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Chapter 65: End of the First Round
Xu Jingming was a little impressed. Team Thousand Sails doesn’t have sharpshooters, but they are all well-trained with concealed weapons. Although Xu Jingming held two shields, he didn’t use them to block. Instead, he used his movement technique and quickly took a step forward, allowing two flying axes to flash past his side.
My greatest flaw now is my footwork. If my footwork reaches Lv. 3, my strength can reach a whole new level. Perhaps I’ll be qualified to fight Master and Senior Lei Yunfang. Xu Jingming was very clear-headed. Senior Lei Yunfang’s movement technique was already terrifying when he first revealed his strength in the virtual world, much less now when his skills had reached a whole new level of perfection.
People believed that Senior Lei Yunfang was the world’s number one when it came to movement techniques, and his master, Liu Hai, was the world’s number one in strength!
Without his movement technique reaching Lv. 3, he would be nothing more than a still target in front of Senior Lei Yunfang.
After my shield technique broke through, my control over my body’s strength has increased. For example, Eight Extremities Tiger Pounce allows me to reach 50 meters per second in just two steps. The force exerted by my legs is already very high, and I can dodge quickly with footwork. The key now is to grasp the balance of my body. Xu Jingming knew this very well.
Combat techniques were interlinked. The more techniques at Lv. 3, the easier it was for the remaining technique to reach Lv. 3.
For example, the force exerted by spearmanship was similar to shield techniques.
The force exerted by Eight Extremities Tiger Pounce was also similar to footwork; it was just that using Tiger Pounce meant charging forward with full force. Dodging with footwork… was to move in all directions; it was more complicated.
Bam! Bam!
Liu Chongyuan held a huge shield in one hand and used it to block the flying ax.
Yang Qingshuo held a spear, and Heng Fang held a lance. They used their movement techniques to dodge the flying axes that rained down on them almost simultaneously; they even used their spear and lance to block the flying axes.
Just as they blocked a flying ax in harrowing fashion, the five members of Team Thousand Sails arrived in front of them.
“Die!” Hao Fan roared and lunged forward with his two sabers.
“Die!” Of the four people behind him, all of them held dual sabers apart from one holding dual shields. They didn’t fear death and charged at Xu Jingming and the others.
…
Not far away, Wang Yi watched this scene and frowned. The five members of Team Thousand Sails are wearing light armor, and they are now entangled with Captain and the others. At close range, they will keep moving, and by the time my arrow reaches them, they will definitely be in another location. Knowing of my existence, they will definitely be very careful and won’t give me a chance easily.
What a rash team, Wang Yi thought and quickly approached.
As long as I’m close enough, their bodies won’t be able to move much after I fire an arrow. Wang Yi’s killing intent was biting cold.
“The Sharpshooter is approaching. We have to fight with our lives on the line! Otherwise, we won’t stand a chance!” Hao Fan ordered through the team chat.
“Yes, Master.”
“Yes, Brother.”
“Yes, Captain!”
The team members became even more frenzied.
Other than Xu Jingming deliberately honing his movement technique with his two shields with him focusing on dodging and occasionally blocking with his shield, Heng Fang, Yang Qingshuo, and Liu Chongyuan found it extremely difficult and dangerous.
Xu Jingming watched this scene calmly—his teammates needed sufficient pressure!
Pfft. Pfft.
Yang Qingshuo and Hao Fan left wounds on their opponents at the same time—Yang Qingshuo stabbed through Hao Fan’s left arm, and Hao Fan cleaved at Yang Qingshuo’s chest. However, Yang Qingshuo’s body blocked the force, and his strike didn’t connect fully.
All he did was split open a gash. Blood seeped out, but it wasn’t fatal.
“Pfft.”
A saber stabbed into Heng Fang’s chest, and Heng Fang’s lance also killed a member of Team Thousand Sails. He looked at the young man who had stabbed through his chest in surprise—Hao Qianyun.
“Nice saber technique,” Heng Fang praised. He was very confident in his lance techniques. He took the initiative to fight one against two and killed one opponent, but Hao Qianyun’s saber technique was unexpectedly ruthless.
Amidst his praise, Heng Fang and the Team Thousand Sails member turned ethereal and disappeared.
Swish! Swish! Swish!
Wang Yi was already close. She shot her arrows at the Thousand Sails Team members at close range.
All the members of Team Thousand Sails were fighting Xu Jingming and the others at close range, and it was difficult for them to immediately escape their opponents’ melee entanglement. At a distance of 30 meters… With every arrow moving at supersonic speeds, three members of Team Thousand Sails collapsed almost instantaneously, including the seriously injured captain, Hao Fan!
At this moment, only Hao Qianyun was all that was left of Team Thousand Sails.
The arrows now only targeted Hao Qianyun.
Bam! Bam! Bam!
Hao Qianyun used his two sabers, and like layers of clouds, he blocked the arrows that Wang Yi shot at him in succession.
“Do any of you dare to fight me one-on-one?” Hao Qianyun, a gentle youth, had a somewhat ferocious expression. “Sharpshooter, do you dare fight me one-on-one?”
“Let me fight him one-on-one!” Wang Yi shouted, her eyes filled with fighting spirit.
