Battle.


    Numerous talents from the whole universe were gathered on the as the League of Talents drew near.


    Part of them were groomed by powerful factions. They were waiting to make a name for themselves in all of the cosmos.


    Some came from far, faraways, bearing the hope of their races and wishing to reach fame in thatpetition.


    Others were exceptionally talented, taken in by powerful martial warriors as disciples. All of them hoped for people to remember their names.


    There were also the lucky ones who stumbled upon the opportunity. The great unknown was waiting for them.


    All the talents were highly confident. They arrived on the host with an indomitable will to press forward.


    Originating from all corners of the universe, the candidates radiated powerful auras, astounding the audience who traveled to witness thepetition first hand.


    The atmosphere was at an all time high.


    As thergest enterprise of its kind, the Virtual Universe Corporation would not pass up on the chance.


    They would broadcast the whole event live. Anyone could have a chance to catch the live feed by entering the virtual universe.


    Yn Gxy—


    Yuming!


    Back in Wang Teng''s vi, the leader of martial arts, Old Han, Commander Hong, and a few others gathered to watch the light screen in front of them. They were ready for the live broadcasting of thepetition.


    They knew about the Great Qian Empire''s League of Talents.


    News about the unprecedented and grand event had long spread far and wide, eventually reaching their ears. They understood its significance.


    If anyone performed well during the event, their names would be known throughout the universe.


    Those talents could also be future universe stage warriors or even reach the eternal stage. Their attainments would be far beyond that of the countless average warriors.


    What honorable achievements they would be!


    Just thinking about it was exciting.


    The leader of martial arts and the others wished they could participate. Being outstanding individuals on earth, they were also smart and powerful.


    Furthermore, they were still under a hundred years of age. They were extremely young, whenpared to other races in which a thousand year-old person wasmon.


    Unfortunately, they only got in touch with the universal scope in less than half a year prior. Many had reached thest part of theary stage but had yet to advance to the celestial rank.


    They still couldn''t participate in the League of Talents.


    But, that didn''t mean that the earth had no representative.


    Wang Teng!


    They believed he had already reached the celestial stage and would participate in the event, given his talent.


    Without a doubt!


    Joining in the fun was one of the reasons they were watching the live feed. After all, it was an unprecedented event they could not miss.


    The other, and most important reason was to watch the young hero. They wanted to see what results he would achieve in thatpetition.


    "There are activities everywhere!" the leader of martial arts eximed when he saw the image on screen.


    His name was Wu Xingyun.


    Few people knew his name. Most people only called him ''leader of martial arts'' on earth, so he almost forgot his own name, too. However, he had to use his name to introduce himself in the universal scope.


    "This is indeed a gathering of talents. I can feel their auras even through the screen," Old Hanmented.


    "I wonder if Little Wang can defeat them."


    "That''s right; those talents are scary. I heard that some of them are disciples of eternal stage warriors. Wang Teng''s background can''tpare, since he hails from earth." Commander Hong sighed and shook his head.


    "I wonder how he''s doing," said Yu Xiuxian from the First University.


    Everyone went silent.


    All of them wondered the same thing, but no one got the answer. None of them managed to contact the boy for the past half a year.


    They were all confident in him at first, but their confidence subsided after seeing the celestial stage talentspeting on the Battle.


    Could Wang Teng beat those people?


    Aside from Wu Xingyun and the rest from the seniors, many from the younger generations were present.


    The construction of the space array meant that martial warriors on earth would have the chance to visit Yuming to cultivate.


    Han Zhu, Du Yu, Wan Baiqiu from the Huanghai Military Academy, Ji Xiuming, Yu Tao, and Mao Na from the First University were among the people present.


    Xiao Yunfan and Luo Cheng from the martial arts faculty were there too.


    They were at the prime age of cultivation so they sprung to the bigger universe.


    They made great improvements in half a year. They also understood the immensity and vastness of the world atrge. Their ability couldn''t bepared to that of real talents and their foundation was weak.


    However, with the same foundation and background, Wang Teng managed to stand firm in the wider stage. They were astounded and amazed.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    They had the same starting line, but he had already gone much farther ahead.


