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nTeam Golden Roc’s Zhao Fan, Zhang Feng, Zhang Cheng, and the team manager—the silver-haired youth—were in the stands, watching Xu Jingming kill Tie Lianyun and Sun Li.

n“This Xu Jingming is too strong.” Zhang Feng couldn’t help but say, “He’s ridiculously strong. Even Captain isn’t his match.”

n“It’s possible that he has already attained strength that’s close to Liu Hai and Lei Yunfang.” Although Zhao Fan was a peerless genius, he felt the huge gap.

nThe silver-haired youth beside him said, “Xu Jingming is very strong, but he’s still inferior to Liu Hai and Lei Yunfang! Those two seniors cleared the third level of Cosmos Tower. The third level is very difficult. You’ve all seen the videos of Liu Hai and Tiger Fussen clearing it back then. Liu Hai spent tremendous effort clearing it, and Tiger Fussen barely cleared it thanks to luck.”

n“Yes.” The three nodded.

nYes, only by clearing the third level of Cosmos Tower could one be considered to be close to Liu Hai and Lei Yunfang. Those were the two greats in China’s martial arts world—mountains even—but as a mountain, Xu Jingming was already very high compared to them.

n“Captain.” Zhao Fan and the others stood up, and the silver-haired youth got up to welcome Tie Lianyun.

n“This junior brother of mine is really strong.” Tie Lianyun smiled happily. “However, this battle gave me a breakthrough. Soon, my evolutionary method will break through to Advanced.”

nAfter his shield and saber broke through, Tie Lianyun was very confident that his evolutionary method could break through.

nI have to win Tie Lianyun over. After he breaks through, he will be one of the top experts in China. The silver-haired youth thought to himself, It will be too difficult to invite someone stronger than him.

nAt this moment, Sun Li arrived, but everyone only nodded in greeting and didn’t get up to welcome him. Only the team manager and captain were worthy of the rest standing up to welcome them.

n“It’s my fault.” Sun Li walked over. “Xu Jingming hid it too well; I didn’t even know his true strength when I was his teammate. His schemes and calculations were too impressive. Perhaps he already had the Firestarter Cup in consideration back then. It’s fine if he kept it from his opponent, but he even hid it from his teammates.”

n“That junior brother of mine doesn’t have that kind of personality.” Tie Lianyun shook his head.

nSun Li was taken aback, but he could only shut his mouth and stop.

n“He became famous at a young age and put his heart and soul into training. He’s the same as me; he only trusts his strength and doesn’t care about scheming,” Tie Lianyun said. He was a person who immersed himself in training. Regardless of how others schemed, he could naturally become world champion as long as he was strong enough.

nInstead of scheming, one might as well focus on improving their strength.

n“Captain, you’re right. After all, I wasn’t that close to him in the past.” Sun Li nodded.

n“Being in Team B, you naturally don’t know him well.” Tie Lianyun sighed. “This junior brother of mine is even more talented than me. I’m envious.”

nAlthough he spoke of envy, Tie Lianyun’s eyes were filled with fighting spirit.

nHaving lost this time, he would definitely win it back next time!

nOf the five main members of the team, Sun Li is indeed weak, and he doesn’t have much potential. The silver-haired youth stood to the side and thought to himself, Getting him at the last minute could only be considered an interim solution for the Firestarter Cup, but the effects are clearly very ordinary… I still have to find another sharpshooter. I can also save some money by terminating the contract with Sun Li after the competition.

nAs the sponsor, he naturally had a clause that allowed termination of the contract based on the results of the competition.

n******

n“Jingming, well done.” Xu Hong patted his son on the shoulder. “The Eight Extremities Tiger Pounce and Mountain Cleave at the end were executed beautifully!”

n“Dad, it’s all thanks to you,” Xu Jingming said with a smile.

n“Haha…” Xu Hong laughed heartily. He felt a sense of accomplishment seeing his son become better under his tutelage.

nXu Jingming, his relatives, and his friends watched the sixth match of the second round in a happy mood.

nSixth match: Team Zhou Yi versus Team Urim.

n“Zhou Yi is really strong.” Yang Qingshuo sighed in amazement.

n“The arrows he strafes are stronger than my armor-piercing arrows,” Wang Yi said.

nXu Jingming said, “Extraordinary strength is gained with an improved physique. With a high realm, it’s natural that any random arrow has terrifying might. You can do it after you break through, Sister Yi—you can even do it better.”

