Chapter 1322: Preliminary Round Ends! The Pride of the Noah Empire!

On the ninth day of the preliminary round, District 65.

At the very top of a skyscraper.

Xu Jingming stood tall and upright, gazing down over the entire city.

He raised his right hand, and the smart bracer projected a semi-transparent screen:

'Name: Xu Jingming (Noah Empire)

Points:

Rank: No. 1

Time remaining: 1 day, 0 hours, 0 minutes, 56 seconds'

Four days had passed since he killed the fourth-place competitor, Lei Kuang.

During that time, he encountered the third-place competitor and killed him outright.

Since then, he had not encountered a single top-ten competitor again.

'Fortunately, the final day is almost here.'

Xu Jingming stared at the countdown on the smart bracer's projection.

When the remaining time reached the final day, a majestic voice echoed across the entire district's sky:

'All competitors, note: the preliminary round has one day remaining.

The district will begin to shrink, and the real-time locations of the top 100 competitors will be displayed on your smart bracers.'

Boom—!!

As the words fell, the entire world roared with thunder.

That was the sound of District 65 contracting.

At the same time, a map appeared beside Xu Jingming's projection.

The map showed one hundred light dots, including his own, each representing a competitor's position.

'Final day—kill them all, and it's over!'

A wild smile appeared on Xu Jingming's cold, stern face.

His body suddenly transformed into a golden lightning bolt, slicing through the sky.

1 times the speed of sound, 2 times, 3 times...

The final day of the preliminary round had arrived—the competition was fiercer than ever!

Not only had the district's area shrunk, but gravity had also decreased.

Xu Jingming's flight speed, previously capped at 1 times the speed of sound,

surged to 50 times the speed of sound!

'It's Lei Di! Run!'

'Damn it, why is he coming this way!'

'Split up! Don't cluster together!'

'...'

Every competitor who had survived to the final day was a top-tier prodigy!

Yet wherever Xu Jingming flew, the competitors on the ground fled like birds terrified by a bowstring.

Xu Jingming had no interest in these insignificant pests—his target was the top 100 competitors listed on the map.

His speed was extreme, and with the reinforcement of the Lightning Law, every strike was a one-hit kill!

Thus, every one of the top 100 competitors in District 65 entered their darkest hour.

'Lei Di! You're already No. 1! Why kill me!'

'Spare my life! I'll give you ten billion after we exit!'

'Xu Jingming, Steve will avenge me!'

'...'

These competitors, once found, either bribed or threatened him.

But Xu Jingming ignored them all and killed them outright.

The points, which had nearly stalled, began rising again.

Meanwhile, those outside watching District 65 witnessed a shocking scene.

The top 100 competitors each saw their points halved, their ranks plummeting!

But after a few hours, their ranks would climb back up.

Because the competitor ranked higher than them had been killed by Xu Jingming—their points halved, and their own rank rose again...

'Lightning Law! You're Bloodmassacre!'

In District 65, Steve, the second-place competitor, instantly recognized Xu Jingming's identity upon seeing his Lightning Law.

'Correct. Too bad, no prize.'

Xu Jingming activated his mind, and the T7-level 'Thunder Punishment Art' erupted instantly!

Boom—!!

Thunder roared, and Steve's body disintegrated inch by inch in the furious lightning.

The points number on Xu Jingming's bracer surged wildly, finally stabilizing at:

In District 65, nearly ten billion competitors—his points alone reached 270 million.

This score was truly terrifying.

Steve's points, halved, dropped to less than forty million.

Yet Steve's rank did not fall—he remained in second place.

Because all other top-ranked competitors besides him had already been slain by Xu Jingming.

"It's over."

Xu Jingming looked up at the sky.

At the instant the countdown reached zero, a majestic voice echoed throughout the arena:

"The preliminary round of the 65th Arena of the Star Torch Empire has officially ended!"

"Congratulations to the top one thousand competitors for qualifying for the Arena Tournament."

"Among them, the first-place competitor of this arena: Xu Jingming (Noah Empire)."

"He will directly receive a seat to represent the Star Torch Empire, exempt from the Arena Tournament."

"The Arena Tournament will begin in one stellar day. All competitors except the arena's first-place finisher must prepare."

The voice reverberated across the virtual universe, echoing through tens of thousands of star systems in the Star Torch Empire.

Countless spectators gazed up at the massive leaderboard in the sky, whispering in awe:

"My god! Two hundred million points ahead of second place—that's insane!"

"Of the Star Torch Empire's hundred arenas, only the first-place finisher of the 65th arena comes from a primitive civilization universe nation!"

"Xu Jingming! Lei Di! So powerful!"

"In this preliminary round, he's surely the biggest dark horse!"

"......"

On this day, countless people were asking where the Noah Empire was located.

And the people of the Noah Empire walked through the virtual universe with their heads held high, striding with unshakable pride.

A primitive civilization universe nation had produced an arena champion.

It was truly worthy of their pride, and would become their topic of conversation for thousands of years to come.

"L... Lived through it!"

"Good thing Lei Di didn't target me..."

"Almost done for."

In the 65th arena, those competitors who had barely survived.

Especially those ranked between eight hundred and one thousand.

All sat slumped on the ground, filled with relief after narrowly escaping death.

Some had hidden in underground sewers for three full days; others had burrowed hundreds of meters beneath the earth.

All to avoid that terrifying "Lei Di."

Otherwise, if killed, they would lose half their points and immediately drop out of the top one thousand.

The preliminary round was over.

All survivors from the hundred arenas vanished instantly, teleported back to their original star systems and regions.

The moment he left the arena, Xu Jingming exited the virtual universe.

In reality: Noah Empire, Capital Star.

In a luxurious villa in Yunhai Community.

When Xu Jingming's consciousness returned to reality, Ye Lan, Lu Yunji, Yu Li, and the other women had already been waiting for a long time.

"Jingming! You're amazing!"

Ye Lan rushed into his arms first, her cold, elegant face flushed with excitement.

"Lu sister and I both barely made it into the top ten thousand; only you, Jingming, were the best—you got first place in the arena," Yu Li said with a smile.

"We others fell far behind—we didn't even survive the first day, ranked beyond hundreds of millions."

Ai Mose, Su Qingli, and Ling Shuang all laughed in chorus.

In the virtual universe, their ranks had been forcibly raised to Starlight Ninth Stage.

But their domain layers hadn't caught up, so their combat power remained pitifully weak.

"It's just the preliminary round. The real challenge comes when you represent the Star Torch Empire."

Xu Jingming smiled and embraced them.

Indeed, the opponents in the preliminary round were far too weak.

He hadn't even used one-tenth of his true strength; he estimated he wouldn't need his full power until the second stage of the competition began.