“Which team do you think will win the second semi-final match?” Director Zhou asked with a smile.
Pang Ze smiled and said, “Although I think highly of Xu Jingming, I have to admit that his current strength is inferior to that of Lei Yunfang. I think the probability of Lei Yunfang winning is more than 90% unless a miracle happens.”
At this moment, Cheng Zihao was sitting silently in the stands with only Zhou Feng beside him.
Cheng Zihao listened to the commentary about Xu Jingming and saw the countless comments in the comment section.
“I think more highly of Xu Jingming. He’s tough and cool!”
“I’m just gonna mindlessly support Xu Jingming!”
“So you do know that you are mindless. Xu Jingming hasn’t even cleared the third level of Cosmos Tower. How can he compare to Lei Yunfang?”
“In the previous battle, Team Fairydance was wiped out, and Zhang Qing was crushed. In this battle, Team Pearwood will also be wiped out, and Xu Jingming will be crushed!”
“The difference is too great!”
“I support Cat! I support Brother-in-law! Brother-in-law, you’re the best!”
“What are you thinking? Open your eyes to reality and face the gap between Xu Jingming and Lei Yunfang! Perhaps Xu Jingming won’t even be able to fight back against Lei Yunfang’s movement technique.”
“Lei Yunfang is one of the top experts on the Cosmos Ranking.”
There were countless comments.
Cheng Zihao’s expression sank when he saw this. He said calmly, “From the looks of it, most of the audience still believes that Lei Yunfang will win.”
“Yes, there’s still a huge gap between Xu Jingming and Lei Yunfang,” Zhou Feng said with a smile.
“But it’s now recognized that he’s one of the top four experts in China.” Cheng Zihao’s expression was gloomy as he frowned. “This Xu Jingming’s luck is really good. He rose to prominence with this turn of events.”
Zhou Feng immediately said, “He’s just a martial artist—a slightly famous martial artist. How can he compare to you, Boss? Your company’s valuation has increased to 30 billion in the past month.”
“A valuation; it’s only a valuation.” Cheng Zihao’s mood immediately improved, and he said modestly, “Now that the virtual world is experiencing exponential growth, we have to seize the opportunity to continue expanding and occupy a larger share of the livestreaming pie. For example, we have to think of a way to sign more of the most dazzling contestants in the Firestarter Cup. That Fang Yu isn’t bad.”
“What about Xu Jingming? He’s very young and has potential. Should we sign him?” Zhou Feng asked.
Cheng Zihao frowned slightly, but he still nodded and said, “You can also sign him. It’s about earning money, so you have to consider the bigger picture. However, let’s wait and see. If he loses badly in the semi-finals, the contracting price can be lowered.”
“Yes.” Zhou Feng nodded. “I understand. Once the contract is confirmed, I’ll definitely confirm it with you.”
…
Sun Li sat in the stands alone and silently watched the discussion over Team Pearwood’s members on the commentary platform.
I was originally a member of the team, so how did it turn out like this? Sun Li sat there and looked at the countless comments, many of which mentioned Xu Jingming. I felt that Xu Jingming had potential back then, and he’s now one of the top four experts in the country. Why did I lose my cool? The opportunity was clearly in front of me, but I missed it.
Sun Li was vexed.
The more famous Xu Jingming was, the more miserable he felt. He could have enjoyed the benefits of cozying up with someone powerful.
…
“Let’s go on stage.” Xu Jingming and the others got up and accepted the official livestream’s invitation.
On the commentary platform, Xu Jingming’s group of six and Lei Yunfang’s group of six sat down. Lei Yunfang still had a cold expression as he sat there and didn’t say a word.
At this moment, hundreds of millions of viewers were focused on the two teams. The team members were quite used to it.
“The two teams are already on stage,” Liu Xin said with a smile. “Teacher Lei Yunfang, I would like to ask: how do you plan on fighting the next battle? Or are you going to let the other teammates fight first like Teacher Liu Hai?”
Lei Yunfang thought for a moment and said, “Anything works.”
“Anything?” Liu Xin’s expression froze.
“What Captain means is that our team members can fight however we want. There’s no clear plan,” a teammate beside him immediately explained.
The male guest, Jin Fan, warmed the atmosphere and smiled. “I’ve always had a question. How did Teacher Lei Yunfang choose his teammates? Teacher Liu Hai said that he chose them among his civilian martial arts friends in reality.”
“I picked them randomly,” Lei Yunfang said.
“Randomly?” Jin Fan was puzzled.
A teammate beside him immediately said, “We happened to encounter Captain in an ordinary Divine battle. After the battle, he sent us an invitation to team up and participate in the Firestarter Cup.”
“Me too.”
“I was also invited by Captain after the battle. I naturally agreed excitedly.”
“Captain carried us to victory.”
His teammates were quite happy. After all, Lei Yunfang was quite generous and had given them a share of the prize money. All of them earned quite a bit.
Liu Xin looked at Team Pearwood beside her. “Captain Xu Jingming, Teacher Lei Yunfang said that anything works with their combat plan. What are your thoughts about that?”
“We will still give it our all,” Xu Jingming said humbly.
“Are you confident?” Jin Fan asked.
