Swish!

A short spear tore through the air; a bear failed to dodge in time due to the short distance and was stabbed in the neck by it.

The bear turned ethereal and disappeared. The other four bears were immediately enraged; they had also discovered the enemy who had thrown the spear.

Swish! Swish! Swish!

Spears flew out one after another as fast as lightning. As the figure dodged in the forest, he constantly threw spears.

In less than half a minute, a total of 12 spears were thrown—the bears were all dead.

The bear king roared and rushed out of the cave.

The figure was a muscular man in armor, and he was Xu Jingming’s former national teammate and friend, Heng Fang. He pulled out two long rods from his back and connected them together—it was a lance.

Heng Fang stared at the bear king with the lance in hand.

Roar! The bear king charged over.

“Come on.” Heng Fang brazenly awaited the battle.

After a long time.

The somewhat sorry Heng Fang looked at the bleeding bear king and smiled. It’s been three days since Cosmos Tower opened up; I finally killed the bear king on my ninth attempt. I’ll try the third floor now!

Moments later.

The third level is too difficult. Heng Fang returned to his personal space and tapped to contact his good friend.

“Old Xu, I see you working hard at the martial arts arena.” Heng Fang smiled at the projection.

“Young Master Heng, what’s the matter?” Xu Jingming quipped.

Of the best friends on the national team, Heng Fang was the vainest! He dawdled in front of the mirror every morning and combed his hair meticulously. He even brought a comb and skin cream with him all the time. His national teammates nicknamed him ‘Young Master Heng,’ a nickname he was rather pleased with.

When they were on the national team, the two were on par and often sparred. They had a good relationship and shared the same dormitory.

He, Heng Fang, Yang Qingshuo, and Zhuang Fu shared the same national team dorm, with Zhuang Fu having a slightly distant relationship with them.

“You know about the Firestarter Cup National Tournament, right?” Heng Fang said. “Are we teaming up?”

“Sure.” Xu Jingming smiled. “Won’t we be invincible if we join forces? What about the other teammates? Did you invite them?”

“Not yet; you were the first person on my mind.” Heng Fang raised his eyebrows. “If we include Shuo, won’t there be three of us?”

“You, me, Shuo…” Xu Jingming thought for a moment and said, “What do you think of Bear?”

“Bear is a nice person, and his shield and ax techniques are very solid.” Heng Fang nodded in agreement. “However, we lack an archer. Divine archers these days are mostly in the archery circle, so I’m not too familiar with them.”

“Me neither,” Xu Jingming said. “We are still weeks away from the competition, so we can slowly work it out. If it doesn’t work out… we’ll just charge our way as five warriors.”

“Alright, you decide.” Heng Fang smiled. “I’m at ease with you handling the matter, Old Xu.”

“Haha, it’s a deal,” Xu Jingming said.

Heng Fang gave an OK sign.

“Alright, I’ll talk to Shuo and Bear.” Xu Jingming hung up and immediately contacted Yang Qingshuo, who was training in the Cosmos Tower. The latter exited the tower when he received the call.

“Brother Xu.” Yang Qingshuo picked up.

“How about we team up for the Firestarter Cup?” Xu Jingming asked.

“Sure, no problem.” Yang Qingshuo smiled happily. “How many people are there?”

“You, me, Young Master Heng, and Bear,” Xu Jingming said. “We haven’t decided on a sharpshooter.”

“I think the four of us can fight five,” Yang Qingshuo said with a smile. They were all good buddies.

“Look at how smug you are. Master alone can wipe out the four of us,” Xu Jingming said. “Be more down-to-earth and humble.”

“Yes, Brother Xu, you’re right,” Yang Qingshuo said obediently.

“It’s settled then. I’ll find Bear.” Xu Jingming ended the call and contacted ‘Bear’ Liu Chongyuan.

…

Liu Chongyuan was fighting the bear king on the Cosmos Tower’s second level.

After practicing Giant Bear Evolution, Liu Chongyuan’s stocky body became even more ‘muscular.’ He now stood at 2.26 meters tall, and his weight had increased tremendously. With the shield in hand, Liu Chongyuan was like a smaller bear.

The bear king struck out, sending Liu Chongyuan flying with the shield in hand. However, he got to his feet again. Although there was blood at the corner of his mouth, he continued his defense.

Master Liu Hai’s shield techniques are so impressive, but why am I so lacking? Liu Chongyuan raised his shield again to block the bear king’s strike. I’ll try to block five of the bear king’s attacks this time.

He suddenly received a call.

With a glance, Liu Chongyuan temporarily exited the Cosmos Tower.

“Old Xu,” Liu Chongyuan said with a smile.

“You know about the Firestarter Cup National Tournament, right? Want to join a team Yang Qingshuo, Heng Fang, and I are setting up?” Xu Jingming said.

“Of the four, I’m probably the weakest.” Liu Chongyuan smiled, but he lacked confidence. He was the oldest of the four—he had been on the Jiangnan provincial team with Xu Jingming. The latter was a genius, and he had been specially recruited in high school. He was much older, and his results were much worse.

