Chapter 280 A Little Progress

Xu Jingming felt somewhat regretful that his final strike was blocked by his master. But after calming down, he understood, "In a one-on-one fight, Master only used a single saber before. The combination of shield and saber is his true strength. Even Wuying Ci (Shadowless Thrust) can't threaten Master now."

Leaving the combat space, Xu Jingming returned to the Xia country's official livestream and joined his family and friends in the stands.

"Captain!"

"Jingming!"

"Old Xu!"

"Son!"

They greeted him with smiles and various names. No one felt regret, as they all knew that Liu Hai was currently the best in the world, much stronger than Xu Jingming.

Yang Qingshuo laughed, "When we formed the team, I never dared to imagine that we could reach the finals. The Huozhong (Fire Seed) Cup National Competition... second in the nation! The runner-up, after defeating so many powerful teams."

"We got carried to victory," Heng Fang said, putting his arm around Yang Qingshuo. "We were eliminated early so many times before. I knew this time we could win entirely because of Old Xu and Sister Yi."

"It's thanks to the captain," Wang Yi said. "I only managed to break through by luck in the semifinals. If I hadn't been in the Li Mu team, in a weaker team, I might have been eliminated long ago, and my breakthrough might have been much later."

"We're a team, and teamwork makes us stronger," Xu Jingming said. "We made it to the finals because we had Sister Yi."

"You great experts, I'm the one who contributed the least to the team," Li Miaomiao said, bowing her thanks. "Thank you all so much for making me popular. And do you know how much the downloads of my single, 'Li Mu,' increased during the Huozhong Cup competition?"

Wang Yi and the others weren't sure.

Heng Fang simply checked the song's downloads.

"Fifty-six million downloads," Li Miaomiao said happily. "And those are paid downloads! More than all the downloads in the past few years combined. And it's boosted my other songs too. It's wonderful!"

"Our team's theme song has less than 100 million paid downloads," Heng Fang said, looking at the song's data. "As a member of the Li Mu team, I think it's necessary to help promote my sister-in-law."

"We should definitely promote Maomao (Kitty) well," Wang Yi nodded. "I agree."

"Brother Xu, our publicity isn't enough," Yang Qingshuo said, looking at Xu Jingming. "We need you to promote her, Brother Xu. After this competition, your popularity will definitely explode. If you promote your sister-in-law more, her songs will definitely become more and more popular. 'Li Mu' is our team's theme song; we need to promote it even more."

"Promote, definitely promote," Xu Jingming said decisively, noticing Li Miaomiao's gaze.

At that moment, the burly Liu Hai appeared with a smile and walked over.

"Captain," Xu Hong and Dai Tongda said, immediately welcoming him.

"Master," Xu Jingming, Yang Qingshuo, and Heng Fang said in surprise, also going to greet him.

Liu Hai looked at Xu Jingming with a smile. "Good job in this competition. That final thrust was especially good. Has your spearmanship improved?"

"A little," Xu Jingming nodded. After the competition, he returned to the combat space and immediately checked his personal combat power panel.

"It's good to improve," Liu Hai nodded. "But the gap between you and your master is still quite large. Keep up the good work! I'm waiting for you... to defeat me. As a master, I look forward to the day when my disciples can surpass me."

Yang Qingshuo and Heng Fang looked at each other. Surpass him?

It felt like the gap was getting bigger and bigger.

Xu Jingming stepped forward and asked softly, "Master, I want to ask, how much of your strength did you use when you fought me?"

"Hmm..." Liu Hai pondered for a moment. "Fifty percent, maybe?"

"Fifty percent?" Xu Jingming had a vague idea of his own strength compared to his master's.

"Keep working hard," Liu Hai said with a smile, full of anticipation. Perhaps it was because he was getting older, or perhaps because he had been a master for too long, but he really enjoyed teaching his disciples and watching them succeed, which made him even happier than breaking through himself.

He tried his best to break down combat techniques and impart them to his disciples as clearly as possible.

In the process of teaching, he himself gained a deeper understanding and a higher level of mastery. When the virtual world arrived, he became the best in the world. But what he looked forward to most was his disciples catching up with him and surpassing him.

"Captain, get ready; as the champion team, we have to go on stage to receive the award," Xu Hong said, seeing the notification and immediately reminding him.

"We still have to go on stage to receive the award? What a hassle." Liu Hai still immediately gathered his teammates from the Liu Hai Old Age Team.

