Swallowing the Stars: Starting with the Battle of Geniuses

Upon hearing Xuan Yuzi's warning, Hunzhen naturally understood that his arrogant remarks had offended Xuan Yuzi and even the Dao Xuan Sword Sect and the Ji Kingdom royal family behind him.

However, Hunzhen did not care about the Dao Xuan Sword Sect or the Ji Kingdom royal family, let alone a mere Xuan Yuzi.

"Soon, you'll find out if I truly deserve the title."

Hunzhen looked at Xuan Yuzi and said calmly, "Let's see who's the best."

As soon as he finished speaking, Hunzhen's aura instantly soared to its highest point.

"What!?"

The terrifying pressure instantly made Xuan Yuzi tense up.

The offensive moves that were originally intended to test the waters were transformed into a defensive stance.

However, he still underestimated Hunzhen's abilities.

Hunzhen casually swung his sword, yet he had already used the power of the void at an ordinary level.

This sword strike was undoubtedly at the Saint King level.

Even though Xuan Yuzi adopted a defensive stance, it wasn't a full-force defense. He was blown away by a single sword strike, his back crashing through several defensive formations.

Meanwhile, in the sky, his remaining "health points" had already dropped below 50%.

Xuan Yuzi's hands trembled as he looked at Hunzhen, his face filled with disbelief, and he murmured softly, "You are... the King of Saints!?"

There are also differences between Saint-level beings.

Xuan Yuzi's ability to serve as the second elder of the Dao Xuan Sword Sect of the National Sect is naturally remarkable.

Compared to the veteran saints who have remained at the saint level for countless centuries, those prodigies who aspire to become god kings or even god lords are all exceptionally promising.

Perhaps at the beginning of this Great Evolutionary Era, the Hunyuan Heavenly Ranking still contained renowned geniuses at the level of Eternal True God or even Void True God.

But now the Hunyuan Heavenly Ranking has gathered 90% of the honorific titles.

At this point, those still on the list, and those still vying for the title, were no longer Eternal True Gods, but were all Saint-level beings.

Moreover, these prodigies possess formidable foundations; when converted to the divine power path, each one is an unparalleled genius capable of breaking through to true godhood with a gene multiplier of 90,000 times.

Reaching the Saint level with such a foundation naturally surpasses that of ordinary Saint-level experts.

After all, one of the implicit conditions for being listed on the Hunyuan Heavenly Ranking is "having the potential to be unparalleled".

The "true legend" of Luo Feng's 100,000-fold genetic breakthrough is indeed not something that can appear in an ordinary era.

However, the "pseudo-legend" of breaking through to the true god with 90,000 times the genetic power is a legend in one country, but on the vast land of the Origin Continent, it is rare but not that rare.

Even if it's a "celebrity" heavily promoted by the God King family, being able to appear on the Hunyuan Heaven Ranking means they've at least reached this level.

Even so, not every prodigy with a title reached the Saint King level in this Great Evolutionary Era.

If becoming the King of Saints were so easy, why would one need to be called a king?

It's hard to say whether these titled prodigies will definitely become God Kings, since the vast majority of titled prodigies are on the list in order to break through to God King status through the opportunities represented by the Hunyuan Heavenly Ranking.

However, if they survive, and go through several Great Eras, many of them can reach the Saint King level.

Well, it's "quite a few," not absolutely.

Even for a prodigy with a title, breaking through to the Saint level is not difficult, but going further to become the king among the Saints is extremely difficult.

Saint Kings are one in ten thousand, one in a million among Saint-level beings. Even those with the title of "Genius" only have their chances of becoming Saint Kings greatly increased by the opportunity presented by the Hunyuan Heavenly Stele.

Without the blessing of the Heavenly Ranking and the opportunities that come with it, it would be considered a lot if a dozen or so Saint Kings appeared among the 100,000 prodigies of the Great Evolution Era.

Otherwise, the three generations of patriarchs of Duan Donghe would not have received such praise and worship from countless successors.

Under the constraints of the ruling nation, defense is not an obstacle in conflicts between nations, but the God-King is not allowed to take action in cases of offensive action.

The Holy King represents the highest level of combat power.

The Hunzhen Sword almost killed him instantly; even if it wasn't at the Saint King level, it was definitely very close.

How could Xuan Yuzi not be shocked!

Hunzhen did not answer.

With a flick of his blade, he asked, "Lord Xuan Yuzi, you have been defeated. Could you perhaps arrange for the next person to be brought up?"

Xuan Yuzi finally snapped out of his shock.

His eyes dimmed: "Yes, I have already lost."

However, what about Saint King-level combat power?

Although their Ji Kingdom is a superior nation, there are no exceptionally talented geniuses in this Great Evolution Era. Their titled genius, "Emperor Ji," is stronger than them, but only to a limited extent, still at the ordinary Saint level.

