Chapter 152 No Opponent

"Jingming." Li Miaomiao approached and whispered, "The Xia country's official livestream is asking if you can fight another match?"

Xu Jingming nodded upon hearing this. "I'm also looking forward to facing even more powerful experts."

With that, he gently tapped to join the queue.

Seconds ticked by. Twenty seconds later, a notification appeared.

"Xu Jingming, among the experts currently queuing, none have a combat strength that reaches 30% of yours. Do you still wish to proceed with the match?" The virtual world system's prompt slightly stunned Xu Jingming.

"Are my opponents all too weak?" Xu Jingming wondered. "No wonder the world's top experts have so few matches."

Xu Jingming looked at his girlfriend and said, "There are too few experts queuing right now. There's no one suitable to fight." He even showed the notification directly to his girlfriend.

Li Miaomiao blinked as she looked at the notification. "So the virtual world has this kind of prompt? Among all the experts queuing on the entire platform, not a single one reaches 30% of your combat strength?"

Li Miaomiao looked at her boyfriend. Although she knew Xu Jingming was strong, this notification still made her feel that... Xu Jingming was ridiculously strong!

"Then I'll go back to the livestream and say you won't be fighting," Li Miaomiao said.

"Okay," Xu Jingming nodded.

...

On the commentary stage, the host Liu Xin glanced at the notification and said with a smile, "Our officials contacted Xu Jingming, and Xu Jingming also tried to participate in a second global exchange match. However, the virtual world reminded him... that there were no opponents with strength close to his, so unfortunately, we won't be able to see Xu Jingming's second global exchange match for the time being."

With these words, the audience in the livestream also began to dwindle.

"How is Xu Jingming getting stronger and stronger? He's much stronger now than during the Fire Seed Cup!" In the stands, Sun Li watched all of this and remained silent for a long time.

The feeling of missing out on a great opportunity felt like countless insects gnawing at his heart. It was painful! He had clearly embraced that opportunity before. Even if he had just蹭 ceng (mooch) a little popularity, his situation would be much better than it was now.

******

Inside a mansion.

Cheng Zihao had his arms around two women, surrounded by a group of beauties attending to him. Some were massaging his shoulders, while others were feeding him fruit and snacks.

"Try an orange." A beauty brought a slice of orange to Cheng Zihao's mouth, and Cheng Zihao ate it with a smile.

At this moment, Cheng Zihao felt that many troubles were left behind, and he felt relaxed and happy.

"Dong, dong, dong." A knock sounded on the door.

Cheng Zihao looked up and saw his subordinate Zhou Feng standing at the door.

"Don't you know I'm busy?" Cheng Zihao frowned.

"It's important," Zhou Feng said in a low voice.

Only then did Cheng Zihao wave his hand impatiently, and the group of beauties all left, leaving only Cheng Zihao and Zhou Feng in the hall.

"There are so many things going on in the company, and I have to worry about everything. What am I paying you as general manager for?" Cheng Zihao couldn't help but scold. "Don't you know how many troubles I've had recently?"

"Yes, yes, the boss has been working hard recently," Zhou Feng coaxed.

"So many big capital firms and companies are rushing into the virtual world, competing with us," Cheng Zihao gritted his teeth. "Their methods are more ruthless and shameless than the last! I'm really fed up with it, Lao Zhou, tell me... is there any way for me to sell the company?"

Zhou Feng immediately said, "Those betting agreements all stipulate the boss's term of office."

"Can't we negotiate and amend the contract?" Cheng Zihao asked.

"None of those capital firms are stupid. It can't be changed," Zhou Feng said. "Moreover, our company has a first-mover advantage, and the current situation is still pretty good. If we seize the opportunity, we can definitely take it a step further!"

"But it's tiring, I can't handle it anymore," Cheng Zihao said.

In the beginning, with the first-mover advantage, the company developed by leaps and bounds.

But as the company reached a certain size, it became very difficult to improve further. Moreover, more and more capital poured into the virtual world, and competition became increasingly fierce, Cheng Zihao felt somewhat overwhelmed.

"Boss, you don't need to worry too much. We will also help manage the company well," Zhou Feng said.

"By the way, what's the matter you came to see me about today?" Cheng Zihao asked.

"Didn't the boss watch Xu Jingming's first global exchange match?" Zhou Feng asked.

Cheng Zihao shook his head. "I'm relaxing, why would I watch a match! There are global matches every day, what's so interesting about them. What's wrong? Did Xu Jingming win again?"

"His strength is terrifying," Zhou Feng said solemnly. "He completely crushed Alan Emilienko and has the potential to become number one in the world. Even if he isn't number one, I think he's a solid top three."

