Swallowing the Stars: Heart of the Martial God

Chapter 25 Are you all here to compete for second place?
After the ruler of Qianwu Kingdom left, the Zhulong King composed himself and said, "Cultivate diligently and don't be distracted by this, nor should you become complacent. This is just the beginning. Once you enter Chaos City, there will be plenty of cosmic venerables willing to take you as their disciple."

"Yes, Ancestor." Ling Xuan nodded calmly and continued his cultivation.

Ling Xuan continued to immerse himself in comprehending the Void Scripture and the laws of space.

Three years passed in the blink of an eye, and the remaining spots for all the major space nations were decided.

"Young man, your progress over the past three years has been commendable, but you are still some distance from being a super genius. Don't be careless," the Candle Dragon King cautioned.

"Don't worry, I will take action," Ling Xuan said confidently.

"You brat, confidence is a good thing. Go on." The Candle Dragon King patted Ling Xuan on the shoulder with a smile.

Meanwhile, his two older sisters also sent him encouraging emails, telling him to work hard and achieve good results, and that they would watch his competition from home.

After replying "received," Ling Xuan teleported to the meeting point.

A floating island above Ganwu Continent.

brush!
Ling Xuan appeared at the teleportation point on the floating island.

"Mr. Ling Xuan, please come this way." A cosmic-level warrior standing next to the teleportation point, dressed in work clothes, smiled and pointed to a path beside him.

"Thank you." Ling Xuan nodded with a smile, then walked directly along the road.

moment--

Ling Xuan saw a large group of people gathered in a square surrounded by beautiful flowers and plants not far away. At first glance, there seemed to be hundreds of people, including men and women, with different appearances.

"The Flame Demon has arrived."

"That ruthless fire demon!"

Many young men and women are looking over here.

"Aren't his eyes ever dry?"

These hundreds of people were all selected; the Qianwu Universe Kingdom is sending a thousand geniuses this time.

Most people just watched Ling Xuan from afar and discussed in hushed tones, not daring to go up and greet him.

Anyone who has watched the videos of the other player's matches feels that Ling Xuan is not easy to get along with; he kills anyone he sees and doesn't even let them finish their sentences.

Moreover, the powerful figures from all the major forces believed that with Ling Xuan's strength, he was definitely capable of securing a spot in the Giant Axe Secret Realm.

suddenly--

"Boom!" An invisible pressure covered the entire square, and the faces of the thousand peerless geniuses turned pale, their bodies trembling slightly involuntarily.

Then, following the sound of footsteps, a giant wearing red armor with a red scale on his forehead walked over, carrying a blood-red heavy sword on his back. The aura he naturally exuded was like the arrival of death.

The air was thick with the stench of blood, instilling a sense of dread in everyone!
Standing over eight meters tall, it is considered a giant even among human species.

"The 1000 geniuses of the Qianwu Universe Kingdom, as ordered by the King, will be led by me." The giant's voice boomed, his eyes, hidden beneath his helmet, gleamed with a cold, eerie light, and an invisible pressure swept over him like a tidal wave. "You may call me 'Blood Sword Marquis,' understand?"

"Understood!" The unified response was tinged with a slight tremor.

The 1000 peerless geniuses from the Qianwu Universe Kingdom, despite their extraordinary pride, couldn't help but straighten their backs and speak loudly.

Ling Xuan stood in the middle of the group, bowing his head slightly, concealing his sharpness. When facing a powerful being, he was the most obedient and honest child.

"This Blood Sword Marquis looks even stronger than the Barbarian Dragon Marquis Ancestor. No wonder he's a powerful figure who followed the Qianwu Kingdom's ruler." Ling Xuan lowered his eyes, secretly observing the giant before him and assessing his strength.

Seemingly sensing Ling Xuan's gaze, Blood Sword Marquis turned his head, the oppressive aura in his eyes instantly turning into admiration, "Ling Xuan, the King thinks highly of you, don't let him down."

In fact, if the king hadn't given prior notice, he would have been tempted to take this gifted young man under his wing.

"Yes!" Ling Xuan immediately raised his head, his expression respectful. "Follow me!" Blood Sword Marquis said no more, his scarlet cloak billowing in the wind behind him.

A thousand geniuses followed closely behind, and in the blink of an eye, they were teleported to an unfamiliar continent.

On this continent, a thousand ancient pagodas are scattered like stars, arranged in a staggered pattern to form the shape of a giant axe.

