Swallowing the starry sky, my clones can evolve infinitely.

Chapter 74: The First World War, which will be sung for countless years to come.

"Before the arena battle begins, congratulations to those ranked 1st to 100th in the Trial Tower. You will directly join the core layer of Virtual Universe Company. Now, anyone who does not wish to join can step forward. Virtual Universe Company will absolutely not force anyone."

No one spoke up. If someone were to say they wouldn't join at this point, they would probably be blacklisted by the virtual universe for life.

"Very good." The Nine Swords Venerable nodded slightly.

"Now, everyone starting from number 100 on the leaderboard will participate in arena battles, with opponents directly assigned by the Virtual Universe System. Those who win three consecutive matches will also be able to join the Virtual Universe Company."

As soon as the words were spoken, the central square trembled slightly. 7200 of the original group of geniuses and elites were suddenly teleported away, leaving only the top 100 geniuses in the Trial Tower's total points ranking.

The Nine Swords Venerable looked at the 100 geniuses, including Shen Mu and Bo Lan, and pointed to a spot not far away, saying, "There are seats over there; you can watch the live stream there first."

As the Nine Swords Venerable raised his hand, a table and chairs appeared in a corner of the central square, on which were various well-known foods and drinks from the universe.

Immediately, many geniuses took their seats.

Shen Mu, Luo Feng, and Rong Jun, all from the Qianwu Universe Kingdom, sat together.

Rong Jun looked at Shen Mu beside him and scratched his messy hair: "I know you are strong, but I didn't expect the gap between us to be so big. Your ranking is even higher than Bolan's."

"I'm certainly no match for you now, but one day I will challenge you again!" Rong Jun's eyes were filled with fighting spirit.

Shen Mu laughed and said, "No problem, but before that, you have to defeat Junior Brother Luo Feng first before you're qualified to challenge me!"

"Rankings 11th to 100th... the Secret Realm of Heaven and Earth."

"4th to 10th place... Primordial Secret Realm."

"As for the top three, they will receive a prize of 1 Chaos Units, enter the Initial Universe for enlightenment, and become members of the Virtual Universe Company's Primal Secret Realm!"

"Under normal circumstances, only the champions of each Genius Battle will be absorbed into the Primal Secret Realm for cultivation."

"However, your class is exceptionally outstanding. After approval by the Virtual Universe Company, three of you will be selected to join the Primal Secret Realm."

"The final battles will begin tomorrow to determine the final rankings. The rules for the final battles have already been sent to each of you, so you can all rest well today."

As soon as he finished speaking, the Nine Swords Venerable disappeared again, and the thousand peerless geniuses on the spot started discussing among themselves once more.

Although most of them had never heard of the four secret realms of the Virtual Universe Company, even a fool would know that the best one must be the Primal Secret Realm.

There were only three spots available for the Primal Secret Realm, and everyone's attention was focused on Shen Mu, Bo Lan, and Luo Feng.

Needless to say, Shen Mu and Bo Lan were the only ones who had any hope of winning.

Although Luo Feng cannot compare to Shen Mubolan, he is still a level above the others.

The second level of the Divine Weapon is at its peak, and the Nine-Line Flow has been perfected. With this level of strength, only Rong Jun, Gu Siluo, and others are qualified to fight Luo Feng, but only to exchange blows once or twice.

"No, look at the rules! They're completely unfair!"

Suddenly someone in the crowd shouted, and then everyone noticed the rules of the upcoming arena battle.

The virtual universe system directly selected 100 challengers from the 900 geniuses who passed the arena competition.

These 100 challengers will compete for a spot in the top 100 of the leaderboard. The winners will be eligible to join the Secret Realm of Heaven and Earth, while the losers will enter the Secret Realm of Doomsday with the others.

In other words, the 800 people who were not selected by the system did not even have the opportunity to fight for better treatment.

"Why should we? At least give us a chance to fight!"

"I refuse to accept this! If I lose, I'll accept it willingly, but why wasn't I even given the chance to fight?!"

In an instant, the peerless geniuses who were not qualified to participate in the remaining duels started to make a fuss, as they were not even given a chance to show their strength!

However, reality is cruel, as the 1008 powerful immortal leaders unleashed terrifying pressure.

In an instant, the 800 troublemaking geniuses present were suppressed, and they were forced to kneel on the ground, unable to even speak.

