Swallowing the Stars: Starting with the Primal Tenfold Talent

Yuanchen Universe domestic.

Luo Chen, dressed in a plain white robe, stood alone atop the tallest building on the capital city.

The wind howled, causing his clothes to flutter.

"puff."

He spat out the green leaf he was holding in his mouth, his gaze burning as he looked down at the bustling city below.

"Finally, it's about to begin."

Luo Chen's lips curled up slightly, revealing a cool and refreshing smile.

He raised his eyes, his gaze passing over the towering buildings of the capital, piercing through the thick clouds, and looking towards the vast, dark sea of ​​stars; his voice drifted away on the wind.

"The old year fades into silence, the road ahead stretches across the vast starry sea, the battle of the universe's strongest—I'm coming!"

He suppressed the last trace of gentleness in his eyes, his body shifted slightly, and his long robe drew a neat white shadow in the wind.

......

This grandest event in human history has already ignited the entire virtual universe network—the eyes of countless cosmic citizens are focused on it, making it the focal point of the entire 'human race'.

On the opening day of the competition, a large number of participants began to gather.

The lineup of participants from the Yanlong Universe Kingdom alone includes over 5.16 million participants at the cosmic level and over 1.76 trillion at the star level.

This scale is twice as large as Luo Feng's previous genius tournament, further demonstrating the terrifying appeal of this first-ever human race competition.

The preliminary rounds of the Star-Level Genius Battle are also divided into 100 independent world zones.

"Teacher, the number of participants in the preliminary rounds at the 'Eternal' level is far greater than at the 'Cosmic' level. In District 57, there are a whopping 176 billion people!"

Lin Youfeng's voice was slightly excited.

Meng Jingrong smiled at his disciple and comforted him, "With your years of hard work, a normal performance is enough to make it into the finals of the universe. Relax and just give it your all."

Lin Youfeng turned his head to look around at the distance. At a glance, there were many figures, all dressed in different clothes; giants over ten meters tall stood like mountains, while the shorter ones were less than a meter tall.

These people stood in small groups, discussing amongst themselves.

The number of cosmic-level and star-level contestants from the Yanlong Universe Kingdom who gathered together was a total of 1.39 trillion. What does that mean?

As far as the eye can see, the figures stretch to the horizon!

"Attention everyone! In this preliminary elimination round, the cosmic and celestial levels are each divided into one hundred 'world zones.' We will soon be teleported to our assigned 'world zones.' Please check your equipment as soon as possible, as weapons will not be available once the preliminary round begins."

A clear voice echoed across the entire continent.

Meng Jingrong looked down at himself.

He was dressed in a plain white robe, looking relaxed and at ease, which was out of place among the various suits of armor standing around him.

On his hand was a spatial ring.

Items like the Crimson Sky-Piercing Spear, the Immortal-grade Long Spear, the Divine Weapon of Rift, the Divine Weapon of Universe, and the Lov Pipa Plate are all stored there.

"Teleportation countdown: 60...59..." The cold numbers struck like war drums in everyone's hearts.

The noisy crowd gradually quieted down, and everyone held their breath, waiting for the teleportation to begin.

In the sea of ​​people, as vast as the ocean, Meng Jingrong nodded gently to Lin Youfeng.

「10……9……8……7……6……5……4……3……2……1！传送！」

A clear, universal language echoed in the ears of over a trillion people on this continent.

The moment the words fell, billions of silver-white beams of light poured down from the sky, enveloping every contestant.

A flash of light, and everyone on the entire continent vanished, leaving only an empty expanse of sky and earth.

The first-ever summit competition for humanity is being held simultaneously across all major cosmic nations!

As a grand event for the entire human race, everyone from the high and mighty immortals to ordinary cosmic citizens who can access the virtual universe network is paying attention to this event.

The people of the Flame Dragon Universe Kingdom naturally focused their attention on the domestic qualifiers.

The cosmic-level qualifiers, Ninth World Zone.

Meng Jingrong felt a blur before his eyes, and the world before him had completely changed.

All around is a primeval forest that blocks out the sky; the branches of the ancient trees are like coiled dragons, and the layers of leaves cut the sunlight into fine spots.

"What terrifying gravity! It's about 600000 times the standard gravity in the universe (5334000 times the Earth's gravity), a difference of 8.89 times."

Jing Rong frowned slightly, instantly sensing the terror of this planet.

With 600000 times the standard cosmic gravity, at a normal cosmic level of ninth order, the estimated flight speed on this planet would be only about 1500 meters per second.

But for Meng Jingrong, such attraction did not have a significant impact on him.

The specially designed arm guard on my wrist suddenly lit up, and a flood of event information from Virtual Universe Company poured in, the text on the screen clear and concise:

Participant: Meng Jingrong (Yunhe Empire)

Flame Dragon Mark: 0

Ranking: Not enabled

Location: Ninth World Sector

Time Rules: The preliminary rounds will last for 30 days. After the countdown ends, the rankings will be determined by the number of Flame Dragon Marks.

World Zone Notes: Modeled after the "Elf Planet" landscape of the Flame Dragon Universe Kingdom, with a diameter of 7200 kilometers and a surface area of ​​1.63 million square kilometers, featuring a mix of mountains, rivers, forests, and plains.

All objects within the territory (cities, vegetation, mountains, and ground) have a hardness of C9, which can withstand cosmic-level impacts.

