Three years

Inside the room.

Yun He sat cross-legged, quietly waiting for the preliminary elimination tournament to end.

"Countdown to the end of the preliminary elimination tournament: 60...59...58...57..." A deep, majestic voice echoed in the minds of every surviving contestant across the 100 World Zones, making many of them frantic.

"I'm so close!"

"Just a moment ago, I was ranked 1,001st. Now I'm 1,003rd!"

"There's no time..."

"Kill!"

"You can't make it into the top 1,001 anyway, so why not let me kill you? Once we're out, I'll pay you handsomely!"

"Bullshit. Pay me handsomely? Who's going to guarantee that? You make it sound great now, but what if you go back on your word once we're out? There's nothing I could do to you."

During the final countdown, every World Zone descended into chaos.

Even more people, however, simply waited in silence.

Those too far behind in points gave up struggling altogether, knowing their journey in this peak genius tournament had come to an end.

Those already in the top 1,001 remained calm, apart from the nervous contestants near the cutoff.

"10...9...8...7...3...2...1! Teleport!"

Every surviving contestant in the 100 World Zones vanished instantly. Then the simulated worlds began to collapse and dissipate, one after another, until everything was gone.

At the same time, the final rankings for each World Zone were officially released to the public.

The preliminary elimination tournament was over.

The qualifiers had been selected.

Yun He was teleported onto a street on Black Dragon Mountain Island.

Beep, beep, beep!!!

A relentless string of notification tones rang out.

"Master, you have 587 incoming call requests. 596...621..." his virtual assistant announced.

"Block them all," Yun He instructed.

"Yes."

Peace and quiet returned at once.

"Master, you have 1,589 emails, and the number is still increasing. Would you like to read them?" The virtual assistant spoke again, faithfully continuing its duties.

"...Block them. Reject all incoming calls and emails." Yun He rolled his eyes.

"Yes."

"Forget it. I might as well leave the Virtual Universe." With a thought, Yun He disconnected from the Virtual Universe.

Whoosh!

His consciousness returned to reality.

The preliminaries were over.

The top 1,001 contestants from each World Zone qualified, totaling 100,100 across the 100 World Zones. Meanwhile, the first-place contestant in each World Zone received a direct berth in the grand finals.

Only the top 1,000 from the Ganwu Universe Country would qualify for the peak grand finals for all cosmic humans.

Those 1,000 would represent the Ganwu Universe Country, competing against the many geniuses from the other 1,007 Universe Countries.

They would determine the most outstanding individuals among all cosmic humans.

Of the Ganwu Universe Country's 1,000 berths, 100 had already gone directly to the first-place contestants from each World Zone.

The remaining 100,000 contestants would compete for the remaining 900 berths.

Luo Feng, Hong, and Nabini of the Black Dragon Mountain Empire would take part in the arena battles, competing among those 100,000 for 900 berths.

The competition remained fierce.

The elimination rate was still extremely high.

Anyone who ultimately stood out and secured a berth would be a genius among geniuses.

They were the finest prospects, coveted by countless organizations and factions.

With the preliminary elimination tournament over, the decisive arena battles would begin in a month.

Qiu Long Star.

Inside a castle a kilometer long and wide.

In a secluded chamber.

Yun He opened his eyes and let out a long breath.

After spending an entire month in the Virtual Universe, his consciousness had finally returned to reality.

"I'll relax for a few days first."

Yun He decided to take a few days off before doing anything else.

He still had not quite readjusted mentally. Even if he tried comprehending the laws, he probably would not be able to immerse himself fully.

Click!

Opening the metal door, Yun He stepped out of the chamber.

"Master!"

"Master, you're out?"

When he reached the castle's main hall, the twin girls of the Dream Shell Clan hurriedly set aside their work and came over.

After living with Yun He for several years, the two girls were no longer as reserved as they had been at first and had grown a little bolder.

Yun He smiled and nodded.

Looking at the two girls, he thought he would set them free once the genius battle ended.

Both had now advanced to the Planetary Level. For Yun He, that had been as simple as giving them two Wood Bud Crystals. Once the slave-control chips in their brains were removed, they could obtain official citizenship in the Black Dragon Mountain Empire.

That would be his way of repaying them for their diligent service over the past few years.

One month after the preliminaries.

July 16, 2066, China time.

It was the day before the arena battles began.

In the Virtual Universe, an enormous conference hall stood on one of the floating landmasses above the Ganwu Continent.

The conference hall was vast.

The 100,100 geniuses were gathered there, talking among themselves.

As usual, Yun He found a quiet corner and rested with his eyes closed, waiting until he could log off.

"Silence!"

A deep, resonant voice rang out, and the entire conference hall immediately fell silent.

A man in a silver robe appeared on the raised platform at the front of the hall.

"From the Ganwu Universe Country, 100,100 contestants have passed the preliminaries."

The silver-robed man then explained the rules of the arena battles...

The arena battles were divided into arena melees and one-on-one arena battles.

The first stage was the arena melee. Groups of 100 would gather in a single arena and fight until only ten remained. Those ten would advance. The arena melees would eliminate 90,000 contestants.

The second stage consisted of one-on-one arena battles, in which the remaining 10,000 contestants would compete for 900 berths.

The next day.

The arena melees officially began.

Spectators could watch the arena battles in person, so tickets sold like crazy.

The 100,000 contestants were divided into 1,000 groups, with 200 groups competing each day.

Unfortunately...

Hong and Nabini were both eliminated in the arena melees.

Only Luo Feng fought his way through.

In the subsequent one-on-one arena battles, however, Luo Feng was defeated by Savage Rong Jun and sent to the losers' bracket, where he had to take part in a lengthy reincarnation battle.

They competed for the final 275 berths.

Beginning on July 30, 2066, the reincarnation battle lasted more than two years before finally ending on March 2, 2069.

The Ganwu Universe Country's 1,000 representatives had finally been decided.

The Virtual Universe, Ganwu Continent.

In the preparation hall of Martial Arena No. 00001.

"He's Luo Feng!"

"How did this Luo Feng improve so much?"

"I heard some immortal beings discussing him. They said Luo Feng can now rank second among the geniuses of our Ganwu Universe Country!"

When the short-haired young man in dark gray combat gear appeared in the preparation hall, a wave of hushed discussion swept through it. Over the nearly three years of the reincarnation battle, Luo Feng's astonishing rate of improvement had drawn the attention of many powerful figures.

Luo Feng ignored the chatter, searching the hall until he soon spotted a familiar figure in a corner.

His eyes lit up, and he was about to go over and greet him when a glare from Yun He stopped him in his tracks.

Luo Feng frowned slightly, then settled for a nod in greeting.

"Madman!" Savage Rong Jun came over to greet him, and Luo Feng went off to chat with him.

Both were currently among the Ganwu Universe Country's most sought-after geniuses.

Yun He stood quietly in the corner, a faint smile curving his lips. Watching Luo Feng bask in the limelight, he knew the reason for his rapid improvement over the past three years: with the consciousness of his Golden Horned Beast already at the Universe Level, Luo Feng's control over the Yan Shen Armament had become increasingly effortless.

But his true surge would come before long, once his Demon Slayer Clan clone had finished gestating.

The Demon Slayer Clan were favored by space, naturally attuned to the universe's space origin law. Through his Demon Slayer Clan clone, Luo Feng would reach the threshold of the space origin law.

The Yan Shen Armament was a spiritual force weapon that combined the laws of gold and space.

"Everyone, please enter the Martial Arena!" a staff member of the Virtual Universe Company called out.

The 1,000 geniuses in the preparation hall immediately headed down the passage into the Martial Arena.