Chapter 62 The Group Stage

June 22nd, 7:50 AM.

Edo City, the hotel where the national team contestants are staying. People are taking their seats in the small auditorium on the first floor of the hotel.

Only 21 contestants remain in the individual competition, all elites among elites. Having made it this far, their skill is beyond doubt.

If the top eight in the team competition can be considered the "final circle," then the top 21 in the individual competition is certainly worthy of that title.

21 contestants, 14 countries.

Among these 14 countries, eight are European.

This also shows where the world's top players are concentrated.

Of course, China has a full 3 contestants in the top 21, making them the undisputed "leader" in terms of the number of contestants.

And this is the result after Xie Yan and Yu Jin's internal battle.

Yu Jin, who was kept outside the top 21, won consecutive battles in the past four days, like a hot knife through butter. His final global ranking was 22nd, a very good result.

The dense schedule over four days, Yu Jin's explosive performance, and the honor he brought to the country and his alma mater have changed the domestic perception of him to some extent.

Today, everyone from the national team is here, not one missing, anxiously waiting for the draw results on the big screen.

Jiang Xiao no longer has his usual arrogant attitude.

People are always like this. Fearless because of ignorance.

After Jiang Xiao dug up the backgrounds of the other 20 contestants and studied them one by one, he discovered that there were many tricky people among them.

After all, those who can stay until now are truly not weak.

However, Jiang Xiao also has a certain amount of confidence. He didn't get here by luck. He fought his way into the top 21 with real swords and guns.

Every step of the way has been full of obstacles!

Especially the previous battle with George Star, which indeed allowed Jiang Xiao to see what the World Cup should really look like.

According to the current domestic evaluation of Jiang Xiao's series of matches: Jiang Xiao's road to the World Cup is so valuable that it's despairing.

Worldwide, pick any contestant at random and have them fight through Jiang Xiao's opponents. Winning is another matter, but whether they can survive is up to fate.

Until now, the vast majority of people no longer have any doubts about Jiang Xiao's strength.

They are all praising Jiang Xiao as a rare genius. The small number of star slots has precisely created Jiang Xiao's hardworking character.

"If star techniques aren't enough, make up for it with skill." Jiang Xiao's words in an interview have indeed been regarded as a classic, and his swordsmanship, after one test after another, has been recognized by the officials and the general public.

Of course, there has long been a theory among the people that Jiang Xiao is a true genius. Although the number of star slots is small, having several one-star double-techniques obviously compensates for some of the loss in the number of star slots.

The key is that the extremely difficult-to-absorb Silence and Space-Time Gap have also been acquired by Jiang Xiao, which shows that Jiang Xiao's Big Dipper star chart is indeed a top-quality auxiliary star chart, with a very high degree of compatibility with auxiliary star techniques.

Of course, if you calculate it carefully, it doesn't seem to make up for much... The total number of all star techniques is only 12.

These 12 publicly known star techniques include 1 Blessing, 2 Azure Glow, 3 Endurance, 4 Bell, 5 Impression, 6 Yearning, 7 Dawn, 8 Light Against the Current, 9 Silence, 10 Space-Time Gap, 11 Pure Tear, and 12 Tear of Injury.

Among them, the "Impression" star technique is almost useless in 1v1 matches.

Fortunately, the high-quality Azure Glow and Endurance star techniques that Xiao Du Nai's parents exchanged for with their lives have really increased Jiang Xiao's combat power a lot.

In the World Cup, most of the contestants are in the Star River stage, without any contestants who have broken through to the Star Sea stage. The Star River stage has 16 usable star slots.

16 star slots vs Jiang Xiao's 12 star slots.

People believe that this is the most peak stage Jiang Xiao can reach at this stage, and it is also the most powerful stage.

After that, he will be unable to continue.

As the strength of star warriors increases, entering the Star Sea stage, the number of 24 usable star slots will leave Xiao Du Nai behind again.