n“Team Urim has it difficult. More than half of them died before they reached Zhou Yi.” Heng Fang shook his head and sighed.

nThe five members of Team Urim charged at Zhou Yi with great difficulty. As they faced the obstructions of Team Zhou Yi’s other four members, they also had to deal with the terrifying bow and arrow. Zhou Yi didn’t hide and instead shot an arrow dozens of meters away from them.

nSenior Liu Jianfeng gave up on attempting an assassination and instead went to kill the other members of Team Zhou Yi.

n“Zhou Yi’s teammates are quite average,” Xu Jingming commented.

nZhou Yi’s four teammates ended up being killed by Team Urim.

nThere was only one person left on Team Urim—Captain Fang Yu.

n“Zhou Yi.” Fang Yu looked at Zhou Yi. “There’s only you and me left. It’s very fair to fight one-on-one.”

n“One-on-one?” Zhou Yi looked at him and wore the quiver on the ground with two quivers slung over him.

nFang Yu was stocky and wore heavy armor. He had six short halberds on his back and held a City-Storming Halberd in hand.

nFang Yu charged at Zhou Yi in large strides, and the latter did his best to fire.

n“Fang Yu?” Countless audience members exclaimed.

nEvery arrow of Zhou Yi’s was stronger than Wang Yi’s armor-piercing arrows. Logically speaking, even if they couldn’t pierce through heavy armor, they would affect one’s speed when they hit the body. But if Zhou Yi’s arrows landed on heavy armor, it would be like scratching an itch—Fang Yu wouldn’t be affected at all when running.

nOnly when an arrow was aimed at Fang Yu’s head did Fang Yu use his halberd technique to block.

n“All of them got blocked.”

nZhou Yi shot out 12 consecutive arrows, but Fang Yu blocked them perfectly. He wasn’t injured at all and had already arrived in front of the former.

nZhou Yi finally retreated! As he executed his movement technique, he continued firing.

n“Dodging?” Fang Yu instantly put down the City-Storming Halberd in his hand and drew two short halberds before throwing them forward instantly!

nThe speed of the two short halberds was terrifying. The two halberds—which weighed several kilograms—broke through the sound barrier; this was much more terrifying than Zhou Yi’s full-powered armor-piercing arrow.

nWhat terrifying strength. Xu Jingming was surprised when he saw this. Can I throw a short halberd at that speed?

nOther than needing advanced techniques to throw the halberd, one needed sufficient strength.

nZhou Yi only had time to fire an arrow to deal with the two short halberds flying at supersonic speeds before he immediately tried his best to dodge.

nHe dodged one halberd, but the other halberd brushed past his body, tearing through his leather armor and sending large chunks of flesh flying.

nClang.

nAfter throwing out two short halberds, Fang Yu raised his arms over his head to block the arrow.

nBoom.

nFang Yu picked up the City-Storming Halberd on the ground and charged out again.

nThe seriously injured Zhou Yi was no longer as fast as Fang Yu, but he still dodged as he fired arrows in a sorry state.

nHowever, Fang Yu charged over relentlessly. The City-Storming Halberd was like a bolt of lightning that sliced diagonally across Zhou Yi’s body.

nZhou Yi’s body turned ethereal and disappeared.

nTeam Urim won! Fang Yu was unharmed!

n“This…”

nCountless viewers in China’s official livestream fell silent. Even the host and two guests didn’t know what to say.

n“Zhou Yi lost, and he lost so badly.”

n“Fang Yu killed Zhou Yi in a one-on-one battle?”

n“Didn’t they say that Liu Hai, Lei Yunfang, and Zhou Yi are the strongest three?”

nCountless audience members were stunned.

nLiu Xin looked at the prompter in front of her and said, “We didn’t expect Xu Jingming to be so powerful in the previous match, nor did we expect Zhou Yi to lose this match. He was killed by Fang Yu in a one-on-one battle! Fang Yu is 20 years old this year and is a civilian contestant. Perhaps nobody expected… a civilian contestant to kill Zhou Yi after a month in the virtual world.”

n“The short halberd that Fang Yu threw is the most ferocious throwing weapon I’ve seen since the competition began.” The male guest, Jin Fan, pointed at the slow-motion replay. “The virtual world can determine that the highest speed of these two halberds are 393 meters per second and 407 meters per second, both exceeding the speed of sound. It has to be known that this isn’t a very light bow and arrow, but a short halberd! How much strength is needed to throw this cannonball-like strike!?”

