Chapter 22 The Victor

The members of the Golden Roc Team—Zhao Fan, Zhang Feng, and Zhang Cheng—along with their team manager, a silver-haired youth, were in the stands, watching Xu Jingming kill Tie Lianyun and Sun Li being shot down.

"This Xu Jingming is too strong," Zhang Feng couldn't help but say. "He's ridiculously strong. Even the captain is no match for him."

"He might have already reached the level of Senior Liu Hai and Senior Lei Yunfang," Zhao Fan, despite being a peerless genius, felt a huge gap at that moment.

The silver-haired youth beside him said, "Xu Jingming is strong, but there's still a gap between him and Liu Hai and Lei Yunfang! Those two seniors have both passed the third level of the Starry Sky Tower. The third level is very difficult. You've all seen the videos of Liu Hai and Tiger Fussen from the White Eagle Federation clearing it. Liu Hai used all his strength to pass, and Tiger Fussen barely made it through with some luck."

"Yes," the three nodded.

Indeed, only clearing the third level of the Starry Sky Tower could be considered truly close to Liu Hai and Lei Yunfang.

Those were the two high peaks of the Xia nation's martial arts world. However, Xu Jingming's mountain was already very high for them.

"Captain." Zhao Fan and the other two stood up, and the silver-haired youth also stood up to welcome Tie Lianyun.

"My junior brother is really strong," Tie Lianyun said with a smile, a happy smile. "But this battle has also given me a breakthrough. Soon, my evolutionary method will also break through to a higher level."

After both his shield and saber had breakthroughs, Tie Lianyun was confident that his evolutionary method would break through.

"I must win Tie Lianyun over. After his breakthrough, he'll also be one of the top experts in the Xia nation," the silver-haired youth thought. "It's too difficult to invite someone stronger than him."

At this moment, Sun Li also arrived, but everyone merely nodded in acknowledgment without standing up to greet him. Only the team manager and the captain could make everyone stand up to greet them.

"It was my fault," Sun Li said as he walked over. "Xu Jingming hid himself too well. When I was his teammate, I didn't know his true strength. His schemes and calculations are too powerful. He might have been considering the Fire Seed Cup competition back then, concealing it not only from his opponents but even from his teammates."

"My junior brother isn't that kind of person," Tie Lianyun shook his head.

Sun Li was stunned and could only shut his mouth.

"He achieved fame at a young age and focused on hard training. Like me, he only believes in his own strength and doesn't care about schemes and tricks," Tie Lianyun said. He was the type who buried himself in hard training. Regardless of other people's tricks, if he was strong enough, he could naturally win the world championship.

Instead of thinking about tricks, it was better to focus on improving one's strength.

"Captain, you're right. After all, I wasn't very familiar with him before," Sun Li nodded.

"You're in the second team, so of course you're not familiar with him," Tie Lianyun sighed. "My junior brother's talent is even higher than mine. It's really enviable."

While saying he was envious, Tie Lianyun's eyes revealed a fighting spirit.

He had lost this time, but he would definitely win back next time!

"Of the team's five main players, Sun Li is indeed the weakest and has no potential," the silver-haired youth thought to himself. "Finding him temporarily was a transition for the Fire Seed Cup. But the effect is clearly very average… We still need to find another sharpshooter. I'll terminate the contract with Sun Li after today's match to save some money."

As Party A, they naturally had clauses based on the competition results to decide whether to terminate the contract.

******

"Jingming, you did great," Xu Hong patted Xu Jingming on the shoulder. "Your Bajiquan (Eight Extremities Fist) Tiger Pounce and Splitting Mountain moves at the end were both very beautiful!"

"It's all thanks to you, Dad," Xu Jingming said with a smile.

"Haha…" Xu Hong let out a hearty laugh.

Seeing his son become more and more excellent under his guidance gave him a great sense of accomplishment.

Xu Jingming and his many relatives and friends began to watch the sixth match of the second round in a happy atmosphere.

The sixth match: Zhou Yi's team versus Wuling's team.

"Zhou Yi is really strong," Yang Qingshuo said admiringly.

"His rapid-fire arrows are even more powerful than my armor-piercing arrows," Wang Yi also said.

