Chapter 256: The Genius Tournament Concludes, The Intent to Accept Disciples

"Congratulations to you all!"

After the final nine hundred geniuses were selected, Lu Qingshan quickly reappeared before the crowd and continued, "You are the most outstanding geniuses of this Genius Tournament. After joining the core layer of my Virtual Universe Company, you will all receive intensive cultivation!"

"Of course, competition exists everywhere! All one thousand of you can join the core layer of my Virtual Universe Company, but there will be certain differences in treatment! Now I will announce the upcoming rules..."

Immediately, Lu Qingshan explained the relevant treatment for the core layer's Primordial Secret Realm, Tai Chu Secret Realm, Heaven and Earth Secret Realm, and End Times Secret Realm of the Virtual Universe Company, and then stated the number of people recruited this time.

Among them, the Primordial Secret Realm recruits one person, the Tai Chu Secret Realm nine people, the Heaven and Earth Secret Realm ninety people, and the remaining geniuses belong to the End Times Secret Realm.

"Starting tomorrow, the arena battles will begin to select the final rankings."

Lu Qingshan's gentle voice echoed in the minds of every genius: "The specific rules for the final battle have been sent to each of you via the Virtual Universe System. Today, you should all rest well!"

After saying this, Lu Qingshan's figure quickly vanished from the square.

And after he left, the countless geniuses around him began to discuss the matter.

"Kosomu, I didn't expect you to be eliminated too!"

"Yes! I was eliminated in the third arena battle. That opponent's strength was indeed a bit stronger than mine!"

"We all failed to break into the top one thousand in the entire universe; it is truly regrettable!"

"There is nothing to regret!"

The genius named Kosomu's face soon surged with rising battle intent, and he then said seriously, "I once heard my Ancestor mention that the Wan Jie Zunzhe who presided over our Genius Tournament once participated in the Universe Peak Genius Tournament, but in the end, just like us, he failed to join the Virtual Universe Company!"

"But now, most of the geniuses from the same generation as the Wan Jie Zunzhe have already perished; only a handful have become Immortal Deities, yet the Wan Jie Zunzhe has become a supreme expert comparable to a Universe Nation Lord!"

Actually, under normal circumstances, information about Universe Zunes is something these Star-level geniuses cannot possibly know.

It is just that Lu Qingshan has only cultivated for a few tens of millions of years since he began, and has been a Universe Zune for only nearly ten million years;

plus, the Ancestor of the family where Kosomu resides is a Marquis Immortal of the Yanfeng Universe Nation, so he naturally knows quite a bit about Lu Qingshan's affairs.

"Are you saying..."

After hearing Kosomu's words, a hint of expectation appeared on the face of his friend beside him, who had also been eliminated.

"That's right!"

Kosomu quickly nodded and said, "Although we failed to break into the top one thousand in the entire universe this time, as long as we continue to work hard on our cultivation, we will definitely have a chance to become supreme experts in the future!"

However, another genius not far away, upon hearing Kosomu's words, wore an expression of complete disagreement.

"Kosomu!"

This genius quickly spoke up, "You don't think you can compare yourself to the great Wan Jie Zunzhe, do you?"

"I have also heard my Ancestor mention the Wan Jie Zunzhe's experiences, but how many such figures have appeared in the vast territory of the Human Race throughout endless ages?"

"The Peak Genius Tournament is held once every five thousand years, and there is also the Peak Expert Tournament. Throughout the long ages, how many people have been eliminated by these Genius Tournaments and Expert Tournaments? Yet there is only one great Wan Jie Zunzhe!"

"In my opinion, we should work hard on our cultivation and see if we have a chance to participate in the next Peak Expert Tournament!"

"Hmph!"

After hearing this genius's words, Kosomu quickly snorted coldly, "When the Wan Jie Zunzhe was eliminated from the Peak Genius Tournament back then, who could have imagined that he would become a Universe Zune in the future?"

"I have only cultivated for a little over two hundred years; who can be sure I cannot become a supreme expert in the future?"