In the center of the axe blade is an empty square, with a rugged and bold style.

Several towering ancient trees stand at the edge of the square, their bark covered with mysterious patterns, and the skeletons of ancient beasts can be vaguely seen in the tree holes; the ancient beast sculptures scattered throughout the square are lifelike, as if they might awaken at any moment.

"My lord, your Qianwu Universe Kingdom's team has been assigned to Tower 0825." A staff member dressed in white robes, exuding a gentle aura, stepped forward and respectfully bowed to Blood Sword Marquis.

"Hmm, I see. It's the same number every year. I wonder what it means." Blood Sword Marquis muttered to himself, then waved his hand and led a thousand geniuses down toward Ancient Tower No. 0825.

The sudden appearance of the large procession in front of the ancient pagoda immediately attracted everyone's attention, and discussions arose one after another.

"See that? The one walking at the very front is 'Flame Demon' Ling Xuan from the Qianwu Universe Kingdom. He's said to be a strong contender for the top two this year."

"Really? It looks ordinary and unremarkable!" The werewolf genius raised an eyebrow, his face full of doubt.

"Shh, shut up!" The ape-man youth covered his friend's mouth, looking nervous. "I've seen his combat videos. He cut all the way from the south of the city to the north without even blinking. Be careful he doesn't actually come up and stab you."

"No way? Are the people of the Qianwu Universe Kingdom just dough to be slaughtered at will?" someone questioned.

Everyone here is a top genius from one of the major universes, how could they not know the difficulty of cutting their way from the south of the city to the north?

Even if many people have the means to deal with group fights, that only applies when facing an attack by hundreds or thousands of people.

Moreover, they must all be weaker individuals whose strength is vastly different from their own.

A city, on the other hand, has at least hundreds of thousands of powerful individuals.

"What do you know!" The ape-man youth shook his head helplessly. "Ling Xuan's strength is not even in the same dimension as ours. He is known as a peerless genius who appears once every tens of thousands of epochs. In previous genius battles, he would definitely be the number one. It's a pity that an even more monstrous guy has emerged this year."

"Tens of thousands of epochs?" Upon hearing this, someone's eyes widened in disbelief, and they rolled their eyes. "Our planet's history isn't even that long, and two monsters have appeared at the same time. What bad luck! Otherwise, I might be the number one in the universe!"

"Stop talking, look over there." Suddenly, the conversation shifted, and someone pointed in a direction.

"Is that the Phoenix Clan's prodigy, Phoenix Maiden Feng Li Shuang, who absolutely has the strength to challenge for a place in the top ten this year?"

"There is also a similarly gifted illusionist, Ren Yaoli, an illusionist from the Bai Li clan who appears pure and lovely but is actually quirky and mischievous. Her opponents were defeated without even a chance to react, so she definitely has the strength to be in the top ten."

"Wow, such a cute girl is an illusionist? I really want to experience her illusion magic and challenge my weakness!"

"This contestant from the Qianwu Universe Kingdom wipes the drool from the corner of his mouth. I could hear the sound of your abacus clearly even in the Ancient Wheel Universe Kingdom."

"Over there, over there, Leng Yanqiu, the strongest mentalist in this year's Genius Battle, I heard that she has already cultivated her Divine Weapon to the second level, and is also a strong contender for the top ten."

Just as everyone was discussing this, another violent fluctuation came from the sky above the square, and yet another group of people arrived.

The members of this team were generally taller and stronger. The leader was ten meters tall, with skin covered in dark red scales, a single curved horn growing from his brow, and strong, powerful hands and feet. He looked like an ordinary human, but exuded a terrifying aura of savagery.

"That's the absolute champion of this genius battle, the peerless genius of the Yan God Clan, Yan God, Cao Benqi?"

"He really does look like someone you don't want to mess with. I feel like if he just gives me a little push, I'll be lying in a medical pod." The werewolf genius who had previously looked down on Ling Xuan was now staring at Cao Benqi with eyes full of awe and optimism.

The Yan Shen Universe Kingdom's delegation slowly walked to the center of the square and stopped.

Cao Benqi strode forward, standing in the most conspicuous position in the square. Facing the envious yet fearful gazes of thousands of geniuses from thousands of cosmic nations, a disdainful smile curled at the corner of his lips as he coldly spoke:
"you!"

After a brief pause, the oppressive voice rang out again:

Are they all here to compete for second place?

(End of this chapter)