“Have you ever thought that this might not be fake?” Wang Xin suddenly felt a bit panicked, remembering a question Gao Hanyu had asked him earlier.
How long of an ice surface did he say he could create back then? One or two hundred meters, or one or two thousand meters?
Zhang Fengyu and Yin Ziqu, who had been giggling earlier, immediately stopped giggling upon hearing Wang Xin's question.
“Bro, are you serious?” Zhang Fengyu's expression stiffened slightly.
Then, under their disbelieving gazes, Wang Xin nodded.
Zhang Fengyu and Yin Ziqu couldn't help but exchange glances, as if to say, “Can you do it?”
“Bro, that punch froze five hundred meters, right?” Yin Ziqu confirmed, “Bro, can you do it?”
“Heh heh.” Wang Xin sneered, “Go ask Ren Wei, see if he can do it.”
Liu Junyi, who had been silent for a long time, suddenly spoke up, “Ask what for? With this power, only Wu Bing’s Ice Nine Tails could cause such a big commotion.”
“No way, Junyi Bro.” Zhang Fengyu's face showed a strange expression, “You're getting more and more outrageous. Could it be that this singer named Mu Li is a Champion-level trainer?”
“Mu Li? Mu Li!” Liu Junyi's pupils suddenly widened, and he shot up, his face already covered in shock, “Oh my, I knew he looked familiar.”
The next second, he looked at Wang Xin: “Did you know this all along?”
Wang Xin grumbled, “How could I not know? I've already met him.”
Their conversation left Zhang Fengyu and Yin Ziqu bewildered. Yin Ziqu asked curiously, “Junyi Bro, do you know him?”
Liu Junyi also recovered from his shock, sat back on his stool, and sighed, answering, “More than just knowing him, Wang Xin and I, along with him, entered the National Team around the same time.”
“Oh?” Hearing Liu Junyi's words, Yin Ziqu was silent for a while, then finally asked in confusion, “How come I don't remember such a person existing in the National Team?”
“Of course you don't know him.” Liu Junyi sighed, “Because when you came, that guy had already retired for two years, hadn't he?”
“Retired?” Yin Ziqu was even more puzzled, “Why did he retire? He looks about the same age as Junyi Bro, right?”
“To be precise, he's two years younger than me.” Wang Xin explained, “Recalling it, it should have been about 10 years ago. We joined the team earlier back then, entering the National Team at the Gym Level to start training, unlike you guys now, who only qualify to join at the Heavenly King Level.”
“Why did he retire at such a young age?” Yin Ziqu continued to ask, “Did his main Pokémon die prematurely? No, even if a Pokémon died prematurely, the country would help him train another one, wouldn't they? Could it be that he was eliminated because he couldn't keep up with the training progress?”
“Stop guessing, you'll never guess it.” Liu Junyi sighed, “At that time, we all called him A Li. You should have an impression of that name, right?”
“A Li?” Yin Ziqu was stunned, “Who?”
Yin Ziqu obviously hadn't reacted yet, but Zhang Fengyu seemed to have remembered: “Junyi Bro, the A Li you're talking about isn't that one, is he?”
“Who else could it be? Is there a second A Li in the National Team?” Liu Junyi complained.
“Ah? A Li!” Yin Ziqu also came to his senses, his eyes wide, “The A Li you're talking about isn't that A Li who was forced to retire, is he?”
At this moment, the protagonist of the topic, Mu Li, was being interrogated by three people.
“Tell us honestly, what is your true strength?” If Fu Peiyao had a black whip in her hand, the effect would definitely be better.
Mu Li showed a troubled expression: Should I tell them or not?
Before Mu Li could answer, Wang Yijia said in a deep voice, “You are a Heavenly King Level trainer, aren't you?”
“Heavenly King Level?” Although Fu Peiyao and Mu Qingqing already had some guesses, they still couldn't help but be greatly surprised when they heard this news from Wang Yijia's mouth.
