When the cocoon of light that surrounded Yao Jun vanished, he was no longer completely surrounded by people. Instead, he was now completely alone in the wilderness, surrounded by waist-height brushes that were light green in color, a thin river peacefully running along beside him. Sweeping the surroundings with a quick glance, he saw the wondrous scenery that spread out around him.

He was standing on a small circular island, no larger than a few hundred meters in each direction, that was floating in the air, thin roots and water cascading down the side of the island. How was this island floating, and just where did the water in the river come from? The water in the river was continuously falling down over the edge of the island, but it didn't seem to drain in the slightest.

The island he was standing on wasn't the only of its kind, he could see countless other floating islands in the area, spreading so far into the horizon that he lost sight of them. The smallest of these islands were only a few meters in width, but others were several kilometers, some even hundreds or thousands of kilometers, in width.

Peering over the edge of the island, Yao Jun was able to see a landmass so large that it seemed endless. He could see various ecosystems coexist side by side, a volcanic area consisting mostly of molten stone and flames standing right next to a frozen wasteland where even the gently drifting snow seemed to be so cold that it could freeze all it touched. He could even see a swamp filled with black mud that bubbled and released a noxious gass, standing right next to a verdant forest that brimmed with life and blooming flowers.

Looking at the wondrous scenery, he was reminded of two things. The first was the inside of his own Demon God's Gate, and the second was the hidden realm he had entered back on his home planet, where he first met Yuan Shen and Qiao Xian Yi. Was it a mere coincidence, or was there maybe some connection between all three places?

Yao Jun temporarily put away these thoughts, returning his focus to the competition at hand. He didn't immediately leave the floating island, he was completely alone here, so it was a good place to test out a few things.

He raised his left arm, looking at the palm of his hand, at the coiling dragon symbol that had appeared there. Earlier, he hadn't been able to interact with this symbol, which kept track of the points he earned, but he wanted to check it once again now that the competition had started.

He sent part of his mind into a stream of Qi, trying to send it into the symbol. Surprisingly enough, the stream of Qi entered the symbol without any problems, words appearing within his mind.

"Yao Jun. No affiliation. 0 points. Rank 100 000 000 000."

Seeing the mindbogglingly large number, Yao Jun could only gape in shock. He had expected the competition, which spanned the entire universe, to be incredibly large, but he had never expected it to have at least 100 billion contestants. To him, the number was so large that it felt foreign, completely unreal.

But what he failed to realize was that although this competition took place every 100 years, a period of time that could be called very short for cultivators, it was still one of the grandest competitions in the universe, reaping exceptional rewards, so of course it would have countless contestants.

Yao Jun let out a deep breath and shook his head, calming himself down. The number of contestants didn't really matter, all that mattered to him was that he had to reach the top 10. Once he returned to his usual calm state of mind, he continued with a few more experiments.

The next experiment he attempted was controlling his Qi and using his various laws, making sure that there wasn't some hidden restriction in place. Luckily, it seemed like there was no need to worry, he could freely use all his Qi and laws. He also checked out his God Gate, making sure that there was no strange stream of energy sealing it up like there had been in the hidden realm on his home planet. Once again it seemed like he was lucky, as he could use his God Gate as he pleased.

With the experiments out of the way, Yao Jun cast his gaze onto the various islands that floated around him. He closed his eyes, merging his mind into the surrounding space, sending out a ripple that vanished into the distance. Everything that the spatial ripple touched was visible to him as if he was seeing it with his own eyes, allowing him to observe vast areas.

This was the scouting technique he had come up with during the two years he spent on Four-Peaks planet, and the distance it could currently cover was rather large. He could currently cover half of Four-Peaks planet, which if he converted it into actual distance would be around 40 000 kilometers in any one direction. But the floating islands stretched far past even this vast distance, continuing on for who knew how many kilometers.

But 40 000 kilometers was enough for Yao Jun to discover one of the things he was looking for, Demonic beasts. There were a large number of Demonic beasts on the islands around him, but most of them were surprisingly weak, not even having reached the Immortal Rebirth realm. But there was one that had caught his interest, so he decided to give it a quick visit.

He stepped forward, space around him warping as he vanished from the small island. A slight ripple appeared in space on a somewhat large island a few hundred kilometers away, Yao Jun stepping out from the ripple. The island he had arrived on was around a hundred kilometers in width and was mostly covered by trees and some small mountains, trees covered in small black barbs creating a large forest that covered most of the island.

Yao Jun stepped into the dark forest, heading directly for a strange cross-shaped mountain that was a result of two tall mountains collapsing against each other. With his speed, he quickly reached the base of the strange mountain, his eyes landing on the open space that was located right between the two collapsed mountains. His gaze landed on the Demonic beast that had interested him, Yao Jun tilting his head curiously as he spoke up.

