Chapter 1 The Beginning

Mingyue City, nighttime.

Xu Jingming was strolling with his wife in their residential complex. Despite the many residents, and the fact that it was only a little past eight in the evening, there were hardly any people out for a walk.

"People seem to be staying home more and more," said Li Miaomiao. "Even fewer people are taking walks."

"People used to walk for exercise," Xu Jingming said with a smile. "Now, with the cultivation of evolution methods, everyone is quite healthy. Naturally, fewer people are walking! And there's also the guidance of the entire Blue Star Alliance, encouraging people to focus on the virtual world, to focus on evolution."

Li Miaomiao nodded, glancing at her watch: "It's about time. Let's go back. The World Martial Arts Competition is tonight."

"Alright," Xu Jingming agreed.

"Honey, why don't you seem nervous at all?" Li Miaomiao asked, puzzled. "After all, the virtual world has been open for ten months. New experts might emerge."

"If someone stronger than me appears, that's a good thing. It means we have more experts on Blue Star," Xu Jingming said with a smile. "What's there to be nervous about?"

Faced with the vast starry sky, the Blue Star civilization was quite weak; naturally, the more powerful individuals, the better.

"You have vision!" Li Miaomiao gave him a thumbs-up.

"Let's go," Xu Jingming said, taking his wife's hand as they headed home.

Back in their bedroom, they lay on the bed, put on their virtual helmets, and entered the virtual world.

******

The virtual world's viewing platform now hosted a wildly popular livestream – the official livestream.

"This is the official livestream for the virtual world," Li Miaomiao pointed out. "I heard that for this global competition, this is the only livestream available worldwide."

"Let's go take a look," Xu Jingming and his wife said with a click, entering the livestream.

The official livestream was vast and expansive, with stands filled with countless people from all over Earth.

Xu Jingming and Li Miaomiao took their seats.

"One host, three guests?" Xu Jingming and Li Miaomiao noticed at once.

At the commentary booth, the beautiful hostess was smiling. "The competition is still half an hour away, but the number of people in our livestream has already exceeded three billion! I believe today's online viewership will set a new record."

Jin Fan, a guest from Xia Country, said with a smile: "After all, this is the first global competition since the virtual world opened! And with only one official livestream available, I estimate that when the competition starts, the viewership will probably exceed five billion."

Although the global population exceeded seven billion, and this was a globally anticipated and discussed competition, some people would still not watch.

Annie, a guest from the White Eagle Federation, smiled: "I can't wait for the competition to start! I'm eager to see which 32 experts from around the world will enter the main competition."

"Out of over seven billion people worldwide, there are only 32 slots in the main competition, which means only one in over two hundred million gets in," Owen, a male guest from the Roman Empire, exclaimed. "They're all monsters."

The beautiful hostess was arranged by the Blue Star Alliance, while the three guests were from the three strongest countries in the world: Xia Country, the White Eagle Federation, and the Roman Empire.

"When the virtual world opened three months ago, the three strongest people in the world were generally acknowledged to be Liu Hai, Teagenius Shire, and Xu Jingming. Now that the virtual world has been open for more than ten months, who are the three strongest? Who will be the strongest 32?" the beautiful hostess asked.

"I predict that the strongest three will see a big change," Annie, the guest from the White Eagle Federation, said with a smile. "Maybe only one of Liu Hai, Teagenius Shire, and Xu Jingming will make it into the top three, or maybe none of them will."

"I disagree."

...

The hostess and three guests discussed the top experts from various countries, which sparked a lot of discussion among the audience. Everyone was looking forward to their own country's experts.

"Ever since Li Wenxiu lost to Xu Jingming, he turned his shame into courage and cultivated even more diligently. According to his friends, he has already broken through to the fifth level."

"My master is Li Wenxiu's sparring partner. He also said that Li Wenxiu's strength is unfathomable."

"You fools from Xinluo, you only know how to brag."

"When people from Xinluo speak, just treat it as if they're talking in their sleep."

"Akinlov, ura, ura!"

"Merritt! Merritt! Merritt!"

"Xu Jingming is invincible! Xu Jingming is invincible!"

In the comments section, countless comments floated by, with people from various countries supporting their own experts.

"The preliminary round is about to begin. Please proceed to the preparation area," Xu Jingming and Li Miaomiao heard the system notification.

"The preliminary round is about to begin," Xu Jingming and Li Miaomiao looked at each other. "Miaomiao, good luck."

"I'm just participating. You need to do your best," Li Miaomiao said seriously.

Swish, swish.

With a light tap, they both disappeared from the official livestream.

At this moment, more than ten thousand registered experts were heading to the preparation area one after another.

"The 31st World Martial Arts Competition preliminary round is about to begin," the beautiful hostess said excitedly, looking at the livestream footage. "Currently, 12,805 experts are in the preparation area, preparing their armor and weapons. They have three minutes to prepare. Once the three minutes are up, the preliminary round will begin!"

"The goal of the preliminary round is to select the 32 strongest people in the world," the hostess said. "I'm so excited."

"Look, Liu Hai, Teagenius Shire, and Xu Jingming have appeared on the screen," male guest Jin Fan said immediately. Although there were over ten thousand contestants preparing their armor and weapons, the livestream focused on those three.

"Seven months ago, these three were recognized as the three strongest people in the world. Now, what is their global ranking? Are they still at their peak, or have they fallen from grace?" male guest Owen also said. "Although we can't see their full strength in the preliminary round, we can still get a glimpse."

"After all, the goal is to select the strongest 32, so the intensity of the preliminary round will be very high," female guest Annie said.

...

Preparation area, in a huge space.

More than ten thousand people were scattered around, each preparing their armor and weapons under the system's guidance.

Xu Jingming also prepared his own armor and weapons. The rules were the same as before, so he naturally chose the dual shields and spear.

Looking up, Xu Jingming saw his master, Liu Hai, in the distance. Liu Hai was burly and calm, like a mountain, silently waiting for the competition to begin with his eyes closed. Xu Jingming then turned his gaze to the black youth in the distance.

Teagenius Shire.

Teagenius Shire was as tall as Liu Hai, his body like black metal, and his aura was quite terrifying. However, his eyes were relaxed and casual as he looked around. When he saw Xu Jingming, he raised his eyebrows and smiled.

Xu Jingming nodded and smiled back. He also looked around, but because there were so many people and they were so scattered, he couldn't find his wife, Li Miaomiao, for the time being.

He stopped searching and waited patiently for the preliminary round to begin.

Near Xu Jingming on his right, Leavin Gullit, draped in thick fur and carrying a pair of large hammers on his back, was also thinking. "According to the Life Evolution Bureau, I'm currently the only one in the entire Roman Empire who has reached the fifth level."

"I only broke through two days before the competition, and my evolution method hasn't been 'perfected' yet," Leavin Gullit thought. "I must perfect my evolution method as soon as possible, otherwise, the gap between me and the other fifth-level experts will be too great. For example, Xu Jingming beside me is probably fully at the fifth level."

Leavin Gullit glanced at Xu Jingming next to him, thinking that he must be a formidable opponent.

"The preliminary round begins."

"Everyone, prepare to enter the combat space." A voice echoed throughout the preparation area, causing all the experts to become serious. "Countdown, 10, 9, 8, 7... 3, 2, 1!"

As soon as the countdown ended.

The 12,805 people all swished out of the preparation area and entered the combat space.