"Zhu Shan is strong, but according to the intelligence, there are quite a few Supreme Geniuses in the Immortal Court as well." Overlord Hou Jue said. "Moreover, Saintdoms like the Desolation Divine Court and Myriad Beast Realm are also sending Supreme Geniuses.

“Most crucially, there is the Abyssal Devil race. Each of the thirty-six rivers of space and time has an Abyss, and devils are born every moment in each Abyss," said Overlord Hou Jue. "In any universe, the Abyssal Devil race is the great enemy that all Saintdoms must unite against. The Abyss represents the opposite side of outer space.

“We don't know much about the younger generation of the Abyssal Devil race due to limited information, but throughout history, they've produced monstrous prodigies, with many claiming Saintcrests," Overlord Hou Jue smiled. "Is Zhu Shan really confident about sweeping through all these powerhouses?"

She knew Zhu Shan was formidable, but instinctively felt the bald man in golden armor was exaggerating.

There wasn’t any Supreme Genius throughout the history of the Megaverse Crossroads who would dare claim absolute confidence from the start.

"Hou Jue, you don't understand. Zhu Shan isn't just strong, he's ridiculously strong," sighed the bald man in golden armor. "Take Wu Yuan for example - he's powerful and young with great potential, but whether that potential will be realized or not, only time can tell.

“But Zhu Shan has already realized his potential and proven himself. At the very least, he's already stronger than I was back then!

“I can't tell you the specifics right now," smiled the bald man in golden armor. "When you meet Zhu Shan, you'll naturally understand what I mean."

"That impressive?" Overlord Hou Jue was quite surprised.

She had known the bald man in golden armor for a long time and understood how proud he was. Even regarding Wu Yuan, he hadn't offered much praise, only considering him decent.

Moreover, the bald man in golden armor was an ancient Overlord who had witnessed dozens of Megaverse Crossroads iterations and seen countless so-called monstrous prodigies.

Yet he praised Zhu Shan so highly?

"Very well, I'll have to take a good look when the time comes," Overlord Hou Jue smiled. "I hope he won't disappoint the Eldritch Progenitors. During the last Megaverse Crossroads, neither of the two Saintcrest Prodigies were from our Eldritch Court."

The Eldritch Court and Immortal Court, the two greatest factions in the megaverse, had a massive influence that spread across numerous rivers of space and time.

The powerhouses and geniuses in their ranks were as numerous as clouds. Historically, nearly half of all Saintcrest Prodigies belonged to these two factions.

"I'll take my leave first, see you later.” Overlord Hou Jue took a step and vanished into outer space, while that ancient and austere silver battleship in the distance also disappeared.

"She left quite quickly." The bald man in golden armor smiled, then departed from this region of outer space as well.

…

The inside of the battleship was quite spacious. It resembled a small world, with numerous figures scattered about in what appeared to be small groups.

Though they seemed positioned quite far apart, powerhouses judged life through vital aura and Yuan Soul aura.

If a group of Sovereigns were crowded into an expanse of hundreds of millions of li of outer space, they would all feel 'cramped'.

At this moment, Wu Yuan, Jiang Huan, and the others felt the same way, feeling that this hall was too crowded.

One scan with their Soul Wills revealed approximately nine thousand individuals.

Similarly, as soon as Wu Yuan, Jiang Huan, and High Immortal Yan Guang arrived, they immediately drew the attention of many geniuses in the hall.

"More newcomers?"

"Who are they?"

"I don't recognize them!"

"I know one of them, he should be Jiang Huan. He has close to mid-stage Astral Monarch Dao comprehension." Many geniuses discussed in low voices. Since powerhouses could change their appearance with a thought, most relied on soul aura to recognize each other.

Neither Wu Yuan nor High Immortal Yan Guang had ever left their macrocosm. Only Jiang Huan had previously visited the Ling Jiang Saintdom’s headquarters.

Among the nearly ten thousand geniuses in the hall, almost half cultivated regularly at the Ling Jiang Saintdom’s headquarters, so naturally, some recognized Jiang Huan.

"Wu Yuan!"

"Brother Wu Yuan, Brother Jiang Huan." Two voices called out in succession as two streaks of light quickly shot toward Wu Yuan.

Wu Yuan and Jiang Huan looked over - it was High Eldritch Wu Jian and High Eldritch Liu Hong.

They had met thousands of years ago during the contest for providence in the Greenridge Macrocosm.

"Brother Wu Jian, Brother Liu Hong, it's been a long time," Wu Yuan smiled. He was naturally pleased to see familiar faces.

"Wu Yuan?"

"That unremarkable youth in black robes is Wu Yuan?"

"It's him! It's Wu Yuan!"

"The Wu Yuan who defeated Mu Long." This revelation instantly caused a commotion, immediately drawing the attention of all geniuses in the battleship. All eyes turned to Wu Yuan, their gazes burning.

Wu Yuan! This name had spread throughout all the spacetime territories under the Ling Jiang Saintdom of the Eldritch Court over thousands of years, remembered by countless geniuses.

The footage of the epic battle between Wu Yuan and Mu Long had spread like a whirlwind through the river of space and time.

It could be said that though Wu Yuan had never visited the Ling Jiang Saintdom’s headquarters of the Eldritch Court, countless powerhouses of the Eldritch Court already unanimously recognized him as the number one genius of the Eldritch Court’s Ling Jiang Saintdom.

In both talent and strength, he was indisputably number one!

Hmm?

Wu Yuan suddenly noticed a particular gaze focused on him and turned to look. It was a wild-looking man with disheveled hair wearing black armor.

