Chapter 14 Closer to Victory

September 4th, 17:50.

In his personal space's training ground, Xu Jingming meticulously practiced the Heavenly Python Evolution Method. His entire being resembled a flood dragon, sometimes soaring, sometimes crouching, sometimes slithering, sometimes erupting…

Once he completed this round of the *Heavenly Python Evolution Method*, Xu Jingming reopened his personal combat power panel and lightly tapped, "Upgrade evolution method to the limit."

Genetic Evolution Method: *Heavenly Python Evolution Method* (High-tier 18%) (Practice time 602 days, cannot be upgraded)

Body: 195

Skills: Spear Technique (Third-tier 46%), Footwork (Third-tier 5%), Shield Technique (Third-tier 32%)

Base Combat Power: 4680

Actual Combat Bonus: 40%

Combat Power: 6552

"I've practiced the evolution method more than twenty times today, and it's getting harder and harder to improve." Xu Jingming looked at his personal combat power panel, thinking. "My physical fitness has improved by five points since this morning. Let's see if I can break through this time."

Whoosh.

Once again, he headed to the mission space. A stream of light fell, landing him beneath the Starry Sky Tower.

"I've failed the first four attempts today. With spear techniques, I still can't defend against the Tiger King's attacks. If I use shield techniques, I can last longer against the Tiger King, but the damage from shield strikes... with the Tiger King's physique, it's useless." Xu Jingming was also troubled.

The Tiger King's physique was too terrifying, with strength, speed, and agility all surpassing Xu Jingming. No matter how fierce the Eight Extremes Shield Technique was, smashing and hacking... only caused a little blood to appear on the Tiger King's nose, with no other injuries.

Using a spear could injure the Tiger King! But the Tiger King's claws were too terrifying, and Xu Jingming couldn't defend at all.

"Back then, Master used a shield and saber in combination. One hand defended with the shield, buying time, while the other hand used the saber, not attacking the Tiger King's vitals, but inflicting wounds. Over time, the Tiger King's injuries worsened, its strength decreased... only then could Master kill the Tiger King."

"But I can't imitate Master, our fighting styles are different."

"There's only one way for me to succeed: using the spear."

Xu Jingming understood this.

The spear could at least break through the defenses! Threatening the Tiger King!

"No wonder the Starry Sky Tower has been open for more than a month, and among so many experts worldwide, only six have passed." The closer he got to victory, the more he understood how difficult it was to pass. Xu Jingming came to the third level of the Starry Sky Tower once again.

Familiar tropical rainforest environment, dark and humid, plants growing freely. Xu Jingming wore light armor, held a long spear, and looked around.

His ears twitched, hearing a faint sound. Xu Jingming immediately looked in the direction of the sound, and saw a pair of dark yellow eyes staring at him from the shadows.

"You big cat, stop hiding." Xu Jingming was also familiar with the routine, charging straight at it with his spear. The tiger hiding there seemed to be offended and charged out as well.

The two faced off head-on.

Xu Jingming tapped his foot, flashed agilely, thrust his spear, and withdrew it immediately, not lingering in place.

Pfft!

A fatal wound appeared on the tiger's neck, and it turned into an illusion and disappeared.

With the all-around improvement of his physical fitness, as well as improvements in spear skills and other aspects, the ordinary tigers on the third level posed no threat to Xu Jingming.

"Roar~~~" A low roar sounded, and tigers began to appear from all directions, surrounding him. Among them was the largest Tiger King, whose front leg was taller and thicker than Xu Jingming himself, like a furry pillar. Its head was also extremely large, its physique terrifying. Blunt attacks were useless against it.

"Little guys, hurry up and get off work, don't delay, I need to deal with the Tiger King." Xu Jingming held his long spear and took the initiative to charge.

Immediately, six tigers roared and charged at him.

Pfft! Pfft! Pfft!

Xu Jingming's footwork shifted, his spear transformed into streaks of afterimages, and in the blink of an eye, he consecutively stabbed three tigers to death. The remaining three tigers were shocked and dodged, while more tigers swarmed over.

"Haha... these ordinary tigers are indeed less of a threat after my footwork breakthrough." Xu Jingming was human, after all, and smaller in size. The tigers were too large, and Xu Jingming relied on his footwork to weave in and out, making it difficult for the tigers to form a perfect encirclement. Xu Jingming generally only had to deal with two or three tigers at the same time.

The long spear was even faster at killing than swords or sabers.

After killing a total of twelve tigers, the Tiger King, who had been silently observing Xu Jingming, let out a low roar and finally charged out. The other tigers obediently cooperated with the Tiger King. Xu Jingming's expression also changed slightly.

"Whoosh." Xu Jingming dodged behind other tigers, not engaging the Tiger King at all.

The Tiger King roared, but Xu Jingming was small and agile, weaving in and out, his spear dancing, constantly reaping the lives of ordinary tigers. The remaining tigers… were even used by Xu Jingming to block the Tiger King.

Xu Jingming used his footwork to harvest tigers. His master, Liu Hai, still needed to get close to deliver a saber strike! Xu Jingming could kill with a single spear thrust, making it easier than his master.

In less than five minutes, the number of surrounding tigers had dropped to less than ten. The Tiger King finally let out a low roar, and all the remaining tigers retreated.

