From the Metropolis to the Strongest in the Cosmos

In the great hall, all eyes turned to Lunba Wu.

Lunba Wu reported, "Your Majesty, before the Human Race’s Eternal Saint Hall selection, the Yangyuan Empire also held a talent selection."

Everyone nodded. The Yangyuan Empire had previously recruited one hundred thousand talents, a move that many had found strange.

Only after the Human Race’s Eternal Saint Hall began its own talent selection and the Stairway to the Deities appeared did everyone understand. The Yangyuan Empire’s selection had been in preparation for the Eternal Saint Hall’s.

Lunba Wu continued, "Li Yang also participated in the Yangyuan Empire’s selection."

As soon as he finished speaking, his words sparked a flurry of discussion among those present.

"Li Yang participated in the Yangyuan Empire’s selection, too?"

"Why haven’t I seen his name?"

"I haven’t either."

Many were instantly puzzled.

Logically, someone with Li Yang’s strength should have been easily recruited by the Yangyuan Empire.

Never mind that Li Yang was now ranked tenth across the Human Race’s Three Thousand Star Continents; even before that, he was third in the Yangyuan Star Continent alone.

And yet, they were unfamiliar with his name, having never seen it on any lists.

To most, it seemed Li Yang must not have participated in the previous talent selection. That was why, despite his immense Talent, he had garnered so little attention.

But now, Lunba Wu was saying that Li Yang *had* participated.

How could a peerless prodigy like him have failed to make a name for himself during the Yangyuan Empire’s talent selection? Was that even possible?

In truth, the previous Yangyuan Empire talent selection had been divided into three rounds. The first round selected talents from within their respective star systems, while the second round was held within the borders of the Golden Moon Empire.

The third round was a competition among the major factions of the Deities, with each faction putting forth ten thousand talents.

The Golden Moon Empire paid little attention to the first round. With over a thousand star systems, even being number one in a single system meant next to nothing.

The entire Yangyuan Star Continent contained hundreds of thousands of Deity factions and over a hundred million star systems!

Therefore, they generally only focused on the top-ranking talents from the second round. Only those talents had any chance of being chosen by the Yangyuan Empire.

During the Yangyuan Empire’s previous selection of one hundred thousand talents, Lentz had been the only one chosen from all the thousand-plus star systems in the Golden Moon Empire, and he had barely made the cut. This alone showed the immense difficulty.

It was a waste of time to pay attention to anyone else; they only needed to watch the top few talents from across the Golden Moon Empire’s thousand-plus systems.

While the crowd was still puzzled, Lentz, who was listening to Lunba Wu, suddenly went deathly pale.

’What does Lunba Wu know?’

He was terrified. ’Lunba Wu saw Tian Luo contact me before. He must have investigated something.’

The Emperor of the Golden Moon Empire was also slightly confused, as he knew nothing about Li Yang’s situation.

He inquired, "Lunba Wu, you say Li Yang participated in the previous Yangyuan Empire talent selection? What was his rank?"

Lunba Wu replied respectfully, "Your Majesty, in the preliminary selection, Li Yang ranked first in the Milky Way Galaxy."

"First in the Milky Way Galaxy?"

"With a result like that, he should have ranked near the top within our Golden Moon Empire."

The crowd grew even more confused. A first-place finish clearly indicated that Li Yang was already quite powerful back then.

The Emperor of the Golden Moon Empire thought for a moment, then asked, "Lunba Wu, did Li Yang not participate in the second round, or was there some other issue? We never saw his name."

Lunba Wu said, "Your Majesty, Li Yang did participate in the second round. However, his rank was below one hundred million."

"What? Below one hundred million?"

"In our Golden Moon Empire, that’s practically last place."

"Who eliminated him?"

At these words, the many Starry Sky Masters and World Masters in the palace gasped in surprise.

The peerless prodigy ranked tenth across the Human Race’s Three Thousand Star Continents placed last in their little Golden Moon Empire’s talent selection? Who could possibly be stronger than Li Yang?

As Lunba Wu spoke, he glanced at Lentz. Lentz saw the look in his eyes, and his heart skipped a beat.

’He hasn’t found out. Lunba Wu definitely hasn’t found out,’ he prayed, desperately fighting the urge to interrupt.

With so many people present, he couldn’t possibly stop Lunba Wu.

Glancing at Lentz, Lunba Wu felt a surge of satisfaction. Of course, the part about just receiving the news was a little performance he’d staged himself.

"Your Majesty, when I first heard this news, I was also very surprised and confused. How could Li Yang’s rank be so low?"

Lunba Wu said, "So, I dispatched people to investigate. And just a moment ago, the results of that investigation came in."

"And what were the results?" the Emperor of the Golden Moon Empire asked.

Lunba Wu continued, "The one who eliminated Li Yang was Tian Luo of the Yuanlan Clan."

"Tian Luo of the Yuanlan Clan?"

"How is that possible? Wasn’t Tian Luo recruited by the Yangyuan Empire’s Martial Arena long ago? How could he appear in our Golden Moon Empire’s selection space?"

"Lunba Wu, what exactly is going on?"

As Lunba Wu finished speaking, the surrounding crowd grew even more astonished and bewildered.

They were astonished and bewildered, but Lentz’s heart had turned to ice.

With things having come this far, it was obvious Lunba Wu knew. He had found out!

Any shred of hope he clung to vanished. His greatest fear had been realized: his role in Li Yang’s elimination was exposed!

At that moment, Lentz abandoned all hope of getting away with it. He hurried forward, fell to his knees, and cried out, "Your Majesty, I have sinned."

Everyone had been confused about how Tian Luo could have eliminated Li Yang, but seeing Lentz’s sudden breakdown, their minds instantly connected the dots.

Tian Luo, a talent from the Yuanlan Clan, had appeared in the Golden Moon Empire’s talent selection? How? He must have contacted someone, allowing him to eliminate Li Yang without a soul knowing.

And now, seeing Lentz’s reaction...

No one in the hall was a fool. They immediately guessed that this matter had to be related to Lentz.

At once, the expressions of everyone present darkened.

Lentz was involved in Li Yang’s elimination?

The Emperor of the Golden Moon Empire realized it as well. His face turned grim as he said, "Lentz, what sin have you committed?"

Kneeling on the floor, Lentz said tremblingly, "Your Majesty, Tian Luo of the Yuanlan Clan holds a grudge against Li Yang. When Li Yang was participating in the Yangyuan Empire’s selection, Tian Luo found me. He asked me to help him enter our Golden Moon Empire’s selection space so he could eliminate Li Yang, and I... I agreed to his request."

Although they had suspected as much, hearing Lentz confess it himself still caused the faces of everyone present to change.

"Lentz was really involved in eliminating Li Yang!"

"So... a private matter between Li Yang and Tian Luo of the Yuanlan Clan ended up implicating our Golden Moon Empire?"

The Emperor of the Golden Moon Empire was the same. Suppressing the rage in his heart, he asked, "Lentz, after Tian Luo eliminated Li Yang, does Li Yang know that you were involved?"

Lentz’s eyes were filled with panic. Daring not to hide anything further, he sobbed, "At the time, I just thought Li Yang was some nobody from Planet Zero. When Tian Luo was about to eliminate him, I went to watch out of curiosity... and Li Yang saw my face."

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