The Simulated Universe Battle Royale tournament, like a sudden storm, stirred up huge waves in both Douluo continents.
Yes, this time Lu Jingming simultaneously promoted the Battle Royale tournament to the parallel world of Douluo Continent, thinking that this arrangement would be more interesting.
However, considering the practical differences between the parallel world's Douluo Continent and the main world, he adjusted the eligibility criteria, extending the age limit to under twenty-five. If he had strictly limited it to under twenty, the younger generation of the parallel world's Douluo Continent would have no chance of being competitive in this tournament. Even with the age limit extended by five years, the overall competitiveness of the parallel world's Douluo Continent was still relatively weak, and their participation this time would likely be just for fun.
But this was one of Lu Jingming's goals: he hoped to use this to motivate and stimulate the younger generation of the parallel world's Douluo Continent. Of course, Lu Jingming did not intend to expose the existence of the parallel world. Therefore, for the contestants from his own world, he planned to use special means in the Simulated Universe to interfere with their cognition.
He arranged for Herta to use her Void Storage to mimic Key of Sentience, a Divine Key, to perform a cognitive interference on everyone in the Simulated Universe, ensuring they wouldn't notice that some of the participating teams were from a parallel world, a world from ten thousand years ago. After all, while others might not recognize Tang San, Shui Bing'er, and the others, the people from Shrek Academy would have a very high chance of recognizing them, as their statues were displayed in the academy. Even if their appearance changed due to age, their unique martial souls could easily give their identity away.
Therefore, Herta's intervention was crucial, and the Void Storage could perfectly mimic Key of Sentience to achieve cognitive interference. With Herta's strength, even a Titled Douluo would have no chance of escaping the cognitive interference from her mimicked Key of Sentience. So, there was no need to worry that there would be a super-strong person among the spectators who could break free from this cognitive interference.
Lu Jingming had gone to great lengths to prepare for this Battle Royale tournament. Moreover, he didn't plan to hold this type of tournament just once; he planned to hold it every year. At the same time, he had no intention of letting St. Freya Academy win the championship. The people from the academy could participate for fun, but there was no need to compete for the championship. After all, the original intention of holding the tournament was to improve the strength of the soul master world. For the people of St. Freya Academy, they didn't need to compete for rewards like ten-thousand-year soul bones and ten-thousand-year stigmata.
When the time was right, Lu Jingming would naturally provide the best resources for his own people, so there was no need to compete with other teams for these rewards.
When the news of the Battle Royale tournament spread throughout the two Douluo continents, even the Spirit Hall and the two empires, which were in a stalemate with the pollution points, were moved. The value of a ten-thousand-year soul bone was self-evident, and according to the tournament's rules, the ten-thousand-year stigmata was a rare treasure that could provide several ten-thousand-year soul rings and even help a soul master awaken new powers.
After seeing the rewards of the ten-thousand-year soul bone and ten-thousand-year stigmata, Bibi Dong made a decisive decision to let the Golden Generation of Spirit Hall participate. Not only that, she even wanted to let Qian Renxue participate, as Qian Renxue was twenty-four this year, which fit the age limit.
Bibi Dong stared at the ten-thousand-year soul bone and ten-thousand-year stigmata rewards, her eyes showing a determination to win. Because the key to her Rakshasa God Trial was to obtain a ten-thousand-year soul bone and soul ring. If she could win the championship reward of this tournament, the time until she became a god would be greatly shortened. This was of extraordinary significance to Spirit Hall, which was currently suppressed by the dark Chiyou, and it was even more crucial to Bibi Dong herself.
Once she obtained the ten-thousand-year soul bone and soul ring, all she had to do was start a war and absorb the evil energy of the continent to gain the approval of the Rakshasa Demon Scythe and officially become the new Rakshasa God. With her control over Spirit Hall, starting a war was not difficult.
It could be said that Bibi Dong had everything ready, all she needed was this final push. In this situation, she thought of her daughter Qian Renxue, whom she was angered by and loathed. Bibi Dong's feelings for Qian Renxue were very complicated, a mix of hatred, guilt, disgust, and pity. But it was undeniable that Qian Renxue had an extraordinary talent and strong power.
Even though her cultivation progress was delayed due to her long-term infiltration of the Heaven Dou Empire, with her astonishing talent, Qian Renxue had already broken through to the Soul Emperor level. Coupled with the various resources Spirit Hall had recently obtained from the pollution points, she had already begun to challenge the Soul Sage realm. With her innate level twenty soul power, the bottleneck of Soul Sage was no real obstacle for her. After all, in Douluo Continent, there was a general rule that the higher a soul master's innate soul power, the faster their cultivation speed.