Xu Jingming looked at Wang Yi, Yang Qingshuo, Liu Chongyuan, and Heng Fang beside him, then at Li Miaomiao. He smiled at the male guest. “Of course, I’m confident. I have so many impressive teammates. If we work together, we will definitely win.”
Lei Yunfang—who was sitting there—looked up at Xu Jingming.
Liu Xin looked at the system notification and said, “Captains of the last two teams, please say something to each other. Xu Jingming, you first.”
“Senior Lei,” Xu Jingming said humbly, “please do your best! Let us youngsters experience your strength.”
Lei Yunfang glanced at the system notification and stood up. “Xu Jingming, I’ll give you a piece of advice: Use dual shields when facing me. You can last longer.”
Xu Jingming got up as well. “I can tell you now, Senior—I’ll use my spear in this battle.”
“Young man, you have guts. I hope your strength can match your mouth.” Lei Yunfang disappeared after saying that. His other teammates also disappeared and headed for the combat space’s preparation area.
“Let’s go.” Xu Jingming and the others headed for the combat space.
…
In the combat space’s preparation area.
Xu Jingming and the others chose their weapons and equipment in turn.
“Captain, are you really not choosing a shield?” Wang Yi asked.
“When I’m face-to-face with Lei Yunfang, I don’t have the time to switch weapons considering his movement technique,” Xu Jingming said. “And in this battle, my chances of winning are almost zero with a shield. Although using a spear is dangerous, it’s more offensive.”
Although his Eight Extremities Shield Technique was ferocious, it still depended on his opponent.
Faced with Lei Yunfang—who was world champion in movement techniques—his Eight Extremities Shield Technique probably couldn’t even get close to him. No matter how good his defense was, he was only a target that managed to stall for time.
Moreover… He needed to rely on his spearmanship to clear the Cosmos Tower! His spearmanship urgently needed improvement. A battle at the apex under the attention of everyone was a very rare form of training. Be it for victory or for training, he had to choose a spear.
“Captain, Xu Jingming didn’t choose a shield.” The preparation area could be seen clearly from the other side.
Lei Yunfang nodded slightly and said softly, “He’s cutting off all means of retreat. Interesting.”
Whoosh! Whoosh!
The two teams got ready, and the ten people flew into the map.
…
It was drizzling in the ancient town map, and the ten people were scattered around the town.
“Town map.” Xu Jingming appeared in an alley and smiled. “I remember that the first Divine battle in China was also done on this map.”
“Everyone, assemble toward Sister Yi,” Xu Jingming said in the team chat.
“Alright.”
“Okay.”
“What’s that Lei Yunfang doing? He’s in the bell tower!” Yang Qingshuo exclaimed in the team chat.
Xu Jingming immediately leaped to the roof and could barely see the tallest building in the middle of the town—the bell tower. At this moment, a cyan-robed figure was standing on the top of the bell tower.
Lei Yunfang wore cyan clothes and had two sabers on his back. He stood on the top of the tallest building in the town and overlooked it.
The drizzle fell on Lei Yunfang’s face, making him especially happy.
He swept his gaze in all directions, this high vantage point allowing him to see far! When he looked carefully, he suddenly saw a figure through the window of a residence in the distance. It was Heng Fang, who was moving surreptitiously.
I found one. Lei Yunfang tapped his foot and turned into a blur as he landed on the roof in the distance. Then, he flew far into the distance.
He felt the wind in his ears.
Lei Yunfang seemed to be riding the wind as he traveled.
He didn’t even choose leather armor; he only chose a cloth robe that clung to his body. The heaviest equipment on his body were two sabers that were as thin as cicada wings.
Oh no, he discovered me. Heng Fang panicked.
Lei Yunfang was too fast, traversing more than 300 meters in a few seconds.
Heng Fang ran down the stone-paved street in a sorry state and found a cyan shadow attacking him from behind.
“Go.” Heng Fang suddenly turned around and suddenly threw out two short spears.
A cyan shadow flashed past Heng Fang.
Heng Fang’s eyes widened as a red saber scar appeared between his brows. His body then turned ethereal and dissipated.
The cyan shadow flashed and left the spot.
…
“Senior Lei Yunfang has completely revealed his movement technique this time. Look, he has reached a terrifying 73.8 meters per second at his maximum speed.” The livestream immediately labeled the speed at which the cyan shadow traveled. It was indeed astonishing.
“Even across the world, this is the highest speed an expert can achieve these days,” Liu Xin said. “There are many times when one can’t react to such speed.”
…
Heng Fang and Liu Chongyuan have been killed. Xu Jingming immediately received a notification from the team and immediately rushed into a restaurant nearby, quickly arriving at the third floor. There was nothing he could do about it; with his body weight and the weight of his weapon and armor, the roofs of some of the ancient town’s buildings couldn’t withstand it.
Standing on the third floor of the restaurant, Xu Jingming looked around and saw a cyan figure walking through the drizzling rain.
“Senior Lei, nice guts. Do you dare fight me?” Xu Jingming shouted, his voice like rumbling thunder that echoed through the entire town. It made Lei Yunfang stop in his tracks and turn to look in Xu Jingming’s direction.
“I didn’t notice you, but you appeared on your own accord.” Lei Yunfang’s eyes shone with excitement. With a move of his body, the cyan figure quickly ran in the direction of the restaurant.