My spearmanship has finally broken through to Lv. 3. Xu Jingming was a little excited. After all, many of the world’s top experts were stuck at the cusp of Lv. 2 and couldn’t break through, a testament to how much of a road block this bottleneck was.

I thought I would be stuck at this bottleneck for a month or longer. Thankfully, it happened sooner than I expected. Xu Jingming grinned, but he soon revealed a puzzled expression. But why does it feel different from Master’s description?

Xu Jingming extended his hand, and a spear appeared in it.

“Send ten bandits with a basic combat strength of 2,000.” Xu Jingming easily set it up, and ten bandits quickly appeared. There were men and women—some were stocky, and others were thin, tiny, and wretched, but none of them were easy to deal with.

“Die.” The ten bandits naturally dispersed and surrounded him.

A dart flew through the air straight for Xu Jingming.

Boom!

Xu Jingming’s eyes turned faintly red as his figure blurred and quickly rushed out. In his eyes, the bandits’ movements and even the concealed weapons that shot over were in slow motion.

It’s impossible for them to slow down. It’s my reaction that has sped up. Xu Jingming swung his spear and easily blocked the few darts.

Hu!

Five bandits came close. They cooperated in an orderly fashion and summoned their sabers, spears, and hammers.

Xu Jingming took a step back and avoided most of the attacks. At the same time, the spear in his hand moved.

Pu! Pu! Pu!

Instantly, the throats of the three closest bandits were penetrated.

My ordinary attacks are now faster than Shadowless Thrust! Xu Jingming was delighted. My body is like fire; my entire body is burning, and my blood is boiling! With a thought, my entire body is responding to every thought. My speed and strength have reached a whole new level.

Most importantly, my reaction is faster. Xu Jingming was more concerned about this—a fast reaction meant that he had the preemptive advantage in every move.

My strikes land on the enemy before their attack reaches me!

He could dodge a sharpshooter’s attacks much better.

He could easily control the situation when surrounded. After all, the enemies around him were in slow motion, so finding flaws was much easier.

Bam! Bam!

Xu Jingming’s spear swept out like he was uprooting grass, sending four bandits flying in succession.

Boom!

A single strike slammed a bandit holding a huge shield into the ground, causing him to vomit blood and vanish.

Awesome! My body hasn’t improved at all. My Physique index is still 135, but the strength and speed at which I unleash my strength are much greater. I finally understand why Master can wreck me so easily despite having the same physique as me. Xu Jingming unleashed his spearmanship wantonly, killing one bandit after another until they turned ethereal.

“Shadowless Thrust!”

The current Shadowless Thrust truly lived up to its name. The bandit with a basic combat strength of 2,000 didn’t even see Xu Jingming strike or retract his spear before his chest was penetrated.

Amazing speed. Xu Jingming was impressed. Even he could only vaguely sense the spear retracting. This is what Shadowless Thrust should be. If the enemy sees it, it doesn’t deserve to be called Shadowless Thrust.

The ten bandits disappeared, and Xu Jingming was the only one left in the martial arts arena.

“Hahahahahaha…” Xu Jingming laughed happily. Master, you’ve misdirected me. You said that my body should be like water, but I don’t feel like water at all!

My body is like fire, and my entire body feels as if it’s on fire. I can explode with a single thought! Xu Jingming liked this feeling. In the past, his body would be like an old car. He remained slow despite pressing on the accelerator, but he was now a super sports car. He went vroom with a light tap!

Flexibility, terrifying strength, explosive force…

Even in this state, his brain’s thought processes and reaction speed were much faster.

There’s a qualitative change from the cusp of Lv. 2 to Lv. 3. I haven’t changed in any other aspect. Just my spearmanship increased from Lv. 2 99% to Lv. 3 1%, and my combat strength has increased by about a thousand. Xu Jingming sighed with emotion. No wonder all the other experts in China are powerless against Master Liu Hai, Lei Yunfang, and Zhou Yi!

Moreover, I haven’t made a breakthrough in my evolutionary method. I can still improve once I raise my evolutionary method to Advanced!

There’s no rush. I’ll consolidate my spearmanship and head to Cosmos Tower! Xu Jingming was in high spirits as he headed straight for the mission space.

Under Cosmos Tower.

Xu Jingming looked up at the huge list beside Cosmos Tower and the six names. It won’t be long before I’m on this list.

With this in mind, he rushed into Cosmos Tower.

But ten minutes later, Xu Jingming was kicked out.

“The tiger king is too fearsome. I died from a single swipe of its claw,” Xu Jingming murmured. “It looks like I need to reach Advanced.”

In fact, Xu Jingming had long guessed that it wouldn’t be easy to clear Cosmos Tower’s third floor. This was because he had seen his master’s video.