Then the leaders of the various cosmic nations reprimanded the geniuses in their respective nations who were dissatisfied.

On the Qianwu Universe Kingdom's side, Shen Mu, Luo Feng, and Rong Jun were all ranked in the top 100 on the leaderboard, so naturally no trouble occurred.

Seeing this, Luo Feng couldn't help but say, "I also feel that this is a bit unfair."

Rong Jun nodded slightly: "If it were me, I wouldn't accept being eliminated without even being allowed to fight."

The thirteen generals leading the team, watching the other cosmic nations make fools of themselves, explained in a good mood: "You don't understand the authority of the virtual universe system. After so many battles, the strength of all of you has been modeled and estimated."

"It might be difficult to make a clear judgment on geniuses like you who are in the top 10, but there are no surprises or oversights in judging at this level. The rules of countless genius battles have always been the same."

Upon hearing the Thirteen Divine Generals' remarks, Luo Feng and Rong Jun reacted similarly, both intending to retort, but then gave up after thinking about it.

Shen Mu, however, spoke up: "I do agree with the rules of the Virtual Universe Company."

"From the Genius Battle until now, a full five years have passed, and countless human and material resources have been wasted. There is absolutely no need to save time and costs in the final stage."

"I can roughly understand the Virtual Universe Company's idea. They probably want to temper the arrogance of these geniuses. You have to know that entering the core layer of the Virtual Universe does not mean smooth sailing, but rather countless trials of life and death."

"Now we should smooth out the rough edges of these geniuses and teach them to respect the strong. When they face life-or-death crises in the future, they will have a greater chance of surviving and perhaps even achieve greater things."

Upon hearing this, the thirteen generals were somewhat surprised. They hadn't expected that Shen Mu, at such a young age, could see so far ahead and consider things from a higher perspective.

Indeed, this is true. After entering the core level, the mortality rate of each generation of geniuses is a terrifying 90% or higher.

For such geniuses, talent is no longer the biggest obstacle preventing them from achieving immortality; arrogance is.

……

The following morning, the near-core members of the Virtual Universe Company began vying for better treatment and slots in higher-level secret realms.

The arena competition for a spot in the secret realm has officially begun, and Luo Feng and Rong Jun have both easily defeated their opponents.

As for Shen Mu and Bo Lan, they didn't even play.

After the virtual universe system matched them with opponents, the opponents chose to forfeit before they even got on stage.

After this round of competition ended, the figure of the Nine Swords Venerable reappeared, sweeping over the 100 victorious geniuses.

"First of all, congratulations on making it into the top 100 and gaining the qualification to join the Secret Realm of Heaven and Earth. Now I will announce the top 20 people selected by the Virtual Universe System from among you."

Having learned from the mistakes of the previous 800 geniuses, the remaining geniuses all behaved themselves, and no one questioned them anymore.

"Shen Mu, Bolan, Luo Feng, Gusiluo, Rong Jun, Long Yun, Wuka, Aichen, Jiang Mo, Qian Shui, Lancelot, Galesi, Tao, Opatitra, Yifeng..."

Some geniuses who weren't called looked resentful. Although they knew that only the top 10 could enter the Primordial Secret Realm, they were naturally unwilling to actually fight.

The Nine Swords Venerable smiled and said, "These 20 people will fight against opponents assigned by the Virtual Universe Company, and the winners will be qualified to enter the Primordial Secret Realm."

As the Venerable One finished speaking, the many geniuses began to sizing each other up, speculating about who their opponents would be.

As their gazes swept over Shen Mu and Bo Lan, everyone prayed that they would never encounter these two super monsters.

Shen Mu and Bo Lan were not worried at all. They both knew that the virtual universe system would never allow them to fight each other at this stage.

Amidst the crowd, the handsome young prince of Manka Star kept muttering to himself, "I really hope I don't run into Shen Mu and Bolan..."

"And then there's Luo Feng, who can also create dozens of illusionary bodies, but we still can't beat him."

About half an hour later, the entire central square trembled slightly, and then ten huge arenas appeared. At the same time, Shen Mu and the others disappeared from their original spot and appeared directly on the arenas.

"Poor Galesi, she actually ran into Shen Mu!"

"Yi Feng is in an even worse situation; his opponent is Bolan."

Shen Mu stood on the arena, opposite him was a tall, thin figure shrouded in a black robe.

