In the Yu Xiang Mountain Primal Secret Realm, within a manor's study.
Swish!
A white light flashed, and Ender, who appeared in the study, took two steps back and plopped down onto the sofa.
"Little Dawn, apply to watch the Pinnacle Genius Battle live broadcast," he softly called out.
With Ender's current Rank of authority, comparable to a Pinnacle Stage King-Level Immortal, he had the authority to watch the Pinnacle Genius Battle live broadcast.
As his words fell, Little Dawn, the little elf only about twenty centimeters tall, with faintly glowing eyes, appeared out of thin air in the study.
"Applying now..." Little Dawn's pleasant voice rang out, "The application to watch the Pinnacle Genius Battle live broadcast has been approved."
Buzz!
A light screen unfolded before Ender, displaying a text explaining the rules for the 'Battle Ground Preliminaries' of this Pinnacle Genius Battle.
...
In the Genius Battle Space, on the beautiful plaza.
Venerable Jin Mu, a tiger-man dressed in dazzling golden armor, floated in the sky above the plaza.
Although he appeared in this space, he seemed to exist independently of it, out of sync with the entire space.
Below on the plaza were over a million Geniuses from the 1004 Universe Country, along with 1004 Immortal Team Leaders.
Boom!
An incomparably terrifying pressure suddenly surged forth, centered on Venerable Jin Mu in the sky, spreading downwards to oppress the entire plaza, a dreadful pressure that filled hearts with fear.
Not to mention the millions of Stellar Rank Geniuses, even the Immortal Team Leaders felt considerable pressure, as the level of this Genius Battle was simply too low.
"Geniuses from the 1004 Universe Country, welcome to the Pinnacle Genius Battle hosted by the Huge Axe Dojo."
Just then, Venerable Jin Mu, standing in the sky as if independent of this space, spoke: "Although each of you has fought your way out from countless Geniuses in your respective Universe Countries, the total number of Geniuses in the 1004 Universe Country exceeds one million."
"And the Huge Axe Dojo will only recruit the strong, so only 1,000 of you will be able to stand out and enter the Core Region of the Huge Axe Dojo for cultivation."
"First, there will be preliminaries. Only 6100 of you million people can advance to the next stage of the competition."
"The preliminary rules are as follows."
"You will each enter a 'Trial Space' shortly. the Huge Axe Dojo has prepared over a million Trial Spaces for you, one for each person."
...
"In each of the five Battle Grounds, there will be ten waves of enemies. Once one wave of enemies is eliminated, the next wave will appear."
In the manor's study, Ender sat on the sofa, gazing at the light screen before him, and softly murmured, "If a wave of enemies is not eliminated within five days, the next wave will appear after the five-day period expires, attacking the trial participant simultaneously."
"Aside from the enemies and some rule changes, this Pinnacle Genius Battle hosted by the Huge Axe Dojo is generally similar to the Trial Tower preliminaries of the previous session."
"Clearing each wave of enemies in the first Battle Ground earns 1,000 points. For subsequent Battle Grounds, the points will be 10 times that of the previous Battle Ground."
"The top 1 to 100 in the total points ranking will directly enter the Universe's top 1,000. The remaining 101 to 6100 will proceed to the subsequent Reincarnation battles."
Seeing this, Ender shook his head slightly, "Compared to the previous Pinnacle Genius Battle, this Genius Battle hosted by the Huge Axe Dojo prefers to use Reincarnation battles to select the strong."
The previous Genius Battle was selected by the Virtual Universe System, choosing the optimal matchups and the strongest candidates.
However, this session, the Huge Axe Dojo prefers Reincarnation battles, perhaps believing it's the best way to select Geniuses with comprehensive strength.
"Hmm... the Battle Ground preliminaries have begun."
While Ender was still pondering, the image on the light screen suddenly changed.
The text explaining the preliminary rules disappeared, replaced by an interface with multiple options and a points ranking.
In addition, there were eight live broadcast screens, showing the Trial Space live broadcasts of eight participants.
"Additional projection, display the Trial live broadcasts of Eric Royce, Gerry Royce, and Arthur Royce."
As Ender spoke, the image on the light screen changed, and at the same time, three more light screens were projected.
These three newly appeared light screens were broadcasting the Trial Space live streams of Big Brother, Thirteen, and Nineteen.
Ender, multitasking, watched the three light screens simultaneously, "Oh... they've already dealt with the first wave of enemies?"
Watching Nineteen use his twin swords, rapidly eliminating enemies while simultaneously employing the 'Thousand Illusion Body' movement technique to evade attacks and leave behind illusory figures to deceive foes.
He praised, "Nineteen's twin swordsmanship is good, and his 'Thousand Illusion Body' has already reached the introductory level. His Time Law talent seems to be quite good."
"Hmm?" Subsequently, Ender's face showed surprise, "Big Brother's swordsmanship and movement technique?"
