Chapter 32 Zhao Fan, Zhang Qing

Zhao Fan, Zhang Feng, and Zhang Cheng of the Golden Peng Team, along with their silver-haired team manager, were in the stands watching Xu Jingming kill Tie Lianyun and Sun Li get shot down.

"This Xu Jingming is too strong," Zhang Feng couldn't help but say. "He's ridiculously strong; even the captain is far from his match."

"He might have already reached a level close to that of seniors Liu Hai and Lei Yunfang," Zhao Fan said. Even as a peerless genius, he felt a huge gap between them.

The silver-haired youth beside him said, "Xu Jingming is strong, but there's still a gap between him and Liu Hai and Lei Yunfang! Those two seniors have both cleared the third level of the Star Tower. The third level of the Star Tower is extremely difficult. You've all seen the videos of Liu Hai and Tiger Furson from the White Eagle Federation clearing it. Liu Hai spent a great deal of effort to clear it, and Tiger Furson barely passed with some luck."

"Yes," the three nodded.

Yes, clearing the third level of the Star Tower was what truly meant approaching Liu Hai and Lei Yunfang.

They were the two towering mountains of the Xia country's martial arts world. But now, Xu Jingming was a mountain that was already too high for them to reach.

"Captain," Zhao Fan and the others stood up. The silver-haired youth also stood up to welcome Tie Lianyun.

"My junior brother is really strong," Tie Lianyun said with a smile, a happy smile. "But this battle has also given me a breakthrough. Soon, my evolutionary method will also break through to a higher level."

After breaking through with both his shield and saber, Tie Lianyun was very confident that his evolutionary method would break through.

"I have to win over Tie Lianyun. After he breaks through, he'll also be one of the top experts in the Xia country," the silver-haired youth thought. "It's too difficult to invite someone stronger than him."

At this moment, Sun Li also arrived, but everyone merely nodded in acknowledgment; they didn't stand up to welcome him. Only the team manager and the captain could make them stand up to welcome them.

"It's my fault," Sun Li said as he walked over. "Xu Jingming was hiding too deeply. When I was his teammate, I didn't know his true strength. His scheming was too great; he might have been planning for the Fireseed Cup back then. It's fine to hide it from his opponents, but he even concealed it from his teammates."

"My junior brother isn't that kind of person," Tie Lianyun shook his head.

Sun Li was stunned and could only shut up.

"He became famous at a young age and focused solely on hard training. Like me, he only believes in his own strength. He doesn't care about any schemes," Tie Lianyun said. He was the type to bury himself in hard training. Regardless of other people's schemes, he would be strong enough to take first place in the world.

Instead of thinking about schemes, it was better to focus on improving one's strength.

"Captain, you're right. After all, I wasn't very familiar with him before," Sun Li nodded.

"You're on the second team, so of course you weren't familiar with him," Tie Lianyun said with a sigh. "My junior brother's talent is even higher than mine. It's truly enviable."

Although he said he was envious, there was a fighting spirit in Tie Lianyun's eyes.

He had lost this time, but he would definitely win next time!

"Among the team's five main players, Sun Li is indeed the weakest, and he doesn't have much potential," the silver-haired youth thought to himself. "Finding him temporarily was just a transition for the Fireseed Cup. But the effect is clearly mediocre… We still have to find another sharpshooter. We'll terminate the contract with Sun Li after today's match, which will also save some money."

As Party A, they naturally had clauses that determined whether to terminate the contract based on the results of the competition.

******

"Jingming, you did a great job," Xu Hong patted Xu Jingming on the shoulder. "Your final Bajiquan Tiger Pounce and Mountain Splitting Strike were both executed beautifully!"

"It's all thanks to what you taught me, Dad," Xu Jingming said with a smile.

"Haha…" Xu Hong laughed heartily.

Seeing his son become more and more outstanding under his guidance filled him with a sense of accomplishment.

Xu Jingming and his many relatives and friends, in a happy atmosphere, began to watch the sixth match of the second round.

Sixth match: Zhou Yi Team vs. Wuling Team.

"Zhou Yi is really strong," Yang Qingshuo said with admiration.

"His rapid-fire arrows are even more powerful than my armor-piercing arrows," Wang Yi also said.

