High Martial: I Grind Professions

Chapter 543: Chapter 335: Demon Hand Hua Sha

Another three days passed in a flash.

It was now the tenth day since the first stage of the preliminaries had ended.

On Alka Star, and indeed across the entire Alka Empire,

The excitement for the Cosmic Peak Genius Tournament had barely cooled from the afterglow of the first stage,

Only to be instantly reignited, reaching a new high.

The reason was simple—tomorrow, the second stage of the preliminaries would officially kick off!

This second stage would take the one hundred thousand top geniuses who had fought their way out of eight trillion participants in the first stage,

And put them through another brutal round of selection, leaving only one thousand.

Only these one thousand would qualify for the third and final stage—the ranking finals, which would determine their final placement from first to one-thousandth.

Only by making it into this final thousand could they represent the Alka Empire

And step onto the grand stage of the Cosmic Peak Genius Tournament finals, where the greatest prodigies in all of human space would gather!

Although the number of contestants had plummeted from eight trillion to a mere one hundred thousand,

The caliber of this stage was far beyond that of the chaotic, thousand-world free-for-all of the first stage.

Every single person who had made it this far was an absolute cornerstone of their respective empires or powerful factions.

They were true paragons who had emerged victorious from a competition with trillions of contenders.

And the format for the upcoming matches pushed the brutality to its absolute limit: a cage free-for-all!

A thousand contestants on a single stage, locked in a battle to the death until only ten remained!

Right now, on the largest public forum in the Virtual Cosmos,

Discussions about the next day’s matches were surging like the tides of the Star Sea, instantly flooding all the trending topic lists.

”Tomorrow! The wait is finally over! I can’t wait to see Blood Slaughter Barton in action. All those so-called ’geniuses’ are going to look so pathetic in front of him!”

A post dripping with schadenfreude was upvoted to the very top.

”OP is right! I bet except for that tiny handful of monsters at the very top, everyone else is going to be like ants in front of Blood Slaughter Barton—no different from how we normal folks look to them!”

”’Geniuses?’ Hmph, there are geniuses, and then there are *geniuses*! Blood Slaughter Barton is so far ahead of the so-called competition it’s not even funny. The gap is in a league of its own.

I’d bet that in the entire Alka District, only Demon Hand Hua Sha, the guy in second place, could last for more than a few seconds against Barton. And even then, ’lasting’ is all he’d be doing.”

”Hey? Why is everyone just talking about Barton and Hua Sha? What about the guy in third, ’God of Slaughter’ Li Wen?

I’ve seen his file, the guy’s a total beast! A year ago, at a bone age of just forty, he reached the eighth level of the Heaven-Reaching Tower! How do you think he’d do against Blood Slaughter Barton?”

Someone steered the conversation toward the dark horse who had recently shot to fame.

”Li Wen? Tsk, is that even a question? Of course he’s no match for Blood Slaughter Barton! You said it yourself, his bone age was only forty a year ago.

Even if he spent every single day of the past year holed up in the Time Tower, his real bone age would be sixty at the absolute most.

With so little time spent cultivating, how could his foundation possibly compare to top-tier prodigies who’ve trained for over a century? Especially a monster like Barton!”

”It’s a real shame. This God of Slaughter Li Wen is definitely a top-tier talent. Give him a few more decades to cultivate and mature, and he might actually be able to challenge Blood Slaughter Barton. But right now... he’s just too green.”

”I disagree! Li Wen’s record was forged in blood and fire! Didn’t you guys see the replay of his climb to the top in World #13? That burst of power was just insane! I’m betting on him to be the dark horse!”

”A dark horse? In the face of absolute power, dark horses just get trampled. I could see him making the top ten, maybe even the top five. But challenging Barton? Dream on.”

On the forums, the debate over Li Wen’s true strength raged furiously.

His supporters praised his boundless potential and decisive, ruthless methods.

His detractors, however, were fixated on his youth and comparatively short time spent cultivating.

But regardless, the name ”God of Slaughter Li Wen” was now spoken in the same breath as ”Blood Slaughter Barton” and ”Demon Hand Hua Sha.”

He had become one of the most watched contestants in the Alka District’s tournament.

...

「The next day.」

Within the Virtual Cosmos, in a vast, boundless expanse of pure white space that had been temporarily created.

This was the staging area the Source Net had created exclusively for the one hundred thousand qualified contestants. It was solemn and empty.

Soft white lights flickered continuously throughout the space, each flash heralding the arrival of another contestant teleported to the area.

A large number of people had already gathered, some conversing in hushed tones, others meditating with their eyes closed.

An invisible tension, the palpable air of competition, filled the space.

As one of the white lights faded, a figure materialized.

It was Li Wen, with his black hair, serene face, and eyes as deep as an abyss.

”Look! It’s God of Slaughter Li Wen!”

”Gasp... He’s here! That monster who ranked third in the first stage!”

”According to the schedule, he’s not in any of the ten match groups today. I didn’t expect him to show up this early just to watch.”

Li Wen’s arrival instantly caused quite a stir in the staging area.

Countless gazes—some curious, some filled with a scrutinizing, warlike intent—focused on him.

The terrifying dominance he had displayed in the first stage—and the name ”God of Slaughter” that came with it—was already deeply ingrained in everyone’s mind.

In a corner of the space, Saphis Yingge, clad in lavish, shadow-patterned robes, stared coldly at the center of attention, Li Wen. The deep jealousy in his eyes was so intense it was almost tangible.

He thought of Isabel’s special treatment of this ”native,” and of Li Wen’s absurdly high ranking. He cursed inwardly:

’Hmph, what a show-off... Let’s see how long you can keep this up!’

Just then, another, particularly eye-catching flash of white light appeared in the space.