With the Genius Battle Finals officially underway, the entire Virtual Universe Network was in constant turmoil.
From the executives of the major universe kingdoms to ordinary citizens scattered across countless star fields, everyone was staring fixedly at the points rankings.
They all wanted to know—
How were the geniuses of their own universe kingdom performing?
Qianwu Universe Kingdom
The atmosphere was boiling.
"Hahaha! Our Great Demon King is still ranked first—far ahead of everyone else!!"
"This is insane! He's already cleared three Trial Towers!"
"That so-called second place, Bolan—he hasn't even finished the first tower yet! His points aren't even a fraction of the Great Demon King's!"
"Rong Jun is ranked 17th!"
"Hong is 57th!"
"Thor is 89th!"
"Hahaha! Four people from Qianwu in the Top 100!"
Suddenly—
"Huh?"
"Where's the Madman Luo Feng?!"
"…What the hell?! Why is he only ranked eighty-seven thousand?!"
"Madman, what are you doing?! Have you gone insane?!"
The cheers instantly turned into confusion and disbelief.
Bolan's Trial Space
"Hah…"
Bolan sheathed his blood-colored sword after piercing through the Zerg Mother Nest and exhaled slowly.
"Clearing the First Trial Tower in just a few hours… my speed should be among the fastest."
He lowered his gaze and checked the data on his wrist.
Participant: Bolan (Noah Universe Kingdom)
Points: 70,000
Ranking: 2
Trial Space: 0000002
"…Second?"
Bolan's grip tightened around the hilt of his sword.
"The Great Demon King…"
A sense of unease surged within him.
He immediately opened the detailed rankings.
The moment he saw the top entry—
His pupils shrank violently.
Jiang Yan — 70,000,000 points
"…What?!"
Bolan's mind went blank.
"Seventy million points?!"
"That means—he's already about to clear the Fourth Trial Tower?!"
Disbelief flooded his face.
"How… how could he be this fast?!"
For the first time since the Genius Battle began,
Bolan felt a deep, crushing sense of powerlessness.
Across countless Trial Spaces, many contestants opened the detailed rankings as well.
When they saw Jiang Yan's terrifying points—
They froze where they stood.
Jiang Yan's Trial Space
After slaying a Starry Sky Giant Beast — Cang, Jiang Yan finally slowed down.
"Even physical stamina needs recovery."
He found a quiet spot and sat down calmly.
"There's no fun in clearing everything too quickly."
Opening the detailed rankings, he glanced at Bolan's score.
Less than a million points.
"…Looks like I went a bit too fast."
Jiang Yan smiled faintly and closed the interface.
Central Square — Observation Area
"What?! He one-shot the Zerg Mother Nest on the fifth tower?!"
"Hiss—terrifying!"
"Martial Artist and Spiritual Nian Master—both cultivated to this extent… this is outright defying the heavens!"
"He's already cleared the Fifth Trial Tower!"
"More than 99% of all contestants will be stopped right there!"
"Can Jiang Yan still continue without obstruction?"
As the Immortals spoke, their gazes shifted toward the steadily increasing number of darkened screens.
Each one represented an eliminated genius.
They could only watch now.
Eliminated Zone
"Alaso, you're out too?"
"Cliff, how far did you make it?"
"Wind Wheel—what happened to you?"
Wind Wheel, his green hair fluttering, let out a bitter laugh.
"Sixth floor of the Third Trial Tower… damn it."
"That Starry Sky Giant Beast Cang is absurdly strong. I had no chance."
A genius with two tentacles atop his head sighed.
"You're from Qianwu, and you still made it that far."
"Your Great Demon King is terrifying. He's already pushing toward the Sixth Trial Tower."
Wind Wheel laughed loudly.
"That's why he's called the Great Demon King."
The tentacled genius hesitated, then asked:
"By the way… what's going on with Luo Feng from your universe?"
"He's a championship favorite, right? Why is he ranked over 200,000?"
Wind Wheel glanced at the rankings, raised an eyebrow, then smiled calmly.
"That madman?"
"He always hides his blade."
"Don't worry—he'll explode soon."
Almost as soon as the words fell—
"Look!"
"Luo Feng's ranking is skyrocketing!"
Thousands of eyes snapped toward the screen.
From over 200,000—
To 50,000.
To 10,000.
Still climbing.
"Hahaha!" Wind Wheel laughed loudly.
"Told you—he's the type who only strikes at the end."
Observation Platform
The Scale-Armored Giant Thirteen finally relaxed.
"That kid… he's finally getting serious."
Judging by the situation, at least five geniuses from Qianwu were guaranteed core status.
The Top 100 advanced directly.
Even Thor—
the weakest among them—was firmly within that range.
"This Genius Battle…"
"Our Qianwu Universe Kingdom is going to shake the human domain."
The Immortals from other kingdoms looked at Thirteen with nothing but envy.
Final Eliminations
Time passed.
One by one, the remaining geniuses fell.
Hong — Rank 67Thor — Rank 86Rong Jun — Rank 14
Ai Chen.
Qian Shui.
One after another—eliminated.
At last—
Only five screens remained lit in the sky.
Only five people were still fighting.
Central Square
The Immortals stared at the final scenes.
"Do you think Jiang Yan can truly clear the Seventh Trial Tower?"
Silence followed.
Then—
"I doubt it."
"No one has ever cleared the seventh tower since the Genius Battle began."
"The difficulty is equivalent to a Realm Lord."
"He's only at the Star Level."
"A Star defeating a Realm Lord?"
"That's a joke."
Heads shook unanimously.
Jiang Yan's Trial Space
Jiang Yan opened the rankings again.
Bolan's points—
Were closing in.
"Oh?"
He smiled.
"Recovered enough."
"Time to—"
"Break through the Seventh Trial Tower."
The air trembled.
The final trial—
had begun.