Zhutian: Start from Devouring the Stars and Becoming a God

Chapter 249: A Battle of Geniuses from Another Perspective

After their consciousness connected to the virtual universe, Lu Qingshan and Venerable Guiyi quickly appeared in front of a luxurious palace halfway up Thunder Island.

"Sir!"

The guards in front of the palace were all immortal gods. Upon seeing Lu Qingshan and Venerable Guiyi, they all bowed and paid their respects.

The Purple Fox Venerable inside the mansion quickly came out to greet them: "Return to One, Myriad Realms!"

The Purple Fox Venerable wore a purple gauze robe and had purple fur on his face; every move he made exuded endless allure.

After exchanging greetings, Lu Qingshan and Venerable Guiyi quickly entered the mansion's living room at the invitation of Venerable Zihu.

"Myriad Realms!"

After both sides took their seats, Venerable Purple Fox quickly looked at Lu Qingshan and then said with a smile, "Actually, you and my fox-people have a great connection. Your teacher, King Lei Huan, was the strongest member of the Bernar clan of my fox-people!"

"I've heard Teacher Lei Huanwang mention your illustrious reputation, Purple Fox, many times!"

Lu Qingshan said with a smile, "I must thank Zihu for giving me the opportunity to host the Genius Battle this time!"

"Hahaha!"

After hearing Lu Qingshan's words, Venerable Purple Fox waved his hand and served fine wine and delicacies to Lu Qingshan and Venerable Guiyi, saying with a smile, "It's just a small matter!"

"Actually, I still have some people serving under me, but over time, some of them either went to the battlefields beyond the domain or, due to other circumstances, eventually perished!"

"That's why I applied to the company to host several seasons of the Genius Battle, and then train a group of people!"

“Wan Jie, you have only recently broken through to the next level, so you naturally need more people to serve you than I do. It is only right that I give you this opportunity!”

Actually, for Venerable Purple Fox, presiding over the Genius Battle was not a big deal.

Lu Qingshan already possessed the invincible strength of a king before breaking through to the Universe Venerable realm. Once he breaks through to the Universe Venerable realm, as long as he cultivates in seclusion for a period of time, his strength will definitely not be much worse than hers.
Moreover, Lu Qingshan is a disciple of the Ice Peak Lord and also possesses the ability to create clones, which is extremely rare among the many cosmic venerables of the human race. Even cosmic overlords are willing to associate with Lu Qingshan, let alone her.

So this time, Venerable Guiyi only mentioned the Genius Battle to her briefly, and Venerable Zihu immediately agreed.

"In any case, I still want to thank Purple Fox for giving me this opportunity!"

Lu Qingshan quickly smiled and said, "Otherwise, I'm afraid I'll have to wait a while longer!"

"This is actually the reason why our human race has recently seen several cosmic venerables appear in one go!"

While raising his cup to invite Lu Qingshan and Venerable Guiyi to drink together, Venerable Purple Fox said with a smile, "Especially our Virtual Universe Company lineage, this time we have produced three Universe Venerables in succession: Heavenly Eclipse, Stele Remains, and Myriad Realms!"

"I have been cultivating for hundreds of billions of epochs, but I have never seen anything like this before!"

"Hahaha!"

After hearing what Venerable Purple Fox said, Venerable Guiyi, who was standing to the side, also smiled and said, "I have been cultivating for a longer time than you, Purple Fox, and I have never seen such a scene before either!"

"The fact that so many cosmic venerables have emerged from our human race in one go is definitely due to the favor of the original will of the universe!"

At this point, Venerable Guiyi also raised his cup and invited, "Come, let us celebrate together for our human race!"

"A toast to our human race!" Lu Qingshan and the Purple Fox Venerable also raised their glasses and drank the wine in one gulp.

"Myriad Realms!"

After a hearty drink, Venerable Purple Fox quickly spoke again, saying, "The Giant Axe Arena has already hosted one Peak Genius Battle, so the next one will be hosted by my Virtual Universe Company!"

"I believe there are still more than two thousand years left. Just have the intelligent life form keep an eye on things, and the company will also send out notifications when the time comes!"

"Purple Fox is right!"

