Swallowing the Stars: Starting with the Primal Tenfold Talent

The personal space in the duel arena is deathly silent.

Brotta sat slumped alone on the black arena, his blood-red longsword carelessly tossed aside, his entire being radiating an indescribable sense of defeat.

"How could this happen?"

"Completely vulnerable?"

"I'm like a joke..."

"Both are ninth-tier cosmic-level martial artists, yet his evaluation was only one star, and he was defeated with just a flick on the head... The difference is too great...?" Brota's eyes were filled with pain, the scene just now replaying in his mind like a nightmare.

"Am I... really that weak?" he gritted his teeth in pain.

"Retrieve the footage from the duel space."

Brotta, frustrated by the pressure, gave a stern command to the smart assistant.

"Master, insufficient permissions, unable to retrieve," the cold, mechanical voice of the intelligent assistant announced.

"Huh? What's going on?" Brota asked, looking completely bewildered.

He had never heard of a case where one's own battle footage could not be viewed within the duel space, and he thought to himself: Could it be that "Jing Yuan" has an extremely special identity?

Brotta's original plan was to aim for a nine-star rating today.

But now, he had no will to fight anymore; his mind was filled with the image of being instantly crushed...

......

The ultimate battle in the universe, countdown: six years.

Yunhe Star, inside Yunxing Manor.

A clear lake is nestled amidst a vast expanse of lush greenery, shrouded in a thin mist year-round.

At this moment, on the shore of Qinghu Lake, Meng Jingrong sits leisurely, fishing.

A simple fishing rod, a thin cotton line, an ordinary fishhook—simple and unpretentious.

Meng Jingrong neither urged the fish nor became impatient; he simply sat quietly, casting his line.

The lake surface was as smooth as a mirror, reflecting the clouds and sky.

Occasionally, a gentle breeze ripples across the lake, spreading out in circles before slowly settling back down.

The float remained still on the water's surface, completely motionless.

"Teacher, what exactly is the fundamental essence of the spatial laws you mentioned?" Lin Youfeng sat next to Meng Jingrong, his eyes filled with confusion.

Meng Jingrong slowly opened his eyes, his gaze sweeping across the calm, waveless lake surface. His voice was like a gentle breeze brushing against the strings of a zither, "Fishing is never about catching fish in the water, but about catching the sediment of all things in life; it's not about keeping the fishing rod steady, but about keeping a restless mind steady."

He paused, turned his gaze to the disciple beside him, and continued, "Whether the fish takes the bait or not is never important. What truly matters is to perceive the laws and essence of all things in this stillness and movement."

Upon hearing this, Lin Youfeng nodded thoughtfully.

He followed his teacher's gaze to the lake, quietly appreciating every blade of grass, every tree, every breeze, and every drop of water around him.

I don't know how much time passed, perhaps the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, or perhaps several hours.

In this extreme stillness, the float that had been floating still for so long suddenly swayed slightly, and then suddenly sank downwards!

A glint of light flashed in Meng Jingrong's eyes. He flicked his wrist and pulled the fishing rod with fluid movements.

"Splash—"

A huge bluefish, as thick as an arm, suddenly burst out of the water, its silver scales reflecting a dazzling luster in the sunlight.

The fish thrashed about, sending glistening droplets of water splashing onto the lake's surface.

"That water droplet!"

Lin Youfeng's gaze followed the splashing water droplets. When he saw the droplets gather in the air, fall, and finally merge with the lake surface, his pupils widened suddenly, as if something had broken through his shackles.

"Space is the vein through which all things rise and fall, the foundation upon which all existence rests." Meng Jingrong's voice rang out at the right time, like a morning bell and an evening drum, striking the heart. "Every lake and every body of water is a concrete manifestation of the origin of space."

As Meng Jingrong finished speaking, Lin Youfeng slowly closed his eyes, and his aura became ethereal and otherworldly.

His brows furrowed and relaxed at times, and at other times they furrowed slightly, clearly indicating that he had entered a rare state of "enlightenment".

"This child is teachable." Meng Jingrong looked at his disciple's enlightened expression and a gratified smile appeared on his face.

He raised his hand and pointed gently, and an invisible spatial barrier instantly enveloped Lin Youfeng.

After doing all this, Meng Jingrong turned to look at the bluefish in his hand, flicked his wrist to easily unhook it, and casually released the bluefish back into the lake.

The grass carp flicked its tail, as if it possessed a spirit, and quickly dived to the bottom of the lake, disappearing without a trace.

Just as he put away his fishing rod and prepared to get up, his brow twitched slightly.

"Kuro-Chi is dead."

A cold glint flashed in Meng Jingrong's eyes.

He sensed that the soul imprint left in Hei Zhi's soul had completely dissipated.

"Is it Marquis Fengyu?" Meng Jingrong murmured to himself, his eyes deep and unfathomable.

Based on the last vague information transmitted before the soul imprint dissipated, he roughly judged that the place where Hei Zhi died was extremely far away from his own Yunhe Star, almost spanning most of the human territory.

To avoid being hunted down by Feng Yuhou, Meng Jingrong had Hei Zhi sell all the treasures left behind by "Mu Feng" and then fled in the opposite direction from himself.

Hei Zhi was traveling on an E-class spaceship, and based on the timeline, they were probably about to leave the territory of the human race and arrive at the territory of the demon race.

