Translator: CKtalon

“He lost?”

“Liu Hai lost?”

The official livestream, which was originally watching excitedly, suddenly fell silent. Countless viewers were stunned.

But immediately following that was an uproar! More than six billion audience members erupted into an uproar that swept through the livestream like a landslide. Countless audience members found it unbelievable that the world champion, Liu Hai, had lost!

“The first semi-final match has ended. Tejano Xire won and successfully advanced to the finals.” Although the female host was surprised, she immediately announced the outcome.

“It was too fast. The last move was too fast,” Tu Ling couldn’t help but say. “Master Liu Hai was clearly attacking the entire time. After more than three minutes of attack, Tejano suddenly counter-attacked! He killed Master Liu Hai with a flip of his staff?”

“During the final counterattack, Tejano’s movement technique was much more agile, and his staff technique was much faster,” Ysarova said. As a sharpshooter, her eyesight was naturally extraordinary.

“Watch the slow-motion replay.” Halu Singh pointed at the slow-motion replay of the battle.

In the slow-motion replay, one could clearly see that Tejano’s body was terrifyingly agile at the last moment, allowing him to dodge Liu Hai’s attack. Compared to him, Liu Hai appeared much clumsier.

Immediately following that, Tejano stabbed out with his staff!

The staff technique was much faster! In the slow-motion replay, it was so fast that it left behind afterimages.

The staff technique stabbed out… but Liu Hai failed to block with his shield. Liu Hai barely blocked with the saber in his right hand.

The staff then flipped!

Liu Hai’s shield immediately moved up, but it was still a tad bit slow. The staff struck the edge of the shield, and almost at the same time, the staff struck Liu Hai’s head.

He died from a single strike.

“Fast.” Halu Singh sighed. “It’s too fast! Master Liu Hai’s shield and saber combined defense can be considered perfect, but at the last moment… The speed of Tejano’s staff technique exceeded Master Liu Hai, causing him to be struck in the head.”

“When speeds reach a certain limit, there’s no time to defend.” Tu Ling sighed.

Even the ordinary audience understood the battle through the slow-motion replay. The staff technique that Tejano Xire unleashed at the end was too fast, killing Liu Hai in two blows.

“Tejano is actually that strong! He used a powerful move and killed Liu Hai in two strikes.”

“As expected of the world’s number one genius. In the ten months since the virtual world’s launch, he has completely surpassed Liu Hai!”

“Once he gets serious, Liu Hai couldn’t even withstand two strikes.”

“This is ridiculous.”

“It’s not ridiculous. Liu Hai is in his seventies, and Tejano only turned 20 last year. He hadn’t participated in any professional competitions, but just a month after the virtual world’s launch, Tejano’s strength was already close to his. Tejano’s talent is terrifying.”

Countless audience members discussed.

Although the entire world was shocked by Liu Hai’s loss, they could understand his loss to Tejano. After all, Tejano had always been considered the world’s number one genius!

On the other hand, the Chinese were in a terrible mood.

“Liu Hai lost.”

“Even if he lost, how did he lose so badly? Tejano defeated Liu Hai in two strikes the moment he unleashed his strength?”

“A new generation replacing the old!”

The Chinese sighed.

…

In the stands, Liu Hai sat alone. He didn’t meet up with any friends and sat alone to watch the replay of the livestream.

He could accept failure! However, Liu Hai felt terrible from being killed by the last two strikes. He had lost terribly.

I’ll review this battle, Liu Hai thought. In the early stages, Tejano always relied on his pure speed, strength, and agility to fight me. Even when I used my two ultimate moves to attack with all my might, he always relied on his basic moves to block and dodge.

He didn’t use any special ultimate moves the entire time.

With his talent, Earth’s civilization will definitely provide him with legacies. Moreover, he received contribution points from the Martial Arts Center’s overall ranking previously. He definitely received legacies and learned the powerful moves within.