The cultivation speed of a soul master with innate full soul power was already astonishing, and Qian Renxue, with innate level twenty soul power, had the best talent on the Douluo Continent. Even ten thousand years later, this talent would still be the best on the continent. However, since she started her infiltration of the Heaven Dou Empire at the age of nine, how many opportunities did she have to actively cultivate? In order not to expose her identity, she probably didn't dare to cultivate easily, and it was difficult to find time to cultivate. Most of her time was spent on learning royal etiquette, imperial arts, and scheming.
Even in such a difficult situation, Qian Renxue's cultivation still grew steadily, and she naturally broke through to the Soul Emperor. If she could have focused on cultivation, it would be no problem for her to reach the Soul Douluo level, if not the Titled Douluo level. It could be said that the series of actions by Spirit Hall were truly shocking. Bibi Dong, Qian Daoliu, and even Qian Renxue herself had many problems in dealing with Qian Renxue's growth and development.
But Bibi Dong didn't know that the competitive intensity of this Battle Royale tournament was far beyond her imagination. If she only relied on Hu Liena, Xie Yue, and Yan, the three Soul Kings, without Qian Renxue's help, it would be extremely difficult to win the championship. However, for her God Trial, Bibi Dong had already gambled everything. Although she felt that the three of them were strong enough, to be safe, she still notified Qian Renxue to participate. Since the competition was held in the Simulated Universe, Qian Renxue didn't need to leave the Heaven Dou Empire and could secretly participate in various ways without the Heaven Dou Empire's knowledge.
In addition to Spirit Hall, the major soul master academies of the Heaven Dou Empire and the Star Luo Empire were also preparing to participate. Previously, due to the pollution points, the Soul Master Academy Tournament was forced to be suspended, which made them feel very regretful. After all, they had been preparing for this Soul Master Academy Tournament for five years. Now, a tournament with even richer rewards had appeared, and since the competition was held in the Simulated Universe, there was no danger to their lives, and it wouldn't delay the work of suppressing the pollution points. They naturally wouldn't miss this rare opportunity.
The Heavenly Water Academy, Blazing Academy, and Divine Wind Academy, which had a cooperative relationship with Lu Jingming, all received many benefits. At least in terms of obtaining soul tools and stigmata, they had a head start. Take Shui Bing'er, for example; because she was especially close to Elysia, Elysia directly gifted her a ten-thousand-year ice phoenix stigmata. After refining this stigmata, Shui Bing'er's strength instantly broke through to the Soul King realm, and she successfully obtained a ten-thousand-year soul ring. At the same time, her ice phoenix martial soul underwent a significant evolution, and her ice power became closer to the ultimate ice. If she continued to develop at this rate, when Shui Bing'er broke through to the Soul Sage, it was highly likely that she would break through that key barrier and become an ultimate ice Soul Sage.
Of course, Lu Jingming was well aware of these situations. After all, he had handed over all the affairs of the Jade Palace, including various stigmata and soul tools, to Elysia to handle. That ice phoenix stigmata was also a part of Elysia's work, and Lu Jingming believed that Elysia had a sense of propriety and wouldn't just give away these precious resources. This was indeed the case. In addition to Shui Bing'er, although Elysia was equally fond of the other girls, she didn't take the liberty of gifting any more stigmata.
However, based on this special relationship, these three academies became the first forces to know about the existence of stigmata and the first organizations to buy a large number of low- and mid-level stigmata. The Seven Treasures Glazed Sect, on the other hand, focused on soul tools, especially advanced soul tools.
Due to the appearance of these stigmata, the strength of the students of the three element academies had been more or less improved. Even if a soul master had already absorbed a soul ring, they could still absorb a stigmata to strengthen their original soul ring and gain the ability boost from the stigmata. If it weren't for the short amount of time, the popularity of stigmata would probably far exceed that of soul tools, as stigmata could truly improve a soul master's foundation and strength. After all, stigmata were not like soul tools, which were just external objects; they could be integrated with the soul master and into their bloodline genes.
With their strength improved, the three element academies' confidence also increased, and they also planned to sign up for this Battle Royale tournament. Although they didn't dare to hope for the championship, they still hoped to get a top three ranking in the competition. The Heavenly Water Academy, in particular, was now full of confidence with Shui Bing'er's breakthrough and her martial soul fusion skill with Xue Wu.
Almost immediately after the invitation to the Battle Royale tournament was sent out, hundreds of teams enthusiastically signed up. As the master of the Simulated Universe, Lu Jingming carefully selected a hundred teams from these registered teams, most of which were teams he was familiar with. After all, he controlled the Simulated Universe, and if he wanted to manipulate the results, no one would know. If he said it was a fair draw, then it was a fair draw.
