A low, resonant hum vibrated through the vacuum.
The pillars of light that had been radiating in all directions vanished simultaneously. In their place, the massive spatial rift finally tore wide open, yawning like a hungry maw waiting to receive the gathered masses.
The raucous, bustling starry sky fell into an instant, heavy silence.
The treasures within were secondary to the inheritances. Even for those who failed to advance in the trials, the cultivation techniques and martial arts manuals found here were tangible prizes. Once obtained, they could be practiced in the real world.
Ninety-nine percent of the Universal Class cultivators present hailed from low-tier civilizations. The techniques they practiced were often capped at Tier 8 or 9. For soone who had struggled to reach the Universal Class using a Tier 8 manual, obtaining a Tier 11 or 12 technique was a life-altering event; it represented a genuine path to becoming a powerful Domain Lord.
Consequently, the Genius Trials were more than just a feast for the elite; they were the ultimate hope for low-level civilizations to break their evolutionary limits. Many participants ca from worlds no more advanced than 21st-century Earth—primitive Tier 1 civilizations. A single high-level cultivation thod could catapult their entire civilization's progress forward by millennia.
Every person there possessed a death-defying resolve to seize those inheritances. If they succeeded, it was a miracle; if they failed, they would likely die anyway, but they had to try. As for advancing to the next round? They didn't even dream of it. Those spots were reserved for the monsters on the Universal God-Realm Leaderboard. The rest were just here for the scraps.
"Ti to set the stage," Lance murmured.
He had already lted into the dense, black mass of the crowd. With a flick of his wrist, he withdrew the formation flags for the Twin Immortal-Slaying Array. He didn't hesitate, thrusting the array bases directly into the heart of the crowd near the Secret Realm’s entrance.
A ripple pulsed through the surrounding space as the formation embedded itself into the fabric of the void.
"At full power, this can cover a radius of three hundred light-years," Lance noted, his brow arching slightly as he surveyed the throng. The sheer number of Universal Class experts was staggering—easily numbering in the quintillions. Between the humanoid cultivators and the gargantuan Void Beasts, the crowd was so vast that even a three-hundred-light-year radius couldn't encompass them all.
Lance’s eyes flickered with a cold, calculating light.
"If I can't catch them all in one go, I’ll just kill whoever steps inside. It’ll save energy anyway."
He didn't dwell on it. He wasn't collecting this massive amount of CON—Death Energy—for his own cultivation. While the death energy from World Lord Class beings was gathered at a terrifying rate, it paled in comparison to what he could get from Domain Lords. He needed this specific pool of energy to fuel his Destruction Spear.
The spear was a Tier 15 weapon, capable of slaying even Immortal Class beings, but its primary drawback was its insatiable thirst for power. His previous pool of quadrillions of energy units was of a lower grade than the death energy he was currently harvesting. If he funneled all his current reserves into the spear, he could likely unleash a strike capable of obliterating a God-King.
Collecting more now was simply an insurance policy for the future. If he slaughtered a hundred quadrillion souls here, he would have enough death energy to threaten an Immortal Grade powerhouse. Later, he would repeat the process in the more lucrative Domain Lord Class arenas. By then, even if several Immortal Grade experts ca for him, he could strike them down. And even if the recoil of such an attack killed him, he could always resurrect.
"The Secret Realm is open! Charge!" a Universal Class expert roared.
The stalemate shattered. The cultivator lunged toward the rift, knowing that if he went alone, he would be pulverized. But his cry acted as a catalyst. The massive crowd, previously hesitant, erupted into a violent frenzy. Like a dam bursting, the flood of Universal Class experts surged forward.
BOOM!
The first clash erupted instantly.
Explosions of energy rocked the void as the crowd turned into a at grinder. Everyone fought for a better position, desperate to be among the first to enter.
Lance, however, was a ghost in the machine. Hidden within the folds of the void, he drifted past the warring factions, unnoticed by the chaotic mob.
The mont he crossed the threshold, he found himself suspended high above a colossal landmass. Countless magnificent palaces and sprawling temple complexes dotted the continent below.
The world within the Secret Realm was ho to a native Tier 10 civilization. These people had lived and evolved on this continent since its creation, entirely unaware that their entire universe was rely a pocket dinsion belonging to a powerful being. To them, the massive rift tearing through their sky was a cataclysmic on, sending shockwaves of terror through their strongest experts.
In the real world, the consciousness of these inhabitants had been selected to join the Virtual Universe. However, the versions currently inhabiting this Secret Realm were rely data copies—simulated entities generated by the Virtual Universe for the trials. They possessed real mories and real emotions, but they were unaware of their nature as digital clones or that the Genius Trials were even taking place.
To put it bluntly, they were "fake" people living real lives. After the trials concluded, they would either be deleted or preserved as NPCs in the Virtual Universe’s living sectors, serving as whetstones for the galaxy's warriors to hone their skills.