"That shouldn't be... Big Brother's swordsmanship and movement technique shouldn't be about the same level as Thirteen's?"
He was somewhat puzzled, "Otherwise, when the two of them competed, it wouldn't have been a fifty-fifty split in wins and losses."
On the light screen.
Eric, wielding a greatsword, was incredibly formidable!
Wherever his greatsword passed, space seemed to burn with flames. At the same time, his movement technique was like flames dancing in the wind, remaining unharmed under the encirclement of dozens of Demon Beasts, and even counterattacking while evading damage.
"If I'm not mistaken, Big Brother has been hiding his strength... probably afraid of discouraging Thirteen."
Ender's face showed understanding, "Logically, Thirteen, who underwent Possession of a Flame Star Beast, should have the highest talent among the three of them, but the result is that he's the weakest among the three."
"When did Big Brother comprehend the Origin of Fire Law? After entering the Molten Rock Secret Realm, or before?"
He pondered for a moment, mumbling, "Perhaps, the time he comprehended the Origin of Fire Law is even further back than I imagined."
From his perspective, Big Brother Eric's current Law comprehension has likely crossed the threshold of the Origin of Fire Law, making him qualified to contend for a spot in the Universe's top 1,000, or even higher!
Ender softly sighed, "Big Brother hides himself quite deeply!"
...
In the Genius Battle Space, on the beautiful plaza.
The 1004 Immortal Team Leaders sat in groups of two or three on the chairs at the plaza's edge, chatting and watching the Genius Battle live broadcast.
"Kou Ji, your Ganwu Universe Country hides itself quite deeply!"
"Yes, Kou Ji. I didn't expect that your Ganwu Universe Country, besides Arthur Royce, would actually have another person whose Law comprehension has reached the Law threshold."
"Kou Ji has made a fortune in the past ten thousand years. The previous session had Ender, an unparalleled Prodigy. Although this session doesn't have a Prodigy of the same Rank, there are two Geniuses who can enter the Core Region of the Huge Axe Dojo."
Upon seeing Eric's performance, the Immortals, while sighing, also congratulated Military Lord Kou Ji on the reward he was about to receive from Lord of Ganwu.
"I didn't expect that among these 1,000 youngsters, there would actually be someone I overlooked."
Listening to the words of the Immortals, Military Lord Kou Ji smiled and nodded, a hint of surprise in his eyes, "Eh... isn't this Ender's older brother, Eric Royce? How could he possess such strength?"
At this moment, Military Lord Kou Ji was quite puzzled. He had paid attention to Ender's three brothers, but the only one who truly caught his eye was Arthur Royce, who had comprehended the Time Law.
The other two, though they had comprehended the Origin of Fire Law, had only grasped a mere trace of it.
There were over four hundred participants in this session's Ganwu Universe Country Genius Battle with that level of Law comprehension.
"What was his number plate again... Number 2?"
Military Lord Kou Ji recalled for a moment, then seemed to realize, "In this Genius Battle, except for number plate 1 which I assigned, the others seemed to be automatically assigned by the Virtual Universe System."
"Is there a possibility?"
Thinking of this, Military Lord Kou Ji was inwardly stunned, "This Eric Royce's strength..."
Suddenly.
An Immortal spoke, "Kou Ji, this Genius hidden by your Ganwu Universe Country, he seems to be Ender's older brother, right?"
One stone stirred a thousand waves.
"Ender's older brother? No way?"
"It's true! He's Ender's older brother—Eric Royce."
"Good heavens, an obscure small Family has actually produced three Geniuses capable of entering the five Leviathans of Humanity' Core Region within ten thousand years!"
"It seems the rise of the Royce Family is unstoppable. With so many Geniuses born, it will become a Pinnacle-Level Immortal Family in the future."
When the words of this Immortal fell, the other Immortals, after careful observation, couldn't help but discuss and exclaim.
For their own Family to have even one person enter the Core Region of the five Leviathans of Humanity would be enough to make them exceedingly joyful, worthy of a nationwide celebration in a primary or intermediate universe country.
But now, an obscure small Family had produced so many Geniuses, filling them with envy while they sighed in admiration.
"I'm not very clear either..."
After the Immortals finished exclaiming, Military Lord Kou Ji shook his head slightly with some helplessness, saying, "Eric Royce must have made progress within the eight years after passing the Universe Country preliminaries."
An Immortal nodded slightly upon hearing this, "That's true. If he had this strength from the beginning, we would definitely have collected his information."
"That's not necessarily true, what if he was hiding his strength?" another Immortal retorted.
"Who would hide their strength for no reason? The stage of the Genius Battle is for showcasing strength; only then will you gain attention from more forces and powerful individuals."
"That's hard to say..."
The two Immortals argued for a few sentences, then resumed chatting with the other Immortals.
...