He appeared quite barbaric and was staring intently at Wu Yuan from a distance.

"Hello, Wu Yuan." The black-armored man's voice was deep and resonant. When he spoke, the surrounding geniuses fell silent, showing clear reverence.

"You are..." Wu Yuan quickly recalled the profiles of various geniuses from the Ling Jiang Saintdom provided by his master, and found one matching this person’s appearance and bearing.

"Xuan Rong?" Wu Yuan asked tentatively.

"You know me?" The black-armored man was quite surprised, as this was his first time meeting Wu Yuan.

"I don't know you personally, but there aren't many whose auras can feel threatening to me," Wu Yuan smiled. "In the Saintdom, there's only one person who has mastered Sovereign-level techniques. Combined with your bearing and build, I naturally recognized you."

Dao comprehension at the seventh, eighth, and ninth levels of the Dao Field stage of a Greater Law all counted as late-stage Astral Monarch comprehension.

And peak-stage Astral Monarch comprehension specifically referred to the ninth-level Dao Field stage of a Greater Law.

Dozens of geniuses from the Ling Jiang Saintdom of the Eldritch Court had reached late-stage Astral Monarch comprehension, and four or five peerless geniuses had reached peak-stage Astral Monarch comprehension, not inferior to Bai Yi and Hu Biao of the Taiyuan Divine Court.

Beyond peak-stage Astral Monarch comprehension was mastery of Sovereign-level techniques. Before Wu Yuan, there was only one person who achieved this in the entire Ling Jiang Saintdom of the Eldritch Court - Xuan Rong!

Of course, strength was influenced by many factors - artifacts, secret arts, natural counters and so on. Even seemingly similar levels of Dao comprehension could result in vast differences in strength.

Wu Yuan defeated Mu Long right after mastering a Sovereign-level technique. Meanwhile, over hundreds of thousands of years of cultivation, Xuan Rong had fought Mu Long twice and lost both times!

When Xuan Rong and Mu Long fought those two times, neither had reached their current level. But because of those two defeats, even as Xuan Rong grew increasingly powerful, various Saintdoms still considered him a notch below Mu Long.

"Haha, you're quite interesting." Xuan Rong's eyes gleamed: "I've been waiting for you to come to the Saintdom so we could have a bout. Yet after so long, you didn't come. Today, I finally got the chance to meet you."

"There will naturally be opportunities to fight on the Crossroads," Wu Yuan smiled.

"Wu Yuan, don't misunderstand, I simply want to spar," Xuan Rong laughed. "After all, fighting you would help me roughly gauge Mu Long's strength.

“I want to defeat him myself," Xuan Rong said solemnly.

"Mm." Wu Yuan nodded slightly, sensing the hint of obsession in Xuan Rong's heart.

As they were talking, a terrifying pressure instantly enveloped the entire hall.

A stunningly beautiful woman in black robes appeared in mid-air, looking down at all the geniuses. Her gaze was ice-cold.

Silence! Many geniuses trembled slightly, unable to withstand it. Even Wu Yuan felt immense pressure, though he managed to endure it.

"Over nine thousand geniuses from our Ling Jiang branch of the Eldritch Court will participate in this upcoming Megaverse Crossroads. All participants are present!" Overlord Hou Jue's voice was cold. "Being able to stand out among countless immortal cultivators across thousands of macrocosms proves your excellence.

“In the future, you will all become Astral Monarchs at least, and many Sovereigns will emerge among you.

“But the Megaverse Crossroads is where countless geniuses from across the megaverse compete, and many Overlords and even supreme beings will be monitoring it closely. The difficulty and intensity of competition is unprecedented.

“Next, we will head to the Eldritch Court headquarters, which will take about a month. During this time, you may communicate and spar with each other.

“The period from now until the Megaverse Crossroads opens is your last chance to improve your strength, so make good use of this time.

“Internally, you may compete with each other, but once at the Eldritch Court headquarters, you represent the face of the Ling Jiang branch. I hope you perform well." Overlord Hou Jue said.

"The Megaverse Crossroads consists of two major stages. Stage one, the Divine Domain stage. Stage two, the Heavenly Domain stage.

“Currently, among you, only Wu Yuan and Xuan Rong have a good chance of advancing to stage two," Overlord Hou Jue said. "I hope to see more of you advancing to the second stage.

“That's all I have to say, you may disperse."

Whoosh!

The Overlord Hou Jue waved her hand, and halls materialized around the vast hall. Simultaneously, numerous independent pocket dimensions appeared.

Wu Yuan received a message: "The meditation halls are for solitary cultivation. None will disturb you while inside. These pocket dimensions are sparring arenas."

The other geniuses received the message as well.

"What a coincidence. Come, Wu Yuan, let's have a sparring match first," Xuan Rong's eyes brightened.

"Alright," Wu Yuan naturally wouldn't refuse again.

Crossing blades with such a top-tier genius would also serve to temper himself.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

The two flew directly into one of the pocket dimensions.

"What?"

"Wu Yuan and Xuan Rong are going to fight?"

"Who will win?" This battle immediately drew the attention of many geniuses.

Xuan Rong was previously the number one genius of the Eldritch Court's Ling Jiang Saintdom. Wu Yuan was the current number one genius. Their confrontation was naturally a huge event.

However, both Wu Yuan and Xuan Rong unanimously chose to seal off the pocket dimension, not allowing other geniuses to observe. After all, both sides might employ their strongest techniques. With too many eyes watching, secrets might leak prematurely.