"You should be able to understand me, would you mind answering a question of mine? Are there people in this hidden realm? People who aren't part of the competition?"

Lying in the open space beneath the strange mountain was an equally strange Demonic beast. This Demonic beast had reached the early stage of the Immortal Rebirth realm, but what truly aroused Yao Jun's interest was the appearance of the Demonic beast.

Its actual appearance was impossible to see, as its entire body was covered in long and narrow spikes that were a deep silver in color. And skewered onto these spikes were the body parts of various Demonic beasts and people, obscuring the entire body of the Demonic beast. The only things he could tell was that the beast was crawling on all fours, a long whip-like tail stretching out behind it.

Looking at it, Yao Jun couldn't help but be somewhat curious as to how such a Demonic beast had come about, and why it covered itself in severed body parts. The beast started to stir after it heard Yao Jun's words, seemingly opening its mouth. But words weren't what sounded out after it opened its mouth, a distorted screeching roar ringing out, like nails on a chalkboard. Yao Jun's eyebrows furrowed slightly, speaking out again.

"Words, can't you speak words?"

Yao Jun had the Demon God's Gate, and thanks to it, he could understand the words of all Demonic beasts, and they could understand him. Yet he found himself unable to understand the meaning of the screeching roar. Was it just a simple roar without meaning, or was the thing in front of him not a Demonic beast? The beast didn't give a response, letting out another screeching roar and unleashing a thick cloud of deep yellow gas, sending it directly at Yao Jun.

Yao Jun's eyes narrowed dangerously when he saw the monster attack. He had long since stopped being a naive child, and ever since he left his own home planet, his edges had only gotten sharper and sharper. When he narrowed his eyes, a dangerous aura started to radiate from his body, a primal fear starting to invade the heart of the beast.

Yao Jun raised his arm, the yellow gas stopping in front of him. He clenched his fist, the gas starting to compress, forming a small orb that fell to the ground. The gas was a type of poison, but it was far weaker than the various types of poison he could use thanks to Du Xiao so it easily fell under his control.

His narrowed yet calm eyes fell on the beast, almost as if they were asking it what else it could do. The monster realized it had bit off more than it could chew, so it decided to use its final trump card to escape. It leaned its crawling body forward slightly, three of the spikes on its back loosening and shooting at Yao Jun.

With the spikes leaving its body, Yao Jun could see murky brown scales on the back of the monster, tufts of yellow hair sticking out from small openings between the scales. Right after it shot out the spikes, the beast turned around and started to flee, scurrying along the ground like a cockroach.

Yao Jun didn't even glance at the three spikes that tore through the air as they headed for him. He took a step forward, a ripple moving through space, covering him and the three spikes. When he finished his step, he had appeared in front of the fleeing beast, blocking its path. The beast wanted to turn and flee in a different direction, but before it got the chance to do so, the three spikes it had shot at Yao Jun appeared within its own body, nailing it to the ground.

With its own spikes nailing it to the ground, the beast died practically instantly. Once it was dead, Yao Jun walked over and placed his hand on one of the spikes, attempting to draw the beast into his God Gate. The beast's body turned into a stream of energy that sank into his chest, dividing itself among his other Demonic beasts.

Thanks to this, Yao Jun was able to ascertain that the strange monster was indeed a Demonic beast. But why had he been unable to understand its words? He could even understand the words of Demonic beasts who were incapable of making sounds, so he couldn't wrap his head around why he wouldn't be able to understand the words of this Demonic beast.

In the end, Yao Jun could only let out a sigh and put the thoughts away for the moment. He couldn't come up with an answer here, so it was better to focus on the task at hand, on the competition that had just begun. He lightly clapped his hands and started to walk out of the forest. He felt that he was more likely to encounter people if he descended to the vast landmass below, so that was his next course of action.

--

While Yao Jun was taking part in the competition, he was unaware of what was going on within the rest of the universe. This competition was one of the grandest ones, so they, of course, had to make it a great event that everyone could enjoy.

The moment the competition truly started, the various clans and sects gathered together and activated an item that had been forged by their collective efforts, a massive list that carried the name All-god's List. This list was one of the rare Divine-grade items that existed in the universe, the highest possible rank for items that only Godkings wielded.

When they activated the list, it dissolved into tiny particles of energy that spread all around the universe, reaching every nook and cranny. The particles then expanded into several lists that were so large they completely filled the sky, visible from practically every location in the universe. And on this list were the names of the top 100 000 contestants in the competition, listing their names, affiliation, as well as how many points they had.

With these lists spread all over the universe, everyone was able to monitor the top ranking positions of the competition, the various sects and clans able to note down the people they could contact after the competition was over.