Seven immense, ancient warships floated in space.
All of them exuded an ancient aura, filled with the vicissitudes of time.
Whether it was the surrounding spacecrafts, the spectators, or the people in the virtual universe's live chat platform—all of them became silent.
Silence!
Complete silence!
Silence took over when the massive ships emerged. They seemed to have devoured all sound.
Wang Teng's pupils shrank and his heart trembled.
What kind of warships are they?
They look extremely ancient!
The peeling hulls, the dull appearance, and even the ancient aura was an indicator of the ships' ancient origins.
Wang Teng had seen too many technologically advanced battlecrafts throughout the universe. Still, seeing vessels as antique.
It was as if they had traversed space and time to appear in their era. It was shocking!
Incapable of fighting the urge, he used his Real Eye to examine the seven warships.
However, a grayish fog was covering them; he couldn't see them clearly.
"The Seven Stellar Academies!"
"The Seven Stellar Academies are here!"
"They are so ancient it's worth dying to see them with my own eyes."
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64ce79d606107d003c23ea27", id: "pf-5140-1"})"They're here. They're finally here. The League of Talents is about to start. I must get the chance to enter one of the academies."
"Dream on. You have to be within the top thousand to be considered. Of course, you might be recruited if you have a special talent; but the chances of that happening are too low."
"In the top thousand, competing among hundreds of billions of people? It's too difficult!"
…
Countless voices erupted from all directions, while the talented candidates looked at the ancient warships with fiery eyes, filled with excitement and yearning.
"The Seven Stellar Academies!" Wang Teng's heart skipped a beat. Were those warships filled with people from those institutions? Although he could make some guesses, he was still astonished by what the crowd was saying.
The way the academies made an appearance was quite surprising.
"Warships. See the symbols on the hulls?" Round Ball said all of a sudden.
Wang Teng looked and nodded. "I think so. Every warship has a different emblem."
The little one elaborated, "It is said that the symbols are actually ancient numerals from one to seven, which correspond to the Seven Stellar Academies."
"Ancient numerals. I've never seen them before." Wang Teng had doubts. "Wait, let me see."
He immediately thought of the Devouring Nihility Beast's inherited memories and went straight to rummage through them. He finally managed to find it.
The Paleo Clan Language!
The peculiar ancient script was called Paleo Clan Language!
Based on Nihility's memories, the Paleo Clan was not just one race, but an assortment of many.
The most surprising was that said clan included the Ancient Gods!
It was unbelievable!
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64cc9e79c7059f003e4ad4b0", id: "pf-5109-1"})Based on Wang Teng's understanding, the Ancient Gods race was extremely ancient; its history could be traced back to eons in the past, perhaps to the beginning of the universe.
And now he was being told that there wasn't just one ancient race like the Ancient Gods. There used to be many of them.
They had left behind a civilization!
Language was a basic symbol in civilizations. The Paleo Clan Language was an indicator that the clan had once been glorious and prosperous.
But then, where were they now?
The Paleo Clan had vanished from the annals of history and could no longer be found. What about the other ancient races?
There were many questions, as if a thick fog were shrouding all ancient history to prevent others from seeing the truth.
At least Wang Teng could obtain some relevant information from Nihility's memory.
Some time later, the young hero snapped out of his pondering and glanced at the inscriptions etched on the great warships.
From left to right, the ships were arranged in the correct order!
It was apparent that this also represented the academies' order of importance!
Status didn't matter at the moment, be it the people from the dukedoms, the princes or the crown prince himself. All eyes were glued to the seven crafts.
Wang Teng glanced around and noticed the glint in the Crown Prince's eyes. The latter wasn't as calm as he appeared to be.
Looks like the Seven Stellar Academies are really popular!
Even the Crown Prince is eager to be admitted.
"It's about time for the League of Talents to start!" Wang Teng muttered to himself, then stored the tables and chairs next to him.
On planet Yuming.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "663633fa8ebf7442f0652b33", id: "pf-8817-1"})Martial arts leader Wu Xingyun, Old Han and the others were also talking about the seven ancient warships.
"The Seven Stellar Academies!" Old Han was bewildered. "I didn't know that the League of Talents was actually intended for the academies to recruit talent."
Earthlings had learned about the League of Talents, but they didn't know about the renowned academies. They had just learned of their existence through the virtual universe's live chat platform.
"To think something that ancient actually exists in the universe. Unbelievable," Wu Xingyun exclaimed.
