Chapter 10 Team Formation

Xu Jingming contentedly ate his late-night snack, devouring rice, beef, and pork ribs. Li Miaomiao murmured beside him, "Five thousand combat strength. I only have a little over four hundred, not even a tenth of yours. It's so discouraging!"

"You're a talented singer." Xu Jingming glanced at Li Miaomiao and laughed. "I've been practicing martial arts since I was a kid. As the saying goes, expertise has its focus!"

"Stop being so smug and hurry up and eat. After dinner, I'll take you to meet a great beauty," Li Miaomiao said.

"Who is it?" Xu Jingming asked as he ate.

"Xia country's number one goddess archer, Wang Yi!" Li Miaomiao said, "I've already contacted her for you. As long as you show her your combat strength panel and invite her to join the team, it's almost a certainty."

"You've already contacted her?" Xu Jingming looked at his girlfriend with admiration. She moved so quickly.

Li Miaomiao urged, "Hurry up and eat."

"Okay," Xu Jingming said, eating quickly.

…

In the virtual world, Wang Yi's personal space.

"Wang Yi, hello." Xu Jingming stepped forward to shake her hand.

"Gun Demon, you're too polite." Wang Yi shook his hand and smiled at Li Miaomiao. "Maomao, you said you would find a team that satisfies me."

Li Maomao sat there and pointed at Xu Jingming. "I've brought the captain of this team!"

"Oh?" Wang Yi looked at Xu Jingming with curiosity. "Gun Demon, are you so confident in inviting me?"

"I've heard from Miaomiao that you want to find strong enough teammates so you can compete with teams from around the world in the future." Xu Jingming directly displayed his personal combat strength panel. "Do you think my strength is enough?"

Wang Yi looked at the personal combat strength panel displayed by Xu Jingming. She was a little stunned when she saw it.

"Advanced evolutionary method? Third-realm spear techniques? Five thousand combat strength?" Wang Yi was a little dazed as she looked at Xu Jingming with a fervent gaze. "Xu Jingming, with your strength, as long as you make it public! A large group of experts will take the initiative to join your team."

"I like like-minded teammates," Xu Jingming said. "My other three teammates are all my close friends of many years! And I know your character, Wang Yi, very well. You don't care about the huge signing bonuses from those big corporations, and you're known for keeping your word. I also need such teammates. I wonder if you're willing to join my team?"

"I'm more than happy to accept Gun Demon's invitation." Wang Yi smiled happily. "By the way, why didn't you invite Zhuang Ziyu? His archery skills aren't inferior to mine."

"He already has a fixed team. There's no need to break up someone else's team," Xu Jingming said. "Besides, you're Miaomiao's friend, and I trust Miaomiao's judgment."

"Maomao." Wang Yi hugged Li Miaomiao. "You're really my lucky star."

"Hey, hey, hey, it's too early to be happy now," Li Miaomiao said. "You still have to meet the other three teammates, and some team matters have to be confirmed."

"Confirm it quickly," Wang Yi said immediately.

A moment later…

Heng Fang, Yang Qingshuo, and Liu Chongyuan also arrived at Wang Yi's personal space.

"Let me introduce you. This is our team's archer, Wang Yi," Xu Jingming said with a smile. The three of them were a little stunned.

"Old Xu, are you serious?" Heng Fang looked at Xu Jingming and then at Wang Yi.

Wang Yi smiled at the three of them. "From now on, I'll have to trouble the three of you to take care of me, protecting this little, fragile archer during battles."

"Awesome, too awesome." Liu Chongyuan looked at the scene in shock and gave a thumbs up. "Old Xu, you're too awesome. You can even invite the strongest goddess archer. Our team is going to prosper."

"It should be my honor to join the team," Wang Yi said. "With the captain's strength, he can choose four random grassroots players and still prosper."

"Hmm?"

Yang Qingshuo, Heng Fang, and Liu Chongyuan all looked at Xu Jingming.

"The Fire Seed Cup competition is about to open for registration. Let's first understand everyone's current strength." Xu Jingming said calmly, "As the captain, I'll be the first to reveal it. But everyone, remember… this is a team secret. Don't spread it."

With that, Xu Jingming displayed his personal combat strength panel.

"Third-realm spear techniques? Advanced evolutionary method?" Yang Qingshuo blinked. "Brother Xu… a thick thigh, a very thick thigh."

"Too awesome." Liu Chongyuan was also a little shocked.

"Five thousand combat strength? I only have two thousand." Heng Fang was a little dazed. "Old Xu, you're too savage."

"My strength isn't considered strong yet. I'm still far behind Master Liu Hai and Senior Lei Yunfang," Xu Jingming said. "But my teammates are stronger than their teammates! I believe that the five of us working together have a chance to win the Fire Seed Cup competition."

"Champion!" The eyes of Wang Yi, Yang Qingshuo, Heng Fang, and Liu Chongyuan all changed.

"I thought it would be great if we could get into the top ten before," Liu Chongyuan couldn't help but mutter. "Now, I actually feel like we have a chance to fight for first place."

"It's just a hope," Xu Jingming said. "Don't get too complacent, everyone. After all, it's true that only Master Liu Hai, Lei Yunfang, and Zhou Yi have combat techniques that have reached the third realm. But I can break through, and maybe others can break through too. We have to be careful and cautious to go further."

