Long Yun had it rough. He should have earned a place in the Primal Universe, but the other four had crushed him. Even Chen Ao, whom he had never thought much of, had "accidentally" killed him.
"That bastard was too sneaky! If I'd known, I would've picked a longer weapon too and stabbed him to death!"
The sword Chen Ao had chosen this time was very long. In the end, he had stabbed Long Yun to death through sheer weapon reach.
Once again, countless spectators were left sighing. Why did every match involving Chen Ao turn out so strange?
The final match was Chen Ao against Rong Jun.
Rong Jun had already lost to Luo Feng. If Chen Ao lost, Rong Jun, Chen Ao, and Luo Feng would have to fight a three-way battle to decide who would receive the second place in the Primal Secret Region.
If Chen Ao won, he would enter the Primal Secret Region directly.
"We've finally met again. Five years! Do you know how I've spent these past five years?"
Fire blazed in Rong Jun's eyes.
"For all five years, I've thought of nothing but defeating you!"
Chen Ao gave Rong Jun a puzzled look. "Have we met before?"
Rong Jun: ...
Why? Why?
Why did this suddenly feel like having a secret crush for ten years, only to be asked, "Who are you?"
All his burning passion had just been pissed on!
"You must have mistaken me for someone else! We've never met!"
Rong Jun: ...
"Impossible! You're that Sword God. There's no way I've got the wrong person!"
"Are you sure?" Chen Ao waved the sword in his hand.
Unlike the slender sword from back then, Chen Ao was using a greatsword this time-and a ridiculously huge one at that.
Rong Jun froze. Why was the weapon really different?
But according to what Luo Feng had told him, this Chen Ao should have been the Sword God he was looking for!
"You two, get on with it!"
Everyone else exchanged a couple of remarks at most, yet these two seemed to have come to catch up.
Worse still, Rong Jun might even have mistaken him for someone else.
It could hardly have been more awkward!
Rong Jun took a deep breath. "I don't think I have the wrong person. Whatever the case, let me see what you can do!"
"Of course!"
With that, Rong Jun raised the Earth-Splitting Blade and charged at Chen Ao.
Rong Jun had already demonstrated his strength before this. His movement was fast, but his blade techniques were even stronger.
Rong Jun raised his blade high and rained slashes down on Chen Ao.
But at some point, Chen Ao suddenly thrust his sword straight into Rong Jun's shoulder.
It pierced clean through his sword arm.
"This is a secret technique you created yourself, right? It's too crude. Even I can spot the flaws!"
"Urgh!"
Rong Jun stared at his pierced shoulder as his arm slumped limply.
He could no longer lift his blade.
Chen Ao easily sent Rong Jun flying with a flick of his sword and won.
"It's still too early for you to create your own secret techniques. You're so caught up in how natural and powerful your technique feels that you haven't considered how many flaws it might have!"
Chen Ao shook his head and sighed, as though looking at a disobedient student.
The sight surprised quite a few people.
Why had this match been just as strange?
A self-created secret technique with flaws?
Rong Jun and Chen Ao left the arena, but Rong Jun still seemed trapped in the moment when his shoulder had been pierced.
The immortals nodded too. "It really is too early for him to create secret techniques!"
"How many secret techniques has he even seen? He doesn't understand that the first requirement of a secret technique isn't power, but the absence of obvious flaws! Otherwise, what good is all that power?"
Many immortals supported Chen Ao and opposed Rong Jun creating his own secret techniques.
This time, even the immortals who approved of Rong Jun creating his own secret techniques offered no defense. If someone at your level could spot a flaw and kill you in a single blow, that was a fundamental failing.
It proved you were wrong. It proved you were weak.
Still, many immortals found it rather strange.
You're the one with the crudest secret techniques, and you're calling someone else crude?
Venerable Nine Swords had been drinking and promptly spat out his wine. "This little fellow really is entertaining. He certainly has plenty to say when criticizing others!"
Still, the places had now been decided.
Bolan and Chen Ao had won the places in the Primal Secret Region.
"That Chen Ao is far too lucky. Every victory comes down to luck. Otherwise, how could he possibly have earned a place in the Primal Secret Region?"
"I think Luo Feng is stronger than him too. Chen Ao shouldn't be entering the Primal Secret Region!"
"Don't say that. Apart from Bolan-and, uh, Long Yun-the other three are very close in strength. Whoever entered the Primal Secret Region would have caused some controversy!"
Long Yun glared when he heard that.
Seeing his glare, Qian Shui stuck out her little tongue. She had been caught talking behind his back.
How embarrassing!
Long Yun was practically grinding his teeth to pieces. He had thought concealing his strength would pay off, but he had been defeated before he could even reveal it.
It was utterly frustrating!
But on reflection, it was no big deal. Rong Jun and Luo Feng had beaten him, yet they could only enter the Primordial Secret Realm too.
"Hmph. You're only one small step ahead. Once we enter the Primordial Secret Realm, I'll surpass every one of you!"
He looked at Chen Ao with utter disdain. That fellow was merely lucky. Long Yun was already stronger than him, so there was no need to surpass him.
Then he looked at Bolan. This was his true target.
"Bolan, just you wait. Before long, I'll be stronger than you!"
And with that, the Genius Battle officially ended!
The 1,000 geniuses and 1,008 powerful immortals stood in the Central Plaza, listening to the Azure-Robed Purple-Scaled Man.
"First and second!"
"Third through tenth."
