Chapter 1 Setback

Sun Li sat on his sofa, holding a glass of red wine. He swirled it gently, watching the red hue in the glass under the lamplight, and chuckled softly.

"I really misjudged him back then. I thought Xu Jingming, who was ranked seventh when the virtual games had just started, was young and had great potential, and would shine in the Fireseed Cup," Sun Li murmured. "I thought I'd latch onto a strong teammate and make a fortune in prize money. Who knew he was a paper tiger!"

"He's doing even worse than me now. At least I made it into the top ten archers, even if it was just at the bottom. But I'm still a top-tier archer in Xia country."

"Now, warriors who specialize in close combat are everywhere. Archers are scarce, so I'm more sought after than Xu Jingming," Sun Li thought. "Nowadays, many large groups and companies are entering the virtual world to build teams. Professional teams are the most promising."

"I joined the Golden Roc Team. The captain is Tie Lianyung, and the other three teammates are at the same level as Xu Jingming. They only found me because archers are so scarce," Sun Li thought, still feeling excited.

The captain was Tie Lianyung!

Tie Lianyung had won three world championships in the World Martial Arts Competition! Now, the only people who dared to say they were stronger than him were Liu Hai, Lei Yunfang, and Zhou Yi.

"Buzz."

Sun Li glanced at the incoming call, put down his wine glass, and answered the video call.

"Sun Li," the silver-haired youth on the other end of the phone said with a smile, "The money's arrived, right?"

"Received," Sun Li said with a smile.

"We're counting on you to perform well in the Fireseed Cup," the silver-haired youth said. "This is the Golden Roc Group's first foray into the gaming industry, and you, as an archer, are a very important part of the team."

Sun Li nodded and said, "Don't worry, Director Tian. My four teammates are very strong. Working with them, I'm confident I can perform even better."

The silver-haired youth nodded. "But one thing I have to remind you again is that the team is still trying to recruit Wang Yi. If Wang Yi is willing to join our Golden Roc Team, you'll have to be a substitute. Don't worry, you won't lose a penny!"

"Director Tian, I understand," Sun Li said with a smile. "If the Demon King Wang Yi comes, I'll gladly be a substitute. I'm well aware of the gap between us."

The silver-haired youth nodded. "Good, get ready. Training match in an hour."

"Okay," Sun Li said with a smile, nodding.

After hanging up the phone, Sun Li's expression turned gloomy. He scoffed and said, "Demon King Wang Yi? She was already a god-level archer on the first day the virtual world opened, and she's much more terrifying now. Among the current archers, Zhou Yi is in a league of his own. Next to him are Wang Yi and Zhuang Ziyu! Wang Yi is also a beautiful archer and a super popular streamer. I know several large group teams are vying for her. Is it that easy to get her?"

"I really envy them."

"Zhou Yi built his own team and disdains cooperating with any group. A group of experts actively joined him!"

"Demon King Wang Yi, the strongest female archer, is extremely popular, and major groups are chasing after her."

"Zhuang Ziyu, the Tianyin Group cooperates with him, building a team entirely around him."

Sun Li sighed, "Only those three archers are so special."

There was no choice.

In terms of archer strength, those three were clearly much stronger than the archers behind them.

For a long time, Xia country only had three super archers: Zhou Yi, Wang Yi, and Zhuang Ziyu.

All three of them became god-level archers on the first day of the level-defining competition. Their archery skills were already terrifying in reality, and they had long been on Xia country's key cultivation list. After a month of hard training in the virtual world, their archery skills naturally became even more unbelievable.

…

In the living room, after Xu Jingming finished his call with Sun Li, he tapped on the light screen and added Sun Li to his blacklist.

"Jingming, don't be angry," Li Miaomiao said softly.

Xu Jingming said, "Actually, I should have expected it. Sun Li joined my team before because I showed enough strength and potential. It's not surprising that he's leaving now."

Li Miaomiao comforted him, "Don't blame yourself. Sun Li is just a petty person. You're judging others by your own standards. How would you know what a petty person is thinking? If he wants to leave, he should have left sooner. It's already the 25th today, the end of the month! The experts who are going to form teams have probably already done so. Leaving the team at this time is really harmful!"

Xu Jingming nodded and said, "He did it on purpose. He didn't even bother to say goodbye to the three teammates! We've been training together for so long, and he just left without even an apology."

Li Miaomiao said, "You can just avoid this kind of petty person in the future. It's not worth getting angry over. Actually, when we formed the team, everyone signed a contract, and with a contract, he wouldn't be able to quit."

"Our team was just a verbal agreement, and there was no signed salary, so it's difficult to restrain him with a contract," Xu Jingming said. "Since we're not of one mind, it's better that he left!"

Li Miaomiao nodded. "What we need to do most urgently now is find the last teammate! At the beginning of the month, there were many people who wanted to team up with you. But now, those who are interested in the Fireseed Cup have probably already formed teams. Where are we going to find someone now? And we still need to find an archer."

