Chapter 647: Before the Genius Competition
There are few restrictions on signing up for the Junior Main Plane Genius Competition. As long as one has reached the Star Sea level of cultivation, they can register without any cost. Most importantly, this competition is not limited to humans; beasts and other races can also participate. In the Junior Main Plane, those at the Star Sea level account for nearly 20% of the total population, which is why so many people sign up.
However, this doesn’t mean that everyone at the Star Sea level will come to compete. Among the spectators are strong warriors from the Intermediate or Advanced Main Planes. As a result, many who know their strength is insufficient hesitate to step onto the stage.
Ye Feng and his group waited in line for two days and nights just to register, which left him speechless. If it weren’t for the ten days of enlightenment, he wouldn’t have wasted time here.
Eight members of Ye Feng’s group signed up to compete: Ye Feng, Long Tian, Zhen Zhu, Bai Yiyi, Xiao Yu, Xiao Bei, Shi Tou, and Qing Wen. As for those who didn’t compete, either their cultivation level was too high or too low. Ye Feng decided to have them act as cheerleaders. Everyone who had been trapped in the Absolute Martial Ark for over 100 million years was also happy to take a break during these days. Even Jin Wen, Luo Yan, and Jin Ling’er put aside their cultivation to watch the matches.
The rules for the preliminary round were simple. With over 330 million participants, the organizers prepared 10,000 enormous battle arenas. Thirty-three thousand people entered each arena, and the top 100 who remained standing were considered winners of the preliminary round.
The elimination rate was astonishing—only one winner would be chosen from every 330 people. Still, under normal circumstances, millions would pass through the preliminary round.
The grouping for each arena was also simple: it was done through random drawing. Every consecutive 33,000 numbers went into the same arena. Numbers 1 to 33,000 were in Arena 1, 33,001 to 66,000 in Arena 2, and so on. The last arena housed everyone who remained.
The rules for the preliminary round clearly stated that participants could kill other strong opponents and take the loot left on their bodies. The only requirement was that all battles must be fought independently; teaming up to attack enemies was not allowed. Anyone caught doing so would have their eligibility revoked immediately.
“This is quite interesting. The success rate is only one in three hundred and thirty. It’s hard for those with real strength to make it to the top, but it’s not that difficult to rank among the top hundred, after all, there are a hundred spots available.” Ye Feng quickly saw the advantages of this competition method.
He calmly queued up to draw his random number, which turned out to be three hundred and thirty million—meaning Ye Feng was the last participant in the arena. The last arena had the largest number of participants, so the competition there was relatively fiercer than in the others. But for Ye Feng, it made no difference.
There was no way to cheat in this random number drawing either, as the entire drawing box was surrounded by restrictions that completely blocked the soul powers of those at the False Void level from detecting anything, let alone those at the Star Sea level.
“What’s your number?” Long Tian and the others quickly got their numbers as well, and they gathered together to ask each other.
“My number is three hundred million!” Ye Feng showed his number—two threes followed by seven zeros.
“The last arena?” Long Tian and the others reacted that way upon seeing the number.
“Mm-hm,” Ye Feng nodded.
“Hehe, I’m in the first arena,” Best said, revealing his number, which was twenty-two.
“I’m in the tenth arena,” Long Tian also showed his number.
“Arena three thousand and thirteen…”
“Arena six thousand and eighty-eight…”
…
Ye Feng and the other eight were all in different arenas. After all, there were ten thousand arenas, so the chances of two of them ending up in the same arena were very low.
All of Ye Feng’s group was equipped with peak-grade spiritual treasures, so when they walked together, they attracted quite a few onlookers. A set of peak-grade spiritual treasures could be obtained by a Star Universe-level powerhouse with some effort. But eight sets required considerable resources. Moreover, these eight people were only at the Star Sea level, so they didn’t really need such high-quality equipment.
However, in Ye Feng’s eyes, they were already being low-key enough—it was good enough that they hadn’t brought out any false treasures. Of course, Ye Feng wouldn’t show any false treasures in such a situation; that would be foolish. After all, among the spectators were powerhouses from intermediate main planes. If they started competing for those treasures, Ye Feng’s current strength wasn’t enough to match them.
Over 300 million people participated in the competition. Just drawing random numbers for the preliminary rounds took three full days. During these three days, Ye Feng and the others also found out that those from intermediate or advanced main planes would not come to watch the preliminary rounds. After all, the number of participants was too large, and the time required was considerable. It was only when the top 100 from over 300 million people were selected that the strong ones from intermediate and advanced main planes would show up to watch.
Ye Feng and the others also learned that twelve strong individuals from intermediate main planes would come to watch this time, while it was still uncertain whether anyone from advanced main planes would attend.
Ye Feng was actually very curious about the strength level of the strong ones from intermediate and advanced main planes, and he was somewhat eager to find out.
As for the Genius Competition, Ye Feng didn’t take it too seriously. At present, aside from the insufficient strength of his energy, he could use all the techniques of a peak Star Realm warrior. If he went all out, defeating peak Universe Realm warriors would be no problem. Even without using his physical puppet, he was confident he could defeat those at the Pseudo-Void level.
However, there were many circulated materials about the participants of this Genius Competition. Of course, it was impossible to record the details of all over 300 million participants, and only the organizers of the competition had the registration forms. Even if such information were leaked, it couldn’t be fully disclosed. These materials were compiled by well-informed people in the Star Realm, containing information about some renowned Sea of Stars-level warriors in recent years. In fact, the list contained at most around 300 names, and it wasn’t even certain whether those people actually participated.
Ye Feng, Long Tian, and the others naturally had no interest in such things. But Pearl, driven by her curiosity, bought dozens of different versions, claiming to study her opponents, but actually just looking for gossip and rumors. Not only did Bai Yiyi, who was also a contestant, look through these materials with Pearl, but Long Yue and others also joined in.
Although there were over thirty versions of these materials, with each version compiled by 200 to 500 people, more than eighty individuals were mentioned in all thirty versions.
Pearl paid special attention to these people, but in the end, only eleven of them caught her interest. Of course, these eleven people posed no threat to Ye Feng and Long Tian, but they were quite strong opponents for Pearl.
Ye Feng also took a look at the eleven people selected by Pearl. Only two of them piqued his interest slightly. One of them was named Wei Tian, whose true form was an ancient fierce beast—the Vajra Strength Ape. The strength of this beast’s bloodline ranked it among the top twenty on the list of ancient fierce beasts. He had also been at the Star Sea level for quite some time. According to Ye Feng’s estimate, even if he faced a rock, he would still be capable of fighting it.
The other person who caught Ye Feng’s attention was a human swordmaster named Qiu Duanhun. The description mentioned that he was proficient in sword arts techniques, which made Ye Feng think of him as an extraordinary talent. To master sword arts techniques at the Star Sea level clearly meant not just having a strong connection with the laws of the universe, but also having reached an ultimate level of expertise in swordsmanship. Ye Feng estimated that this man’s strength might be enough to cause trouble for Long Tian. As for Pearl and the others, their chances of winning against him were likely slim.