The Genius Battle Begins

Lu Qingshan did have a Dragon Soul Jade that was nearly half used up. He had no intention of giving that flawed piece to his father-in-law, though. He had only said so to keep the old man from feeling any pressure. "Nesethes, search for me—which shops in Qianwu City sell Dragon Soul Jade." It took only a moment. "Master, about twelve shops in Qianwu City sell Dragon Soul Jade. I've already sent them all price inquiries." "Good. Well done. In a bit, place an order with the cheapest one, use bank guarantee, and have them ship it to the Black Dragon Divine Lord in the Black Dragon Mountain Starfield." "Nesethes understands..." Such a simple task was naturally no obstacle for an intelligent life like Nesethes. A Dragon Soul Jade was worth a little over one Hunyuan. For a Domain Master, that was wealth they could scarcely amass in a whole lifetime, yet to Lu Qingshan as he was now, it amounted to nothing at all... Over the past three years, the Ghost King avatar had singled out Treasure Pavilions as targets, robbing eleven in a row and netting roughly three hundred Hunyuan units. That had flattened the Treasure Pavilions everywhere. Even the shops he had never paid a visit to had now all shut their doors, their goods hidden so thoroughly that Lu Qingshan couldn't find where they were. Then there was the stock market, where Lu Qingshan had taken another two hundred-odd Hunyuan from Treasure Pavilion. Counting the Obsidian Motherstone he had looted earlier, he had gotten about six hundred Hunyuan units out of them in total. Lu Qingshan was quite well off now: two hundred sixty Hunyuan units in cash, and two hundred Hunyuan units in goods. Those goods were still in the Ghost King avatar's hands; for the time being there was no channel to move them. Lu Qingshan was in no hurry. Goods sitting idle wouldn't lose value. Once Kunshaluo was dealt with, or once the Ghost King avatar moved on to other high-tier universe kingdoms, those things could be turned into cash with no effort at all. Over the next few months, Lu Qingshan received word from the Black Dragon Mountain Empire. His son Lu Lingxiao had successfully become a disciple of World Master Wode, cultivating at his side, and his strength had risen to Cosmic Level rank eight. His father-in-law Kevin, after receiving the Dragon Soul Jade Lu Qingshan mailed him, had given him an earful of complaints. A Domain Master who had lived several hundred thousand years—how could he possibly fail to tell whether a treasure was intact or flawed? Still, consoled by Lu Qingshan, he went into seclusion to nurture his soul in earnest. Perhaps it wouldn't be long before he broke through the limit and advanced to the World Master realm. Of course... the more important matter was... the Genius Battle had begun! "Teacher, come to the Virtual Universe, quick—the sky's changed!" His youngest disciple Ling Xi came running over in a fluster, a plate of pastries still in her hands. She hadn't made them herself; they were bought from Su Yue Fang Pastry Shop. Rumor had it the pastries were expensive—several million Qianwu Coin a jin. Ling Xi was poor. If she hadn't made a killing in the stock market last time on Lu Qingshan's advice, she couldn't have afforded to eat pastries like these... Lu Qingshan truly couldn't work up any interest in pastries. She had pitched them to him several times, and he remained unmoved. "Has it started?" Counting the days, it was about due. They entered the Virtual Universe and appeared in Star River Oasis Community. The sky was now covered by a huge proclamation with a glowing edge, and across the middle of the black proclamation ran great glittering characters! "——The Peak Genius Battle of Universe Humanity! ——Once every ten thousand years ——About to begin!" Are you a genius one in ten thousand? Can't find an opponent in reality? Then come to the Genius Battle. Here you'll find the geniuses of every universe kingdom in the cosmos—you'll never lack for an opponent. Want to prove yourself? Come join the Genius Battle! Want to join the Virtual Universe Company? Come join the Genius Battle! For details, browse the "Peak Genius Battle" official site in the Virtual Universe. Registration address... ... At that moment, no matter which universe kingdom or which corner of the Virtual Universe you were in, anywhere that could connect to the Virtual Universe could see this enormous proclamation. In Qianwu City's Star River Oasis Community, the residents—each of them usually so low-key—now came out of their homes and began talking with one another. "How time flies. Five thousand years already. I remember the last one, Giant Axe Battle Arena hosted the Genius Battle, and my youngest son even entered. Too bad he was so young then—he was eliminated in the preliminaries." "Haha, back in the day I was a Genius Battle contestant too. In my medium universe kingdom I had no rival at my level, and I figured winning would be easy. Never expected to get beaten that badly in the arena matches." "I wasn't as lucky as you two. I broke through to the Cosmic stage before the Genius Battle came around, otherwise I'd definitely have taken a placing." "Just brag, why don't you. At your level, you'd be cannon fodder the moment you entered. Never mind the whole universe—just in our Qianwu Universe Kingdom, there are more geniuses than you can count. Have you comprehended an origin law at Star Level?" "Well... no." "Then you've got shit for a placing!" Even in the Virtual Universe, the circles differed from community to community. Those who could live in Star River Oasis Community were basically Cosmic Level and above; nobody else could afford housing this expensive. "Teacher, this Genius Battle is incredible. They're advertising it this hard—how much must that cost?" Ling Xi stood beside Lu Qingshan, still chewing. This little disciple of his ate in reality and ate in the Virtual Universe too. Lu Qingshan had noticed that over the past few years she seemed to have put on quite a bit of weight. "It's the Virtual Universe Company's own advertising. What would it cost them?" Lu Qingshan said irritably. "Teacher, can I enter?" "You?" Lu Qingshan looked at his youngest disciple and shook his head. "You'd better not. No need to get your confidence crushed. At most you could pass the Qianwu Universe Kingdom's preliminaries." Ling Xi and Ling Yu might be sisters, but their attitudes toward cultivation could hardly have been more different. Ling Yu was diligent, Ling Xi was lazy. Back then she had even copied her own sister's domain, and it nearly caused a disaster. Ling Xi might already be at domain level eight, but she had far too little real combat experience. In the Secret Realm Qualification Battle, she'd only secured her spot by pulling a trick with her movement technique, and by the narrowest of margins. "Is there a reward for passing the preliminaries?" Ling Xi's focus was always on something else. "No." "Then forget it, I'm not entering. I'll watch Sister's performance together with Teacher." At the news that there was no reward, Ling Xi lost every last bit of interest in the Genius Battle. She had an impressive sister, after all. As long as her sister took a placing, even a tiny share of the prize money would be enough to let her eat Su Yue Fang pastries every single day. ... Qianwu Secret Realm. A deep, magnificent voice rang clearly in every ear. "You are the finest geniuses of my Qianwu Universe Kingdom. I want at least nine of every ten of those final thousand places to be yours." In the Qianwu Secret Realm, nearly all the Star Level geniuses were kneeling on the ground, for they had long since received word from the great Undying Deities that this was the voice of the greatest Country Master of the Qianwu Universe Kingdom... "Go, children..." The voice faded, and the enormous blurred figure in the sky slowly dissolved as well.