“And you're not just an ordinary Heavenly King Level, you're a Heavenly King Level High-tier, aren't you?” Wang Yijia added.
“Heavenly King Level High-tier?” Mu Qingqing's originally shocked expression showed a hint of confusion. She asked, “Are there levels within the Heavenly King Level?”
Wang Yijia nodded and added, “This is actually a method to distinguish the strength of Heavenly King Level and Champion Level players. After entering the Heavenly King Level, even though they are all Heavenly Kings, the strength gap between various Heavenly Kings is still very large.”
“To further distinguish the strength of Heavenly Kings and Champions, everyone divided these two ranks into three stages: beginner, intermediate, and advanced, which are also three levels. The strength of a Heavenly King Level High-tier is already the strongest existence among Heavenly Kings.”
Mu Qingqing asked curiously, “How do you know A Li is a High-tier Heavenly King?”
Wang Yijia explained, “I was a professional trainer before, okay? Although I was only a Gym Level, I have seen Heavenly King Level standards in battlefields.”
“So you're a High-tier Heavenly King?” Fu Peiyao leaned closer, the distance between her and Mu Li was already less than half a meter.
Looking at the delicate face in front of him, Mu Li couldn't help but swallow, and answered, “I used to be.”
“Then why didn't you stay in the National Team?” Fu Peiyao pressed.
“This…” Mu Li hesitated, his gaze instinctively looking at Ninetales, then finally sighed. Just as he was about to tell the truth, he was interrupted by Wang Yijia.
“I know.” Wang Yijia's tone suddenly became very heavy. He looked at Fu Peiyao, shaking his head to signal her not to press further, “The reason A Li couldn't stay in the National Team is probably because there was no hope for him to stand out.”
Mu Li's eyes widened instantly: Bro, I'm ready to watch your performance.
“How is that possible? A Li is only 22 years old, such a young Heavenly King, how could there be no hope for him to stand out?” Mu Qingqing immediately retorted.
Wang Yijia sighed and explained, “Do you know Yan Jin?”
“Of course I know.” Mu Qingqing immediately rattled off Yan Jin's information, “The current Fire-type Champion player, promoted to Champion 4 years ago, and he's only 24 now. Because of his existence, Fire-type players of the same period had no room to stand out…”
Before she finished speaking, Mu Qingqing couldn't help but look at Mu Li and his Ninetales: “Ninetales is also Fire-type, this…”
“This is probably the reason A Li retired.” Wang Yijia sighed, “A Li is indeed a genius, but facing an existence like Yan Jin, what could he do? Moreover, if A Li were two years younger, he could still wait, wait until Yan Jin retired, but he's already 22. Even if he waits until Yan Jin retires, he'll already be 29, with only two years left…”
“Moreover, who can guarantee that during this period, no new geniuses will appear in the National Team?”
Mu Qingqing couldn't help but exclaim, “How cruel.”
“No choice, this is the cruelty of Pokémon competitive battles.” Wang Yijia couldn't help but gaze at the sky at a 45-degree angle, tears subtly welling up in his eyes.
Even Fu Peiyao was shocked by Wang Yijia's words.
Training so hard for so many years, only to be completely suppressed by a genius, with no hope of ever standing out.
How painful must A Li have been!
No wonder he retired so early.
However, even if he retired, he must have been silently improving his strength, otherwise he wouldn't have been able to reach the level of a High-tier Heavenly King.
Mu Li was directly stunned by Wang Yijia's deductions: Bro, with your reasoning ability, if you went to Conan's side, you probably wouldn't survive three episodes!
What surprised Mu Li even more was that Fu Peiyao and Mu Qingqing actually believed it.
OMG! Is there anything more outrageous than this?
Yan Jin, I didn't expect you to have such a use!
At this moment, Yan Jin, who was secretly training at a volcano somewhere abroad, suddenly sneezed: “Which guy is cursing me again?”
