The entire Qianwu Universe Country had gone mad.
The Black Dragon Mountain Empire had fallen into complete frenzy.
Throughout Black Dragon Mountain Island in the Virtual Universe Network, ecstatic cheers erupted from every corner.
Inside the magnificent imperial palace, the empire's highest-ranking officials—including the Emperor of the Black Dragon Mountain Empire himself—had completely abandoned their dignity. They danced wildly, shouted at the top of their lungs, and celebrated like fanatics.
"Hahaha! Number one in history!"
"The pinnacle genius of the entire human race belongs to our Black Dragon Mountain Empire—Jiang Li!"
"Jiang Li!"
"The brightest genius in countless ages and endless eras!"
"I believe that one day he will become a supreme powerhouse, an invincible existence standing above all others, suppressing countless eras!"
The Emperor roared with unrestrained excitement.
"Charge!"
"Keep charging!"
"The Great Demon King is invincible!"
Countless young people shouted themselves hoarse.
At this moment, their admiration for Jiang Li had reached the level of blind worship. If anyone dared utter a single word against him, even an immortal expert would likely be swarmed without fear of death.
Meanwhile...
On the fifth floor of the seventh Trial Tower, the battle had reached its most frenzied stage.
"Break!"
"Break!"
"Break for me!"
Facing the lifeless mechanical puppets, Jiang Li knew their bodies were constructed entirely from E-grade metal.
What kind of terrifying material was that?
Back on Earth, the edge of the Yun Mo Planet Ship that had crashed onto the planet had also been forged from E-grade metal.
Even the near-Marquis-level immortal who had killed Hu Yanbo had managed to chip only a tiny corner off that metal with a single strike.
Buzz!
A terrifying laser, traveling faster than light, swept across the battlefield.
Even with Jiang Li's ultimate reflexes, he barely dodged in time. Half his body was instantly burned into ashes.
Clang!
The Wind-Thunder Cloud Sword slipped from his severed hand and crashed to the ground.
"I can't react to it..."
His entire right arm, from fingertips to shoulder, exploded apart.
His expression remained icy as he looked toward the mechanical puppet that had endured three strikes of Five Melons Shatter Heaven and Earth.
Only three shallow cracks had appeared on its outer metal shell.
Whoosh!
Whoosh!
Whoosh!
The mechanical puppets gave him no time to think.
Invisible trajectory cannons fired continuously from launchers mounted on their arms.
Each shot traveled at the speed of light.
Even a World Master would be unable to evade such dense bombardment and could only endure it head-on.
Boom!!
Already grievously wounded, Jiang Li narrowed his eyes.
His soul power erupted like a raging storm.
Brilliant radiance bloomed.
Mysterious law runes beyond mortal comprehension manifested once again.
Within the starry universe of his soul, dazzling streams of law patterns converged...
...forming a towering Tower of Laws.
Boom!
The Tower of Laws underwent its ultimate sublimation.
1,444 rays of divine brilliance intertwined the powers of the Earth, Wood, and Space Origin Laws before sweeping across every mechanical puppet.
At the very same moment...
Jiang Li, already at death's door, could no longer withstand the barrage of light-speed trajectory cannons.
Countless beams of light blasted him into dust.
The Great Demon King, Jiang Li, had fallen on the fifth floor of the seventh Trial Tower.
"The Human Universe Genius Competition!"
"The final contestant in the Trial Towers..."
"'The Great Demon King' Jiang Li has ultimately stopped at the fifth floor of the seventh Trial Tower!"
When the Virtual Universe announced the results...
The enormous plaza fell silent.
More than a million peerless geniuses...
Along with the 1,008 immortal representatives from every universe country...
...were once again left utterly speechless.
Because...
Jiang Li's final Trial Tower score had frozen at...
52.9 billion points!
Which meant...
At the very last moment...
Jiang Li had dragged one hundred invincible mechanical puppets down with him.
"That strange tower's power is simply unbelievable."
