Chapter 42 The First Professional League

The first Professional League was in full swing. *Star Sea Times* released its latest issue, analyzing the overall trends of the competition. It received a great deal of attention, and the ratings hit a historic high. It was almost universally watched.

Han Xiao opened the video. This issue was clearly different. The comments were denser than before, and the duration was twice as long as previous issues. A glance at the progress bar revealed that it was packed with content.

As usual, after delivering a painfully unfunny opening joke, the male and female hosts got down to business.

"The first *Star Sea* Professional League is being held, and the preliminaries are open for registration! Players, are you ready to welcome this grand event?"

A dense barrage of "Always ready!" drifted across the screen.

The male host said, "Starting from this issue, we will continue to bring you comprehensive competition analysis. This issue includes an interpretation of the competition system, an analysis of the schedule, and an introduction to the strong teams in each division. We have also invited the top players from the Four Great Families of Huaxia to be guests in the studio. Okay, let's go to a short commercial break. Don't go away, the exciting content will be back soon."

Then, they played five minutes of not-so-"short" commercials. By the time the comments were arguing about which brand of baby diapers was the best, the faces of the two hosts reappeared.

Han Xiao was helpless. No wonder this issue was so long...

"Welcome back. The League is divided into thirteen divisions, corresponding to thirteen novice planets, selecting the strongest teams from each planet. Some clubs and alliances in countries strong in e-sports have chosen their base camps, which is equivalent to choosing the main divisions in advance..."

The two introduced the situation of each division, listing the strong countries. Every time they mentioned a strong team from a different country, a large number of comments shouting team slogans floated by. Each strong team had a large number of fans around the world.

When it came to the Aquamarine Star Division, the reaction in the comments was the most intense, after all, this was the Huaxia version of *Star Sea Times*.

"...Aquamarine Star is the main division of the Huaxia clubs. We have invited guests to analyze the situation of the Aquamarine Star Division for us. Please welcome Dispersing Song from the Sanctuary, Tai Erzi from the Dynasty, Haotian from the Changkong, and Solar Eggplant from the Fish Fragrant Eggplant!"

The comments exploded! Everyone knew that the Four Great Families were sworn enemies, but they had gathered together. It was a rare sight!

These four were all big shots from the influential families, with a lot of supporters, and they were rivals to each other. The comments quickly devolved into a joyful flame war.

"Dispersing Song is so handsome!"

"The Sanctuary are all scum, fangirls retreat!"

"Don't stop me, I want to have Dispersing Song's babies!"

"Brothers, we can't lose! F*ck Heaven, I want to have your babies too!"

"F*ck Heaven, F*ck Heaven, one pillar supporting the heavens! Stone-faced cult, we'll send you to immortality!"

"Why did Second Moron run out? Where's the boss of the Dynasty? I want to see the number one expert in Huaxia!"

"That's too much. How can you call him Second Moron? You should call him Second Son!"

"Long live our Great Eggplant! Forgive me for speaking frankly, everyone here is a coward! I'll kick you in the face if I see you!"

"Solar Eggplant rapes the gods!"

Four professional masters with their own characteristics appeared on the screen. Dispersing Song always had a warm smile, and his good looks made him the MVP of the show. Next to him was Haotian, expressionless, stern, like a stone, and the kind in the latrine, smelly and hard.

Tai Erzi was one of the famous players of the Dynasty Club, arrogant and haughty, combing his hair with his fingers, posing like he thought he was all that, wishing he could point his nostrils at the camera, perfectly embodying what it meant to be "high and mighty."

Of the four people present, this guy had the most haters. The number one expert in Huaxia belonged to the Dynasty and was very mysterious, rarely attending shows. Tai Erzi liked to criticize his own expert on the show, not hiding his ambition to replace him. However, he had been beaten up by his own expert many times and was mocked as a joke. Although he never changed, he never dragged the team down in the matches, so while he was criticized, it was mostly in jest.

The last one, Solar Eggplant, was the last member of the "Three Musketeers" of Fish Fragrant Eggplant... I know what you're thinking, the combination of these three people's IDs is indeed "Fish Fragrant Eggplant." Solar Eggplant was a middle-aged uncle wearing sunglasses, looking casual, shaking his legs non-stop, one hand behind the chair, posing like a boss, with a toothpick in his mouth... If there wasn't a rule against smoking on camera, he definitely wouldn't have a toothpick in his mouth.

Dispersing Song smiled. "Thank you for the invitation from the program team. Speaking of which, this is the fourth time I've been on *Star Sea Times*."

The male host said, "Thank you all for being guests on *Star Sea Times*. Now, please ask the four experts to explain the situation of the Aquamarine Star Division for the audience."

The few of them began to analyze. Dispersing Song and Tai Erzi spoke the most. Haotian was taciturn and rarely spoke. Solar Eggplant chewed on his toothpick and occasionally echoed a few words.

The Aquamarine Star Division was the home ground of Huaxia, with dozens of clubs in total. In addition to the Four Great Families, there were also large clubs such as Raging Storm, Maniac, and Nine Gates. There were also many professional high-level players. They commented on each of them, showing the aura of discussing the heroes of the world, but in their mouths, the Four Great Families were still the most promising seeded teams.

There were thirteen novice planets and thirty-seven participating countries. Small countries did not have the ability to choose a base camp. There were also some foreign clubs active in Aquamarine Star. Although there were not many of these foreign clubs, they were very strong and should not be underestimated.

Although the so-called base camp planet was self-proclaimed, any country could actually come and play. However, this was a territorial consciousness spontaneously formed by players. Han Xiao remembered that some clubs would send experts to other divisions, posing as passers-by to form teams, and defeat the local clubs to obtain qualifications, so that the local players would lose face, like a dojo challenge.

Electrolyte, whom he had encountered before, was one of those challengers.

"...The preliminaries are the most intense stage. The average level of the participating players is forty-plus, not yet at max level. The one-battle elimination system means that luck plays a certain role, but the longer you stay, the more battles you have to go through. Even we don't dare to say that we are absolutely sure of every game. The luck factor will be greatly weakened, and the final thirty-eight qualifying spots must be strong teams that have been tested by fire," said Dispersing Song.

Tai Erzi mocked, "Heh, that's because your Sanctuary is too weak. Our Dynasty is absolutely sure. Whoever meets us should just wait to die."

Dispersing Song was smiling on his face, but cursing in his heart.

He simply ignored this idiot and turned to look at Haotian, smiling, "Old Hao, can you fulfill your dream and win the international championship this time?"

"Man proposes, God disposes," Haotian said concisely.

Tai Erzi snorted and said wildly, "You can all save it. The championship must be ours, the Dynasty's!"

Solar Eggplant squinted and said, "Cowards."

Tai Erzi turned his head and glared.

"What the hell, you asking for a beating?" Solar Eggplant pretended to roll up his sleeves, looking like he would draw his sword and chop at the slightest disagreement.

"Savage," Tai Erzi shrank his head and muttered angrily.

The four interacted, and the comments exploded. This episode analyzed the competition in great detail. At the end, the four promoted their team's preparations and expressed their high fighting spirit and determination to win the championship.

Han Xiao shook his head secretly. Don't look at how unprofessional they are, they are all professional masters, and they are unstoppable on the field.

Through the show, the distant first professional league in his memory became fresh again.

…

The preliminary registration ended quickly, and the official start was three days later. All participants were preparing nervously.

At this time, the shelter contained hundreds of thousands of players, squeezed around the arena, and the square was almost full.

Overlooking the square, this scene of people talking was caught in his eyes.

"The competition starts in three days..."

Han Xiao turned and went downstairs.

"It's time!"