He had worked hard for so many years and had participated in the national team’s training, but he had never been the national team’s linchpin! His highest ranking was 39th globally, so he wasn’t qualified to participate in the World Martial Arts Tournament.

Xu Jingming and Heng Fang had both placed in the top eight of the World Martial Arts Tournament, and Yang Qingshuo had participated once. They were stronger and younger than him.

“With life evolving now, anything is possible. Didn’t I defeat Gao Chong and Wang Qiao?” Xu Jingming said. “Don’t be bogged down by your past achievements.”

“Yes.” Liu Chongyuan nodded slightly.

“Alright, is that a deal?” Xu Jingming looked at him.

“Since you don’t mind, I’ll join,” Liu Chongyuan said. “I’ll do my best.”

“Don’t worry, Bear. I believe in your strength,” Xu Jingming said.

After the communication ended, Liu Chongyuan became more spirited. My teammates are all very impressive. I have to work harder.

He originally believed that he would spend the rest of his life guiding rookies at the Sports Bureau, but who would’ve thought that he could raise his shield and ax again in the virtual world and begin his martial arts campaign?

Xu Jingming, Heng Fang, and Yang Qingshuo were all talented gladiators on the national team. The fact that the three of them were willing to team up with him filled him with fighting spirit.

I have to work harder so as not to be a burden on my teammates!

*****

At night, Xu Jingming and Li Miaomiao had dinner.

“You confirmed a team so quickly?” Li Miaomiao exclaimed in surprise. “Registration for the tournament is at the end of the month—that’s more than 20 days away! With the virtual world’s launch, there will be tumultuous changes to everyone’s strength this month.”

“It’s a team after all. The important thing is that everyone is happy and does their best.” Xu Jingming smiled. “Moreover, the people I invited are my best friends.”

“You’ve decided on four, so you’re short of one?” Li Miaomiao asked.

“We’re short a sharpshooter,” Xu Jingming said.

“With your strength, many people should be extending you invitations, right? Aren’t there any sharpshooters?” Li Miaomiao asked.

“Many people invited me, but I rejected them all. I said that I had decided on a team,” Xu Jingming said. He was, after all, one of the top few Divine experts in China, and he was young. Many people thought highly of his future.

“But none of the people who invited me are powerful sharpshooters.” Xu Jingming shook his head. “There are many warriors but few sharpshooters.”

“Sharpshooters are rare. Fairy Wang’s ranking of the top 36 experts in China only has three,” Li Miaomiao agreed. “Top sharpshooters are all in high demand.”

Xu Jingming nodded.

A call suddenly came, and Xu Jingming tapped lightly.

“Sun Li?” Xu Jingming looked at a man opposite him—Sun Li was also a national teammate, but as he was a B-lister, he didn’t interact with him much.

“Old Xu, I’m here to cozy up to you for the Firestarter Cup,” Sun Li said with a smile. “Shall we team up? I’ve practiced archery.”

“Archery?” Xu Jingming was surprised. “You practiced dual sabers on the national team, right?”

“I have talent in archery and picked it up fast. I’ll show you my combat strength interface.” Sun Li took the initiative and displayed a screenshot of his combat strength interface.

“Your archery has reached Lv. 2?” Xu Jingming praised. “Impressive!”

“How is it? I can use dual sabers in melee combat and a bow and arrow in long-range combat. It’s not bad, right?” Sun Li asked.

Xu Jingming thought, Sun Li was on the national team’s B team back then, while I, Shuo, and Young Master Heng were on the A team. Although we weren’t that close, we didn’t have any conflicts. After all, we were teammates.

“Sure, our team is in need of an archer,” Xu Jingming said with a smile. “An archer like you isn’t afraid of being assassinated. Of the other four in our team, there’s me, Heng Fang, Yang Qingshuo, and Liu Chongyuan. If you think there’s no problem, then it’s settled?”

Sun Li was slightly puzzled when he heard that. “Liu Chongyuan has never participated in the World Martial Arts Tournament, right? Isn’t he a little weak? Should we find a better shield expert? It’s still easy to find someone stronger than him in our circles.”

After all, they knew many teammates on the national team.

“In terms of shield techniques, Bear is quite good. He just fell short of being selected for the World Martial Arts Tournament back then,” Xu Jingming said. “Moreover, in the virtual world, everyone has started working hard. Don’t underestimate Bear.”

“Alright, you’re the backbone of the team. I’ll listen to you,” Sun Li said. “I believe in you.”

“It’s decided then?” Xu Jingming said.

“Yes.” Sun Li nodded.

Xu Jingming, Heng Fang, Yang Qingshuo, Liu Chongyuan, and Sun Li specially created a team chat.

The others were quite happy with Sun Li’s participation. Even though the latter’s archery was slightly inferior, he was at Lv. 2! Moreover, he was still rapidly improving. His archery would definitely become more brilliant by the beginning of next month. Moreover, Sun Li was also good at combat; he wasn’t afraid of assassins!