The odds had dropped

Human Territory, a Zerg infiltration zone.

"Master, No. 99 actually didn't drop out of the Primal Region in this Qualification Battle as expected. Instead, he placed second in the Primal Region Qualification Battle!"

"Hm?"

"What was No. 99's name again?" the Zerg creature asked.

"Chen Ao! He comes from the same place as Luo Feng!"

"All right, all right. There's no need to pay attention to an ordinary genius like him. Still, taking second in the Qualification Battle was unexpected, so he does have some talent. Put him at No. 90 on the assassination list!"

"Yes, Master!" The servant responsible for the report quickly noted it down. "Chen Ao, assassination ranking: No. 90."

However, the servant also knew this was merely a note on a list. He wouldn't even bother attacking anyone ranked below fifty, even if he ran into them.

"By the way, Master, Luo Feng made astonishing progress this time and entered the Primal Region directly!"

"Oh! Luo Feng, that super genius. Put him at No. 4. Make sure to kill him if an opportunity arises!"

"Yes, Master!" The servant wrote down the words "priority assassination target."

If Chen Ao and Luo Feng encountered Zerg infiltrators together, there was a hundred-percent chance that nobody would bother with Chen Ao, while Luo Feng would be surrounded and killed by a crowd of people... no, a swarm of bugs.

Neither Chen Ao nor Luo Feng knew any of this.

Of course, Chen Ao had his suspicions. Those armies of assassins certainly wouldn't care about him.

What troubled him now was which side he should sacrifice.

If he continued improving his comprehension of the law of wood, a Law Mark would appear, and others would know how deeply he understood the law of wood.

He would be exposed.

But without comprehending the law of wood, he couldn't master the Scale Armor Chapter.

Failing to master the first chapter meant that even if he passed the Universe Level Original Tongtian Mountain using a fusion law, his chances of being accepted as the Chaos City Lord's disciple would drop significantly.

Well, they would probably fall from 99.999% to around 98%-a full two percentage points.

"Forget it. The latter only costs me two percentage points. Although the odds will be quite a bit lower, I can still accept that. But with the former, absolutely everyone would know I'm a top-tier genius. That's unacceptable!"

Of two evils, choose the lesser. He would leave the Scale Armor Chapter unmastered!

After all, he was only at Universe Level. Mastering it outright would make him seem a little too monstrously talented. There were gains and losses to everything. Although he didn't need to hide too much from the Chaos City Lord, keeping a little in reserve would still do him some good.

Having made his decision, Chen Ao entered the Tongtian Mountain Plane directly.

"Flirty woman, minotaur, ape-man, get up! I'm here to challenge Tongtian Mountain!" Chen Ao shouted at the three guardians.

"Hm?"

The three guardians blinked. They had been playing cards, and now they turned to look at Chen Ao.

"Let me see who you are!" Snake Woman looked at Chen Ao. "Ah, His Highness Chen Ao of the Primal Region. However, to challenge Tongtian Mountain, you must at least have passed the twelfth floor of the Heavenly Bridge. Your Highness, you don't seem to meet that requirement yet!"

They hadn't paid Chen Ao much attention at first. In fact, plenty of youngsters came to visit them every time.

Few actually dared to fight.

"We'll only know whether I can pass once I try!"

"Oh!"

The minotaur immediately tossed aside his cards. "Come on, come on! We finally have someone challenging us!"

Snake Woman glared at the minotaur. Clearly, she had been about to win, and the old bull was trying to wriggle out of it.

Still, all three remembered the duty they had been created to fulfill, so once Chen Ao requested a challenge, they immediately joined forces and attacked him.

Holding a long sword, Chen Ao thrust straight ahead. It was a simple strike, yet the phantom of some enormous Four-Limbed Beast seemed to flash into existence around him.

The three guardians didn't even have time to react before the strike sent them flying backward, and the impact killed them outright.

That counted as a pass.

At the mountainside and the summit that followed, Chen Ao likewise used only one strike each, though there were differences between the three strikes.

The beast phantom in the final strike was much clearer than the one in the first.

But that was all-it was merely much clearer.

It was like one had been outlined with ten strokes and the other with fifteen. Both were still a considerable distance from a complete beast phantom.

"Your Highness Chen Ao, we never imagined you were this strong!"

At the summit, the three guardians looked at Chen Ao with complicated expressions.

How many years had it been since anyone defeated them?

Had the last time been the genius Kedi, ten million years ago?

"Your Highness Chen Ao, congratulations on successfully passing the Universe Level Original Tongtian Mountain. You deserve to rank among humanity's greatest geniuses!"

Chen Ao nodded, showing little excitement.

Challenging Tongtian Mountain was merely a way to demonstrate his talent to the Chaos City Lord.

The Chaos City Lord should learn that I've passed the Universe Level Tongtian Mountain soon, right?

Although the Chaos City Lord was very busy, he would still take notice when a top-tier genius emerged.

In fact, countless people were already stunned by Chen Ao.

The instant Chen Ao passed the Universe Level Tongtian Mountain, the Human Race's Universe Overlords and Universe Masters received an email.

Before this, they hadn't even known who Chen Ao was!

They knew Bolan, Rong Jun, and Luo Feng from this cohort, but who was Chen Ao?

They had no idea!

Many hurried to look up information on Chen Ao.

And the information Chen Ao had presented to the outside world left many of humanity's leaders unsure whether to laugh or cry.

Without the concrete proof of his passing the Universe Level Tongtian Mountain before them, nobody would have spared Chen Ao a second glance based solely on the results he had displayed.

Likewise, the Chaos City Lord had also noticed Chen Ao.

Everything from Chen Ao's participation in the Genius Battle to even the events on Earth was investigated.

"This little fellow was hiding his abilities? And so thoroughly that he didn't even care what others said about him?"

The Chaos City Lord was somewhat surprised as he read the investigation report.

Geniuses were all proud, and most of the time, that pride manifested as concern for their reputation and a refusal to admit defeat!

Yet neither trait could be seen in Chen Ao at all. He cared nothing for his dignity, almost to the point of eagerly belittling himself.

When others said he was no good, he neither argued nor proved them wrong through his actions.

When others looked down on him, he didn't care or get angry.

"This little fellow either has an extraordinary state of mind or is deliberately hiding something!"

He took another careful look at the footage of Chen Ao passing the Universe Level Tongtian Mountain.

"All three strikes used the Wood Space fusion law. Is he practicing the Six Divine Wood Swords?"

If Chen Ao had merely passed Tongtian Mountain in an ordinary fashion, the Chaos City Lord would only have paid him a little attention.

But Chen Ao had demonstrated the potential to become a Universe Master.

This fusion law was the key to opening the door to becoming a Universe Master.

"Perhaps this little fellow is waiting for me? Heh, interesting!" The Chaos City Lord didn't mind Chen Ao concealing his abilities.

Being certain that Chen Ao was human was enough.

Besides, Chen Ao wasn't truly hiding his abilities. He was simply keeping most people from seeing them.

If he wanted to conceal them completely, there would have been no need to challenge Tongtian Mountain, much less deliberately use the Six Divine Wood Swords.

"Then I'll meet him!"