Chapter 55: Firestarter Cup

Is Wang Yi blind? Sun Li got up angrily. Why would she choose Xu Jingming’s team? Of the four of them, none of them are in the second tier! Is it really because she’s Li Miaomiao’s fan?

It will be a joke if they get eliminated early in the Firestarter Cup. Let’s hope their team doesn’t bump into ours… Sun Li felt uncomfortable. He originally believed that Xu Jingming and the other three wouldn’t be able to find a suitable teammate after he left the team, resulting in them finding a random warrior to make do with. Then, they would be eliminated in the first round of the Firestarter Cup. This was what he believed was the outcome of Xu Jingming’s team.

But there was Wang Yi now! Xu Jingming’s team had someone to rely on.

He’s still far inferior to my team. Sun Li disappeared from the stands.

…

Xu Jingming’s team has a better lineup than mine. Cheng Zihao also stood in the stands and made a judgment based on comparison. The team I built is centered around Zheng Bailong and Teng Ya, but Xu Jingming isn’t inferior to Zheng Bailong. Wang Yi is also a sharpshooter second only to Zhou Yi in China… This doesn’t look good.

Whatever. There’s no need to bicker with these martial artists. Cheng Zihao smiled again. My goal isn’t to defeat Xu Jingming’s team but to promote White Dragon. I want the streamers under the White Dragon to benefit and become more popular.

The big-time streamers would carry the small-timers—old carrying the new!

Even his team was participating in the Firestarter Cup! In the past month, Cheng Zihao’s company had indeed done very well. A large number of teams consisting of babes, top experts, and professional tutors attracted many fans.

These martial artists are vying for first place in strength. What I want is popularity, the popularity of all the streamers in the company. These martial artists aren’t on the same level as me at all. Cheng Zihao was in a good mood. He was naturally in high spirits as the company was on a good trajectory for growth.

******

China, Life Evolution Bureau.

“Director, registration for the Firestarter Cup will begin at 12 p.m. tonight,” the secretary reported.

“How’s the strength of the former top three seedlings?” Director Zhou asked.

“Fang Yu, seed number one, has the most terrifying talent in China. He has a chance of matching Tejano Xire, who is ranked fourth in the world,” the secretary said. “His strength has been rising steadily, and his halberd is becoming even more terrifying.”

“Roughly when will he clear the Cosmos Tower’s third level?” Director Zhou asked.

“According to past experience, one has to reach Lv. 3 in every aspect—weaponry, combat, movement, and so on—and have an Advanced evolutionary method. Moreover, one has to have sufficiently high combat experience in order to have a chance of passing. Seed number one is only 20 after all! I estimate that he should be able to clear it in a month,” the secretary said.

“What about seed number two?” Director Zhou asked.

“Potential seed number two was replaced two days ago; it’s the 29-year-old Xu Jingming now,” the secretary said. “Xu Jingming’s spearmanship has broken through to Lv. 3, and his evolutionary method has reached Advanced. However, it’s a new breakthrough after all… His shield techniques and footwork are still flawed. I estimate that he will need about a month to clear the Cosmos Tower’s third level.”

“Potential seed number three, Zhao Pan, is only 18 this year. His combat techniques, footwork, and other aspects have reached Lv. 2 99%. He only started learning martial arts after the virtual world’s launch; he reached this level in just a month or so in the virtual world. His improvement speed is indeed astonishing, and his talent is terrifying.”

Director Zhou nodded when he heard that. “Continue paying attention to the information on all the Divine experts. China has a large population, so it’s very normal to have a few peerless geniuses. What we need to groom are peerless geniuses!”

“Yes, sir,” the secretary replied.

“There’s also Liu Hai and Lei Yunfang,” Director Zhou said. “The two of them are the strongest in China after all. They are one step ahead, and it’s entirely possible for them to stay in the lead all the way.”

The secretary nodded. “Coach Liu Hai is a grandmaster who is well-rounded in every aspect. Lei Yunfang is also the world’s number one movement expert. The two of them are national treasure experts.”

Director Zhou nodded. “Collect the data carefully at this Firestarter Cup. What we need isn’t just individual strength, but also experts who know how to cooperate and are good at teamwork.”

“Yes, sir,” the secretary said.

“You may leave,” Director Zhou said.

The secretary left respectfully.

Everyone’s strength is constantly changing with time. Director Zhou looked at the detailed information on everyone on the projection. I hope that the clash between the strong at the Firestarter Cup will stimulate more of their potential.

