Chapter 1 Confrontation

Xu Jingming gently tapped, ready, let's begin. With a buzz, the system had already selected an opponent.

The interface displayed information about both combatants.

Opponent's Information:

Name: Shupura
Wugou Star Alliance Ranking: 21927
Hunter Universe Ranking: None
Total Universe Ranking: None

"Also from the Wugou Star Alliance," Xu Jingming mused. At the same time, the scene before his eyes transformed, and he entered the combat preparation space.

Within the preparation space, only Xu Jingming and a tall, dark man were present, both observing each other.

"What a physique," Xu Jingming thought, somewhat surprised despite his extensive experience.

Shupura stood over five meters tall, a giant even among the human races of the universe, with a robust build resembling an upright bear.

"Is this Shupura's actual physique, or is it a deliberate disguise?" Xu Jingming wondered. In the life evolution game, names could be changed, and so could one's figure and appearance.

Xu Jingming, for example, currently resembled his appearance during the Mysterious Land selection, appearing sharper and more ruthless than his real-world self.

After all, back on Blue Star, he had discreetly disguised himself as a seventh-order Starry Sky lifeform.

In the Universe Peak battle, he would naturally use the identity of Wu Ming.

"You're called Wu Ming?" Shupura boomed with hearty laughter. "I'll tell you in advance, I specialize in great hammers."

Xu Jingming directly selected his weapons and equipment.

Clad in light armor, carrying a shield, and wielding a long spear, Xu Jingming glanced at Shupura.

"Little brother, you're quite decisive. Got it, you're skilled in spear and shield techniques." Shupura also chose a set of heavy armor, with nine short spears strapped to his back, and a great hammer in each hand. He raised an eyebrow at Xu Jingming.

The eyebrow raise of this bear-like opponent was rather comical.

"This human-stage limit opponent is pretty excited," Xu Jingming thought.

At that moment, the viewing space was packed with countless universe citizen spectators.

"Shupura, hammer him to death!"

"Get those hammers swinging!"

"I watch Shupura's peak battles every day. His hammer techniques look simple, but I just can't seem to learn them."

"Shupura is going to win this one again! His opponent is also from the Wugou Star Alliance, ranked only in the thirty thousands! Seems like he's weaker than Shupura."

The numerous spectators chatted, as a torrent of information streamed past.

Shupura, a long-time participant in the Universe Peak battle, had amassed a large following as an eighth-order limit expert. For example, this match had already attracted over ten million universe citizen viewers.

Ten million universe citizens watching simultaneously was considered quite a high level of popularity.

"Hmm?"

Xu Jingming also noticed the number of viewers: "10,085,621," the numbers fluctuating.

"What, over ten million universe citizen spectators?" Xu Jingming glanced at the bear-like Shupura with some surprise, thinking, "Didn't realize he was a celebrity expert."

He himself had played very few times before, and very few viewers paid him any attention. If a hundred people tuned in to watch him today, he'd be happy.

The reason so many people were watching was naturally his opponent.

"I wonder what he's got that makes him so popular," Xu Jingming thought, casually checking out the opponent's detailed information.

Good heavens.

The number of people following Shupura exceeded 1.8 billion!

With both sides having chosen their weapons and equipment, they entered the battle map directly.

Battle, begin!

******

This was a planet with a diameter of over 30,000 kilometers.

Boom.

Xu Jingming transformed into a shooting star and descended, finally landing on the peak of a high mountain.

Xu Jingming looked into the distance. As an eighth-order limit Starry Sky lifeform, his eyes could clearly see Shupura's figure over a thousand kilometers away.

"This planet has no other lifeforms," Xu Jingming's gaze swept across, instantly scanning the entire planet, and then locked onto Shupura.

"Hahaha!"

Accompanied by laughter that echoed throughout every corner of the planet.

Shupura's whole body burst forth with dazzling light, quickly becoming gigantic, transforming from a roughly five-meter-tall, relatively normal height, into a towering giant fifty kilometers tall. The clouds were only at his knees, and his eyes seemed to be looking down from outer space, creating a strong sense of oppression.

"Physical Body Energy Transformation!"