"Shen Mu, no matter how high your laws are, you're not guaranteed victory against me!"

Faced with the harsh words of the Phantom Demon Galesi, Shen Mu smiled and said, "Since the Virtual Universe System has allowed you to fight me, it means that your time has come to an end."

Shen Mu then said no more. The moment the virtual universe system announced its start, a long spear appeared in Shen Mu's palm.

The magnificent silver spear light seemed to pass through the void, piercing straight towards Galesi.

The Illusion Demon Galesi immediately used a mental illusion technique to resist, but Shen Mu was completely unaffected, and the sharp spear light instantly pierced through his brow.

……

A moment later, the top ten in the All-Universe Genius Battle were announced.

According to the order in which the competition ended, the top ten are Shen Mu, Bo Lan, Luo Feng, Qian Shui, Jiang Mo, Wu Ka, Ai Chen, Long Yun, Opatitra, and Rong Jun.

The one who suffered the most was Gusiluo. In terms of mastery of the laws, Gusiluo was no less than Rong Jun, and he had reached the first level of the sixth trial tower.

Rong Jun stopped at the fifth trial tower, but to everyone's surprise, he unleashed a stunning strike that sent Gu Silu back to the Heavenly Secret Realm.

The Nine Swords Venerable reappeared and said, "Congratulations on entering the top ten and gaining the qualification to join the Primordial Secret Realm!"

"Next up is the battle for the top five. Your winning times varied, so the fastest and slowest will face off... and so on."

If the battles are arranged in this way, then Rong Jun and Opatitra will be in a rather unfortunate situation, as their opponents are Shen Mu and Bolan, respectively.

As for Luo Feng, one can only say that fate was at work. Just like in the original story, his opponent was the most hidden Long Yun.

The remaining two arenas are Qian Shui versus Ai Chen and Jiang Mo versus Wu Ka.

……

On the arena, Rong Jun's expression as he looked at Shen Mu showed no trace of fear.

Rong Jun was confident in his sword, although he knew that he had no hope of fighting Shen Mu now.

But they didn't want to back down and wanted to show their talents.

Rong Jun looked at Shen Mu with complete composure: "I will unleash the most powerful strike of my life. If I cannot defeat you, I will simply admit defeat!"

Shen Mu nodded slightly: "Alright, please make your move."

As soon as he finished speaking, a powerful aura of blood swept out from the savage Rong Jun, as if he had just fought his way out of a mountain of corpses and a sea of ​​blood.

Clang!

The blade rang out, unleashing a fierce and domineering strike. Boundless blade intent condensed into a dazzling blade light, as if mountains were collapsing and the earth were sinking, causing everything to topple over.

The endless, heavy, earthy yellow light coalesced into one, and the vast and domineering sword light seemed to cleave through the void.

"That strike was very powerful. Even if Luo Feng wanted to take it, he would probably be injured."

Shen Mu instantly assessed the power of the strike, but that was all he could do.

The crystal-clear Frost Divine Weapon appeared in Shen Mu's palm. To everyone's surprise, Shen Mu did not use the Frost Divine Weapon, but instead treated it as a long spear.

Wow!

A frosty aura swept across the arena from all directions, instantly transforming the entire arena into a pure white ice platform.

laugh!

Amidst the intensely cold air currents, a ghostly white spear light burst forth, the terrifyingly low temperature seemingly freezing the very space around it!

The second level of the Extreme Cold Spear Technique in the "Azure Wave Manual"!

The second level of Extreme Cold is said to be invincible at the cosmic level. Its power is slightly inferior to the third level of Frost God Weapon, but it is still enough!

boom!

As the roar subsided and the endless milky-white chill dissipated, Shen Mu, dressed in white, stood on the arena, his spear piercing through Rong Jun's chest, which had turned into an ice sculpture.

This battle will once again be decided by a single move.

In the central square, on five magnificent arenas, the top five were successively determined!

Shen Mu wins against Rong Jun!

Berlan wins against Opatitra!

Luo Feng wins against Long Yun!

"Qianshui" defeated "Aichen"!

"Jiang Mo" vs. "Uka", Uka wins!

In fact, Rong Jun, Opatitra, Long Yun, and even Gu Silu, who didn't even make the top ten, are all a level above Uka and Aichen. They were just eliminated because of bad luck.

