From the Metropolis to the Strongest in the Cosmos

Registration was over. The competition would be held one day later.

A day passed in the blink of an eye. When the time for the competition arrived, Li Yang’s figure flickered and he entered the Virtual World.

With so many inhabited planets separated by vast distances, the competition was naturally held in the Virtual World.

”Li Yang, it’s all up to you now. I can only barely defeat the virtual human on Hard Mode. Out of 130 million people, there’s no way I can make it into the top 10,000. I won’t pass the second round.”

Shen Xuan said, ”You have a great chance.”

Shen Xuan knew his own strength. Since he was participating, he was confident he could pass the first round. But out of 130 million participants, only 10,000 would be selected to advance to the third round and compete against the geniuses from the other factions of Deities.

Those 10,000 would absolutely be at the peak level of skill. Shen Xuan knew he couldn’t pass.

Hearing this, Li Yang quickly replied, ”Big Brother, the second round is a battle. Skill is only one factor. Maybe you’ll be able to pass.”

”Haha, I suppose that’s possible.”

Shen Xuan chuckled and said, ”Then let’s both give it our all!”

His own strength wasn’t enough, but Li Yang’s was. There was a very high chance he would be recruited by the Yangyuan Empire.

And if he was recruited, Earth’s crisis would be solved instantly.

As they were speaking, a sudden ripple of energy enveloped them.

”The competition is starting!”

Li Yang and Shen Xuan exchanged a look, and then their figures vanished.

When he reappeared, Li Yang found himself in an empty space.

Within the space, there was only a single virtual human. This was the Hard Mode virtual human, and defeating it was the requirement to pass this round.

There were far too many Cultivators at the Law Realm. If there were no restrictions and everyone could register, the number of participants would be unimaginable.

Thus, the first round imposed a fitting restriction: if you didn’t possess a certain level of strength, you weren’t qualified to participate.

’I can’t waste any time,’ he thought. ’The more power I display, the more attention I’ll attract.’

Right now, numerous major powers were surely watching.

Even if he wasn’t ultimately recruited by the Yangyuan Empire, if he showed enough potential, other factions might take notice.

SWOOSH!

With a swing of his spear, Li Yang insta-killed the virtual human!

...

In the outside world, countless people were watching the genius selection.

The major powers of the Milky Way Galaxy were also paying close attention. They weren’t as strong as the Yangyuan Empire, and they were interested in the geniuses that the Empire might overlook.

”Pay attention to the clearing times of the geniuses in the first round!”

”The shorter the time, the stronger the participant.”

”As long as they appear on the top of the list, if they aren’t recruited by the Yangyuan Empire later, we’ll recruit them!”

Numerous factions were watching intently.

On Earth, Li Guohai, Zhao Rou, Zhou Yao, and the others were also watching.

Besides them, Shao Jie and the others from the Celestial Origin Palace were there as well. They knew that both Li Yang and Shen Xuan had entered the Yangyuan Empire’s genius selection.

The Yangyuan Empire was the ruler of the Yangyuan Star Continent, and rumor had it they possessed an unknown number of experts at the level of Deities!

”Li Yang and the Boss will definitely pass the first round!”

”They have to.”

Shao Jie and the others watched in anticipation.

If Li Yang and Shen Xuan could get into the Yangyuan Empire, Earth’s rise would be assured!

As they all watched, Zhao Rou couldn’t help but ask, ”Brother Hai, will the names of those who pass the first round of the genius selection appear on this list?”

She was looking at a list before them, where names were constantly appearing one after another!

These were clearly all people who could insta-kill the Hard Mode virtual human.

Li Guohai smiled and nodded. ”That’s right.”

Just as he finished speaking, he suddenly looked at the list, a joyful expression on his face. ”It’s Yangyang!”

At that moment, Li Yang’s name had appeared on the list!

191. Li Yang: Citizen of the Milky Way Galaxy

Origin: Earth

Li Yang was ranked 191st.

”Li Yang’s name appeared.”

”Haha, out of hundreds of millions of geniuses from over a thousand galaxies including the Milky Way, Li Yang is ranked 191st.”

When Shao Jie and the others saw the name, their faces were filled with excitement.

It wasn’t just them. Many others throughout the Milky Way Galaxy noticed Li Yang’s name at once.

”Who is Li Yang?”

”What kind of planet is Earth? How have I never heard of it?”

”I looked it up. Earth was previously a Planet Zero. It’s been less than a year since they made contact with the Cosmos.”

”A genius from a Planet Zero!”

”Keep an eye on this Li Yang. Let’s see how he performs in the next two rounds. If he does well and isn’t recruited by the Yangyuan Empire, we’ll recruit him immediately!”

In an instant, several factions had taken notice of Li Yang’s name. They quickly gathered his information and prepared to pay special attention to him going forward.

’Rank 191?’

The first round ended. Li Yang looked at his ranking and a smile touched his lips.

”Yangyang.” From nearby, Li Guohai and Zhao Rou quickly walked over.

Shao Jie and the others were also filled with excitement.

”Haha, Li Yang, you’re incredible.”

”Top two hundred out of more than a thousand galaxies!”

Everyone was talking excitedly. Three minutes later, Shen Xuan also emerged, having passed the first round with a rank of 970,000.

”Big Brother.”

Seeing Shen Xuan, the crowd gathered around him as well.

”Li Yang, we both passed the first round. The second round is in three days. I won’t say more. I’m heading to the Virtual Combat Space.”

Shen Xuan was decisive, wasting no time before leaving.

He knew it would be difficult for him to pass the second round, but he still had some time to improve his strength.

Li Yang didn’t waste any time either. After a quick word with his family, he also entered the Virtual Combat Space to prepare for the upcoming second round.

...

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

In the Virtual Combat Space, a young man was locked in a frantic battle with virtual humans. A closer look revealed a total of one hundred of them! And all these virtual humans were at Hell Mode, equivalent to the Early Longevity Realm!

Looking closely at the young man’s face, it was none other than the peerless genius of the Yuanlan Clan, Tianluo, who had long since been recruited by the Yangyuan Empire.

At this moment, Tianluo was fighting the one hundred virtual humans without being at any disadvantage. In less than a minute, he had killed them all!

After killing them, Tianluo exited the Virtual Combat Space.

Someone was already waiting there for him—it was Jin Mola.

”What is it?” Young Master Tianluo glanced at Jin Mola and asked coolly.

”Young Master Tianluo.”

Jin Mola said with utmost respect, ”We just received news. The genius selection for the Yangyuan Empire has concluded in the Golden Moon Empire’s region. Li Yang passed the first round, and he ranked 179th.”

”Rank 179?”

Hearing this, Young Master Tianluo frowned slightly.

To be ranked so high meant that Li Yang had the strength to insta-kill the Hard Mode virtual human!

With that kind of strength, it was possible for him to pass the second and even the third round. Perhaps Li Yang could even end up among the top 100,000 geniuses in the Yangyuan Empire’s final rankings.