Chapter 224 Spear and Shield

"My footwork reached the fourth level without me deliberately training it," Xu Jingming said with a smile. "I have to thank the Hua Hong Spear Technique."

The Hua Hong Spear Technique inherently came with its own footwork. Through long-term practice of the Hua Hong Spear Technique, Xu Jingming's footwork became increasingly brilliant. Moreover, many of the Star Cluster Spear Technique's moves were also coordinated with footwork.

Through the strenuous practice of the two great spear techniques, his footwork naturally broke through to the fourth level.

"The last time I went to scale the Star Tower, my body was at a 12% exceedance of ordinary limits," Xu Jingming thought. "That time, when I fought the Ape Monkey King, I barely managed to injure it with the indomitable spirit of the Hua Hong Spear Technique."

"Now that my strength has improved quite a bit, I'll try again." Xu Jingming was filled with fighting spirit.

After watching the match between Miyagawa Meixin and Tiger Fussen, he felt that both of them were weaker than him for the time being and weren't suitable opponents.

On the other hand, the Ape Monkey King…

Was a very strong opponent!

*Swoosh.* Xu Jingming arrived at the mission space and landed in front of the Star Tower. He looked at the names on the huge Star Ranking—there were now 83 names.

"This is the third level's Star Ranking; it'll be more interesting to be ranked on the fourth level's Star Ranking." Xu Jingming strode into the Star Tower.

A moment later.

Xu Jingming appeared dejectedly outside the tower with a helpless look.

"I lost again." Although Xu Jingming was unhappy, he understood the difference in strength. "When using the Hua Hong Spear Technique, my speed can match the Ape Monkey King's, but I'm inferior in terms of agility and strength. In a fight… I'm still at a slight disadvantage."

"It's far from enough if I want to kill the Ape Monkey King. This Ape Monkey King is too agile," Xu Jingming mused. "I must gain an advantage, then rely on the speed of the Hua Hong Spear Technique to launch a surprise attack and kill it with one strike!"

"I have to get stronger." Xu Jingming looked at his personal combat strength panel. In terms of skills, only his shield techniques remained at Level 3, 99%.

"I'll break through my shield techniques to the fourth level first!" Xu Jingming thought to himself.

The next key point was shield techniques.

There were benefits to practicing two types of weapons.

This was because different weapons had different ways of exerting force and different combat methods! For example, if one was stuck at a bottleneck in 'spear techniques,' practicing 'shield techniques' might provide different insights.

If one only focused on one path and got stuck in a bottleneck, they might enter a dead end without even realizing it.

Verifying two paths could allow one to go further.

In the training grounds of his personal space, Xu Jingming began to set the training mode on the panel: "Meteor Shower Mode." At the same time, he reached out and held a round shield in each hand.

"Begin!" Xu Jingming looked up at the sky.

In the sky, meteors tore through the air one after another at extremely high speeds and smashed down towards the canyon where Xu Jingming was.

Each meteor was burning with flames. Some were large, some were small—the large ones were ten meters in diameter, while the small ones were the size of basketballs. These meteors all reached supersonic speeds, and their might was terrifying.

"I'll block."

Xu Jingming used his footwork to constantly move and dodge in the canyon. When he couldn't dodge, he used his shield to block. He didn't dare to clash head-on and could only try to dissipate the force.

Even against small meteors, he could only dissipate the force. He didn't dare to touch those large meteors that were more than a meter in diameter; once he touched them, the impact force would be enough to smash him into smithereens.

For a time, dense meteors fell, and the canyon constantly shook under the impact. The shockwaves spread in all directions as Xu Jingming constantly moved in the canyon, his shield constantly blocking…

Suddenly, Xu Jingming failed to dodge in time and was hit by a meteor nearly three meters in diameter. At the instant of impact—

All the meteors in the world stopped.

According to the training mode settings, as long as Xu Jingming was killed, all the meteors would stop moving.

"Whew." The illusory Xu Jingming recovered completely.

"My footwork is still not fast enough, and my shield techniques aren't good enough either." Xu Jingming walked to a place with fewer meteors, looked up, and said, "Continue!"

All the meteors that had been stopped continued to fall.

The training continued.

…

Liu Hai also watched the match between Miyagawa Meixin and Tiger Fussen and had no intention of challenging them. He also went to the fourth level of the Star Tower for a match.

A moment later, he was also ravaged by the Monkey King and thrown out.

"This Monkey King is too cunning." Liu Hai looked up at the Star Tower. "Its speed and agility are above mine. Although it's too valiant and reveals many flaws, it's extremely agile in its advance and retreat. I can't seize its flaws."

"I have to get stronger before I can be confident of seizing its flaws and bringing it under my control. Only then will I be confident of killing it." Liu Hai's goal had always been this Ape Monkey King.

Compared to the global experts, the Ape Monkey King was more challenging.

"This fourth level of the Star Tower is still quite difficult." Liu Hai returned to his personal space and continued to study the eighth-order legacy.

******

Xu Jingming, Liu Hai, and Tiano Xire all stopped participating in the Global Crossfire.

However, there was one person who often participated, and his radiance was dazzling, amazing the people of the world.

That was Miyagawa Meixin!

