Chapter 1 City of Brightmoon

It was nighttime in Brightmoon City.

Xu Jingming was taking a stroll with his wife in their residential complex. Although there were many residents in the complex, and it was only a little after eight in the evening, there were hardly any people to be seen.

"It feels like people are becoming more and more reclusive," Li Miaomiao said. "Even fewer people are taking walks."

"People used to walk for exercise," Xu Jingming said with a smile. "Now that we have cultivation evolution methods, everyone is healthy. Naturally, fewer people are walking! Moreover, the entire Blue Star Alliance is guiding people to focus more on the virtual world and on evolution."

Li Miaomiao nodded and glanced at her watch, which displayed the time. "It's about time. Let's go back. The World Martial Arts Competition is about to begin tonight."

"Alright," Xu Jingming nodded.

"Honey, why don't I sense any tension from you?" Li Miaomiao asked, puzzled. "After all, the virtual world has been open for ten months. New experts might have emerged."

"It's a good thing if someone stronger than me appears. It means we have more experts on Blue Star," Xu Jingming said with a smile. "What's there to be nervous about?"

Faced with the vastness of the cosmos, the Blue Star civilization was very weak. Naturally, the more experts there were, the better.

"You have vision!" Li Miaomiao gave him a thumbs-up.

"Let's go," Xu Jingming said, pulling his wife along as they returned home.

They both returned to their bedroom, lay on the bed, put on their virtual helmets, and entered the virtual world.

******

The virtual world's viewing platform now had a very popular livestream—the official livestream.

"This is the virtual world's official livestream," Li Miaomiao pointed out. "I heard that this global competition will only have this one livestream for the entire world to watch."

"Let's go in and take a look," Xu Jingming said, and with a light tap, he and his wife entered the livestream.

The official livestream was vast and boundless, with countless people from all over Earth in the stands.

Xu Jingming and Li Miaomiao also took a seat.

"One host and three guests?" Xu Jingming and Li Miaomiao immediately noticed.

At that moment, the beautiful host on the commentary platform was smiling and saying, "There are still half an hour before the official start of the competition, but the number of viewers in our livestream has already exceeded three billion! I believe today's online viewership will set a new record."

Jin Fan, a guest from Xia Country, said with a smile, "After all, this is the first global competition after the virtual world opened! And since there's only one official livestream to watch, I estimate the viewership will exceed five billion when the competition starts."

Although the global population exceeded seven billion, and this was a competition that garnered global attention and discussion, there would still be people who wouldn't watch it.

Annie, a guest from the White Eagle Federation, said with a smile, "I can't wait for the competition to start! I want to see which 32 experts from all over the world will enter the main competition."

"There are over seven billion people in the world, but only 32 slots in the main competition. That's equivalent to one out of every two hundred million people," Owen, a male guest from the Roman Empire, exclaimed. "Each and every one of them is a monster."

The beautiful host was arranged by the Blue Star Alliance, while the three guests came from the three strongest countries in the world today: Xia Country, the White Eagle Federation, and the Roman Empire.

"When the virtual world opened three months ago, the three most recognized experts in the world were Liu Hai, Tiejiano*Xilei, and Xu Jingming. Now that the virtual world has been open for more than ten months, who are the strongest three? Who will be the strongest 32?" the beautiful host said.

"I guess the strongest three will undergo a big change," Annie, the guest from the White Eagle Federation, said with a smile. "Maybe only one of Liu Hai, Tiejiano*Xilei, and Xu Jingming will be in the top three, or maybe none of them will be in the top three."

"I disagree."

…

The host and the three guests discussed the top experts from various countries, which made the audience discuss animatedly. They were all looking forward to their own country's experts.

"Ever since Li Wenxiu lost to Xu Jingming, he has been working harder and harder with a sense of shame. According to his friends, he has already broken through to the fifth realm."

"My master is Li Wenxiu's sparring partner, and he also said that Li Wenxiu's strength is unfathomable."

"You're just spouting nonsense, Silla country bumpkin."

"When people from Silla Country speak, just treat it as if they're talking in their sleep."

"Akinlov, Ula Ula!"

"Merritt! Merritt! Merritt!"

"Xu Jingming is invincible! Xu Jingming is invincible!"

In the comments section, countless comments flew by as people from various countries supported their own experts.

"The preliminaries are about to begin. Please proceed to the preparation area," Xu Jingming and Li Miaomiao heard the system notification in their ears.

"The preliminaries are about to begin," Xu Jingming and Li Miaomiao looked at each other. "Miaomiao, do your best."

"I'm just participating. You're the one who needs to do your best," Li Miaomiao said seriously.

Swoosh! Swoosh!

With a light tap, the two of them disappeared from the official livestream.

At that moment, more than ten thousand experts who had signed up were heading to the preparation area one after another.

"The 31st World Martial Arts Competition preliminaries are about to begin," the beautiful host said excitedly, looking at the livestream screen. "Currently, 12,805 experts are in the preparation area, preparing their armor and weapons. The preparation time is three minutes. Once the three minutes are up, the preliminaries will begin!"

"The goal of the preliminaries is to select the 32 strongest people in the world," the host said. "I'm so excited."

"Look, Liu Hai, Tiejiano*Xilei, and Xu Jingming are now appearing on the screen," the male guest Jin Fan immediately said. Although there were tens of thousands of contestants preparing their armor and weapons, the livestream focused on those three.

"Seven months ago, they were the three most recognized experts in the world. Now, what will their global ranking be? Are they still at their peak, or have they fallen from grace?" the male guest Owen also said. "Although the preliminaries won't give us a clear picture of their strength, we can still get a glimpse."

"After all, we need to select the strongest 32, so the intensity of the preliminaries will be very high," the female guest Annie said.

…

Preparation area, a vast space.

More than ten thousand people were scattered around, each preparing their armor and weapons according to the system prompts.

Xu Jingming also prepared his armor and weapons. The rules were the same as before, so he naturally chose the twin shields and spear.

Raising his eyes, Xu Jingming saw his master, Liu Hai, in the distance. Liu Hai's physique was burly and calm like a mountain, and he was silently waiting for the competition to begin with his eyes closed. Xu Jingming then turned his gaze and saw the black youth in the distance.

Tiejiano*Xilei.

Tiejiano*Xilei was about the same height as Liu Hai, and his body was like black metal. His aura was faintly terrifying. However, his eyes were relaxed and casual as he looked around. When he saw Xu Jingming, he raised his eyebrows and smiled.

Xu Jingming also nodded and smiled. He also looked around, but because there were too many people and they were too scattered, he couldn't see his wife, Li Miaomiao, for a moment.

He stopped searching and quietly waited for the preliminaries to begin.

Near Xu Jingming's right side, Liwen*Gulite, draped in thick fur and carrying a pair of large hammers on his back, was also pondering, "According to the Life Evolution Bureau, I am currently the only one in the entire Roman Empire who has stepped into the fifth realm."

"I only managed to break through two days before the start of the competition, and my evolution method has yet to reach 'perfection'," Liwen*Gulite thought. "I must perfect my evolution method as soon as possible; otherwise, the gap between me and other fifth realm experts will be too great. For example, this Xu Jingming next to me is probably fully at the fifth realm."

Liwen*Gulite glanced at Xu Jingming next to him. This person was definitely a formidable opponent.

"The preliminaries begin."

"Everyone, prepare to enter the battle space." A voice echoed throughout the preparation area, and all the experts became serious. "Countdown, 10, 9, 8, 7… 3, 2, 1!"

As soon as the countdown ended, the 12,805 people all left the preparation area and entered the battle space.