Venerable Guiyi quickly said, "Myriad Realms, since you are presiding over the Genius Battle this time, some of your old friends may come to you!"

"However, the Genius Battle and the Strongest Battle are both grand events for our human race, and they are related to the cultivation of future geniuses for our race, so it is better to follow the rules!"

"If they really can't refuse, just have them go through the channels of the various branches and directly enter the apocalyptic secret realm to obtain a core-level identity!"

“I understand!” Lu Qingshan nodded quickly.

The Venerable Guiyi said these things to remind him not to engage in any underhanded tactics when presiding over the Genius Battle.

However, Lu Qingshan himself did not have such thoughts, so naturally such a problem would not occur.

He wouldn't even use such back channels for his own family members, let alone for anyone else!

And so, Lu Qingshan and Venerable Guiyi chatted for several more days at Venerable Zihu's residence, during which they also talked about some interesting things that happened in the universe, before they went their separate ways.

After his consciousness returned to reality, Venerable Guiyi quickly left Lu Qingshan's residence.

After Venerable Guiyi left, Lu Qingshan, who had originally planned to explore the secret realm of the universe, decided to wait a while longer because he was about to preside over the Genius Battle. He then began to cultivate in seclusion again.

And so time continued to flow by, and in the blink of an eye, thousands of years had passed.

On this day, Lu Qingshan was cultivating in seclusion in Chaos City when the voice of the intelligent life form Deep Blue suddenly rang in his mind.

"Owner!"

"The latest round of the Peak Genius Battle has begun, and this round of the Genius Battle needs your guidance!"

"Now, the major cosmic nations have selected the top one thousand star-level geniuses in their respective cosmic nations, and they have each sent people to lead their teams to gather in the square provided by the company."

"According to the company's usual practice, the Cosmic Venerable who is in charge of the Genius Battle will usually meet with these geniuses before they enter the Trial Tower. Would you like to go over there now?"

"Did time pass so quickly?"

Upon hearing Deep Blue's words, Lu Qingshan felt a slight sense of admiration and then asked, "Are there any particularly outstanding geniuses in this year's Genius Battle?"

As soon as Lu Qingshan finished speaking, a virtual screen appeared in front of him, displaying more than a dozen figures with different appearances.

At the same time, the voice of the intelligent life form Deep Blue rang out again: "Reporting to Master, so far no particularly outstanding geniuses have emerged in this year's Genius Battle!"

"These dozen or so geniuses are the most outstanding performers in this year's Genius Battle. Each of them has crossed the threshold of the upper-level Origin Law and has the strength to compete for the top ten!"

Lu Qingshan's gaze quickly swept over the dozen or so figures on the virtual screen in front of him, and he soon learned the general information about these people.

These geniuses, at this moment, are not much different from most geniuses in the battle. The more outstanding ones at most have the potential to enter the Marquis level in the future, and are slightly inferior to Uka, Qian Shui and others who appeared in the original work.

"That's it!"

Lu Qingshan sighed inwardly, then thought to himself, "We can't expect a super genius to emerge in the very first Genius Battle. It's good enough if they're just average!"

"Back in my day, I was still a long way from being one of these geniuses!"

With this in mind, Lu Qingshan stopped worrying and quickly connected his consciousness to the virtual universe, heading towards the competition square.

……

The virtual universe is a special dimensional space.

At this moment, 1003 buildings surround a central square, where flowers, trees and shrubs can be seen everywhere. In addition, hundreds of thousands of people are gathered in this square, who are geniuses from various universe countries who have come to participate in the final of the Peak Genius Battle.

Large restaurants are also located around the square.

There are a total of 99 restaurants, and super geniuses from all the major universe countries can enter all the other restaurants except for Restaurant No. 1.

As for Restaurant No. 1, it is specially designed for the immortal leaders of various cosmic nations.

As an immortal deity, one would naturally not share a restaurant with these stellar-level geniuses.

Meanwhile, inside Restaurant No. 1, hundreds of immortal leaders from various cosmic nations had already gathered.

They are all powerful figures under the command of the rulers of various universes, and they usually operate within their respective universes, so they rarely meet with powerful figures from other universes.