However, none of them expressed any dissatisfaction, since the treatment for those ranked 4th to 10th was the same—the Primordial Secret Realm, with equal reward points.

The one who really suffered was Guslo. As the fourth-ranked player on the leaderboard, he was inferior to Uka, Qianshui, Jiangmo, and others in terms of actual combat strength.

"Next, the first five rounds of battles will begin, and the final victory will determine who can enter the Primal Secret Realm."

As the person in charge, the Nine Swords Venerable once again announced the competition rules: the five people would fight each other, and the final ranking would be determined by the number of wins.

Half an hour later, the top five teams began their round-robin battle.

Shen Mu faced off against Uka, Aichen, Luo Feng, and Bolan in turn.

Bolan then fought against Luo Feng, Wu Ka, Ai Chen, and Shen Mu.

A short while later, three of the first five rounds of back-to-back matches were played, and both Shen Mu and Bo Lan achieved a record of three consecutive victories.

……

Moments later, the final round of the Reincarnation Battle began.

On the silver-white arena, two peerless figures in white stood facing each other.

Shen Mu versus Bolan!

This is a highly anticipated match; everyone who follows the battle of geniuses is waiting for this fight to begin.

Regardless of who wins or loses, this battle will be sung throughout the entire human race for countless years.

There have been geniuses in history who were more outstanding than Shen Mu and Bo Lan, but they were prodigies who appeared only once in countless genius competitions, each dominating an era.

It is extremely rare for two beings who emerge only once every ten thousand epochs to compete for first place in the same Genius Battle, as is the case today. The probability is extremely small.

Even the ancient rulers of those cosmic kingdoms were very interested and paid close attention to this battle.

Bolan took the initiative to speak, looking at Shen Mu: "Our Noah Universe Kingdom's leader, an immortal, told me that you have truly grasped the essence of studying outer space."

Shen Mu smiled slightly and said, "That's right. In terms of mastery of spatial laws, you are indeed superior to me, but unfortunately you can't unleash much of their power."

Berlan spoke softly, "In the face of absolute disparity, all skills are meaningless."

"I'll wait and see," Shen Mu said, shaking his head.

As the two were talking, the virtual universe system announced that the competition had officially begun.

Swish!

On the silver-white arena, Bolan's figure blurred instantly, and three thousand white-robed youths filled the void above the arena.

Clang!

Thousands of dazzling blood swords bloomed simultaneously, leaving behind streaks of bewitching red light in the void, instantly enveloping the void around Shen Mu.

The spatial fluctuations on the entire arena seemed to sharpen, and an incomparably sharp red light locked onto Shen Mu, pressing down with an overwhelming force that seemed to cut through space.

"My God!"

"Three Thousand Illusions! Bolan can actually use Three Thousand Illusions?"

The geniuses and immortals watching the battle were completely shocked.

If they hadn't seen it with their own eyes, they would never have believed that such mastery of spatial laws could appear in a mere celestial being.

On the arena, Shen Mu, locked by countless sword beams, remained calm. He then raised his right hand, and endless icy air swept out.

Indeed, in the face of absolute disparity, nothing else matters.

But Berlan... there is no longer an absolute gap between us!

Two completely different spatial atmospheres spread out. From the ice spears that exuded milky white cold air, countless tiny ice needles shot out, a total of 1600.

In the next instant, countless ice needles suddenly became illusory, as if they had vaporized into countless cold air currents.

Whoosh!

The roar of the surging river echoed, and the deep blue tidal domain spread out, intertwining with countless cold air currents, before transforming into a vast and mighty river.

The frigid river encircled Shen Mu, surging and flowing through the void, roaring and rushing in all directions.

A vast pressure swept outwards, like a dragon returning to the sea, or the river tide rolling into the heavens.

Two completely different and profound artistic conceptions intertwined with the great river, instantly breaking through the spatial pressure formed by Bolan's attack and crashing towards the three thousand figures of white-clad blood swords!

Frost God Weapon, Fourth Level - River of No Form!

On the central square, not only were the 1008 Marquis-level Immortals watching the battle shocked, but even the Nine Swords Venerable, dressed in a blue battle robe, was astonished.

It features a fast pace, with each chapter leading directly to the final battle in the arena, making it one of the fastest fanfictions ever. Today, I've already released 1.6 words, so praise me!

(End of this chapter)