n“He’s only 20 this year.” Jin Fan couldn’t help but say, “This reminds me of Tejano Xire, ranked fourth on the Cosmos Ranking. Tejano Xire is also 20. I think Fang Yu’s talent and potential can completely compare to Tejano Xire.”

n…

nAs the crowd boiled with excitement, Team Pearwood’s members also felt the pressure.

n“This Fang Yu is too strong,” Yang Qingshuo said. “Brother Xu, nobody in our team can withstand a single strike from him other than you.”

nXu Jingming watched with anticipation in his eyes.

nOnly such an opponent… allowed him to fight to his heart’s content!

n…

nIn the seventh match, Team Big Fish vs. Team Heavenly Note.

nThis match was relatively ordinary; there were no dazzling opponents. After a tough battle, Team Heavenly Note’s Zhuang Ziyu, Yu Cheng, Wu Sai, Zhang Qian, and company worked together and finally won. However, it was also very tragic—only Zhang Qian stood on the battlefield.

nIn the eighth match, Team Drifting vs. Team Fairydance.

nIn this match, the members of Team Fairydance did their best. Sun Yuting, Sharpshooter Wang Nuan, Dai Xiaoqing, and Yuan Yujiao did their best, but Captain Zhang Qing didn’t show much of her strength. Only when two of her teammates fell did Captain Zhang Qing truly exert her strength.

nWith dual swords in hand, she was as fast as a phantom as she shuttled through the enemy camp. With a few sword flashes, Team Drifting was wiped out.

nZhang Qing’s sword techniques were truly like those of a sword immortal—beautiful and cruel to the extreme.

n“She easily crushed a team,” Wang Yi said. “Zhang Qing probably broke through too.”

n“Her sword technique and evolutionary method have all broken through,” Xu Jingming said. “Otherwise, it wouldn’t have been so easy.”

nAs they discussed, Liu Xin looked at the prompter on the commentary platform in front of her and smiled. “The eight matches of the Firestarter Cup’s second round have come to a close. The virtual world has also deduced the combat strength displayed by each team during their battles. Liu Hai’s team and Lei Yunfang’s team are still No. 1 and No. 2. The other teams are ranked according to their combat strength.”

nWith that said, a huge ranking chart appeared in the livestream.

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

n2nd: Team Lei Yunfang (Captain: Lei Yunfang)

n3rd: Team Fairydance (Captain: Zhang Qing), Team Combat Strength: 21,280

n4th: Team Urim (Captain: Fang Yu), Team Combat Strength: 21,130

n5th: Team Pearwood (Captain: Xu Jingming), Team Combat Strength: 21,087

n6th: Team Shield and Ax (Captain: Xiong Tianshan), Team Combat Strength: 18,932

n7th: Team Cloud Mountain (Captain: Huo Qingshan), Team Combat Strength: 16,220

n8th: Team Heavenly Note (Captain: Zhuang Ziyu), Team Combat Strength: 16,035

nAt the same time, a battle lineup appeared.

nSeptember 4, 0:00. First match: Liu Hai’s Elderly Team vs. Team Heavenly Note.

nSeptember 4, 1:00. Second match: Team Lei Yunfang vs. Team Cloud Mountain

nSeptember 4, 2:00. Third match: Team Fairydance vs. Team Shield and Ax

nSeptember 4, 3:00. Fourth match: Team Urim vs. Team Pearwood

n“This…” The members of Team Pearwood looked at the ranking.

n“Our opponent tomorrow is Team Urim led by Fang Yu?” Li Miaomiao was surprised.

nAs Xu Jingming watched, a fighting spirit rose in his chest. Did Fang Yu have what it takes to make him use his spearmanship?

n…

nMeanwhile, Team Urim’s members were also looking at the battle schedule.

n“Of the four matches tomorrow, the other three should be one-sided. Only for us… Our opponent is Team Pearwood.” The team members were under a lot of pressure.

nSenior Liu Jianfeng chuckled and nodded. “Our opponent is Xu Jingming. He’s an unfathomable kid.”

n“Xu Jingming?” The silent Fang Yu stared at the battle schedule and said, “I’ll crush him tomorrow!”

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