"Let's slowly figure it out. I'll go find A-Shuo and the others and tell them about this," Xu Jingming said as he got up and walked towards the bedroom.

Li Miaomiao watched this scene and tapped on her work group, "Sister Kong, Xiao Zeng, quickly check the information of all the archers. Have they joined a team? Is there a possibility of inviting them?"

"Received!"

"Received!" The two assistants immediately went to collect information.

******

Inside the virtual world, in his personal space.

"Why did you suddenly summon us? What's up?" Heng Fang relaxed on the sofa, holding grapes and looking at the snow-capped mountain top and ice lake view outside the window.

"Why isn't Sun Li here?" Liu Chongyuan and Yang Qingshuo also sat aside, eating casually.

As brothers, they were naturally casual with each other.

Xu Jingming sat there and said, "He quit the team."

Heng Fang, Liu Chongyuan, and Yang Qingshuo were all stunned.

"Are you kidding?" Liu Chongyuan couldn't believe it. "It's already the 25th today. Registration is in three days. He quit? How many times have we trained together?"

"I saved his video call. Take a look," Xu Jingming said, sending out the video.

"...Help me tell them, I can't help it, I have to make money too." In the video, Sun Li finished speaking very simply and hung up.

"A man's word is his bond! Did he just treat what he said in the past like a fart?" Heng Fang had a fierce look between his brows. "Even if he wanted to leave, couldn't he have said it earlier?"

Yang Qingshuo, who had a good temper, was also a little annoyed. "The virtual world has only been open for a month, and we've been training together for twenty days! Now he suddenly quits, wasting our training time."

"We were his sparring partners! We surrounded him and trained his close-range archery skills," Liu Chongyuan also said angrily. "His archery skills have improved, but he suddenly quit! He didn't even bother to say goodbye!"

"Without us free sparring partners, could his close-range archery skills have improved so quickly? Could he have entered the ranks of the top ten archers?" Heng Fang cursed. "The competition is about to start, and he quit, without even an apology. What an ingrate!"

"He's just a petty person," Xu Jingming said. "The most important thing now is to find the last teammate."

"It's too difficult to find an archer now," Liu Chongyuan shook his head.

"The registration is about to close, and we're still looking for an archer?" Heng Fang also had a headache. "Among the top 100 experts ranked by Wang Xianggu, there are only ten archers. The strongest is Zhou Yi, the second tier is Zhuang Ziyu and Wang Yi. There are also two in the third tier. There are five in the fourth tier."

"As far as I know, the only ones who haven't confirmed teammates are 'Wang Yi' in the second tier and 'Fang Sheng' in the fourth tier," Heng Fang said. "Several teams are inviting Fang Sheng. Wang Yi is even more popular. The Tianlan Group directly offered a signing bonus of 100 million to sign Wang Yi, but Wang Yi ignored them. There are several well-known large groups vying for her."

"Everyone knows the importance of the virtual world. Wang Yi, the most beautiful and strongest female archer, is popular, which is what those big groups value. What the big groups want is popularity," Yang Qingshuo said.

"We can't pave the way with money. The possibility of inviting Wang Yi and Fang Sheng is very low," Liu Chongyuan said.

"Xu-ge, don't you know Wang Yi?" Yang Qingshuo said.

"We've only fought a few times, and we're not that close," Xu Jingming shook his head. "Let's think of a way first. If we really can't find an archer, then we'll find another warrior. Five warriors can still charge."

"With an archer, the team will undergo a qualitative change," Heng Fang said. "If we can't find any of the top ten archers, it won't be worth it to invite even a weaker archer."

"Let's think of a way separately. We'll meet again in three days. After all, the registration deadline is the evening of the 31st," Xu Jingming said.

"Okay, let's think of a way separately."

The four temporarily dispersed.

…

"Boss, this is all the information we collected on famous god-level archers, a total of twenty-seven. The famous top ten archers, and the seventeen behind them… Their strength is very close to Sun Li who quit, but their close combat skills are not as good as Sun Li's," Sister Kong said.

Li Miaomiao looked at the information in front of her and stared at a name on it: "Wang Yi?"

"Wang Yi is the archer second only to Zhou Yi. She is also in the second tier in the expert rankings set by Wang Xianggu," Sister Kong said. "Among the archers in the second tier, there are only Wang Yi and Zhuang Ziyu. She is also a beautiful woman, very popular, and many large groups are vying for her now."

"We've met Wang Yi before, right?" Li Miaomiao said.

"Dai Xiaoqing brought Wang Yi. Wang Yi is still your fan. She likes your songs very much," Xiao Zeng said.

"Xiaoqing is Wang Yi's best friend," Li Miaomiao thought for a moment. "You guys can leave first. I'll talk to Xiaoqing."

"Okay," Sister Kong and Xiao Zeng left.

Li Miaomiao directly invited Dai Xiaoqing.

Soon…

"Whoosh."

A tall and spirited young girl came to Li Miaomiao's personal space.

"Sister-in-law, what's up?" Dai Xiaoqing said with a smile. She was Dai Tongda's daughter and Xu Jingming's junior sister.