Swallowing the Stars: Starting with the Primal Tenfold Talent

In the 57th world zone of the Eternal Star System, above the celestial membrane, countless spaceships of various shapes float in the void.

Besides Meng Qinglan, countless other spaceships were also watching Lin Youfeng's movements.

On one of the ornately decorated spaceships, a group of princes, princesses, and other nobles from various star regions of the Yanlong Universe Kingdom were sitting together chatting and laughing.

The crystal goblets in their hands were filled with amber-colored fine wine, and everyone's gaze would occasionally sweep across the huge light screen in front of them, which was constantly updating the latest rankings of the current world zone qualifiers of the Flame Dragon Universe Kingdom.

"Look, look! Ilya, this Lin Youfeng is amazing! He's already broken into the top three in the 57th world zone of the Hengxing realm!"

A prince from an empire, dressed in a long golden robe, suddenly shouted, his voice filled with undisguised surprise, pointing to the rapidly rising rankings on the screen.

"Um?"

Upon hearing this, a beautiful silver-haired woman raised her head. With a hint of doubt, she looked at Lin Youfeng's information on the screen and said softly, "Yunhe Empire? Which intermediate civilization is that? I have no recollection of it at all."

"The Cloud River Empire? Never heard of that name before. Could it be a newly established mid-sized cosmic nation by some powerful immortal?"

Another handsome prince stroked his chin thoughtfully as he spoke.

"Quickly check which country it is!"

The princes and princesses around them also became curious and started discussing it.

One of the princes in front of the light screen immediately took action and quickly typed the four characters "Yunhe Empire" into the control panel.

The next second, a series of related information popped up on the screen, the most eye-catching of which was a title: Yanlong Universe Kingdom Preliminary Round, Qualifying Spots (Temporarily): 2.

"Hurry up and open it!" Ilya urged, her eyes gleaming with intense curiosity.

drop--!

The information on the screen refreshed instantly, and a clear line of data came into everyone's view:

"Rank 1 in the 9th World Region of the Universe: Meng Jingrong (Yunhe Empire)"

"Rank 3 in World Zone 57 of the Eternal Star System: Lin Youfeng (Yunhe Empire)"

"The Cloud River Empire is amazing!"

Ilya's eyes widened, and she couldn't help but exclaim in surprise.

As is well known, the competition for the 600 qualifying spots in the Yanlong Universe Kingdom's cosmic and eternal star-level preliminary rounds is extremely fierce.

The Yanlong Universe Nation's native forces occupy at least 500 spots, while the remaining 100 spots will be contested by a total of 2000 medium-sized universe nations, making the competition extremely fierce.

The fact that the little-known Yunhe Empire has managed to secure two qualifying spots speaks volumes about its prestige!

"Ah...this...the Cloud River Empire is merely a rudimentary cosmic civilization..."

Upon seeing the civilization level indicated below, the prince in the golden robe froze instantly, and the crystal wine glass in his hand almost slipped from his grasp.

Of the 2000 medium-sized universe kingdoms under the jurisdiction of the Yanlong Universe Kingdom, 1900 medium-sized universe kingdoms have (temporarily) zero spots through the pre-selection process!

The number of primitive civilized nations is in the millions.

It's unbelievable that an obscure, elementary nation like the Cloud River Empire could secure two qualifying spots!

"Ilya, look at the affiliation information! This Cloud River Empire is actually under the jurisdiction of your Nine Luminaries Empire!"

After realizing the vassal relationship, a prince from a remote star region immediately spoke up to remind him, his tone full of envy.

At this moment, numerous divine kingdoms and countless organizations took notice of the Cloud River Empire.

Countless people mobilized resources to investigate the detailed information about Meng Jingrong and Lin Youfeng.

Those who were truly celebrating and excited were the hundreds of millions of citizens of the Cloud River Empire and the high-ranking officials of the Nine Luminaries and other medium-sized universe countries.

After all, the Cloud River Empire ultimately belongs to the Nine Luminaries Civilization.

The remarkable achievements of the initial civilization under its command not only brought great honor to the Nine Luminaries Empire, but also enhanced its influence among the various forces in the Flame Dragon Universe Kingdom. This was undoubtedly great news.

.......

The 36th World Zone, a cosmic-level region.

Unlike the vibrant life of the 9th World District, which is of cosmic scale, this is an extremely frozen planet.

The rolling snow-capped mountains resemble a sleeping white dragon, with biting winds howling past, and the entire planet covered in thick ice.

This is the seventh world region that Meng Jingrong has moved to for the preliminary rounds.

In the 9th World Zone, Meng Jingrong, with his absolute speed and overwhelming strength far surpassing all other participants, collected 2000 Flame Dragon Totems in less than half a day.

This terrifying efficiency terrified the 5.16 million cosmic-level participants in the 9th World Zone.

Two hundred million people dared not linger any longer and fled in disarray along the Star Corridor, heading to other world zones.

