Chapter 85: The Hundred Shadow Domain!
"Mr. Jiang Zhe, this way please."
Guided by a cosmic-level staff member, Jiang Zhe stepped into a spacious square surrounded by flowers and greenery.
Many of the geniuses who had secured a spot were already gathered there.
"That's Lei Di."
"His real name is Jiang Zhe, right?"
"Yeah, Lei Di. My teacher said unless something unexpected happens, he'll probably be one of the top two in this Genius Tournament—someone we can only look up to."
Jiang Zhe had dominated the preliminary rounds so thoroughly that he skipped many of the later stages. As a result, he didn't have many acquaintances here.
When people greeted him, he simply nodded in return, not slowing his pace as he searched for Luo Feng and the other three.
Luo Feng, who knew quite a few people, was busy exchanging greetings. When Jiang Zhe arrived, Luo Feng was joking around with Rong Jun, promising to face off again in the finals.
Seeing Jiang Zhe, Rong Jun, the burly wild man, beamed with joy, eyes burning with fighting spirit.
"Lei Di, you haven't been slacking off these four years, right? I really hope to fight you again—don't let me down!"
Jiang Zhe smiled.
"If we make the top five, we're bound to cross paths. I'll be waiting."
"Deal!" Rong Jun's eyes seemed to blaze with fire.
Suddenly—
An invisible pressure swept over the square. A towering giant clad in scale armor and a battle helm approached.
It was the Divine General Shisan, who was in charge of leading this round of the Genius Tournament.
Using Jiang Zhe, Rong Jun, and Luo Feng as examples, he crushed the arrogance of many geniuses before leading the thousand talents of the Qianwu Universe Nation on their way.
They were soon transported to a new plane created within the Virtual Universe.
On a vast avenue stood 1008 towering buildings arranged in a circle, encircling a grand square in the center. The square was as large as a city on Earth and could easily hold millions.
A white-robed middle-aged man came forward to inform Shisan that the Qianwu Universe Nation team had been assigned to Building No. 0825.
Without delay, Shisan led the group through the air toward it.
The Buzz of the Gathering
"See that handsome guy with an ordinary aura? That's Lei Di!"
"He's incredibly strong. My teacher said he's been hiding his true power. He's a top contender for first place."
"And that tall wild man beside him is Rong Jun—he's pretty much guaranteed a spot."
From afar, geniuses of other universe nations whispered among themselves, eyes on the Qianwu team.
Meanwhile, the talents of Qianwu Universe Nation were also muttering quietly, secretly frustrated and determined to secure a better ranking.
Settling In
Inside the first-floor hall of Building 0825, Shisan handed out number badges before letting everyone go their own way.
Jiang Zhe drew No. 1, Rong Jun got No. 2, Luo Feng was No. 3, while Thunder God and Hong were numbered beyond 500.
After exchanging a few words with acquaintances, Jiang Zhe returned to his own quarters.
Among the Immortals
In the central square, nearly the size of a city, 99 grand restaurants were scattered about. The first restaurant was reserved for the immortal leaders.
"Shisan!"
"Ah, Shisan's here!"
Immortals greeted the armored giant with nods and waves.
"Shisan, I heard your Qianwu Universe Nation produced a genius named Jiang Zhe? He can create dozens of temporal phantoms—his comprehension of upper laws surpasses many domain lords. He might clinch first place. Lucky you!"
"Not so fast," another immortal chimed in. "Top two for sure. But first? Don't forget our little prodigy from Noah Universe Nation. Based on the combat footage, his mastery of higher laws actually surpasses Jiang Zhe's."
"True, but who knows how things will go in an actual fight?"
Shisan just shook his head with a faint smile.
"Sephra, maybe first place will come from your nation or mine. Want to make a wager?"
"A wager? Count me in—I'm betting on Noah's kid."
"Same here."
"They're both so strong, it's hard to pick… Come on, Shisan, no spies here. Give us some insider info on your boy so we can place smarter bets."
"Yeah, how far has he come in these four years? Give us the scoop."
"Also, what about his psychic weapon? Is the immortal from Youmeng Universe Nation here? Maybe she knows something."
"Didn't see Yalis. Probably not here yet."
Watching from Afar
Hundreds of thousands of geniuses packed the square.
Jiang Zhe declined Luo Feng's invitation to look around.
"I'd rather not be gawked at like some zoo animal."
Standing by his window, he watched the bustling crowd discussing the tournament's "seed" contenders.
If none of them died early, they might become immortal rank one day—some might even become marquises, a few kings, and perhaps one or two exalted beings.
"That's the reality of the universe."
"Without exceptional opportunities or powerful cheats, no matter how brilliant these talents are now, most will fade into the crowd—mere supporting roles."