******

Registration for the China Firestarter Cup began at midnight on August 29, 2081.

In Li Miaomiao’s personal space.

Now that Xu Jingming and the other three were gathered, Li Miaomiao sat there and gently tapped open the combat space before opening the Firestarter Cup.

“Team Pearwood, Captain: Xu Jingming. Team members: Wang Yi, Heng Fang, Yang Qingshuo, Liu Chongyuan. Substitute member: Li Miaomiao. Team manager: Li Miaomiao.” Li Miaomiao began entering the team information. “I’ve also submitted the distribution for the prize money. All of it has been submitted successfully. The five of you have to agree to the application before the registration is considered a success.”

“I see it.”

A system notification popped up on Xu Jingming’s end, asking him to confirm the information: “Confirm!”

“Confirm!” Xu Jingming, Wang Yi, Heng Fang, Yang Qingshuo, and Liu Chongyuan tapped their fingers gently to confirm all the information needed for registration.

Xu Jingming and the others then saw a notification—”Registration for Team Pearwood completed. As of now, a total of 159 teams have registered for the Firestarter Cup.”

Heng Fang exclaimed in surprise. “We registered immediately, but more than 100 teams have already registered? That’s too fast.”

“China has nearly 5,000 Divine experts now, but there are only about 100 teams. It’s not a lot,” Xu Jingming said.

“Let’s not talk about this. Take a look at the detailed competition process.” Li Miaomiao tapped open the detailed process. “At midnight on September 1, the preliminaries will begin. The top 30 will be selected to enter the main competition.”

“Master Liu Hai’s team and Lei Yunfang’s team will be seeded teams No. 1 and No. 2 of the Firestarter Cup. They will be exempted from the preliminaries and will enter the main competition directly.” Li Miaomiao sighed with emotion as she read. “These two seniors receive extraordinary treatment.”

Wang Yi said, “After all, only these two seniors are on China’s Cosmos Ranking.”

Xu Jingming nodded.

“Captain, you can’t clear the third floor of Cosmos Tower with your current strength?” Wang Yi said. “Your combat strength is twice as high as ours; one of you can defeat the five of us.”

“I can’t clear it. I’ve tried.” Xu Jingming shook his head. “Senior Lei Yunfang’s evolutionary method has reached Advanced. His movement technique is so impressive that he has cleared it many times over. My movement technique is still lacking. I still have a chance of winning against ordinary tigers, but once the tiger king leads the tigers to attack… I’m helpless.”

“Captain, you have to focus on training your movement technique,” Wang Yi said. “It’s up to you whether our team can win. Only you can deal with Lei Yunfang and Senior Liu Hai; we can’t stop them at all.”

“Yeah, I’ll focus on my movement technique and shield techniques.” Xu Jingming nodded. “Although shield techniques and spearmanship use different forms of force delivery, they have many commonalities. Once I break through, it will also help with my spearmanship.”

“During the Firestarter Cup, the teams in the beginning will be weaker. I’ll use my shield techniques to fight the enemy and hone my shield techniques,” Xu Jingming said. “I’ll only use my spear when I encounter a strong enemy.”

“Haha, would a weak opponent need you to use your spear, Jingming?” Heng Fang said. “Letting you use your spear represents our failure.”

“If it were Liu Hai, Lei Yunfang, and Zhou Yi, we wouldn’t be able to handle that,” Liu Chongyuan said. “You’ll have to be up, Old Xu.”

“We have to work hard too. We can’t just rely on Captain,” Wang Yi said. “If some of us can break through to Lv. 3, we will be more confident even if we fight Liu Hai and Lei Yunfang’s team.”

“Don’t underestimate the other teams,” Xu Jingming said. “If I can break through, there might be experts that have reached Lv. 3 privately.”

“Yes.” Everyone’s hearts tightened.

Heng Fang nodded and said, “Nobody can be sure how many experts China has. It’s even possible to make a breakthrough in combat.”

“It’s fine as long as we’re careful. It’s not like we aren’t afraid of all opponents,” Xu Jingming said. “Let’s call it a day. In the future, our team will be training together from 5 a.m. to 6 a.m. every day. We can make arrangements for the rest of the time.”

“Yes, Captain,” the other five replied in unison.

…

Time passed, and in the blink of an eye, it was late at night on August 31st. Registration for the Firestarter Cup ended.

The Firestarter Cup preliminaries were about to begin.