The tiger king’s strength, speed, and reaction were all above Liu Hai. His master had also relied on his combat techniques and his full strength before he cleared the level. As for Lei Yunfang, he had clearly reached Advanced a long time ago, and his movement technique was already at the terrifying Lv. 3. However, it took him a long time to clear it, and he came fifth in the world.

As for Zhou Yi? He had yet to clear it.

My spearmanship has increased to Lv. 3 2% after a short battle? I’ll continue practicing and consolidate my spearmanship before practicing the evolutionary method. Xu Jingming was extremely fervent. After breaking through the bottleneck, he finally started improving.

…

Um! Um! Um!

During lunch, Xu Jingming ate loudly and quickly.

“Is there such a rush?” Li Miaomiao took a small bite. “Why are you in such a hurry eating your meals?”

“I’m done eating, so I’m going into seclusion. Miaomiao, don’t disturb me unless something major happens today.” Xu Jingming put down his bowl and chopsticks, wiped his mouth, and immediately ran to the bedroom. His body had undergone a complete transformation in reality after a month of being in the virtual world, and he ran much faster. He was like a gust of wind that disappeared into his bedroom in a flash.

Li Miaomiao ate alone and mumbled, “Don’t disturb him unless something major happens? He’s in seclusion? It looks like he really broke through.”

I knew it! In the battle with Cheng Zihao’s team, Jingming was so fierce at the end. His entire body seemed to be on fire, so he probably had a breakthrough. Some people even say that Jingming was agitated and was in an excessive eruption state. And that’s only a legend—how can it be so easy to erupt? Li Miaomiao thought.

In reality, there were indeed people who suddenly unleashed strength that far exceeded their normal strength. However, this was very rare.

Although Xu Jingming was very angry in the previous battle, it was still within his limits… After all, that was only a battle in the virtual world. It didn’t break through his limits of reason, much less his physical limits.

It could only be said that Xu Jingming had accumulated enough knowledge. His anger from before was a catalyst. His rage consumed his entire body like fire, allowing him to break through his bottleneck.

He wasn’t too accustomed to his new state as it was his first breakthrough. The eruption was so excessive that his capillaries ruptured from the gushing blood. Once he got used to it and knew how to mobilize his body’s potential through some consolidation, he could easily unleash his might without repercussions.

******

That night.

Li Miaomiao invited Wang Yi to her personal space. Dai Xiaoqing accompanied her.

“Cat.” Although Wang Yi was an aloof woman, she ran over happily and hugged Li Miaomiao when she saw the latter. “My idol actually invited me. I’m so excited.”

“Calm down, calm down.” Li Miaomiao didn’t know whether to laugh or cry from being hugged. She immediately said, “You are China’s strongest female sharpshooter. You have to act like one.”

Wang Yi released her and sat to the side to watch the blue seawater. She picked up a piece of watermelon and started eating. “A person has to be honest. If you like it, you like it. If you don’t like it, you don’t like it. What’s the point of pretending? Cat, I really like your singing. When are you going to sing live? You have to inform me in advance.”

“Sure! I have to make preparations for singing live. I plan on streaming my singing again after the Firestarter Cup,” Li Miaomiao said.

“Every singing livestream my sister-in-law holds is like a concert,” Dai Xiaoqing said. “She makes ample preparations.”

“You have to immerse yourself in singing and enjoy yourself,” Li Miaomiao said. “Oh right, Sharpshooter, I wanted to ask you something.”

“Cat, feel free to ask. I’ll tell you everything I know,” Wang Yi said.

Li Miaomiao said, “I heard that many teams invited you to join, but you haven’t confirmed a team?”

“Yeah.” Wang Yi nodded. “Actually, many teams value my popularity. Those teams have large corporations behind them, hoping that my popularity will help advertise their company. For example, every time I do a livestream, millions of people will basically watch it… It’s equivalent to advertising for them every day.”

Li Miaomiao nodded.

“But that’s not what I care about. Popularity? Advertisements? I don’t care,” Wang Yi said. “I want to pursue a higher level of archery. I want to know what the endgame of archery is; I want to explore and master it myself. That’s what mesmerizes me the most.”

“What has that got to do with you choosing a team?” Li Miaomiao asked.

“That’s why I want strong teammates,” Wang Yi said. “The stronger, the better! Strong teammates will allow the team to go further. This is only a domestic competition, and there will be global competitions in the future… If the team can go far enough, we’ll be able to fight more experts! Otherwise, they won’t be qualified to fight top experts after being eliminated in the first round.”

“A true clash between the best is the best way to test and raise one’s strength.” Wang Yi’s eyes burned.

“I understand.” Li Miaomiao nodded.