A Slap from the Sky

"The Young Prodigy Rankings... I haven't checked this list in a long time. Let me see what the current minimum points requirement is."

Meng Xinghe took out his phone, opened the "Federation Overall Rankings" app, selected the Young Prodigy Rankings from among the many lists, and tapped to view it.

"Fifth rank? It's actually this chaotic rank. The competition is pretty fierce."

Among the ten major ranks of the Ladder Tournament, the fifth and sixth ranks were especially unique.

That was because this era had something called Battle Armor. Once a Soul Master's physical attributes reached level fifty, they qualified to become a One-Word Battle Armor Master.

A One-Word Battle Armor Master with the cultivation of a Soul King was equivalent to a Soul Saint without a Martial Soul Avatar.

But there was a problem. Battle Armor Masters were ultimately a minority. Ordinary Soul Masters, let alone Soul Kings, rarely possessed One-Word Battle Armor even if they were Soul Emperors.

This led to a particular situation:

Under normal circumstances, the fifth rank was the battlefield of Soul Kings, while the sixth rank was the battlefield of Soul Emperors.

However, the existence of Battle Armor shattered that balance.

Soul Masters without Battle Armor in the fifth and sixth ranks would not only be crushed by those with Battle Armor, but could also be defeated across ranks by genius Soul Masters whose Soul Power cultivation was lower than theirs.

As a result, Soul King-level Soul Masters might have the bad luck to be matched against Battle Armor Masters several times in a row, causing their points to fall below the threshold and their rank to drop from fifth to fourth.

The same applied to Soul Emperor-level Soul Masters. With bad luck, they could fall from sixth rank to fifth. If their luck was even worse, dropping to fourth rank was not impossible.

Moreover, since the fifth and sixth ranks represented the battlegrounds of Soul Kings and Soul Emperors, people of every age could be encountered here—from teenagers in their early teens to elderly people over eighty. It truly was a gathering of elites and a chaotic mix of monsters.

Meng Xinghe entered the Star Dou Pod and lay down, relaxing his mind as his consciousness seemed to drift into sleep.

When he opened his eyes again, he found himself in an empty, unfamiliar room.

The room was not large, only about the size of a high school dormitory from his previous life. There was no decoration at all; it was just an unfinished room.

"Hello, welcome to the Star Dou Battle Network. I am your exclusive artificial intelligence, number 3547********4552."

"You may give me a name and alter my appearance."

Ripples spread through the air in the room, and a round sphere emitting blue light appeared out of thin air.

That appearance reminded Meng Xinghe of something from the cartoons he had watched as a child in his previous life—a magical intelligence orb.

"A name..." Meng Xinghe rested his chin on his hand and thought for a moment. "I'll call you Panda."

"As for your appearance, replicate this exactly."

As he spoke, invisible Soul Power transformed into a visible black-and-white vortex, gradually forming a round, adorable creature covered in only two colors: black and white.

It had the sturdy, majestic body of a bear and the cute, gentle looks of a cat.

That was right—it was the universally beloved giant panda!

The glowing sphere of artificial intelligence rippled like a sound wave. In the blink of an eye, it changed from a "magical intelligence orb" into a charmingly clumsy giant panda.

"Appearance modification complete. Name assigned. Your exclusive artificial intelligence, Panda, is at your service."

Panda rolled about on the floor, rolling like a ball to his feet. Even its voice changed from the previous cold mechanical tone into an adorable childlike voice.

Looking at the giant panda's face, the very embodiment of "cute is justice," Meng Xinghe felt his mood brighten considerably.

Afterward, under Panda's guidance, Meng Xinghe completed real-name verification and identity binding. He then chose an ID for himself: "Above the Galaxy."

This bare initial room was also decorated into a warm home under his own adjustments.

Though it was not large, it was a private little space belonging to him alone.

As his Ladder Tournament rank rose, the area of this space would grow larger, and the types of items available for decorating his home would gradually increase as well.

"Panda, I want to participate in the Ladder Tournament. Match me with an opponent."

"Understood. Your request has been detected. Since this is your first time participating in the Ladder Tournament, your initial rank is first rank, your initial points are 0, and your IP login address is Eastsea City. An opponent is being matched for you. Please wait patiently..."

The matching range for the Star Network Ladder Ranking Tournament covered the entire Douluo Federation, and its matching principle was proximity-based matchmaking.

Based on a participant's IP login address, the system would prioritize matching Soul Masters of the same rank from the same region. If no suitable Soul Master could be found in that region, it would continue expanding the matching range until it covered the entire Federation.

Meng Xinghe was currently a Soul Master. If no other first-rank Soul Masters in Eastsea City were matched within one minute, the matching range would expand to the entire Skysea Alliance.

About two or three seconds later, the system displayed that the match had been found.

Star Network Ladder Ranking Tournament, first-rank match: Above the Galaxy (0) VS I'm the Best (3)

After one second of buffering, a flash of white light appeared, and Meng Xinghe vanished from the room as the system teleported him onto a spacious competition stage.

Meng Xinghe did not look around. His gaze immediately landed on his opponent.

"I'm the Best" was a boy who looked about six years old. He had short brown hair, fair skin, a high nose bridge, and a pair of dark green eyes that resembled those of a ghost.

At that moment, he looked at Meng Xinghe standing across the stage from him, confusion filling his ghostlike dark green eyes. "What's going on? Why did the system match me with a painted statue?"

Boom!

A massive slap descended from the sky. With a thunderous boom, a palm-shaped crater was smashed into the competition stage.

At the center of the crater, the boy with the ID "I'm the Best" turned into a stream of data light and disappeared into the air.

"You really know how to talk. Don't talk again next time, Xie Xie."

Meng Xinghe flexed his wrist and looked up at the match result displayed in the sky.

Star Network Ladder Ranking Tournament, first-rank match. Winner: Above the Galaxy (0+1); Loser: I'm the Best (3-3)

Three seconds later, Meng Xinghe returned to his home on the Star Network.

He recognized who "I'm the Best" was at a glance.

Around six years old, brown hair, dark green eyes, and an IP address in Eastsea City...

With all that information combined, it was already obvious. If "I'm the Best" was not Xie Xie, then who else could it be?

Before the match began, he had 0 points, while Xie Xie had 3 points.

Three points meant that Xie Xie had participated in at least three Ladder Tournament matches and had won at least three of them.

At this stage, Xie Xie's Soul Power was only a little above level ten. With the mentality of a six-year-old and almost no combat experience, if his opponent's Soul Power was above level fifteen, his chances of winning would be extremely slim.

Looking at it that way, Xie Xie had been quite lucky to earn 3 points before encountering him.

And since Xie Xie only had 3 points while he had 0, the point rules of the Star Network Ladder Ranking Tournament produced the following result:

He defeated Xie Xie, gaining 1 point for a total of 1.

Xie Xie lost to him, losing 3 points for a total of 0.