Chapter 126: Primal Secret Region

"There are seats over there; you may watch the live broadcast from there first." The man in cyan battle robes with purple scales pointed into the distance. Suddenly, 100 wide chairs and several tables appeared in a corner of the central plaza, complete with drinks and food. The man himself then took a seat among the 1,008 powerful Immortals.

Luo Yuan and the other 100 people sat down to watch the arena battles of the 7,200 contestants. However, after watching only a few matches, Luo Yuan lost interest. It felt like watching amateurs pecking at each other, so he diverted a sliver of his consciousness to play a virtual game.

A few hours later.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Suddenly, 900 figures appeared on the central plaza. Most of these 900 human elite geniuses looked excited; indeed, after three consecutive rounds of elimination, they were the ones who had succeeded out of the 7,200. However, some among the crowd remained expressionless. Luo Yuan and his group of one hundred stood up and walked over to join them.

As the 1,000 elite geniuses gathered, many who were considered to have the strength to reach the top ten or top twenty, or those who believed themselves to be among the elite, began sizing up the others.

"Congratulations to you all!"

An ethereal voice echoed in the minds of the thousand people. Everyone noticed that the man in cyan battle robes and purple scales had appeared in front of the crowd. "You are the 1,000 most outstanding individuals from the 1,008 space sectors of the entire human race in this year's Genius Tournament. Our Virtual Universe Company will cultivate you with all our might. If anyone does not wish to join the Virtual Universe Company, you may speak now."

Silence. No one uttered a sound.

"Very good."

"However, you must understand that competition in the universe is eternal. It exists everywhere. You 1,000 people... cannot receive the same treatment or the same cultivation resources. Even my Virtual Universe Company would not dare to waste precious resources in such a way," the man in cyan battle robes with purple scales said with a smile. "Let me make an announcement."

"Among you 1,000, those ranked 101st to 1,000th will receive a prize of 10 Hunyuan units, may enter the Initial Universe for enlightenment, and will join the 'Endless Era Secret Realm,' a core region of my Virtual Universe Company."

"Those ranked 11th to 100th will receive a prize of 100 Hunyuan units, may enter the Initial Universe for enlightenment, and will join the 'Heaven and Earth Secret Realm,' a core region of my Virtual Universe Company."

"Those ranked 3rd to 10th will receive a prize of 1,000 Hunyuan units, may enter the Initial Universe for enlightenment, and will join the 'Primordial Beginning Secret Realm,' a core region of my Virtual Universe Company."

"The 1st and 2nd place winners will receive a prize of 10,000 Hunyuan units, may enter the Initial Universe for enlightenment, and will join the 'Original Secret Realm,' a core region of my Virtual Universe Company."

"Normally, the 'Original Secret Realm' only accepts one person per tournament, but the standard of this year's group is relatively excellent. Therefore, after deliberation by the highest echelons of the Virtual Universe Company, we have decided to grant two spots for the 'Original Secret Realm' to this year's group."

Silence. Most of the 1,000 peerless geniuses were somewhat confused about what the four secret realms—the Endless Era, Heaven and Earth, Primordial Beginning, and Original—actually meant. Yet, everyone could tell that the 'Original Secret Realm' was clearly the best of them all.

"Among you 1,000, there are still differences in strength; naturally, the resources you receive cannot be entirely the same."

"The final arena battles start tomorrow to determine the final rankings," the man's voice was ethereal and vast, echoing in everyone's mind. "The rules for the final battles have already been sent to each of you. Rest well today."

Boom!

As soon as the man finished speaking, he vanished. Only then did the 1,008 powerful Immortals begin to discuss.

"The Original Secret Realm, they are actually taking two this year!"

"I originally thought the spot for the Original Secret Realm would definitely belong to that little guy named 'Luo Yuan.' I didn't expect an extra spot."

"It's rare for the Virtual Universe Company to be this generous."

...

While the great Immortals were talking, Luo Yuan and the 1,000 geniuses looked down at their wrist screens, which had already received the transmitted rules for the final battles.

"These rules are truly arbitrary," Luo Yuan thought to himself after reading them. "They are letting the virtual universe system select 100 people from the 900 to battle against the top 100. It seems the Virtual Universe Company has absolute trust in their virtual universe system. Anyway, it doesn't matter much to me; I am already qualified to proceed to the finals."

However, the other peerless geniuses in the central plaza were in an uproar. These rules effectively cast 800 of the 1,000 people aside, not even giving them a chance to display their strength! Naturally, this made many geniuses present very unhappy and frustrated.

At that moment, a grand and ethereal voice resonated: "If you have any objections to the virtual universe system's final battle rules, you may choose not to join my Virtual Universe Company. The Virtual Universe Company will not force anyone to participate." The voice echoed through the world, causing the expressions of the 800 geniuses who had been relegated to the lowest tier—the 'Endless Era Secret Realm'—to change.

This was too ruthless!

If you don't agree, you can quit. No one is forcing you to join!

It was as simple as that!

"How foolish!" Among the 1,008 Immortals, a powerful Immortal with long, flowing black hair looked at the dejected 800 people and said coldly, "Do you little ones think you can change the decisions made by the higher-ups of the Virtual Universe Company? How arrogant!"

"If it were that little guy Luo Yuan who had an objection, perhaps it might be taken seriously, as he has long been identified as someone who can enter the Original Secret Realm—he is a member of the Original Secret Realm!" An elder, whose head was covered in silver scales and who was draped in white robes, looked down at the 800 geniuses. "As for you, you are at the very outer edge of the core layer; how dare you claim dissatisfaction?"

"Little ones, remember this! You may be the absolute top geniuses in your respective space sectors, but in the Virtual Universe Company... the Virtual Universe Company holds such a genius tournament every ten thousand years. Inside the Virtual Universe Company, there are countless geniuses and clouds of strong experts... You had best be humble!"

"Defying the decisions of the highest authorities is a grave taboo!"

...

The 1,008 Immortals were well aware that while these geniuses were indeed all incredibly talented, most geniuses were arrogant and temperamental. The road to the pinnacle was extremely rugged, and it was easy to fail and perish if one remained so arrogant. Therefore, it was beneficial to strike down these geniuses' pride.

...

In the lobby of Building 0825.

Luo Yuan, Luo Feng, and Rong Jun were all sitting in chairs. As for their original three teammates, they had all been eliminated in the previous three rounds.

"I couldn't help but feel a bit proud before, but after that scene just now... I understand that in the eyes of the Virtual Universe Company, we are just one batch of 'seeds' among many," Luo Yuan said with a shake of his head and a smile. "There are so many, many accumulated geniuses within the Virtual Universe Company."

"Spots in the Original Secret Realm are extremely rare," the savage-looking youth said. "With such a massive organization as the Virtual Universe Company, it is said that there are only one hundred World Lords in the Original Secret Realm!"

"It's just mutual benefit; they need excellent subordinates, and we need their resources. But my fundamental intent will not change," Luo Yuan said with a laugh.