"Pre-selection countdown, 60… 59… 58… 57… 56…"
A vast, deep voice echoed through the minds of all surviving contestants in the hundred world zones, making many warriors across the zones grow anxious.
"I'm still just a little short!"
"I'm more than a thousand points away from breaking into the top thousand and one!"
"How did I fall from one thousand to one thousand and three!"
"Brother, you're not going to qualify anyway. Let me kill you!"
"One hundred million Qianwu coins for one kill! Anyone willing?"
"I'll give you a hundred million Qianwu coins, let me kill you!"
In these final seconds of the countdown, chaos engulfed every world zone.
"10… 9… 8… 7… 6… 5… 4… 3… 2… 1! Transmit."
All survivors across the hundred world zones vanished instantly. The virtual worlds themselves collapsed one after another, disintegrating into nothingness.
At the same time, the final rankings of each world zone were publicly revealed.
The pre-selection had ended!
The chosen contestants were decided!
…
Sitting cross-legged on the rooftop of a tall building, Luo Fan suddenly disappeared.
The next moment, he appeared within his virtual universe estate.
"Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep…"
A series of call requests and email alerts rang out.
With a thought, Luo Fan saw he had received tens of thousands of call requests and over a hundred thousand messages.
His intelligent assistant was part of his Machine Race clone's computing power, so he knew everything instantly.
He ignored it all and returned to the real world.
Opening his eyes, he saw Luo Feng and the other two also exiting their virtual cabins, smiles on their faces.
Luo Fan could tell the results at a glance.
"Luo Fan, guess what rank I got in the 88th World Zone of the Flowrock Universe Country?"
Lei Shen looked at Luo Fan smugly.
Luo Fan gave him a glance but didn't bother to answer.
Not waiting for a response, Lei Shen grinned widely.
"Heh, I'm first in my world zone!"
"That means I've made it to the finals of the Cosmic Genius Battle!"
"Hahaha!"
Unable to contain his joy, Lei Shen burst into laughter.
Before Luo Fan could speak, Luo Feng said calmly,
"Lei, don't laugh. I'm also first in my world zone."
Hong added in a flat tone,
"So am I."
Lei Shen's laughter abruptly stopped.
"You… you all are?!"
Hong and Luo Feng nodded in unison.
Seeing Luo Fan remain silent, Lei Shen assumed he wasn't first.
"Luo Fan, you're not?"
Luo Fan shot him a look.
"You think I wouldn't be?"
Lei Shen let out a dramatic groan.
"All of you?!"
"I've been fighting since day one, barely managed to take first on the last day!"
"Ah... hey, where are you all going!"
The other three ignored him and walked out of the training room.
When the door opened, their families were already waiting outside.
"Congratulations!"
"Four geniuses from Earth made it to the finals of the Cosmic Genius Battle!"
"Let's celebrate!"
Luo Hai, who had only recently reached the Star level, asked curiously,
"Dad and Uncle are both first, and Uncle Lei and Uncle Hong too. So… who's the strongest among you?"
"Ahem, Xiao Hai," Lei Shen said while rubbing the boy's head, "don't ask questions like that, it might hurt your Uncle Lei's fragile heart."
"That's obvious," Luo Xingyu said proudly. "My dad's the strongest."
No one argued. They simply led everyone to celebrate.
…
The pre-selection was over. Out of the hundred world zones, a total of 100,100 people advanced.
Each world zone's first-place contestant automatically entered the top thousand of the Qianwu Universe Country to represent it in the final battle against geniuses from other universe countries.
The remaining hundred thousand would compete for the remaining nine hundred spots.
That battle would take place a month later.
As the first-place contestant of the First World Zone, Luo Fan advanced directly.
The same went for Luo Feng and the others.
Nearly all advanced universe countries followed similar rules.
During this period, countless companies from the Empire and Qianwu Universe Country approached Luo Fan for endorsements.
But he rejected them all.
Annoyed by the endless requests, he eventually activated a screening mode so that only high-level authorities and his friends or family could contact him.
Neither Grandor nor the Tideblade King said much after the results.
Luo Fan qualifying for the Cosmic Genius Battle finals was expected.
In fact, it would've been strange if he hadn't.
Both knew exactly how terrifyingly strong Luo Fan already was, and how monstrous his talent had become.
Three years later, when the finals began, he would only be stronger.
Even after learning of geniuses from other universe countries, like Bolan and others, they still believed Luo Fan had an extremely high chance of claiming the championship.
…
Half a month passed quickly.
Luo Feng and the others returned to the Law Source Mystic Realm.
They had learned that the realm barred anyone above the Star level from entering.
So, during this time, they planned to hunt more Source Beasts and gather as many Source Crystals as possible.
They understood that aside from Luo Feng, the only reason they had achieved first place in their world zones and reached the finals was because of those Source Crystals.
Without them, even with decent talent, their cultivation time had been too short, most likely, they wouldn't have qualified at all.
Luo Feng, on the other hand, had his Golden-Horned Beast, so he was fine.
As for Hong and Lei Shen, at best, they would've only made it into the arena stage.
Thus, they intended to seize this opportunity while they still could to hunt more Source Beasts.
Once they reached the top thousand of the universe and joined the Virtual Universe Company, they would bid the Law Source Mystic Realm farewell forever.
Meanwhile, one of Luo Fan's clones, who was accompanying his family, received a message in the Virtual Universe requesting a meeting.
His Machine Race clone checked and immediately understood, it was the envoy from the Empire requesting an audience.
Luo Fan guessed it was to deliver a gift.
In the original story, Luo Feng had received the Milky Way as a gift from the Emperor.
Since he already owned the Milky Way, Luo Fan wondered what the Emperor would give him instead.
He didn't particularly care, just a bit curious.
So, his clone went to meet the envoy.
Soon, Luo Fan discovered what one of the most famous investors of the Devouring World had sent him.
He had gifted him an entire empire, the Silver Blue Empire.
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