Chapter 8 The Neighbor

On the evening of August 30th, Master Liu Hai also moved to his new home, becoming Xu Jingming's neighbor and the owner of residence number 7 in the residential area.

In the courtyard of the residence, the lights were dim and yellow.

"Master, you're living alone?" Xu Jingming and Liu Hai sat in the courtyard.

"I've gotten used to it over the years," Liu Hai, a burly man, said with a smile. "Besides, I'm a martial arts fanatic who doesn't care about anything else when I'm practicing! My wife likes excitement; she has her own career in the capital. My children also have their own careers in the capital. They can move here when they want to."

Xu Jingming felt that his master might be a little too lonely living alone.

"It's good to have some peace and quiet."

Liu Hai asked, "Jingming, what have you gained from interacting with the virtual world network?"

"I just feel that the entire Cosmic Human Alliance is so vast, with countless civilizations," Xu Jingming said with emotion. "On Earth, I thought I was pretty good. But when I came into contact with the ocean of the entire cosmic human civilization, I realized I was just ordinary. Just entering a virtual game world, there are a bunch of people stronger than me."

"The universe is vast, and there will always be someone better," Liu Hai said expectantly. "My Xia country's Tai Chi lineage was created by our ancestors and perfected over generations. If we can absorb the nourishment of countless civilizations in the universe, I wonder what heights the Tai Chi lineage can reach."

Xu Jingming nodded. "After becoming a cosmic lifeform, your lifespan is long. In your hands, Master, the Tai Chi lineage will definitely reach unprecedented heights."

The predecessors might have been remarkably intelligent, but limited by their knowledge and lifespan, the achievements of the Tai Chi lineage were limited.

Liu Hai now had a lifespan of three thousand years. How long had Xia country's history been?

"I feel that you should have already broken through to the mid-stage of cosmic lifeforms, right?" Liu Hai looked at his disciple. He could sense that even though his disciple was suppressing his life force, it still had a faint sense of oppression.

"I just broke through a few days ago," Xu Jingming nodded. "Master, I estimate it won't be long before you break through too."

"Yeah."

Liu Hai nodded. "Becoming a cosmic lifeform greatly enhances the mind and consciousness. I directly broke through to the fifth order, 82%. I'm not far from the sixth order. By the way, do you have any suggestions for the virtual world network? I'm completely in the dark right now."

Xu Jingming thought for a moment and said, "You can start by researching the top 100 most popular virtual worlds in the universe, try to explore them. For the first month or two, just explore. Don't rush to settle down in a particular virtual world for the long term. My current focus is the Blood Rain World. If I can establish a foundation there, I can invite you to come with me, Master. Right now, I'm still wandering."

"Blood Rain World?" Liu Hai's eyes lit up. "You plan to settle down in that world?"

"The Blood Rain World has a very special origin and is worth spending effort on," Xu Jingming nodded. "I estimate it will take a few more months before I can establish a foundation."

In a month, he had to serve as a bodyguard for the Fei family and escort them to the capital.

Xu Jingming was thinking of settling down in the capital of the Blood Rain World!

If there was a way, he would help his master, Liu Hai, also settle down in the capital. Two good men can help each other. In the Blood Rain World, with his master's help, many things would be more convenient for him.

"Alright, it's settled then," Liu Hai got up. "I'm too curious. I'll go take a look at the virtual world network first."

"I won't disturb you any further, Master," Xu Jingming said with a smile as he got up to take his leave.

He was in a good mood.

Since the virtual world was officially opened on Earth, he was the first cosmic lifeform in Xia country, and his master was the second. There would be a third, a fourth… Fighting for the entire Earth civilization wasn't just him alone, but a group of people!

******

Virtual world network, personal space.

Xu Jingming first chose to serve as a sparring partner in the Cold Weapon Pinnacle virtual world and set the price at "20,000 cosmic coins per hour."

There was no other way. In reality, his life level had improved, reaching the mid-stage of cosmic lifeforms! With the evolution of his body, his brain naturally evolved, and his mind and consciousness greatly increased… This allowed him to perform more subtle and precise movements in battle, naturally improving his combat power.