"Eleventh through one hundredth."
"One hundred and first through one thousandth."
"All four tiers have now been decided. Today, this Cosmic Humans' Peak Genius Selection Battle has reached a perfect conclusion." The Azure-Robed Purple-Scaled Man smiled. "Your cohort is outstanding. I believe that after dozens or even a hundred eras, quite a few of you will have names that resound throughout the universe."
"Dedicated personnel will contact you shortly to bring you to the Virtual Universe Company's Universal Headquarters. You will gather there before departing for the Initial Universe."
"From this day onward, your paths will no longer be ordinary."
"The Virtual Universe Company will do everything it can to support you. Whether you become supreme beings renowned throughout the universe, ordinary powerhouses, or fall along the way will depend entirely on you. Work hard. Your path to strength... has only just begun!" The Azure-Robed Purple-Scaled Man's voice echoed in everyone's mind.
With the Genius Battle over, both the lofty Venerable Nine Swords and the 1,008 powerful immortals left at once.
Luo Feng and the other thousand young people remained, however, because a staff member nearby called out, "Please stay for the moment, everyone. There are still a few matters to discuss regarding your transport to the Virtual Universe Company's Universal Headquarters."
Following the Virtual Universe's requirements, the geniuses all submitted their addresses, after which the Virtual Universe Company arranged ships to pick them up.
Although the geniuses from the various universes lived far apart, it would take only three years to bring them all to the Primal Universe.
At the same time, all prize money for their rankings was paid out.
Using that money, Chen Ao successfully purchased an auxiliary intelligent lifeform.
Chen Ao named the lifeform Omega.
"Omega, can I access the Virtual Universe's internal members' Treasure Vault now?"
Chen Ao did not care about the money at all. What interested him was the Virtual Universe's internal Treasure Vault.
"Master, Omega is checking for you!"
A soft voice sounded.
Soon, Omega opened the Virtual Universe's internal Treasure Vault for him.
Chen Ao immediately typed in "special lifeform."
Activating his Q skill allowed him to enter space. This could help him comprehend the space law and conceal up to four individuals.
Its passive effect, meanwhile, allowed him to obtain three lifeforms similar to clones.
These lifeforms were called clones, but they were connected through the system rather than through their souls.
Even if two clones stood together, no one would think they were clones.
They would only see separate individuals.
What Chen Ao wanted now was a special lifeform clone.
His human body had a base gene multiplier of five. This came from an opportunity he had encountered on Earth years ago, which had improved his life genes.
He called this his base because his R Skill ultimate, Highlander's Blood, also had a passive effect in addition to its buffs.
It could enhance his genes.
He had only unlocked the first stage of his ultimate's passive, which currently provided a multiplier of around fifty.
In other words, his human body's actual gene multiplier was 250.
"With this foundation, I should be able to nurture a special lifeform with a life gene multiplier of 7,000!"
Soon, countless items related to special lifeforms appeared.
Most were fragments of various lifeforms.
Most humans would choose to possess a special lifeform. The Chaos City Lord had judged Luo Feng's possession of the Golden Horned Beast to be an upper-middle-grade opportunity chiefly because possession was not uncommon.
The Golden Horned Beast's own gene multiplier was not particularly high. It only qualified as upper-middle-grade because of its clone talent; otherwise, it would have ranked lower-middle-grade.
After browsing the listings, Chen Ao soon found a special lifeform he liked.
Its name was the Sunken Water Vine!
Sunken Water Vine: a soulless plant-type special lifeform with a gene multiplier of approximately 6,000.
The Sunken Water Vine had an extremely high gene multiplier and an innate command of the wood origin law. It would become immortal upon reaching maturity.
Unfortunately, the Sunken Water Vine had no soul and could not be possessed. Otherwise, countless people would risk their lives to fight for it.
After all, successfully possessing one would make becoming immortal easy. With its divine body and genetic advantages, it would immediately be an Invincible King.
Once it reached the Venerable level, it would immediately be a Universe Overlord.
That was enough to make people throw caution to the wind.
Unfortunately, it had no soul.
It could not be possessed.
Another problem was that the Sunken Water Vine's gene multiplier was too high. Ordinary lifeforms could not nurture it as a clone.
At least a Golden Horned Beast could not. The Sunken Water Vine's gene multiplier was even a little higher than that of the Strongest World Tree.
"These two factors greatly reduce the Sunken Water Vine's value, despite how precious it is!"
Still, it was a special lifeform, with innate secret patterns of the wood origin law. It was quite useful for comprehending origin laws, much like Mosha Clan skin.
Ding: Primal Secret Region Member Chen Ao, would you like to purchase a small Sunken Water Vine fragment?
Primal Secret Region Members received a thirty percent discount, so a Sunken Water Vine fragment originally priced at 100,000 points cost only 70,000.
"Expensive! A Sunken Water Vine is thousands of kilometers in size, yet this palm-sized piece costs 70,000 points!"
Even a dead Sunken Water Vine could sell for at least tens of billions of points if sold whole.
It was simply incredible.
Ding: Purchase successful. Your item is being delivered to Qiu Long Star!
There were plenty of these items in stock, so delivery would take only three days.
"At last, I can nurture a clone. That should improve my safety a little, so I can afford to cut loose a bit!"
Chen Ao planned to keep the clone near Earth for now. He still had an important use for it.
"As for the remaining 30,000 points!"
Chen Ao turned his attention to the other items in the Treasure Vault.
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