Chapter 115: Unexpected Choice

It has been nearly fifty years since the members of the previous Genius Battle left Chaos City.

It has been fifty years during which each Universe Level genius, after the initial adaptation, has seen their cultivation life gradually get on track.

The Virtual Universe Company does not assign any missions to these core Universe Level geniuses.

The only thing they need to do is cultivate and become stronger!

The Virtual Universe Company's treatment of these young geniuses is also very generous.

If they wish to attend lectures, the backend management "Theory" section offers courses taught by powerful Seal King Immortals and even Universe Nation Lords, from which they may freely choose.

If they feel they have hit a cultivation bottleneck, they can also take on individual cultivation missions to hone themselves.

After completing a cultivation mission, they can receive a large amount of mission points from the Virtual Universe Company to exchange for various cultivation resources.

In such a favorable environment, each genius gradually begins to show their edge.

In the thirty‑fifth year after leaving Chaos City, Bolan challenged the Universe Tongtian Bridge and breezed through the Tongtian Bridge Seventh Level!

After realizing his own path, he finally displayed the bearing of a once‑in‑ten‑million‑years human race prodigy!

That same year, Luo Feng, unwilling to be outdone, relied on his newly mastered Derived Divine Soldier Sixth Form "Sword World" to successfully clear the Nine Universe Cosmic Bridge Seventh Level, becoming the biggest dark horse among his fellow Genius Battle members.

The members from the Absolute Beginning Secret Realm, Heaven and Earth Secret Realm, and End Times Secret Realm, spurred by these two, naturally rose to chase after them.

Each genius crazily studies, cultivates, and takes on missions to temper themselves.

In this process, many geniuses displayed remarkably outstanding performance.

For example, the "Wild Man" Rong Jun, favored by countless human race elites, in the fortieth year after leaving Chaos City, successfully cleared the Tongtian Bridge Sixth Level, closely trailing Bolan and Luo Feng.

Likewise, the "Illusion Demon" Jia Laixi of the Heaven and Earth Secret Realm, in the forty‑fifth year after leaving Chaos City, vaulted through the Tongtian Bridge Fifth Level, directly surpassing the progress of most Absolute Beginning Secret Realm members!

With such dazzling performances, the gold‑standard of this Genius Battle cohort keeps rising, further attracting the attention of numerous human race great powers.

Their focus, however, is which member of this Genius Battle will become the one who walks the highest and farthest after ten million epochs.

The lone‑rider Zhou Yang is naturally favored by nearly half of the strong ones.

Yet the ultimate height of the cultivation path depends not only on early momentum but also on sustained later effort.

Therefore, some other strong individuals stick to their own views.

"Bolan's Space Talent is the most exaggerated I've ever seen; even compared with the legendary geniuses, purely in terms of Space Talent, he ranks first‑class."

"Now he has even set aside his pride, voluntarily choosing a path that prioritizes Space and supplements Time; his future achievements may not be inferior to Zhou Yang's."

"No, compared with Bolan, I still favor Luo Feng more. When the Genius Battle first began, this kid's strength wasn't remarkable, and his Law Perception was very crude."

"Yet in just over a hundred years, he directly surpassed the other geniuses, and now he keeps pace with Bolan; such a speed of progress is terrifying! I believe his future will be bright!"

"Hmph, don't forget Rong Jun; he's a member of that clan, and his future is truly limitless!"

For these ancient beings with long lives, the endless arduous cultivation offers very few amusements as a respite.

Thus, once the topic is raised, it surprisingly draws the interest of many strong individuals.

Great beings, even secretly pitting the geniuses they favor against each other, begin to place heavy bets.

In this atmosphere, an email from the Virtual Universe Intelligent Core silently drifted down.

"Primordial Secret Realm member Zhou Yang has successfully broken through the Universe Level Primordial Tongtian Mountain, formally entering the ranks of the strongest human race prodigies of ten‑million epochs!"

"."

With the arrival of this email, the gambling game that had just begun was almost concluded prematurely.

Some human race strongmen burst into hearty laughter, while others shook their heads helplessly.

And Zhou Yang's fellow cohort of Genius Battle companions instantly fell into prolonged silence.

In the Virtual Universe's Primordial Zone cultivation field, Bolan's previously closed eyes suddenly opened wide.

