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nChapter 66: Tie Lianyun

nTranslator: CKtalon

nIn China’s official livestream, Liu Xin gazed at the projection in front of her and smiled as she looked up. “The first 16 matches of the Firestarter Cup have come to a close. The virtual world has also deduced the combat strength displayed by the teams. Liu Hai’s team and Zhou Yi’s team are fixed as Team 1 and Team 2. The other teams have been ranked according to their combat strength.”

nLiu Xin looked behind her, and the rankings of 16 teams appeared—

n1st: Liu Hai’s Elderly Team (Captain: Liu Hai)

n2nd: Team Lei Yunfang (Captain: Lei Yunfang)

n3rd: Team Shield and Ax (Captain Xiong Tianshan), Team Combat Strength: 18,100

n4th: Team Thunderclap (Captain: Gao Chong), Team Combat Strength: 16980

n5th: Team Golden Roc (Captain: Tie Lianyun), Team Combat Strength: 16960

n6th: Team Zhou Yi (Captain: Zhou Yi), Team Combat Strength: 16,660

n7th: Team Big Fish (Captain: Chen Yu), Team Combat Strength: 15910

n8th: Team Drifting (Captain: Liu Jiuzhou), Team Combat Strength: 15,800

n9th: Team Fairydance (Captain: Zhang Qing), Team Combat Strength: 15738

n10th: Team Heavenly Note (Captain: Zhuang Ziyu), Team Combat Strength: 15635

n11th: Team Urim (Captain: Fang Yu), Team Combat Strength: 15590

n12th: Team Pearwood (Captain: Xu Jingming), Team Combat Strength: 15380

n13th: Team Cloud Mountain (Captain: Huo Qingshan), Team Combat Strength: 15,120

n14th: Team Pure Sword (Captain: Qin Ge), Team Combat Strength: 13860

n15th: Team Hundred Sparrow (Captain: Qin Wen), Team Combat Strength: 13872

n16th: Team Frost Song (Captain: Gu Chong), Team Combat Strength: 13,560

n“For the second round of the competition, we will still have the first teams fight the last teams. Team 1 will fight Team 16, and Team 2 will fight Team 15…” Liu Xin said. “This is the battle schedule for tomorrow.”

nA battle schedule appeared by the side.

n“Team Zhou Yi is ranked 6th, and Team Fairydance is ranked 9th. How surprising,” Liu Xin said with a smile. “On the one hand, some experts are still hiding their strength. On the other hand, the competition will only get more intense as time passes. The competition tomorrow will definitely be even more exciting. The first round of the Firestarter Cup’s livestream ends here. Next up is my colleague, Sister Wan Ning, who is hosting ‘Expert Tracking.’”

nThere were programs on China’s official livestream channel 24 hours a day.

nMeanwhile, the audience quickly left. After all, everyone was tired from watching the competition for so long. At the later stages of the competition, the number of viewers had even plummeted to 800 million—this was because the maximum number of hours available for minors under the age of 16 was 8 hours. Those children weren’t willing to spend all their online time watching the competition.

n“To my personal space.” Xu Jingming got up, and so did the other five members of Team Pearwood.

nWhy do I feel like a husky hiding in a wolf pack? Li Miaomiao thought to herself among the group.

n…

nIn Xu Jingming’s personal space, one could see the ice lake on the mountaintop through the huge glass window. The scenery was beautiful.

nThe six members of Team Pearwood sat on the sofa.

n“When I was watching the competition, I took the time to watch the first few matches carefully,” Xu Jingming said. “I found some threatening opponents.”

n“A Lv. 3 expert?” Wang Yi’s eyes lit up as she asked.

nXu Jingming waved his hand, and 16 teams appeared beside him.

n“I’ve carefully watched the slow-motion replays of some key battles.” Xu Jingming nodded. “I can confirm that Team Shield and Ax’s Xiong Tianshan has broken through to Lv. 3, but his evolutionary method hasn’t reached Advanced. However, he has a chance of successfully breaking through tomorrow.”

n“Zhang Qing from Team Fairydance, Tie Lianyun from Team Golden Roc, and Fang Yu from Team Urim are suspected of breaking through,” Xu Jingming said.

n“Suspected of a breakthrough?” The team members looked at Xu Jingming.

n“The probability of them breaking through is at least 80%, and it’s also possible that I was wrong,” Xu Jingming said. “Of course, there might be experts hidden in the entire competition that I didn’t notice, but the second round of the competition will be even more intense. Everyone will eventually reveal their strength. We will be fighting Team Golden Roc in the fifth match tomorrow.”

nSeptember 3, 2:00. Team Golden Roc vs. Team Pearwood.

n“All we need to do now is pay attention to Team Golden Roc!” Xu Jingming said.

n“Sun Li is in Team Golden Roc,” Heng Fang said coldly. “We’ve been his free sparring partners for more than half a month. We attacked him and helped hone his close-combat archery skills. Once he gained mastery, he scooted off before the competition began.”

