Pre-Match Analysis

The qualifying rounds in the Jianghai Division are coming to an end.

Although there is still one match to be played, the two teams that have qualified from the Jianghai Division have already secured their spots: Jinghai University and Jiangnan University. The remaining competition is simply for first and second place.

However, rankings are still very important, as they not only represent honor but also bring practical benefits.

If you win first place in the Jianghai Division, you won't be drawn against the first-place winner from any other division in the first round of the CUAA National Championship; you'll only be drawn against the second-place winner. This is determined by the draw mechanism.

Second place is always easier to beat than first place. Although it's possible that some strong regions, regardless of whether they're first or second, could easily defeat the first-place teams from many weaker regions, such as Peking Yanda University and Tsinghua Beijing Division, this is a low-probability event. If you happen to be drawn that way, you can only blame your bad luck.

While preparing for the competition, Bai Xiaowen was also busy with her virtual store.

Once the buyer receives the goods and leaves feedback, they can accumulate credit points.

Due to the large transaction volume, the credit rating rose rapidly. The booming sales in the first two days after opening directly demonstrated their power after buyers received and left feedback on the fourth day. The credit rating of the "The More Knives, the More Victims" store rose to C3 in an instant, and then steadily increased every day. After three weeks, it had become C1-Tier Shop.

Bai Xiaowen is busy shipping orders every day, and seems to be extremely busy.

While Psionic Points point transactions can take place in Virtual Space, shipping requires going to the delivery point on the Virtual Battle Platform. Bai Xiaowen then had the idea of recruiting someone.

The best recruits are Awakened Ones, because it's far too unsafe for ordinary people to transport a batch of psionic items to the delivery points of the Virtual Battle Platform —it's like a child swaggering around with gold bars. Awakened Ones, on the other hand, can transport them in their personal Storage Space, so there's basically no need to worry about safety.

Because the Spirit Realm Rules discourage awakened beings from killing each other, the attacking party will have their battle rating drop by one level even if they kill other awakened beings. In addition, the loot draw mechanism only allows for a very limited number of draws.

Under these rules, when a fierce awakened individual chooses a target for murder and robbery, they will only target those with high-quality equipment and valuable items, and will not target someone transporting a large amount of low-level standard equipment and low-level food.

Recruiting an Awakened to help with deliveries isn't actually difficult—many Awakened with Standard Class are happy to do this kind of errand-running part-time job to earn some extra Psionic Points. It's much safer and the income is more stable than venturing into the Spirit Realm and Wilderness Zone.

However, Bai Xiaowen didn't want to recruit part-time Awakened Ones, but full-time ones who could not only help him ship goods, but also help him collect Psionic Points and manage the store.

No matter how much money the shop makes, Bai Xiaowen can't spend all his time on it and stay in the base city forever. Sooner or later, he will have to venture into the Wilderness Zone or Special Treasure Ground. Even if he doesn't go to those two places, he definitely has to go to the Spirit Realm.

The Spirit Realm will be gone for at least ten days. If the shop is closed for that long, the accumulated popularity will probably be completely lost.

Recruiting an Awakened One to manage a shop full-time is a bit difficult, but not impossible. Many middle-aged, low-level Standard Class Awakened Ones, whose strength has nearly stagnated, would be willing to accept such a job.

For example, the administrator Song Weihua encountered on the Virtual Battle Platform was one of these full-time awakened individuals who had been hired.

However, Bai Xiaowen couldn't find a suitable candidate for the time being. By "suitable candidate," I mean not only someone willing to apply, but preferably an Awakened One whom Bai Xiaowen knew and trusted.

Bai Xiaowen ran through the names in her mind.

The Super God Guild is unlikely to succeed. The Awakened Ones who are signed by the guild all have certain development potential and wouldn't be content to be just full-time salespeople. Although Li Beihai is the guild leader, he can't force a guild member to give up their future prospects.

Outside of the Super God Guild...

Chen Guowei's name popped up first. This guy is incredibly lazy, afraid of pain and death, and currently only makes progress thanks to Bai Xiaowen's encouragement. He doesn't seem like the type to go far on the path of an Awakened...

However, Chen Guowei is still young and in the prime of his life, with the potential to become Advanced Awakened. Bai Xiaowen shook her head, deciding to ask Chen Guowei for his thoughts later.

Suddenly, Bai Xiaowen thought of someone. He picked up his phone and dialed his agent's number, Sister Zheng.