"You..."

After hearing Kosomu's words, the genius who had refuted him shook his head slightly, and then walked over to the side.

And the conversation between Kosomu and the others quickly fell into the eyes of the other Immortal leaders standing aside.

"Theodore!"

A leader Immortal with green scales on his face smiled and said, "This little one from your Yanfeng Universe Nation has quite some ambition, daring to compare himself to the Wan Jie Zunzhe's experiences!"

"Yes!"

Another leader Immortal also smiled and teased, "This little one's strength isn't that great, yet his tone is so arrogant!"

Hearing his friends' teasing, Theodore, the leader Immortal of the Yanfeng Universe Nation, could not help but show a look of helplessness on his face.

"Hahaha, who among us didn't have this situation when we were young?"

Theodore quickly said with a smile, "This little one named 'Kosomu' is a descendant of my Yanfeng Universe Nation's 'Cangsong Marquis'. He has never encountered any setbacks since childhood; I believe after cultivating for a while longer, he will understand many more principles!"

After hearing Theodore's words, the other Immortals around stopped saying anything.

Just as another genius had just said...

How vast is the territory of the Human Race, and how many geniuses have been born throughout endless ages?

Yet throughout endless ages, let alone geniuses who grew to the level of the Wan Jie Zunzhe, even geniuses who could become Marquis Immortals like them are not very numerous!

The geniuses in each Genius Tournament seem incredibly dazzling, with every single one having fought their way out of a Universe Nation's territory.

But looking at the endless ages of Human Race history, they are too ordinary!

And while these Immortals were chatting, some geniuses who had broken into the top one thousand, after reading tomorrow's final battle rules, started a commotion because they felt the Virtual Universe Company's arrangement was unfair.

Seeing this, these leader Immortals naturally hurried over to handle the situation.

"Fools, shut up!"

"What are you doing? All of you, shut up!"

One by one, the powerful leader Immortals released their terrifying consciousness pressure, forcing the troublemaking geniuses to kneel and prostrate themselves on the ground.

"A bunch of fools!"

"Didn't expect to encounter such blind fools in this Genius Tournament again!"

"The decisions made by the high-level executives of the Virtual Universe Company, do you Star-level little ones think you can change them?"

"Little ones, today I will teach you a new principle; all of you must remember it!"

A leader Immortal with a single black horn on his forehead quickly said coldly, "You were able to stand out from countless Star-level beings in our Human territory and break into the top one thousand in the entire universe's overall ranking; indeed, you are very talented, very dazzling!"

"But you must know that the Universe Peak Genius Tournament is held once every five thousand years, and there is also the Peak Expert Tournament, as well as many supreme geniuses joining the core layers of the Five Major Powers through various channels! There are countless geniuses like you within the Five Major Powers of our Human Race, so you had better be low-key in the future, otherwise you might not even live to see a few hundred years!"

"That's right! Defying the high-level decision is a major taboo!"

The many leader Immortals understood the pride in these geniuses' hearts well, after all, many of them had walked this path themselves in the past.

The path to the peak is destined to be fraught with hardships; if these geniuses maintain such arrogance, they will easily fail and perish on the path of the strong, so they naturally intend to use this opportunity to suppress the arrogance in these geniuses' hearts.

After hearing the reminders and rebukes from these Immortal escorts, the many geniuses also suddenly realized, their previous arrogance completely gone.

Early the next morning, Lu Qingshan appeared again in the Central Square, beginning to preside over the final stage of the Genius Battle.

The Virtual Universe System quickly selected one hundred geniuses from the nine hundred, who then fought against the top one hundred geniuses from the Trial Tower's overall rankings, finally selecting the one hundred geniuses qualified to join the Heaven and Earth Secret Realm;

Subsequently, the Virtual Universe System selected twenty people from these one hundred geniuses; these twenty fought in pairs, finally selecting the ten geniuses able to join the Primordial Secret Realm.

The remaining ten geniuses fought in pairs, quickly selecting the top five in the overall rankings.

