Making His Move

In the First World Zone, all participants could only fly up to approximately nine thousand meters above the ground. Beyond that, an invisible barrier obstructed further ascent. Above the barrier, spaceships slowly glided by. Inside a private cabin on one such ship were Luo Hongguo, Gong Xinlan, Xu Xin, the two children Xiao Ping and Xiao Hai, and Xu Xin's brother, Xu Gang, with his family.

"This Genius Battle isn't even broadcast," Xu Gang remarked with emotion. "To watch the preliminary battles, you have to come to this World Zone and observe from a spaceship, and it's so expensive."

"Brother, it's normal for it not to be broadcast," Xu Xin said with a smile. "With over 8.2 billion people fighting, how could they broadcast it all?"

Through the external virtual display, Xu Xin and the others could look down and see the bloody battles unfolding in the cities across the continent below. They could also 'zoom in' to clearly see the appearance of each participant on the continent. Of course, if someone was hiding inside a building, they couldn't be seen.

"Mom, Dad's ranking keeps dropping," Xiao Hai said, biting his lip. He held a screen displaying three leaderboards: the First World Zone, the 72nd World Zone, and the 88th World Zone, with Luo Feng, Hong, and Lei Shen all tracked across these three zones.

"Uncle's ranking is also dropping. But Second Uncle's ranking is rising," Xiao Hai continued. "Second Uncle is climbing so fast, he's already in the top 100,000. My dad and Uncle are both beyond the ten million mark."

"What do you know? This is called conserving strength," Xiao Ping retorted.

Xiao Hai glared at him. "With over 8.2 billion people down there, who is a match for my dad? Does he even need to conserve strength?"

"Haha..." His grandparents beside them burst into laughter.

"That's a big claim," Xu Gang also chuckled. "Come on, Xiao Hai, sit on Uncle's lap."

"No," Xiao Hai said, looking down at the screen in his hand again.

Luo Feng and Hong's rankings were indeed very low, completely inconspicuous.

The preliminaries were held simultaneously across 100 World Zones. Because there was no broadcast, countless people throughout the Ganwu Universe Nation, from the highest echelons to ordinary citizens, paid to ride spaceships and observe the battles from above these 100 World Zones.

Above the 61st World Zone, inside a luxurious cosmic spaceship, a group of young men and women were holding wine glasses and enjoying delicacies while watching the battles via the external virtual display.

"Haha, the top-ranked one is still from our direct star domain of the Cosmic Nation," a burly, robust man, three meters tall and clad in a luxurious robe, said with a loud laugh, holding his wine glass. "Oh, tsk tsk, Luotu'er, your Pengyu Empire has good results; some from your empire are in the top 100."

"Thank you for the praise, Your Royal Highness," a man with a braid and a strange jade embedded in his forehead said with a smile.

"The Pengyu Empire has always been one of the few vassal states under our Ganwu Universe Nation that produces the most powerful individuals. By the way, Luotu'er, I heard rumors from your empire that you're being considered as the first heir to the throne?"

"I heard that too, Luotu'er. When you become the Emperor of the Pengyu Empire, don't forget about us!"

"Luotu'er..."

The young Luotu'er smiled, then shook his head. "Those are just rumors; nothing is decided yet. In any case, we can't compare to His Royal Highness! His Royal Highness is the sole son of Marquis Ding Tian and will definitely inherit the Marquisate of Ding Tian in the future. Marquis Ding Tian's territory is ten times larger than our empire."

The three-meter-tall, burly man couldn't help but smile upon hearing this.

The Ganwu Universe Nation, with its vast territory, undoubtedly had the 'Nation Master' as its highest authority. Below the Nation Master were the powerful individuals who had been enfeoffed as Marquises! Most of those who could be enfeoffed as Marquises in the Ganwu Universe Nation were 'Immortal Beings.' The territories of these Marquises were in no way smaller than those of medium-level civilized nations; some were even larger!

"Buluolin, why haven't I seen anyone from your Black Dragon Mountain Empire?" His Royal Highness asked, looking at Buluolin, who was not far away.

"Indeed, Buluolin."

"Last time, it seemed no one from the Black Dragon Mountain Empire made it into the top ten thousand, right?"

"Yes, the Black Dragon Mountain Empire's performance has been very poor in recent sessions."

This group consisted of princes and princesses from various vassal states, some royal heirs from within the Ganwu Universe Nation, or young noble scions from prominent families. They often moved in the same circles within the Virtual Universe, and Buluolin, as the most influential prince of the Black Dragon Mountain Empire, was one of them.

"Many experts aren't rushing to make their move yet. Perhaps after some time, an expert from the Black Dragon Mountain Empire will emerge. Am I right, Buluolin?" Luotu'er said, smiling as he looked at Buluolin.

Buluolin forced a smile. "It's still early; it's hard to say." In his heart, Buluolin felt deeply embarrassed.

In the cosmos, this sense of regional honor and imperial pride is generally very strong. If a super-powerful individual were to emerge from the Black Dragon Mountain Empire, the entire empire would feel immensely proud, and other star-domain nations would look upon them with new respect.

Inside a private cabin of an observation spaceship, there was only one person: Nuolanshan.