Moreover, he had also mastered the Space-Time Volume of the Five Volumes of Gunmanship, officially reaching a combat power bonus of 1020%.

Being able to break through the threshold of ten times combat power bonus naturally meant raising the sparring price.

"The higher the sparring price, the lower the probability of being selected," Xu Jingming thought to himself. He chose to serve as a sparring partner, but he was just putting it out there! Because the waiting time would be very long. If he was lucky, someone might choose him as a sparring partner soon. If he was unlucky, it might take several hours for someone to choose him.

Because spending so much money for just one hour of sparring was a minority even among cosmic citizens.

"Meteor training."

While idling, Xu Jingming practiced his gunmanship in his personal martial arts training ground.

Burning meteorites streaked across the sky at ultra-high speeds, heading straight for Xu Jingming's area.

"Bang, bang, bang." His spear danced, causing the meteorites to fall to the side. Xu Jingming tried to combine the artistic conception of the Flowing Water Volume and the Space-Time Volume, pursuing the limits of power and speed.

"The mind should be as tranquil as the stars, comprehending the appearance of all living things, drawing upon the power of all things, and gathering spear momentum. As the momentum gathers, it will become stronger and stronger, enabling one to be unstoppable and unleash that extreme power and speed." Xu Jingming practiced his gunmanship. Although he had gained some understanding from Lord Luo's words, knowing it was one thing, and practicing it was another.

Because momentum was ever-changing.

The enemy was targeting you, trying to defeat or even kill you!

I want to master all surrounding factors and lead the momentum of all things, but the more skilled the enemy, the more they will 'interrupt' and 'destroy' this momentum. This process of mutual struggle requires enough patience! The mind also needs to be calm enough to seize every opportunity.

"Bang, bang, bang." Countless meteorites fell, and Xu Jingming continuously resisted, the momentum of his spear increasingly fierce.

"Boom."

Suddenly, a spear directly pierced through a meteorite, causing it to explode completely.

The other meteorites in the sky all stopped, then turned into nothingness.

Xu Jingming glanced at the Cold Weapon Pinnacle virtual world. "I've been idling for so long, and no one has chosen me?"

Perhaps among all the sparring partners who had reached a "ten times combat power bonus," he was too inconspicuous.

"It's about time. With a combat power bonus of ten times! I can try 'Escape from the Dark Abyss'," Xu Jingming first canceled his sparring partner status, then clicked on the Dark Abyss World's "Escape from the Dark Abyss" side mission.

This mission only had three large-scale events each day. Of course, Xu Jingming was also reluctant.

"Large-scale events cost 1 million cosmic coins to start. The entire Hunter Cosmos Domain… only has three events each day. There are too many experts among the participants. Some 'eighth-order celebrity streamers' often stream their escape from the abyss. Occasionally, ninth-order powerhouses will try it." Xu Jingming shook his head.

Large-scale events had attractive rewards.

But the competition was too fierce! There were occasionally ninth-order powerhouses, and generally over a hundred eighth-order powerhouses! There were generally tens of thousands of seventh-order powerhouses! Among the tens of thousands of seventh-order powerhouses, there were naturally some who were extremely strong in combat. Many were experienced! As for some fifth-order and sixth-order powerhouses who entered, they were mostly "money-gifting boys"! Unless they had extremely heaven-defying talent, mental fortitude, and luck, it was difficult for those below the seventh order to reach the top 100.

"That Lord Luo is so much weaker than me, participating in large-scale events is probably just throwing money away," Xu Jingming thought to himself.

Because earning money was difficult, and because his home planet, Earth's civilization, had a weak foundation, Xu Jingming was very cautious with his spending.

"On the other hand, medium-sized events don't limit the number of sessions and can be participated in at any time. There are far fewer experts," Xu Jingming thought to himself. "I can give it a shot."

"Register! 100,000 cosmic coins!"

Xu Jingming quickly registered for the second level of the Escape from the Dark Abyss mission, with a registration fee of 100,000, and 1 million cosmic citizens participating. The total prize pool was 100 billion cosmic coins, plus 50% of the audience's tips.

