Chapter 161: Earth’s Hope
Translator: CKtalon
To remain standing at the very end, these people present had different states of mind. For example, Tejano Xire was looking around with a smile as if he were a kid watching a show! Miyagawa Meishin, Akinov, Merritt, Zhao Fan, and several other recognized global geniuses had solemn expressions. This was because it had been a tough fight to obtain a spot in the main competition; they naturally felt the pressure from the main competition.
I was pushed to my limits just now, and I even felt like I could fail at any moment, Zhao Fan thought to himself. It was only then that the preliminaries ended! This means that my strength is almost at the bottom of the 32 candidates.
Zhao Fan had only come into contact with martial arts after the virtual world’s launch, and he had subsequently displayed extraordinary talent! The preliminaries of the World Martial Arts Tournament had doused him with a bucket of cold water, allowing him to have a clearer understanding of his strength.
I’m the only one left in Japan to enter the main competition. I shoulder the expectations of my countrymen, but I don’t have any confidence in the main competition. Miyagawa Meishin fell silent.
Liu Hai also observed his surroundings. Most of the professional experts he was familiar with in the past had been overtaken. Very few could still stand at the apex.
Seven people from China have entered the main competition. Liu Hai observed. There were a total of seven people—himself, Xu Jingming, Zhou Yi, Zhang Qing, Tu Ling, Zhao Fan, and Fang Yu. Many of them are young. Most of my old friends from back then have been surpassed.
In this era, everyone cultivated evolutionary methods. If one improved slowly, they would be overtaken!
…
Suddenly, a mighty voice boomed. “Congratulations, everyone. You have received a spot in the main competition. According to your performance in the preliminaries, the virtual world has deduced the groupings for the main competition.”
Meanwhile, the detailed groupings of the competition appeared in the sky. The 32 people from around the world were divided into eight groups of four!
“The World Martial Arts Tournament’s group matches will be held over two days.”
“On the first day, the group stages for the first to fourth groups will be held. On the second day, the group stages for the fifth to eighth groups will be held.”
“The first two members of each group will enter the next round of eliminations, and the last two will be eliminated.” The mighty voice spoke.
Xu Jingming and the others also looked at the detailed groupings that appeared in the sky.
That lass, Tu Ling, is in Group 1. Tejano Xire is in Group 2, and Master Liu Hai is in Group 3. Madeleine Logan is in Group 4. Xu Jingming paid attention to the experts who had appeared relaxed during the preliminaries. For example, Madeleine Logan wore boxing gloves and fought in close combat with her hands. She had been very relaxed throughout the preliminaries, and Xu Jingming was certain that this woman named Madeleine Logan had reached Lv. 5 in every aspect.
He wasn’t surprised. After all, there were more than 100 people who had reached the limit of Lv. 4; it was possible for anyone to break through to Lv. 5.
Ysarova is in Group 5, Halu Singh is in Group 7, Tiger Fussen is in Group 8. Xu Jingming watched. And I’m in Group 6!
Nearly ten people were also relatively relaxed. I can’t confirm their strength, Xu Jingming thought.
******
The World Martial Arts Tournament preliminaries were live-streamed in its entirety.
The atmosphere was relatively relaxed during the first round of the preliminaries—the round with the arrows. After all, those who were eliminated were weak.
In the second round, the atmosphere, due to the round with the assassins, became more and more tense. Many people who were eliminated were the strongest experts of a country.
The preliminaries lasted for more than an hour.
“The main competition will begin tomorrow.”
“The preliminaries were already so tense. The main competition will definitely be more intense.” Countless people began to leave the venue. The female host and the three guests were still talking about the contestants and theorycrafting the main competition tomorrow.
…
In Xu Jingming’s personal space, Xu Jingming’s relatives and friends were gathered in the living room.
“The requirements for this competition are too high. Zhou Yi’s bow and arrow speed eventually wasn’t enough. If he hadn’t lasted another five seconds, he would’ve been eliminated,” Xu Hong said. “It’s not only him; several contestants were barely holding on. They barely made it through.”
“Zhou Yi is already one of the only two sharpshooters in this competition,” Wang Yi said. “It’s really impressive for him to obtain a spot in the main competition with his archery skills.”
