Looking at all these people, a thought suddenly flashed through Su Fu’s mind—’could there be someone from “Twilight Judgment” among them?’
If those people wanted to skip straight past the golden age to an era of decline, wouldn’t the best way be to eliminate all the geniuses?
After all, if no one survived, what’s left to shine?
At that moment, Yi Congling approached her quietly: “Boss, everyone’s trying to win over those ancient descendants. Shouldn’t we?”
Su Fu paused.
Her?
She retorted, “Has anyone actually succeeded after throwing so much money at them?”
Yi Congling thought for a moment and replied, “No.”
“There you go.” Su Fu spread her hands and said, “Those folks aren’t the type to be won over by money or resources. What else am I supposed to use? If I spent money, it’d be like meat buns feeding dogs—never coming back.”
Yi Congling: “.…”
‘Sounds about right.’
But Su Fu was still a little puzzled, muttering, “It seems everyone’s target is the championship. All showing up at the same time? All aiming for first place? Wanting to get into Genesis Academy? Why didn’t they think like this before?”
‘Could it be that taking first place this time would yield a tremendous reward? That was the only reasonable explanation.’
Thinking of this, Su Fu felt envious and said, “Why isn’t anyone throwing money at me? I can be bought too, you know!”
George & Theresa & Yi Congling: “…..”
‘And you, my friend— You’re the real meat bun feeding a dog—never coming back. Oh wait, you’d even come back to take a couple more bites.’
Su Fu: “…..”
‘What’s with those looks on your faces?’
At that moment, Shen Yan’s voice echoed across the square: [“Respected examinees, greetings! The 4052nd Interstellar League is about to begin.”]
[“Thank you all for coming from across the stars. Today, we gather on Akade to witness this grand event. May you all show your talents and become famous across the galaxy!”]
[“Now, please prepare yourselves. Loading will commence shortly—”]
As Shen Yan’s voice fell, the scene before Su Fu began to change.
The sea of people vanished, all sounds grew distant, and she found herself in the Shen Yan Space.
“Huh?” Su Fu glanced around and realized something was wrong.
“Where’s the Divine Power Light Pillar?”
There was no Divine Power Light Pillar.
Instead, a holographic screen appeared, displaying the words “League Agreement.”
“Well, well,” Su Fu blinked, “so we have to sign an agreement first?”
But thinking about it, this wasn’t an internal school exam, and contestants weren’t limited to students—there were bound to be dangers, so of course everything had to be made clear in advance.
So, Su Fu began reading the agreement, but the first item— [This league will use Mythic Civilization Ruins-type instances. Based on assessments, the difficulty will reach S-class.]
[Please honestly evaluate your own capabilities. Once you enter the instance, all sorts of unforeseen events may occur. Please choose carefully.]
“S-class?” Su Fu was taken aback, “That difficult?”
But she soon realized— ‘no, it must be that Shen Yan judged the strength of this year’s examinees to match the S-class, so it generated an S-class instance.’
“Hiss—doesn’t that mean this place is packed with hidden dragons and crouching tigers?”
No matter what, she still chose to participate.
The screen continued to scroll: [The entire exam will be live-streamed, with Shen Yan automatically capturing highlights.]
[All resources gained in the league belong to the contestants, but if items threatening interstellar safety are encountered, the Anomaly Management Bureau reserves the right to reclaim them.]
[……]
Su Fu clicked “agree” several times in a row, all the way to the end, until finally, a brilliant firework popped up: [Congratulations on successfully signing up for the Interstellar League! Now loading the assessment space……]
Su Fu suddenly felt a bit nervous, wondering what kind of civilization ruins map would appear.
‘Wait a minute.’ Suddenly she realized: “Hold on, where’s the Divine Power Light Pillar?”
Just then, Shen Yan’s prompt sounded: [“Assessment space loaded.”]
[“This league will use a random map. The available map pool will be determined by the overall divine power pool of the examinees.”]
Su Fu mulled over the words—this meant whichever pantheon had more participants, and therefore more divine power, that corresponding map was more likely to be generated.
Wait, that put her at a disadvantage!
She was the only one from the Chinese Pantheon—would a Chinese map even show up?
Su Fu’s heart sank, while the other examinees of major pantheons showed expressions of delight.
After all, what they feared most was a Chinese map—if that showed up, Su Fu would surely cause all sorts of tricks and leave them hanging.
Now, with this rule, her path was cut off.
Excellent, excellent.
According to the map pool, the most likely outcome was that strong pantheons like Greek, Norse, Paradise, and Indian would dominate.
Those examinees would have a huge initial advantage.
The spectators watching outside all gossiped gleefully: “Looks like Su Fu’s finished this time—let’s see what she’s really made of.”
“Skypath is off to a bad start. This top Chinese Pantheon contestant has lost an arm before even beginning. I told you it’s the seven pantheons that matter!”
“Let’s see how she can play now!”
“Skypath should give way—it’s time for us at Eternal Gate to take first!”
“Nonsense, with our Glorious Ring Academy here, how could it be your turn?”
These rules didn’t much affect the ancient relic clans or Divine Realm contestants.
After all, all pantheons’ maps were equally foreign to them.
[“Initial map pool evaluated. Now introducing this league’s rules:-“]
[“1. Examinees may freely choose one of the starting maps to enter.”]
[“2. Random anomalous BOSS interference will occur at random times and locations across different maps.”]
[“3. Defeating a BOSS may grant a random rare entry.”]
