After Jiang Li took his seat, everyone else sat down one after another.
"This Universe Human Peak Genius Competition has brought tremendous glory to the Black Dragon Mountain Empire because of all of you…"
Christensen got straight to the point, wearing a warm smile.
"I've come today on behalf of His Majesty, the Emperor of the Black Dragon Mountain Empire, to reward you all. Especially you, Your Highness Jiang Li. Winning first place in your World District has filled countless citizens of the Black Dragon Mountain Empire with pride and honor!"
"You flatter me."
Jiang Li replied calmly, his expression as composed as ever.
Luo Feng, Hong, and Lei Shen simply listened in silence.
"What I never expected…"
Christensen looked at the four of them, unable to hide the astonishment on his face.
"With our authority, investigating your backgrounds was effortless. But once we did… we were truly shocked."
Out of the entire Black Dragon Mountain Empire, only five people had managed to advance from the World District preliminaries.
Yet four of those five all came from the very same life planet.
It was simply unbelievable.
"Because of this…"
"His Majesty has decided to grant the entire Milky Way Star System, where Planet Blue is located, to Your Highness Jiang Li as a reward for taking first place in your World District."
The moment Christensen finished speaking—
Luo Feng, Hong, and Lei Shen were all stunned.
An entire star system!
If sold at an auction, it would easily be worth several hundred mixed-element units.
Of course...
For Jiang Li, who already possessed tens of thousands of mixed-element units in wealth, such a reward no longer came as much of a surprise.
"Then I shall gratefully accept His Majesty's generosity. Please convey my thanks to the Emperor of the Black Dragon Mountain Empire."
Jiang Li nodded slightly.
Seeing how composed he remained, Christensen and the others felt it was only natural.
After all, he was the personal disciple of a Universe Venerable.
"Luo Feng, Hong, Lei Shen."
"As long as you make it into the Peak Finals, His Majesty will treat you the same. Each of you will also be granted a star system."
Christensen spoke solemnly.
"A whole star system…"
Lei Shen was excited, but his expression quickly became gloomy.
"For me, even making it into the arena elimination rounds already feels like I've exhausted all the luck I'll ever have."
"It really is difficult."
Hong nodded as well.
"Just within my own World District alone, there were several people on my level."
"Take Blood Sword, for example. If we fought again, I wouldn't be confident of winning."
"All we can do is give it everything we've got."
Luo Feng's eyes were filled with determination.
"It truly isn't easy…"
Christensen sighed.
"Before this Genius Competition, the Black Dragon Mountain Empire had gone eighteen consecutive tournaments without producing a single contestant who advanced to the second stage."
"So…"
"The Empire has gathered information on a group of outstanding geniuses for you."
As he spoke, he waved his hand.
A floating holographic screen appeared.
"Although the preliminary rounds weren't broadcast on the Virtual Universe Network, His Majesty assigned special teams to monitor every World District."
"Here is information on the top-ranked geniuses, along with recordings of some of their battles. I've already sent the files to all of you."
"I hope they'll be of some help."
Hearing this—
Luo Feng, Hong, and Lei Shen's eyes lit up immediately.
There were one hundred World Districts.
One hundred thousand contestants in the arena elimination rounds.
Collecting and organizing information on so many people was no easy task.
As the saying went—
Know yourself and know your enemy, and you need not fear a hundred battles.
Knowing an opponent's Domain, Laws, and hidden trump cards beforehand made dealing with them far easier.
"Thank you!"
Luo Feng, Hong, and Lei Shen all expressed their sincere gratitude.
"Haha!"
Christensen's eyes were filled with anticipation.
"The greatest thanks you can give the Empire is to make it into the Peak Finals!"
Time passed.
After completing the transfer of ownership for the star system, Jiang Li didn't bother watching the arena elimination matches.
After all...
His goals were entirely different from everyone else's.
"Time and Wind truly lives up to being Venerable Qiongfeng's secret inheritance. By mastering the Laws of Time and fusing them with the Origin Law of Wind, one can cause life itself to wither away in an instant."
Jiang Li soon entered a state of deep enlightenment.
[You comprehended the Dao of Time. By combining it with the principles of one Yin and one Yang, where Yin and Yang merge into harmony, you comprehended the Origin Dao of Time.]
[You...]
...
In the blink of an eye, three days passed.
Taking a short break, Jiang Li projected his consciousness into the chat group.
The group had become rather lively.
Yan Shisan: "Still no news from Zhang Sanfeng or Yan Chixia? Don't tell me they died during ascension."
Little Li's Flying Dagger: "Shut that crow's mouth of yours. They're still ascending."
Wang Chao: "Ascension really takes forever. Good thing they've already reached bigu. Otherwise they'd probably have starved to death halfway there."
Everyone else in the chat group was also paying close attention to Zhang Sanfeng and Yan Chixia's progress.
Unfortunately, because of Jiang Li's instructions, neither of them would log into the chat group until they reached the Upper Realm.
[Fahai sent a photo!]
Fahai: "Haha... I suppressed a demon today!"
After several days, Fahai had already become accustomed to the rhythm of the chat group.
He had even begun following everyone else's example, occasionally sharing interesting moments from his daily life.
The photo he uploaded showed a white-haired elderly monk being sealed inside his alms bowl.
Yan Shisan @Fahai: "I haven't read many books, but don't try to fool me. Isn't that just an old monk?"
Little Dragon Girl: "That's a demon? He looks rather kind."
A Xing: "So that's a demon? It doesn't look any different from a human."
Chen Beixuan: "It has already transformed into human form. Its cultivation must be quite profound."
Fahai @Yan Shisan: "Demons can change into countless forms. Never let appearances deceive you."
Li Xunhuan @Fahai: "So you're truly a master at subduing demons. What kind of demon is it?"
Fahai: "A Spider Spirit."
Gentleman of the Purple Rosy Sword: "How will you deal with it? Kill it?"
Fahai: "Amitabha. Buddhists do not take lives. I shall simply seal and suppress it, gradually dissolving all of its cultivation until it can no longer commit evil."
Yan Shisan: "You might as well give it a quick death with one sword strike."
Little Li's Flying Dagger: "Seal it away for hundreds of years until it slowly dies? You bald monks are far too ruthless. After all, killing someone only takes the fall of a blade."
Fahai: "Buddhists do not kill."
Little Li's Flying Dagger: "If you strip away its cultivation and imprison it for centuries, it'll still die in the end!"
Sun Wukong: "You bald monks always preach compassion, yet your methods are the cruelest. Imprisoning someone for centuries is even more merciless than killing them outright."
Fahai: "There's no reasoning with people like you. I already said—we do not kill."
Lord of Devouring @Fahai: "Was this Spider Spirit truly evil? Did it kill many people?"
Lord of Devouring: "As far as I know, this Spider Spirit has never harmed a single person. Instead, it often used its own magical powers to help poor and suffering villagers."
Lord of Devouring: "It was wholeheartedly devoted to Buddhism as well. It gained sentience only after listening to Buddhist teachings before the Buddha."
Lord of Devouring: "So this... is how Buddhism repays one who sincerely devoted himself to it?"
Lord of Devouring: "After cultivating painstakingly for hundreds of years just to attain human form, it ends up being sealed for no reason at all while all of its cultivation is slowly erased."
Seeing this, even Jiang Li could no longer remain silent.
Fahai @Lord of Devouring: "You actually know all of that?"
In the world of Green Snake, Fahai's pupils contracted sharply.
This Jiang Li...
It was as if he truly knew everything.
He had only just captured the Spider Spirit, yet Jiang Li seemed to know the demon's entire past better than he did.