Chapter 87: Will the Nine Sword Sovereign Become the Biggest Winner?
Chapter 87: Will the Nine Sword Sovereign Become the Biggest Winner?
"Thirteen, a genius of this level probably didn't grow to such heights on his own. Can you tell us who his teacher is?"
"That's right. For someone to learn a flight secret technique like Phantom Shadow Domain — if he's not from a major family, then his teacher among the immortals must be quite high-ranking."
"It's not that unbelievable. As long as it doesn't involve the later cultivation that affects time flow, the first half of Phantom Shadow Domain is fairly widespread. Many immortals from medium civilizations can obtain it. It's like the widely circulated Myriad Threads Flow secret art, which doesn't include the 'teleportation' method."
"Well, that's true..."
"Thirteen, do you know any inside information? Come on, spill it."
Under everyone's curious gazes, Thirteen calmly replied,
"He does have a teacher. The lord of our country knows, and I know too — but I can't tell you."
The immortals all shared subtle expressions. Knowing his teacher meant this young man was above board.
But not being able to say who it was?
The most likely reason was simple — it probably involved old grudges.
Many of the geniuses undergoing these trials bore deep blood feuds. In the universe, that was quite normal.
If Jiang Zhe's teacher was an immortal, then his teacher's enemies would also be immortals. Thirteen was protecting him.
This matter could not be pressed further. It ended there.
In truth, Jiang Zhe revealing his teacher to Thirteen earlier wasn't reckless — it was a deliberate way to bolster the excellent qualifications of himself, Luo Feng, and the others.
First, the Dry Witch Country's lord's stance was clear, and his eighteen trusted immortal generals would never harm them.
Second, the Demon Hand King was already paying close attention to this genius war. In the original story, after Luo Feng broke into the top ten, the Demon Hand King suspected he was Hu Yanbo's successor.
Only when Luo Feng, as a domain lord, traveled aboard the Yun Mo Star did the Demon Hand King confirm his guess and hurried to prepare life-saving measures.
As for assassinating a prince of the Virtual Universe Company? The Demon Hand King didn't dare.
Jiang Zhe's logic was simple: when you have a big secret to hide, reveal a small secret first.
The space around him shifted, and Jiang Zhe appeared on the central plaza. The many geniuses who had already been eliminated turned their eyes toward him.
"Look! Lei Di is out."
"Ranked first in the trial. Unless something unexpected happens, he'll take first overall too. Berran is still on the fifth tower's seventh floor — the gap is huge!"
"He's a monster! I doubt he's even human!"
Jiang Zhe ignored the chatter and scanned the area, soon spotting the group of geniuses from Dry Witch Universe Country.
A handsome monk was waving wildly like an excited husky, calling out his name.
So eye-catching.
It was Thunder God, who must've been eliminated some time ago.
Around Thunder God were his newly made friends — all geniuses selected from Dry Witch Universe Country.
After Thunder God introduced them, Jiang Zhe greeted them.
These people would mostly enter the Dry Witch Secret Realm in the future, becoming Thunder God's network.
So Jiang Zhe didn't mind showing some goodwill, helping Thunder God and Hong secure more support down the road.
After greetings, the group tactfully left, giving Jiang Zhe and Thunder God a chance to speak alone.
"Thunder God, when did you get out? How did you do?"
Thunder God scratched his head with a silly grin, feeling like a kid being quizzed by his dad.
"Got eliminated on day 114, third tower, first floor... stomped by a blood-furred mammoth."
Jiang Zhe understood. That meant his ranking would be beyond 500,000 — Thunder God's journey in this genius war was over.
"Prepare to train in the Dry Witch Secret Realm. Later, you can join the Virtual Universe Company through the normal route. Luo Feng and I will go ahead to blaze the trail for you."
Just then, Hong also returned after being eliminated.
"Xiao Zhe, amazing! All seven trial towers cleared, and in the shortest time — without question, you're the strongest human at the cosmic star level!"
Jiang Zhe smiled politely, accepting the praise without false modesty.
He asked about Hong's results. Hong had reached the third tower's seventh floor, similar to the genius nicknamed "Wind Wheel," both getting overwhelmed by a swarm of bugs.
Most who had only stepped into the lower threshold of the laws ended up around the third tower.
Jiang Zhe then picked out Luo Feng's trial stream from among tens of thousands of screens. Luo Feng was on the third tower's fourth floor fighting flying hyenas, soon entering the fifth floor.
He was taking it slow — 156 days had passed since the trial began.
The whole process wasn't continuous; there were chances to rest and adjust.
In the original timeline, by the time only Luo Feng, Berran, and two others remained, over 200 days had already passed.
Jiang Zhe trusted Luo Feng's strength and didn't watch further.
He glanced at Berran's trial feed, then returned to his quarters to comprehend the laws.
Once Jiang Zhe finished the trial, videos of him began circulating in the Virtual Universe. Strangely, they only mentioned that he had already secured the top spot.
But how he achieved it, by what margin — none of that was detailed.
The edited clips looked thrilling and powerful, but anyone experienced could tell they weren't very revealing.
This wasn't suppression — it was the Virtual Universe Company's way of protecting someone they valued.
Otherwise, if they released full footage of his all-out fights, wouldn't that just put him on alien assassination lists?
On day 207, Rong Jun was stopped at the fifth tower's sixth floor, temporarily ranking 14th.
Luo Feng was still slowly working through the fourth tower's first floor.
He knew his weakness — too little cultivation time — so he squeezed in as much practice inside the trial towers as possible.