As expected, the virtual natives were paralyzed with terror the mont the tide of Universal Class powerhouses surged into their world. Their civilization’s strongest protector was a re Universal Class First Stratum; against any one of these invaders, they were nothing more than insects waiting to be crushed.
Now, those very powerhouses were pouring down like a Great Flood.
It didn't take long for total war to ignite, and the catalyst was utterly absurd.
A participant in the Genius Trials had cornered a Star Sea Realm native to demand the location of the inheritance. The native knew nothing. He was wiped from existence on the spot.
That single act of casual cruelty sparked the fury of the indigenous population, and the two sides instantly clashed.
In truth, the invaders were asking a pointless question. If these natives knew where the inheritance was hidden, would it still be there for the taking? But for the weak, being slaughtered was an inescapable destiny.
In a matter of minutes, a civilization that had thrived on this continent for hundreds of millions of years—one that had struggled tooth and nail to reach Tier 10—was systematically annihilated.
Not a single soul was left alive. Even if they were just digital copies, their consciousness had been real.
Lance, of course, was oblivious to the massacre.
The mont he entered the Secret Realm, he had bolted toward the coordinates of the highest-grade Void Core. Most of the "treasures" here were virtual; they were essentially just points, though they could be brought into the Virtual Universe for use after the Genius Trials concluded.
To Lance, however, fake items were useless. Anything resembling "ga gear" held no interest for him.
The Void Core was also a simulation, but its value lay in Lance’s ability to use it as a focal point for an array, allowing him to kill everyone in the outside world.
As one of the core inheritances of this realm, the Void Core was rated Tier 12 High-Grade, making its location exceptionally dangerous. It sat right beside the ultimate inheritance.
The inheritance wasn't hidden in so grand temple or mountain peak; it was deep beneath the crust of the continent.
"This is the place."
Lance stood before a small, unremarkable pond, a faint smirk playing on his lips.
Who would have guessed that on a continent spanning several light-years, the entrance to a Tier 12 inheritance would be a tiny pond?
"Wait..."
Lance’s brow furrowed. He sensed another presence, soone who—just like him—had arrived in total concealnt.
He looked up, watching as a girl drenched in blood descended from the sky, her expression cold as ice. Clearly, she had just waded through a sea of Universal Class corpses.
Because Lance was tucked away within a spatial rift, she didn't notice him.
As Lance watched curiously, the girl began to move her hands, weaving dozens of complex hand seals.
Hum—!
The small pond began to ripple and slowly part open.
Lance’s eyes widened in surprise. The girl’s soul wasn't a virtual construct. Despite being at the Universal Class Tenth Stratum, she was a real person from the physical world!
She isn't just another candidate? She knows the exact location of the Secret Realm’s inheritance?
No way... is it really that much of a coincidence? Is this girl actually a native of the real Secret Realm?
The thought flashed through Lance's mind. Calling it a coincidence was an understatent; it was damn near impossible.
The Genius Trials were massive. While a single Secret Realm might attract hundreds of millions of powerhouses, there were countless such realms scattered across the testing grounds.
Finding any specific World Lord Class Secret Realm in this infinite expanse was like finding a specific grain of sand in a desert—a one-in-a-trillion chance. To then have a survivor of that specific realm end up in its digital replica during the trials was beyond astronomical.
And yet, here she was.
"Only one way to find out if I’m right."
Driven by curiosity, Lance followed the girl into the opening. Monts later, the pond surface closed, vanishing as if it had never existed.
Inside, the two of them stood before a massive teleportation array.
The girl expertly perford dozens of hand seals, activating the array and punching in a specific set of coordinates.
Hum—!
The array roared to life.
That settles it. She even knows the coordinates, Lance thought, his eyes gleaming. Candidates weren't allowed to bring high-tech devices into the exam, aning no Universal Class expert could simply "find" the entrance to a Tier 12 inheritance, let alone know the exact spatial coordinates.
The only logical explanation was that she had already claid the true inheritance in the physical world.
"Teleportation sequence initiated. Occupant count: two."
The chanical voice of the array echoed through the chamber.
"Two?!"
Elara’s pupils constricted.
Before she could react, the array fired. Lance, still hidden in the rift, was swept away along with her.
Flash!
The two reappeared in a colossal subterranean space. In the distance, a gargantuan spaceship sat silently upon the bedrock. Its hull stretched for a staggering one trillion kiloters.
It was, without question, a Tier 12 vessel.
"Who’s there? Show yourself!" Elara shrieked, drawing her longsword and scanning the area with wild, alert eyes. "Lyra! Scan the area! Find the intruder!"
The teleportation array didn't make mistakes. Soone had followed her in, and she couldn't see them.
She scread the command into the void. Lyra was the A.I. of the Tier 12 ship.
She wasn't just a candidate; in the real world, she was the last survivor of this Secret Realm.
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