"Listen to Old Xu," Heng Fang immediately nodded.

"Brother Xu is always right," Yang Qingshuo flattered.

"Ah Shuo, why are you so good at bootlicking?" Liu Chongyuan muttered.

"If you reach the third realm, I'll bootlick you too," Yang Qingshuo pouted.

Li Miaomiao watched the five members of the team in a harmonious atmosphere and smiled. "According to the Fire Seed Cup competition rules, the prize money distribution ratio needs to be submitted during registration."

"I'm fine with anything," Wang Yi said. She didn't care about the prize money.

Before the virtual world was opened, she was already a national idol and had earned a lot of money. After the virtual world opened, she was one of the top three most popular streamers on the viewing platform, and the rewards were even more generous. She didn't care about the competition prize money. All she cared about was being able to compete with increasingly stronger opponents.

"Listen to Old Xu."

"Listen to Brother Xu."

Heng Fang, Yang Qingshuo, and Liu Chongyuan were all very straightforward.

"Then let's split it evenly," Xu Jingming said.

"No way." Wang Yi and the other four spoke almost simultaneously.

Heng Fang stared at Xu Jingming. "Old Xu, your strength is much higher than ours. You're worth more than the sum of the four of us. If we split it evenly… you're insulting us. We won't be able to accept it with peace of mind."

"Let us accept it with peace of mind," Yang Qingshuo and Liu Chongyuan also looked at Xu Jingming.

Xu Jingming hesitated.

Among the five team members, the richest was naturally Wang Yi. He and Heng Fang had also achieved results in the past and didn't lack money. Liu Chongyuan and Ah Shuo were much worse off. Xu Jingming still wanted to help his old friends.

"How about this? Let's divide it according to strength," Li Miaomiao said from the side. "Everyone else gets 16%, and the rest goes to Jingming."

Xu Jingming glanced at his friends. The difference between 16% and 20% wasn't too much, and he also had to consider his friends' self-esteem.

"We still need a substitute player," Xu Jingming said. "I'll split a little more from mine to give to the substitute player."

"With your strength, Captain, our team's substitute player isn't important," Wang Yi said. "You can carry us all. We don't need a substitute."

Li Miaomiao raised her hand expectantly from the side. "Then can I be listed as a substitute player?"

Xu Jingming, Heng Fang, Yang Qingshuo, Liu Chongyuan, and Wang Yi all looked at Li Miaomiao and agreed.

"It's also very honorable for a talented singer to be a substitute player," Heng Fang said.

"It's our honor for Sister-in-law to be a substitute," Yang Qingshuo said with a smile. Since he had earned money in the virtual world, his finances were no longer a problem, and his mother's illness had improved. Yang Qingshuo had become much more cheerful.

"Then in that case, Miaomiao is the substitute player and takes 6%. You four are 16%, and I'll take 30%," Xu Jingming said.

"We don't mind how much you give Maomao," Wang Yi said with a smile.

Xu Jingming didn't care.

In this era, strength is the foundation. The stronger you are, the more opportunities you have to earn money!

"If there are no objections, then it's settled," Xu Jingming nodded.

"Then the next item, a team name needs to be submitted during registration," Li Miaomiao said. "What should we call our team?"

"Team name?" The five of them pondered.

"Actually, we can accept group naming rights from corporations," Li Miaomiao said. "I can arrange for the team to negotiate, and we should be able to earn a naming fee. Everyone can split it then."

"There's no need for that," Heng Fang looked at his teammates and shook his head. "I don't really want to wear the names of those corporations."

"Forget it," Xu Jingming also rejected the idea. "Playing well and advancing a few places will earn a lot more prize money. The prize money for the champion is even 500 million."

Li Miaomiao nodded and said, "Then what name should we use for our team?"

"Team name…" The five of them hesitated.

"Coming up with a name is the most troublesome thing. When I named my daughter, I thought about it for months and couldn't come up with anything," Wang Yi shook her head. "You guys think about it."

"Or, use the name of my song?" Li Miaomiao blinked. "Like my most popular song—Pear Wood, how about that?"

"Pear Wood Team?" Wang Yi immediately said happily, "I like this name. I've listened to Pear Wood on repeat countless times."

"Sister-in-law's song name has a lot of style. I agree," Yang Qingshuo said immediately.

"Me too," Liu Chongyuan said deliberately.

"I agree," Heng Fang said immediately. "Sister-in-law is really amazing, helping us solve another difficult problem."

Li Miaomiao smiled. "I'm taking advantage of you. When our team becomes popular, known throughout the country, or even throughout the world in the future… won't my song become even more popular?"

Xu Jingming nodded. "The most basic registration matters have been confirmed. Is there anything else?"

"We need a team manager to be responsible for contacting the virtual officials. I can take on that role," Li Miaomiao said. "I can handle other small matters. You guys can focus on playing the games."

"That's right," Wang Yi said. "I promised all my fans that I would reveal my team at 8 p.m. tonight. Can our team make a public appearance then?"

Xu Jingming and the others looked at each other.

"Okay. After all, the Fire Seed Cup competition is coming soon. This will be the team's first public appearance before the competition," Xu Jingming nodded.