"Judging by the strength Big Brother and Nineteen have shown so far, their entry into the top 6100 is basically secured, and they even have hope of breaking into the top 100 in points."
In the study, Ender multitasked, watching the Trial Space live broadcasts on the three light screens.
"Thirteen has no chance of entering the next stage of the Reincarnation battle."
When he saw Thirteen's live broadcast screen, he sighed softly, "His secret technique is fine in terms of attack, but it has many flaws in terms of movement."
"The first two Battle Grounds were fine; the enemies were very weak, so the flaws in his movement technique wouldn't be too exposed."
Ender quietly commented, "Starting from the third Battle Ground, the strength of each wave of enemies increases significantly. 90% of the participants who passed the first two Battle Grounds will be defeated by the first wave of enemies in the third Battle Ground."
Just as he had predicted, when Thirteen passed the second Battle Ground and entered the third Battle Ground, facing the first wave of a thousand Azure-Eyed Wolves.
After he exerted all his strength to kill over a hundred Azure-Eyed Wolves, he was injured due to his inadequate movement technique. Soon, the Azure-Eyed Wolves swarmed him, surrounding and eliminating him from the competition.
"Thirteen's strength isn't strong enough, so being eliminated in the first wave of the third Battle Ground is unavoidable."
Ender shook his head slightly, sighing, "Although Thirteen cannot enter the Huge Axe Dojo's Core Region, he can still enter the Dry Witch Secret Realm of the Ganwu Universe Country, and he still has hope of becoming an Immortal in the future."
Ender was highly confident in Thirteen becoming an Immortal, not only because of his Law comprehension talent after undergoing Possession of a Flame Star Beast, but also because Space Beasts have ten times the lifespan of ordinary beings!
Even if his Soul couldn't sustain a hundred million years of life, he would still have the tens of millions of years of life of a normal World Master, which should be enough to comprehend a lower Law.
Coupled with the treasures Ender would provide in the future, his probability of breaking through to Immortal would greatly increase. If, even under such circumstances, he still couldn't break through to Immortal, then one could only say it was his fate.
Ender remembered that in the original work, Venerable Fire Erosion's foolish son, King Nightmare Candle, whose talent might even be inferior to Thirteen's, also successfully broke through to Immortal with the help of his father's treasures.
Moreover, once he became Immortal, he was a Marquis-level Immortal, and subsequently became a King-level Immortal, even becoming one of the Five Great Managers of a trash Starfield.
"Thirteen has been eliminated. Now, it's up to Big Brother and Nineteen."
As the light screen broadcasting Thirteen's Battle Ground challenge closed, Ender immediately focused his attention on the remaining two light screens.
Compared to Thirteen, Big Brother Eric and Nineteen had a much easier time challenging the third Battle Ground.
Currently, both of them had reached the seventh wave of the third Battle Ground.
Facing the attack of 100 Mechanical Puppets in the seventh wave, both of them used their respective methods to fight the Mechanical Puppets and did not show any signs of decline.
"Given their current strength, they will likely be able to advance to the fourth Battle Ground. As for how many waves they can clear, that depends on the difficulty of that Battle Ground."
"It's a good thing that after each wave of enemies is eliminated, the trial participant's state is immediately restored to optimal. Otherwise, if they had to face the next wave of opponents in a less-than-perfect state, probably no one would be able to reach the fourth Battle Ground."
Ender continued watching, and as time passed, both of them eventually successfully passed the tenth wave of the third Battle Ground.
Subsequently, Nineteen entered the fourth Battle Ground first.
The first wave of the fourth Battle Ground, 1,000 Azure-Eyed Wolves, were extremely formidable, even stronger than the Bloodhair Mammoths on the first level of the five Trial Towers in the previous session.
Rumble!
All 1,000 Azure-Eyed Wolves possessed their own Domain. They leaped and ran, surging into the arena from various entrances of the Battle Ground.
Although the Battle Ground was vast, the Azure-Eyed Wolves surging from all directions quickly surrounded Nineteen.
Even though he fought hard and used his movement technique to dodge, he was still quickly engulfed by the wolf pack.
After Nineteen was eliminated, Ender felt it was a pity, "What a shame, Nineteen couldn't enter the top 100. He still needs to go through a round of Reincarnation battles."
Nineteen's current Rank was 131, very close to the top 100, though this was only a temporary ranking.
Subsequently, Big Brother Eric also entered the fourth Battle Ground. However, his strength was slightly greater than Nineteen's, and he successfully passed the first wave by eliminating all the Azure-Eyed Wolves.
Although he was eliminated in the third wave, his points was enough to place him in the top 100, so he did not need to participate in the first round of Reincarnation battles.
"It's over."
After Big Brother Eric was eliminated, Ender softly said, "Next, whether Nineteen can enter the Huge Axe Dojo's Core Region will depend on his performance in the first round of Reincarnation battles."