Chapter 309 No Opponent

"Jingming." Li Miaomiao walked closer and whispered, "The Xia country's official live broadcast room is asking if you can fight another battle?"

Xu Jingming nodded upon hearing this, "I'm also looking forward to more formidable experts."

With that, he gently tapped the queue button.

Seconds ticked by, and after twenty seconds, a prompt appeared.

"Xu Jingming, among the experts currently queuing, none have a battle strength reaching 30% of yours. Do you still wish to engage in a match?" The virtual world system's prompt slightly stunned Xu Jingming.

"Are my opponents all too weak?" Xu Jingming thought. "No wonder the world's top experts have so few matches."

Xu Jingming looked at his girlfriend and said, "There are too few experts queuing up right now; there's no suitable opponent." He even showed her the prompt directly.

Li Miaomiao blinked as she looked at the prompt. "So the virtual world has this kind of reminder? None of the experts queuing up on the entire platform reach 30% of your battle strength?"

Li Miaomiao looked at her boyfriend. Although she knew Xu Jingming was strong, this prompt still made her feel... that Xu Jingming was ridiculously strong!

"Then I'll go back to the live broadcast room and say you're not battling," Li Miaomiao said.

"Okay," Xu Jingming nodded.

...

On the commentary platform, host Liu Xin glanced at the prompt and said with a smile, "Our officials contacted Xu Jingming, and Xu Jingming also tried to engage in a second global clash match, but the virtual world reminded him... that there are no opponents close to his strength. So, unfortunately, we can't see Xu Jingming's second global clash match for now."

With these words, the number of viewers in the live broadcast room also began to decrease.

"How is Xu Jingming getting stronger and stronger? He's much stronger now than during the Fire Seed Cup!" On the stands, Sun Li watched all of this and remained silent for a long time.

The feeling of missing out on a golden opportunity was like countless insects gnawing at his heart, making him feel terrible! He had clearly held onto that golden opportunity before. Even if he had just蹭 (ceng - freeloaded) some popularity, his situation would be much better than it was now.

******

Inside a luxurious mansion.

Cheng Zihao had a beauty on each side, and a group of beauties were serving him, some massaging his shoulders and others feeding him fruits and snacks.

"Try an orange." A beauty brought a slice of orange to Cheng Zihao's mouth, and Cheng Zihao ate it with a smile.

At this moment, Cheng Zihao felt that many worries had been thrown to the back of his mind, and he felt relaxed and happy.

"Dong, dong, dong." A knock sounded on the door.

Cheng Zihao looked up and saw his subordinate Zhou Feng standing at the door.

"Don't you know I'm busy?" Cheng Zihao frowned.

"It's important," Zhou Feng said in a low voice.

Only then did Cheng Zihao wave his hand impatiently, and the group of beauties all left, leaving only Cheng Zihao and Zhou Feng in the hall.

"There are so many things in the company, and I have to worry about everything. What am I paying you to be the general manager for?" Cheng Zihao couldn't help but scold, "Don't you know how many烦心事 (fan xin shi - worries) I've had recently?"

"Yes, yes, the boss has been working hard recently," Zhou Feng coaxed.

"So many big capital and big companies are rushing into the virtual world and competing with us," Cheng Zihao gritted his teeth. "Their methods are all more ruthless and shameless than the last! I'm really fed up with it, Lao Zhou. Tell me... is there any way for me to sell the company?"

Zhou Feng immediately said, "Those bet agreements all stipulate the time of your tenure as boss."

"There's no way to negotiate and amend the contract?" Cheng Zihao asked.

"None of those investors are fools; it can't be changed," Zhou Feng said. "Moreover, our company has a first-mover advantage, and the current situation is still pretty good. If we seize the opportunity, we can definitely take it a step further!"

"But it's tiring; I can't handle it anymore," Cheng Zihao said.

In the beginning, with the first-mover advantage, the company developed by leaps and bounds.

But as the company reached a certain scale, it became difficult to improve further. Moreover, more and more capital poured into the virtual world, and competition became increasingly fierce, and Cheng Zihao felt somewhat overwhelmed.

"Boss, you don't need to worry too much; we will also help manage the company well," Zhou Feng said.

"By the way, what are you here for today?" Cheng Zihao asked.

"Didn't the boss watch Xu Jingming's first global clash?" Zhou Feng asked.

Cheng Zihao shook his head. "I'm relaxing; why would I watch a match! There are global matches every day; what's so interesting about them? What's wrong? Did Xu Jingming win again?"

"His strength is terrifying," Zhou Feng said solemnly. "He completely crushed Alan Emilienko and has the potential to become the world's number one. Even if he's not the world's number one, I think he's a stable top three in the world."