As the champions of the first national competition in the Xia country, the Huozhong Cup competition, the members of the Liu Hai Old Age Team smiled happily as they went on stage and began the award ceremony.

...

Xu Jingming and his teammates watched from below the stage with envy.

"Five hundred million in prize money," Liu Chongyuan said, amazed and envious, as the prize money was being awarded.

"Our prize money has also arrived," Yang Qingshuo, who had been watching his personal account, said, noticing the change and immediately reminding everyone.

"Wow..."

"So much money! We're rich, we're rich! After all these years, we've finally made a fortune!"

Heng Fang and Liu Chongyuan were overjoyed. Liu Chongyuan even cried tears of joy; he had never made so much money before.

"As a substitute player, my after-tax income is 9.6 million?" Li Miaomiao was also very happy. "The competition officials are really efficient; they directly withheld the taxes for us."

Xu Jingming and Wang Yi watched with smiles, both relatively calm.

Wang Yi earned a lot originally, and Xu Jingming had earned enough from the rewards he received after participating in the Huozhong Cup competition. Starting from the battle where he defeated Tie Lanyun, Xu Jingming received high rewards in every battle. The more popular he was, the more fans he had, and the more rewards he received.

After a few matches, Xu Jingming was known throughout the country. After all, those few matches had been watched by over a billion people.

In terms of martial arts players' fame, Xu Jingming could definitely rank among the top in the country, even surpassing Wang Yi, who had extremely high national recognition. In the past, no real-world event in the country could compare to the influence of the virtual world's Huozhong Cup competition.

******

After watching the award ceremony, the Blue Star Alliance envoy delegation was also preparing to leave.

"This observation has been an eye-opener for us," the white-haired old man leading the delegation said with a smile. "The experts from the Xia country are indeed extraordinary. Whether it's Liu Hai, the world's number one, or the younger generation, that spearmanship expert and the goddess archer, they are all very talented. I believe that as the entire Blue Star civilization enters a new era, the Xia country will definitely make greater contributions to the Blue Star civilization."

Director Zhou said with a smile, "The Xia country is a member of Blue Star, and we will naturally strive for the entire Blue Star civilization with all our strength."

"With great power comes great responsibility," said the Roman envoy. "Currently, the Xia country occupies two of the top five experts in the world. The Xia country's strength is evident, but the Xia country's efforts on Firefly Star are not enough."

"In terms of experts, the White Eagle Federation also occupies two spots on the Starry Sky Rankings," Director Zhou said. "Moreover, in terms of the power contributed on Firefly Star, each country agreed to bear its share. Our Xia country has not lacked a single point of effort. On the other hand, the funding provided by the Tianzhu country has only fulfilled one-third of its promise to date."

The Tianzhu envoy quickly said, "We are already working hard; our burden..."

"We'll discuss it at the next alliance meeting," the white-haired old man said. "In any case, the Xia country's final was very enjoyable."

"Welcome everyone to come again next time. The Xia country has always been a land of etiquette and welcomes any friend," Director Zhou said.

The envoy delegation quietly left.

Director Zhou and the vice directors also disappeared, leaving the livestream.

...

Xia country, Life Evolution Bureau.

Director Zhou and three vice directors gathered in the conference room. Vice Director Liang Qian attended the meeting via projection.

"The Huozhong Cup competition has come to an end," Director Zhou said, looking at the others present. "We must determine the second list of national key cultivation candidates. According to the rules, we five will discuss it first. The results of the discussion will be submitted to the highest authorities."

"This cultivation is different from the first batch. The first batch received the same level of cultivation for everyone. Now that we have seen the experts' strength and speed of progress, we will focus on cultivating the top three, while the remaining seventeen will receive the same level of cultivation as the previous batch."

"Therefore, the list of the top three is particularly important. First, who should be selected as the first person on the new list?" Director Zhou said.

"The first person on the new list will definitely be chosen from Fang Yu and Xu Jingming," Vice Director Liang Qian said via projection.

"I agree to choose Fang Yu. He's only twenty years old this year. He didn't have any professional competition experience in the past, yet he has grown to the point where he is today. Moreover, he is the only expert in the country whose evolutionary method compatibility exceeds 100%, with a compatibility of 103%... Everyone should know that it is normal to have difficulty breaking through the limit when cultivating to the later stages," Vice Director Wang Shuqi said. "When everyone is stuck at the limit and cannot break through, Fang Yu, with a compatibility of 103%, will be the strongest one, because his body surpasses other players in all aspects."

"Such a genius must be cultivated, and cultivated vigorously," Wang Shuqi said.