A bitter smile involuntarily crept onto his austere face:

"What a pervert, I have already set aside my pride, striving along the path that suits me best, yet the gap with you keeps widening."

At that moment, an endless sense of defeat rose within him.

"But having a worthy target to chase does feel good."

He closed his eyes, sinking once again into Law Perception.

In the Absolute Beginning Secret Realm, the manor cultivation field.

The bare‑chested, towering wild man Rong Jun wielded a massive battle axe, swinging it continuously; at the axe's blade, endless earth‑yellow heavy airflow coiled around, causing the very space of the cultivation field to tremble faintly.

Suddenly, the previously swinging Rong Jun froze in place, and his massive axe slipped from his hands to the ground.

"Primordial Tongtian Mountain, heavens!"

In the Blood Luo World, within a Giant Pit shrouded by endless killing intent.

Luo Feng's eyes lit up instantly.

"Damn, Yangzi that guy, silently caused another big incident; looks like I need to speed up too."

Some former Universe Level members from the Primordial Secret Realm and Absolute Beginning Secret Realm wore bitter expressions.

"Seems there's little hope for this Qualification Battle either."

However, they soon made an unexpected discovery—

The total number of Universe Level members in the Primordial Secret Realm suddenly dropped from five to four.

Meanwhile, the total number of Domain Lord Level members rose from ten to eleven.

"Huh? Someone in the Primordial Secret Realm has broken through to Domain Lord! Great!"

The Universe Level elders of the Absolute Beginning Secret Realm were all delighted.

With a Universe Level member in the Primordial Secret Realm breaking through to Domain Lord, there is one fewer opponent in the Qualification Battle, which is undoubtedly a cause for joy.

"By the way, who broke through to Domain Lord? Which elder?"

Many people were watching.

However, when they saw the missing name among the Primordial Secret Realm's Universe Level members, they were all taken aback.

"It's him, Zhou Yang."

At this moment, on the Primordial Secret Realm Wuchen Continent, a team from the Virtual Universe Company arrived at Zhou Yang's manor.

"Prince Zhou Yang, the Virtual Universe Network, through your Network Connection Device, has detected that you have entered the Domain Lord Level; according to company regulations, we need to confirm it in reality."

Three Black-clad Stewards stood before Zhou Yang and bowed respectfully.

"Understood."

Zhou Yang nodded.

After separately testing Zhou Yang's Mental Power, Original Force, and Blood Gene, the lead Black-clad Steward smiled at Zhou Yang.

"Prince, all detection data have been synchronized to the Virtual Universe Network; congratulations, Prince, you have entered the Domain Lord Level!"

"Thank you."

Zhou Yang smiled and nodded.

"Since you have been confirmed as Domain Lord Level, Prince, according to the rules, you now have another opportunity for Body Strengthening."

The lead Black-clad Steward smiled, his Purple Eyes full of friendliness.

"We have already brought the Nutrient Pod; it contains enough Nutrient Fluid to strengthen you to Domain Lord Ninth Stage."

"Alright," Zhou Yang replied with a smile.

In fact, he doesn't really need the Nutrient Pod.

With Life Yuan Power present, the energy accumulation from Domain Master Level 1 to Domain Lord Ninth Stage does not waste much time for him.

But there is no need to say that.

Anyway, the Virtual Universe Company is wealthy; there's no point in letting the Nutrient Fluid go to waste—if he can't use it himself, he can keep it for his parents.

"By the way, besides the Nutrient Pod, there is a second matter to tell you, Prince."

The lead Black-clad Steward continued, saying:

"The second matter is that now that you have reached Domain Lord Level, Prince, you must be dispatched!"

"According to the norm, one is usually dispatched to one's hometown. Your hometown is in the Qianwu Universe Nation."

"I wonder whether you are willing to return to the Qianwu Universe Nation to take a senior position at our Virtual Universe Company's Qianwu Branch. If not, you may choose any Universe Nation you wish."

Zhou Yang listened quietly; after the Black-clad Steward finished speaking, he smiled and shook his head.

"I don't want to be dispatched."

"I recall that the Domain Lords of the Primordial Secret Realm have a Thousand Years Chaos City Free Cultivation Qualification; I will first apply for cultivation in Chaos City!"

(End of chapter)