Chapter 255

Evening.

"All participants from Universe Country 1003, assemble at the Central Plaza."

Suddenly, a voice echoed in the minds of the Star-level geniuses who were active in the Central Plaza.

After this voice appeared in the minds of these Star-level geniuses, their bodies instantly ceased to be under their own control; very quickly, under the manipulation of an invisible force, they converged toward the Central Plaza without prior agreement.

One million and thirty thousand geniuses either flew from the sky or emerged from residential towers...

In merely a brief moment, these over one million Star-level geniuses, under the control of that invisible force, formed a neat square formation on the Central Plaza.

Only after this did the over one million geniuses regain their senses.

"What is happening?"

"What occurred?"

"Wasn't I just resting in my room? How did I suddenly end up here?"

At this moment, countless Star-level geniuses within the square formation were all in shock, because they had never encountered such a situation in the Virtual Universe before.

Yet, even though shocked in their hearts, they dared not move their feet lightly; instead, they all respectfully remained in place.

Because in front of the massive square formation they composed, there now stood one thousand and three Immortals emitting terrifying auras, respectfully; these were the Immortal leaders of their respective Universe Countries.

The pressure naturally emitted by these Immortal leaders enveloped these geniuses, instantly silencing them completely; no one dared to speak again.

And just at this moment...

"Little ones, welcome to this Peak Genius Tournament hosted by our Virtual Universe Company."

A gentle voice instantly resounded beside the ears of all Star-level geniuses present.

Upon hearing this voice, everyone looked on in shock.

They saw that in the empty air ahead, a middle-aged man wearing purple-gold battle armor with a resolute face had suddenly appeared.

This middle-aged man stood in mid-air as if carrying the might of heaven and earth; the aura he naturally emitted made everyone present involuntarily feel a sense of submission in their hearts.

Moreover, in the space surrounding this terrifying middle-aged man, there was an indistinct sense of spatial and temporal dislocation, giving people an extremely uncomfortable feeling.

This terrifying middle-aged man was naturally the host of this Peak Genius Tournament, Wan Jie Zunzhe Lu Qingshan!

"One thousand and three Universe Countries, each selecting the top one thousand, totaling over one million geniuses combined."

Lu Qingshan stood in the void looking down at the many geniuses below, then continued speaking: "Our Virtual Universe Company will next select the one thousand strongest among you, then absorb them into the core layer of our Virtual Universe Company."

"You one million people will compete for these one thousand spots; the rules are as follows..."

"Tomorrow, all of you will enter a trial space prepared by our Virtual Universe Company for each of you; within this trial space, there are seven Trial Towers in total, and each Trial Tower has seven floors!"

"You must start by clearing the first Trial Tower; after clearing the first comes the second, until you die and are kicked out of the Trial Tower!"

"Clearing the Trial Towers will earn corresponding points; after the Trial Tower challenge ends, the top one hundred by points can directly obtain a spot; those ranked 101st to 7,300th must engage in arena battles to compete for the final nine hundred spots!"

"As for those ranked after 7,300th, all are eliminated!"

Lu Qingshan's voice was very gentle, yet his heart was not calm.

Because tens of millions of years ago, he too was one of the over one million geniuses before his eyes.

At that time, he had already broken into the top 7,300 in that Peak Genius Tournament, yet ultimately he was still eliminated in the subsequent elimination rounds by 'Purple Light' Ross.

Of course, he did not give up on himself because of this; instead, he continued to cultivate diligently.

And now, he stood in front of these super geniuses, becoming the person hosting the Peak Genius Tournament.

Such a change in identity and status naturally filled his heart with infinite emotions.

On the other side, after Lu Qingshan finished speaking, the over one million Star-level geniuses present below were all stunned.

Eliminating nearly one million people with just one trial space was simply too cruel.

However, Lu Qingshan did not care too much about these geniuses' thoughts; even if there were occasionally some troublemakers, the leading Marquis Immortals would handle them.

So after briefly introducing the elimination rules, Lu Qingshan left very quickly.

The next morning.

"Everyone please prepare; mass teleportation will commence immediately, transporting all participants of this year's Genius Tournament to their respective trial spaces."

