Sitting on a chair, Luo Feng poured himself a cup of tea as the water gushed into the cup. Yet, his mind was filled with thoughts: “Babata is right. My current strength is still far from those super geniuses! It will be very difficult to break into the top one thousand in the cosmic rankings!”
“My movement techniques, control of mental force weapons, combat experience, willpower, and mindset might be considered decent. However, when compared to the top geniuses across the entire universe, I’m not among the very best.”
“Some powerful experts, like my teacher or ‘Luo,’ created their own secret techniques in later stages of their cultivation.”
“Of course, no matter what I do, I must take it step by step. First, I must learn the secret techniques created by predecessors, and then gradually create my own. As for now… I’ve only just begun.”
“Even if you become the strongest among a flock of sheep, you’re still just a stronger sheep!”
“But among a group of lions, even if you’re not the strongest, you’re still a fierce lion.”
“I must enter the core of the Virtual Universe Company!”
“I am weak.”
“But mainly because I’ve only been cultivating for a short time. This Genius Competition will last a long time, and I still have time to improve!”
Luo Feng pondered, frowning deeply.
The core of the Virtual Universe Company, a superpower among human civilizations in the cosmos, admits one thousand super geniuses every ten thousand years. Generation after generation, this has accumulated into a million peerless geniuses. Countless years of accumulation have also resulted in an overwhelming number of ‘Immortal Beings’ there, far exceeding the Qianwu Cosmic Nation!
That place!
Is the most dazzling and supreme power!
“To fight, I must fight among the strongest group of geniuses!”
“My cultivation time is short, but as time stretches on, I will catch up to them.”
“Strive!”
“Strive!”
“My first goal now is to secure one of the one thousand spots in the Qianwu Cosmic Nation.” Luo Feng made his decision, without discussing it further with Babata.
From childhood to adulthood, Luo Feng had never accepted defeat.
Even when he faced the incredibly powerful ‘Golden-Horned Beast,’ which seemed invincible, Luo Feng had never bowed his head.
If one could say…
His younger brother, Luo Hua, enjoyed battling in the cosmic financial markets, fighting repeatedly to seize wealth.
Then Luo Feng preferred pursuing the peak of life, constantly breaking through his limits, improving himself again and again, defeating one opponent after another! Obstacles, setbacks, competition, and rivals—none of these frightened him. What he truly feared was having no challenge at all… One day, if he truly stood at the pinnacle with no rivals left, he would probably feel very lonely.
The loneliness of a high-level expert.
Luo Feng had tasted that loneliness on Earth; he didn’t like the feeling of isolation.
“Fight forward!”
“Let’s see how far I, Luo Feng, can fight my way through!” There was a gleam in Luo Feng’s eyes—a gleam of intense longing for the path of strength.
…
The group battle on the arena lasted five days. After the group battle, the ten thousand participants who passed were given one day of rest. During this rest period, the organizer, the Virtual Universe Company, would notify each participant about the upcoming one-on-one arena battles.
…
It was the evening of July 22, 2066, in China Standard Time.
In the virtual universe, on Heilong Mountain Island, in the Nine Star Bay district, Luo Feng’s living room.
Luo Feng, Hong, Thunder God, and about a dozen others gathered together.
“How are the arena battles going to be arranged?”
“Brother-in-law, who are you fighting first?”
“There are 900 spots, and ten thousand people competing. How will it be decided?”
The group began discussing.
“Quiet,” Luo Feng pointed to the middle of the air, and instantly a large screen appeared above the dining table, displaying a long list filled with tiny characters. “This is the list of the ten thousand participants for the arena battles.”
“Oh?”
“The text is too small.”
The entire family rushed closer to look.
“Zoom in,” Luo Feng pointed to a corner of the screen, and the list zoomed in on one particular area where Luo Feng’s name was located.
“Brother, you’re first fighting against ‘Saiwaro’? After winning that, you’ll fight the winner from the adjacent group?” Luo Hua asked carefully.
“Yeah!”
Luo Feng nodded, looking around at the crowd. There was his brother-in-law, Xu Gang, and others. There were Hong’s sons and daughters and their families, as well as Thunder God’s daughter, and of course, Luo Feng’s own family. It was a very lively gathering.
“The arena battles are very straightforward.”
“One-on-one. The winner continues forward, while the loser is sent to the ‘Defeated Group.'”
“The ten thousand participants are paired into five thousand pairs. After the first battle, five thousand winners will be selected, while the five thousand losers are sent to the defeated group.”
“The five thousand winners continue to be paired again. After the second battle, there will be 2500 winners remaining.”
“Continue!”
“After the third battle, 1250 winners remain.”
“After the fourth battle, 625 winners remain! The 625 winners after the four battles will obtain 625 of the 900 spots.” Luo Feng explained.
The rules were simple.
Pairing off, after only four battles, only 625 people would remain!
“Hey brother-in-law, out of the 900 spots, 625 are allocated this way, so there are still 275 spots left, right?” Xu Gang asked in confusion. Luo Hua beside him laughed, “Xu Gang, didn’t you notice what my older brother said earlier… Those who lose are sent to the ‘Defeated Group.’ I guess those 275 spots will go to the defeated group.”
