Because Luo Feng had joined a medium-level universe nation under the Stellar Cosmos Nation, he was naturally participating in the Stellar Cosmos Nation's preliminary selection.
For ordinary people, watching a match across nations was extremely expensive, a single viewing could cost tens of thousands of universe coins.
Watching several matches, even with the most basic viewing package, would cost enough to buy a small life-bearing planet.
However, for people like Fang Xueyi and the others, this was nothing.
Fang Xueyi's account was a three-star account, and Luo Fan had transferred her plenty of spending money.
The same went for Gong Xinlan and Luo Hongguo.
As for Luo Hua, he had even more, since part of Luo Fan's cash reserves was managed by him.
After all, Luo Hua's financial talent was personally acknowledged by Tomato himself.
So, none of the few gathered there felt any pain in spending a few universe coins.
They immediately went to the Stellar Cosmos Nation's competition zone to find Xu Xin and the Luo Hai brothers.
Xu Xin and the others had not come here, they had gone to watch Luo Feng's match instead.
…
In the skies above the Sixty-First World Zone, inside a luxurious cosmic ship, a group of young men and women were holding wine glasses, enjoying fine food as they watched the battle through an external virtual projection.
These people were princes and princesses of various vassal nations, young lords of the Qianwu Universe Nation, and scions of powerful noble families.
They were all part of the same social circle in the Virtual Universe.
Among them, Brolin, the most powerful prince of the Black Dragon Mountain Empire, was one of the core members.
At this moment, Brolin was staring excitedly at Luo Fan's performance data.
A nearby prince from another empire turned and said, "Brolin, your Black Dragon Mountain Empire is doing pretty well this time. That Luo Fan seems likely to make it into the top ten thousand of the Qianwu Universe Nation."
Brolin replied, "It's still early. The competition isn't over yet, there are thirty days left."
Though he said that calmly, the excitement and expectation in his eyes were impossible to hide.
After all, the Black Dragon Mountain Empire hadn't had a single contestant enter the Qianwu Universe Nation's top ten thousand in the previous tournament.
…
Time passed quickly, twenty days went by in a flash.
On top of a half-collapsed skyscraper, Luo Fan stopped his blade practice and glanced down at the screen on his wrist.
[Participant: Luo Fan (Black Dragon Mountain Empire)
Points: 565,678
Rank: 3,434]
During this time, Luo Fan had never once taken the initiative to kill.
However, simply standing on the rooftop practicing his blade made him far too conspicuous.
A city wasn't large, anyone who flew high enough could easily spot him.
So, countless challengers had come to him on their own.
All these points were gained simply by casually killing those who came looking for him.
The strongest in this city, known as "Lightshadow," had also fallen to Luo Fan's blade.
Just by killing that one person, Luo Fan gained over four hundred thousand points.
After that, no one else dared to approach.
After all, even "Lightshadow" had been slain by a single strike.
Luo Fan checked the time, only ten days remained before the end of the preliminaries.
"Almost time," he murmured.
Gripping the Tidal God Blade, Luo Fan rose into the sky.
He fully unleashed his Domain of Water.
In the next instant, he sensed several living beings within his domain.
The Vast God Weapon on his back, which had been in the form of a staff, split into 10,081 flying shuttles.
A few screams rang out, then silence.
All life signs within the domain vanished.
Luo Fan looked down, those few only gave him a little over ten thousand points.
His rank rose by a few dozen places.
Seeing that, he couldn't help but curl his lip in mild disdain.
"So few points."
He closed the screen and flew off in another direction.
As he moved, his Domain of Water remained fully open.
Any human who entered it was instantly slain.
Soon, a full day passed.
Luo Fan's points had already surpassed one million, and his ranking had risen into the top eight hundred.
…
Inside a grand hall aboard a cosmic battleship.
Thousands of people were gathered there, all members of the Black Dragon Mountain Empire's ruling class.
The Universe Genius Battle was a grand event for all of humanity, directly tied to the honor of every empire.
Naturally, the ruling class of the Black Dragon Mountain Empire paid extremely close attention to their empire's participants.
Even the Emperor of the Black Dragon Mountain Empire himself was watching the competition in person.
But now, everyone's expressions were grim, especially the emperor's.
Twenty days had passed, and not a single genius from the Black Dragon Mountain Empire had entered the top one thousand of any World Zone.
At the front of the hall, a massive screen displayed the number of contestants from the Black Dragon Mountain Empire who had qualified for the next round, temporarily.
For twenty days, that number had stayed at zero.
The air in the hall grew heavy and tense.
Then suddenly...
The 0 on the big screen changed to 1!
Instantly, the entire hall erupted in excitement.
"Congratulations, Your Majesty! Congratulations!"
"Your Majesty, this is great news!"
"Our Black Dragon Mountain Empire's young genius has finally made it into the top thousand!"
Cheers filled the hall.
Even the Domain Lords and Sector Lords joined in the applause.
"Hahahaha! Excellent!"
The Black Dragon Mountain Emperor, dressed in a dark imperial robe, burst into hearty laughter.
His deep voice echoed across the hall.
"Luo Fan, is it? Very good!"
"At least someone from our empire will advance from the preliminaries this time!"
"This Luo Fan has done great service for the empire!"
"When the preliminaries end, if he successfully advances, reward him heavily!"
The emperor's tone carried clear excitement.
"Your Majesty is wise!"
"Luo Fan has indeed earned great merit!"
Flattery filled the air instantly.
The nobles, ministers, and even the rulers of the subordinate nations all joined in the praise.
One elderly man beside the emperor, a Sector Lord of extremely high status, leaned close and spoke quietly:
"Your Majesty, there are still nine days left before the preliminaries end. We'll only know the final result then."
Because of his status, he was one of the few who could speak such sobering words.
The emperor nodded slightly.
"You speak the truth."
"Even if he fails in the end, his contributions remain undeniable."
…
After Luo Fan entered the top 1,001, countless citizens of the Black Dragon Mountain Empire felt immense pride.
Everywhere, people were cheering for Luo Fan, praying he could hold his position within the top ranks.
…
As for Luo Fan himself, he remained utterly indifferent to the outside world.
Beside him stood a young man with six ears, while behind them lay a headless corpse, slowly dissolving into particles of light.
"Let's go. To the next city," Luo Fan said calmly to the six-eared youth.
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