There is absolutely no chance of victory against Hunzhen!

Even if Hunzhen is a pure-blooded ascendant, even if it is fully confirmed, it is still no match for the direct descendants of geniuses they have cultivated from the beginning.

How can we defeat Ji Tianzi head-on and hand over the accumulated beliefs of all living beings over countless years?

Xuan Yuzi's defeat and silence were witnessed by the people.

"Elder Xuan Yuzi was defeated in a single move?"

"A Saint King? That young man is actually at the Saint King level!?"

"Hiss—maybe he really does possess the ability to rival the title of 'Strongest Below the God-King'?"

"Oh, you're overthinking it. While Saint Kings are powerful, from what I've seen in records throughout history, there have been quite a few Saint King-level experts among the prodigies of every Great Evolution Era! To say he's the strongest, he's still a bit too green!"

"That's true... But speaking of which, has our Emperor Ji reached the Saint King level?"

"Hmm? I don't think so."

"Doesn't that mean...Emperor Ji is inferior to this Hunzhen?"

"Thinking about it now, wow—Lee Sin, you've hit the nail on the head!"

"However, on the other hand, why hasn't Elder Xuan Yuzi responded to Lord Hunzhen's question yet?"

The discussion and debate eventually returned to questions about the martial arts demonstration footage at Tianmen.

Meanwhile, unseen by the people, the power struggle within the Ji Kingdom's top leadership had concluded.

Faced with Hunzhen, whose abilities seemed beyond their control, the rulers of the Ji Kingdom had only two choices:

Firstly, he recruited Hunzhen and made him replace Ji Tianzi.

Although Ji Kingdom is a superior country, it can be seen from the fact that their ancestors have gone into seclusion and from what Hunzhen saw in the simulation that Ji Kingdom has not been developing well recently, and supporting a single genius with a title to be listed is already the limit.

Secondly, it forcefully erases the existence of Hunzhen.

Perhaps it was because Hunzhen's previous outrageous and extreme declarations made the rulers of the Ji Kingdom regard him as a troublemaker that, after a brief emergency discussion, they came to the conclusion of the second option: annihilation.

"Outsider Hunzhen, upon investigation, it has been discovered that you are not an Ascended Being, but a spy from the Shang Kingdom, our enemy! Therefore—die!"

A majestic voice resounded from the sky.

On the other side, as Xuan Yuzi retreated, he manipulated the spatial density on the martial arts platform to increase again, creating an environmental spatial confinement.

Then, in the sky, a majestic face could be vaguely seen flashing in the clouds, and red lightning descended from the sky!

boom--!!!

After the earth-shattering sound, the entire Ji Kingdom fell into a brief silence.

The people who were just discussing Hunzhen's strength, origins, and even his future title never expected that this would happen after Hunzhen defeated Xuan Yuzi.

If Hunzhen were to die tragically in the red lightning, after a brief period of shock and doubt, the people of Ji Kingdom would soon, under the manipulation of Ji Kingdom's public opinion, condemn Hunzhen's death to the pillar of shame as a spy.

After all, compared to a genius who suddenly appears out of nowhere, it is natural to believe the conclusions drawn by the state and government before public trust is lost.

however……

All of this did not go according to the wishes of the young ruler of Ji Kingdom.

"Ugh."

As the smoke cleared, a helpless sigh reached the ears of the people.

"That's really unethical."

Hunzhen appeared in the center of the stage, completely unharmed.

Xuan Yuzi, who had already received the order from the King of Ji to turn off the synchronized projection, had been overpowered by Hunzhen's secret technique of will and had surrendered control of the formation. Naturally, he did not comply with the King of Ji's wish to turn off the synchronized projection.

Hunzhen, seeing that everything was unfolding as he had anticipated, grinned and laughed out loud.

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He looked up at the mysterious King of Ji above the clouds and sneered, "Playing tricks like this, it's because of ignorant fools like you standing at the top of the country that Ji has fallen to this state!"

"Shameless thieves from the Shang Kingdom!"

The King of Ji Kingdom still didn't forget to splash dirty water, roaring as he transformed into thunder and descended from the sky, determined to completely obliterate Hunzhen, who bore the infamy of being a spy.

"A spy? Can the Shang Kingdom afford a spy like me? Don't treat us like fools, okay?"

With a cold laugh, Hunzhen's eyes flashed with a gray light, and the ultimate void power on his body rose and condensed.

"Space-Time Rift Strike!"

He unleashed a powerful, compressed strike directly at the ruler of the Ji Kingdom!

With this strike, the space on the martial arts stage, which had been compressed to its extreme, shattered completely, creating a terrifying spacetime storm!

"What—impossible!?"

Feeling that terrifying and awe-inspiring power, the King of Ji Kingdom's eyes widened in horror.