After losing a close fight against Tiger Fussen on October 21st, Miyagawa Meixin challenged Riven Gullit, the number one expert in the Roman Republic, again on October 22nd. This battle was an absolute advantage; he killed Riven Gullit with a single slash in one minute without taking any damage and obtained victory.

On October 23rd, he challenged Haru Singh, the number one expert in the Indian Federation, again. This battle was much more intense. Haru Singh's evolutionary method had also reached the super realm, and a pair of scimitars carried a strange magic, causing Miyagawa Meixin to suffer greatly. At one point, Miyagawa Meixin was even at a disadvantage.

But in the end…

Miyagawa Meixin's footwork also broke through to the fourth level, making his movement even more strange and terrifying, defeating Haru Singh!

His terrifying footwork amazed audiences from all over the world, and they believed that his strength might have surpassed Tiger Fussen and possibly even Xu Jingming. He faintly had the momentum to challenge for the title of the world's number one.

…

Japan, Miyagawa Meixin's personal training grounds.

In the forest, the wind was blowing, and it was silent. Only Miyagawa Meixin was sitting cross-legged alone. Suddenly, an old man quietly came here.

"Meixin, congratulations on your further progress in swordsmanship," the old man said.

Miyagawa Meixin was sitting cross-legged in the forest. He opened his eyes and asked, "Mr. Sato, you can know the breakthroughs in my strength. Do you also know the strength of the global experts?"

"I'm ashamed to say," the old man said, "The Earth Alliance only allows the five major council states to check the combat strength data of everyone in the world. Our country of Japan doesn't have that authority. We can only understand the combat strength data of everyone in our country."

Miyagawa Meixin nodded slightly.

"You haven't challenged anyone in the past two days," the old man asked. "Now that your swordsmanship has improved, are you going to challenge someone?"

"You're more enthusiastic than I am," Miyagawa Meixin said.

"No…"

The old man immediately said, "We're just concerned about you."

"I do plan to challenge someone; it's just that I don't know who to challenge," Miyagawa Meixin said.

"Looking at the world today, Liu Hai hasn't participated in a single Global Crossfire, and Tiano Xire only fought two matches at the beginning. Their strength isn't clear," the old man said. "The only suitable opponents for you are Tiger Fussen and Xu Jingming."

"I've already fought Tiger Fussen once," Miyagawa Meixin said.

"Xu Jingming might be more dangerous," the old man said. "The strength he showed when he defeated Alain Emilienko was comparable to yours. His current strength might be above yours!"

"That's why it's even more worthwhile to challenge him!" Miyagawa Meixin's eyes were filled with fighting spirit. "I've never cared about losing; as long as I can gain experience and make myself stronger, then losing a match is also meaningful."

The old man nodded. "When do you plan to fight him?"

Miyagawa Meixin said, "Naturally… the sooner, the better."

The old man nodded. "Then I'll immediately contact the Xia Country's officials to negotiate this challenge."

"Thank you, Mr. Sato," Miyagawa Meixin said.

"It's my honor to serve you." The old man got up and left. Miyagawa Meixin's influence was too great in Japan now. He was worshiped by the entire nation and was the strongest swordsman in Japan. The Japanese people believed that Miyagawa Meixin would become the world's number one.

And right now, Miyagawa Meixin did have such momentum!

Miyagawa Meixin sat alone in the forest, listening to the sound of the wind in his ears, his eyes distant.

"Compared to that great existence who is a cosmic legend, what do the experts on Earth amount to?" Miyagawa Meixin said silently. "That's the direction I should truly be pursuing."

Miyagawa Meixin got up and reached out, holding a katana in each hand.

"Ten Thousand Arrows Training Mode, begin!" Miyagawa Meixin commanded with his voice.

Instantly, countless arrows shot from all directions in the forest, all aimed at Miyagawa Meixin. Miyagawa Meixin's figure flashed as he moved through the countless arrows, occasionally waving his katana to block them.

…

In reality, in the living room.

Li Miaomiao answered the call, and Director Zhou appeared on the screen.

"Old Mr. Zhou." Li Miaomiao immediately got up, somewhat surprised.

"I tried to contact Xu Jingming, but I couldn't get through," Director Zhou said with a smile.

"Jingming isn't in the virtual world; he's currently cultivating his mind and has turned off all communications," Li Miaomiao immediately explained. "He said that I should only wake him up if it's important."

Director Zhou nodded. "This is the thing: the Japanese officials have sent a message saying that their Miyagawa Meixin wants to challenge Xu Jingming. The time can be determined by Xu Jingming."

"I understand," Li Miaomiao said.

"There's no need to disturb Xu Jingming. Tell him the news when he wakes up from his mind cultivation," Director Zhou said. "Notify me after you've confirmed the battle information."

"I understand," Li Miaomiao nodded before hanging up the call.

——

That's all for today.

This is a chapter I wrote in advance because I'm leaving early in the morning to attend a provincial conference.

The conference lasts for five days, from the 18th to the 22nd, and is completely closed off. The conference is from morning to night every day, and Tomato can only squeeze out some time to write novels in the evening. I'm saying in advance that Tomato can only guarantee at least one chapter per day for these five days! Please understand, everyone.