Chapter 1 A New Dawn

A period of stability arrived on Aquamarine Star, and time flew by, four months passing in the blink of an eye.

The Third Sanctuary had been fully completed, with towering protective walls, large-scale filtration devices to purify the air and stabilize the temperature, and self-sufficient greenhouse farmlands. The sanctuary's goal was to protect humanity in the event of disaster and even preserve the spark of civilization. In four months, Bennett had built more sanctuaries, but none could match the scale of the Black Phantom Sanctuary.

Overmar and Lu Cheng moved people over, built a citadel around the Third Sanctuary, and invested money to lay out a transportation network, reaching in all directions. Han Xiao's sanctuary could be said to be a large city.

The main quest was completed and rewarded. Han Xiao had almost completed all the construction projects, and the mission evaluation reached A+ grade.

[【Sanctuary Project - Third Sanctuary】completed, you gain 6.5 million experience, you gain 1 potential point.]

[Performance Rating: A+]

[Dark Web favorability increased by 2500 points, current relationship: Reverence (6000) - 【Dark Web Leader】]

[A+ Rating Reward: Additional 250% experience (16.25 million), Special Item x1]

[You have obtained 【Honor Badge - Lord of the Sanctuary (A)】]

The rewards for this construction-type main quest were mainly experience. Unlike the Germination main quest, there were not so many special items, and no new instance generation rights for the NPC template appeared. It was probably because it was a construction-type quest that there were not many events.

Although the war was over, there were still many areas to explore on Aquamarine Star. Where there are people, there is jianghu (martial world), and there will never be a lack of events. Players explored Aquamarine Star more and more deeply, and the six nations, busy digesting the impact of the war and dealing with climate disasters, became more and more wary of the increasing number and rapidly growing strength of the "Esper", but on the whole, the situation on Aquamarine Star was stable. During this period, the main storylines and protagonists of other novice planets began to shine, and the popularity of Aquamarine Star cooled down.

Han Xiao stayed in the sanctuary to prepare for interstellar travel and did not cause trouble. The number of times he, the "main quest protagonist", was mentioned gradually decreased. Most players only remembered the fear of being dominated by him when buying boxes.

It seemed that, as the *Galaxy Times* said, when a main quest ended, the corresponding protagonist would gradually fade into obscurity.

Han Xiao was not worried about the decline in popularity. The deeds he left behind were subtly imprinted in the players' hearts, and the foundation had been laid. Even if he was temporarily replaced by other hot topics, once he made another big splash, he could still awaken the players' feelings for him.

In four months, he had scoured a lot of experience, and there were a lot of zeros on the panel. Because of his rich interaction with players, Master Han had established his identity as a "Mechanical Instructor". Many new players who joined the game would also come to spend money, which was a long-term benefit.

The industry was booming. During this stable period, Han Xiao lived very comfortably, but he did not indulge in a life of ease...呸, he did not forget himself, he made equipment in the workshop every day, and continued to exercise, integrate tactical systems, and maintain his peak state.

He used the Son of Destiny Character Card to accurately predict the opportunity to go to the interstellar, and there was still a lot of time. According to his memory, the S1 Professional League would be launched during this period. This was a grand event for players, and Han Xiao had paid close attention to the event in his previous life and wanted to join in the fun.

Moreover, if his sanctuary could become the venue for the professional league, it would bring a huge influx of customers. The martial arts and Esper advancement knowledge, enhancement potions, high-level equipment, etc. that he prepared could make a lot of money.

Han Xiao vigorously cultivated Kuang Dao Nujian, Roubao Dagou, Feng Yue, and Hao Tian, hoping that they could achieve good results in the professional league. In this way, he would also share the honor. After all, most players knew that these four were the lucky ones who had been cultivated by the Black Phantom.

On March 1, Star Sea Calendar 689, on this day, an announcement was pinned to the top of the forum in red, and its popularity soared on the charts at an incredible rate. The number of players watching and replying was increasing every minute!

In less than half an hour, it became the hottest post in the entire forum!

《S1 Star Sea Professional League, officially established!》

"It's finally here."

Han Xiao perked up.

At the beginning of the public beta, news spread that the World E-Sports Federation would host the Star Sea Professional League. After a month and a half in reality, there was finally official news!

"This morning, the World E-Sports Federation announced that the first Star Sea Professional League has officially opened. This will be the most authoritative and top-level event, and it will be a grand event for players. This is the largest stage for all kinds of masters to prove themselves. Show your skills, and the world will cheer for you!"

