"Whoosh!"
The central plaza vibrated slightly, and the vast plaza instantly had only 100 people left, becoming empty.
The arena battles for the 900 spots officially began! Winners advanced, losers were eliminated—it was incredibly cruel! No one wanted to miss the chance to join the Virtual Universe Corporation, one of the five peak powers!
Everyone gave their all. The first round of 3600 arenas ended in just a few minutes. After a half-hour break, the second round immediately began. A little over an hour later, only 900 arenas remained!
Whoosh! Whoosh! 900 excited young people suddenly appeared in the central plaza—they had passed three rounds of screening!
"Congratulations to you all!" Venerable Nine Swords's majestic voice echoed in the minds of the 1000 people.
"You are the 1000 most outstanding individuals in the entire universe from this genius battle. Welcome to the Virtual Universe Corporation! You will receive full cultivation here!" Venerable Nine Swords announced the exciting news with a smile, then his tone suddenly shifted.
"However! Competition! Is the eternal law of the universe! I believe many of you have already heard that the core layers of our Virtual Universe Corporation are divided into four Mystical Regions! The treatment varies immensely!"
"Now I announce!"
"First, all 1000 of you will qualify to enter the Primal Universe for comprehension."
"Those ranked 101st to 1000th will receive a 10 mixed elemental unit bonus and can join the 'Last Phase Secret Realm'."
"Those ranked 11th to 100th will receive a 100 mixed elemental unit bonus and can join the 'Heaven and Earth Secret Realm'."
"Those ranked 2nd to 10th will receive a 1000 mixed elemental unit bonus and can join the 'Absolute Beginning Secret Realm'."
"The 1st place winner! Will receive a 10,000 mixed elemental unit bonus and can join the 'Primal Secret Realm'."
Venerable Nine Swords's gaze swept over the young, determined faces below, his voice ethereal and distant, carrying an unquestionable finality:
"The arena decisive battles will begin tomorrow, which will determine your final rankings and destinations! The rules for the decisive battles have been sent to each of you. Prepare well!" As his voice fell, Venerable Nine Swords's figure instantly vanished.
Qing Yu immediately received the rule information, and its content was identical to what he remembered.
The Virtual Universe system would select the strongest 100 individuals from the 900 newly promoted geniuses. These 100 individuals would then engage in one-on-one arena battles with the top 100 geniuses from the trial tower rankings, including Qing Yu, Moka, Huang Li, Xing Hen, and You Meng!
The 100 winners would qualify to enter the Heaven and Earth Secret Realm. Subsequently, the Virtual Universe system would directly select the top 20 from these 100 individuals for one-on-one battles.
The 10 winners would qualify to enter the Absolute Beginning Secret Realm, then battle each other to determine the first-place winner of this session, who would enter the Primal Secret Realm.
After reviewing the rules, a classic scene unfolded: hundreds of geniuses instantly erupted in an uproar, expressing strong dissatisfaction with the Virtual Universe Corporation's arbitrary arrangement, especially the 800 who were not selected—they were essentially directly assigned to the lowest Last Phase Secret Realm.
"Why are 800 of us directly assigned to the Last Phase Secret Realm?!"
"This isn't fair! We also fought our way through three rounds of bloody battles!"
"The Virtual Universe Corporation is too arbitrary! They don't even give us a chance to fight!"
"If I didn't know the essence of the Virtual Universe, I probably would also think the Corporation is arbitrary. But to directly throw a tantrum like this is truly foolish!" Qing Yu watched the protesting geniuses silently, shaking his head slightly.
"Enough!" Ares immortal stepped out, standing in mid-air, his gaze like ancient ice.
A cold, commanding roar, filled with supreme majesty and impatience, exploded like a thunderbolt from the Nine Heavens deep within the soul of every protesting genius in the plaza!
"Dissatisfied? Think the rules are unfair? Feel wronged?"
Ares's lips curved into a cold, cruel arc—he had participated in the genius battle countless years ago, so how could he not know what these people were thinking.
"Naive! Ridiculous!"
"What do you think the Virtual Universe Corporation is?!"
His voice suddenly rose, carrying an indifference like looking down at ants:
"The genius battle, held once every ten thousand years, is merely the Corporation's needle-in-a-haystack screening! It's simply to scout for those rare, truly promising talents who might become powerhouses over the long river of billions of years!"
"Looking at a single session, if even one of you 1000 can become a Marquis immortal, that's considered extremely lucky! More often than not—the entire generation of geniuses will all perish in future adventures, battles, and secret realm explorations!"
"As for you?" Ares's gaze swept over the 800 protestors, his tone cold and merciless.
"You are merely batches of 'materials' waiting to be 'verified'. You don't even have the right to be dissatisfied!"
"What Ares said is the Corporation's stance!" A grander, more ethereal voice rang out, like the cold vacuum of the universe, swallowing all miscellaneous sounds.
Accompanying Venerable Nine Swords's voice, an indescribable, irresistible, terrifying will and pressure descended with a roar! The 800 protestors' legs went weak, and they all knelt down in unison!
"Those who are dissatisfied—"
"Can withdraw now!!"
The plaza instantly fell silent!
"Remember today! In the vast universe, to seek dignity… the only way is to become stronger!" As his voice fell, the figures of the 1008 immortals also instantly vanished.
… …
The next morning.
The 1000 geniuses gathered again. The 800 from yesterday were now well-behaved, no longer daring to show the slightest dissatisfaction.
Venerable Nine Swords appeared on time, looking down at everyone:
"Are you all ready? Then… the decisive battle—begins!" With a wave of his hand, 100 huge arenas appeared on the vast plaza, and Qing Yu and the others were instantly teleported onto them.
Qing Yu maintained his straightforward attitude, instantly defeating his opponent with a single move, being the first to finish his battle. One-on-one battles were extremely fast, and moments later, all one hundred battles concluded.
Venerable Nine Swords stood in mid-air, slowly speaking:
"According to the Virtual System's selection, I now announce the list of the top 20!"
"Qing Yu"
"Xing Hen"
"Huang Li"
"You Meng"
… …
"O'Laidi"
"Reina"
"You 20, take a half-hour break, then the next battle will begin!"
As Venerable Nine Swords's words fell, the faces of the other unselected individuals were filled with unwillingness, and they gathered together, discussing in low voices.
"You Meng was actually selected… I remember her trial tower ranking was only in the nineties."
"Forget it! Heaven and Earth Secret Realm it is, I will prove that I am not weaker than them!"
About half an hour later, only 10 of the 100 arenas on the plaza remained. Qing Yu and the other 20 were instantly teleported onto the arenas.
On arena number one, a tall, slender young man holding a long sword stood opposite Qing Yu, currently looking dejected.
"How unlucky am I, O'Laidi, to directly encounter Qing Yu… now the Absolute Beginning Secret Realm is hopeless."
Meanwhile, the other geniuses on the other arenas, whose nerves had been taut, actually relaxed, a hint of relief even flashing across their faces—simply because there was an insurmountable gap between Qing Yu's strength and theirs; facing Qing Yu was almost equivalent to an early declaration of defeat.
*— *—* — *—*
I hope you guys support me with power stones .
Comment / review will motivate me greatly.