Thunder God beside them laughed, “That’s right. Luo Hua is smart. You know, it’s quick to decide a winner in one-on-one matches, but there’s a big flaw… That is… it might pit two super strong experts against each other, and one of them will inevitably be eliminated. This could cause some ‘geniuses’ to be missed.”
“Yeah.”
Luo Feng nodded, “That’s why there’s the concept of the ‘Defeated Group.’ Among the ten thousand participants, 625 are winners, so there are 9375 in the defeated group.”
“These 9375 people will engage in a brutal and prolonged cycle of battles to select the final 275 spots.” Luo Feng said.
“A cycle of battles?”
“How brutal is it?”
“Protracted? How long will it take?”
Everyone looked at Luo Feng.
“The cycle battle means that the 9375 people in the defeated group will each have to fight one-on-one against the other 9374 people. In other words, each person in the defeated group must fight 9374 battles! A win earns one point, while a loss or mutual destruction results in zero points! Finally, the rankings will be determined by points. The top 275 in the rankings will obtain the final 275 spots!” Luo Feng explained.
“Heavens?” Xu Gang’s eyes widened.
“Wow,” Xiao Hai exclaimed, “9374 battles? How long will that take?”
“Yeah, how much time will that take? Fighting through thousands of battles will definitely take a very long time.” Everyone was in awe. They knew that in life-and-death battles, if one continuously fought, the mental and physical exhaustion would lead to a decline in strength.
So even if each life-and-death battle didn’t take long, it was impossible to fight many battles each day.
“The Virtual Universe Company announced that in the cycle battle, each person will fight ten battles per day. It will last for about three years.” Luo Feng said, “The entire Genius Competition… the regional selection battle of the Qianwu Cosmic Nation, the part that takes the longest time is this cycle battle.”
“Three years?”
“That’s a long time.”
…
The arena battles were quick, each round eliminating half of the participants. Winning four consecutive battles would secure a spot!
On the rooftop of Luo Feng’s residence in Nine Star Bay, in the dead of night.
Luo Feng, Hong, and Thunder God were sitting around a round table.
“Brother, your situation is not good,” Hong said seriously.
“Among the ten thousand participants, only 521 have crossed the threshold of the laws. The arena battles will only select 625 people after four rounds… In theory, all 521 should get a spot.” Thunder God muttered, “But how did the Virtual Universe Company arrange the groups? They even made the law geniuses face each other?”
Indeed.
Although based on the arena group battle videos, it was determined that only 521 had crossed the threshold of the laws. If the Virtual Universe Company had arranged it properly… all 521 could have avoided facing each other and obtained a spot.
However…
The Virtual Universe Company did not do that. Most law threshold experts could go through four consecutive battles without facing other law experts. However, there was still a small group of nearly a hundred law experts who would face each other!
For example, Luo Feng himself!
According to the assigned battles, Luo Feng was confident in his first, second, and third battles! But the fourth battle… based on the list, Luo Feng could deduce that as long as the law genius didn’t stumble midway, his opponent in the fourth battle would be another expert who had also crossed the threshold!
His name was ‘Ronjun,’ and his nickname was ‘The Wild Man.’
‘The Wild Man’ Ronjun!
The super expert who had killed his second older brother, Thunder God, and had swept through the arena group battle like a monster.
“According to this grouping, nearly a hundred law experts will face each other in the final fourth battle.” Hong nodded, “And these nearly a hundred people are the most formidable in the arena group battle.”
Whether it was ‘The Wild Man’ Ronjun or the ‘Madman’ Luo Feng, both had swept through their own arena group battles, unstoppable.
“In terms of strength.”
“These nearly a hundred people should be among the top-tier law experts.” Hong said seriously, “Now the Virtual Universe Company is making them face each other, clearly wanting to test them thoroughly. And for the defeated ones… they still have the opportunity to enter the cycle battle. The law experts entering the cycle battle are less than fifty, while there are 275 spots in the defeated group. Even if these law experts lose in the fourth battle, they can still obtain a spot through the cycle battle.”
“From the perspective of the Virtual Universe Company, this is to test this group of people.”
“The top-tier facing off directly, and the 9374 battles in the cycle battle, all have the effect of training.” Hong said.
Luo Feng and Thunder God nodded slightly.
It made sense.
The Virtual Universe Company held this competition to select the most elite geniuses, so it was normal to challenge the most outstanding group of people.
“Brother,” Hong looked at Luo Feng seriously, “You have no problem from the first to the third battle. Now your only opponent is… the ‘Wild Man’ Ronjun you will face in the fourth battle. I have seen his strength with my own eyes; it is extremely terrifying. He is much stronger than Pusihkin in your group.”
“I fought him once, and I was defeated in one move,” Thunder God quickly said, “He is very strong, especially when he swings his blade downward; it is extremely heavy.”
“I know,” Luo Feng nodded.
If he wanted to get a spot early, he had to defeat that ‘Wild Man.’ And he had watched Ronjun’s arena group battle in person… he was indeed incredibly strong.
“Who asked you to perform so powerfully,” Thunder God laughed, “Because you performed too strongly, killing other geniuses in the group battle like killing dogs. The Virtual Universe Company took notice of you, so they arranged for you to face the Wild Man. Let you two strong ones fight each other!”
Tai Sui Yellow Amulet Paper FuLu Taoist Love Talisman Traditional Chinese Spiritual Charm Attracting Love Protecting Marriage