The top five in the overall rankings fought each other; after each person fought four consecutive battles, Clement, ranked first in the Trial Tower's overall rankings and from the Black Fire Universe Kingdom, known as 'Shadowless', won four consecutive matches, defeating without a doubt any genius who wanted to defeat him to prove himself, ultimately obtaining the number one rank in the entire universe and securing the sole opportunity to join the Virtual Universe Company's Primordial Secret Realm.

"This Clement is truly formidable!"

"Indeed! The strength of others can be considered very powerful, yet when facing him, they were still crushed!"

"His performance in the elimination tournament held in the Black Fire Universe Kingdom at the beginning wasn't particularly outstanding; did he deliberately conserve his strength?"

"It shouldn't be that! I heard a friend from within the Black Fire Universe Kingdom say that Clement has cultivated for a particularly short time; to possess such strength, he must have caught up in this recent period!"

"Then his cultivation speed is simply too terrifying!"

"Who would say otherwise? Those able to participate in this Peak Genius Battle finals, aside from those old fellows who deliberately lingered at the Star Level stage for thousands of years, which of the others isn't a super genius? Yet Clement's cultivation speed was able to catch up to, or even surpass, them while these geniuses were also progressing; this is truly incredible!"

"The Lie Shen Bing perfectly combined Clement's comprehension of the Time Origin Law and the Wind Origin Law; even if he barely managed to execute the Second Form, he would already be able to defeat others, let alone the fact that he has already used the Lie Shen Bing's Second Form with such mastery!"

"Indeed! To execute the Lie Shen Bing's Second Form with such mastery at the Star Level, and reportedly having cultivated for only twenty-plus years, such astonishing comprehension is truly too incredible!"

After Clement defeated the many other geniuses and achieved the number one overall ranking, countless geniuses around, and even the Immortal escorts from the various Universe Kingdoms, began to discuss the matter.

Lu Qingshan, presiding over the Genius Battle, was also quite satisfied with Clement's talent and comprehension.

Such talent and comprehension, while slightly inferior to Bran in the original story, can still be considered a genius appearing once every few thousand Genius Battles.

As long as Clement chooses the correct cultivation path next, reaching the King Sealed Realm will absolutely be no problem.

As for the Venerable Realm, that depends on the other party's future fortune and encounters!

However, Lu Qingshan is not quite the same as other Universe Venerables, so even though Clement's talent and comprehension are both very good, he will still investigate before considering taking the other as a disciple.

Of course, since these geniuses have not yet entered the Initial Universe to cultivate, this is naturally not the time to speak of such things.

"First!"

"Second to Tenth."

"Eleventh to Hundredth."

"Hundred and First to Thousandth."

Lu Qingshan looked at the crowd of geniuses present and soon said with a smile: "The geniuses for these four Secret Realms have all been selected; I declare that this Universe Human Peak Genius Selection Battle has ended perfectly today."

"Your performance in this Genius Battle is quite good; I hope that in tens of thousands, or even hundreds of thousands of years, someone among you will become famous throughout the universe and become a super strong one in our Human Race!"

"Shortly, the Virtual Universe Company will send special personnel to contact you, then escort you to our Virtual Universe Company's Universal Headquarters! After you assemble there, you may proceed to the 'Initial Universe'."

"From now on, your path will no longer be ordinary! As for whether you will perish midway or become true strong ones in the future, that depends on your own efforts!"

"Work hard, little ones! Your path of the strong has only just begun!"

After Lu Qingshan finished speaking these words, he disappeared from the Central Square, yet his words continued to echo in the minds of every genius.

After the Genius Battle concluded, considering Clement's talent was quite good, Lu Qingshan casually sent an email to Lord Heifeng of the Transportation Department, instructing the other to properly arrange escort personnel.

Of course, the Transportation Department had already established clear regulations for these matters; Lu Qingshan doing so was merely a casual gesture.

Thus, time continued to pass, and quickly another three years had gone by.

