Swallowing the Stars: Eternal Glory

Chapter 117 Escorting You to the Primal Secret Realm (Part 1)
A corner of the central square.

“Come here, Aichen.”

While watching from their seats, Lu Jin peeled a grape and offered it to Ai Chen, who was sitting next to her.

Immediately, more than half of the other geniuses present turned their gazes toward him.

Lu Jin, the Light Demon who is recognized as the number one in strength, and Ai Chen, the Light Sword who is ranked sixth in the trial points, have become a couple?

In an instant, the fire of gossip began to burn fiercely in a corner of the square.

"Isn't this a bit inappropriate?"

Looking at the many gossipy eyes cast around him, Ai Chen hesitated.

"Aichen, I cherish this one because I love my little sister."

Lu Jin said solemnly.

After a pause, Lu Jin glanced at the gossipy eyes of the crowd and added, "Don't worry about what others think. They're just envious of you."

Upon hearing this, everyone present looked at Lu Jin with disdain.

I wouldn't even deign to talk about you!
Ai Chen blushed and leaned her head over.

"Is it sweet?"

Lu Jin asked.

Upon hearing this, Ai Chen quickly grabbed a piece of fruit and stuffed it into Lu Jin's mouth, changing the subject: "The arena battle is about to begin."

It's embarrassing with so many people watching.

"Okay~"

While eating fruit, Lu Jin stopped teasing her and turned his gaze to the 3600 giant projection screens above the central square.

Soon, the arena battles, in which 7200 geniuses competed for 900 spots, began.

The winners advance, the losers are eliminated.

In less than five minutes, the first round of matches ended, and 3600 people advanced.

More than an hour later, after the second and third rounds of competition, 900 spots were determined.

'Swish!' 'Swish!' 'Swish!'

In the central square, 900 figures appeared, having won three consecutive battles.

Subsequently, Lu Jin and the others went to meet up.

"congratulations!"

The ethereal voice entered the minds of 1000 people, and the Nine Swords Venerable appeared in front of them.

"You are the 1000 most outstanding individuals among the 1008 universe nations of the human race in this year's Genius Battle."

Our Virtual Universe Company will dedicate itself to training you. If anyone doesn't want to join Virtual Universe Company, they can say so now.

The square was silent; no one uttered a sound.

The Nine Swords Venerable nodded: "Very good!"

"You should understand that competition is eternal in the universe."

"Those ranked 101st to 1000th will receive a bonus of 10 Primordial Units, and will be able to enter the Initial Universe for enlightenment and enter the core of my Virtual Universe Company, the 'Apocalypse Secret Realm'."

"Those ranked 11th to 100th will receive a reward of 100 Mixed Yuan Units 'Heaven and Earth Secret Realm'."

"Those ranked 5th to 10th will receive a prize of 1000 Chaos Units 'Primordial Secret Realm'."

"The 1st to 4th place winners will receive a prize of 10000 Hunyuan Units, and will be able to enter the Initial Universe for enlightenment and enter the core of my Virtual Universe Company, the 'Primordial Secret Realm'."

"Under normal circumstances, each Genius Battle only admits one genius into the 'Primal Secret Realm'."

"However, the level of your genius competition this year is exceptionally high. After discussion among the top management of my Virtual Universe Company, it has been decided to grant you four spots to enter the 'Primal Secret Realm'."

"Tomorrow, the final battle in the arena will begin to determine the final rankings."

"As for the rules of the final battle, they have been sent to each of you. Now, have a good rest today."

After saying that, the Nine Swords Venerable disappeared from the spot.

There's a specific number of slots available in the Primal Secret Realm for each Genius Battle.

If no one can reach the seventh trial tower during the elimination phase, then there will be only one spot available in the Primal Secret Realm.

If anyone manages to reach the seventh Trial Tower, an additional spot in the Primal Secret Realm will be awarded, and the number of additional spots will be equal to the number of geniuses who reach the seventh Trial Tower.

The logic is simple: anyone who can reach the seventh trial tower, even if they only make it to the first floor, surpasses the vast majority of the champions from previous genius battles.

The purpose of the Virtual Universe Company's Genius Battle is to select outstanding geniuses for further training.

When outstanding geniuses emerge, the members of the original secret realm with the greatest training efforts naturally need to be added accordingly.

Lu Jin, Bo Lan, and Luo Feng reached the seventh trial tower, increasing the number of slots for the Primal Secret Realm by three.

Including the original one and the original spot for this year's geniuses in the Primal Secret Realm, there are a total of four.

At the same time, the rules of the final battle had been received on the screens on Lu Jin and the others' arm guards.

—【The rules are as follows: Of the 900 geniuses selected through three rounds of elimination, the virtual universe system will choose the top 100 based on their performance in the trial space and the three rounds of elimination. These 100 are Galesi and Carpenter.】
These 100 people will engage in one-on-one battles with the top 100 people in the Trial Space rankings, for a total of 200 people.

The 100 winners are qualified to enter the 'Secret Realm of Heaven and Earth', while the remaining 900 will all enter the 'Secret Realm of Doomsday'.

Of the 100 winners, the 20 best are selected based on the virtual universe system's assessment to compete in one-on-one battles to determine the top 10.

The top 10 will be eligible to enter the 'Primordial Secret Realm'.

The top four winners will be selected to enter the 'Primitive Secret Realm'.