…

For the second level mission, once the slots were filled, the competition could begin immediately!

And registration was open to the entire Hunter Cosmos Domain (different cosmos domains were too far apart, and there was still a delay through the virtual world network, so they wouldn't compete on the same stage), so the number of registrations increased very quickly. When Xu Jingming registered, there were only 300,000 to 400,000 people, but it quickly reached over 500,000.

Xu Jingming only waited for about three minutes before the number of registrants reached 1 million.

"Whoosh."

Xu Jingming felt the scene in front of him change, and he arrived in a dark and empty place, with only himself.

At this moment, he was wearing shoes and sportswear, empty-handed.

"Please choose to modify your clothing and appearance." A voice sounded in the darkness. Xu Jingming looked at the panel that appeared in front of him, didn't make any changes, and chose "Confirm."

…

"I'll change my appearance first, otherwise, if my identity is exposed and I'm surrounded and attacked by others, it would be too embarrassing to be eliminated early." A blue-skinned woman wearing a hat was smiling and talking to her viewers, "I need to make myself more adorable."

As she spoke, she made herself smaller, and adjusted her eyes, so that they curved like crescent moons when she smiled.

"Alright! My goal this time is simple, at least top three!" the blue-skinned woman said with a smile.

"Tata, one punch for each."

"Tata, invincible iron fist."

"Tata, you're an eighth-order peak old monster, participating in the middle-level Escape from the Dark Abyss is too much bullying."

"Let's see how Tata loses!"

In her personal virtual livestream room, countless viewers were sitting in the stands watching, and the number of viewers had already reached tens of millions.

These viewers were all cosmic citizens!

Such a large number of viewers was already astonishing.

"Alright, once the Escape from the Abyss event starts, I won't be able to see everyone's comments," the blue-skinned woman said. "However, everyone, watch my performance!"

As a cosmic lifeform who had cultivated for over five thousand years, she had many glorious achievements, and had even represented the Star Alliance and other Star Alliance teams in fierce battles. She had also achieved extremely high achievements in multiple virtual worlds, which was how she had accumulated so many cosmic citizen fans.

…

"I made a mistake in the last session. I was careless, I was schemed against, and I was surrounded and attacked." A gray-skinned bald man touched his head. "But to be honest, is it so difficult to escape from the abyss, even at the medium level now? I used to take first place several times, but for twenty-one consecutive days, I haven't even made it into the top ten once!"

"Let's try again." The gray-skinned bald man's eyes were full of fighting spirit.

"Demon Blade, you're too arrogant, you need to lie low."

"I don't think you'll even make it into the top 100 this time."

"You should still choose the weakest level of Escape from the Abyss. This level is too difficult for you now!"

Many viewers were saying.

This celebrity streamer, named "Demon Blade," was a seventh-order cosmic lifeform, but his knife skills were extraordinary, and his livestream was also very interesting. Hundreds of thousands of cosmic citizens were watching.

…

"Ake and I are here again! This time, my brother and I don't have high requirements, we just need to get into the top 100." Two brothers with soft tentacles were chatting and entered the dark and empty space, and began to change their appearances and clothing. "We have to change our appearance, otherwise we'll be surrounded if we're recognized."

Both of them were only sixth-order cosmic lifeforms, but their combat skills were relatively strong, and they were also small streamers in the universe. Their livestream audience was only a few hundred people. This was already the result of the brothers' desperate efforts. It was really too difficult for "sixth-order cosmic lifeforms" to make a name for themselves in the universe, as there were countless of them.

******

"5…4…3…2…1!"

Xu Jingming felt the scene in front of him change. This was a vast land, the sky was dark red, and densely packed people appeared here.

They wore different clothes and looked different! Some were less than a meter tall, while others were more than five meters tall. Some had delicate and translucent skin that allowed one to see the internal blood vessels, while others had thick skin like rock. These "one million cosmic citizens" came from countless civilizations in the Hunter Cosmos Domain.