"Possible to become the world's number one?" Cheng Zihao couldn't believe it. "Isn't he far inferior to Liu Hai and Lei Yunfang?"

"That was in the past," Zhou Feng said. "Boss, you can watch the video of that battle just now. I can be sure... Xu Jingming's popularity in the country will continue to soar. Because he's fighting against foreigners, there's a sense of honor in winning glory for the country, and people in the country are more invested in watching. Xu Jingming's fans will increase, and his popularity will become more and more exaggerated."

"In the near future, Xu Jingming will be a super hotspot on the virtual world viewing platform! Most likely, the biggest hotspot!" Zhou Feng said. "If our company can seize this hotspot, we can definitely take it a step further! It's normal for the company's market value to increase several times over."

"Increase several times over?" Cheng Zihao frowned. "Is it that exaggerated?"

"His match can have billions of viewers! Of course he's worth it!" Zhou Feng said.

"But I have a grudge against him," Cheng Zihao said. "I don't care; I can be flexible, but he... doesn't give me face."

Zhou Feng said, "If our company doesn't have a top pillar, there's no way to take it a step further. In that case, it will be difficult for you to complete all the bets."

"Even if I only complete part of them, I can accept it," Cheng Zihao said with a pout. "At worst, I'll lose some money; I should still be able to get billions, right? I'm really tired. I've already laid a very solid foundation for the company; next, it's up to you. As long as you stabilize the盘子 (pan zi - situation), we'll be successful once the betting period is over."

"As for Xu Jingming?" Cheng Zihao said, "You guys figure out a way. I can be flexible; I can endure even if I have to serve him wine and tea."

Zhou Feng nodded. "Understood. I'll think of a way."

As he said this, he left. He was quite capable, but not quite top-notch, otherwise, there would be no need to always serve a young master.

As he left, Zhou Feng thought, "The boss is acting as a hands-off manager; the situation is not good. Competition is becoming increasingly fierce now. If the company continues like this, I have to consider my escape route."

...

Japan.

Miyagawa Meixin's personal training ground was a forest. Miyagawa Meixin sat cross-legged in the forest.

He was only seventeen years old, and after practicing the evolutionary method, his height was barely 1.7 meters.

"Meixin." An old man looked at Miyagawa Meixin. "Did you see the battle between Xu Jingming of Xia country?"

"Yes." Miyagawa Meixin opened his eyes, his eyes calm. "Xu Jingming is stronger than me. His spearmanship is not perfect, but it should have reached the fourth level. Most importantly, his evolutionary method has broken through to a higher level. And I... only my swordplay has broken through to the fourth level, and my evolutionary method has not broken through. With the huge gap in physical fitness, if I fought Xu Jingming, it would be like Alan fighting Xu Jingming, killed with a single shot."

"Is it that difficult to break through the evolutionary method?" the old man said.

"Yes."

Miyagawa Meixin nodded. "Swordplay is about mobilizing the body during battle, while practicing the evolutionary method is about mobilizing the body in a relatively calm state... I'm still a little short of breaking through the evolutionary method. Only when I break through the evolutionary method will I be qualified to fight Xu Jingming of Xia country."

"Don't rush; you're only seventeen years old. Among the global fourth-order experts, you are the youngest," the old man said repeatedly. "Don't be impatient for a moment; you must have a long-term vision."

"I know," Miyagawa Meixin nodded.

"If you need any more resources, just ask," the old man said.

"It's already very good to get an possession opportunity," Miyagawa Meixin said. "I am very grateful."

The old man nodded. "For this, we did pay a great price. I'm afraid we won't be willing to cultivate another person within three years. Alright, I won't disturb you." The old man quietly left.

Within Japan, Miyagawa Meixin had long been regarded as a treasure, and Miyagawa Meixin's growth was too rapid.

"The experts in the cosmic legends..."

Miyagawa Meixin closed his eyes. He clearly remembered the twin blade techniques of that cosmic legend. The vast starry sky was easily cut open by the blade light.

...

In reality.

In the fields, a black youth sat on the edge of the field, eating watermelon.

Crunch, crunch... one watermelon after another was eaten, and in the blink of an eye, a pile of watermelons was eaten.

"Delicious."

The black youth gently tapped his watch, and a light screen appeared, showing the battle between Xu Jingming and Alan.

"His evolutionary method should have just broken through to the transcendent level, and his spearmanship is barely passable; he's not worthy of being my opponent." The black youth curled his lips, then suddenly paused. "No, his spearmanship isn't good enough; how did he break through his evolutionary method?"

"This Xia country Xu Jingming?" The black youth stared at the light screen. "He's still hiding his strength! Interesting!"

The black youth was none other than Tiano Xire, who was hailed as the world's number one genius!