"Hello? What brings you to call me, Master Bai? I'm truly flattered." Sister Zheng's voice came from the other end, her tone slightly teasing.

"...It's my fault, it's my fault," Bai Xiaowen first showed a good attitude of admitting her mistake. "You know, I opened a virtual store and have been dealing with shipping issues. Plus, I've been busy with competitions these past few weeks."

"Alright, stop making excuses... Just tell me, what do you need me, your manager, for? Did you sleep with a female celebrity, or did you get caught soliciting a prostitute?"

"Ugh, do you think I'm that kind of person?!"

After a round of laughter and banter, Bai Xiaowen got down to business. "Sister Zheng, my shop needs to hire an Awakened to help with store management and shipping, but I don't have an Awakened I know who meets the requirements... You've seen a lot of Awakened on the Shark Livestream Platform, do you have any reliable recommendations?"

"I knew you wouldn't contact me unless there was something wrong..."

Bai Xiaowen gave an awkward laugh, and even through the phone, she could almost see the slight upturn of Sister Zheng's lips.

"I know quite a few Awakened Ones, but now that I've left Shark, you know how it is when someone leaves and the tea cools down..." Sister Zheng pondered for a moment before saying, "There aren't many suitable candidates... What do you think of Zhang Bo?"

Bai Xiaowen smiled and said, "It would be great if he were willing to come." He had a good impression of Zhang Bo, and that was the main reason he called Sister Zheng.

"He should come. As one of my hand-signed protégés, he's not having a very comfortable time on the Shark Platform right now. His popularity has been declining, and he complains to me all the time. Unlike you, he doesn't have such strong resources... The platform doesn't give him resources, and his fans are dropping very quickly. The other day, I heard that his popularity was almost below E-Tier."

"That bad?"

"There's nothing we can do about it..." Sister Zheng sighed. "I'll ask him later and give you an answer tonight. By the way, how's it going with Shark?"

"How much better off can I be?" Bai Xiaowen laughed. "I rejected Fu Qiu's offer of amnesty, so we've made an enemy of each other. I'm lucky I haven't been blacklisted. Fortunately, I have a group of loyal fans who have been supporting me. My popularity has slipped a bit, but it's not a big problem."

"You... you wouldn't be at odds with Fu Qiu because of me, would you?" Sister Zheng suddenly became a little anxious. "Are you stupid? Don't you know how to be polite? What's wrong with saying a few nice words? In today's society, who doesn't have a few faces to live comfortably?"

"Sister Zheng, you forgot, I just started college, I'm still a naive young man, I haven't even started working in society yet, I have no experience."

"Stop talking nonsense. With your intelligence, you think you can't pretend? I don't believe you didn't pretend when you were in the Spirit Realm."

"Pretending in the Spirit Realm is called role-playing..." Bai Xiaowen laughed twice. "Back on Earth, there's no need to pretend like that. I just want to live a little more freely... To borrow a phrase, it's about 'seeking clarity of mind,' which leads to longevity."

"Sigh, put away your twisted logic. I won't try to persuade you anymore. With your resources, you certainly have the right to be willful. You have a match this weekend, right? I'll be there to watch, and we can have dinner together then."

After hanging up the phone, Li Shuyi rushed in.

"Xiao Wen, let's go back to the guild..." Li Shuyi's face showed excitement.

"Why are you in such a hurry? What good news is it?"

"It's eagles... those two baby Eaglet have opened their eyes!" Li Shuyi said happily.

In the Broken-Spine Mountain Grand Rift, besides harvesting the Dragonblood Tea Tree Treasure Leaf, Bai Xiaowen also took two Eaglet with him. Since the two were about to enter the Spirit Realm, they entrusted the Eaglet to Li Beihai and his wife for care.

Mutant birds of prey like the White Eagle will have a greatly increased appetite after opening their eyes, and will enter a rapid development phase, growing into Juvenile Eagle within one to two weeks.

The Juvenile Eagle White Eagle raised in captivity are the Standard Template, with a body length of about 20 to 30 centimeters, similar to an eagle from another dimension that has not undergone mutation. At this stage, they are obviously not rideable, and their keepers are reluctant to take them out to fight, mainly keeping them as ornamental pets.

The safest approach is to raise them for one to two years. When the White Eagle reach adulthood, their template will automatically upgrade to Elite Tier, and their size and wingspan will increase to the point where they can carry people. At this point, you can ride them and fly over the Wilderness Zone, but you cannot bring them into the Spirit Realm.

