Global Rank [4684]

Chapter 22

In rank matchmaking mode, during a sustained winning streak, Li Yuan would occasionally be matched against experts with over 500 points in the Gold Rank.

But such opponents were few in the end. Most of the time, priority was given to those with similar rank points.

After creating Hidden Dragon in the Rocky Ravine, my spear technique strength greatly increased. My win rate against low-Gold martial arts experts has risen sharply. Li Yuan was somewhat mentally fatigued, yet still filled with fighting spirit.

His points had soared all the way to where they were now.

Ordinary adults did not have sufficiently strong Spiritual Power. They would probably need a break after six or seven battles, and could fight twenty or thirty at most in a day. Otherwise, it would wear down their minds and affect their real-world cultivation. Light flickered in Li Yuan's eyes. "Yet I can go through two hundred Virtual Wars in a day and still remain at my peak."

Why had Li Yuan's Martial Arts Technique continued to soar over the past year?

Aside from the fact that he truly had talent in spear technique,

it was inseparably tied to his ever-strengthening Spiritual Power.

The stronger his Spiritual Power, the greater his control over his body during daily cultivation, and the faster his spear technique improved.

Likewise, in Virtual Network battles, it allowed him to fight more matches.

The Virtual Wars he had experienced in a year were equivalent to the tempering many people received in three, or even five, years of Virtual Wars.

How could Li Yuan's Martial Arts Technique possibly improve slowly under such circumstances?

"The final battle. I have to win."

"The fifty thousand is mine." Li Yuan clicked the option box—Begin Matchmaking.

Beep—Matchmaking successful.

"You are about to enter a ranked match. Your opponent is Gold Rank (499 points)... Countdown: 10, 9..."

Inside a livestream room on Starry Sky Fighting Net, the stream title read: "The Road to Martial Arts Top Scorer, Charging Furiously Toward Gold 500."

In the livestream room was an elf-costumed girl of around seventeen or eighteen, along with... a middle-aged commentator.

"Brothers."

"Xiu'er is aiming to become Nanming City's martial arts top scorer. In her last school martial arts assessment, her Martial Arts Technique score surpassed 360 points... Today, she's attempting to break through to 500 Gold Rank points."

The girl occasionally tilted her head, looking adorably cute as she waited for a match.

The middle-aged commentator, however, was extremely excited.

"Five hundred Gold Rank points—forget Nanming City, even across all of Jiangbei Province, there are fewer than fifty people under eighteen who can reach this rank... Let's see whether Xiu'er's third attempt will succeed." The middle-aged commentator spoke rapidly.

"Oh! Matchmaking successful!"

"Her opponent has 496 points. Looks like they're also a martial arts expert attempting to reach Gold Rank."

"In today's first two attempts, she met opponents with over 600 points. This opponent only has 496... Let us wait and see... 5, 4..." the middle-aged man said excitedly.

Gold Rank martial arts streamers were as numerous as the hairs on an ox.

But underage streamers who could reach Gold Rank were quite rare. Attempting to become the National College Entrance Examination top scorer, an elf girl, pretty... such hooks drew even more attention.

This girl streamer named "Xiu'er" was quite popular on Starry Sky Fighting Net.

At this moment, her viewer count had already surpassed two thousand.

Of course, minors could not livestream alone. They had to be at least sixteen and accompanied by a guardian, and there were weekly time limits on livestreaming... These were explicit legal requirements.

"This should be the one."

"With 496 points, the opponent looks much weaker than the previous two."

"Kill them."

"Xiu'er has already fought over thirty matches today. Her win rate today is 56.6%, pretty good. I'm sending a tip."

"I've watched Xiu'er's streams for two years."

"Raising her up! Raise her into a martial arts top scorer—I'm waiting for the day Xiu'er becomes the martial arts top scorer."

"She'll definitely win." Huge numbers of text comments, voice comments, and video comments flashed past... along with all kinds of tips.

