Chapter 621 - 212: The Grand Battle Zone Begins: A Millennium-Long Battle for the Top 100
Chapter 621: Chapter 212: The Grand Battle Zone Begins: A Millennium-Long Battle for the Top 100
And upon this boundless plaza were people.
A vast ocean of people, with no end in sight.
A tide of humanity.
The number of Martial Artists here was so vast it defied conventional counting.
Five trillion.
Qin Feng’s gaze swept across the crowd. These prodigies from the Empire’s great Warbands were all different in appearance and temperament.
There were giants over three meters tall, with muscles knotted like granite, exuding a primitive aura.
There were blonde, blue-eyed Martial Artists with slender figures, dressed in ornate, form-fitting soft armor.
There were also some Martial Artists whose skin was as dark as the deepest night, their facial features sharply defined.
And there were others whose skin had a faint blue hue, their hair like waterfalls, drifting gently in the air. Their auras were tranquil and profound, as if they held the secrets of the Star Sea.
Beyond them, there were also numerous mixed-blood Martial Artists, evidently born from the intermingling of different civilizations and races. Their appearances were bizarre and varied.
Qin Feng could even clearly sense several auras in the crowd not far from him. They were exceptionally powerful, obscure, and terrifying. Just perceiving them from a distance made him feel an immense threat, as if he were being targeted by a colossal beast.
"See that?"
Beside him, Fire Circle lowered his voice, a hint of awe in his tone. "Most Martial Artists under the jurisdiction of our Ultramarines Chapter have black hair and black eyes. But for other top Warbands, like Fire Dragon, Thunder, Holy Hall, and so on... the civilizations they govern are incredibly diverse, and their methods of education are all different. The top geniuses they produce are just as varied.
Some from the poorer Warbands are the most ruthless of the ruthless."
Qin Feng nodded silently.
This was not just a gathering of geniuses, but also a concentrated exhibition of the countless brilliant civilizations within the human Empire.
A unified school system like the one in the Extreme Warband was actually quite rare. Most Warbands screened for their top geniuses through cruel and bloody trials.
The prodigies of the Extreme Warband were even mockingly called "hothouse flowers."
’So these are them... the five trillion top geniuses, sifted layer by layer from the countless civilizations and Star Realms of the human Empire.’
As Qin Feng surveyed his surroundings, he felt the tangible pressure of his goal—to place in the top one hundred—for the very first time.
The sheer caliber of this competition far surpassed anything he had ever imagined.
To distinguish himself in this ocean of monsters and fight his way into the final top one hundred would be as difficult as ascending to heaven.
’I don’t know... can I really make it into the top hundred?’
Qin Feng sighed internally. ’If I fail before I even truly begin, unable to even make the top one hundred... how could I possibly face my master, the Heaven-Devouring King, in the future?’
Just then, the gazes of Qin Feng and his two companions were drawn in unison to the center of the plaza.
At some point, a hundred-meter-tall platform had silently risen there.
The platform’s design was extremely simple, cast entirely from a dark gold metal, with no extra embellishments.
Yet, by simply standing there silently in the center of the countless masses, it naturally drew every eye.
At the top of the platform, a figure sat quietly.
"Nine Spirits King!"
Fire Circle’s breath caught in his throat as he let out a deeply suppressed gasp of awe.
A supreme expert of the Sealing King level!
A jolt went through Qin Feng. He immediately focused his gaze, subconsciously channeling his Cup Realm Mental Power in an attempt to perceive the expert’s true form.
However, just as when he had faced his master, the Heaven-Devouring King, through the Subspace Network, his probing vanished without a trace, like a stone sinking into the sea.
That figure seemed to exist in another dimension; it could be seen, but not perceived.
When his Mental Power swept over, all he could feel was a pressure as vast as the cosmic Star Sea. He was completely unable to discern any of the figure’s specific features.
It was as if that space was an absolute void, yet also contained the ultimate truths of the Cosmos. Any attempt to peer into it was utterly futile.
...
Time slowly passed in the long and oppressive wait.
Across the plaza, the five trillion prodigies sat or stood. Some closed their eyes to rest, while others conversed in low voices with their companions, all maintaining a peculiar kind of Order.
「A month passed in the blink of an eye.」
When the final batch of prodigies from the remote Star Realm Warbands was teleported to the plaza, all participants in this tournament sector had finally assembled.
And at this very moment, the figure who had been sitting on the throne, motionless for a month, finally moved.
A voice, without any warning, suddenly echoed in everyone’s mind.
The voice was calm and majestic, devoid of any emotion, yet it carried the weight of an absolute and unquestionable rule.
"The competition for this sector of the Cosmic Genius Battle now begins."
A simple sentence instantly plunged the entire plaza into absolute silence.
Everyone’s breathing stopped at this moment.
The Nine Spirits King’s voice continued to resound in everyone’s minds as he began to announce the competition rules:
"All contestants, listen closely. The rules are as follows."
"In a moment, each of you will be given an Information Jade Token and deployed into the Trial Star System Cluster. This cluster is composed of ten thousand star systems. It contains vast cultivation resources, but is also infested with a large number of alien creatures. Opportunity and danger coexist."
"This Trial Star System is within my Control.
During this period, even if you are killed, you will not truly die."
"Your Information Jade Tokens will record all of your information and your score.
For each enemy you successfully kill, you will receive a base score of ’1’ point. You will also plunder all the points your opponent held in their Jade Token at that time."
"If you are defeated, you will be randomly redeployed by the Power of Rule to various locations throughout the star systems, and you will enter a ten-year Hunting Stage."
"During the Hunting Stage, if you successfully kill an enemy, you will regain your official qualification to compete. Your score will restart with the points you take from that enemy.
If you fail to secure a kill during the Hunting Stage, or if you are defeated again, you will be considered officially eliminated and will be disqualified from the competition entirely."
..."