He had already seen Jiang Zhe's results and wasn't surprised, taking it as natural. Fired up, he wanted to catch up to his senior brother.
On day 243, Berran stopped at the seventh tower's first floor, finalizing at second place.
Afterward, he watched Jiang Zhe's battle video on the seventh tower and personally felt the crushing pressure of ten thousand blood-furred mammoths on the first floor.
He clearly realized the gap between himself and Jiang Zhe.
Done with the trial, he returned to his quarters to focus on cultivation.
In the next twenty days, "Blood Edge" Kandita and "Life Sword" Yifeng were also eliminated.
Now, only Luo Feng remained inside the trial towers.
Thirteen could barely hide the growing smile at the corner of his mouth. From Jiang Zhe to Rong Jun to Luo Feng, it was surprise after surprise, like a dream.
Dry Witch Universe Country hadn't produced a genius in the top twenty for over a hundred competitions. Now, three appeared at once — he became the center of attention among the thousand immortals present.
Surely the lord of their country was watching too, feeling deeply gratified.
On day 319 of the trial, Jiang Zhe saw Luo Feng had reached the fifth tower's seventh floor. He left his quarters to wait on the central plaza.
Day 322 — Luo Feng stopped at the sixth tower's first floor, securing third place.
Thirteen led them back to building 0825.
In the hall, Thirteen announced that all participants ranked beyond 7,300 were done with this genius war.
He then kept Jiang Zhe and five others behind for a special talk.
The next morning, when the many geniuses gathered again on the plaza, their number had dropped from over a million to just 7,300 — drastically quieter.
The Nine Sword Sovereign appeared again to explain the rules. The second round of elimination began.
From 7,200 to 3,600!
Then to 1,800!
Then to 900!
Finally, adding Jiang Zhe and the top 100 observing, there would be 1,000 chosen to join the Virtual Universe Company.
Before dismissing them, the Nine Sword Sovereign also announced the rewards and the rules for the upcoming final battles.
Jiang Zhe glanced over them, then lost interest.
What he cared about now was, once he gained access to the Primal Secret Realm, how many points he'd receive and how to pick the right long-term teacher.
Luo Feng had True Yan King's arrangements, finding the perfect teacher.
He, however, had no backing. Should he just let the Virtual Universe randomly assign one?
Headache.
A small incident broke out in the middle — a genius refused to accept the system's arrangements and was forcefully suppressed.
The next morning.
1,000 geniuses gathered on the plaza.
200 were picked and transported onto silver arenas. Jiang Zhe quickly won his match and entered the top 100.
After all 100 matches ended, the system selected the 20 most outstanding participants, with the Nine Sword Sovereign announcing the names.
Jiang Zhe!
Berran!
...
Luo Feng!
Qianshui!
Tao!
When the list was read, the young men and women chatted excitedly, congratulating their friends.
"Lei Di, Madman, looks like we'll get to fight each other!" Rong Jun laughed heartily, battle intent blazing.
The three from Dry Witch Universe Country got along well since none of them had serious character flaws. They'd been sitting together since yesterday.
Half an hour later, ten arenas rose on the plaza. The twenty named were instantly transported to them.
Jiang Zhe scanned his first opponent — a cold, four-armed snake-man with crossed daggers, a nobody who didn't even matter in the original story.
A flash of thunder.
Even four arms couldn't save the snake-man from being instantly slain by Jiang Zhe.
Top ten secured, with the fastest clear time.
Second: Berran.
Third: Qianshui.
Fourth: Luo Feng.
...
The victors from the ten arenas quickly emerged. The final list was set.
Jiang Zhe, Berran, Qianshui, Luo Feng, Jiang Mo, Lancelot, Uka, Aichen, Long Yun, Rong Jun!
The top five faced off.
The rules paired the fastest winners against the slowest, and so on.
Jiang Zhe vs Rong Jun!
They exchanged a glance. Jiang Zhe smiled and nodded; Rong Jun laughed broadly, his fighting spirit blazing.
Berran vs Long Yun!
(The original story's fight for first and second — Jiang Zhe found it obvious who'd win.)
Qianshui vs Aichen!
(A duel between two alien beauties — quite interesting.)
Luo Feng vs Uka!
(The future "Three Heroes of Taichu" clashing — very promising.)
Jiang Mo vs Lancelot!
Jiang Zhe won first, Rong Jun enthusiastically crushed.
The other four winners: Berran, Qianshui, Luo Feng, Lancelot.
Now the top five format changed to a round-robin.
Because he'd get to beat up Luo Feng and Berran, Jiang Zhe took it quite seriously.
After a short rest, the round-robin began.
First, vs Qianshui — win!
Second, vs Jiang Mo — win!
He defeated the genius siblings from Auguste star one after the other.
Then came an internal duel from Yun Mo Star. Using an incomplete Myriad Threads Flow, he taught Luo Feng the correct way to use space laws.
A flash of thunder shattered the dense golden sword of Luo Feng's Pierce the Sky, victory secured.
Finally came the last match of the round-robin.
Three wins Jiang Zhe vs three wins Berran!
This showdown between two geniuses unseen for ten thousand eras drew the eyes of all the supreme talents, the thousand immortals, and even the Nine Sword Sovereign.
The Nine Sword Sovereign was the happiest of all.
After all, these 1,000 selected would be his subordinates in the future.
To pull two "gold cards" with the potential to become Sovereigns? Hosting this genius war had paid off tremendously!
Note: Earlier descriptions of Berran's strength were incorrect. He could actually split into over a thousand clones, not several thousand. That's already fixed above.
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