"Ancestor, only 83 of the family disciples participating are still alive; the rest have been killed. At the beginning, the population density was so high that the killing was too frantic, and there was no way to escape. Now, among the 83, the highest-ranked one is in the 1.3 million range." Seeing this message on the screen, Nuolanshan's expression in the private cabin turned grim.

"A bunch of trash," Nuolanshan shook his head. "But it's still early until the end. Let's see, I hope they can give me a surprise."

In the First World Zone, still in that residential building. Inside an ordinary room, Luo Feng remained seated cross-legged, his gaze fixed on a golden illusory sword before him. This shimmering illusory sword, formed by numerous golden threads piercing through nine small golden swords, was continuously moving in a figure-eight pattern in front of Luo Feng, its speed incredibly fast.

"Absorb!" Luo Feng thought, and with a mental command, the golden illusory sword immediately disintegrated, transforming into a stream of golden light that flew back into the dark golden staff resting on his lap.

Luo Feng also felt some fatigue; controlling the Yan Shen Armament was far more strenuous than the Duntiansuo. However, its power was indeed astonishing! Luo Feng silently sat cross-legged for about an hour, recovering his mental energy.

"Ten days have passed," Luo Feng mused. "The First World Zone preliminaries have been ongoing for ten days. For these ten days, I've stayed in this residential building, too lazy to act even when people entered, unless they approached my room." Luo Feng looked down at the armguard screen on his wrist, which displayed his current points.

Participant: Luo Feng

Points: 92

Ranking: 68,942,048

"There are over sixty million people ranked higher than me?" Luo Feng smiled faintly. "Ten days, a third of the entire preliminary round has passed. The most frantic period is over. Those who are still alive now are all experts."

"In these ten days, the Illusory Sword Style is basically proficient. And my spiritual force has already formed the 'Tower of Void' in my sea of consciousness." The Tower of Void is a secret technique, but it wasn't created by the Yunmo Star Master; even the Yunmo Star Master hadn't cultivated this technique to its highest level before his death.

This secret technique could be performed in the Virtual Universe. It took Luo Feng about nine days to form the 'Tower of Void' in his sea of consciousness, though it was only a single-layered tower. Even so, it significantly boosted Luo Feng's soul defense. Coupled with his astonishing willpower—the willpower of a Universe-level Sixth-tier Golden Horned Beast—few opponents of the same rank could truly compare.

"Now!"

"It's time."

"Let the slaughter begin!"

A strange glint flickered in Luo Feng's eyes. He stood up with a whoosh, then walked directly out of his room and quickly exited the residential building via the staircase.

The Residential District where the building was located was very beautiful, but on the ground, one often saw glass shards, dried bloodstains, and corpses. To maintain realism, the Virtual Universe Company ensured that if someone was killed, their corpse remained.

Walking on the Residential District's lawn, Luo Feng's spiritual force swept outwards. Because the gravity here was ridiculously strong, his spiritual force could only spread about 800 meters. However, 800 meters was enough for Luo Feng to scan half the Residential District. This sweep of spiritual force immediately caused six figures to rush out from the surrounding residential buildings.

"Friend, to have survived ten days, you're no fool. To dare sweep with your spiritual force like that, you must be very confident," one of the six figures, a dark-skinned, lean youth, sneered as they spread out. He held a blood-red scimitar in his hand.

"Six," Luo Feng's gaze swept over the six individuals before him.

To have survived until now, these six likely all had higher points than him.

"Attack!" one of the six, a youth in black force battle armor whose gender was indistinguishable, growled. Simultaneously, an invisible mental attack directly pierced into Luo Feng's sea of consciousness. To have survived this long in the First World Zone, these were all considered geniuses, ranking among the top three talents in any given galaxy.

Luo Feng's spiritual force sweep was a provocation. Now that one person gave the command to attack, the other five naturally moved simultaneously.

"Boom!" "Boom!" Two youths, almost identical in appearance, simultaneously charged forward like lightning, each wielding a sharp sword.

"Whoosh!" "Whoosh!" A silver light and a golden light shot from afar.

"Hiss." The mental attack launched by the youth in black force battle armor directly assailed Luo Feng's soul. However, in Luo Feng's sea of consciousness, the towering Tower of Void merely trembled slightly, easily fending it off. Luo Feng himself, standing on the Duntiansuo, with a faint golden light circulating around his body, easily dodged the opponents' attacks with a mere flicker.

"Domain!" "His domain is extremely strong." The six individuals' expressions subtly changed.

Under the five-fold domain, coupled with the Duntiansuo's inherent focus on the Law of Gold Origin, and with Luo Feng now having stepped through the threshold of law comprehension, his Duntiansuo movements were even faster and more elusive. Dodging these attacks was indeed effortless.

"Die!" Luo Feng thought, and with a mental command, a golden fish shot out from the Duntiansuo. With astonishing speed, subtly imbued with a strange and profound law, it arced widely, sweeping past the six individuals in an instant. There was a chorus of low grunts, accompanied by the metallic clang of weapons colliding with the golden fish.

"One actually survived," Luo Feng observed, looking at the dark-skinned, lean youth. The other five had already fallen dead.

The lean youth, holding his blood-red scimitar, stared at Luo Feng and licked his lips.

At this moment, Luo Feng's wrist screen updated again.

Participant: Luo Feng (Black Dragon Mountain Empire)

Points: 8,162

Ranking: 12,291,2