Chapter 104: Clash of Peak Geniuses
Earth, Asia, Jiangnan Base City, Wilderness Zone.
A colossal Morcloud Vine sprawled across the area. Luo Yuan was feeding it the Lanque fruit. Although this fruit didn’t contain as much energy as the Life Fruit, its medicinal properties were milder, making it ideal for enhancing the Morcloud Vine’s strength. Once it finished consuming the Lanque fruits in its grasp, it should reach the ninth rank of the Cosmic Tier. At that point, a single Life Fruit would enable it to break through to the Domain Lord level without any problem.
After feeding the Morcloud Vine, Luo Yuan headed with Luo Feng, Hong, and Thunder God to a pavilion atop a mountain to enjoy tea.
“By the way, Third Brother, there have been more experts appearing lately in the Killing Ground’s Battle Arena. I don’t know what’s going on,” Hong said with a frown.
“More?” Luo Yuan was momentarily surprised but then delighted. He had been busy cultivating the Morcloud Vine and practicing with those Domain Lord-level equipments lately, so he hadn’t been visiting the Battle Arena as often.
“Yes. In the past, I could easily defeat many, but now, suddenly, a wave of talented elites has emerged. And these people rarely showed up in the Killing Ground’s Battle Arena before,” Hong explained. “If it were just one or two geniuses suddenly appearing, that would be one thing — but so many at once? I feel something big is happening.”
“Oh, interesting. I’ll find time to check it out. I happen to be in need of some worthy opponents,” Luo Yuan smiled. His previous foes had been thoroughly exploited, so these new geniuses were likely participants for the upcoming Cosmic Genius Tournament.
The bitter cold of winter soon gave way to the Spring Festival.
All across the great Huaxia Nation, joyous celebrations erupted. Even after enduring the Great Nirvana Era and the attacks of the Devouring Beasts, the people of Huaxia never forgot their most important holiday—the Spring Festival. Rarely taking a break from cultivation, Luo Yuan paused for a few days to enjoy the holiday and spend quality time with Jiang Fang.
On the tenth day of the first lunar month, at dawn.
Luo Yuan donned his consciousness helmet and entered the virtual cosmos.
As soon as he arrived at the resting hall of the Killing Ground aboard the Pegasus, he noticed many new faces—all young, all human, but with vastly different appearances.
Luo Yuan paid them no mind and instead entered a private room within the Killing Ground to practice cultivating the Derivative Divine Weapon.
“Carrying this Derivative Divine Weapon feels like carrying a mountain,” Luo Yuan remarked, feeling the weight and pressure this weapon imposed.
Ordinary first-, second-, and third-rank psychic weapons were ready to use immediately.
However, advanced weapons were not so simple. For example, a fifth-rank weapon required careful mental nurturing, embedding one’s spiritual imprint into the Derivative Divine Weapon to unleash its full potential.
“Derivative Divine Weapon, Ninth Level Hunyuan Derivative,” Luo Yuan sat cross-legged and placed the dark-golden staff across his knees. “At my current level, I should be able to master the first level.”
The Derivative Divine Weapon had nine levels, each exponentially more powerful than the last. It was reputed as the strongest divine weapon yet also the weakest among them. Unless one was a true genius, it was better to stick with ordinary psychic weapons.
The first level was called “Phantom Sword Style.”
The second, “Heaven Piercing Style.”
The third, “Heavenly Sword Style.”
The fourth, “Mastery Beyond Craft.”
The fifth, “Spatial Severance.”
The sixth, “Self-Contained World.”
The seventh, “One Staff Shatters Heaven and Earth.”
The eighth, “Golden Sword Cuts Through the Void.”
The ninth, “Immortal Challenger.”
Luo Yuan had often used throwing knives before, applying that experience to the Derivative Divine Weapon. Yet, he discovered he had mastered less than half of the first level, “Phantom Sword Style.” Truly, this divine weapon, designed for psychic power control, was as difficult to cultivate as ascending to the heavens.
He pondered and decided to find a stellar or low-level cosmic genius in the Battle Arena who also wielded a Derivative Divine Weapon. By activating their domain and laws and aggressively absorbing mastery from their battles, he could improve much faster than training alone.
...
On March 9, 2066, Huaxia Calendar, within the virtual cosmos, Black Dragon Mountain Island.
Just like the real world, continents and islands in the virtual cosmos experienced alternating day and night, with the sky simulating a star. At this moment, it was nighttime. Numerous lights dotted Black Dragon Mountain Island, with bars and other venues shining brilliantly—everything was as usual.
Suddenly—
A colossal black proclamation banner radiating light materialized in the night sky above Black Dragon Mountain Island. The banner stretched over a million miles in length and width. Although the island housed tens of millions of inhabitants, anyone looking up could clearly see the glowing white characters on its black surface.
“Cosmic Humanity—Peak Genius Tournament”
“Once every ten thousand years!”
“Coming soon!”
“Hosted by Virtual Cosmos Corporation in partnership with all Cosmic Nations!”
“Are you a genius? No equal opponents at your level? Then join the ‘Peak Genius Tournament’! Here, countless geniuses from across the universe’s cosmic nations will engage in fierce battles!”
“For details, please access the ‘Virtual Cosmos Network’ official site via your virtual assistant.”
The gigantic proclamation banner appeared suddenly in the night sky, announcing the upcoming grand event.
“The Peak Genius Tournament is about to begin? Wow, haha, it’s going to be wild,” someone exclaimed.
“Billions of geniuses from all cosmic nations battling? It’s a grand event for all humanity.”
“I heard the top thousand in the universe-wide rankings will receive astonishing, massive rewards.”
“Yes, this session is hosted by Virtual Cosmos Corporation; the rewards must be incredible.”
“The Peak Genius Tournament is held twice every ten thousand years. Once by Virtual Cosmos Corporation, once by the Great Axe Arena!”
“Let’s hurry to check the official website.”
...
Throughout the virtual cosmos, every continent representing a “Cosmic Nation” and every island representing a “Mid-tier Cosmic State” displayed massive proclamation banners in their skies, all heralding the imminent “Cosmic Humanity—Peak Genius Tournament.”
Within a single night, this news spread across every cosmic nation inhabited by humanity.
The speed of dissemination testified to the advanced nature of the Virtual Cosmos Network.
...
Killing Ground—Battle Arena.
A vast desert stretched out, where a black-robed bald man stood. He bore a dark-golden staff—the Derivative Divine Weapon. Nine golden phantom swords hovered around him, incessantly fending off the swirling yellow sandstorm attacking from all directions. Each grain of sand seemed like a primordial force weapon; the relentless assault forced him to grit his teeth in hardship. The legendary cosmic fourth-rank prodigy was being pushed to his limit by a stellar ninth-rank upstart.
Each golden phantom sword was composed of nine smaller golden swords. This fused “golden phantom sword” consisted of 81 tiny golden swords. At this moment, they were compressing their distances in a blink, perfectly merging into a real golden sword. Yet, facing the earth domain fused with the law of earth, he could only defend.
“Demon King, you’re despicable! You promised to fight with Derivative Divine Weapons, but you immediately activated your domain and laws!” the black-robed bald man shouted angrily at the expressionless Luo Yuan floating in the air.
Luo Yuan sneered. The bald man’s attributes were diminishing rapidly. “Is that all you’ve got? Hurry and unleash the third level of your Derivative Divine Weapon!”
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