"Attention, everyone. The preliminary elimination round will be divided into one hundred 'World Zones.' You will now be teleported collectively."
"Each of you will be sent to your assigned World Zone. Please check your equipment immediately."
"Once the preliminaries begin, you will no longer be able to request additional weapons."
A clear voice echoed across the entire continent.
Luo Fan immediately selected the Tidal God Blade and Vast God Weapon, while wearing a Tier-2 battle suit.
"Group teleportation commencing. Countdown: 60! 59! 58…"
The clear voice continued to reverberate over the continent.
"3! 2! 1! Teleport!"
The crisp announcement echoed in the ears of more than 8.225 trillion participants.
In the next instant, all 8.225 trillion people vanished simultaneously.
At the same moment, in each of the one hundred World Zones, over 82 billion individuals appeared.
Across all universe nations, the preliminary rounds began simultaneously.
As a grand event of the human race, from the immortal powerhouses and even some Venerables down to ordinary human citizens across the universe, everyone was watching this competition.
…
With a flash of white light, Luo Fan arrived in the First World Zone.
He looked around and found himself in a small room.
He casually struck out once, and the wall instantly cracked.
From the marks, Luo Fan quickly judged that the wall's toughness was equivalent to B9-grade metal.
Even the furniture nearby was about as sturdy as B9-grade metal.
Next, he stretched a bit, feeling out the gravity around him.
The gravity here was roughly over thirty thousand times that of Earth.
On his wrist was a gauntlet-like screen that received messages from the Virtual Universe.
[Participant: Luo Fan (Black Dragon Mountain Empire)
Points: 0
Rank: None
World Zone: First World Zone
Time: …]
Besides Luo Fan's information and real-time rankings, there were also the point rules for the first-stage preliminary round.
The elimination round would last thirty days.
As for points, killing one person granted one point.
Additionally, you would gain half of your opponent's current points.
Therefore, Luo Fan didn't bother moving in the early stage.
It would be more efficient to hunt experts later, higher risk, but faster point accumulation.
Of course, if one died, they would lose half their points as well.
Death meant complete elimination, no revival.
In the end, only the top 1,001 participants in each World Zone would advance.
The first place directly qualified for the top 1,000 of the universe nation.
The remaining 100,000 participants across all World Zones would enter another elimination battle to determine the remaining 900 spots.
In other words, out of over 8 trillion participants, only 1,000 would reach the finals of the Universe Genius Battle.
The interface also displayed details about the World Zone.
It was a continent roughly 1.3 million square kilometers in size.
The continent contained ninety-one cities.
All the buildings, the ground, everything, had the hardness of B9-grade material.
Luo Fan walked to the side, poured a glass of water, and looked out from the balcony.
He appeared to be in a city, prosperous, full of skyscrapers.
But right now, it was eerily silent, like a ghost town.
Just as he thought that, a loud boom erupted nearby.
"Boom!"
A building wall suddenly shattered, and two figures flew out.
Normally, even for a Ninth Rank Star-level warrior, breaking B9-grade material would take effort.
But those who signed up for the Universe Genius Battle were all extremely powerful Star-level fighters.
Shattering a B9-grade wall was nothing to them.
The two floated midair and clashed fiercely.
That single loud noise seemed to flip a switch.
"Boom!"
"Crack!"
"Bang!"
Sounds of battle erupted across the city.
In this world, everyone had the same Star-level Nine body.
Battle suits were restricted to Tier 2, too.
Only weapons differed.
After all, some powerful weapons required corresponding Law comprehension to wield effectively.
Otherwise, they'd be less useful than ordinary weapons.
Luo Fan stood leisurely on his balcony, watching the distant battle.
He looked completely at ease, like someone enjoying afternoon tea under the sun.
"Ah… why make life so hard for yourselves?" he sighed softly.
The next moment...
"Boom!"
The door behind Luo Fan was kicked open.
A blue-skinned human wielding a giant hammer charged toward him.
But Luo Fan didn't even turn his head.
The Vast God Weapon beside him suddenly floated into the air.
The blue-skinned man saw only a flash of motion, and then saw his own body.
A moment later, his vision sank into endless darkness.
Luo Fan never even glanced back.
His wrist screen automatically updated.
[Participant: Luo Fan (Black Dragon Mountain Empire)
Points: 1
Rank: 711,092,929]
He didn't bother checking further and instead opened a simulated bag of chips to snack on.
You could bring as much food as you wanted.
Though normally, no one bothered.
As Luo Fan continued watching the chaos with amusement, a blood-covered brute appeared at his door.
"Die!"
The man charged with a long sword.
This time, Luo Fan directly unleashed his domain.
The brute was instantly pierced to death by countless ice spears within the field.
Luo Fan thought for a moment, then expanded his domain to its maximum range.
Everyone caught within was casually slain.
Those outside, seeing the deep-blue domain filled with icy spikes and immense pressure, turned and fled in terror.
Then Luo Fan simply flew to the rooftop of a tall building to continue watching the show.
After all, this body fighting in the Virtual Universe was only one of Luo Fan's avatars.
His true body and two other clones were still comprehending the Laws.
…
In the First World Zone, participants could only fly up to 9,000 meters.
Above 9,000 meters was an invisible barrier blocking them.
Above that barrier floated numerous spacecraft.
They were filled with spectators watching the battle.
Inside one luxurious small ship were Luo Hongguo, Gong Xinlan, Luo Hua, Fang Xueyi, Luo Xingyu, and Luo Xingzhou.
"Hey, Mom, look! That's Dad!" Luo Xingyu suddenly pointed.
Everyone hurriedly zoomed in, and instantly saw Luo Fan, snacking as he watched the chaos.
"Dad's… this relaxed?"
Luo Xingzhou stared at the brutal fighting everywhere below, utterly dumbfounded.
Fang Xueyi, having lived with Luo Fan for years, naturally knew what he was thinking.
She patted her forehead and said with a helpless smile,
"Sigh… let's just come back to watch in the last few days."
"We can go see your second uncle's match first."
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