Xu Jingming said, "With improved physique and immense strength, coupled with a high realm, naturally, a casual arrow is terrifying. Once Sister Yi breaks through, you'll be able to do it too. You might even do it better."

"The Wuling Team is in too much trouble; more than half of them died before they even reached Zhou Yi," Heng Fang shook his head and sighed.

The five members of the Wuling Team struggled to charge toward Zhou Yi, facing the obstruction of the four members of the Zhou Yi Team and the terrifying arrows. Zhou Yi didn't hide; instead, he shot arrows head-on from dozens of meters away.

The old senior, Liu Jianfeng, even gave up on assassination and instead focused on fighting the other members of the Zhou Yi Team first.

"Zhou Yi's teammates' strength is somewhat ordinary," Xu Jingming commented.

Zhou Yi's four teammates were actually all killed by the Wuling Team.

Only one member of the Wuling Team remained—Captain Fang Yu.

"Zhou Yi," Fang Yu looked at Zhou Yi. "It's just you and me left, one-on-one. It's fair."

"One-on-one?" Zhou Yi looked at him, picked up a bag of arrows from the ground, and slung it over his shoulder. He now had two bags of arrows on his body.

Fang Yu was burly, wearing heavy armor, with six short halberds on his back, and wielding a city-breaking halberd.

Fang Yu charged toward Zhou Yi, and Zhou Yi shot arrows with all his might.

"This Fang Yu?"

Countless spectators exclaimed in surprise.

Each of Zhou Yi's arrows was more powerful than Wang Yi's armor-piercing arrows. Logically speaking, being shot would affect one's speed even if the heavy armor wasn't penetrated. But at this moment, Zhou Yi's arrows seemed to tickle Fang Yu when they landed on his heavy armor, and Fang Yu's running wasn't affected at all.

Only when the arrows were aimed at Fang Yu's head did Fang Yu use his halberd techniques to block them.

"He blocked them all."

Zhou Yi fired twelve arrows in a row, and Fang Yu perfectly blocked them without getting injured at all. He had already charged to Zhou Yi's proximity.

Zhou Yi finally retreated!

He used his footwork while continuing to shoot arrows.

"Dodge?" Fang Yu instantly put down the city-breaking halberd in his hand and took out two short halberds. The moment he took them out, he flung them forward!

The speed of the two short halberds was terrifying. The two short halberds, each weighing several pounds, broke the sound barrier. This was even more terrifying than Zhou Yi's full-strength armor-piercing arrows.

"What terrifying power," Xu Jingming exclaimed in surprise. "Can I throw short halberds with such speed?"

In addition to needing high throwing skills, one also needed enough strength.

Two short halberds breaking the sound barrier… Zhou Yi only had time to deflect one arrow before immediately trying his best to dodge. He dodged one short halberd, but the other grazed his body, tearing apart his leather armor and sending chunks of flesh flying.

"Clang." After throwing the two short halberds, Fang Yu merely raised his arms to block in front of his head, and he blocked the arrow.

"Boom." Fang Yu picked up the city-breaking halberd from the ground and charged out again.

At this moment, the injured Zhou Yi was no longer as fast as Fang Yu, and he dodged and shot arrows in a panic.

But Fang Yu forcibly charged to his proximity, and the city-breaking halberd slashed across Zhou Yi's body like lightning. Zhou Yi's body turned illusory and disappeared.

Wuling Team wins! Fang Yu was unscathed!

"This…"

In the Xia country's official livestream, countless viewers were silent, and even the host and two guests didn't know what to say.

"Zhou Yi lost, and he lost so miserably."

"Fang Yu just killed Zhou Yi in a one-on-one?"

"Wasn't it said that Liu Hai, Lei Yunfang, and Zhou Yi were the three strongest?"

Countless viewers were somewhat dazed.

The host, Liu Xin, looked at the prompt in front of her and then said, "In the last match, we didn't expect Xu Jingming to be so powerful. In this match, we didn't expect Zhou Yi to lose. He was killed by Fang Yu in a one-on-one! Fang Yu is twenty years old and is a civilian player. Perhaps no one would have thought… that a civilian player could kill Zhou Yi after the virtual world was open for more than a month."

