Chapter 511: Preliminary Round Ended! The Prodigies of Daya!

"Hm?!"

Song Qiuyun, lying on the bed, was jolted awake by the sudden commotion, leaping up and snatching her longsword in an instant.

Brilliant light-based psychic energy erupted, illuminating the entire bedroom as bright as day!

"This..."

Staring at the corpse lying on the floor and the blood pooled everywhere.

Song Qiuyun froze, realizing what had happened, and immediately dialed the Magic University Police Department.

Meanwhile, far away at Lei Ting Martial Arts Headquarters.

Eva, active within Xu Jingming's smart armband, also learned everything that had occurred through the Chi Mang Liu Jin guards.

She also sensed that the Chi Mang Liu Jin guard at Jiang Chuxuan's location had encountered assassins too!

"Hm? This one can't be killed—no survivors, and it'll be hard to trace who sent them."

Eva immediately seized control of the Chi Mang Liu Jin guard in Jiang Chuxuan's bedroom.

The battle knife, moments ago poised to sever the head, suddenly changed course!

Swish! Swish! Swish!

Three swift cuts—this psychic with stealth abilities had both legs and both arms severed at once!

"Aaah!"

A pained scream erupted, jolting the white-haired girl Jiang Chuxuan awake from sleep.

"This... a sixth-rank psychic?!"

Jiang Chuxuan's pupils contracted, her heart still pounding as she stared at the scene.

Though she wore a sixth-grade protective talisman, this was a mid-rank sixth-rank psychic!

The talisman might not even hold.

Luckily, the Chi Mang Liu Jin guard was here—otherwise, tonight would've been dangerous.

"Someone actually came to kill me? Speak up—who sent you?"

After finishing her call to the Magic University Police Department.

A bone-chilling cold erupted from the white-haired girl Jiang Chuxuan, turning the entire room into an icy wasteland.

She wouldn't dare act so boldly against a fully intact mid-rank sixth-rank psychic.

But a mid-rank sixth-rank psychic without arms or legs? Before police arrived, she could still interrogate him.

"S-class! S-class! Your two wives are in danger!"

In the villa at Lei Ting Martial Arts Headquarters, Eva materialized from within the smart armband.

Seeing Xu Jingming still wearing his neural helmet, she remembered he was still in the competition.

"There are still over twenty hours until the preliminary round ends—then let me start investigating first."

Eva's green-haired, twin-tailed face glowed with excitement.

She directly infiltrated the communication wristbands of the two assassins and began her investigation...

Final day of the preliminary round, 11:52 PM.

Xu Jingming sat cross-legged on the rooftop terrace of the skyscraper; all combat sounds around him had long vanished.

Because every other contestant in District 73 had been killed by Xu Jingming.

"Eight minutes left—then the preliminary round ends, and I'll face the world's strongest warriors."

Xu Jingming's eyes held a faint glimmer of anticipation.

Honestly, the preliminary round held zero challenge for him.

Fighting against international young elites—that's what he truly wanted.

"Preliminary Round of the Summit Tournament has ended!"

Across the globe, 1,000 districts have produced 100,000 qualifiers for the second stage! Congratulations to these 100,000!

Contestants, please note: your district is about to close—you will be teleported back immediately."

As the clock struck midnight, a majestic voice echoed in their ears.

Xu Jingming's vision went black; when he regained awareness, he was somewhere entirely new.

This was not the square in front of Lei Ting Martial Arts Headquarters as before the teleportation—but a completely new realm!

His feet touched the vast expanse of dark black ground; above him stretched a glittering starry sky.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!...

Alongside Xu Jingming, dozens more figures appeared one after another in this space.

Xu Jingming counted—himself included, there were exactly one hundred people present.

Wang Dong and Cao Ren of the Black Dragon Corps were among them.

"Could these all be the top-ranked contestants from each district?" Xu Jingming thought, a possibility dawning.

"Jingming!"

At that moment, Cao Ren spotted Xu Jingming, waved, and walked over with a grin.

"We agreed that once the virtual world opened, we'd have a private match."

"But you, you bastard—never showed up online at all!"

Cao Ren grumbled as he drew closer.

"I've been busy lately—had no time to log in."

Xu Jingming smiled. "If you want to spar, we can do it right now."

Cao Ren was mid-rank sixth-rank, possessing a pseudo-S-class elemental wind psychic ability.

In the competition zone, Li Ming of the暴Bear Martial Arts Academy was even stronger.

But for the current him, he could kill them with a casual strike — there was no need to keep maneuvering around like before.

"Forget it, I'm not a masochist. With your current combat power, you could probably take me down one-handed."

Cao Ren hurriedly shook his head and waved his hands.

Xu Jingming smiled.

One-handed? He didn't even need to use his hands!

Relying solely on his SS-rank Doushen Shenlei, along with various long-range spell-type combat techniques, he could achieve the kill.

"How was the arena you were in? How many points did you end up with?"

After the banter, Cao Ren asked curiously.

"480,000 points. First place," Xu Jingming replied.

After killing Li Ming and the others, he had already had 410,000 points.

After killing the remaining nearly thousand people, he got roughly another 70,000 points.

"480,000 points?"

Cao Ren clicked his tongue. "I'm also first place in my arena, but I only had 300,000 points. Just how many did you kill?"

"All of them." Xu Jingming grinned.

"Holy crap! I'll give you that — you actually killed them all!"

Cao Ren gave a thumbs-up. "Anyway, in my arena, there's no way I could pull that off."

In Arena 62, he was indeed the strongest, but sweeping all the ability users was simply impossible for him.

"You're also first in your arena. Looks like everyone sent here should be the first place of their respective arena."

Xu Jingming nodded.

The hundred people standing here should be the strongest prodigies of the younger generation in Great Xia today.

"That's probably right. The higher-ups of Great Xia likely have something to announce, which is why they've gathered us together."

Cao Ren nodded along, then asked in a very mysterious tone:

"By the way, about this Genius Tournament—"

"Besides you, Great Xia has another SS-rank ability awakener. Do you know who it is?"

"My teacher told me about it, but I don't know the specifics of who it is," Xu Jingming shook his head.

"There — that's him." Cao Ren tipped his eyes toward a certain direction in the crowd.

Xu Jingming followed his gaze and saw a young man standing alone in the crowd.

This youth wasn't particularly tall in build, only about 1.7-something meters, and his looks were quite ordinary.

Yet his entire being radiated a kind of confidence and pride — a confidence that wasn't feigned.

It was an outward expression of an inner, powerful faith in his own strength.

Seeming to notice Xu Jingming's gaze, the youth turned his head and gave a very affable smile.

Xu Jingming gave a slight nod in acknowledgment, then looked away.

From the outside, nothing too special could be seen. They'd probably have to fight before knowing the other's combat power.