"For this 'Escape from the Dark Abyss' mission, participants come from 933,255 cosmic civilizations, with 2 eighth-order cosmic lifeforms, 156 seventh-order cosmic lifeforms, over 100,000 sixth-order cosmic lifeforms, and the rest are all fifth-order cosmic lifeforms."

"Of the one million cosmic citizens, the one who survives to the end is the only one who is qualified to escape from the Dark Abyss, and he will receive 50% of the prize pool."

"You are currently on the 20th level of the Dark Abyss. First round rules: As long as you kill one person, you can proceed to the 19th level of the abyss."

"Now, the mission begins."

The vast voice resounded everywhere.

The one million cosmic citizens participating in the event, including Xu Jingming, who was participating for the first time, had long understood the rules. They had even watched many videos.

"If I can pass the first three rounds, I can earn back the registration fee," Xu Jingming knew this very well. If he couldn't get through the first three rounds, he wouldn't have any income. As long as he got through the first three rounds… at least he wouldn't lose money! The further he went, the more he would earn.

"I need to be careful in the first three rounds and avoid running into tough opponents," Xu Jingming cautiously looked around.

"What are you looking at?" A gray-skinned man three meters tall shouted and charged towards Xu Jingming, slapping him with his palm.

Xu Jingming's figure flashed. His footwork was extremely fast, and he was also relatively small and agile. He avoided the slap and closed in on the gray-skinned man.

Pfft!

A lightning-fast thrust kick from his right foot accurately struck the three-meter-tall giant's vital lower body.

Xu Jingming had been practicing chuojiao (thrusting feet) since he was a child, but he was also proficient in other foot techniques! Chuojiao had great power, but its attacks were relatively slow. The "thrust kick" was Xu Jingming's fastest move. His calf was like a spring, instantly popping out, as fast as an afterimage.

"Ugh—" The giant's eyes widened, and he clutched his vital lower body, squatting down with his legs clamped together.

Pfft!

Another thrust kick from his right foot hit the giant's throat. Crack—the throat caved in. The giant's eyes were filled with shock and anger, and he collapsed limply.

"What if he's big? In the Escape from the Abyss mission, everyone has the same physical fitness. This alien oaf's combat power bonus is probably not more than 200%." Xu Jingming thought as a dark red beam of light descended, enveloping him and sending him to a higher level—the 19th level of the Dark Abyss.

…

"Pfft."

Xu Jingming's fist was like a spear, turning into an afterimage and stabbing into the chest of a red-haired, red-skinned strong man, directly piercing through his chest.

"Scared me into going all out. Another weakling." Xu Jingming secretly breathed a sigh of relief. It was impossible to tell from the surface whether an opponent was a fifth-order or an eighth-order! After all, they all had the same physical attributes.

…

An adorable alien with a furry tail was only one and a half meters tall, and her footwork was even more ghostly than Xu Jingming's. She regarded Xu Jingming as prey.

"Little darling, don't resist." The alien stuck out her little tongue and licked it. Her figure flashed, and her right hand turned into a claw, wanting to grab Xu Jingming's throat.

Xu Jingming had always been cautious and followed his own spear techniques, meeting the enemy head-on.

Xu Jingming's arm was like a spear shaft, blocking the alien's claw with a horizontal motion. At the same time, he took a step forward and smashed his elbow. The alien actually blocked the elbow with her tail, which strangely coiled around her chest. Xu Jingming's hand, raised high when he struck with his elbow, slapped down! He directly slapped the petite alien's face, turning her head into nothingness.

A dark red beam of light descended, and Xu Jingming arrived on the 17th level of the Dark Abyss.

"Not bad luck." Xu Jingming was secretly delighted. "The opponents in the first three rounds weren't strong. Only the one with the tail blocked a few of my moves."

"Having passed the first three rounds, I've at least earned back the registration fee."

Xu Jingming stood on the vast land, the 17th level of the Dark Abyss. The sky was gloomy, the ground was gray, and cosmic citizens arrived here one after another.

Finally, 125,000 cosmic citizens arrived here! Of the one million who had registered, only this many remained.

"It's going to be dangerous later," Xu Jingming became more cautious. The rules would become stricter later, and it would be easier to encounter experts.