Swallowing the Stars: Starting with the Battle of Geniuses

Chapter 68 Four and a Half Years Later (Seeking First Subscription!)

More than four and a half years have passed since the conclusion of the preliminary rounds in the Universe Nation, but the popularity of the Peak Genius Battle has not diminished despite the temporary end of the competition. On the contrary, various discussions have become even more heated and passionate.

At the height of the Genius Battle's popularity, as the competition progresses, more and more emerging geniuses are coming into the public eye. The four and a half years since the preliminary rounds ended have been enough for onlookers who are always following the Genius Battle to thoroughly understand the geniuses of their respective universes.

In a corner of the Genius Battle section of a famous forum in the Noah Universe Kingdom's virtual universe, the discussions among onlookers about the contestants are getting increasingly heated.

Among the thousand contestants who qualified from the Noah Universe Kingdom, the strongest is undoubtedly Bolan, who swept aside all his rivals during the preliminary rounds!

He is also the contestant with the most fans among all contestants in the entire universe so far.

However, the second place discussed in the Noah Universe Forum is not so absolute.

Unlike the Qianwu Universe Kingdom, which only had two star players who outshone the rest, the Noah Universe Kingdom was more like a one-superpower-many-strong situation. (At this time, Rong Jun had not yet revealed his full strength, or rather, his ultimate move was still being perfected and he was in a period of rapid development; Luo Feng would only unleash his full power after the trial space. So you understand, in the eyes of the onlookers in other universe kingdoms, the level of these two was on the same level as the "many strong" of the Noah Universe Kingdom.)

Among the four players listed as "strongest", the one with the most popularity is naturally Hunzhen, who briefly fought against Bolan, who had "partial strength", in the World Qualifier.

Mystery creates a sense of distance, and a sense of distance inspires awe.

Logically speaking, since none of the others had met Berlan before, the general public believed that one shouldn't make conclusions without a fight. Even though Hunzhen displayed overwhelming strength in the subsequent arena battles, his fame and momentum should still be somewhat weaker than the others.

Unfortunately, some busybodies filmed the scene of him talking to Bolan at the end of the chaotic battle in the Hunzhen arena and uploaded it to the internet.

"In the Noah's Ark Universe National Competition, the only contestant truly valued by that 'Grim Reaper' is actually him!?"

As the most popular contestant in the Genius Battle, Hunzhen's "opportunity to rise sharply" naturally stemmed from his "match against Bolan".

But this also brought countless criticisms and condemnations.

The hottest post on this forum these past few days is—"The Flame Demon? He's nothing but a timid clown trying to ride on the coattails of my great Grim Reaper!"

It details how Hunzhen weakened Bolan by relying on the strength of others before daring to fight, as well as his deliberate concealment of his strength during the arena battles. Through numerous detailed analyses, it concludes that Hunzhen was outwardly strong but inwardly weak.

They also tagged another popular post from a few days ago that lavishly praised Hunzhen: "Hunzhen, the Flame Demon, undoubtedly second only to the First Person in the Noah Universe Kingdom!"

Within trending posts, the virtual universe system will also pin popular replies and discussions to the top based on internal algorithm analysis.

The most popular replies in this hot post were a war of words between the poster and a forum member with the ID "疾风迅雷" (Jifeng Xunlei).

'Swift as the Wind (Cat Emoji)': 'Who are you? What's your purpose in saying these things?! You're a contestant from our Noah Universe Kingdom, why are you slandering him like this, Flame Demon?'

Posted by 'ErAir Conditioner': "Hey, you're getting impatient! You wouldn't happen to be that guy who posted praising the Flame Demon, would you? You seem like the same person—equally childish writing style, equally shallow thinking. Are you all contestants from our Universe Nation? Which participant isn't fighting for a spot in the virtual universe? And you're bringing up the collective honor of the Universe Nation here? Are you kidding me?"

'Swift as the Wind (Cat Emoji)': 'I'm not in a hurry, and I didn't post that! I'm just an ordinary person, and I can't stand your way of putting it. The Flame Demon's strength is undeniable, so how come in your mouth he's become a paper tiger riding on Berlan's coattails to rise to power!?'

Posted by 'ErAir Conditioner': "The Flame Demon has already been leeching off my Great Death God's traffic, there's no way to defend him. He's just a guy who's barely at the threshold of the lower-level laws, I really don't know how you guys can hype him up so much? Aren't you afraid he'll fall flat on his face? I think you guys are the real Flame Demon haters trying to harm him, aren't you? LOL."

Posted by 'ErAirConditioner': "Too lazy to curse, it's a waste of my time, trash."

Passerby "Wangliangjun": "+1, I agree with the original poster. @'Swift Wind and Thunder (cat emoji)' Trash, let's watch how this guy who tried to scam the Flame Demon dies next (laughs)?"

"Ugh—Ayame, look at these comments, they're driving me crazy!"

In reality, on a desolate planet on the border of the Morning Star Empire, Yaqi, a gray-haired boy with the forum ID "Swift Wind and Thunder (Cat Emoji)," clutches his "phone," his eyes red with anger, his fur standing on end.

Ayano, who was debugging the spaceship, rolled her eyes: "Yachi, what's the point of arguing with them about this?"

Yaki snorted, shoved the phone in front of Ayano, and poked the screen, saying, "Look at this, look at how they're bashing the old man! Ayano, can you stand for this?"

"I don't understand strong or weak."

A-Yuan blinked: "Anyway, the Virtual Universe Company will give the rankings in the end. No matter how much you argue, it won't matter what conclusion they give."

"That's what I say, but I just can't swallow this insult."

In a fit of anger, Yachi immediately did a hundred push-ups.

He harbored a burning desire to see Hunzhen sweep aside his competitors and slap them in the face.

But he also knew in his heart that this was something beyond his control.

All we can do is hope: "Hey sir, give it your all!"

"Yachi, it's been years since we've seen Uncle?"

Suddenly, A-Yuan asked a question.

The latest novel is first published here!

"Hmm? It's been about five years, I haven't counted exactly."

Yachi didn't stop moving his body and responded casually.

Do you think we'll ever see the uncle again?

A-Yuan suddenly stopped what she was doing, lay down on the ground, looked at the starry sky, and widened her clear eyes: "Compared to Uncle, we are really far, far behind."

"snort."

Yachi did a somersault and pouted, "Who can say what the future holds? We're still so young, we have so much time ahead of us."

He looked up at the twinkling stars, his eyes filled with longing: "As long as we keep getting stronger, there must be hope of meeting again!"

"Yaki".

A-Yun stood up and said, "You said Uncle will join that virtual universe company? Why don't we give it a try too!?"

Yachi's eyes lit up upon hearing this: "Great! Perfect timing, this exploration mission is almost complete, let's give it a try! ...Hmm? The Virtual Universe Company sent a new email."

Yaqi picked up his phone and looked at it: "The next stage of the Genius Battle—Trial Space? What the heck?"

With the release of the Trial Space rules, the rise of the "Flame Demon," whose popularity was initially limited to the Noah Universe Kingdom, quickly exceeded everyone's expectations.

(End of this chapter)