"One-on-one now." Xu Jingming looked at the Tiger King.

There was no choice.

If he were too arrogant and tried to face the Tiger King and the surrounding tigers at the same time, he wouldn't be able to hold out for ten seconds.

Without any worries, he could fight the Tiger King one-on-one for a longer time.

"Boom." The Tiger King pounced, a gust of wind hitting his face. Its two huge claws were each larger than Xu Jingming's shield.

Xu Jingming flashed aside, dodging behind a large tree, and then made a rapid thrust.

The huge tiger paw that came crashing down hooked slightly, colliding with Xu Jingming's spearhead with a clang, and knocking the spear away.

While knocking away this move, the Tiger King then leaped forward, closing the distance. Xu Jingming flashed again, his spear whipping towards the Tiger King's neck. The Tiger King slightly raised its front leg, knocking the spear away, while the other claw skillfully grabbed at Xu Jingming.

"Bang."

He retracted his spear to block. While defending, the terrifying impact sent Xu Jingming flying backwards. In mid-air, he tapped a large tree trunk with his foot and darted away.

The Tiger King leaped across the air, its speed even more terrifying.

Xu Jingming was in a sorry state.

He was at a disadvantage in terms of speed and agility and could only rely on the environment. The trees and vines hindered the large Tiger King. Even if the Tiger King could smash a tree with one claw, it still took time.

One spear thrust after another.

"Pfft." When the Tiger King impatiently smashed through a tree, as the tree exploded, a spear suddenly erupted, piercing into the Tiger King's left front limb, breaking through the fur. He immediately pulled back, and blood stained the fur red.

"It's impossible to get close enough to attack the Tiger King's vitals. Only by first injuring its limbs and reducing its threat can I have a chance to attack its vitals." Xu Jingming understood this through repeated confrontations.

The huge Tiger King angrily pursued the slippery human expert.

Xu Jingming used the environment to delay, or relied on his spear to defend and block, but defending for too long would eventually lead to mistakes.

"Whoosh." A huge claw slashed through the air, grabbing Xu Jingming's body. Xu Jingming turned into nothingness and disappeared.

"Failed again." Xu Jingming appeared outside the Starry Sky Tower, reflecting on the battle just now. "This time, the one-on-one fight lasted quite a while, and I added seven wounds to the Tiger King, but it's still far from killing it."

"To win, either my spear technique needs to improve, or my footwork needs to improve." Xu Jingming thought. "But I can feel that I'm not far off. I should be able to pass within a week."

Being able to fight the Tiger King one-on-one for so long meant that his strength was very close, and he had seen hope of passing.

…

At home, after dinner. Xu Jingming and Li Miaomiao sat on the sofa, eating fruit and watching TV.

"Jingming, you spent too much time in the virtual world today. You were in there during the day too. You're almost at the sixteen-hour limit, right?" Li Miaomiao asked.

"I'm half an hour away from the limit." Xu Jingming smiled. "I won't go in for now. I'll wait until the competition is about to start before entering the virtual world."

"Why are you working so hard?" Li Miaomiao asked. "In the past, we only went into the virtual world after dark, didn't we? Have you changed your schedule?"

Xu Jingming gently hugged his girlfriend and sighed, "On the one hand, I feel like I'm getting closer and closer to passing the third level of the Starry Sky Tower, and I want to break through in one go. On the other hand, the pressure from Senior Lei Yunfang is too great."

"Did you pass?" Li Miaomiao asked, and immediately slapped her head. "I'm so silly. If you passed, the whole internet would have exploded, and the whole world would know about it."

"The Tiger King is too strong, its body surpasses even the high-tier evolution method in all aspects." Xu Jingming said. "Although its combat intelligence is not as good as humans, it's still difficult to defeat it... I should be able to pass within a week."

"Within a week?" Li Miaomiao was a little excited. "There are only six people on the Starry Sky Ranking now. Within a week, it shouldn't reach ten people. Then you'll be in the top ten in the world, Jingming."

"Don't be too happy about things that haven't happened yet." Xu Jingming said. "What we need to deal with next is Senior Lei Yunfang."

Li Miaomiao lay in Xu Jingming's arms and responded, "Yeah, Senior Lei Yunfang's footwork is unbelievable. Archers are no threat to him from a distance, and if they get too close, Lei Yunfang will flash and catch up, ending them with a single saber strike."

"Archers can't threaten him, and ordinary team members are even less of a threat." Xu Jingming said. "As for one-on-one... I have to admit, I haven't even passed the third level of the Starry Sky Tower."

The competition would start in a few hours.

But he was indeed lacking confidence.

"Even if you fail, it's a valuable experience." Li Miaomiao comforted him. "In a competition, someone wins and someone loses. Don't worry about temporary success or failure. The competition among experts in the virtual world is a matter for the next five or ten years, or even longer. We need to have a long-term perspective."

Xu Jingming lowered his head and kissed his girlfriend's forehead.

Whenever he was tired, his girlfriend would always comfort him, making him even more relaxed.

"We have nothing to do today. How about we have some fun?" Xu Jingming looked at Li Miaomiao with a smile.

Li Miaomiao blushed and said, "Go take a shower first!"

"Alright!" Xu Jingming immediately got up and rushed to the bathroom.