Immortality begins with Swallowing the Stars.

Chapter 78 The Tower of Babel and the Core Layer of the Virtual Universe Company

"This is... Thunder Whirl Island?"

With a glance, Lu Jing knew he had returned to the floating Thunder Whirl Island, the home of elite geniuses in the virtual universe.

Uphis stood opposite him.

This powerful realm lord concealed all his aura and appeared gentle and refined.

However, Lu Jing knew that this powerful realm lord was the uncrowned king of the Black Dragon Mountain Starfield. As one of the three heads of the Black Dragon Mountain Empire branch of the Martial Department, even the immortal gods of powerful forces such as the Black Dragon Mountain Holy Land, the Ice Sea Divine Kingdom, and the Three Axe Mountain had to give him some respect.

However, the Black Dragon Mountain Star Region Branch of the Martial Department generally does not interfere in the affairs within the star region, unless there are large-scale massacres of life or other violations of the laws of the universe.

The Black Dragon Mountain branch of the Martial Department has a divine kingdom passage, which can summon countless realm lords and even immortal gods from the Qianwu headquarters at any time.

This is also why the Black Dragon Mountain Star Region branch, with only three World Lord level experts, can intimidate the entire star region.

"Not bad, you've managed to grasp a trace of the fundamental laws. You are the most outstanding genius in the Black Dragon Mountain Empire's branch, no, in the entire Black Dragon Mountain Empire, over the past ten thousand years," Uphis said with a gentle smile.

Although Uphis basically believed that Lu Jing had obtained some precious inheritance or treasure from the Lord of the Brahma Realm that could help him comprehend the fundamental law of wind, which was why he was able to comprehend the law at the first level of the domain.

But which genius in the universe hasn't had some unexpected encounters?

Even he himself only achieved what he has today because of some kind of opportunity back then.

Although treasures that can help comprehend the fundamental laws of wind are precious, Uphis had already gained the recognition of the fundamental laws and was only one step away from immortality, so naturally he had no desire for them.

These kinds of treasures that help comprehend the fundamental laws are basically only useful for low-level geniuses, since even the Lord of the Fanli Realm himself has not gained the recognition of the fundamental laws.

Uphis had even been to the primordial universe, so why would he care about such an encounter?

"Hehe, a Heng-level genius who can comprehend even a trace of the fundamental laws would rank among the top ten thousand Heng-level geniuses in the entire Qianwu Universe Kingdom."

"With a little training, if you participate in the Genius Battle several decades from now, you should have no problem ranking in the top 1,000 of the Universe Nation," Uphis said with a smile.

The significance of the Black Dragon Mountain Empire branch of the Martial Department, besides maintaining overall peace in the Black Dragon Mountain star region and preventing large-scale wars, is to select promising talents and send them to the Martial Department's Qianwu headquarters.

Sending a genius like Lu Jing who has comprehended the fundamental laws would earn Uphis considerable credit and rewards.

Lu Jing's heart skipped a beat: "Can the elites within the Martial Arts Department also participate in the Genius Battle?"

"Of course," Uphis said. "If you participate in the Genius Battle decades later and rank among the top 1,000 in the Universe Nation, qualifying for the final battle, it would be an honor for our Black Dragon Mountain Star Region and the Black Dragon Mountain Empire branch."

"If you can make another step forward in these few decades and cross the threshold of the Origin Law, you might even be able to rank among the top 300 in the Universe Kingdom. The best result in the history of the Black Dragon Mountain Star Region in the Genius Battle was only around 500th in the Universe Kingdom."

Uphis said seriously, "However, the Genius Battle is decades away. I have already adjusted your privileges to Special Elite and reported your situation to the Qianwu Headquarters. The headquarters will send a spaceship to pick you up immediately. Before that, I can take you to 'Amethyst Island'."

……

A dazzling light flashed by.

Uphis and Lu Jing appeared on a magnificent purple continent.

"This 'Amethyst Island' is the office of the Virtual Universe Company's branch in the Qianwu Universe Country. The military headquarters, commercial headquarters, and armed forces headquarters are all located here!"

Even though Lu Jing already knew about Amethyst Island from the original story, he was still somewhat shocked to see it now.

This is actually an island made entirely of dreamlike purple crystal, vast in area, stretching as far as the eye can see, almost as large as Black Dragon Mountain Island.

The palaces made of amethyst stretching into the distance seem to have no end.

At the very center stands a dazzling amethyst palace, tens of thousands of kilometers high.

Every now and then, brilliant lights flash by, and countless people disappear or reappear on the thousands of reefs surrounding the land.

"That tallest purple palace in the center is the office of the three ministers of the Ministry of War, the Ministry of Commerce, and the Ministry of the Army, as well as hundreds of immortal gods. It is not to be approached lightly," Uphis said.

"The headquarters of the military is on the west side of Amethyst Island. Let's fly there."

Uphis and Lu Jing flew hundreds of thousands of kilometers before finally arriving at a huge palace on the west side of the island.

"Uphis, it's been a long time since you've been to Amethyst Island."

A handsome man with long golden hair and two pairs of large wings trailing behind him came forward.

"Haha, Sago, how about we go to the 'Starfield Secret Realm' again in a hundred years, once I'm ready?"

As Uphis greeted him, he transmitted his voice through the Force: "His name is Sago, the realm lord of the Chiyu Clan, the elite chief steward of the Martial Department, a descendant of the Martial Department Minister, Lord Jinyu Hou, and also my friend."