Accompanied by a crisp, pleasant voice sounding, an invisible, strange power instantly descended upon the entire plane space, then transported all over one million geniuses from the major Universe Countries into their respective trial spaces.

As for other people within this space, such as the Immortal leaders of the major Universe Countries and some staff members, they were not affected in any way.

And after the many geniuses entered the Trial Tower space, they each displayed their unique abilities during the challenge process, hoping to break into the top 7,300 of the total Trial Tower rankings, or even the top one hundred.

The difficulty of these Trial Towers is extremely high; since the Human Race began holding this Peak Genius Tournament, geniuses capable of clearing all seven Trial Towers at the Star level are few and far between.

The most recent instance was at a Peak Genius Tournament tens of trillions of years ago.

At that time, that year's Genius Tournament was hosted by the Virtual Universe Company faction, and the genius who cleared the Trial Towers back then has now become a Universe Master of the Virtual Universe Company lineage; he is You Hou Zhi Zhu, famous throughout the vast universe.

And generally, the first place winner of past Genius Tournaments could only clear five Trial Towers, then stopping at the first floor of the sixth Trial Tower.

Regarding the Trial Tower challenge, one can stay on each floor for a maximum of ten days.

Therefore, many geniuses, in order to clear further than other geniuses, treat this Trial Tower challenge as cultivation, staying the full ten days on each floor of the Trial Tower.

Just like Luo Feng in the original work; when the Trial Tower challenge had just begun, his strength was equivalent only to the top ten thousand of the finals; breaking into the top one thousand of the entire universe was already very difficult;

yet after cultivating for a full nearly year during the Trial Tower challenge process, he was already able to easily break into the top one hundred of the total rankings; even at the critical final moment, he achieved a transformation in his comprehension of the Shi Shi Jian Ben Yuan Law, thus directly breaking into the third place in the total universe rankings.

Precisely for this reason, just this Trial Tower challenge generally needs to last about a year.

Although Lu Qingshan is the host of this year's Genius Tournament, as a Universe Zunzhe, he naturally will not monitor the geniuses' challenges throughout the entire process.

As time passed, more and more geniuses were kicked out of the Trial Towers.

Until nearly a year later, only three figures remained inside the Trial Towers.

These three figures were respectively...

'Barbarian King' Suo Keqi from Nine Peaks Universe Country, who has now cleared to the seventh floor of the fifth Trial Tower;

'Blood Blade' Simpson from Green Peak Universe Country, who has now cleared to the first floor of the sixth Trial Tower;

Clement, the "Shadowless" from the Black Fire Universe Kingdom, has now broken through to the seventh floor of the fifth Trial Tower!

Among these three, "Blood Blade" Simpson and "Barbarian King" Sorki were originally hot favorites to contend for the top ten, or even first place, in the Genius Battle; it is only natural that they persisted until now;

Only Clement, the "Shadowless" from the Black Fire Universe Kingdom, was originally unremarkable among the Star-level geniuses, and did not even break into the top ten rankings of the Black Fire Universe Kingdom in the preliminary rounds.

But now, he has surged into the top one hundred of the entire universe's total rankings, and has not yet been kicked out of the Trial Tower space.

If Simpson and Sorki's strength made everyone feel it was only to be expected, then Clement's results have shocked countless people.

Even the Immortal leading the Black Fire Universe Kingdom delegation finds it extremely incredible.

Precisely because these three remain in the Trial Tower space, the Virtual Universe Company has even produced promotional videos explaining their backgrounds and strengths for them, broadcasting continuously across the vast territories of the 1003 Universe Kingdoms of the Human Race.

Of course, as time continues to pass, Clement and the other two continue to advance within the Trial Tower space.

The first to be eliminated was "Blood Blade" Simpson; like other top-ranked geniuses, he ultimately stopped at the first floor of the sixth Trial Tower, temporarily ranking third in the entire universe;

The second to be eliminated was "Barbarian King" Sorki; he ultimately stopped at the seventh floor of the fifth Trial Tower, temporarily ranking twenty-third in the entire universe;

And after Simpson and Sorki were eliminated one after another, only the biggest dark horse of this year's Genius Battle remained in the Trial Tower space, namely Clement, the "Shadowless" from the Black Fire Universe Kingdom.