For captive-bred White Eagle, the Elite Template is usually the maximum.

Back at the guild headquarters, at Li Beihai's house, Bai Xiaowen finally saw the two Eaglet.

It was light yellow with a slightly hooked beak, yellow claws, and white fur, not much different from before. The only Transformation was that it opened its big, dark eyes, which were yellow on the outside and brown on the inside, like two concentric circles nested together.

The two Eaglet had just opened their eyes, but they weren't very affectionate towards Bai Xiaowen and Li Shuyi. Instead, they kept chirping at Li Beihai and his wife. Although they hadn't opened their eyes before, they could vaguely recognize their owners' scent.

Fortunately, when Bai Xiaowen and Li Shuyi tore open strips of mutated beast meat and fed them to the two little ones, they were probably very hungry, having just opened their eyes, and started eating without a second thought.

"The next two weeks are crucial for building a bond with the Eaglet. You need to keep them with you and feed them whenever you need to," Li Beihai instructed.

Li Ma stroked the downy feathers on the heads of the two Eaglet and said with a touch of reluctance, "Don't let too many strangers come into contact with them. We'll be there when you have your competition this weekend and will help look after them."

The two thanked them profusely.

Bai Xiaowen thought to herself, "Now I have another daily task: feeding the birds..."

That evening, Bai Xiaowen and her companion were invited to stay at home for dinner. During the meal, Sister Zheng called and said that Zhang Bo Zhang Bo agreed to help with the store's shipping work, but he wanted to do it part-time, even if the pay was less in Psionic Points.

Bai Xiaowen could understand Zhang Bo's thoughts. He was still young and a little unwilling to find a "retirement" job and make it his full-time job right now.

Bai Xiaowen understood and agreed with this. Since there was no suitable person at the moment, and Zhang Bo was someone that Sister Zheng and he trusted, they could fill in for now.

After dinner, Li Ma wanted Bai Xiaowen and his wife to stay at her house for the night, but Bai Xiaowen declined. It was Friday, and with a big battle imminent, he needed to rush back to train and practice tactics with his teammates.

"Your next match is against Jiangnan University, right?" Li Beihai said. "Play well, don't worry too much about the result, just do your best."

"What you're saying is a bit demoralizing, it's like you're Little Bai and the others are bound to lose," Li Ma said, displeased.

Li Beihai shook his head. "You don't understand, Jiangnan University is extremely strong. Old Yao once assessed that even with our guild's current main team, we'd lose more often than win against Jiangnan University's team..."

"Is it really that exaggerated? You're a B-League team."

"It's no exaggeration. The main reason is that Qi Ruifeng is too strong. He's already Hero Class, which is rare even among players in the B-League. He could be a starter in any strong B-League team! And our guild, those good-for-nothing brats, are at the bottom of the B-League..." Li Beihai shook his head. Even though they are both teams in the B-League, the difference between a strong team and a bottom-ranked weakling is still very large.

Li Ma said angrily, "I think you're just putting more pressure on Little Bai and his brother."

Bai Xiaowen smiled and shook her head.

After returning to school with the Eaglet, the two went straight to the University Team's training base. The other University Team members were curious about the two extra birds on Bai Xiaowen and Li Shuyi's shoulders, but after Bai Xiaowen explained, they all consciously refrained from teasing the Eaglet and listened attentively to Bai Xiaowen's tactical explanation.

With four qualifying matches completed, Yan Xiaoxin has gathered information on the five key players from Jiangnan University, along with complete video recordings of each match.

"The Jiangnan University team, besides Qi Ruifeng, the battle mage, consists of Tai Chi swordsman Li Sheng, champion knight Xiao Jinfeng, archer Qi Hong, and support priest Yin Jingyun. Has everyone watched the qualifying match recordings?"

Everyone said they had seen it.

"Share your thoughts."

Feng Zi'ang was the first to speak, "It feels like Qi Ruifeng hasn't been able to perform to his full potential in these four matches."

"I feel the same way."

" At Jiangnan University, Qi Ruifeng is undoubtedly the strongest. However, his four teammates have excellent teamwork and are very strong, making them equally formidable."

After listening to everyone's remarks, Bai Xiaowen began her summary:

"Their opponent is quite strong. Tomorrow, we'll definitely ban Conquest Mode in the solo SOLO Mode, something we believe they've already guessed. My guess is they'll ban one of Crystal Destruction Mode or Boss Challenge Mode..."

"Why?" Chen Guowei was itching for a beating again...