Xu Jingming said, "His physical fitness has improved, and he has immense strength. His realm is also high, so naturally, any arrow he shoots is terrifying. Once Sister Yi, you break through, you'll be able to do it too. You can even do it better."

"It's too difficult for the Wuling team. Most of them died before they even reached Zhou Yi," Heng Fang shook his head and sighed.

The five members of the Wuling team struggled to charge toward Zhou Yi, facing the obstruction of Zhou Yi's team's four members and the terrifying arrows. Zhou Yi didn't hide but instead shot arrows head-on from dozens of meters away.

Senior Liu Jianfeng even gave up on assassination and instead went to fight the other members of Zhou Yi's team first.

"Zhou Yi's teammates are a bit average in strength," Xu Jingming commented.

Zhou Yi's four teammates were all killed by the members of the Wuling team.

Only one member of the Wuling team remained—team leader Fang Yu.

"Zhou Yi," Fang Yu looked at Zhou Yi. "Only you and I are left. A one-on-one fight is fair."

"One-on-one?" Zhou Yi looked at him, picked up a bag of arrows from the ground, and slung it over his shoulder, now carrying two bags of arrows.

Fang Yu was burly, wearing heavy armor, carrying six short halberds on his back, and holding a city-breaking halberd.

Fang Yu charged toward Zhou Yi, and Zhou Yi also shot arrows with all his might.

"This Fang Yu?"

Countless viewers exclaimed in surprise.

Each of Zhou Yi's arrows was stronger than Wang Yi's armor-piercing arrows. Logically speaking, if they hit the body, even if they didn't penetrate the heavy armor, they would affect the body's speed. But at this moment, Zhou Yi's arrows were like tickling when they landed on the heavy armor. Fang Yu's running wasn't affected at all.

Only when the arrows were aimed at Fang Yu's head did Fang Yu use his halberd techniques to block them.

"He blocked them all."

Zhou Yi fired twelve arrows in a row, and Fang Yu perfectly blocked them without taking any damage. He had already charged close to Zhou Yi.

Zhou Yi finally retreated!

While using his footwork, he continued to shoot arrows.

"Dodge?" Fang Yu instantly put down the city-breaking halberd in his hand and took out two short halberds. As soon as he took them out, he threw them forward!

The speed of the two short halberds was terrifying. The two halberds, weighing several kilograms each, both broke the sound barrier. This was much more terrifying than Zhou Yi's full-strength armor-piercing arrows.

"What terrifying power," Xu Jingming was shocked. "Can I throw short halberds at such a speed?"

In addition to needing high skills in throwing short halberds, one also needed enough power.

Two short halberds that broke the sound barrier… Zhou Yi only had time to deflect one arrow and immediately tried his best to dodge. He dodged one short halberd, but the other short halberd grazed his body, tearing through his leather armor and sending a large piece of flesh flying.

"Clang." After throwing two short halberds, Fang Yu merely blocked with his arms in front of his head, blocking the arrow.

"Boom." Fang Yu picked up the city-breaking halberd from the ground and charged out again.

At this moment, the injured Zhou Yi was no longer as fast as Fang Yu and dodged and shot arrows in a sorry state.

But Fang Yu forcefully charged up close. The city-breaking halberd was like a bolt of lightning, slashing across Zhou Yi's body. Zhou Yi's body turned illusory and disappeared.

The Wuling team won! Fang Yu was unscathed!

"This…"

In the Xia nation's official live broadcast room, countless viewers were silent. Even the host and two guests didn't know what to say.

"Zhou Yi lost, and he lost so miserably."

"Fang Yu killed Zhou Yi so powerfully in a one-on-one fight?"

"Wasn't it said that Liu Hai, Lei Yunfang, and Zhou Yi were the three strongest?"

Countless viewers were somewhat bewildered.

The host, Liu Xin, looked at the prompt in front of her and then said, "In the previous match, we didn't expect Xu Jingming to be so powerful. In this match, we didn't expect Zhou Yi to lose. He was killed by Fang Yu in a one-on-one fight! Fang Yu is twenty years old this year and is an amateur player. Perhaps no one would have thought… that an amateur player could kill Zhou Yi after the virtual world was opened for a little over a month."

