Swallowing the Stars: Heart of the Martial God

Chapter 23 A brat ambushed me when I wasn't looking.

"Hahaha, take the lead and strive for first place." The Candle Dragon King smiled with satisfaction as he watched Ling Xuan's ranking instantly rise to first place.

"Zhulong, is this the exceptionally outstanding descendant you spoke of?"

On Tianzhou Island, at the invitation of the Candle Dragon King, almost all the immortal powerhouses who were free in the Giant Axe Arena came to watch this year's Genius Battle.

In the lives of these eternally powerful beings, there are few geniuses worthy of their attention, and their focus on past genius battles is limited to a few individual matches.

This year's cohort is clearly one of the very few exceptions.

Not only does it have a super genius who is said to appear only once every hundred million epochs, but it also has an outstanding descendant that the old man Zhulong is very proud of.

The Candle Dragon King is incredibly ancient. Over the long course of time, most of the ancient beings in the Giant Axe Arena are familiar with him and are willing to give him face and support this living fossil.

It's a little bit of fun in the long journey of life.

"Haha, not bad, this is the kid." King Zhulong praised without any reservation.

“Then we’ll see what’s so special about this kid. If he’s really as talented as you say, then I wouldn’t mind taking on another disciple,” a man dressed in a purple scale armor battle robe joked.

"Get lost! If my descendant needs to take an immortal as a master, would it be your turn, brat? I am of the same fire and air element as him, am I more suitable than you?" The Candle Dragon King glared and puffed out his beard.

"Hahaha, what a stingy old man! Just tell me, just how outstanding is this kid? That he could make even the Venerable Ones of the Universe step down to take him as a disciple?"

"Just you wait and see! This time, my Zhulong clan will surely be renowned throughout the universe!" King Zhulong said with great pride.

"This old man must be crazy. Can two top geniuses emerge in one era?" a friend joked.

……

Virtual universe, Zhulong Continent, Ling Xuan's home.

Ling Yue was searching for Ling Xuan's figure on the virtual screen when she suddenly saw her father, who was supposed to be participating in the Genius Battle, suddenly appear in front of her and come over to watch the game with her.

"Dad, aren't you participating in the Genius Battle?" Ling Xue asked with genuine curiosity.

"Don't even mention it. I had just entered the World Zone and hadn't even had time to process what was happening when some brat ambushed me," Ling Tianhe sighed.

"Dad, you've been eliminated so quickly? You even said you wanted to compete against Xiao Xuan on the same stage!" Ling Xue added insult to injury for her father.

"Nonsense, I was ambushed. That kid has no sportsmanship. Everyone was dizzy after the teleportation, but only that kid could make a move. What else could it be but cheating?" Ling Tianhe's voice grew softer and softer.

He noticed that the profile of the brat on Lingyue's screen looked just like the guy who had ambushed him.

And the more I look at it, the more familiar it seems.

……

On the streets of the 77th World District, Ling Xuan transformed into the embodiment of death.

The three-pointed double-edged sword moved with ease in his hands, each swing leaving a trail of crimson gold afterimages.

"Even a mosquito is still meat!" His eyes were like lightning as he locked onto the runner fleeing in panic a kilometer away, and in a flash, he appeared in front of him.

"Flame Demon, spare me! I am a member of the royal family of the Qianwu Universe Kingdom."

"What a coincidence, I am also royalty." Ling Xuan sneered and beheaded him with a single stroke.

The ruler of Qianwu Kingdom didn't care about royalty or any other clans; on the contrary, he considered himself a super genius and the perfect tool to help him pay off his debts.

His hunting continued uninterrupted, from the south to the north of the city.

One slash after another, no one could withstand his second strike.

Because every time he made a move, it caused a sea of ​​fire to erupt, and he showed no mercy, killing anyone he saw, he was called the Flame Demon.

The numbers on the leaderboard kept jumping, soaring to eight million in just three days.

"Only 8 million points?" Ling Xuan flicked non-existent blood off his blade and sighed. "This efficiency is too slow. Can't they shrink the world region a bit?"

With these points, there's still a long way to go before securing first place.

Although the second-place team had less than a million points at this point, the qualifiers had only been going on for three days, and the real fierce battle had not yet begun.

"To the next city!" Flames erupted around Ling Xuan, and he sped towards the northern city like a meteor. The contestants in that city were either killed by him or had already fled to other cities.