    …


    Somewhere in the universe—a small group of mercenaries was sitting in a cosmos-level spacecraft and roaming space.


    There were three celestial warriors and more than tenary warriors in the team. It was a mixed group of young men and women.


    They looked slightly miserable. Their battle armors were bloodstained, and many of them were injured. They seemed to have gone through an intense battle.


    The team had justpleted a mission on a remote and were recuperating at the moment.


    "Quick, open the virtualwork. The Battle''s live broadcast is already on," shouted one of theary warriors excitedly.


    "Oh right, the League of Talents is starting." Everyone got excited.


    That was an event they aspired to participate in.


    They immediately opened the live broadcast.


    "So powerful!"


    "Are they the talented participants?"


    "Scary. Their auras don''t feel like what celestial warriors would have."


    …


    Everyonemented left and right when they saw the people on screen. They stared at them with admiring eyes.


    "If I ever have a chance to participate, I''ll have bragging rights for life… even if I don''t rank at all," said a celestial warrior while shaking his head.


    Aary stage martial warrior asked curiously, "Brother Xue Fei, you''re a celestial warrior. Why didn''t you participate?"


    Anyone who asked such a thing had to be a newbie.


    However, most of theary warriors were clueless, so they looked at the celestial warriors with equal curiosity.


    "I''m only at the fifth level of the celestial stage. I can''t defeat people of higher rank, so why participate?" Xue Fei gave a forced smile as he continued, "The participation criteria is indeed the celestial stage, but all the people who do enter will be at the peak of the ninth level. It''s an unspoken rule of sorts, all to prevent others from joining just to make the numbers."


    "Really? What if a fifth-level celestial warrior is extremely powerful?" someone asked.


    "There might be such talents," Xue Fei nced at the person and continued, "but they will be targeted. Let me ask you, if a fifth-level guy showed up among a group of ninth-level peers, what do you think would happen?"


    "They will definitely deal with the fifth-level guy first." The person was enlightened. His face turned a little pale as he added, "They would target the weaker first."


    "That''s right. All the ninth-level participants will think this way. You need to have the skills, or you would only be looking for death," Xue Fei said.


    "Hmph, give me a few years and I''ll reach the ninth level," said one of the celestial warriors, followed by a snort.


    "That''s right. Brother Isah, you''re powerful. You even broke through to the sixth level during our mission. You''ll definitely get there in a few more years," said aary warrior.


    Isah was a tall, brown-haired youth with an exceptional aura.


    He felt proud after hearing everyone''spliments. Then, his gazended on aary stagedy.


    Thetter was wearing a silver-white battle armor that entuated an elegant and slender figure. Her ck hair was tied up in a ponytail, making her look clean and sharp. She could be considered attractive.


    However, her expression was cold and distant.


    There were runes carved on her battle armor. It was ofary grade, but the quality was top notch.


    Thedy stood out among the group of young warriors.


    Good looking and rich!


    All the men in the team liked her.


    Isah was also one of the admirers. None of the other guys would dare make a move while he was keeping a close eye.


    No one could beat him there.


    Unfortunately, the aloofdy kept her distance from the whole group. They were just friends, and no one could get any closer to her. She was indifferent to all.


    Isah had yet to gain her favor, too. Not once had she smiled at him.


    Thedy was focused on thepetition''s live feed at the moment, different emotions showing in her eyes. She never looked at Isah.


    Thetter frowned; he had never seen that expression on her face before.


    "Isah, you have a chance. Unfortunately, we''re just normal martial warriors without a background to speak of. The gap is huge," Xue Feimented.


    Isah''s arrogance faded when he was reminded of this. He furrowed his brow and a strong sense of unwillingness appeared in his eyes.


    Why?


    Why do I have to struggle so hard at the grassroots when the talents have all the resources and powerful backgrounds?


    No matter how hard he worked, the distance between him and the great talents was still there, far apart. He couldn''t catch up.


    He couldn''t ept this.


    Isah''s gazended on thedy again. That was his only chance.