The streamer is on the other side?

The one who sent this message was naturally Tang Xing, that Blond Kid. Always keen on showing off in front of others, he was incredibly diligent when it came to broadcasting such play-by-play updates.

Almost the instant he saw the news about Xu Ziming, he had fired off the message.

"Coincidentally, I happened to run into that monster while it was injured. Otherwise, how could I have possibly defeated an alien that had undergone Life Evolution?"

"That's true, I'm so envious. I wish I had been the one on the scene."

If you had been the one fighting, you'd already be dead, Xu Ziming thought, wanting to reply with a laugh.

"So, you've actually seen an alien?"

Shen Xingyue, who had been lurking in the group chat, asked curiously. Her tone made it clear she was extremely intrigued by the aliens.

"Yeah, a Flame Spirit Clan member. It looked just like a Demon from cartoons, with fire erupting all over its body."

Once this was said, the group chat gradually fell silent.

Xu Ziming had already walked for a while, and standing before him now was the Nebula Martial Hall. This martial hall was built in the most prime location in the center of Pengcheng City.

As an S-rank contracted member of the Nebula Martial Hall, he didn't need to find any staff to select a room and head inside to cultivate.

He glanced at his account; the 10 million Blue Star Coin promised by the martial hall hadn't been deposited yet, and he wasn't particularly in the mood to cultivate anyway.

Thus, he logged back into the Battle Net.

[Respected Battle Net user, welcome back to the Peak of Martial Way]

The familiar voice brushed past his ears once more, and the slightly battle-worn arena came into view.

[Ranking system updated: adopting a star-promotion system to replace ranking points. Win to gain a star, lose to lose a star.]

As he clicked on the ranking system, a notification popped up in his field of vision, displaying the updates to the Battle Net ranking system.

"Adopting a star-promotion system? Fair enough. Even I couldn't keep track of my rank under the old points system."

In truth, the Battle Net modes weren't limited to just rankings; there were also alien combat simulations and hundred-player battle royale survival modes.

However, he still wanted to continue with the rankings today.

He clicked the [Match] button, and as the match-found prompt chimed, he entered the combat interface.

Once you hit the Silver tier, it was possible to be matched against the monsters on the leaderboard, so Xu Ziming took this first match quite seriously.

The scene shifted rapidly, eventually settling into the familiar ancient battlefield style; it seemed this was the default background for all ranked matches on the Battle Net.

Immediately after, a figure appeared before him—a young girl with a rather sweet appearance. Most importantly, Xu Ziming felt he had some impression of her.

"Seems like a streamer?"

Just like in the old calendar era, high school students nowadays would often livestream, converting traffic into resources for their own cultivation.

The girl before him had a header floating above her head: "Found out my ex-boyfriend was cheating, desperately clicked on the 'model' and it turned out to be the mistress."

"What kind of thunderous name is that?"

At the same time, the girl's livestream room was boiling over.

"Mengmeng is finally streaming! The name is as thunderous as ever today."

"I wonder what the guy on the other side will react like when he sees our Mengmeng."

"Look at the opponent's ID. It seems to be that Third High School student who just made the leaderboard."

"What a pity, meeting Mengmeng in his debut match after hitting the leaderboard?"

Xu Ziming couldn't see the barrage of comments; he only saw the girl opposite him smile the moment she saw him.

He remembered now—the person opposite him was Wu Mengmeng from Pengcheng No. 1 High School, someone who had once competed in the Pengcheng High School Martial Arts Tournament!

Only upon seeing that smile did it click in Xu Ziming's mind why she looked so familiar.

Thinking of this, he immediately drew Jinghong from behind his back, his expression turning serious as he watched the girl.

While he stood there holding his sword, Wu Mengmeng moved.

Her body was wreathed in purple lightning, and a long spear appeared out of thin air in her hand. She then charged toward Xu Ziming like a bolt of lightning.

The opponent's Life Energy Level was 4.2, and her explosive speed was extremely fast, but it wasn't fast enough for Xu Ziming, whose true strength was approaching that of a martial artist.

1.8 seconds—that was the time it took for Wu Mengmeng to reach Xu Ziming. Although it was incredibly fast, it was still blocked by Xu Ziming's hand.

Yes, his hand. His right hand held the sword, while his left hand directly clamped onto the wrist Wu Mengmeng had used to attack.

"Too slow." Xu Ziming's eyes held a hint of indifference; beyond that, there was absolutely no other emotion.

"Let go of our Mengmeng's hand!"

"How did he do that? You have to know that Mengmeng is someone who has competed in the Pengcheng High School Martial Arts League, while this Little Ming Who Can't Use a Sword was someone we'd never even heard of before."

The voices in the livestream room instantly erupted; the traffic, which had been a few thousand, suddenly surged past ten thousand.

At this moment, Xu Ziming grinned, because after dozens of seconds of grappling, Wu Mengmeng's strength had failed to overcome his own.

She was completely unable to move within his grip.

Feeling herself being firmly locked down by Xu Ziming, Wu Mengmeng immediately resorted to her usual tactic: acting spoiled.

From Xu Ziming's perspective, a faint blush suddenly appeared on the girl's face, followed by a dazed, adorable expression.

Just when everyone thought Xu Ziming would show mercy, his right hand moved, and a single sword thrust pierced through Wu Mengmeng's chest.

"What! He actually killed Wu Mengmeng just like that?!"

"66666"

A flurry of comments drifted across the screen, almost all of them expressing sheer shock.

At this moment, Xu Ziming's heart was churning with turbulent waves. I was almost bewitched, he thought. No, I absolutely cannot lose this Ranked Match!

[Ranked Match Victory: Star count increased by one]
[Current Rank: Silver IV, One Star]
[Please continue to work hard]

The Battle Net system continued its broadcast, and Xu Ziming sighed helplessly before preparing to queue for another match.

After waiting for three seconds, the match was finally found.

This time, Xu Ziming steeled himself once more, wiping away the lingering fluctuations in his mind. Playing ranked wasn't just about climbing the ladder; more importantly, it was about improving his practical combat ability.

The scene began to shift, but instead of a battlefield, it was a mountain forest with a rather artistic atmosphere.

The figure on the opposite side gradually emerged. This time it was a male, his face obscured by a hood, though his build was quite slender.

His ID was Guest Among Pines, an extremely elegant name.

As soon as they met, neither side made a sound. Xu Ziming struck first; almost the moment he saw his enemy, he lunged forward.

However, in the middle of his dash, he heard a faint, blurred melody, as if it were trying to disrupt his focus.

He practices musical martial arts, the knowledge flashed through his mind instantly.

But he had already drifted right in front of the hooded man.

Since he was already there, he would strike first!

Jinghong danced according to his will, like a butterfly gliding through the air—light and airy, yet carrying immense force.

Did I hit him? In Xu Ziming's vision, his sword had already pierced through the hooded man's body.

No, that's not right. There's no sensation of impact.