Perhaps there are still some who are hiding deep inside, but they have all been scared out of their wits and dare not show their faces.

As soon as they approached the city walls, five distinct domains suddenly descended upon them.

The earth-yellow gravity field made his body suddenly sink, as if he were carrying a mountain on his back; the dark blue ice field instantly froze his protective flames; the dark green wood field eroded his meridians, and every breath was like being cut by a knife.

"An ambush?" Ling Xuan's pupils shrank sharply, but he showed no sign of panic.

His primal energy surged wildly, forcefully breaking free from the constraints of gravity. The three-pointed, double-edged sword traced eerie arcs in his hand, its runes gleaming brightly.

In an instant, thousands of fiery blades poured out like a torrential rain.

Amidst the deafening roar of the shattering domain, five figures appeared.

Just as the leader was about to unleash his secret technique, Ling Xuan's blade was already upon them.

The blade flashed like lightning, weaving through the enemy ranks, each contact accompanied by a scream.

When the last person turned into specks of light and disappeared, Ling Xuan's score panel froze at 9226542.

"Killing strong individuals is still the fastest way to gain points. No wonder so many transmigrators prefer to lie low in the early stages and then slowly hunt down the strong individuals on the points leaderboard later."

However, Ling Xuan did not intend to lie low for long. His blood also contained the fighting spirit of the ancient human race, and slowly reaping the rewards was not his style.

The strong in this city have not yet witnessed his strength, unlike in the previous city where people would run away as soon as they saw him, and could not catch up with him as long as they were a little further away.

Ling Xuan unleashed another massacre, and the Flame Demon's infamous reputation resounded once more throughout the city.

……

"This kid is quite impressive!" An immortal elder wearing a nebula robe suddenly stood up. "His points increase is far ahead of all other universes. He has at least stepped into the threshold of the Space Law. With this kind of strength, he is almost guaranteed to win the top spot in previous genius battles. Plus, he is still young, so his future is promising!"

His exclamation was tinged with undisguised envy.

Those super geniuses who only appear once every hundred million epochs are out of their reach, but they can try to win over the geniuses from the old man Zhulong's family!
"Hahaha, how about it? Isn't my little guy excellent?" The laughter of the Candle Dragon King resounded throughout the entire spectator plaza. "For trillions of epochs, apart from breaking through the threshold of the Universe Venerable, nothing has made this old man's heart beat so violently!"

This ancient being, who had lived for trillions of years and whose strength had been stuck at the limit of becoming a king for trillions of years, unconsciously clenched his hands at this moment.

Another king nodded slightly, a strange light flashing in his eyes: "Old man Zhulong has kept it well hidden. He never revealed that there was such a prodigy in the clan before. Perhaps he is planning to play dumb to take advantage of the situation?"

Before he could finish speaking, he was drowned out by the rising and falling murmurs of discussion.

"This child's swordsmanship and the laws of fire are perfectly compatible; he is indeed worth taking under my wing and training..."

"You wish! This kid is destined to be with me."

As the Candle Dragon King listened to the praises around him, a blush rose on his rugged face.

They're all just dreaming.

My little one must become the disciple of an unparalleled being. I'm willing to risk my reputation to ensure that his talent is not wasted.

Do you really think that all these years of my life have been for nothing, and that I only know a bunch of little guys who aren't even a fraction of my age?

Compared to these little guys who are only a few hundred billion years old, the old Zhulong's network of connections is unimaginable.

Time flew by, and Ling Xuan was invincible in his world region. In the first ten days, he almost annihilated a city every three days, which was extremely efficient. By the tenth day, he had accumulated more than 20 million points and firmly held the number one position in the world region.

Now almost everyone in the entire world knows that the number one in their world region is a serial killer.

It wasn't that there weren't strong individuals who considered uniting to kill the Flame Demon.

However, since it's still too early, everyone doesn't have many points, and a mistake could lead to elimination.

"Run! The Flame Demon has reached this city!" Ling Xuan had just arrived in a new city and hadn't even started his rampage yet, but the contestants throughout the city were already on edge.

"Leave your points." With a single slash, the entire city fell silent once more.

Those who were lucky enough to survive could only flee to cities far away from Ling Xuan to escape the killing.

(End of this chapter)