It was worth mentioning that Lu Jingming planned to hide the news of the parallel world from the people in his own world, but he did not plan to hide the fact that the parallel world's Douluo Continent was another world. After all, many things couldn't withstand scrutiny. The existence of soul tools, his own existence, the appearance of stigmata, and the various replicas simulated by the pollution points would inevitably lead to speculation. And Lu Jingming didn't have a strong desire to hide it. What if it was known?
The world of Douluo Continent II was an existence that was both similar and different from the world of Douluo Continent I. The people from Douluo Continent I would see the people from Douluo Continent II in the Simulated Universe, but they would be unfamiliar faces to them. Unlike the people from Douluo Continent II, who might recognize the people from Douluo Continent I as familiar figures from history.
Therefore, he would only perform cognitive interference on the people of Douluo Continent I and not on the people of Douluo Continent II. Before everything was set in stone, he didn't plan to let the people of Douluo Continent I know too much about the history that would have originally unfolded.
Time passed quietly. Amidst everyone's anticipation, the Simulated Universe Battle Royale tournament finally officially began.
In a specially created island map, seven hundred people appeared in the sky above the island in an orderly fashion, in groups of seven, standing on their respective clouds.
"So many people!"
Xiao Xiao, Ning Tian, Wu Feng, and the others were in a team, standing on their cloud, looking around curiously. However, there were a lot of people around, and she didn't know most of them.
At the same time, countless viewers who logged into the Simulated Universe were closely observing the hundred participating teams from a third-person perspective.
Just when everyone was completely unaware, crimson feathers floated leisurely in the Simulated Universe, yet they seemed to be ignored by everyone. No one noticed anything unusual about these feathers, as if they didn't exist at all.
"Where did they all come from?" On a cloud, Hu Liena looked at the unfamiliar participating teams around her, her face full of confusion. This was completely different from the information that Spirit Hall had gathered. Spirit Hall had detailed information on all the participating teams of the Soul Master Academy Tournament, but at this moment, she only saw a few familiar teams, such as the Heaven Dou Royal Academy and the Heavenly Water Academy. But other than these academies, she had never heard of at least half of the teams and had no impression of them.
"So that's how it is." In Spirit Hall's team, a beautiful blonde girl who looked to be only eighteen or nineteen years old muttered to herself. Since meeting Lu Jingming, Qian Renxue had been trying to investigate his background. Especially after the pollution point produced replicas of Lu Jingming, the many terrifying replicas made her feel suspicious. Was Lu Jingming really a native of the Douluo Continent? Although Lu Jingming claimed to be from the Star Luo Empire, her intuition also told her that he was not lying, but Spirit Hall had a branch in the Star Luo Empire and couldn't find any information about Lu Jingming. Even if Lu Jingming came from a hidden sect, it was impossible for him to be completely isolated from the outside world. There would always be some clues.
Since then, Qian Renxue had suspected that Lu Jingming was not from the Douluo Continent, but either from overseas or another continent. After all, the sea was vast, and it was difficult for humans to fully explore it. Spirit Hall, as a top force on the continent, had also speculated that there might be other continents beyond the sea. Moreover, as an organization that had a god, Spirit Hall did have records that showed that there were other continents in this world. But those continents were too far away, and no one could cross the vast sea to reach them except for gods. The appearance of the Simulated Universe, the emergence of soul tools and stigmata, further solidified Qian Renxue's guess. And now, in this tournament held in the Simulated Universe, countless unfamiliar teams had appeared, which made Qian Renxue even more certain of her conjecture.
There were not a few people who had the same guess as Qian Renxue. Bibi Dong, Ning Fengzhi, and the others were the same. After all, for these people at the peak of continental power, they knew the situation of all the sects and forces like the back of their hand. Even if there were a few omissions, it was absolutely impossible for so many unfamiliar teams to appear. The number of unfamiliar teams now exceeded fifty. A little thought would reveal that there was something fishy going on.
However, unlike them, Yan Shaozhe and Du Busheng, who were affected by the cognitive interference of Key of Sentience, felt that everything was perfectly normal. They didn't notice that they had never seen many of the teams, and some of the participants were obviously over twenty years old, but they were oblivious to this.
"This is so interesting, it's much more fun than the Soul Master Academy Tournament." March 7th carefully studied the tournament rules, her face full of excitement, as if she had found something fun to do again.
"Thank you for your hard work, Robin. Little March 7th must have caused you a lot of trouble outside, right?" Lu Jingming approached Robin and said softly.
"It's alright!" When this was mentioned, Robin couldn't help but show a somewhat pained expression. March 7th was kind-hearted and wouldn't intentionally cause trouble, but she was too playful and sometimes acted unreliably, often causing a lot of trouble without meaning to. Although she didn't do it on purpose, it really made Robin feel helpless.
