Swallowing the Stars: Only in my later years did I come to the life-spending panel.

A year and a half passed in the blink of an eye, amidst the frantic hard work of countless geniuses and the intense scrutiny of the public.

The ultimate battle, the grand finale of the battle of humanity's pinnacle geniuses across the universe, has finally begun!

In the virtual universe, on a massive floating island above the continent of Qianwu.

One thousand peerless geniuses, representing the highest honor of the Qianwu Universe Kingdom, had already assembled.

At the very front of the group, Zhou Mu, dressed in a dark gold battle suit, stood with his hands behind his back, his white hair gently swaying in the breeze, his expression calm as still water.

Beside him stood Luo Feng, carrying a dark gold staff and with eyes as resolute as a blade, and Rong Jun, a wild man exuding an astonishing sense of oppression, like a ferocious beast poised to pounce.

"boom!"

The space suddenly trembled, and the towering giant, over eight meters tall and covered in cold, blue scales—the immortal god "Thirteen"—appeared out of thin air in front of everyone like a mountain.

The chilling, bloody aura instantly made all one thousand geniuses in the audience hold their breath.

"Listen up, all of you!"

Thirteen's ear-piercing, metallic sound exploded in everyone's minds: "Today, I will take you to a brand-new dimension that the Virtual Universe Company has created specifically for this ultimate showdown! Remember my words: once we get there, put away your pride from the Qianwu Universe Kingdom! There, you are nothing!"

"Set off!"

With Thirteen's command, an invisible and vast power instantly enveloped the thousand geniuses.

As time and space change, the seasons shift and the world transforms.

When everyone opened their eyes again, they found themselves on a vast and boundless continent.

The sky over the mainland was a deep purplish-blue, and the air was filled with a strange energy that refreshed the mind and body.

Directly in front of them was a magnificent and awe-inspiring plaza.

Surrounding the square stood 1008 towering skyscrapers, all identical in design! Each skyscraper was marked with a huge number representing a different cosmic nation.

"That's our base, Building 0825."

The immortal god Thirteen pointed to one of the buildings, and a thousand number plates flew towards the geniuses. He coldly said, "Go, enter your respective rooms according to the numbers on your plates. That's where you rest and stay!"

One by one, the number plates floated down and landed in front of each person.

Rong Jun is number 1, Luo Feng is number 2, and Zhou Mu is number 99...

"Disband freely. Virtual Universe Company will summon you when it gets dark."

"yes!"

The crowd responded in unison, and then transformed into streaks of light, flying towards Building 0825, which belonged to the Qianwu Universe Kingdom.

After the rooms were assigned, the thousand geniuses, unable to contain their excitement and curiosity, gathered together at the massive plaza below the building, which housed over a million of the universe's most outstanding geniuses.

The square was packed with people, a gathering of extraordinary talents from 1,008 cosmic kingdoms. The various strange races and bizarre costumes were dazzling.

In these exchanges among groups of geniuses, some names that are widely recognized as having the potential to challenge for a place among the top in the entire universe are repeatedly mentioned.

"Look! Those are people from the Qianwu Universe Kingdom!"

Not far away, several geniuses from other universe countries gathered together, their gazes sweeping over the Qianwu universe country's team, finally settling on Rong Jun and Luo Feng.

"That savage-looking guy is Rong Jun! I've heard that not only is his understanding of the Earth Law extremely profound, but he can even create spatial illusions! His strength is undoubtedly the strongest in the Qianwu Universe Kingdom. It's said that even some ancient immortals have high hopes for him, believing that he has a chance to compete for a place in the top ten of the entire universe!"

"The black-haired youth next to him carrying the dark gold staff must be that 'madman' Luo Feng. His mastery of the Divine Weapon is unparalleled. This generation of the Qianwu Universe Kingdom is truly full of hidden talents. There's absolutely no problem for Luo Feng to break into the top 1,000 in the entire universe."

"Huh? In the preliminary rounds of the Qianwu Universe Kingdom, he beat Rong Jun in the same war zone and won first place. What about that white-haired kid named Zhou Mu?" someone asked curiously.

"Hey, why bring him up?"

A four-eyed alien genius scoffed, his tone full of disdain, "That Zhou Mu is nothing more than a lucky opportunist."

"I've studied his performance curve. For the first five days of the qualifiers, that kid used some kind of wide-range lightning technique to specifically slaughter the bottom-ranked cannon fodder in crowded cities to rack up points. Once he had enough points, he hid on the rooftop for twenty-five days straight without moving! He was just lucky not to run into Rong Jun in the World Zone, otherwise he would have been eliminated by Rong Jun with a single strike. This kind of guy who relies on wide-range techniques to bully weaker opponents would definitely be the first to be eliminated in a real one-on-one duel between strong players!"

"Turns out he's just a score-farming monster. I thought he was something special. In this year's Qianwu Universe Kingdom competition, only Rong Jun and that Luo Feng deserve our attention."

Similar discussions could be heard from every corner of the square.

The vast majority of geniuses from other universe nations, including some geniuses within the Qianwu universe nation, scoffed at Zhou Mu's "highly questionable" first place in the preliminary round.

In their eyes, Rong Jun and Luo Feng were the true representatives of the Qianwu Universe Kingdom.

Zhou Mu, walking at the front of the group, seemed completely oblivious to the surrounding comments filled with contempt and ridicule.

His white hair fluttered gently in the breeze, and his deep gaze pierced through the surging crowd, past those self-proclaimed geniuses, and finally locked onto a figure in the center of the square who was revered by countless people, who even spontaneously gave up a large space for him.

He was a young man dressed in a pure white battle suit, as white as snow. He carried a blood-red longsword on his back, and his face was as cold as ancient ice, devoid of any human warmth.

He simply stood there quietly, and the surrounding space seemed to be shattered by an invisible sharpness. The tangible aura of death made all the geniuses within a hundred meters of him feel a chill and suffocation deep in their souls.

"Death, Berlan."

A faint smile appeared on Zhou Mu's lips, and a glint of predatory joy finally flashed in his eyes.

This person is the undisputed number one in the overall rankings of this year's Peak Genius Battle, recognized by all immortal gods and all cosmic nations!

Legend has it that his comprehension of the fundamental laws of space is extremely profound, to the point that he can even condense hundreds or thousands of spatial phantoms. His mastery of the laws is comparable to those immortal powerhouses who have cultivated for tens of millions of years! At this stage where everyone is still struggling to reach the threshold of the laws, Bolan's existence is like an insurmountable mountain, making millions of peerless geniuses in the entire universe unable to breathe.

"The laws of space..." Zhou Mu murmured to himself, "I really want to see if your thousands of illusory bodies are faster, or if my world of lightning is faster."