"The short halberds that Fang Yu threw were the most ferocious throwing weapons I've seen in this competition so far," the male guest, Jin Fan, pointed to the slow-motion replay. "The virtual world can determine that the highest speed of these two short halberds was 393 meters per second and 407 meters per second, both breaking the sound barrier. You have to know that these aren't light bows and arrows, but short halberds! How much power does it take to throw such a cannonball-like strike!"

"He's only twenty years old this year," Jin Fan couldn't help but say. "This reminds me of Tiano Xili, who is currently fourth on the Starry Sky Ranking. Tiano Xili is also twenty years old. I think Fang Yu's talent and potential are completely comparable to Tiano Xili."

…

While the entire venue was shocked and boiling, the members of the Pearwood team also felt the pressure.

"This Fang Yu is really too strong," Yang Qingshuo said. "Brother Xu, other than you, no one in our team can block a single move from him."

Xu Jingming watched with anticipation in his eyes.

Such an opponent… would make for a good fight!

…

The seventh match was between the Big Fish team and the Heavenly Melody team.

This match was relatively ordinary, with no particularly dazzling opponents. After a difficult battle, Zhuang Ziyu, Yu Cheng, Wu Sai, Zhang Qian, and others from the Heavenly Melody team worked together and finally achieved victory, but it was also very tragic. Only Zhang Qian was still standing on the battlefield.

The eighth match was between the Floating Dust team and the Fairy Form team.

In this match, the members of the Fairy Form team gave full play to their abilities. Sun Yuting, sharpshooter Wang Nuan, Dai Xiaoqing, and Yuan Yujiao all performed to their best. Team leader Zhang Qing didn't exert much effort. Only after two of her teammates fell did team leader Zhang Qing truly exert her strength.

Holding twin swords, she was as fast as a phantom, walking through the enemy's ranks. With the flickering of sword light, all the members of the Floating Dust team were killed.

Zhang Qing's swordsmanship was truly like that of a sword immortal, beautiful and extremely cruel.

"She easily crushed a team," Wang Yi said. "Zhang Qing should have broken through as well."

"Both her sword techniques and her evolutionary method have broken through," Xu Jingming said. "Otherwise, it wouldn't be so easy."

As they discussed.

On the commentary platform, host Liu Xin looked at the prompt in front of her and said with a smile, "All eight matches of the second round of the Fire Seed Cup have ended. The virtual world has also calculated the combat power displayed by each team in the battle. Liu Hai's team and Lei Yunfang's team are still ranked 1 and 2. The other teams are ranked according to their combat power."

As she spoke, a huge ranking chart appeared in the live broadcast scene next to her.

No. 1: Liu Hai's Old Age Team (Captain Liu Hai)

No. 2: Lei Yunfang's Team (Captain Lei Yunfang)

No. 3: Fairy Form Team (Captain Zhang Qing), team combat power 21280

No. 4: Wuling Team (Captain Fang Yu), team combat power 21130

No. 5: Pearwood Team (Captain Xu Jingming), team combat power 21087

No. 6: Shield Axe Team (Captain Xiong Tianshan), team combat power 18932

No. 7: Cloud Mountain Team (Captain Huo Qingshan), team combat power 16220

No. 8: Heavenly Melody Team (Captain Zhuang Ziyu), team combat power 16035

The battle chart was also displayed.

September 4th, 0:00, first match: Liu Hai's Old Age Team vs Heavenly Melody Team

September 4th, 1:00, second match: Lei Yunfang's Team vs Cloud Mountain Team

September 4th, 2:00, third match: Fairy Form Team vs Shield Axe Team

September 5th, 3:00, fourth match: Wuling Team vs Pearwood Team

"This…"

The members of the Pearwood team were all looking at the rankings.

"Our opponent tomorrow is the Wuling team led by Fang Yu?" Li Miaomiao said in surprise.

Xu Jingming looked at it, and a fighting spirit was rising in his chest. Fang Yu, are you worthy of making me use my spear techniques?

…

On the other side, the members of the Wuling team were also looking at the battle schedule.

"There are four matches tomorrow, and the other three should be one-sided. Only us… Our opponent is the Pearwood team." The team members were also under great pressure. Senior Liu Jianfeng nodded with a smile, "Our opponent is Xu Jingming. He's an unfathomable little guy."

"Xu Jingming?" The silent Fang Yu stared at the battle schedule and said, "Tomorrow, I will crush him!"