[“Examples include:”]
[“Buffs: Strength boost, speed increase, divine power recovery, defense enhancement, special skill unlock…”]
[“Map type: Map migration, replace designated map, attack other maps, map protection, map reinforcement…”]
[“Interference: Enemy debuffs, BOSS skill sealing, anomaly resistance, trap removal, disaster immunity……”]
[“Special: (Not disclosed for now)”]
[“……”]
Hearing these rules, Su Fu realized, ‘Isn’t this just like the old Nine Provinces map?’
“At that time, my development zone was Qingqiu, and the other pantheons each had their own maps. The general strategy was to first clear internal map crises, then fight a chaotic map battle.”
But this time, there were obvious differences—the league added more features, especially the last two lines: not only would there be anomaly interference, but buffs or debuffs could be gained as well.
Su Fu pondered: ‘in the end, it would surely become a map-devouring war, with only one victorious map left standing.’
But when she saw “replace designated map” among the entries, her eyes lit up.
“Does that mean I can switch my map for another?”
That sounded like balance—even if a certain magical map didn’t appear at the start, one could later gain the chance by defeating BOSSes.
Defeating BOSSes was her specialty—wasn’t it just like beating the Bull Demon King?
Only this time, there were more maps and a bigger stage.
Su Fu had a bold thought— ‘could it really be any map?’
‘Ahem, would Fengdu Ghost City be possible? Eighteen Levels of Hell?’
After the rule display, Shen Yan began the reminder: [“Now, please choose your initial map:”]
Su Fu anxiously watched as the projected page slowly appeared before her, showing what looked like five modules, before finally materializing fully.
She was instantly stunned, “Wait!”
“The first one… Well now, it’s the Penglai Immortal Ark!”
She never expected a Chinese map would actually appear—there was no need to hesitate, she selected it immediately!
But before entering, she checked out the other maps.
Map two: Olympus Arena.
The projection displayed a grand circular coliseum surrounded by layered stands, the roar of the crowd almost audible.
“Oh, of course there’s the Greek Pantheon.”
Map three: Norse Pantheon’s Broken Rainbow Bridge.
Once connecting Asgard and Midgard, the massive rainbow bridge now floated shattered in the void, distant icebergs and auroras barely visible.
By Su Fu’s understanding of Norse myth, this was post-Ragnarök.
“Wait…what’s that at the far end?”
Did she see green on one side of the bridge?
Was that a tree?
Map four: Paradise Pantheon’s Apocalypse Vista, with seven horns hanging in the sky and four horsemen’s marks on the earth.
A doomsday atmosphere; maybe because “apocalypse” meant divine revelation and prophecy for the future.
“Seems like a post-apocalyptic scenario—definitely on the bleak side.”
“Map five is…hm?” Su Fu paused in surprise, “It’s not another pantheon, but a real-world projection—Atlantis, the Sunken City?”
This underwater city was also known as the sunken city.
There were many stories about it, but Su Fu thought of the Paradise Pantheon; it was recorded in the textbooks as the place where the Angel Feather Pen was found, and Metatron the grand elder had given his life to save the city.
Su Fu figured this Atlantis map was a choice meant for non-eight-pantheon contestants.
If Penglai Immortal Ark hadn’t appeared, she’d probably have picked Atlantis.
But now—
“I choose Penglai Immortal Ark,” she said without hesitation.
[“Your map has been selected. Loading map now.”]
[“Detailed rules will be revealed as your league progresses.”]
[“Enjoy your game.”]
As Shen Yan’s voice faded, the scene before her twisted—clouds appeared, mountains overlapped, and the next second—
A giant immortal ark floating above a sea of clouds appeared before her eyes.
Its hull was like a mountain, stretching beyond sight, made of a material both jade-like and not quite jade.
On the ark, pavilions stood in clusters, eaves soaring high, beams and rafters exquisitely carved.
Winding corridors connected the towers, so that from afar, it resembled a palace drifting in the clouds.
The sea of clouds rolled in the distance, mountain peaks looming and vanishing, the ark floating above, like a mirage.
“What a gigantic immortal ark!” Su Fu exclaimed.
She didn’t have time to keep admiring—it flashed with a brilliant light.
When she opened her eyes again, she found herself inside a guest cabin within the ark.
The room wasn’t large but was tastefully furnished.
Landscape paintings hung on the wall, a scholar’s desk was set with the four treasures of study, almost identical to her own study in Kunlun Celestial Palace.
Through the window, she could see the endless sea of clouds and faint mountain peaks.
[“You have entered the map ‘Penglai Immortal Ark.’ “]
[“Your mission has been updated: The ark cannot be leaderless for a day.”]
[“The ark will soon elect its General. Strive to obtain the Immortal Command and become the ark master.”]
‘Become the master?’ Su Fu realized—the goal was to become the General controlling the Penglai Immortal Ark.
Excitement surged in her chest.
Who could resist owning an immortal ark?
This was the mythological equivalent of an aircraft carrier!
If she became the General, perhaps she’d unlock more permissions—maybe even control the ark’s movements.
Wait, she suddenly realized, “That’s right, an ark means it can move, right?”
In other words, she wouldn’t need any buffs to charge straight into other maps!
No need to defeat a BOSS to get a “map migration” entry—she could roam the battlefield freely from the start!
“Well then! This is a perfect match for me!”
‘Absolutely perfect!’
On such a vast, multi-region map, with a mobile Penglai Immortal Ark—what’s there to wait for?
“Open fire!”