Now that hundreds of powerful individuals of similar strength and status have gathered together, it's natural that they can have a very pleasant chat.

boom!
Another streak of light flew over, landed in front of the restaurant, and then entered the restaurant.

"Theodore!" "Theodore, I never expected that Yanfeng Universe Nation would be leading the team this time!"

Upon seeing the newcomer, the immortal gods radiating powerful auras around them greeted him warmly.

"Ok!"

Theodore nodded slightly, and then quickly sat down next to some immortal gods with whom he had a close relationship.

"Theodore, I heard that your Yanfeng Universe Kingdom didn't have many geniuses this time!"

"Yes! I heard that the best genius from your Yanfeng Universe Kingdom this time is only of average strength, and it will be difficult for them to even break into the top 1,000 in the entire universe!"

Some of his friends started teasing him.

"Humph!"

After hearing his friends' teasing, Theodore, who had been granted the title of Immortal, was naturally not in a good mood.

He wanted to refute it, but Yanfeng Universe Country had indeed not produced any outstanding geniuses in this year's Peak Genius Battle.

Finally, Theodore could only say coldly, "The finals haven't even started yet, anything can happen. Maybe our Yanfeng Universe Nation will produce a dark horse this time!"

"Our universe nation has produced a rather powerful genius this time!"

Another immortal who had been granted the title of Marquis said with a smile, "He has now crossed the threshold of the fundamental laws of space. There is absolutely no problem for him to break into the top ten in the overall ranking of the entire universe. He even has a chance to compete for first place!"

"Isn't that the little guy nicknamed 'Blood Blade'?"

The other immortals around them immediately became interested: "I think his swordsmanship is very good, and his movement is also very exquisite. He must have a strong mentor behind him!"

"Not bad!"

The immortal leader of the universe nation where the genius 'Blood Blade' resided quickly smiled and said, "This 'Blood Blade's' teacher is 'Marquis Zitang' from my Azure Peak Universe Nation. Marquis Zitang was famous throughout the universe for his swordsmanship. This little guy nicknamed 'Blood Blade' has clearly received his true teachings, so his strength is naturally quite good!"

"This little guy is indeed quite good. If he can successfully break through to become an immortal in the future, he might even be able to reach the Marquis level and possess an immortal body!"

"Yes! This little guy definitely has that potential!"

"I wonder if anyone in this year's Genius Battle will be able to become an Immortal King?"

"To be granted immortality as a king? I think that's highly unlikely!"

"Yes! Reaching the Marquis level is relatively easy, but reaching the King level is much, much more difficult!"

"We've cultivated for so many years and still haven't reached the King level. These little guys are doing well now, but who among us did poorly back then?"

"It is indeed very difficult to reach the King level; talent, opportunity, and comprehension are all indispensable!"

"In each era, our human race can generally produce only a dozen or so immortal kings. Although these people perform well, their level is only average in the past genius battles. The probability of becoming an immortal king is extremely low!"

The immortals who were in charge of leading the teams gathered together and talked.

They were chosen to lead teams in the finals of the Genius Battle because they were all trusted confidants of the various cosmic rulers. Each of them possessed the strength of a peak Marquis, making them the most powerful beings below the King and Immortal ranks.

And while these immortals were gathered together discussing...

"Haha, what are you all discussing? It's so lively!"

A gentle voice instantly rang in the ears of all the immortal beings in Restaurant No. 1, and they all turned to look.

Soon, a middle-aged man dressed in purple and gold armor appeared at the main entrance of the restaurant. He had a resolute face and gentle eyes, but no one dared to meet his gaze.

He stood there, his aura ethereal and otherworldly, as if he were in a completely different space and time from the other immortals around him.

This person is none other than Lu Qingshan, the Universe Venerable and the Venerable of Myriad Realms, who is in charge of hosting this year's Genius Battle!

boom!
The moment they saw Lu Qingshan appear, all the hundreds of immortal beings around them stood up and bowed to show their respect.

"Your Excellency!" Hundreds of immortal gods bowed and greeted him almost simultaneously.

"No need to be polite!"

Lu Qingshan waved for everyone to stand up, then smiled and said, "On behalf of Virtual Universe Company, I would like to express my gratitude for the strong support from all the major universe nations that have provided this Genius Battle to our Virtual Universe Company!"