Clement is a Mental Controller, wielding one of the Nine Divine Weapons of the Controllers, the "Shattered Lie Lie Shen Bing," forged by combining the Source Law of Wind and the Source Law of Time!

Under the expectations of countless people, Clement quickly surged into the first floor of the sixth Trial Tower;

And after a difficult battle, this Clement ultimately became the only genius in this year's Genius Battle to break through the first floor of the sixth Trial Tower, thus ranking first in the total Trial Tower rankings of this year's Genius Battle!

Ultimately, "Shadowless" Clement stopped at the third floor of the sixth Trial Tower.

And with Clement being kicked out of the Trial Tower space, the elimination phase of this year's Peak Genius Battle Trial Tower smoothly concluded.

After Clement was kicked out of the Trial Tower space, the entire central square outside fell completely silent.

Hundreds of thousands of geniuses from major Universe Kingdoms almost all turned their heads to look at Clement.

This was a young man in a blue long robe; he was handsome, and on his back he carried the "Shattered Lie Lie Shen Bing," one of the Nine Divine Weapons of the Controllers; his entire person seemed like an Ice Mountain.

After leaving the Trial Tower space, Clement quickly walked toward the team of the Black Fire Universe Kingdom.

The sounds of discussion and exclamations of amazement from other geniuses along the way entered his ears, yet they did not stir even a ripple in his heart.

"Shadowless?"

"'Shadowless' Clement?"

"He actually broke through to the third floor of the sixth Trial Tower?"

"Heavens! Others were eliminated at most at the first floor of the sixth Trial Tower, yet he broke through to the third floor of the sixth Trial Tower?"

"How have we never heard his name before?"

"He is truly too powerful! In the upcoming battles, this Clement should be able to achieve first place overall!"

"That is not certain!"

"Yes! Mental Controllers definitely have certain advantages in breaking through the Trial Tower; I think others might not necessarily lose to this Clement!"

"Exactly! That "Blood Blade" Simpson from the Qingfeng Universe Kingdom is quite good!"

For a moment, countless geniuses in the square were discussing this "Shadowless" Clement.

In the Virtual Universe, on Lei Ting Island, inside Lu Qingshan's temple.

At this moment, Lu Qingshan was sitting and chatting with his senior brother, Venerable Yao Guang, and Zi Hu Zunzhe.

Among them, Venerable Yao Guang had come specifically to check the situation after learning that Lu Qingshan was hosting the Genius Battle for the first time;

As for Zi Hu Zunzhe, since she had yielded the opportunity to host the Genius Battle to Lu Qingshan, now that the Genius Battle had begun, she naturally wanted to come over and exchange words with Lu Qingshan.

"Master, the selection tournament within the Trial Tower space for this year's Peak Genius Battle has completely concluded; the final arena battle will take place tomorrow!"

Just as the three of Lu Qingshan were chatting, the voice of the intelligent lifeform Hearing Shenlan quickly sounded in Lu Qingshan's mind.

"Mm!"

Lu Qingshan nodded slightly, then directly commanded: "Hearing Shenlan, display the information of the top twenty geniuses in this Trial Tower breakthrough!"

"Yes, Master!"

The intelligent lifeform Hearing Shenlan responded, and then a huge virtual screen appeared before the three of Lu Qingshan; on the screen were the specific details of the geniuses who performed well in this year's Peak Genius Battle.

"Oh?"

After casually browsing the information, Venerable Yao Guang nearby immediately became interested: "There is actually a genius who broke through to the third floor of the sixth Trial Tower?"

"Lu Qingshan, your luck is good! This little fellow being able to break through to the third floor of the sixth Trial Tower means he might have a chance in the future to enter the King Sealed Realm!"

"Mm?"

After hearing Venerable Yao Guang's words, Lu Qingshan immediately became interested as well.

You must know, when he previously queried the information of many geniuses, he had not discovered any information about this "Shadowless" Clement at all.