Suddenly.

Whoosh! The livestream scene changed, forming an arena. A youth carrying a long spear appeared on the other side of the platform.

"A youth?"

"The opponent looks so young. Could he be a minor too?"

"He must be an adult. It's only a virtual avatar. If he were a minor too, wouldn't he also be able to compete for the National College Entrance Examination top scorer title?" The viewers discussed it.

On the battle arena.

"Hm? So many people?" The moment Li Yuan stepped onto the arena, he saw that the previously empty spectator stands had suddenly filled with a dense crowd.

Looking around, there were probably several thousand people.

"A big streamer?" Li Yuan swept his gaze over the area before it finally landed on the elf girl more than twenty meters away, holding a silver spear.

In normal Gold Rank matchmaking, even if he encountered a streamer, having over a hundred viewers was already impressive.

A major streamer with thousands watching? This was the first Li Yuan had encountered today.

Li Yuan could have completely muted the spectator stands and blocked out the audience... but he chose neither.

"A streamer?"

"She even seems to be an underage girl streamer?" Li Yuan heard some of the audience voices. "Let's see how strong she is."

In truth, it was not as if Li Yuan had never tried streaming. He had once considered making money through livestreaming to ease his family's financial burden... but he soon discovered something.

The waters in this line of work ran far too deep.

Unless one was a supreme expert who had reached Eclipse Rank, becoming popular was extraordinarily difficult.

For streamers who could become famous, Martial Arts Technique was only a small part of the reason.

Being able to fight did not necessarily mean being able to stream.

Nothing that made money was easy.

Moreover, Li Yuan understood this clearly: Virtual War was ultimately only an auxiliary means of tempering Martial Arts Technique. Real-world cultivation was the core.

The purpose of earning money was also to cultivate martial arts.

He could not abandon the root and chase the branches.

"Xiu'er?" Looking at the elf girl's name, Li Yuan vaguely remembered it. He seemed to have come across some of her livestream clips before.

But the impression was not deep. She probably was not the kind of top-tier streamer.

"Hello."

"Could you go easy on me this match?" The elf girl held her silver spear and spoke with a beaming smile, looking rather adorable.

Li Yuan frowned slightly.

Whoosh!

The elf girl suddenly moved. Her level 8.0 physical fitness made her incredibly fast as she charged toward Li Yuan like lightning.

"Xiu'er is being immoral again."

"Stab him!"

"This kid got tricked too, huh? He probably hasn't watched Xiu'er's streams." A flood of voices rose from the spectator stands.

Pfft! The silver spear thrust straight forward!

"A direct thrust?"

Without the slightest hesitation, Li Yuan gripped the butt of the spear with his left hand and supported the shaft with his right, also launching a direct thrust in the Centered Level Stance.

It looked like a move meant to perish together.

But the spear Li Yuan had chosen was close to three meters long, about half a meter longer than his opponent's... and Li Yuan's avatar was taller, with a greater reach.

His spear was destined to strike first.

An inch longer, an inch stronger.

Bang~

The instant their spearpoints crossed, the elf girl's silver spear violently shook, erupting with terrifying force as she tried to knock Li Yuan's spear aside... Clearly, she had also noticed her weapon disadvantage.

Bang~

Yet Li Yuan seemed to know what would happen before it did. He too shook his great spear and met the force head-on.

Then, with a glance from the corner of his eye, Li Yuan retreated with the momentum, rapidly pulling back. He landed and dispersed the impact of that force.

Whoosh! A violent spear wind howled.

The elf girl's follow-up strike missed, its spearpoint only an inch from Li Yuan's head.

"Even after consecutive collisions, she can keep her spear stable and attack continuously... This should be a killing move." Having dodged the strike, Li Yuan made his judgment. "I need to be careful."

In a normal fight to the death, the rebound force from repeated collisions would travel through the spear shaft and affect the wielder. Many movements would become difficult, and one had to readjust.