During these three years, the Transportation Department of the Virtual Universe Company dispatched its subordinate staff to receive all the top one thousand geniuses from this Peak Genius Battle to the Virtual Universe Company's Universal Headquarters Continent.

On this day, Lu Qingshan was cultivating in his residence on the Headquarters Continent when his disciple Huo Gesi suddenly arrived at his residence.

"Master!"

Huo Gesi, wearing a set of cyan battle armor, quickly spoke: "The top one thousand geniuses from this Genius Battle have all arrived at the Company Headquarters Continent and are currently waiting in the Great Hall!"

Nowadays, Huo Gesi has already left the Transportation Department and is completely serving under Lu Qingshan.

However, he is currently only a Marquis Level Initial, so compared to the King Level Limit and King Level Peak strong ones serving under other Universe Venerables, he is naturally far inferior.

However, Lu Qingshan did not care too much; after all, what he lacked under his command were mainly people to do things, as for strong ones, he was not lacking.

After all, before he broke through to become a Universe Venerable, he already had five soul servants at the King Level Limit who had created peak secret techniques, such as Golden Splendor King and Wind Feng Hou Wang.

And after Lu Qingshan's status in the Human Race rose again, although Golden Splendor King and Wind Feng Hou Wang were alien strong ones, they were now able to cultivate some precious secret techniques of the Human Race.

In fact, if the Divine General inheritance had not been inactive recently, Lu Qingshan would have applied for suitable Divine General inheritances for these soul servants under his command to improve their physical resonance and soul resonance!

With these soul servants serving, Lu Qingshan was not lacking in King Level combat power under his command.

What he truly lacked were Marquis Level Immortals, Immortal Army Masters, and others to do things!

After all, as a Universe Venerable of the Human Race, if all the personnel under his command were aliens, it would certainly be somewhat inappropriate.

"Hmm!"

Lu Qingshan nodded slightly, then said: "Time really passes quickly; I wonder how these little ones will perform once they enter Chaos City!"

"Master!"

Huo Gesi quickly asked: "Do you intend to take that Clement as your disciple?"

"That depends on what cultivation path he chooses after entering Chaos City!"

Lu Qingshan quickly said with a smile: "What, are you afraid that if Master takes him as a disciple, he will later steal your work?"

"That is not the case!"

Huo Gesi hurriedly said: "This disciple would actually be delighted if Master had a few King Level disciples serving under you!"

"This disciple is currently only a Marquis Level Initial; when going to do things for Master, those King Level Immortals, while having no objections on the surface, actually look down on this disciple in their hearts!"

"This disciple previously also wanted to find junior brother Streich to serve under Master, but Master said that junior brother Streich's cultivation is the most important, so this disciple abandoned this idea!"

"If Master, you accept Clement as your disciple, when he one day breaks through to the King Sealed Realm, he can perfectly take my place serving under you!"

"Since you know your strength is weak, then keep working hard in your cultivation!"

Lu Qingshan smiled and said: "When you one day enter the King Sealed Immortality, those people will naturally stop looking down on you!"

"Master, you have too much faith in your disciple!"

Huo Gesi sighed helplessly: "With Master's help, my disciple's cultivation to the peak of the Marquis Sealed Realm shouldn't be too difficult—but crossing into the King Sealed Realm is far too hard!"

"Nothing in the world is difficult for one who is determined!"

Lu Qingshan smiled and said, then continued: "Enough. Let's first go with me to deliver those little ones to the Chaos City!"

Soon, Lu Qingshan arrived above the gathering point of the super geniuses and called for the geniuses to board the ship.

This ship was naturally not the 'Blood Red No. 3' he received upon joining the Transportation Department, but the great treasure he previously exchanged for from the Human Clan's treasure vault: the Lightning Flash Void Ship.

As the vehicle of a Zifeng Zunzhe, this was already quite impressive.

After all, even ordinary high-level Zifeng Zunzhe did not necessarily possess a flying palace-class great treasure.

(End of Chapter)