Cruel Elimination

“Death God ‘Bailan’” was the most incredible peerless genius to emerge from the 1008 Cosmic Nations in this Genius Battle!

Even in previous Genius Battles, such a monstrous existence hadn't appeared for a very, very long time.

“According to the collected data, this Death God ‘Bailan’ once manifested hundreds of illusory bodies. This, this is simply unbelievable.” Luo Feng looked at the white-robed youth with a blood-red longsword on his back in the distance, understanding clearly in his heart that he was far from being a match for this ‘Death God Bailan,’ who was already publicly recognized as the top-ranked participant in the overall competition.

According to the tiers of “Myriad Threads Flow”:

The third tier, ‘Hundred Threads Flow.’

The fourth tier, ‘Myriad Threads Flow,’ was already the highest tier of the “Myriad Threads Flow” secret technique. The legendary ‘teleportation’ was, after all, just a legend.

And the strength ‘Bailan’ displayed clearly approached the fourth tier. To be so monstrous at the Star-level... Looking at the peerless geniuses who ranked first in the overall competitions of the past few dozen Genius Battles, almost all of them were stronger than the barbarian ‘Rongjun.’ But none were as monstrous as this. Death God Bailan was simply defying the heavens.

Even a Sector Lord!

To reach the fourth tier of “Myriad Threads Flow” in the Spatial Origin Law, which was the most difficult to comprehend, was one in ten thousand!

If it was one in ten thousand even among Sector Lords, one could imagine how terrifying a mere Star-level junior was... No wonder, even before the Genius Battle officially began, many Immortal Beings already concluded that the first place in this Genius Battle would undoubtedly go to this white-robed youth.

“How does he cultivate?”

“How exactly does he cultivate?” Luo Feng frowned slightly. “Even with my Demon Killer Clan clone, I've only broken through ‘Single Thread Flow,’ and I'm still a long way from ‘Nine Threads Flow.’ After all, the Spatial Origin Law... that's one of the two most difficult, alongside the Temporal Origin Law.”

...

“Brother,” a beautiful young woman with flowing green hair, naturally curly, and green secret patterns on her face, whispered. “Is he Death God Bailan? The one our teacher believes... is the only opponent we have no chance of defeating?”

“Yes.”

The young man beside her, also with green hair and secret patterns on his face, nodded, staring intently at the white-robed youth in the distance. “That's him. A Star-level being who has comprehended the Spatial Origin Law to an incredibly profound and monstrous degree! Even among the top-ranked participants in the Genius Battles over the past million years, none have been this monstrous!”

“However, Qianshui,” the young man looked down at the girl beside him, “though we may not be a match for Death God Bailan, we, as siblings, must secure the second and third overall ranks.”

“Qianshui understands,” the young woman nodded.

This brother and sister pair were also incredibly famous peerless geniuses in this Genius Battle, hailing from the mysterious Augustus Planet.

In the vast cosmos, some planets were very mysterious, or extremely famous.

Such as Manka Star, Augustus Planet, Mother Ancestor Planet...

These planets possessed awe-inspiring, unparalleled power. They could easily dispatch a group of Immortal Beings! Such planets could truly be called the core of a Cosmic Nation. For example, Manka Star was one of the two major cores of the Barbarian Cosmic Nation.

...

In the central plaza, hundreds of thousands of geniuses involuntarily looked at the white-robed youth, which made the white-robed youth frown slightly, and he directly entered a restaurant.

“Phew.”

“So that's Death God Bailan.”

“I really don't know how he cultivates. No matter how powerful his bloodline, it shouldn't be this monstrous.”

“I suspect he's not even human.”

Discussions continued throughout the plaza.

...

In Restaurant No. 1, located in the central plaza where hundreds of thousands of geniuses gathered.

As time passed, the leading powerhouses of each genius team from the 1008 Cosmic Nations—great Immortal Beings—all arrived at Restaurant No. 1. They chatted casually, either on the first or second floor.

“This young man named ‘Bolan,’ his comprehension of the Spatial Origin Law is so strong at just the Star-level. Perhaps in a hundred epochs... he could become a Spatial Venerable.”

“Spatial Venerable? Isn't that going too far?”

“Becoming a Spatial Venerable is still a long, long way off. How many Immortal Beings cultivate for billions of years and still can't become a ‘Spatial Venerable’? He's still far from it.”

“Indeed, how can becoming a Spatial Venerable be so easy?”

“Difficult, difficult, difficult.”

“He's still far from even being able to instantly move by physically traversing space, let alone becoming a Spatial Venerable.”

“That's too much flattery!”

“How long has it been since our 1008 Cosmic Nations produced a new Venerable? Although that young man is a rare figure even among past Genius Battles, a genius is a genius... If you say he becomes a powerful Immortal comparable to us, I agree! But to become a Spatial Venerable, that's truly too...”

It seemed the words ‘Spatial Venerable’ touched a raw nerve among the surrounding group of powerful Immortal Beings, and they all voiced their opposition.

“Haha, what are you discussing? So lively!”

A resonant voice echoed throughout the first and second floors of Restaurant No. 1. Immediately, the Immortal Beings on the first floor all turned to look. At the main entrance of the restaurant stood a man in a very ordinary green robe. His face was handsome, but his head was covered with purple scales, and his eyes held a smile.