Meng Jingrong's terrifying reputation as "Emperor Jing" spread rapidly throughout the world zones along with the footsteps of the refugees, becoming a figure that countless contestants feared.

Apart from the participants from the 9th World Zone, people from other World Zones could only determine the number of Meng Jingrong's Flame Dragon Marks by looking closely at the screen on his arm guard.

On the screen, the red dot representing the Flame Dragon Totem had long since turned from red to black and then to purple!

This is a snow-capped mountain over 7,000 meters high.

The foot of the mountain was densely packed with people, numbering as many as a million.

These people are all cosmic-level contestants.

At the summit of the snow-capped mountain, Meng Jingrong sat cross-legged, with a wine pot beside him, the faint aroma of wine wafting in the wind.

Meng Jingrong seemed oblivious to the densely packed contestants gathered at the foot of the mountain, preoccupied with drinking alone.

After finishing a glass of fine wine, he looked down at the screen on his wrist.

Contestant: Meng Jingrong (Yunhe Empire)

Flame Dragon Mark: 36520

Ranking: 1

......

What does this mean? A single universe-level world zone has only 10081 Flame Dragon Totems in total.

Meng Jingrong alone collected more marks than the total number collected across all three world zones!

The preliminary rounds have now been underway for 10 days.

For the first seven days, Meng Jingrong moved between new world zones every day. After arriving on this icy planet, he did not go anywhere else, but sat alone on the top of the snow mountain for three days.

Over the past three days, countless challengers from various world zones have come to challenge him.

These cross-regional challengers are all top experts in their respective regions.

They carried a large number of Flame Dragon Totems with them, which caused Meng Jingrong's Flame Dragon Marks to skyrocket from more than 16000 at the beginning to the current terrifying number.

Night gradually fell.

The cold wind howled.

But the people at the foot of the mountain were all filled with excitement.

"No matter how powerful Emperor Jing is, he can't possibly be a match for so many of us!"

A sinister young man with four arms loudly incited, "If we join forces to besiege the Emperor, whoever kills him in the end will obtain 18260 Flame Dragon Marks. Even if we perish in the ensuing melee, this number of marks alone will secure our qualification."

Similar inflammatory rhetoric echoed from every corner at the foot of the mountain.

The crowd, which had initially hesitated and observed, gradually became restless.

"Brothers, fortune favors the bold! Let's charge in, kill Emperor Jing, and divide the marks among ourselves!"

It is unclear who shouted first, but hundreds of figures shot off like arrows, leading the charge towards the summit of the snow-capped mountain.

In the sea of ​​people, more contestants could no longer suppress their greed and unleashed their primal force, soaring into the sky.

In an instant, nearly 100,000 figures, like countless black dots, rushed toward Meng Jingrong atop the snow-capped mountain, as if they wanted to overturn the entire mountain.

"Those who approach the snow-capped mountain will die!"

Meng Jingrong narrowed his eyes slightly, without getting up, and flicked the snow in front of him with his finger, the action as casual as if he were teasing a child.

In an instant, the howling wind suddenly stopped, and the snowflakes seemed to be controlled by an invisible force, condensing into countless sharp snow blades that swept towards the crowd on the mountainside like a torrential rain.

"Whoosh!" "Whoosh!" "Whoosh!"...

Where the snowflakes swept across the sky, there was no earth-shattering explosion, only an eerie silence.

The contestants at the forefront had their flesh and blood melt away instantly under the cutting of the snow blades, and before they could even scream, they were all reduced to pale skeletons.

In an instant, nearly 100,000 skeletons fell from the sky like kites with broken strings, crashing into the ice at the foot of the snow mountain with a "crackling" sound, the scene resembling the deepest hell!

The remaining million participants at the foot of the mountain stood frozen in place, their faces ashen, not daring to utter a single sound.

All that remained in my ears was the howling of the cold wind, as if recounting the tragedy that had just occurred...

At the edge of the crowd, Brotta, with his deep blue skin and a blood-red longsword slung across his back, stood alone beside a boulder.

Gazing at the terrifying, hellish scene in mid-air, his face showed no fear; instead, his eyes grew brighter and brighter, like flames burning in the darkness.

"So, the person who casually killed me in the dueling arena back then was actually Emperor Jing!"

A hint of relief flashed in Brotta's eyes, and a complex, bitter smile appeared on her lips.

Twenty years ago, in the decisive battle space, he was casually killed by Meng Jingrong.

The crushing defeat in that battle left him devastated and deeply self-doubting.

But gradually, failures transformed into boundless motivation for self-cultivation.

Now, twenty years have passed, and he has grasped a trace of the laws of light, resulting in a dramatic change in his strength.

After witnessing Meng Jingrong's terrifying strength firsthand, he finally let go of the obsession that had been building up in his heart for twenty years.

The path to becoming a strong person certainly requires unwavering courage and determination, but even more importantly, it requires the self-awareness to face the gaps in one's abilities.

......