"Lord Fengyu," Meng Jingrong murmured softly, his voice devoid of any emotion.

......

Six years have passed in the blink of an eye.

Virtual universe, the decisive battle space of the Flame Dragon Slaughter Arena.

Dressed in a white battle suit, Meng Jingrong held a spear-like immortal weapon, his eyes gleaming, and laughed loudly as he looked at his opponent: "Exhilarating! You are the strongest opponent I have encountered in the past twenty years!"

Over the years in the killing field, even though the frequency of battles wasn't high, his evaluation level had steadily risen to the ninth rank, nine stars of the Realm Lord level.

In this battle, both sides' physical attributes were unified at the ninth level of the Realm Lord level by the virtual universe.

Opposite Meng Jingrong stood a woman in blue armor, long sword in hand, her gaze grave: "I never expected to encounter an opponent like you in this killing arena!"

Karint had just retired from the extraterrestrial battlefield. As a world lord general who had once slain immortal beings, she never imagined that she would encounter an opponent who was evenly matched with her in the virtual killing field.

"Again!" Karin shouted, her figure suddenly lunging forward!

A flash of green light, instantly traversing tens of thousands of kilometers, the longsword was drawn, and dark cracks were torn open in space.

Both of them possessed the physical bodies of a ninth-level World Lord, unleashing terrifying combat power at the Immortal level. In a single flash, they covered tens of thousands of kilometers, a collision that ordinary planets simply could not withstand.

The slightest misstep could destroy a planet from the aftershocks of the battle, so the battlefield has long since shifted to the vast expanse of space.

The longsword in Karint's hand was incredibly terrifying, its blade imbued with dense spatial and lightning laws, each strike capable of piercing a planet.

"boom--!!"

As the gun and sword clashed, their immortal power exploded!

A purple shockwave swept across the area, instantly turning nearby meteorites into ashes. The terrifying energy aftershocks swept across millions of kilometers, causing the starry sky to tremble!

The two sides collided instantly and then separated abruptly, before engaging in another fierce battle like lightning, their figures transforming into two streaks of light in the sea of ​​stars.

"Twenty years ago, I couldn't have won you over."

Meng Jingrong and Karinette were separated by hundreds of thousands of kilometers. His eyes seemed to hold the movement of stars, and his voice, amplified by the laws of nature, clearly reached Karinette's ears.

"What?" Karinte's expression changed drastically.

"This move, I call it—Eternal Starlight."

As Meng Jingrong finished speaking, his body and the spear seemed to become one.

The laws of space and time merged perfectly, the spear stretched across the starry sky, and a blurry black hole phantom flashed by.

Karin felt as if she were locked in by the entire world, with nowhere to escape.

The next moment, the world before my eyes collapsed and was completely annihilated...

......

Virtual universe, Yunhewan Community on Nine Islands.

Meng Jingrong and Lin Youfeng were sitting on the lawn in the villa's courtyard, chatting leisurely, when Meng Qinglan suddenly called out, "Big brother, Xiaofeng, look!"

"What's the big deal?" Meng Jingrong glanced at her with a smile, his tone slightly teasing, before looking up.

Lin Youfeng also looked up in confusion.

Above the sky... the enormous notice board, seemingly covering the heavens, burst forth with dazzling golden light, revealing four incredibly large characters: Registration Deadline!

"Master, there's email."

A puppy-like figure appeared out of thin air on Meng Jingrong's shoulder; it was the intelligent light brain Pudding.

Meng Jingrong lightly raised his fingertip and pointed at the void in front of him. A pale blue, semi-transparent light screen immediately unfolded. He casually opened the email from the Virtual Universe Company.

At the same instant, the same light screen appeared in front of Lin Youfeng beside him, indicating that both of them had received the email concerning the selection battle.

"Welcome to the 'Universe Humans - Peak Strongest' Selection Battle."

This selection battle is unprecedented in scale, with over 516 billion universe-level powerhouses registering within the Yanlong Universe Kingdom alone.

Virtual Universe Company promises that everything in the selection process for the strongest contestants will adhere to the principle of "absolute fairness" throughout.

Given the vast range of applicants' abilities, from the ninth level of the cosmic realm to the first and second levels, the elimination battle will be conducted entirely in a virtual universe to eliminate external differences in strength and select true geniuses.

At that time, the physical fitness and psychic power levels of all participants will be uniformly adjusted to the ninth-order standard of the cosmic level, achieving absolute equality.

Similarly, participants can freely customize their appearance without being restricted by reality.

In addition, each participant can freely choose Force weapons and psychic weapons of various grades (no more than 10 in total), as well as spatial rings and various foods.

Special reminder: Tier 4 and Tier 5 psychic weapons are extremely powerful, but they require a very high level of skill from the user. It is recommended to choose a suitable weapon based on your own situation.

Force suits are limited to Tier 3 and below to ensure fairness in equipment.

Selection of the Strongest!

The test assesses the participants' willpower, domain, experience, and understanding of the laws, while all other external conditions remain the same.

The selection process is divided into two stages: the first stage is the preliminary round for the various universe nations, in which the top 10081 participants from all the participating nations will advance.

The second stage is the Cosmic Grand Final, where 10081 cosmic-level powerhouses from various countries gather together.

The top 1000 in the final cosmic competition will be determined.