Swallow the starry sky, grind to become the strongest in the universe

Chapter 38 A Gathering of Geniuses, A Great Wind Rises

"Is the battle of geniuses about to begin...?"

At the summit of the snow-capped mountain, Yu Duan, dressed in a white robe, opened her eyes. Her gaze was clear and bright, dignified yet lively.

"This is the true heart of a child. With a heart like that of a child, thoughts are unpredictable and not influenced or limited by habitual thinking. No wonder one's comprehension is so high."

Yu Duan could clearly feel the changes in himself, especially after he had completely mastered the Heart of a Child and could enter a state of oneness with heaven and man at any time, which was very different from before.

Children understand nothing, yet they are curious about everything. Their thinking is pure, and their way of looking at things is unconventional, often surprising and even inspiring adults.

This is the influence of mindset on comprehension.

However, as people come into contact with more things, learn more, and grasp more principles, they often lose their childhood nature.

Only by moving from simplicity to complexity, and then back to simplicity, can we allow our natural instincts to soar again and rediscover their pristine vitality and radiance.

Only in this way can one truly possess the heart of a child, and not merely the ignorance and curiosity of a mischievous child.

"Natural, help me register for the Genius Battle."

As Yu Duan finished speaking, the personal terminal on his right arm lit up, and the little elf naturally saluted: "Yes, Master!"

……

The news that registration for the Peak Genius Battle had begun spread across all social media platforms of the entire virtual universe network almost instantly upon its release.

As a grand event that occurs only once every five thousand years, it never lacks onlookers. After all, watching the spectacle is an instinct of social animals.

"Ahhh, if only the Genius Battle could have been held three hundred years later, I would definitely have been able to advance to the Stellar level by then!"

"I've heard that any peerless genius who makes it into the top 1,000 in the entire universe will receive an astonishingly huge reward!"

"The betting has started! We have a prize contest to see who will win first place in this Stellar-level Genius Battle!"

In just a few minutes, more than 79 billion star-level contestants registered from approximately 20,000 star domains under the jurisdiction of the Northern Ming Universe Kingdom.

Moreover, the number of applicants is still fluctuating at an extremely rapid pace.

To prevent people from focusing on their training and missing the registration deadline, the registration period for the Genius Battle is as long as one month.

Even if someone doesn't pay attention to outside news, they can generally get information from relatives and friends within a month.

Throughout the entire universe, all the human races who consider themselves to have considerable talent, especially those at the stellar level, are now sharpening their knives, hoping to showcase their skills at the upcoming grand event and be noticed by powerful figures, who will then take them as disciples.

……

In the blink of an eye, a month passed.

The registration portal for the Peak Genius Battle has closed, and Yu Duan has also received an email from the official Virtual Universe Company.

Within the territory of the Northern Miasma Universe Kingdom alone, approximately 1.16 trillion stellar-level geniuses have registered to participate in the competition.

"The number of applicants for this year's Genius Battle has exceeded 1.1 trillion, which is even more than the previous year."

Kumishu, who was standing next to Yu Duan, also saw the email content on the virtual screen and sighed.

"Who was the highest-ranked player in the Universe during the last Genius Battle?" Yu Duan asked casually.

"She is a little girl named Erswick. Her understanding of the Law of Wood Origin is quite good. As a martial artist, she is ranked 967th in the Trial Tower."

"Finally, we entered the fourth-ranked secret realm in the core layer of the Giant Axe Arena. This result is considered one of the worst in recent years."

Although the Northern Miasma Universe Kingdom isn't among the top 1008 Great Universe Kingdoms, it's still a major power ranking in the top 100 in terms of territory and scale. Basically, every year, it produces geniuses who make it into the top 1000.

On average, every few hundred thousand years, one genius emerges who can break into the top 100.

As for the top ten in the Genius Battle being the champion of the Genius Battle, that's very rare.

The last time a genius from the Northern Miasma Universe Kingdom won first place in the Genius Battle was more than 4000 sessions ago.

"I wonder if this battle of geniuses will produce a once-in-ten-thousand-years or even one-hundred-thousand-years-long genius."