March 7th had a strong pioneering spirit and was a little too lively. In comparison, Firefly was much easier to manage. As long as it didn't involve a battle, Firefly was very calm and pleasant to be around. It could be said that her relationship with Firefly was now like that of a best friend. Of course, this was also the case with March 7th.
"Come on, Little March 7th, I'll show you something good." Lu Jingming seemed to have suddenly remembered something. He immediately used the authority of the Simulated Universe to play the stored video recording for Robin and the others to watch.
"No way? Is that us!" Looking at the powerful dark March 7th and the others in the video, March 7th showed a look of surprise.
"That's right, these are our replicas. They have the same powers as us." Lu Jingming explained the existence of the pollution points to March 7th and the others, which made March 7th and the others feel relieved. They had originally thought that Lu Jingming had secretly cloned replicas of them. After learning that they were memory-bodies created from memories and had no intelligence, everyone felt that there was no problem.
"No, am I really that powerful?" March 7th was more concerned about the dark March 7th's combat power. Was the dominant and powerful strength and the decisive and cool appearance shown in the video really herself? She couldn't help but wonder if it was someone else's replica. The abilities were the same, six-phase ice and archery, and the swordsmanship she learned from Jingliu, but why did she feel that the style was so different?
"How about it? That pollution point hasn't been cleared yet. Why don't we go together and challenge our own replicas? It must be very interesting." Lu Jingming suggested.
"Ah! Me, fight her?" March 7th had a look of astonishment on her face, pointing at herself and then at the majestic and invincible dark March 7th in the video.
"No, no, that's going to get someone killed!" After getting a positive answer, March 7th immediately waved her hand in a panic, her face full of rejection. No matter how she looked at it, she was not a match for the dark March 7th. She didn't want to go and get beaten up, and it would be too humiliating to be defeated by her own replica. She wouldn't do it.
Compared to her dark version, Gu Yue was more concerned about the information revealed in the video. She couldn't help but twitch the corner of her mouth as she looked at the fighting figures in the video. Even though she had never seen these people in person, based on the strength they showed in the video and their martial soul characteristics, how could Gu Yue not recognize that the people fighting her replica were all historical figures from ten thousand years ago?
Thinking of this, Gu Yue looked at Lu Jingming with a full-of-resentment look and said through soul power transmission, "How many things are you still hiding from me?" She felt that Lu Jingming knew everything about her, but she knew very little about his secrets.
"A man with secrets, isn't he more charming?" Lu Jingming also replied with soul power transmission. In fact, he didn't deliberately intend to hide the parallel world from Gu Yue, otherwise he wouldn't have shown her this video. It was just that there were some secrets that he didn't plan to tell anyone except the people he summoned.
Even Zhang Lexuan, who had watched him grow up and knew many things, had some guesses, but she never主动brought up the related questions. Lu Jingming also didn't take the initiative to talk about it. There was a great tacit understanding between them. Zhang Lexuan knew that Lu Jingming was hiding things from her, and Lu Jingming also knew that Zhang Lexuan had noticed. After all, so many people suddenly appeared around him since childhood. With Zhang Lexuan's intelligence, how could she not have noticed?
However, Zhang Lexuan didn't care about these things. If Lu Jingming wanted to say it, she would listen and keep it a secret for him. If Lu Jingming didn't want to say it, she would pretend she didn't know anything.
"Forget it, you've always been so mysterious." Gu Yue rolled her eyes helplessly and no longer pursued the matter. The reason she fell in love with this human, wasn't it because she was attracted by his mysteriousness? She was the Silver Dragon King. If this human hadn't been so hard for her to figure out, how could she have fallen for him? It was precisely because she couldn't see through him that she gradually fell for him. She had no interest in the humans whose background she could see through at a glance.
Although Gu Yue and Lu Jingming were only communicating through soul power transmission, the subtle strangeness between them was still caught by the sharp-witted Robin. Noticing that Gu Yue's relationship with Lu Jingming seemed to be getting closer, Robin couldn't help but frown slightly. She wondered if it was time to go back?
It had been a while since she, March 7th, and Firefly had been out, and it was indeed time to go home. Otherwise, they might be "raided." Having made up her mind, a gentle smile once again appeared on Robin's face. She thought to herself that she couldn't lose to Gu Yue, who was a newcomer.
Jinhsi, although she hadn't spoken, had been quietly observing everyone. At this moment, a sense of crisis also rose in her heart. She wondered if she should run away secretly? A Ming would be an adult in two years. Who knew who would get the first move? Maybe she should discuss it with her teacher? After all, her teacher was also in this game!
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