Standing there, he seemed to not exist, as if he and the other Immortals present were not in the same spacetime.

Boom!

The hundreds of Immortal Beings on the first floor, including the scale-armored giant ‘Thirteen,’ all stood up, bowing in respect.

“Venerable!” hundreds of Immortals bowed and said.

“This time, our Virtual Universe Company is hosting the Genius Battle, and your various Cosmic Nations have given strong support. On behalf of our Virtual Universe Company, I express my gratitude,” the green-robed, purple-scaled man smiled.

“It is our duty.”

Voices of Immortals echoed from the first and even second floors.

“Mm,” the green-robed, purple-scaled man smiled and nodded. “You all continue your discussions. I will gather those young ones later.” With that, the green-robed, purple-scaled man turned and left.

After he left.

The hundreds of Immortals on the first floor, and the Immortals continuously descending from the second floor, began to discuss.

“It's Jiujian Venerable.”

“I heard Jiujian Venerable was recently in a Cosmic Secret Realm within the Machine Race territory. I didn't expect him to preside over this Genius Battle.”

“Speaking of which, hundreds of thousands of epochs ago, Jiujian Venerable was also Star-level and participated in the Genius Battle! At that time, the Venerable was the top individual of that generation... The shock the Venerable brought to the various Cosmic Nations back then was no less than what this young man named ‘Bolan’ is bringing now.”

“Indeed.”

“What good is talent? The path to becoming an Immortal alone is fraught with difficulties, with countless Sector Lords falling before the final threshold. That Bolan, to even reach ‘Immortal’ status, will have to undergo numerous trials and tribulations, let alone the ‘Spatial Venerable’ path, which is ten thousand or even a million times harder.”

These Immortals sighed with emotion.

Each of them held extremely high authority in their respective Cosmic Nations, considered top-tier figures under their Cosmic Nation Lords. They could effortlessly destroy planets and stars. However, if one could become a Venerable... that would grant them the heaven-defying ability to occupy vast starfields and establish a Cosmic Nation.

With a wave of a Spatial Venerable's hand, stars could shift, space could transform. So-called planets were like glass marbles before them.

...

In the evening.

Luo Feng, who was drinking a beverage in one of the restaurants in the central plaza, suddenly heard a voice invade his consciousness: “All participants from the 1008 Cosmic Nations, gather in the central plaza.” Luo Feng unconsciously stood up. Not just him, but all the geniuses in the restaurant stood up.

1,008,000 geniuses, some flying from the sky, some emerging from the residential buildings, some converging towards the center from the edges of the central plaza.

All one million-plus geniuses did this!

In just a moment!

1,008,000 geniuses formed a neat, large square formation, standing on the central plaza. Then... all one million geniuses woke up.

“What's going on?” Luo Feng startled awake.

“What happened?”

“Huh, why am I here? I was just in my room.”

All one million-plus geniuses in the formation were in shock, even Death God ‘Bailan’ had a look of astonishment.

At this moment, standing in front of the formation were 1008 Immortal Beings. These Immortal Beings naturally exuded their pressure. The pressure from over a thousand powerful Immortal Beings... instantly silenced all one million-plus people in the formation. Not a single person dared to make a sound.

“Welcome, all of you, to the Peak Genius Battle hosted by our Virtual Universe Company,” a gentle voice entered everyone's ears.

Everyone looked on in shock.

In the previously empty air ahead, a man appeared, wearing a green combat robe and with purple scales on his head. He wore a smile... but standing in mid-air, he seemed like an ancient divine king. The naturally emanating aura made the million-plus young people involuntarily submit.

Moreover!

Although they could see the green-robed man in the distance with their naked eyes, all the geniuses present felt... as if that great supreme being was not in the same space as them. That sense of spacetime dislocation felt very unsettling.

“From 1008 Cosmic Nations, each nation selected a thousand, totaling over a million geniuses,” the green-robed man stood in the void, looking down at the million-plus geniuses below, his voice gentle. “Our Virtual Universe Company will select the strongest one thousand among you to be absorbed into the core of our Virtual Universe Company.”

“You million-plus people will compete for these one thousand spots.”

“The rules are as follows:”

“Tomorrow, all of you will enter a ‘Trial Space’ individually. Our Virtual Universe Company has prepared over a million Trial Spaces for you, one for each person.”

“Each Trial Space contains seven Trial Towers! Each Trial Tower has seven levels!”

“Begin by challenging the first Trial Tower. After clearing all seven levels of the first Trial Tower, proceed to the second Trial Tower... continue until you die or are kicked out of the Trial Space!”

“Your scores will be calculated based on your performance in the Trial Space.”

“The top 1 to 100 in scores will be directly absorbed into our Virtual Universe Company as core members, securing 100 spots, without further selection.”

“Ranks 101 to 7300, these 7200 people will then engage in arena battles to compete for 900 spots.”

“As for those ranked 7300 and below... all eliminated!”

The words of the green-robed man left the million-plus geniuses below stunned.

There were a total of 1,008,000 participants this time, meaning that in just this one Trial Space, over a million people would be eliminated!