpeng changed course, Yuanshi could pinpoint his location.

At last, after decades of nonstop travel, Kunpeng found his path blocked above a Mountain Range by Yuanshi's Kind Corpse and Laozi's Kind Corpse.

Yuanshi's Kind Corpse stood on a nearby peak, watching him calmly as though he were already dead.

Then Kunpeng felt the undisguised Quasi-Saint aura radiating from Yuanshi's Kind Corpse. His smile froze, turning more wretched than a grimace.

"Fellow Daoist Yuanshi, it's a misunderstanding! All a misunderstanding!"

Even as he pleaded aloud, Kunpeng was cursing Yuanshi furiously in his heart!

No wonder something felt wrong back then. Those two Supreme Unity Golden Immortals were actually Yuanshi's and Laozi's incarnations? How despicable!

Yuanshi's Kind Corpse showed no change in expression. In his eyes, Kunpeng was already a dead man!

For one thing, Kunpeng had cursed Yuanshi on Yingzhou Island.

For another... Yuanshi did not entirely trust Hongjun either. But he had already thrown in his lot with him and could only grit his teeth and see it through.

All his pent-up frustration and resentment now turned into killing intent toward Kunpeng.