Smiling Thirteen

The Genius Battle stirred up immense waves in every Cosmic Nation, drawing the attention of countless individuals. And now, the peak battle among the geniuses from 1008 Cosmic Nations naturally had countless people across these nations anxiously awaiting, yet the trial elimination rounds were not publicly broadcast; only the rankings were. “Rongjun is so cool!” “Look, the Virtual Universe Company’s official website just released a new promotional video for ‘Savage Rongjun’.” On a street in the Ganwu Continent of the Virtual Universe, a young couple pointed at a street screen, the girl excitedly exclaiming. The boy beside her chuckled, “The ranking keeps changing, but the Virtual Universe Company creates promotional videos for anyone who breaks into the top 1,000. This time, only Rongjun from our Ganwu Universe Nation has earned that honor.” “Didn’t Luo Feng have it before?” “You haven’t checked the rankings, he’s almost at the bottom,” the boy shook his head. “Many important figures said the madman Luo Feng was very strong? Why is his ranking so low?” the girl asked, puzzled. “I don’t know,” the boy sighed, shaking his head. “It’s quite disappointing. I used to admire him; I always thought he was even more ruthless than that savage Rongjun, but now…” Throughout the Ganwu Universe Nation’s hundreds of millions of star systems, when countless people discussed the Genius Battle rankings, most expressed disappointment in Luo Feng. This was because, previously, a consensus had formed within the Ganwu Universe Nation that among their own geniuses, Rongjun was first and Luo Feng was second, and the main focus was on these two. But now, look! Rongjun was formidable, but Luo Feng? He was at the very bottom. If the emotions towards Luo Feng in the other tens of thousands of starfields in the Ganwu Universe Nation were relatively mild, then the Heilong Mountain Starfield was going crazy! “Madman! You’ve really gone mad, how can you be so bad?” “It shouldn’t be this bad!” “Truly disappointing!” “Madman, my beloved madman, the madman I admire, where are you?” “How can you be at the very end? I don’t ask you to reach the top, just get into the top 10,000!” “Madman, madman!” “You’ve disappointed me too much.” In the Heilong Mountain Empire, countless people who took pride in Luo Feng were incredibly emotional. Some, overly agitated, even cursed Luo Feng, hating him for not living up to expectations. “The ranking is constantly changing, and the final results aren’t revealed until the end. Luo Feng might make a strong push later. He did the same in the first world district.” “Everyone must believe in the madman.” “We will always support the madman!” One group, due to their initial admiration, felt extreme anger! The other group offered unwavering support, still believing in Luo Feng! However, Luo Feng, representing the Heilong Mountain Empire on this most prestigious stage of 1008 Cosmic Nations, truly held the hearts of countless people in the Heilong Mountain Empire. In the Virtual Universe, on the Central Plaza surrounded by the 1008 towering buildings. The 1008 great Immortals sat together, watching the floating screens around them, chatting and laughing. “There are quite a few geniuses who hid their strength during the internal selections within their Cosmic Nations.” “A pleasant surprise.” A group of powerful Immortals commented on some astonishingly performing genius powerhouses. Because the top 100 in these trials would directly secure spots, many true powerhouses who had hidden their strength burst forth, each displaying their abilities to the maximum, which somewhat surprised these Immortal beings. “This ape-man youth is truly agile; he adapts well to fighting multiple opponents.” “Indeed.” The scaled armor-clad giant beside him rumbled, “The trial space is, after all, just a trial, not a one-on-one duel! And the opponents arranged within, like metal lifeforms and mechanical puppets, are immune to soul attacks. Those skilled in soul attacks are at a significant disadvantage.” One-on-one, human duels, and trial tower challenges would select different types of talents. “Thirteen, you have a point,” said the silver-haired man in a silver robe beside him. “However, true genius experts will still perform exceptionally well. And I think the trial space is set up very well, because in the future, their main enemies will be powerful beings from other races in the universe!” “Hmm.” The scaled armor-clad giant nodded, looking at the rankings on the screen beside him, which displayed the individual rankings of the 1,000 geniuses from the Ganwu Universe Nation. “Rongjun is ranked 16th, not bad.” “This Luo Feng!” The scaled armor-clad giant was somewhat annoyed. “He really treats the trial space as a training ground, spending a full ten days on each level before moving to the next. This kid truly doesn’t care about the criticism outside!” Because he paid close attention to Luo Feng, he could easily see that Luo Feng was indeed maximizing his time. “Hmm? Eliminated?” The scaled armor-clad giant noticed that next to two more geniuses’ names on the list, the red universal text ‘Eliminated’ appeared. “Two more dead!” At this moment, tens of thousands of eliminated geniuses had already gathered in the Central Plaza. Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish! Almost simultaneously, within a few seconds, over a dozen figures were teleported to the Central Plaza. “Feng Lun, you were eliminated too?” “Bras, you’re even earlier than me,” the green-haired youth Feng Lun joked with a smile. “I never thought I could break into the top 7,300.” The handsome youth with slightly curly hair and a silver battle suit shook his head. “When I entered the trial space, I desperately rushed through the levels as fast as possible, hoping to improve my ranking. It was just as I thought; at first, I killed quickly, and my name rose rapidly, reaching over 100,000. But later, the third trial tower was truly difficult, and my progress slowed significantly. My ranking plummeted! It dropped to below 300,000, and I finally died on the fifth level of the third tower, crushed by a mechanical puppet’s rear end. What a tragedy.” “Crushed by its rear end?” Feng Lun burst out laughing. “Which level did you reach?” the handsome youth asked. “The seventh level of the third tower.” Feng Lun couldn’t help but curse, “The Zerg hive was too strong. Zerg warriors were spawned one after another. Their spawning speed was much faster than in the first two trial towers, and they were stronger. My killing speed couldn’t keep up with their spawning speed… I watched as more and more Zerg warriors appeared, and then I was buried alive.” “Haha…” The handsome youth couldn’t help but laugh. “Oh, right, I just checked the rankings. How is our Cosmic Nation’s ‘Madman,’ the one you’re good friends with, ranked so low?” “Low?” Feng Lun glanced around. “Didn’t you see? Tens of thousands of geniuses have already been eliminated. As long as this ‘Madman’ is still in the trial space, his name will rise, just you watch! I know this guy best. Last time, in the Ganwu Universe Nation’s first world district preliminary, this guy didn’t show his face for the first ten days, and then he started a mad slaughter. I think it’s the same this time!” “That devious?” The handsome youth’s eyes widened. “That’s called being steady! Down-to-earth!” Feng Lun teased. “Unlike you, who rushed forward impulsively and got eliminated on the fifth level of the third tower.” … Seven trial towers. All 1,008,000 geniuses passed the first and second trial towers. However, from the first level of the third trial tower onwards, a large number of geniuses were eliminated. The third trial tower eliminated the most people, accounting for almost ninety percent of the total! … “Luo Feng, yes, just like that, keep your ranking low.” Imperial Prince Buluolin was lounging comfortably in his palace on Heilong Mountain Island, watching a forum on the floating screen before him, where many people were cursing Luo Feng for not living up to expectations. “Excellent, excellent.” Buluolin’s face was wreathed in smiles. “Luo Feng, though I don’t want to provoke you, I also don’t want you to be too strong.” “This ranking now is just right, perfect for you.” … Buluolin could still live his comfortable princely life, as the imperial family’s backing was the founding emperor—an Immortal being. Luo Feng couldn’t possibly come looking for trouble with him. But Nuolanshan was different. Now, Luo Feng could easily ask someone for help to deal with Nuolanshan. So, when Luo Feng was making a big splash in the Genius Battle, the extremely cautious Nuolanshan had long since fled his family’s main base. He had moved to a relatively harsh ordinary life planet in a distant Karma Starfield, living in seclusion. “Good!” “Good!” After finishing his cultivation, Nuolanshan, flying back to his simple manor, saw the constantly changing rankings on the living room screen connected to his optical computer with cold eyes, and couldn’t help but sneer, “You forced me to leave my family. This time, you little brat, you deserve to fall hard. Bottom of the rankings? Excellent!” … Regardless of the external bombardment, the countless curses, doubts, and shouts of support, Luo Feng remained as steady as a mountain, spending a full ten days on each level, slowly advancing one by one. He passed all seven levels of the second trial tower. He still passed all seven levels of the third trial tower. The seven levels of the fourth trial tower, which Luo Feng might not have been able to pass before his Demon Killer Clan clone was born, he now steadily cleared, step by step. … In the Virtual Universe, on the Central Plaza. For Immortals, who possessed eternal life, staying there for a year was a trivial matter, and they couldn’t easily abandon their posts during such gatherings. The 1008 great Immortals were discussing. “Thirteen, Luo Feng from your Cosmic Nation’s ranking has soared again.” “Look at this live broadcast footage, this little fellow is always unhurried, and each level seems effortless for him.” “Look, he’s broken into the top 500!” The scaled armor-clad giant sat in a massive chair, looking at the screen before him. The rankings were peculiar; among the Ganwu Universe Nation’s geniuses, Rongjun was ranked first, currently 13th overall. However… Rongjun had already died in battle and been kicked out of the trial space. “This Rongjun had already reached the fifth trial tower. When Rongjun died in battle, this Luo Feng was still slowly dawdling on the first level of the fourth trial tower!” The scaled armor-clad giant couldn’t help but laugh wryly, clearly remembering a big joke from a while ago. At that time, he had said— “Luo Feng is just being low-key and slow. You’ll see, he’ll rise to around 3,000 to 5,000 in the later stages.” The scaled armor-clad giant had told the other Immortals. But later. Luo Feng’s name steadily rose, and now he had already broken into the top 500. “The fifth tower!” “Luo Feng has entered the fifth trial tower!” … “First level, success! Ranked 128!” … “Third level, success! Ranked 42!” … As time passed, the scaled armor-clad giant frowned, his eyes, filled with a deathly aura beneath his helmet, stared at the screen. He murmured, “This Luo Feng, he really… hides his strength deep! But, I like this kind of surprise!” A hint of joy flickered in his eyes.