Even the immortals couldn't help but marvel.
With their eyesight, they could clearly tell that the only way to destroy those mechanical puppets—whose bodies were completely wrapped in E-grade metal—was to shatter the core chip inside.
In other words...
One had to unleash power capable of penetrating E-grade metal itself.
Even an ordinary immortal possessing the strength of ten World Masters couldn't directly destroy E-grade metal.
Although none of them knew how Jiang Li had accomplished it...
He had done it.
And that was precisely what made it so incredible.
"What a pity..."
"My body's strength simply can't support using Tower of Laws twice."
As space shifted around him and he was transported away, Jiang Li calmly reviewed the battle in his mind.
"My Domain remains my greatest weakness. Against beasts with equally profound Law comprehension, even fused Laws lose much of their effectiveness."
"The power of a single Law is still too limited."
"The Primordial Ancestral Dragon Body is certainly powerful, but physical toughness ultimately depends on one's foundation. Enduring so many attacks is still beyond its limits."
"My mastery over Time is far too poor. Other than basic space-time displacement, I can't even reverse time for a brief instant."
In a single moment...
Jiang Li had already analyzed nearly all of his shortcomings.
The next instant, he appeared back in the plaza.
Talents from every universe country and every branch of humanity looked at him with reverence.
Soon, those expressions transformed into astonishment, disbelief, shock, and countless other emotions.
Because...
The instant Jiang Li appeared...
There wasn't the slightest trace of excitement.
No joy.
No pride.
Not even a hint of exhilaration.
Instead...
He simply let out a quiet sigh.
...What?
Was he...
Unsatisfied with his results?
Not only were the peerless geniuses stunned—
Even the immortals lost focus for a moment.
Just how demanding did one have to be...
To be dissatisfied with this?
"Hm?"
Jiang Li glanced around, located the team from the Qianwu Universe Country, and flew directly toward them.
"That's... that's too monstrous..."
"He actually looks disappointed?"
"It's obvious!"
"My heavens! I'd rather he acted arrogantly than sighed like that! Seeing him regret this achievement makes me feel utterly ashamed!"
"You're at least in the top one thousand! I'm ranked over seven hundred thousand—how am I supposed to live with myself?!"
Ignoring the discussions around him, Jiang Li quietly returned to the Qianwu team.
"Brother Jiang..."
Luo Feng looked at him with admiration before grinning.
"You broke every record."
"Jiang Li, you've completely stunned them."
Hong stood as steady as a mountain, glancing toward the geniuses from the other universe countries.
"Myself included."
"You're flattering me, Curator."
Jiang Li smiled faintly.
To him...
Claiming first place had always been a foregone conclusion.
Others might find it earth-shattering.
But his ambitions...
Were never limited to merely becoming champion of a genius competition.
After all...
Everyone's goals were different.
"Jiang Li, Luo Feng, Rong Jun—you three, come with me."
A deep voice suddenly rang out.
Immortal Thirteen nodded toward the trio.
Gone was his former indifference.
Now, his face was filled with a warm smile.
"Hm?"
Jiang Li looked up.
Representatives from every universe country were leading away the top one hundred geniuses according to the rankings.
As for everyone else...
They were sent back to their residences.
Whoosh!
Whoosh!
Whoosh!
Figures flashed through the air as over a million geniuses departed.
They all knew the truth.
Anyone who failed to rank within the top 7,300 had only one fate.
Elimination.
Following Immortal Thirteen, Jiang Li, Luo Feng, and Rong Jun walked through a long corridor until they reached a quiet courtyard.
"Tomorrow's qualification battles..."
"I'll be watching your performance."
"As for Jiang Li..."
Immortal Thirteen paused before simply smiling and turning away.
Given the terrifying strength Jiang Li had displayed...
The qualification battles meant absolutely nothing to him.
To put it bluntly—
Even if the top one hundred geniuses joined forces...
Not a single immortal believed they could defeat Jiang Li.