Raising a glass of blood-red wine to his reflection, Jiang Zhe downed it in one gulp.
The Rules Are Set
Inside Restaurant No. 1, all 1008 immortal leaders had arrived and were chatting freely with old friends. Though the bet never materialized, the hot topic remained Jiang Zhe and Bolan.
"These two are already so attuned to higher laws at the star level. Who knows—maybe in a hundred million years they'll become spatial or temporal venerables."
"That's pushing it."
"Yeah, even immortals can train for billions of years and never reach venerable. Those two are still far off."
"Neither can yet cross space by flesh or freeze time. When they can, then we'll talk venerable."
At the mention of "space/time venerables," the immortals grew oddly defensive, downplaying the two geniuses' prospects.
Then hearty laughter rolled in—the host of this Genius Tournament had arrived. Everyone fell silent and paid their respects.
The Final Selection Begins
As dusk fell, a voice invaded the minds of all present. They soared from all directions to form a massive square formation in the plaza.
Above them floated a man in a teal battle robe, purple scales on his head, radiating an aura that compelled submission.
He was the host of the tournament—the Nine Sword Venerable, who had been the champion of a Genius Tournament tens of millions of eras ago and was now a spatial venerable.
After announcing the final selection rules, he departed.
Into the Trial Towers
At dawn the next day, everyone waited in their building lobbies for transmission. A crisp notification soon rang out.
"Hong, Thunder God, Luo Feng—let's give it everything we've got."
"Together to the end!"
"No regrets!"
The four from Earth clasped shoulders and encouraged each other.
Boom!
A strange power engulfed the entire plane and transported all participants away.
The Trials
In the starry cosmos floated a massive rectangular meteorite nearly a hundred kilometers long. Seven trial towers, each over ten kilometers tall like towering mountains, stood on it.
Jiang Zhe glanced at the projection on his wrist.
Participant: Jiang Zhe (Qianwu Universe Nation)
Points: 0
Rank: None
Trial Space: No. 0000001
"Trial ends when all participants are dead. Final rankings will then be determined."
Rules and scoring were listed below. Jiang Zhe only skimmed them, eyes settling on his trial space number.
"Number 1?
So the Virtual Universe considers me stronger than Bolan and gave me the top trial space?
Good choice—I won't disappoint."
A smile spread across his face. His force armor shifted into a dark purple suit, the Destruction Hand on his left, feet on the Misstep Shuttle, as he shot into the tower marked "1."
Unstoppable Progress
Tower 1, Level 1:
10,000 Blood-Furred Mammoths.
Cleared in under 10 minutes.
Tower 1, Level 2:
10,000 Nine-Headed Serpents.
About 10 minutes, cleared.
Tower 1, Level 3:
1,000 Torra Metal Beings.
5 minutes, cleared.
Metal lifeforms were tough, but fewer numbers meant faster kills.
Jiang Zhe's slaughter speed probably wouldn't slow until Tower 4 or 5. The trial heavily favored spiritual masters, with eight of the final top ten being such.
Even Bolan, powerful as he was, lagged far behind Jiang Zhe in clear speed.
The Hundred Shadow Domain
A day later—
Tower 2, Level 4:
1,000 Winged Beasts called Fei Hou.
Furry three-eyed lions with low intelligence, easily toyed with by Jiang Zhe's phantoms. Nine streaks of lightning danced, finishing them off swiftly.
Tower 3, Level 5:
100 Mechanical Puppets.
Trivial compared to his E9 puppets. Using his Phantom Domain, he dodged railgun blasts and pierced their cores with lightning.
Tower 4, Level 6:
10 Giant Beasts of the Void, the Cang.
Highly intelligent, powerful, fast. But their massive size made them easy targets.
Every half-minute, one Cang's head exploded under Jiang Zhe's assault.
Tower 5, Level 7:
1 Zerg Broodmother in a hive 40 stories tall, spawning 3,000 green mantis-like Zerg.
Before the next wave could spawn in 20 minutes, Jiang Zhe acted.
Whoosh!
100 time phantoms materialized, forming his "Hundred Shadow Domain," like the advanced phases of secret arts (single-thread, nine-thread, hundred-thread…).
Each shadow carried law fluctuations, moving unpredictably. Nine bolts of lightning wove among them, obliterating 3,000 Zerg in moments.
When the Broodmother itself attacked with psychic spikes, they failed to shake the tower of Jiang Zhe's soul.
He pointed, lightning lanced into the hive, bursting it into a bloody firework.
All Eyes on Jiang Zhe
Back on the central plaza, surrounded by 1008 buildings, the immortals all had their attention on Jiang Zhe.
"From Tower 6 onward, we'll start seeing his true limits."
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