But… He relied on his basic moves to fight me for more than three minutes. He only used his killer move at the last moment. Once he used his killer move, his movement technique clearly became more agile, and his staff technique was faster. Liu Hai shook his head gently. In legacies, there are usually more than one ultimate move. It’s possible to have three to eight ultimate moves.

He killed me just after using one ultimate move. Liu Hai came to a realization. He far exceeds me in terms of evolution and has a much stronger foundation than me. Therefore, I can’t withstand his powerful killer moves.

This was the difference in evolution.

When I sparred with Jingming last time, I discovered that my mind and consciousness cultivation were inferior to his, Liu Hai thought to himself. It’s obvious that I’m inferior to Jingming in terms of evolution as well as Tejano.

Even if I create some ultimate moves, I don’t have enough strength and speed to support them. My potent ultimate moves… are just empty edifices. Liu Hai knew very well the reason for his loss.

He lost on the fundamentals.

Tejano’s evolutionary aspect was clearly stronger, and his strength was at least twice that of his! His speed was also higher, and he was more agile! Liu Hai could only gain an advantage by using his two self-created ultimate moves, but he couldn’t clinch a complete victory.

And Tejano? He had just used an ultimate move before winning with two strikes.

If my strength and speed could match Tejano, I stood a chance of winning, Liu Hai thought to himself. My foundation is too lacking, and my moves can’t make up for it.

Jingming is about to fight Tiger Fussen for the other spot in the finals. I won’t disturb him. I’ll talk to him after his battle to give him some information on Tejano, Liu Hai thought.

******

The first semi-final match of the World Martial Arts Tournament had ended, and the second semi-final match was about to begin.

“Liu Hai has also been eliminated. It’s up to Xu Jingming now.”

“Xu Jingming has to win.”

“Anything is possible in a life-and-death battle. Xu Jingming might also fail. Everyone, don’t flatter him; it might only backfire.”

“I believe in Xu Jingming.”

The Chinese were a little disappointed by Liu Hai’s loss. At the same time, they became even more nervous and looked forward to the next match… Now that China only had Xu Jingming left to fight, the Chinese naturally looked forward to their country’s expert reaching the end.

Now that Liu Hai had lost, would Xu Jingming lose as well?

People didn’t feel confident either. After all, more than seven months had passed since he cleared Cosmos Tower’s fourth level.

Everything was possible.

“Next will be the second semi-final match. Xu Jingming from China will fight Tiger Fussen from the United States of America,” the female host said excitedly. “This battle will decide the last finalist.”

In the stands.

“I’m going on stage.” Xu Jingming got up.

“All the best,” Li Miaomiao encouraged her husband.

“Captain, break a leg,” Wang Yi shouted.

“Brother Xu, you have to defeat Tiger Fussen,” Yang Qingshuo said. “I believe in you.”

“Hahaha… Grandson!” Grandpa Xu was very excited. “There are more than 6.2 billion viewers present. This is a huge stage without precedent; it’s much more popular than the eSports competitions I participated in when I was young. Everyone in China is watching you now, anxiously waiting for you to win! You have to give it your all—burn yourself, storm forward, kill Tiger Fussen first, and then destroy Tejano Xire to become world champion!”

“Storm forward.” Xu Hong and Dai Tongda raised their fists.

“Yeah, I’ll kill Tiger Fussen first before destroying Tejano.” Xu Jingming smiled as his fighting spirit boiled.

In fact, after seeing his master, Liu Hai, being defeated by Tejano, he had a strong urge to fight Tejano. But according to the rules, he had to qualify for the finals first!

From the previous matches, Tiger Fussen was also an expert who hid his strength well. He couldn’t be careless at all.

At this moment, Xu Jingming suddenly saw a figure appear in the distance—it was Liu Hai. Liu Hai’s aura had converged and was much calmer.

“Master,” Xu Jingming said.

The others also saw Liu Hai.

“Do your best and storm into the finals first!” Liu Hai looked at his disciple and encouraged him.

“Okay..” Xu Jingming nodded, reached out, and tapped gently before entering the preparation space.