At night in Mingyue City.
Xu Jingming was walking with his wife in the district. There were clearly many residents in the district, and it was only slightly past 8 p.m., but it was almost impossible to see anyone walking.
“It feels like people are staying home more often these days,” Li Miaomiao said. “Even walking is much less common.”
“People used to take a stroll for exercise,” Xu Jingming said with a smile. “Now that there’s the evolutionary method, the body is very healthy. Naturally, fewer and fewer people are taking strolls! Moreover, with the guidance of the entire Earth Alliance, people are more focused on the virtual world and evolution.”
Li Miaomiao nodded and looked at the time on her watch. “It’s about time; let’s go back. The World Martial Arts Tournament will be held tonight.”
“Yes.” Xu Jingming nodded.
“Hubby, why don’t you seem nervous?” Li Miaomiao asked in confusion. “After all, the virtual world has been launched for ten months. Perhaps new experts will appear.”
“It’s a good thing that someone stronger than me has appeared. It means that there are more experts on Earth,” Xu Jingming said with a smile. “What’s there to be nervous about?”
Earth’s civilization was very weak against the cosmos, so the more experts there were, the better.
“You sure are a big picture person!” Li Miaomiao gave him a thumbs-up.
“Let’s go.” Xu Jingming returned home with his wife in hand.
The two returned to their bedroom, lay on the bed, and put on their VR headsets before entering the virtual world.
******
On the virtual world’s spectator platform was an extremely popular livestream—the official livestream channel.
“This is the virtual world’s official livestream channel.” Li Miaomiao pointed and said, “I heard that this is the only livestream in the world that can watch the world competition.”
“Let’s go in and take a look.” Xu Jingming and his wife tapped gently and entered the livestream.
The official livestream was vast, and countless people from all over Earth stood in the stands.
Xu Jingming and Li Miaomiao sat down.
“One host and three guests?” Xu Jingming and Li Miaomiao saw it at a glance.
At this moment, the beautiful host on the commentary platform smiled and said, “There’s still half an hour before the competition officially begins, but the number of viewers in our livestream has exceeded three billion! I believe the number of viewers watching today will create a new record.”
Jin Fan, a guest from China, smiled and said, “After all, this is the first global competition after the virtual world’s launch! Moreover, this is the exclusive official livestream. I reckon the number of viewers will exceed five billion when the competition begins.”
Although the global population exceeded seven billion, was the focus of the world’s attention, and everyone was talking about the competition, there were still going to be people who didn’t watch it.
The guest from the United States of America, Annie, smiled and said, “I can’t hold back anymore. I want to see the competition begin! Which 32 experts in the world will enter the main competition?”
“There are more than seven billion people worldwide, but there are only 32 spots for the main competition. It’s equivalent to only one out of 200 million people.” The male guest from the EU, Owen, exclaimed in surprise. “All of them are monsters.”
The beautiful host was officially hired by the Earth Alliance, and the three guests were from the three strongest countries in the world—United States of America, EU, and China.
“Three months after the virtual world’s launch, it was recognized that the three strongest people in the world were Liu Hai, Tejano Xire, and Xu Jingming. But now that the virtual world has been launched for more than ten months, who are the three strongest people? Who are the 32 strongest people?” the beautiful host said.
“I guess there will be a huge change in the three strongest people,” Annie, the American guest, said with a smile. “Perhaps only one of Liu Hai, Tejano Xire, and Xu Jingming will enter the top three. It’s even possible that none of them will enter the top three.”
“I disagree.”
…
The host and three guests discussed the top experts from all over the world, causing the audience to discuss spiritedly. They were looking forward to seeing their nations’ experts.
“Ever since Lee Moonsoo lost to Xu Jingming, he worked even harder and became more diligent in his cultivation. I heard from his friends that he has broken through to Lv. 5.”
“My master is Lee Moonsoo’s sparring partner. He also says that Lee Moonsoo’s strength is unfathomable.”
“Akinov! Oorah! Oorah!”
“Merritt! Merritt! Merritt!”
“Xu Jingming is invincible! Xu Jingming is invincible!”
In the comment section, countless comments appeared. People from all over the world supported their country’s experts.
“The preliminaries are about to begin. Please proceed to the preparation area.” A system notification sounded in Xu Jingming and Li Miaomiao’s ears.
“The preliminaries are about to begin.” Xu Jingming and Li Miaomiao looked at each other. “Miaomiao, all the best.”
“I’m just participating. You have to work hard,” Li Miaomiao said seriously.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
The two of them tapped gently and disappeared from the official livestream.
At this moment, more than 10,000 experts who had registered headed for the preparation area.
“The 31st World Martial Arts Tournament preliminaries are about to begin.” The beautiful host became excited as she watched the livestream. “12,805 experts are in the preparation area preparing their armor and weapons. The preparation time is three minutes. Once the three minutes are up, the preliminaries will begin!”
“The goal of the preliminaries is to select the world’s strongest 32,” the host said. “I’m too excited.”
“Look, the people on the projection are Liu Hai, Tejano Xire, and Xu Jingming,” the male guest, Jin Fan, immediately said.
Although more than 10,000 contestants were preparing their armor and weapons, the livestream focused on the three people.
“The three of them were recognized as the three strongest people in the world seven months ago, so what will be their global rank now? Will they still be at the apex, or will they fall off the pedestal?” The male guest, Owen, also said, “Although we can’t see their strength clearly in the preliminaries, we can see a portion of it.”
“After all, we have to choose the strongest 32, so the preliminaries will be very intense,” Annie stated.
…
In a huge space of the preparation area.
The 10,000-plus people dispersed and prepared their armor and weapons under the system’s notification.
Xu Jingming also prepared his armor and weapons. The rules were the same as in the past, so he naturally chose his dual shields and spear.
Xu Jingming looked up and saw his master, Liu Hai, in the distance.
Liu Hai was stocky and calm like a mountain as he closed his eyes and waited for the competition to begin.
Xu Jingming turned his gaze and saw the black youth in the distance—Tejano Xire.
Tejano Xire was as tall as Liu Hai, and his body seemed to be made of black metal. His aura was faintly terrifying, but his eyes were relaxed and casual as he looked around. When he saw Xu Jingming, he even pricked up his brows and smiled.
Xu Jingming nodded and smiled in return. He then continued looking around, but because there were too many people and they were too far apart, he didn’t see his wife, Li Miaomiao.
He stopped searching and waited for the preliminaries to begin.
Riven Gullit—who was near to Xu Jingming’s right—wore a thick fur coat and had a pair of sledgehammers on his back. He was also in thought. According to the Life Evolution Bureau, I’m the only person in the entire EU who has reached Lv. 5.
I finally broke through two days before the competition began. My evolutionary method hasn’t reached Perfected for the time being, Riven Gullit thought. I have to perfect my evolutionary method as soon as possible; otherwise, the gap between me and the other Lv. 5s will be too great. For example, Xu Jingming beside me has probably reached Lv. 5 in every aspect.
Riven Gullit shot a glance at the adjacent Xu Jingming. This person had to be a formidable opponent.
“Begin the preliminaries.”
“Everyone, prepare to enter the combat space.” A voice echoed throughout the preparation area, and all the experts turned solemn. “Countdown: 10, 9, 8, 7… 3, 2, 1!”
The countdown ended.
These 12,805 people left the preparation area and entered the combat space..