Thinking of this, Lu Qingshan shifted his mind, and soon a large amount of detailed data regarding this Clement appeared before him.

But after finishing reading this data, Lu Qingshan could not help but be slightly stunned.

Because the data displayed showed that this Clement had been cultivating for only just over twenty years.

Moreover, during the elimination rounds of the Black Fire Universe Kingdom, his performance was actually not particularly dazzling.

But now, only a few years have passed, and he already possesses the strength to rank first in the entire universe.

"This little fellow is indeed quite good!"

After finishing reading this detailed information, Venerable Yao Guang nearby quickly said: "It seems this little fellow's talent and comprehension are even more outstanding than I imagined; the reason his performance is not particularly dazzling now should be due to the cultivation time being too short!"

"Lu Qingshan, if you take him as a disciple and cultivate him well, this little fellow will absolutely be able to enter the King Sealed level in the future!"

"This little fellow's talent is indeed very good!"

Zi Hu Zunzhe nearby also joked: "If I had not yielded the opportunity to host this Peak Genius Battle to Wan Jie, I would also have taken this little fellow as my disciple!"

"Hahaha!"

Lu Qingshan quickly said with a smile: "This little fellow's performance is indeed quite good; however, regarding taking him as a disciple, we must wait to see how he chooses once he arrives in Chaos City; if he chooses a suitable Chaos Stele, taking him as a disciple would naturally be acceptable!"

……

The next morning.

Including Clement, 7,300 peerless geniuses had gathered in the Central Square, all quietly waiting for the arena duel to begin.

Suddenly...

An invisible, vast aura instantly enveloped the entire Central Square, causing everyone present to involuntarily feel a sense of submission.

The crowd in the square hurriedly looked up, seeing the figure clad in purple-gold battle armor appear in mid-air; it was Lu Qingshan.

At this moment, Lu Qingshan's gaze swept through the crowd, and not a single person dared to meet his eyes.

"Zifeng Zunzhe!"

Over a thousand Immortals leading the various Universe Kingdoms simultaneously bowed respectfully to Lu Qingshan in greeting.

"Mm!"

Lu Qingshan nodded slightly, then looked directly at the remaining 7,300 geniuses: "The Trial Tower elimination is over. First, congratulations to the 1st through 100th trialists; you have already qualified to join the core layer of my Virtual Universe Company!"

"Of course, our Virtual Universe Company never forces anyone to join. If any of you are unwilling to join the Virtual Universe Company, you may speak up now!"

For a moment, the square fell silent!

Not a single person spoke!

"Good!"

Lu Qingshan nodded slightly, then continued to explain the rules for the upcoming elimination matches: "For the 101st through 7,300th, you 7,200 trialists, based on your performance during the Trial Tower breakthrough, the Virtual Universe System has already arranged your respective arena duels."

"You only need to defeat three opponents consecutively to gain qualification to join the core layer of my Virtual Universe Company! Now, go and begin your arena duels!"

Boom!

With a wave of Lu Qingshan's hand, the Central Square soon began to tremble slightly, and the 7,200 geniuses who needed to participate in the arena duels were all teleported away.

Meanwhile, the hundred geniuses who had already qualified to join the core layer of the Virtual Universe Company walked to a corner nearby and began watching live broadcasts of others' battles through virtual screens.

As for Lu Qingshan, he sat together with the Immortals leading the various Universe Kingdoms.

Soon, 3,600 huge screens appeared in the void above the Central Square, each screen broadcasting a battle between geniuses ranked within the top 7,300.

In the 3,600 screens, the battles began almost simultaneously!

The victors advance, the defeated are eliminated; everything was incredibly cruel.

One after another, super geniuses of extraordinary talent fell. In less than five minutes, the first round of matches was completely over, with 3,600 people directly eliminated.

Half an hour later, the second round of eliminations began.

Half of the 3,600 geniuses fell again, while the other half continued to advance.

Another half hour passed, and the third round of eliminations began.

These final 1,800 super geniuses all desperately craved victory, for they were only one step away from ultimate success...

However, only one person on each arena could join the core layer of the Virtual Universe Company; the other person must be eliminated.

(End of this chapter)