n“Treat what he said as nothing but hot air.” Liu Chongyuan was furious.

n“We have the even stronger Sister Yi now,” Yang Qingshuo said with a smile. “That Sun Li must be very unhappy.”

nWang Yi smiled. “I’ll definitely have to perform well during the competition.”

n“Sun Li isn’t worth mentioning,” Xu Jingming said. “He’s the weakest in their team, so we need to be careful about Tie Lianyun, Zhao Pan, Zhang Feng, and Zhang Cheng. Especially this Senior Brother Tie Lianyun of mine… He was one of the three legends in China’s martial arts world and was once three-time reigning world champion!”

nXu Jingming said seriously, “Speaking of which, he has won the most number of championships at the World Martial Arts Tournament for China!”

nHeng Fang nodded as well and felt the pressure. “Senior Brother Tie Lianyun is the most hardworking and crazy person I’ve ever seen. He trains crazily every day, and even his shoes get worn out… Therefore, he eventually decided to train barefoot! Every year and every season, regardless of how cold it is, he trains barefoot. His feet are covered in thick calluses. He practices in the morning and at night, and he also practices when he wakes up in the middle of the night. It’s as if he was born to practice martial arts.”

nThe junior brothers who had been on the national team all felt this strongly. Yang Qingshuo also said, “Brother Xu is very diligent in martial arts, but Senior Brother Tie Lianyun is a lunatic.”

n“It’s precisely because of this that he has inherited Master’s shield and saber techniques the most,” Xu Jingming said. “Moreover, I feel that he has probably broken through! If he breaks through to Lv. 3 and reaches Advanced… Then, we have to give it our all in this battle.”

n“Yes.” Everyone present nodded.

n“Zhao Pan and Zhang Feng are in no way inferior to me in strength.” Heng Fang nodded and said, “They are much younger than me and have terrifying potential.”

n“Yeah.”

nLiu Chongyuan said, “Zhao Pan is 18 this year, and Zhang Feng is 20 this year. They are both civilian contestants. They reached their current strength after a month in the virtual world; their talent is terrifying.”

nLi Miaomiao said, “Team Golden Roc also has its ambitions for them to select two talented youngsters. They even invited Tie Lianyun to be their captain!”

n“Zhang Cheng is also slightly better than me in terms of shield techniques.” Liu Chongyuan nodded and said, “He’s a person who can’t find flaws in his defense.”

n…

nTeam Golden Roc, in Tie Lianyun’s personal space.

nThis was a forest, and the entire forest was Tie Lianyun’s residence. The six team members and the team manager were sitting on wooden chairs.

n“Our opponent for the second round is Team Pearwood.” The silver-haired youth looked at Sun Li. “Sun Li, you were originally teammates with Xu Jingming and the others. Tell me what you know.”

nSun Li nodded. “I haven’t interacted much with Wang Yi, but I’m very familiar with the other four. In terms of standing, Heng Fang is on par with Zhao Fan, so you have to be careful of his flying spear techniques. Yang Qingshuo is slightly weaker than Zhang Feng, while Liu Chongyuan is slightly weaker and clumsier than Zhang Cheng. Our captain is naturally much stronger than Xu Jingming.”

n“Okay.” The silver-haired youth nodded slightly.

nThe short and fat Tie Lianyun sat there and said coldly, “I suspect my junior brother, Xu Jingming, has broken through to Lv. 3.”

nWhoosh.

nEveryone present looked at Tie Lianyun.

n“Broken through to Lv. 3?” Zhao Fan was somewhat young, and he had vigor matching his youth. He couldn’t help but say, “He only used a shield in the preliminaries and the first round of the competition. Are you sure he has broken through?”

n“He’s too stable! His shield defense was too stable, and his evasion timing was too perfect,” Tie Lianyun said coldly. “However, that junior brother of mine is known to be violent and fierce; he has never been one for stability. Only when one’s combat technique breaks through can they be extremely stable in all kinds of situations.”

nThe silver-haired youth nodded solemnly. “You have a point. I’ve observed many team members and think that Xu Jingming was very staid.”

n“Most importantly, he didn’t even use his spear in the preliminaries and the first round,” Tie Lianyun said calmly. “I’ve observed him since he joined the national team. This junior brother of mine has astonishing spearmanship. Taking in all these aspects, I surmise that he has most likely broken through to Lv. 3.”

n“I’m certain that he didn’t break through when I left Team Pearwood,” Sun Li said.

n“That means he broke through after you left,” Tie Lianyun said. “Alright, leave him to me! The others will be left to you guys.”

n“Yes, Captain!” the others in the team replied immediately.

nThe silver-haired youth watched this scene in satisfaction. He felt that his best choice was to choose Tie Lianyun as captain.. Unfortunately, he failed to invite Wang Yi.

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