Liu Chongyuan, Yang Qingshuo, and Xu Jingming temporarily retreated. They also thought highly of Hao Qianyun, the last member of Team Thousand Sails. At the same time, they also respected their teammate.
“Die!” Hao Qianyun’s eyes turned faintly red as he pounced at Wang Yi. As he did so, his footwork changed.
Wang Yi stood still and didn’t move; she only drew her bow and shot.
Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish!
She shot out her arrows as quickly as she could and strafed them at high speeds! At such a short distance, Wang Yi shot out six consecutive arrows! Although she had a little help from the uniqueness of the bow and arrows, the most important thing was Wang Yi’s terrifying archery skills.
Hao Qianyun relied on his movement technique and dual sabers that were good at defense to close in on Wang Yi until he was ten meters away. At that close distance, he failed to block the final sixth arrow.
Whoosh.
But as he came close, Hao Qianyun threw out his two sabers.
Pu!
The arrow penetrated the spot between Hao Qianyun’s brows, causing his body to turn ethereal.
The two sabers arrived in front of Wang Yi very quickly, and she dodged in horror as a saber sliced across her shoulder, producing a gash. Blood dyed the robe over her soft armor red.
Even though she was injured, Wang Yi’s eyes remained calm—extremely calm. She looked at Xu Jingming and the others.
The four members of the team also turned ethereal and left the battlefield—Team Pearwood won!
“Team Thousand Sails is ferocious; everyone practiced concealed weapons.” The audience was bursting with excitement in China’s official livestream as the male guest praised, “Especially this Hao Qianyun. His saber technique’s defense is very exquisite, and his attacks are ruthless! Heng Fang never expected that the snake-like strike would stab through his chest. Although Team Thousand Sails was wiped out, they managed to kill one member of Team Pearwood.”
“The one-on-one battle between Hao Qianyun and Wang Yi at the end was thrilling. If the weapons Hao Qianyun had thrown out weren’t the heavier dual sabers but faster and sharper axes, he might’ve killed Wang Yi,” the female guest praised.
“Sister Ju, Hao Qianyun has no choice. Wang Yi’s bow and arrows are too dangerous in melee combat; he has to use his two sabers to block the arrows. In the final moment, he only had his two sabers to throw. He didn’t have the time to take out his axes!” the male guest said.
The female guest nodded. “Wang Yi is also very impressive. She fought Hao Qianyun one-on-one and didn’t show any changes in her expression even when she was injured. She’s very calm.”
“Wang Yi became the Olympic archery champion for three years because of her calmness—it’s a calmness that throws her opponents in despair,” Liu Xin said. “With the virtual world’s launch and human evolution, Wang Yi’s archery skills are much better than back then. It’s just that there’s still a gap between her and Zhou Yi… I’m looking forward to seeing Wang Yi reach Zhou Yi’s level.”
“It’s only a matter of time,” the female guest said with a smile. “The strength of the experts will gradually improve. Wang Yi will reach Zhou Yi’s level sooner or later.”
“When that happens, Zhou Yi might become even stronger,” the male guest said with a smile.
…
Xu Jingming and the others appeared in the stands.
“Sorry for my showing,” Heng Fang said in shame. “I was the only one in our team who died in battle.”
“This is also a form of training,” Xu Jingming said. “To die in battle means that the pressure was high enough.”
Wang Yi nodded and said, “That Hao Qianyun is quite impressive. He should’ve reached the limit of Lv. 2 in all aspects, and his saber techniques are very agile.”
Heng Fang agreed. “His defense is watertight, and he strikes like a venomous snake without any warning. Moreover, he seems to be younger than us.”
“How’s our team’s combat strength? It won’t be ranked 15th to 16th, right?” Yang Qingshuo asked.
“The four of you did your best,” Xu Jingming said with a smile. “I also fought a member of the other party. Although I mainly dodged and occasionally counter-attacked, I still had the advantage… In the system’s evaluation, I should be slightly stronger than that member of the other team. Coupled with the combat strength the four of you unleashed… Our combat strength ranking should be quite good; it shouldn’t be at the bottom.”
“We were really going all out,” Yang Qingshuo said.
“Yeah.” Wang Yi nodded as well. Hao Qianyun posed a serious threat to her in the end, so she had to give it her all.
Xu Jingming and the others also walked to where their relatives and friends were gathered.
“My five teammates, you’ve worked hard.” Li Miaomiao smiled as she greeted them. “As a substitute member, it feels good to win without doing anything.”
“You and Captain had the easiest time in this match,” Heng Fang teased.
“It’s strength that makes it easy!” Li Miaomiao hugged Xu Jingming’s arm and said smugly.
“Daddy!” Three girls ran to Liu Chongyuan.
“Dad, you’re amazing!” A boy ran to Yang Qingshuo.
“Mom, you’re so cool!” A girl hugged Wang Yi.
Heng Fang cowered his head behind his palm. “All of you have children; I’m so envious.”
Xu Jingming and Li Miaomiao looked at each other. At this moment, they felt like having a child as well.
In the relaxing, entertaining atmosphere, Xu Jingming and his relatives and friends watched the next few matches.
At 8 a.m., the first round of the Firestarter Cup National Tournament’s main competition came to an end. Sixteen teams were selected.