"The first Star Sea League has thirty-seven participating countries, including China, Japan, South Korea, North and South America, Western and Eastern Europe, Russia, etc... According to the differences between planets in the game, it is divided into thirteen sub-regions, namely Frost Winter Star Sub-region, Palaton Star Sub-region, Changge Star Sub-region, Loni Star Sub-region, Aquamarine Star Sub-region..."

"The first competition system is as follows: There are three types of competition: Individual Competition, Gauntlet Competition, and Team Competition.

Individual Competition: A single-player competition project where players compete one-on-one to determine the winner.

Gauntlet Competition: A team competition project where players take turns fighting. The side of the player who stays on the stage last wins.

Team Competition: A team competition project where teams engage in combat in complex environments, and victory is achieved by annihilating the opponent or completing a special task.

The first stage of the competition - Sub-region Preliminaries: Accepting applications from all players, the team must have nine members, two substitutes, one coach, and six players. A one-battle elimination system, the team determines the winner by team competition (Note: Single players can only participate in individual competition), and the top thirty-eight teams and top sixty-two individual players are selected to enter the sub-region regular season.

Sub-region Secondary League: Eighteen teams participate, and one hundred and twenty-eight individual players participate, adopting a points system, and fighting in a cycle. Finally, the champions and runners-up of the team competition and individual competition obtain the sub-region regular season qualification, making up a regular season of forty teams and sixty-four individual players.

Pre-season: Contestants warm up, take turns fighting, and the results are not calculated.

The second stage - Sub-region Regular Season: A points system, where teams engage in gauntlet and team competitions, fighting each other in turn. Finally, the top eight teams and top sixteen individual players enter the finals based on points. If a team's player enters the top sixteen of the individual competition, the team will receive additional points. At the same time, the team and individual players with the most points can receive an international exhibition match invitation.

International Exhibition Match (All-Star Game): The regular season points champions from each sub-region compete against each other in exhibition matches, and the results are not calculated.

The third stage - Sub-region Finals: Fighting in pairs, a best-of-five system, to determine the regional champion, and obtain the sub-region championship trophy! The champions, runners-up, and third-place winners from each sub-region enter the International Regular Season!

The fourth stage - International Regular Season: A points system, where three strong teams from each sub-region compete in turn. The top eight teams and top sixteen individual players in the team points enter the International Grand Finals!

Final stage - International Grand Finals: Fighting in pairs, a best-of-five system, to determine the world champion!"

"The sub-region individual competition and gauntlet competition venues are as follows: Frost Winter Star: Rift Valley. Palaton Star: Floating Island Academy... Aquamarine Star: Black Phantom Third Sanctuary."

"Registration for the preliminaries and secondary league will begin today. We hope the contestants will achieve ideal results. S1 Star Sea Professional League - officially established!"

No matter what planet, all players' enthusiasm was boiling!

A universal celebration, a shared grand event!

Seeing that the Third Sanctuary was the venue for the Aquamarine Star event, Han Xiao breathed a long sigh of relief, and then became excited. He seemed to see a tsunami made of leeks (players) overwhelming him.

The arena was too suitable for individual and gauntlet competitions, and he opened it to players. With such a good ready-made venue, the chances of becoming a venue were extremely high.

Professional league, such a grand event held in his territory, this is a huge business opportunity!

"The competition system for the first season is the same as I remember. Because it is the first season, there are only three types of competition, and it will continue to be enriched in the future." Han Xiao thought.

"As expected, it is still the process of preliminaries, regular season, sub-region finals, and international grand finals. The champions, runners-up, and third-place winners in the sub-region and the champions, runners-up, and third-place winners in the grand finals have very high bonuses. The major clubs are the main players in the first season. Casual players can basically only achieve some results in individual competitions."

"Individual competitions are actually easier to become famous and become star players. After some casual experts show their strength, clubs will sign them, and they can become professional players in the next season." Han Xiao nodded secretly. He had personal experience. As a famous mechanical expert, he had also received invitations from clubs, but he had rejected them all. Everyone has their own ambitions. He didn't like the hard training of the team, and playing games easily was more suitable for him.

Han Xiao stroked his chin and pondered secretly: "In the first league, I remember that Huaxia's (China's) results were mediocre. North America or Europe won the championship. Was it France or Canada?"

At this time, he lived in a high-rise building in the center of the sanctuary. Looking down, the atmosphere of the players in the square had changed, with excitement, excitement, expectation, and tension.

"It's starting..."

Han Xiao also felt a faint excitement.

...

The news of the league's opening spread like wildfire, and all players knew about it. National teams and professional players were all spirited up. They had been preparing for so long for the world event!