"You flatter me, Your Excellency!"

"These are things we should do!"

One by one, the immortal gods answered respectfully.

"Ok!"

Lu Qingshan nodded slightly, then continued, "You guys keep chatting, I'll gather the little ones later!"

After saying this, Lu Qingshan turned and left.

After Lu Qingshan left, the many immortal gods in the restaurant continued their discussion.

"It's actually the Venerable One of Myriad Realms."

"I heard that this year's Genius Battle was supposed to be hosted by Venerable Purple Fox, so why was it suddenly changed to Venerable Myriad Realms?"

"Who knows? Maybe it was something that Venerable Purple Fox and Venerable of Myriad Realms planned together!"

"Speaking of which, the Venerable One of Myriad Realms hasn't been cultivating for very long, it seems to have only been tens of millions of years!"

"Yes! I remember when the Venerable of Myriad Realms was still a King-level Immortal, he had already made a name for himself as an invincible King on the battlefield outside the realms. I just didn't expect that the Venerable of Myriad Realms would break through again so soon!"

"I remember that Venerable Beihai and Venerable Wanjie broke through one after the other, right? Not long ago, when I led the team to participate in the battle of the peak experts, it was Venerable Beihai who presided over it!"

"Yes! Venerable Monument has already presided over hundreds of peak power battles for the Virtual Universe Company. I didn't expect that Venerable of Myriad Realms would also start presiding over peak genius battles now!"

"Speaking of which, our human race has been really lucky lately. So many cosmic venerables have appeared: Venerable Mengyue from the Giant Axe Arena, Venerable Jiufeng from the Cosmic Mercenary Alliance, and the Palace Master of the Sky Eclipse Palace, Venerable Beihai, and Venerable Wanjie from the Virtual Universe Company lineage!"

While these immortal gods were sighing in their hearts, Theodore, the immortal leader of the Yanfeng Universe Kingdom, was even more deeply moved.

Because back then, Lu Qingshan and 'Purple Light' Ross and others participated in the Universe Peak Genius Battle, and he was the Immortal leader of the Yanfeng Universe Kingdom.

The situation in Yanfeng Universe Kingdom at that time was quite similar to this year's. Lu Qingshan's strength was enough to rank first among the thousand geniuses in Yanfeng Universe Kingdom, but in the end he failed to break into the top thousand in the entire universe.

That's why Theodore, who was in charge of leading the team, had quite an impression of Lu Qingshan.

However, Theodore was quite disappointed that Lu Qingshan did not make it into the top 1,000 in the entire universe, and he did not continue to pay attention to him afterward.

He originally thought that Lu Qingshan would fall on the path to becoming an immortal god, just like countless other geniuses he had encountered before.

What he didn't expect was that when he heard Lu Qingshan's name again from other Marquis Immortals in the Yanfeng Universe Kingdom, Lu Qingshan had already become a Marquis Immortal like him, and was also a disciple of Lei Huanwang.

However, he didn't pay too much attention to it at the time, so he didn't attend the banquet when Lu Qingshan's child broke through to become an immortal.

But after that, Lu Qingshan's cultivation path seemed to be favored by the will of the universe.

Other immortals who attain the rank of Marquis may struggle to make any progress even after countless years of cultivation, but Lu Qingshan is able to make rapid and continuous progress.

When he heard Lu Qingshan's name again, Lu Qingshan had already passed the eighteenth level of the Tongtian Bridge and become a true immortal king.

He attended the banquet where Lu Qingshan conferred the title of king, but with his abilities, he was insignificant among the guests.

Following that, Lu Qingshan further established his invincible reputation as a king on the battlefield outside the domain, and then broke through to the realm of the Universe Venerable.

Theodore, as a witness to Lu Qingshan's growth from an ordinary genius who couldn't even break into the top 1,000 in the entire universe's peak genius battle to a cosmic venerable who could preside over the genius battle, must have felt a deep sense of awe.

　I have some things to do today, so there will only be one update.

　　Also, please stop voting for me this month. I think I've already reached my minimum goal this month, and with the extra chapters I've already made up, that should be about it. If you keep voting for me, I'll work myself to death and still not be able to finish updating!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)