Yu Duan thought of Bo Lan, who would be in the same era as Luo Feng in the future, but he didn't know how many years it would be until Luo Feng's time.

After all, there is no universal calendar system for human civilization in the universe, and Yu Duan has not come into contact with the characters mentioned in the original work.

"With Your Highness's talent, you are in no way inferior to those geniuses born over tens of thousands of epochs," Kumi Xiu complimented. In reality, in terms of mastery of the laws, Yu Duan's mastery of the laws of time, converted into the same level of mastery of the laws of space, still has a long way to go before reaching the 'Hundred Illusions Body' level.

But a genius of Bolan's caliber can unleash thousands of illusions.

However, considering the age issue, Yu Duan's qualifications are in no way inferior to Bo Lan's, so Ku Mi Xiu's statement is not an exaggeration.

"Master, the Northern Divine Land hereby issues a decree: all Stellar-level students, immediately log in to the virtual universe and assemble!"

Suddenly, Tianran jumped out, and a screen flashing red light was projected above his head, displaying an official notification email from the Northern Ming Holy Land.

……

Virtual Universe, North Sea.

Endless starlight surged and coalesced into a seemingly illusory, vast platform with a diameter exceeding 1 kilometers.

Hundreds of millions of young figures knelt on this starlight platform, with Yu Duan, Aarons, and hundreds of other geniuses who had crossed the threshold of the Origin Laws at the forefront.

Ahead of these prodigies stood towering figures, the 24 super-strong warriors under the king's command, the weakest of whom were all at the peak of the Marquis level.

These super-strong individuals stood respectfully beside a figure shrouded in a hazy white mist.

The figure stood there, and an invisible chill spread out, as if freezing the space itself.

"The preliminary rounds are about to begin..."

A cold, magnetic voice rang out, its gender unreadable.

"You are the elite of the universe, the pillars of the future, nurtured by the Holy Land for decades, centuries, or even millennia! Therefore, you should be stronger than the geniuses outside!"

"I hope you can occupy 60% of the 100,101 qualifying spots in this qualifying tournament!"

As that icy voice spread, the vast galaxy that was constantly in motion froze, as if it had turned into an ice river.

"Go, all of you, don't let me down!"

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

In an instant, almost all of the hundreds of millions of figures were teleported away, leaving only five figures: Yu Duan, Aarons, Pengnolai, Delis, and Tengde.

After the rally concluded, the ruler of Beiming Kingdom naturally did not linger.

The one who gave the speech to Yu Duan and the other four was one of the 24 divine generals under the king's command.

Among them, the leader was a first divine general with dragon horns on his head and his whole body covered in crimson battle armor.

"Yu Duan, the great king and Lord Qinghuan's requirement for you is to be number one in the genius battle."

The First Divine General spoke, his voice loud, even giving the impression of an impending explosion.

Upon hearing this, Yu Duan quickly bowed and said, "This junior will do his best to live up to the expectations of His Majesty the King and my teacher."

In terms of mastery of the laws, Dumbarens is still a notch below.

Even with the remaining time spent grinding, it's impossible to reach the maximum progress. Unless I have a true epiphany, it's impossible to defeat Aarons.

Upon hearing this, the First God General smiled and said, "Don't worry, Aarons will not be a threat to you."

As soon as he finished speaking, the First Divine General turned his gaze to Aarons and Pennolai.

"You two may not have a chance to compete for a higher ranking. I hope you are mentally prepared and don't act impulsively."

Feeling the immense pressure contained in that gaze, Aarons and Pennolai, though puzzled, dared not ask and could only bow their heads and say, "Yes, sir!"

Finally, the First God General looked at Delis, who had crossed the threshold of the dual laws of fire and earth, and Tengde, who had achieved the first level of the Divine Weapon of Rift.

"Delis, the Holy Land's requirement for you is to get into the top 100 as much as possible!"

"As for Teng De, based on the standards of the previous session, your strength is probably in the top 3000 to top 5000, so keep a stable mindset and treat it as a training experience."

Upon hearing this, Delis and Tengde quickly bowed and agreed.

At this point, the First Divine General slowly nodded, waved his hand, and said in a deep voice, "Let's set off!"

(End of this chapter)