A detailed match list is attached.

"Aichen, when you fight tomorrow, give it your all and finish off your opponent as quickly as possible."

After reading the battle rules, Lu Jin held Ai Chen's little hand and said.

As for his opponents?
Lu Jin didn't care. Even Bo Lan and Luo Feng couldn't withstand the fifth level of the Radiant Dragon of the Divine Weapon under the hundredfold soul amplification.

"Mm." Ai Chen nodded.

Ai Chen is quite strong; he ranked in the top five in the original work.

But Lu Jin wasn't sure whether it was the third, fourth, or fifth.

Following the original story, after the top ten are determined, the battle rules are that the fastest winner will fight the slowest winner, and so on, until the top five are determined.

The top five will then compete in a round-robin tournament, with each player playing four matches, and their final ranking will be determined by the number of wins.

According to this rule, the faster Ai Chen wins when the top 10 are decided from the top 20, the lower the probability of facing him, Bo Lan, and Luo Feng in the subsequent battles to decide the top 5 from the top 10, and the higher the possibility of taking the top five.

If Aichen can advance to the top 5, and the final ranking is still based on the number of wins.

Even if Ai Chen is the weakest among the top five, she will still be qualified to enter the Primal Secret Realm.

After all, he and Luo Feng together could give Ai Chen two victories, and this wouldn't affect their entry into the Primal Secret Realm.

The only one who suffered a loss was the unlucky guy who could have ranked fourth in terms of strength, but because he and Luo Feng exploited loopholes in the rules, he could only rank fifth and missed the chance to enter the Primal Secret Realm.

As for who will be the unlucky one?
Lu Jin didn't care, since they weren't familiar with each other anyway.

The next morning, 1000 geniuses gathered in the central square.

"Sir!"

Not far away, 1008 immortal leaders respectfully bowed.

"Ah."

Standing in mid-air, the Nine Swords Venerable nodded slightly, then turned to look down at Lu Jin and the others, and said, "Today is a good day. You will determine the top 100, the top 10, and the top 4 within one day."

Are you all ready? The final battle begins now.

"Rumble--"

The next moment, the Nine Swords Venerable waved his hand, and accompanied by a deep rumble, 100 huge battle arenas appeared in the central square.

Each arena is silver-white and approximately ten kilometers in diameter.

Moreover, the edges and top of the arena were covered with black netting.

At the same time, 200 geniuses, including Lu Jin, Luo Feng, and Ai Chen, were directly teleported into the arena.

"Swish!" "Swish!"

On one of the arenas, Lu Jin and his opponent from this round were teleported in.

This is a lean young man with short green hair and a face resembling wood grain.

"Lu Jin, the Light Demon, may I witness your strongest power?"

The green-haired, wood-grained youth, 'Elliot,' tightened his grip on the emerald green battle sword and asked Lu Jin in a deep voice.

Lu Jin is widely recognized as the strongest, and Elliott, who is self-aware, knows that he is no match for Lu Jin.

But he wanted to see just how big the gap was between himself and Lu Jin.

Only by recognizing and understanding the gap, and striving to catch up, can we improve ourselves more quickly.

Lu Jin nodded slightly and said, "If you can withstand the first move."

The meaning is clear: if you can withstand the first move, then I will go all out in the second.

"Thank you!"

Elliott cupped his hands in a gesture of respect.

"war!"

The next moment, Elliott roared and transformed into a streak of green light, rushing towards Lu Jin.

"The heavens and earth are collapsing, freeze!"

Standing in mid-air, Lu Jin raised his hand and pointed, and 1600 platinum blades shot out from the Divine Weapon behind him. Amidst the dazzling brilliance, a platinum divine axe about ten meters long, exuding a rich aura of law, materialized.

"call out!"

The platinum axe transformed into a streak of light and shot out at incredible speed, instantly appearing above Elliot as he charged forward, unleashing a strike that seemed to split the heavens and earth.

"boom!"

A violent roar erupted, and Elliott on the arena turned to ashes, before his figure reappeared in the plaza outside the arena.

Elliott: "."

The difference is actually that big?!
Indeed, you can't compare people.

"Wow—"

On the arena, the Platinum Divine Axe shattered, transforming back into 1600 Platinum Blade Shards, which flew back into the Radiant Divine Weapon carried on Lu Jin's back.

Ten minutes later, all the battles on the 100 arenas came to an end.

The Nine Swords Venerable stood in mid-air, looking down at the 100 geniuses still standing on the arena, and said: "First of all, congratulations on entering the top 100. You can enter the 'Secret Realm of Heaven and Earth' of my Virtual Universe Company."

"Next, we will select the 20 best among you."

"According to the selection of the virtual universe system, I will name 20 people."

"Lu Jin!" "Luo Feng!" "Bo Lan!" "Ai Chen!"

"Gusiluo!" "Uka!" "Yifeng!" "Galesi!"

"Rong Jun!" "Qian Shui!" "Jiang Mo!" "Tao!"

After announcing the list, the Nine Swords Venerable smiled and said, "These 20 names I have announced are the 20 people selected by the Virtual Universe System."

"You 20 people should rest first to recover from the previous battle. We will begin the next battle in half an hour."

"As for who your opponents are, you will find out during the battle."

As soon as he finished speaking, Lu Jin and the others who were still on the arena were teleported to the square, and the 100 arenas disappeared.

(End of this chapter)