"They say you have to be in the top thousand to be admitted. I don't know if Wang Teng would be able to make it." Commander Hong was worried.
Han Zhu, Ji Xiuming and the younger warriors from Earth looked at the seven warships in awe.
They were extremely eager to enter such sacred institutions.
The academies on their planet could never compare. Even the First University from Xia would be nothing but a small ant.
Alas, they weren't qualified to participate in the League of Talents, let alone enter the Seven Stellar Academies!
Everyone looked at the familiar figure on screen, their eyes incapable of concealing the envy they felt.
Back on the ship with the Battle Hearth mercenaries.
"The Seven Stellar Academies! The oldest and most sacred cultivation grounds in the universe. Oh my god!" shouted a planetary warrior in excitement.
The others didn't laugh at him for losing his cool; they were just as excited. All of them looked at the warships with red eyes.
The League of Talents was only held once every three thousand years; the renowned academies would only appear during that time.
Three thousand years were enough for many to forget about things. Ordinary warriors simply didn't have long enough lifespans, which was why not many people knew about their existence.
But now that the great academies showed up, those who knew about them took the initiative to explain, so that more people would know what the Seven Stellar Academies actually were!
Xue Fei, Isah and the others were also hearing about this for the first time and were filled with envy.
It wasn't something ordinary warriors like them would have the fate of experiencing.
The distance was too great.
…
On an extremely remote planet—a beautiful woman in green armor sat on top of a mountain peak. She activated her wristwatch and a screen was projected.
A stunningly beautiful woman murmured and smiled, "The Seven Stellar Academies! That brat should be able to enter that place."
Her gaze then landed on the seven warships, and a trace of confusion could be seen in her eyes. "Where have I seen those symbols before?"
…
Battle Planet.
The arrival of the seven ancient warships was the sign that the League of Talents was about to start.
Everyone held their breath as they stared at the great ships floating in space.
However…
A violent roar resounded on the Battle Planet all of a sudden.
Boom, boom, boom…
Everyone was startled by this. They look down to observe the planet.
There were ten forbidden areas on the Battle Planet, each being extremely dangerous. There were frozen areas, scorching areas, areas deep in the sea…
Just then—a monolith emerged in each area, and flew towards space.
"What are they?" someone exclaimed.
"They seem to be… monoliths!" Wang Teng squinted, somewhat confused.
In the blink of an eye, all ten monoliths broke through the atmosphere and appeared in space, right above the Battle Planet.
Everyone's attention was focused on those mysterious stones.
They were massive, each of them with a hundred meter height. Flat and smooth, they had nothing inscribed.
Just when everyone was wondering why the monoliths had appeared, they produced a bright glow, which turned into a curtain of light that hung down, enveloping each of the ten forbidden areas.
The ten forbidden areas were bordering each other, the pieces coming together to make the entire Battle Planet.
That is to say, the whole planet was dangerous. No place was safe.
A loud and majestic voice suddenly resounded, reaching everyone's ears.
"Great Qian Empire, League Of Talents!
"First Round, Elimination Battle!"
The strange thing was, no one could pinpoint the voice's origin.
Elimination battle! Wang Teng muttered in his heart.
The resounding voice continued, going deeper into the elimination battle rules.
"All participants will enter the Battle Planet to survive for a month, hunt star beasts and accumulate points!
"Participants can choose any forbidden area. The top ten thousand participants from each forbidden area will proceed to the next round!
"The points work as follows. One point for a first-level emperor star beast, two points for a second-level emperor star beast, and so on. Ten points for a low-tier imperial star beast… Ninety points for a low-tier ninth-level imperial star beast. A hundred points for a mid-tier, first-level imperial star beast, two hundred points for a mid-tier, second-level imperial star beast…
"Please be noted: Participants may not kill nor plunder each other for points. If your life is in danger, you can admit defeat and you'll be directly teleported away; however, your points will be halved."
Everyone listened attentively and became serious.
There were hundreds of billions of people, and only the top ten thousand from each forbidden area would be able to continue. Ten forbidden areas meant that only a hundred thousand people in total would enter the next round.
Anyone who heard about the elimination rate could feel how difficult the first round was.
Wang Teng already knew that the League of Talents wasn't a walk in the park, but his heart tightened when he heard the rules.
"Now, the elimination battle starts. All participants, enter the Battle Planet!"