"Possible to become number one in the world?" Cheng Zihao couldn't believe it. "Isn't he much worse than Liu Hai and Lei Yunfang?"

"That was in the past," Zhou Feng said. "Boss, you can watch the video of the battle just now. I can be sure... Xu Jingming's popularity in the country will continue to soar. Because he's fighting against foreigners, there's a sense of honor in winning glory for the country. People in the country are more invested in watching, and Xu Jingming's fans will increase, and his popularity will become more and more exaggerated."

"In the near future, Xu Jingming will be a super hot topic on the virtual world viewing platform! Most likely, the hottest topic!" Zhou Feng said, "If our company can seize this hot topic, we can definitely take it a step further! It's normal for the company's market value to increase several times over."

"Increase several times over?" Cheng Zihao frowned. "Is it that exaggerated?"

"His match was watched by billions of people! Of course, he's worth it!" Zhou Feng said.

"But I've had conflicts with him," Cheng Zihao said. "I don't care, I can be flexible, but he... doesn't give me face."

Zhou Feng said, "If our company doesn't have a top pillar, it won't be able to take it a step further. Then, boss, it will be difficult for you to complete all the betting agreements."

"Even if I only complete part of them, I can accept it," Cheng Zihao said dismissively. "At worst, I'll lose some money. I should still be able to get billions, right? I'm really tired. I've laid a very solid foundation for the company. The next step is up to you. As long as you stabilize the situation, we'll be successful once the betting period is over."

"As for Xu Jingming?" Cheng Zihao said, "You guys figure it out. I can be flexible. I can tolerate serving him wine and tea."

Zhou Feng nodded. "Understood, I'll find a way."

As he said that, he left. He had decent abilities, but he couldn't be considered top-notch talent, otherwise, there would be no need for him to serve a young master all the time.

As he left, Zhou Feng pondered, "The boss is acting as a hands-off manager. The situation isn't good. Competition is getting more and more intense. If the company continues like this, I'll have to consider my own way out."

...

Japan.

Miyagawa Akihito's personal training ground was a forest. Miyagawa Akihito sat cross-legged in the forest.

He was only seventeen years old, and after cultivating the evolution method, his height was only barely 1.7 meters.

"Akihito." An old man looked at Miyagawa Akihito. "Did you see Xu Jingming's battle from Xia country?"

"Yes," Miyagawa Akihito opened his eyes, his expression calm. "Xu Jingming is stronger than me. His spearmanship isn't perfect, but it should have reached the fourth tier. Most importantly, his evolution method has broken through to a higher level. And I... only my kendo has broken through to the fourth tier, and my evolution method hasn't broken through. With the huge gap in physical fitness, if I fought Xu Jingming, it would be like Alan fighting Xu Jingming, killed with a single shot."

"Is it that difficult to break through the evolution method?" the old man asked.

"Yes."

Miyagawa Akihito nodded. "Kendo is about mobilizing the body during combat. Practicing the evolution method is about mobilizing the body in a relatively calm state... I'm still a bit short of breaking through the evolution method. Only after breaking through the evolution method will I be qualified to fight Xu Jingming from Xia country."

"Don't rush, you're only seventeen years old. Among the global fourth-tier experts, you're the youngest," the old man said quickly. "Don't be impatient, you need to have a long-term vision."

"I know," Miyagawa Akihito nodded.

"If you need any more resources, just ask," the old man said.

"Being able to get an avatar opportunity is already very good," Miyagawa Akihito said. "I'm very grateful."

The old man nodded. "For this, we did pay a great price. I'm afraid we won't be willing to cultivate another person in the next three years. Okay, I won't disturb you." The old man quietly left.

Japan had long regarded Miyagawa Akihito as a treasure, mainly because Miyagawa Akihito was growing too rapidly.

"The experts in the cosmic legends..."

Miyagawa Akihito closed his eyes. He clearly remembered the dual-blade technique of that cosmic legend. The vast starry sky was easily cut open by the blade light.

...

In reality.

In the fields, a black youth sat eating watermelon.

*Crunch, crunch*... one watermelon after another was eaten, and in the blink of an eye, a pile of watermelons had been devoured.

"Delicious."

The black youth gently tapped his watch, and a screen appeared, showing the battle between Xu Jingming and Alan.

"His evolution method should have just broken through to the transcend tier, and his spearmanship is barely passable, not worthy of being my opponent," the black youth said dismissively, then suddenly paused. "That's not right, his spearmanship isn't good enough, how did he break through his evolution method?"

"This Xu Jingming from Xia country?" The black youth stared at the screen. "He's still hiding his strength! Interesting!"

The black youth was none other than Tiano Xire, hailed as the world's number one genius!