Chapter 1 The Canyon in the Virtual World

Six days later, in the canyon of the virtual world.

Covered in mud, Xu Jingming lay exhausted on the mountain path, struggling to breathe. Bloodstains marked his body. He tapped his personal panel, restoring his body to its peak condition. Only then did he stand up with renewed vigor, picking up his battered shields. With another tap, his clothes became clean, and the dents and scratches on his shields vanished, making them look brand new.

"It's really difficult. Are opponents with a base combat strength of 800 this hard to withstand, even when ganged up on?" Xu Jingming held the shields in both hands. "Let's go again!"

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

A dense mass of figures appeared in the canyon.

A hundred fierce bandits, each wielding a spear, a large axe, or a heavy hammer. Among these weapons, the axes and hammers were for high-impact damage, while the spears were faster and more troublesome.

"Kill!"

The hundred fierce bandits, each with a base combat strength of 800, swarmed from all directions.

Even though these virtual bandits didn't have high combat intelligence, they didn't need much. Just this kind of encirclement made it difficult for Xu Jingming to withstand.

"Swoosh." Xu Jingming moved immediately. He couldn't stand stupidly in place. He had to rely on his footwork as much as possible to create a favorable environment.

But a hundred people were surrounding him! No matter how much he dodged, more than a dozen bandits quickly reached him.

"Bang."

Xu Jingming held a shield in each hand. His shield techniques were extremely skillful, like two spiderwebs that deflected attacks and even used the force to make the bandits stumble.

His footwork was also nimble, allowing him to move through the bandits and minimize the number of attackers he faced at any one time.

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!" As Xu Jingming blocked three large axes and two heavy hammers simultaneously, three spears pierced from the rear opening. The sound of the spears tearing through the air made Xu Jingming's scalp tingle.

Instinctively, Xu Jingming dodged, narrowly avoiding the three spears.

"Kill!"

"Kill him!"

The bandits were frenzied. Xu Jingming had to face a pile of axes, hammers, and spears at almost every moment, so he was a bit disheveled. He could only dodge left and right, trying to use the force against the attackers.

"According to what Master said, integrate your mind and will into every part of your body, sense every part, and be in complete control," Xu Jingming thought. "Compared to Master, my footwork is so clumsy. My shield techniques aren't fast enough, and my ability to deflect and redirect force isn't perfect. Clearly, my control over my body isn't good enough."

"I need to be faster, more agile."

"The movement of my shields needs to be faster too!" Xu Jingming tried to mobilize his body, imagining it like water, his mind sensing every part, and striving to mobilize every ounce of strength.

"Poof."

A spear pierced Xu Jingming's shoulder from the side. His right arm went limp, and the shield he was holding failed to resist. The hammers and axes struck the shield and Xu Jingming's body, causing him to fall. He didn't struggle anymore.

Because all the surrounding bandits had disappeared. According to the settings, the bandits would dissipate as soon as they hit him.

"Failed again."

Xu Jingming lay in the mud, recalling the earlier exchanges and pondering his shield techniques.

After lying there for a long time, Xu Jingming finally tapped his personal combat strength panel.

Player: Xu Jingming

Gene Evolution Method: *Tian Mang* Evolution Method (Mid-stage 75%) (Practice time: 721 days, cannot be improved)

Body: 127

Skills: Spear Technique (Second Order 88%), Footwork (Second Order 62%), Shield Technique (Second Order 83%)

Base Combat Strength: 1651

Actual Combat Bonus: 23%

Combat Strength: 2030

"It's been seven days since the virtual world opened, but my evolution method still hasn't reached the high stage, and the progress of my shield and spear techniques is relatively slow. But my footwork is improving faster," Xu Jingming thought. "Maybe it's because my footwork was originally weaker."

He had broken his leg at the age of 20. The long-term leg injury made it impossible to practice many footwork techniques.

Now, the high-intensity training in the virtual world training ground, surrounded by a hundred bandits, was greatly promoting his footwork. Even an ordinary person with no foundation would improve greatly after being surrounded and attacked by a hundred people hundreds or thousands of times.

"Almost seven o'clock? Time for dinner." Xu Jingming noticed the time while checking his personal panel and immediately tapped lightly to exit the virtual world game.

******

After dinner, in the living room.

Xu Jingming and Li Miaomiao sat on the sofa, eating fruit and watching a program on the light screen.

"You, a dignified God-level expert, can spend up to sixteen hours a day in the virtual world, while I can only spend ten hours at most," Li Miaomiao mumbled as she ate a grape. "You have to spend more time with me. Don't always immerse yourself in the virtual world."