She was also a peak Lv. 4 sharpshooter, so she was most qualified to comment.
“However, Zhou Yi happens to be in the same group as Captain. In their group, Captain will definitely be first, and the other three will compete for second,” Wang Yi said.
“Brother Xu’s Group 6 is quite strong.” Yang Qingshuo sighed. “Brother Xu, Zhou Yi, Jon Pierre, and Miyagawa Meishin are all impressive figures. Of course, Brother Xu is still the strongest in this group.”
1
Xu Jingming smiled. At least from the looks of it, none of the three had broken through based on their performance in the preliminaries.
Only by breaking through to Lv. 5 could they give him a little challenge! Otherwise, the gap was really too great.
******
All the matches for Group 1 to Group 4 of the World Martial Arts Tournament would begin on the night of June 2. Before the competition began, countless viewers had gathered in the official livestream.
In one of the stands.
Pang Ze watched the battle with his wife and son.
“Brother Pang, you’re here to watch the competition too?” An elder walked over with a smile.
“Mr. Li.” Pang Ze got up to welcome the elder and shook his hand. “This is the first global competition on Earth since the virtual world’s launch. We can also identify the people with the greatest talent and potential among the billions of people. How can we miss such a competition?”
The elder nodded and said, “Since we can identify the ones with the greatest potential on Earth through this competition, we can make some investments when the time comes. It can be considered a form of goodwill for the future.”
The duo’s conversation was naturally screened from the surroundings, allowing only the two of them to hear.
“There’s no need for us to invest. The country will naturally groom them, and so will the entire civilization,” Pang Ze said. “The most important thing for us now is to do our jobs well.”
The elder looked at Pang Ze. “I wonder if Brother Pang has considered my previous suggestion?”
“Not interested.” Pang Ze shook his head.
“Brother Pang, you’ve always thought through every possibility, but the only problem is that you’re too risk-averse.” The elder shook his head. “Sometimes, you miss out on many opportunities if you’re too risk-averse. The person I introduced to you is a member of a cosmic family clan! They own more than ten administrative stars and dozens of stellar systems in the family’s territory. That person is in need of good help. My plan was also approved by Earth’s civilization…”
“I’m not participating.” Pang Ze shook his head and rejected.
The elder frowned secretly.
There were only a handful of people he thought highly of in the world, and Pang Ze was ranked first! Unfortunately, Pang Ze ignored him.
“Forget it; everyone has their own goals. But Brother Pang, you have to understand that if you miss this opportunity, you’ll not get another opportunity.” The elder then left.
Pang Ze frowned slightly and then looked at the commentary platform. This old man is too opportunistic. Although he occasionally gains a lot, he might be doomed once he fails. In the vast universe, strength is the foundation.
Pang Ze didn’t like the elder’s way of doing things. Although the elder was good at scheming and plotting, and he was now the loyal subordinate of that cosmic family’s descendant, the grander the plan, the more Pang Ze had to avoid it.
This old man never brings good news to the Earth Alliance. I can vaguely determine that this plan of his carries great risks, Pang Ze thought to himself. He’s all-in with that large family clan’s member. Forget it. Even if he fails, it will be a personal failure. Earth’s civilization is protected by the Cosmic Human Alliance’s laws, so it can withstand some turbulence.
Earth’s civilization could withstand some storms, but Pang Ze himself couldn’t. He didn’t dare get involved.
“Dad, the main competition has begun,” Pang Yun said excitedly. “Group 1 has China’s Tu Ling, as well as Riven Gullit, Coppola, and Alan Emelianenko.”
Pang Ze stopped brooding over matters and began to watch the match seriously. I hope that Earth’s civilization can see enough amazing experts produced from this competition. The technological advancement of civilization is very slow, and only the evolutionary path allows for leapfrogging! It will give Earth’s civilization enough confidence to deal with the other cosmic civilizations.
At this moment, other than Pang Ze, all the important figures on Earth were watching the competition. All of them felt pressured. As the upper echelons of the entire civilization, they knew what Earth’s civilization was about to face.
And this competition was to select a genius from billions of people. It was also the hope of the civilization.
I hope a peerless genius will appear.
Earth’s civilization needs experts on the evolutionary path to appear.
The upper echelons of Earth waited in silence.