"Giant Shupura!"

Countless spectators watched with excitement, as Physical Body Energy Transformation was something that at least an eighth-order Starry Sky lifeform could accomplish.

Relatively few eighth-order limits were willing to become 'giants,' but Shupura was one of them, making him popular with many viewers.

"Physical Body Energy Transformation, using energy to condense into a giant," Xu Jingming saw through his opponent's actions at a glance, and frowned slightly. "Condensing energy into a fifty-kilometer-tall giant greatly reduces energy density. His strength has decreased instead of increased."

The fifty-kilometer-tall, towering giant looked terrifying.

But as an eighth-order limit, Xu Jingming knew very well that normal height was the strongest state.

A few meters tall might look ordinary, but the terrifying power was completely condensed, making every move extremely powerful.

"Wu Ming, take a few hammers from me!" The towering Shupura laughed loudly, wearing heavy armor, his pair of great hammers also becoming gigantic, even larger than mountains.

In the Universe Peak battle, selected weapons and equipment could be enlarged or shrunk.

At this moment, Shupura walked over step by step, crossing mountains and lakes, traversing plains and deserts.

Xu Jingming stared solemnly at his opponent.

No eighth-order limit could be underestimated.

"This Wu Ming is still standing there. Looks like he doesn't understand the power of the great hammer."

"The Giant Hammer Technique has brought down quite a few eighth-order limits."

"The Giant Hammer Technique is impossible to dodge, you can only face it head-on. This Wu Ming is going to suffer a big loss in a moment." Of the tens of millions of universe citizen viewers, apart from a small number of neutral spectators, and the hundred or so fans following 'Wu Ming,' the rest were all Shupura's fans.

Shupura's fans were well aware of the moves Shupura excelled at.

...

"Here it comes." Xu Jingming watched as the towering giant, clad in heavy armor, approached step by step. As he got close, the towering giant grinned, and the great hammer swept over.

"This..."

Xu Jingming immediately sensed the unique nature of the opponent's hammer technique.

"This great hammer covers too much area; it's hard to avoid." Xu Jingming had received the Light Aspect of the *Yuanchu Star Conjecture*, one of the three strongest inheritances of the universe human race, and was very skilled in terms of speed.

If he really wanted to dodge, Xu Jingming could dodge.

But he didn't want to dodge.

"What if the energy is condensed into a giant? His strength won't increase anyway." Xu Jingming suddenly charged towards the great hammer, actively meeting it head-on.

"Haha..." The towering Shupura laughed, wielding his pair of great hammers, hammering at the ant-like figure.

"Boom," "Boom," "Boom," "Boom," "Boom."

The two great hammers struck madly.

The great hammers covered an extremely large area. Even an eighth-order limit opponent could only withstand Shupura's strikes head-on.

Head-to-head confrontation was Shupura's forte, and he had defeated many eighth-order limits in this area.

"The hammer technique is somewhat interesting." Xu Jingming, the tiny figure, completely withstood the great hammer strikes. "But it's just these nine hammer moves over and over."

Whoosh.

Xu Jingming used his movement technique.

A streak of light flashed across the sky, flying past the edge of the two giant hammers, heading straight for the towering giant's head.

"What?" Shupura widened his eyes in shock. His eyes were already large, and this widening made him look even more comical.

"He dodged the hammer technique."

"This person avoided such a large hammer."

"The Giant Hammer Technique has been broken."

"Shupura's Giant Hammer Technique was broken! It's so fast, it's practically a beam of light!"

Countless universe citizen viewers watched with a sparkle in their eyes.

Xu Jingming's flying speed was too fast, his trajectory too unpredictable. In the blink of an eye, he had reached the towering giant's head. The head was the only part of the towering giant's body not protected by armor.

Boom.

The slender long spear instantly pierced into the towering giant's head. Although the head was large, its energy density was low. Under Xu Jingming's spear, it instantly collapsed.

"Boom."

The head exploded, turning into dense energy.

The entire towering giant rapidly shrunk, retracting a large amount of energy, returning to a normal human height.

The moment Shupura returned to his normal size, he continuously hurled short spears. The nine short spears on his back tore through dozens of kilometers of space, consecutively striking towards Xu Jingming.

