Swallowing the Stars: I Have a Primordial Dao Seed

Bloodthirsty Marquis, along with Zhou Yuan and a thousand other geniuses from the Purple Chen Universe Kingdom, arrived at an independent plane specially opened for the finals via a teleportation array in the virtual universe.

Before me stretched a vast and boundless continent, with continuous mountains and rushing rivers.

As soon as they appeared at the teleportation point, a service staff member in a silver uniform quickly stepped forward and respectfully guided them, saying, "The team from the Zichen Universe Kingdom, please go this way. There are 1,008 buildings ahead. Your country has been assigned to Building 0007."

"Hmm." Bloodthirsty Marquis nodded slightly, his figure taking off first and flying in the indicated direction. A thousand geniuses followed closely behind, their densely packed figures like a dark cloud sweeping across the sky above the continent.

A moment later, everyone saw a huge circular complex of buildings on the ground—one thousand and eight buildings forming a perfect circle, with a giant plaza at the center covering millions of square meters. Geniuses from other universes had gathered in the plaza, and the crowd was bustling with activity as many of them chatted and exchanged ideas.

"Get down." Bloodthirsty Marquis gave the order, and his figure plummeted to the ground first, landing precisely on the passageway in front of Building 0007. The other geniuses also landed one after another, following neatly behind Bloodthirsty Marquis.

The other geniuses from various universes in the square immediately noticed them, and whispers of discussion arose one after another.

"The country that just landed is the Zichen Universe Kingdom. The one behind the leader must be Zhou Yuan."

"That should be the case. They landed at Building 0007, and the Zichen Universe Kingdom arranged for them to stay at Building 0007."

"Zhou Yuan? The one with the strongest intelligence gap?"

"That's right, it's him, the unparalleled figure in the intelligence."

"His strength is indeed formidable. I simulated a fight against him in the virtual killing arena, using his combat power data from the elimination rounds, and I couldn't even last five moves!"

"Five moves? You're the third-ranked genius in our universe nation, is he really that terrifying?"

Despite the rising and falling murmurs, Zhou Yuan remained calm, as if he hadn't heard a thing. His gaze swept across the crowd in the square, trying to find an opponent who could put any pressure on him, but after scanning the area, he still couldn't find anyone who caught his eye.

Bloodthirsty Marquis led the group into the lobby on the first floor of Building 0007. The lobby was spacious and bright, large enough to accommodate thousands of people, and the walls were covered with defensive runes that could block all prying eyes and external interference.

Suddenly, a terrifying pressure erupted from Bloodthirsty Marquis, enveloping the entire hall as if it were a tangible force. Everyone felt their hearts tighten, as if gripped by an invisible hand. But in just an instant, the pressure vanished.

"Here are a thousand number plates, one for each person." Bloodthirsty Marquis waved his right hand, and a thousand number plates shimmering with silver light flew from his palm, landing precisely in front of each genius. "With these number plates, you can enter your respective rooms; that is your rest area."

Zhou Yuan casually took the number plate, which had a prominent number "1" engraved on it, the same as the seat number in the previous conference room, obviously assigned according to the ranking of strength.

Seeing that everyone had received their number plates, Bloodthirsty Marquis added, "You are free to move around now. You can stay in your rooms to rest or go to the plaza to interact with geniuses from other universes."

Around dusk, the Virtual Universe Company will summon all participants. As long as you remain in this dimension, you will receive a notification. Remember, you are not allowed to leave the Virtual Universe during this time and must remain on standby at all times.

After saying that, Bloodthirsty Marquis turned and left, his figure quickly disappearing at the entrance of the hall.

Only after his figure completely disappeared did the geniuses in the hall breathe a sigh of relief—the murderous aura emanating from Bloodthirsty Marquis, born from countless life-and-death battles, was so oppressive that it was hard to breathe.

Zhou Yuan also turned and walked towards the elevator, preparing to return to his room to continue comprehending the laws of space.

The other geniuses had their own plans: some went to the plaza with great interest, wanting to witness the strength of other geniuses from different universes; some stayed in the hall to exchange ideas and discuss their cultivation experiences; and a few, like Zhou Yuan, chose to return to their rooms to cultivate in seclusion.

……

The circle formed by the 1008 buildings is enormous. Besides a huge plaza, there are restaurants along the perimeter of the plaza. Except for Restaurant No. 1, all the other restaurants offer meals free of charge to the geniuses.

After leaving the building, Bloodthirsty Marquis arrived at Restaurant No. 1, which was specially prepared for the immortal gods leading the 1008 cosmic kingdoms.

As soon as Bloodthirsty Marquis entered, he heard someone greet him: "Bloodthirsty Marquis, please have a seat here!"

He looked in the direction of the voice and saw an immortal god clad in black armor waving, with several leaders from other cosmic nations seated beside him. Bloodthirsty Marquis nodded slightly and walked over to take a seat.

"Bloodthirsty Marquis, Zi Chen has really struck gold this time," the black-armored immortal said with a smile. "I've seen the information on Zhou Yuan. The first place in this final is basically in Zi Chen's pocket."

"He is indeed quite good, and has already been accepted as a personal disciple by the King." Bloodthirsty Marquis spoke calmly, but a hint of pride could not be hidden in his eyes.

"The personal disciple of the Lord of the Universe?" an immortal exclaimed in surprise. "In tens of thousands of years, they'll probably surpass us, won't they?"

"Several hundred epochs later, he might be able to break through to the realm of the Universe Venerable." Another immortal guessed. "His understanding of the laws of space is no less than that of the old-timers in the Primordial Secret Realm. The key is that he has not been to Chaos City yet. If he were to cultivate in Chaos City for several decades, his strength would probably increase dramatically."

"So many peak-level Kings are stuck at this step, becoming Venerables? That's unlikely."

"It's not that easy." An immortal beside him shook his head. "How easy is it to break through to the level of a Cosmic Venerable? My teacher has been stuck at the peak of the King-Sealing stage for billions of years, and there is still no hope of breaking through."

"That being said, Zhou Yuan's talent is indeed rare, and there might actually be a sliver of a chance."

As time went by, the 1,008 immortal leaders of the Cosmic Kingdoms entered Restaurant Number One one after another.

These immortals gathered in small groups, and their discussions always revolved around the geniuses in this final competition. Zhou Yuan's name was undoubtedly the one that appeared most frequently—he was like an insurmountable mountain, weighing on the hearts of all the participating geniuses.

Before they knew it, it was afternoon. Just then, a man dressed in a silver battle robe slowly walked into Restaurant Number One. He was handsome and had a gentle face, but he exuded an indescribable majesty, as if the entire space of the restaurant was distorted by his arrival.

The immortals who were discussing instantly fell silent, stood up in unison, and bowed deeply: "Greetings, Venerable One!"

This man in silver robes is none other than the person in charge of the finals for Virtual Universe Company—a genuine cosmic venerable one!

The silver-robed man waved his hand and said in a calm tone, "No need to be so formal. This battle of the strongest warriors owes a great deal to the strong support of your various cosmic nations. On behalf of Virtual Universe Company, I would like to express my gratitude to you all."

"We dare not accept such praise; it is our duty," the immortals replied in unison, their voices filled with awe. Between the cosmic sovereigns and the immortals lay an insurmountable chasm; the latter appeared as insignificant as children before the former.