Sago, with his long blond hair, looked at Lu Jing and said, "I didn't expect your Black Dragon Mountain Star Region branch to produce such a genius. Register with me first, and then go and try your luck at the Tower of Babel. Let's see where you can get in."

The Tower of Babel?

Lu Jing suppressed his doubts and followed Uphis and Sago into the palace.

The huge screen that took up an entire wall caught his attention.

Names, scores, and rankings scroll across the screen.

Seeing Lu Jing's puzzled expression, Uphis looked at the giant screen with a touch of nostalgia and sighed, "This is the ranking of the Tower of Babel."

Sago laughed and said, "The elites of the Martial Arts Headquarters are recommended from more than 10,000 star field branches of the Qianwu Universe Kingdom. The weakest of them are at least at the sixth level of the Domain. But even among elites, there are differences in strength, in terms of the strength of their Domains, the strength of their Laws, and their combat power. The purpose of the Tower of Babel is to test the cultivation results and strength of elites."

Uphis explained, "The headquarters of the Amethyst Island Martial Arts Department has two Towers of Babel, one is a cosmic-level Tower of Babel and the other is a constant-level Tower of Babel. The Tower of Babel has nine floors, so it is also called the Nine-Story Tower of Babel."

"Each level contains countless monsters, ferocious beasts, and alien geniuses simulated by the virtual universe system. The more levels you pass through, the more ferocious beasts, monsters, and alien geniuses you kill, the higher your score will be, and the higher your ranking will be."

"I was once a top-tier elite in the Martial Arts Department. I conquered this Tower of Babel, reaching as high as the seventh floor and ranking among the top ten..."

"If you can successfully navigate the nine levels of the Tower of Babel, it means you'll be able to enter the core of the head office!"

Sago said, "The Tower of Babel, the Tower of Babel, is named 'Tower of Babel' because as long as you pass through these nine floors of the Tower of Babel, you can ascend to the top and enter the core layer of the head office, receive the most resources for cultivation from the human race, and compete with the top geniuses of the 1008 Universe Nation."

"However, the Qianwu Universe Kingdom branch hasn't produced a genius who can pass the Tower of Babel for many years. The most recent one should be more than 200,000 years ago."

Seeing Lu Jing's strange expression, Sago assumed that Lu Jing did not quite understand the significance of the core layer of the head office, so he said with a solemn expression: "You should know about the Battle of the Peak Human Powerhouses and the Battle of the Peak Geniuses in the Universe. These are grand events for the star-level or universe-level geniuses of the 1008 universe nations in the human territory."

"If it is a genius battle or a battle of the strongest held by our Virtual Universe Company, then only the top one thousand geniuses in the final battle can enter the core layer of the head office."

"Only 1000 geniuses out of 1008 universe nations can enter the core layer. On average, each universe nation may not have even one genius who can enter the core layer."

"However, the intervals between genius battles are too long—at least for the Hengxing level, the intervals are indeed quite long. Therefore, in addition to regular selection competitions such as genius battles and strongman battles, by joining the martial arts department, business department, or military department of my virtual universe company, there is also an opportunity to gradually rise to the core level of the head office."

"However, the standards for entering the core layer through these layers of selection are even more stringent than those for the Genius Battle, and very few people can meet these standards."

"Hey, that's still a long way off..."

Sago certainly didn't think Lu Jing could pass through the ninth level of the Tower of Babel. Let alone just comprehending a trace of the fundamental laws, even if he had crossed the threshold of the fundamental laws, he would still be far from passing through the ninth level. On average, only one genius who could pass through the Tower of Babel might appear once every 100,000 to 200,000 years.

In contrast, it's much easier to join the business department, build up assets, and gradually climb into the core of the head office.

Even if the elites of the Ministry of Commerce enter the core level, they do not enjoy the resources of martial artists; they only have the advantage of status.

The surprise in Lu Jing's eyes faded, and he muttered to himself, "This nine-story tower sounds a bit like the elimination rounds of the Genius Battle finals. Does passing through the ninth floor mean I can directly enter the core layer of the Virtual Universe Company...?"

"Let's go and give it a try," Uphis said, looking at Lu Jing with some anticipation.

Lu Jing walked excitedly to the teleportation point and then disappeared in a dazzling light.

Then, on the big screen, Lu Jing's name rose rapidly from tens of thousands of places.

Soon they entered the top 10,000.

The first thousand...

It took a long time before it finally settled at 587th place.

"587th? Heh, not bad." Uphis nodded in satisfaction, not surprised by the ranking.

This place gathers top-tier geniuses recommended by the Martial Arts Department from its branches in over ten thousand star fields.

Many have reached the eighth or ninth level of their domain and have comprehended a trace of the fundamental laws; there are even geniuses who have crossed the threshold of the fundamental laws.

Sago nodded and said, "If we can cross the threshold of the Origin Law before the next Genius Battle, we should be able to achieve a good ranking, bring glory to your Black Dragon Mountain Star Region, and improve the performance of our Martial Department's elites in the next Genius Battle."

"Although the number of geniuses cannot compare with that of the Qianwu royal family and the Qianwu secret realm, if our martial arts department's elites can account for a larger share of the top 1,000 geniuses, the minister will be much happier."

A flash of light.

Lu Jing reappeared in the palace, still somewhat shaken.

"This nine-story Tower of Babel is indeed difficult to conquer. I've only made it to the sixth floor... It's a pity that if the virtual universe could simulate my 'wind attribute body,' my ranking could have improved considerably..." Lu Jing looked at the ranking on the screen with some resentment.

(End of this chapter)