The unimaginable power made him immediately want to abandon his dignity as a god-king and gave rise to the idea of ​​running away.

But it was too late.

At this moment, Hunzhen is not observing the world from a single perspective.

What he opened was not the omniscient vision, but... a superdimensional vision that is even above the omniscient vision!

This means that Hunzhen's all-out attack at this moment is a true attack from a peak God-King!

If the ruler of Ji Kingdom had been prepared, he would not have been defeated in one blow. The difference between a peak God King and a God King is not as insurmountable as the gap between a God Lord and a God King.

However, at this moment, the King of Ji Kingdom made the same mistake as Xuan Yuzi just now. He was caught off guard and faced Hunzhen's terrifying move!

In an instant, the ruler of a nation, the body of a god, was utterly and absurdly reduced to ashes.

Under Hunzhen's deliberate control, this scene was presented to the eyes of countless citizens of the Ji Kingdom without distortion.

Whether they feel hatred, reverence, or fear afterward, it is inevitable that they will have a deep memory of Hunzhen.

Hunzhen knew that ending things so casually might lead many people to believe that the King of Ji Kingdom had not actually died, or that the king was just an avatar.

So he remained standing on the training platform, shaking his head and muttering to himself, "Why bother? Can't I just admit defeat? Is the God King's face really that important, important enough to make you give up your life?"

He turned to face the "camera" and said with a regretful expression, "Friends of Ji Kingdom, as you saw, it was your king who first tried to cheat me, trying to bully me and kill me. I had no choice but to retaliate!"

"Also, I'm not some old monster! I didn't intentionally try to frame him; I just wanted to get on the list! Look up at the sky yourselves; you can see my title is already there, so you know I wasn't lying!"

"That's it, bye-bye~".

After saying that, Hunzhen waved his hand and turned off the synchronized projection.

Meanwhile, the people of Ji Kingdom were still in shock and confusion.

Someone spoke up with disgust: "What on earth is this guy talking about? What does having his title listed prove?"

An old man sighed, stepped forward, and patted the man on the shoulder: "His title has already proven...we've actually accepted his statement. Go and see!"

The young man who was patted on the shoulder was stunned for a moment, then suddenly looked up and focused his thoughts on the Hunyuan Heavenly Ranking, where he saw the astonishing name that had just appeared at the end of the list—"The Strongest Person Below the God King".

The young man was stunned, but couldn't help but sigh with relief.

A Saint-level being capable of defeating a God-King in a single move is probably unprecedented and unparalleled, truly the "strongest below the God-King."

……

The strongest being below the God-King—such an astonishing title immediately attracted the attention of countless people upon its appearance.

This is unlikely to attract attention.

The strongest being below the God-King does not necessarily mean being inferior to the God-King.

With just a little thought, one can tell that this is a title greater than that of an ordinary god-king!

Countless records describe him as an invincible figure among holy kings, capable of directly confronting god-kings.

However, the invincible Holy King is not an isolated case.

In other words, those at the Saint level, who are below the God-King level, even if they are monstrous talents who can directly contend with the God-King, still cannot be called "the strongest below the God-King".

Therefore, when countless people saw this title being created, their first reaction was that something had gone wrong or become a bug.

But they quickly realized what was happening.

Being able to obtain an honorific title and be listed on the Hunyuan Heavenly Ranking means that this person has gained widespread recognition and affirmation as "the strongest below the God King" among at least the citizens of a nation.

If this is wrong, then the person possesses an astonishing ability to deceive an entire nation!

Whether it's a deception or genuine ability, it means that the person who receives this title should not be underestimated!

And soon enough, not long after, they confirmed the truth...

There's no other reason than that the Ji Kingdom and the Shang Kingdom have been enemies for generations, so naturally there are many Shang spies within the Ji Kingdom.

The most anxious person to confirm the death of the King of Ji was naturally the King of Shang.

The enemy state has most likely just lost its ruler, so it's impossible for the Shang state not to be eager to make a move.

They launched a direct war to seize territory.

Using its own resources and leveraging the advantages of war, the Shang Kingdom confirmed the death of the Ji Kingdom's ruler before anyone else.

then……

The joyous news spread that Hunzhen had instantly killed the ruler of Ji Kingdom, greatly damaging Ji Kingdom's prestige.

Because of the struggle for beliefs among all living beings, the Hunyuan Heavenly Ranking governs information control in each country.

However, the lower levels of society had no way of knowing this information, in order to prevent the beliefs of the masses from being divided up. But the top leaders of the country naturally found out and confirmed it as quickly as possible, and listed Hunzhen as the most dangerous person.

However, with Hunzhen's speed, spacetime capabilities, and simulation prediction, he identified the next suitable target early on.

With lightning speed, he captured the faith of all beings in the second kingdom. (End of Chapter)