Swallowed Star: The Original Secret Realm

Chapter 176: Number of applicants doubles

This is a vast and boundless continent, enormous even in the virtual universe, far surpassing the continents of those cosmic nations.

This continent is the headquarters of Virtual Universe Company in the Virtual Universe Network.

There are all kinds of buildings on the mainland, and in one of the huge oval buildings, there is a side hall.

The screens were densely packed with countless images, and a group of staff in white and black uniforms were busy working in front of the machines.

This is where the staff of Virtual Universe Company work together for this Genius Battle.

"How's the registration going?" Mengxin Wang, dressed in a purple gauze robe, asked.

"Reporting to King Mengxin, there is still one day left before the registration deadline, but the number of registrations has already far exceeded that of previous years," a white-robed immortal said respectfully.

“In the past, the average number of participants from each universe country was only close to one trillion. Those that exceeded one trillion were basically universe countries with a large number of star systems.”

Mengxin Wang nodded in agreement.

Humanity comprises 1008 cosmic nations, each unique. Some nations have vast territories and numerous star systems, naturally producing a greater number of geniuses.

The Mother Ancestral Universe, with its largest territory, has as many as 200 million star systems, twice the number of normal universe nations. Naturally, the number of applicants this time far exceeds that of other universe nations.

"This registration frenzy is unprecedented. Basically, the number of participants from all 1008 universes has exceeded one trillion, and the largest, the Mother Ancestor Universe, has nearly three trillion participants," the white-robed immortal continued.

"Such a large number of applicants is rare in the entire history of the Genius Battle."

"What's so strange about that? This Genius Battle is hosted by the Lord of Time and Space, so it's normal for it to be this large-scale." King Mengxin rolled his eyes at him. "Registration is about to end, and the first phase of the selection within the universe is about to begin. Keep a close eye on things and make sure nothing goes wrong."

"Yes, this time it was the Lord of Time and Space who presided over it, and those cosmic rulers were incredibly cooperative, personally handling every single matter," the white-robed immortal said with a smile.

"it is good."

After the registration deadline, Zhang Yi received a report from Meng Xinwang, which surprised him.

To his surprise, the number of applicants for this year's Genius Battle was more than double that of his year.

Originally, according to his estimate, with his sky-high reward and the strong cooperation of the rulers of various universes, it would be good if the quantity could increase by 50%.

"I wonder how the quality will be now that the quantity has increased," Zhang Yi thought to himself.

Let's wait and see!
As time passed, nearly ten years later, the preliminary rounds and final battles of the 1008 Universe Nation came to an end.

Due to the large number of applicants from various cosmic nations, Zhang Yi specially increased the number of finalists from 1000 to 2000 per nation in order to select as many geniuses as possible.

On various continents and islands of the virtual universe, two million unparalleled geniuses from the 1008 Universe Kingdom began to gather.

A floating island above the continent of Noah.

Whoosh! A dashing young man with long, flowing blue hair appeared in the plaza next to the teleportation array.

"Lanqi is here."

"Our universe nation has been ranked the number one genius this time?"

"I heard that Lan Qi is a member of the clan of Lord Zhang Yi, the host of this session."

The hundreds of geniuses who had arrived earlier couldn't help but whisper among themselves when they saw Lan Qi approaching.

Many of them were descendants of kings from the Universe Kingdom, and they were well-informed, knowing that Lan Qi was not only exceptionally talented, but also had an incredibly powerful background.

Lan Qi walked over, smiled shyly at everyone, and then went to the side of a fat man. This fat man was also a member of the family, and the only one besides him to enter the finals.

Chief Lex was secretly pleased about this.

As time passed, one genius after another arrived, and soon all 2000 geniuses were present.

Just as everyone was whispering among themselves.

boom!
An invisible aura of authority enveloped the entire square. In mid-air, which had been empty, a burly man in earthen-yellow battle armor appeared, and the natural aura he exuded commanded respect.

"I am the ruler of Noah Kingdom. Many of you have seen me before. I will personally lead the team in this Genius Battle finals," the burly man's voice boomed.

"Greetings, Your Majesty." The many geniuses present bowed in unison.

"My God, the King himself is leading the team! This has never happened before."

"What's the big deal? Don't you know who's hosting this Genius Battle? I've heard that Lord Zhang Yi has become a super being of the race, the Lord of the Universe."

"The Lord of the Universe? Is he stronger than a Universe Kingdom?"

"Don't insult the Lord of the Universe. The Lord of the Universe can kill the Lord of the Universe with a single breath."

"Really? How do you know?"

"Don't worry about that, the information is guaranteed to be true."

Although these geniuses were fairly well-informed within the universe, they had only heard snippets of information about the Lord of the Universe and had no idea what he represented.

"In this final competition, those who make it into the top 1,000 will receive an additional 1 Mixed Yuan Unit on top of the rewards from the company headquarters. The better the performance, the greater the reward." The burly man stared at the group of young geniuses, his gaze lingering briefly on Lan Qi.

"Let's go!" With that command, King Noah waved his hand and led the two thousand geniuses to a newly opened plane in the virtual universe.

After giving a few instructions, King Noah went to visit some of his old friends.

In Restaurant Number One, the imposing King Noah was drinking with a group of cosmic kings.

Meanwhile, the messengers around them carefully poured the wine, afraid of angering these great beings.

At the same time, he was extremely shocked. In the past, during the Genius Battle, each major universe nation would only arrange a powerful immortal expert to lead the team. But this time, the 1008 universe nation's leader personally led the team.

"Noah, I've heard that a peerless genius named Lan Qi has emerged from Lord Zhang Yi's family. He has already gained a deep understanding of the laws of water and space."

"Yes, I've heard that too. His understanding of the fundamental laws of water alone is comparable to the previous champions. Moreover, his understanding of the laws of space is almost at the fourth level of the Myriad Flow."

"He's the undisputed winner of this final."

A group of cosmic rulers spoke up, laughing and joking.

Many of these cosmic rulers knew that their country's geniuses had no hope of winning good rankings. Their main purpose was to show their attitude, since this was a genius battle hosted by the newly promoted Lord of Time and Space, and who would dare to disrespect them!
The King of Noah smiled modestly: "Don't praise this kid too much. His strength is still a bit lacking. Brother Gu Lun's country also has several geniuses who are very promising."

"Humph!"

King Jinlan, who was listening nearby, was displeased and snorted coldly.

He thought to himself: Once you know Jinhen's strength, let's see if you'll still be laughing.

"Hahaha, it seems Jin Lan is quite unconvinced." The King of Huangfeng laughed loudly.

(End of this chapter)