How to obtain the Flame Dragon Totem: 10081 totems are released in each world zone. The arm guard can accurately locate the totem and the holder's position within 100 kilometers.

Fire Dragon Mark Rules: Killing the holder will take 50% of their totem count; if the holder has ≥10 totems, 1/10 will be retained upon death (rounded down), and the remaining totems will randomly appear in various locations on the planet.

Leaderboard rules: The top three will directly advance to the Cosmic Finals, while the remaining holders will qualify for the "Reincarnation Battle".

Important reminder: If participants are extremely confident in their abilities, they may engage in cross-world zone (planet) battles.

Cross-regional method: ......

"5.16 million cosmic-level ninth-order beings, crammed onto a planet with a diameter of 7200 kilometers..."

Meng Jingrong quickly scanned the rules, a sharp glint in his eyes. "It's estimated that all the totems will be discovered in less than ten minutes. What follows will be a bloody battle."

With this in mind, Meng Jingrong no longer hesitated. His inner force suddenly erupted, and he instantly took to the air, shattering the surrounding C9-grade hardness vegetation into dust.

From above, it is a vast forest, the whole world is green like waves, and the mountains are like ridges.

"First, find enough Fire Dragon Totems."

Meng Jingrong's mind raced. With his strength, there was no need for roundabout probing; he could just charge straight through.

"call--!"

The Divine Weapon appeared beneath his feet, and a white streak of light vanished into the sky in an instant.

"1600 kilometers per second!"

This wasn't Meng Jingrong's maximum speed, but it was already sufficient.

On another steep cliff in the Ninth World District, a half-person-high fire dragon statue is embedded in a recess in the rock wall, blending seamlessly with the cliff face as if it had grown naturally from the rock.

The statue is entirely crimson, like a burning fire, with a surface covered in fine scales. Sunlight shines through the gaps in the leaves, refracting into tiny golden-red specks. A scorching heat slowly spreads along the rock wall, as if it might break free from the rock's constraints and soar into the sky at any moment.

The burly man on the mountainside suddenly narrowed his eyes and his heart skipped a beat—he'd hit the jackpot right from the start!

"Hahaha! Heaven is on my side! A totem has actually spawned right next to the teleportation point!"

His blood was boiling, and he was so overjoyed that he almost lost his mind.

This is a blessing from fate!

The burly man stared intently at the fire dragon totem, as if he had already grasped it in his hand.

Boom—!

A white streak of light tore through the void, so fast that it left no afterimage.

It was just a fleeting moment.

The crimson totem on the cliff face vanished into thin air.

The burly man's outstretched hand froze, his wild joy abruptly cut short.

His pupils dilated, and his mind went completely blank.

The terrifying gravity dulled his senses. He stared blankly at the empty cliff face, blinked in disbelief, and rubbed his eyes hard.

The ecstasy from just moments before still lingered on the burly man's face as he asked in bewilderment:

"...Could it be? Am I seeing things?"

The wind howled past, leaving the cliff face smooth as ever, as if the totem had never existed.

During the flight, Meng Jingrong looked down at the screen on his arm protector; the text on the screen had changed.

Contestant: Meng Jingrong (Yunhe Empire)

Flame Dragon Mark: 1

Ranking: 977

Location: Ninth World Sector

......

"Over here!"

The positioning light on Meng Jingrong's wrist guard flashed again, and two faint red lights pointed to the northwest, less than 80 kilometers away.

The next instant, he appeared above the red dot of light.

This is an open river valley. In the open space in the center of the valley, more than ten ninth-level cosmic-level contestants have temporarily formed an alliance and are attacking a woman with all their might.

The two red lights on the arm guard screen were pointing directly at the woman who was being attacked.

She wore a blood-red battle suit and wielded a fifth-tier Force battle blade. The blade glowed with a scarlet aura. As the blade drew an arc, it caused the air to explode, instantly cleaving one of her opponents in two, blood splattering everywhere.

"roll!"

The woman in the blood-red battle armor roared, unleashing her full power and instantly unleashing her fire domain, slaying two more enemies in an instant.

The remaining competitors who were besieging the contestants changed their expressions drastically and were so frightened that they scattered and fled.

"Sixth level of the Domain, not bad."

Meng Jingrong hovered in mid-air, his gaze calmly sweeping across the area below, his fingertips twitching slightly.

The Divine Weapon beneath her feet trembled slightly, splitting off a small cyan crescent blade that instantly transformed into a streak of cyan aurora, slicing directly across the neck of the woman in the blood-red battle armor.

The woman in the blood-red battle armor still had disbelief and astonishment in her eyes, and her mouth was slightly open, as if she wanted to say something.

"Bang!"

Her vision went black, and her curvaceous body collapsed to the ground, the battle knife in her hand falling to the ground and shaking the sand and stones.

The contestants who scattered and fled were so terrified that their original maximum speed was increased by a fraction.

Meng Jingrong grinned and looked at the screen on the arm guard again; the text had changed once more.

Contestant: Meng Jingrong (Yunhe Empire)

Flame Dragon Mark: 3

Ranking: 59

Location: Ninth World Sector

......

"First, we'll take first place in the Ninth World District, then we'll go find some fun in the other World Districts."

Meng Jingrong set out a plan.

He won't go on a killing spree, but he won't show any mercy to those who possess the Flame Dragon Totem.