"The short halberds that Fang Yu threw were the most ferocious throwing weapons I've seen in this competition so far," male guest Jin Fan pointed to the slow-motion replay. "The virtual world can determine that the top speed of these two short halberds—one was 393 meters per second, and the other was 407 meters per second—both broke the sound barrier. Keep in mind that these aren't light bows and arrows, but short halberds! How much power does one need to throw such a cannonball-like strike!"

"He's only twenty years old this year," Jin Fan couldn't help but say. "This reminds me of Tiano Xire, who is currently fourth on the Cosmic Ranking. Tiano Xire is also twenty years old. I think Fang Yu's talent and potential are completely comparable to Tiano Xire."

…

While the entire venue was in shock and excitement, the members of the Pearwood Team also felt pressure.

"This Fang Yu is really too strong," Yang Qingshuo said. "Brother Xu, other than you, no one else on our team can withstand a single move from him."

Xu Jingming watched with anticipation in his eyes.

Such an opponent… would be worth a good fight!

…

Seventh match: Big Fish Team vs. Tianyin Team.

This match was relatively ordinary, without any particularly dazzling opponents. After a difficult battle, the members of the Tianyin Team—Zhuang Ziyu, Yu Cheng, Wu Sai, and Zhang Qian—cooperated to finally achieve victory, but it was also very tragic. Only Zhang Qian was left standing on the battlefield.

Eighth match: Floating Chen Team vs. Xiansi Team.

In this match, the members of the Xiansi Team gave full play to their abilities. Sun Yuting, sharpshooter Wang Nuan, Dai Xiaoqing, and Yuan Yujiao all exerted their full strength. Captain Zhang Qing didn't exert much effort at first. Only after two of her teammates fell did Captain Zhang Qing truly exert her strength.

Wielding dual swords, she was as fast as a phantom, moving through the enemy ranks. Sword light flashed, and all members of the Floating Chen Team were killed.

Zhang Qing's swordsmanship was truly like that of a sword immortal, beautiful and extremely cruel.

"Easily and effortlessly crushing a team," Wang Yi said. "Zhang Qing should have broken through as well."

"Both her swordsmanship and evolutionary method have broken through," Xu Jingming said. "Otherwise, it wouldn't have been so easy."

As they were discussing,

On the commentary platform, the host Liu Xin glanced at the prompt in front of her and smiled. "The eight matches of the second round of the Fireseed Cup are over. The virtual world has also calculated the combat power of each team during the battles. The Liu Hai Team and the Lei Yunfang Team are still No. 1 and No. 2. Other teams are ranked according to their combat power."

As she spoke, a huge ranking chart appeared in the livestreaming scene next to her.

No. 1: Liu Hai Old Age Team (Captain Liu Hai)

No. 2: Lei Yunfang Team (Captain Lei Yunfang)

No. 3: Xiansi Team (Captain Zhang Qing), team combat power 21,280

No. 4: Wuling Team (Captain Fang Yu), team combat power 21,130

No. 5: Pearwood Team (Captain Xu Jingming), team combat power 21,087

No. 6: Shield Axe Team (Captain Xiong Tianshan), team combat power 18,932

No. 7: Yunshan Team (Captain Huo Qingshan), team combat power 16,220

No. 8: Tianyin Team (Captain Zhuang Ziyu), team combat power 16,035

The battle chart was also displayed.

September 4, 0:00, first match: Liu Hai Old Age Team vs. Tianyin Team

September 4, 1:00, second match: Lei Yunfang Team vs. Yunshan Team

September 4, 2:00, third match: Xiansi Team vs. Shield Axe Team

September 5, 3:00, fourth match: Wuling Team vs. Pearwood Team

"This…"

The members of the Pearwood Team were all looking at the rankings.

"Our opponent tomorrow is the Wuling Team led by Fang Yu?" Li Miaomiao said in surprise.

Xu Jingming looked on, but his fighting spirit was rising. Fang Yu, are you worthy of me using my spearmanship?

…

On the other side, the members of the Wuling Team were also looking at the battle schedule.

"There are four matches tomorrow, and the other three should be one-sided. Only us… our opponent is the Pearwood Team." The members were also under great pressure. The old senior Liu Jianfeng nodded with a smile. "Our opponent is Xu Jingming. That's an unfathomable little fellow."

"Xu Jingming?" The silent Fang Yu stared at the battle schedule and said, "Tomorrow, I will crush him!"