Yet she could attack continuously, which showed that her combo was unusual.

A so-called killing move was one that perfectly mobilized strength, allowing one to execute defenses and attack combos beyond what ordinary people could achieve.

"So fast to react. Such strong footwork." The elf girl's pretty face was equally surprised.

This combo was one of her killing moves. When used to ambush an opponent, it often ended the battle in two or three exchanges.

"Such amazing footwork."

"So steady!"

"There are experts among the common folk."

"Xiu'er got shown up." Many viewers laughed from the spectator stands. They did not care that much about victory or defeat.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

They collided again and again. Both were skilled spear users, their bodies moving at high speed as they constantly probed one another.

Each tried to seize the other's flaw and search for an opening.

But Li Yuan was extremely steady. He basically did not attack proactively, seeking no merit but asking for no fault. He blocked the elf girl's silver spear again and again through defense.

"Virtual battles are for tempering spear technique. Fighting one more match or one less match makes no real difference." Li Yuan's heart was still as water. He was not in a hurry.

But the elf girl was growing more and more anxious.

She had already heard the jeers from the surrounding audience, many of them teasing her. "This is boring." "Why aren't they fighting?" "Charge in recklessly!" "They keep circling." "Are these two putting on an opera?" "If Xiu'er can't show off, can she still be called Xiu'er?" "What happened to all that bragging?" "Told you she wasn't good enough"...

The elf girl wanted both victory, to reach 500 points and claim the reward, and a good livestream effect.

"This guy is like a turtle."

"If this continues, it won't end even in five minutes. Half the audience will probably leave. I can't wait any longer." The elf girl hardened her resolve and launched an active attack.

Clang! Bang~

After several collisions of spear shafts and spearpoints, Li Yuan kept retreating with his spear while the elf girl advanced step after step.

"There's an opening." Light glimmered in the elf girl's eyes.

In fewer than ten exchanges, Li Yuan had nearly been forced to the edge of the arena. Just as the elf girl thought she was about to win—

Whoosh! Li Yuan, who had defended throughout the entire fight, suddenly erupted. The long spear in his hand shot forward.

Rip~

The long spear tore through the air, bursting forth with a piercing howl!

"Not good." The elf girl, Xiu'er, had her pupils shrink. Just as she tried to retreat, the spearpoint had already pierced through her throat.

It was simply too fast!

For nearly two minutes of fighting, she had held the upper hand over ninety percent of the time.

But at the instant when she had attacked consecutively, her old strength spent and her new strength not yet born, Li Yuan seized the opportunity and defeated her in a single exchange.

"Martial arts livestreams with good viewing appeal receive gifts from viewers and can make a profit."

"Viewers can sometimes stir up one's fighting spirit as well." Li Yuan silently withdrew his spear and glanced toward the bustling spectator stands nearby. "But those who rise with the tide are often trapped and disturbed by the tide."

"A fight to the death should be pure."

"Battle is not for spectacle. It is to determine life and death."

"Your Martial Arts Technique is not below mine, but your mind was not entirely focused on the fight." Li Yuan stared at the elf girl whose body had already vanished. "That is why you lost."

A life-and-death battle had never been determined purely by physical fitness or the level of one's Martial Arts Technique.

There was also one's state of mind.

Having cultivated the Rock Cultivation Method, Li Yuan's state of mind was terrifyingly stable.

"Congratulations, Guardian Yuan, you have won this Gold Rank Match. Points +10."

"Congratulations, Guardian Yuan, you have reached 500 Gold Rank points and are qualified to claim a reward of 50,000 Blue Star Coins."

"Congratulations, Guardian Yuan, you have entered the Blue Star Youth Ranking. You are ranked [4684] globally, [1224] in Xia Country, and [47] in Jiangbei Sub-district. Detailed ranking information may be viewed through the following methods..."

(End of this chapter.)