The short spears were as fast as teleportation.

With a flick of his long spear, Xu Jingming deflected all nine short spears.

"Oh dear, hidden weapons are useless too." Seeing this, Shupura shook his head, wielding two great hammers. "I have a feeling that I'm going to lose this match."

"Giving up so quickly?"

"Shupura, face him head-on! Who's afraid of who?"

The viewers were all talking.

At this moment, Xu Jingming's figure, like a streak of light, had already arrived.

Shupura became much more serious, and no longer interacted with the viewers, instead welcoming Xu Jingming.

"Bang, bang, bang."

The weapons of both sides collided, only a dozen or so times.

"This guy's spear technique is too fierce; I can't block it." Shupura turned and ran, swoosh, swoosh, swoosh! Dozens of Shupuras appeared at once.

Xu Jingming's figure also changed, moving so fast that it seemed dozens of him appeared at the same time.

"There's no escaping."

Amidst Shupura's screams.

He was ultimately pierced through the chest with a spear and exploded, his body partially annihilated.

"I give up, I give up!" Shupura immediately clicked to concede.

Wielding his long spear, Xu Jingming looked at his opponent with slight confusion.

Eighth-order Starry Sky lifeforms with Physical Body Energy Transformation had no vital points. Even if part of their body was annihilated, they could still recover. He would probably have to stab him several times to completely kill him.

"Eighth-order limit battles, and he just gives up like that?" Xu Jingming sighed inwardly. He was sincerely facing this kind of battle, but his opponent clearly wasn't.

Whoosh.

Xu Jingming immediately disappeared and left.

"Lost." The bear-like Shupura sat down with a thud, saying helplessly, "Don't scold me, don't scold me. There's a reason why I conceded early."

"Come on, take a look."

Shupura manipulated the time of the battle space, and began to review the match.

"See that? My Giant Hammer Technique can be considered unique, and many eighth-order limits have fallen to it. But this Wu Ming... Even though his movement technique is strong, he insisted on facing me head-on at the beginning. He withstood all nine of my killer moves, and none of them worked." Shupura shook his head. "As soon as he used his speed movement technique, he quickly escaped the range of my hammer technique and destroyed my giant form.

"Look, I launched hidden weapons, and he easily blocked them.

"I deliberately ran away, using all my strength to perform movement techniques, wanting to find an opportunity to counterattack. See that? He completely suppressed me in terms of movement technique. Every fake clone was pierced through, and even my real body was pierced through." Shupura shook his head. "Even if I struggled ten or a hundred more times, my body would still be pierced through.

"So I conceded early because I saw clearly that I had no chance of winning this battle.

Shupura said, "I can confirm that this Wu Ming rarely participates in peak battles. Otherwise, his ranking would definitely be higher than thirty thousand. If I'm wrong, I'll write my name backwards!"

Interacting with the viewers, Shupura also watched the replay of the battle.

"This Wu Ming has such a serious look in his eyes." Shupura sighed inwardly.

"I used to be so serious too."

"Too bad, I'm old, and there's no hope of becoming a Source lifeform. I can only find a way to earn some money to subsidize my weak home civilization." Shupura thought to himself, "After all, I'm the only eighth-order in my home civilization's history."

An eighth-order limit, if truly focused on making money, could earn quite a high income.

Shupura looked at the viewer's information stream, and laughed. "Alright, now everyone guess, will I win or lose the next match?" Saying this, he entered the preparation interface again.

For others, the Universe Peak battle might be a kind of training to pursue their own limits.

But for Shupura, it was just a job, a job to earn money.

His somewhat comical physique and appearance were deliberately modified. In the virtual world network, only by making the viewers happy and entertained could he gain enough fans.

Whether he won or lost, as long as the viewers were happy, Shupura's income would be higher.

...

The encounter with Shupura was Xu Jingming's first match since leaving the Demon Subduing World and focusing on the Universe Peak battle. It was also an easy victory.

Because he defeated a celebrity expert, the number of people following Xu Jingming rose to over eight hundred thousand. Xu Jingming didn't care, and continued on to his next battle.