"Aren't I spending time with you now?" Xu Jingming said with a smile. "And I believe that with your talent, Miaomiao, you will definitely reach the Yao Ri level soon. That way, you can spend twelve hours online in the virtual world."

"Yao Ri level? Too difficult."

Li Miaomiao said helplessly, "I practice my footwork and sword techniques so hard every day. But since I reached the Silver Moon level with 20 stars, I win one match and lose two! It's too hard for me!"

"The Silver Moon level is full at 30 stars. It's still pretty fast," Xu Jingming said. "And your base combat strength hasn't reached the threshold for the Yao Ri level yet. Don't be too anxious. I'll teach you for half an hour every day. I believe your base combat strength will definitely reach four hundred within a month."

"Within a month?" Li Miaomiao made a bitter face.

"If you work harder, it might only take half a month," Xu Jingming said with a smile. "Improving practical combat skills in the virtual world is still very fast in the early stages."

At his level, progress had become very slow.

"By the way, today, Lei Yunfang finally participated in the God-level battle," Li Miaomiao said. "This battle was very sudden, and the officials didn't have time to broadcast it live. But the video came out later. Have you seen it?"

"No," Xu Jingming shook his head and smiled. "I was planning to watch it with you after I got off."

"Tch."

Li Miaomiao pouted and manipulated the light screen. The program being played on the light screen changed to a battle video.

"Of the three legendary experts in the Xia country's martial arts world, Tie Lanyun was the first to take action on the first day the virtual world opened, Liu Hai took action on the third day, and Lei Yunfang actually waited until the seventh day," Li Miaomiao exclaimed. At this moment in the video, the ten combatants were choosing their weapons and equipment. Seeing Lei Yunfang, the other nine seemed shocked.

"Senior Lei Yunfang is actually only fifty-six years old this year, much younger than my master. But he participated in the third World Martial Arts Competition. He's a senior figure in our martial arts circle, and because he was at his physical peak when he participated in the competition, he displayed even greater strength than my master," Xu Jingming said. "He is also recognized by the world martial arts community as the strongest in the Xia country."

Master Liu Hai was, after all, old.

Senior Lei Yunfang was active on the world stage from his late twenties to his thirties, displaying much greater strength.

Li Miaomiao nodded. "I know. Senior Lei Yunfang is one of the Three Kings in the world martial arts circle."

"That's right."

Xu Jingming nodded. "For nearly thirty years, the three most dazzling contestants in the World Martial Arts Competition—Lei Yunfang from our Xia country, Kui Sheng Mills from the White Eagle Federation, and Alan Emelianenko from the Raksha country—have also been called the Three Kings of the martial arts world. As long as they participate in the World Martial Arts Competition, they can easily crush other opponents. There's a saying in the martial arts world... only a King can defeat a King!"

"For example, Lei Yunfang and Kui Sheng Mills have each won and lost against each other!"

"Kui Sheng Mills and Alan have also won and lost against each other!"

"No one else has ever defeated the Three Kings."

Xu Jingming said with emotion, "When the Three Kings were at their peak, they could easily crush other opponents, with a visible gap in strength. This is something other contestants find very difficult to do."

As he spoke, Xu Jingming also watched the battle on the light screen. The map for this battle was 'Snowfield.'

In the vast snowfield.

Lei Yunfang's face was stern, with a scar on his face. Dressed in cloth, with two sabers on his back, he walked through the snow with ghostly steps.

"Swoosh."

An arrow shot out, but it only hit the afterimage of Lei Yunfang's movement.

"Of the Three Kings, Lei Yunfang has the strongest footwork. He's the most terrifying in the entire world martial arts circle," Xu Jingming observed carefully. Lei Yunfang was walking in the snow when he suddenly spotted an enemy in the distance. His speed suddenly erupted, turning into a blur as he chased after them.

The enemy couldn't escape at all, and three immediately gathered together to face Lei Yunfang, while a sharpshooter secretly released an arrow!

"Under normal circumstances, he should chase the sharpshooter first," Li Miaomiao exclaimed. "Senior Lei Yunfang directly attacked the three gathered opponents, completely ignoring the sharpshooter in the dark."

"Too confident," Xu Jingming said with emotion. The figure of Lei Yun who had transformed into an afterimage quickly charged in front of the three God-level experts. He only took a few steps to walk between the enemies as the light of his sabers flashed.

The three God-level experts all fell.

Whether it was a saber to the throat or armor grazed on the chest, all were fatal wounds.

"Killing God-levels is like chopping melons and vegetables," Li Miaomiao said. "Jingming, how do you compare to him?"