Ever since listening to Wang Yijia's deductions, Mu Li felt that Fu Peiyao and Mu Qingqing's gazes towards him had become much gentler.
“A Li! It's okay! Even if we play music, we're still geniuses!” Fu Peiyao encouraged.
“That's right, Master! We'll reach the top in the music industry and show them.” Mu Qingqing also shouted.
“Yes! A Li! Let's work hard together!” Wang Yijia also got excited.
The three were full of enthusiasm, completely oblivious to the strange looks from the surrounding Pokémon.
However, the three did not continue to talk about Pokémon battles. It seemed that they felt this topic was a bad memory for Mu Li, and they should try their best not to mention Pokémon battles, especially the National Team, in front of Mu Li in the future.
Meanwhile, Mu Qingqing, while others weren't paying attention, quietly leaned into Fu Peiyao's ear and said, “Heavenly King Mu Li, Heavenly Queen Fu Peiyao, you two are really quite a match!”
Fu Peiyao immediately blushed and reached out her hand to Mu Qingqing's waist, tickling her.
Mu Qingqing immediately couldn't take it and started begging for mercy.
Their interaction left Mu Li and Wang Yijia confused: Why did these two suddenly start messing around?
Although Mu Li's crisis was resolved, public opinion on the internet was escalating.
As the first episode of “Wu Ha” finished recording, everyone's heated discussion focused on Mu Li.
【What a joke, freezing 500 meters?】
【Is no one going to manage the “Wu Ha” production team? How can they release such a fake video?】
【It's obvious this Mu Li brought funding to the variety show, right?】
...
For a time, the internet was filled with curses, and Mu Li's Weibo followers skyrocketed, from less than 10,000 to 200,000. Of course, most of these followers were there to curse Mu Li.
But at this very moment, a challenge trend quietly emerged online—see how far you can freeze with one move.
First to appear were some video bloggers joining the fun. Everyone started taking their Pokémon to participate in the challenge.
The results were naturally very poor. Most Ice-type Pokémon could only freeze about 2-5 meters of water, while some slightly stronger ones could freeze 10 meters.
As the challenge's popularity increased, some professional players also began to participate.
Some Superior Level and Gym Level trainers also took on the challenge—the results fluctuated between 50 and 100 meters.
However, at this point, everyone also understood the recording effect in the “Wu Ha” program. Freezing 500 meters didn't seem impossible after all?
Thus, the topic on the internet directly changed—from the joke of freezing 500 meters, it became who could achieve the challenge of freezing 500 meters.
It was at this time that the National Team made its move.
The first to release a video was Ren Wei.
Ren Wei, along with his Pokémon Walrein, stood on a floating ice floe in the sea.
“Sheer Cold.”
At Ren Wei's command, Walrein unleashed a white aura from its body. The aura quickly spread to the surrounding seawater, and wherever the aura reached, the surrounding seawater instantly froze into ice.
In the blink of an eye, within hundreds of meters of Ren Wei, it seemed to have turned into a world of ice and snow.
Ren Wei in the screen sneered: “Freezing 500 meters? Is it difficult?”
After Ren Wei's video appeared, its popularity surged, and it was immediately pushed to the top trending spot on Kuaoyin.
Since then, no one doubted the authenticity of that scene in “Wu Ha” anymore. Only a few people believed that Mu Li simply couldn't reach that level, stubbornly clinging to that point.
However, most people's attention had already shifted from this matter.
And the appearance of the next video completely shattered ordinary people's perception of Elites and Champions.
Similarly, on the sea level, Wu Bing appeared in the center of the video with his Ice Nine Tails.
“I heard that everyone's been doing a challenge lately, so I'll give it a try too.”
With that, Ice Nine Tails directly shot an icy beam from its mouth. The icy beam instantly spread forward along the seawater, and an ice-made runway appeared directly on the sea level.
Wu Bing revealed the same sneer as Ren Wei: “Freezing two thousand meters, that's all. Is it difficult?”