This is a very interesting phenomenon. Ordinary star warriors can't even get a school recommendation letter, or they have already wasted half their lives in their positions, or they may never be able to advance to the Star River stage in their entire lives and can only use eight star slots, but when facing Jiang Xiao, they faintly have a sense of superiority.

This kind of disdainful attitude and the faint sense of superiority in their hearts... Well, it is indeed a very interesting existence.

As the World Cup progressed, Jiang Xiao became the focus of attention. Many people have begun to offer advice to Jiang Xiao, hoping that his ninth star slot will not absorb a star pet.

If he gives up the star pet and chooses to absorb a star technique, through the special Big Dipper star chart, he may once again hit the jackpot and absorb a one-star double-technique, which will further make up for the gap in the number of star slots. Having 13 or 14 star techniques can barely match the number of star slots of the most mediocre star warriors.

Jiang Xiao has also seriously considered such a proposal, but... he still wants a powerful star pet.

Jiang Xiao has a clear understanding of his positioning, because the Gao De software on his phone is the latest version. (Translator's note: Gao De is a mapping/location app, similar to Google Maps.)

Jiang Xiao knows that he is an auxiliary. Don't think that he is killing everyone in the individual competition. This is just a characteristic of the individual competition. He must go 1v1.

But Jiang Xiao has experienced real war, and he knows what the role of the combat system is on the battlefield, and what the role of the magic system is.

Compared to the rampaging combat-type star warriors, Jiang Xiao prefers to be an auxiliary.

He wants to be a father, and he can also be a commander when necessary, letting his teammates become the knives in his hands.

Jiang Xiao once flashed and kicked out a grand finale on the battlefield.

And the Two-Tailed rushing towards Kang Kexinde is the best interpretation of "knife."

Being able to advance and retreat is not Jiang Xiao's essential quality, but just his bonus points.

Jiang Xiao feels that his star technique configuration is very reasonable. As long as he practices to the extreme, it is enough to deal with any situation. He wants a star pet that is compatible with him, a pet that can accompany him on expeditions.

As for the star pet's template?

Of course, it's the Two-Tailed...

High output, high defense, high agility, high perception... Just thinking about it is exciting.

Well, it would be even better if the future pet could be ridden. Bai Shan Xue Yu (White Mountain Snow Feather) is actually very ideal, but in order to cooperate with the Two-Tailed team, Jiang Xiao doesn't need to have the same pet as her.

In the category of star pets, it is better for the team members' pets to have some differences in attributes and some differences in the types of star techniques, because you don't know what kind of battlefield situation you will face in the future.

Another reason why Jiang Xiao wholeheartedly wants to acquire a star pet is, of course, the divine technique, Decoy.

As the quality of the Decoy improves, it changes from a phantom to a physical body, and from a physical body that is instantly killed to a "real body" that will not break unless the vitals are attacked, and from a real body to a doppelganger that can communicate with the mind.

According to this evolutionary trend, Jiang Xiao has enough reason to believe that a high-quality Decoy will eventually unfold a star chart.

Want to take the output route? Battle Madness? Assassin Battle? Defense Battle? Strength Battle? Or the magic system of each system? Of course, the Decoy will take it.

It can both form its own system and integrate into Jiang Xiao's team.

If the Two-Tailed can't find a suitable teammate, maybe she is waiting for the Decoy to mature?

While thinking, Jiang Xiao felt bursts of commotion.

There are only 21 people, and the drawing ceremony is proceeding quickly. In the fourth group, Hou Mingming's character image appeared in the number one spot, and the Red Star flag was flying high.

Hou Mingming, as steady as an old dog, still holds the record for the average speed in the individual competition.

She is also the only contestant who can make the Chinese dare to shout "Please invite the next victim" in the sixth round drawing ceremony.

However, the victim matched is... a bit strong!

The youth has a head of jet-black碎发 (suì fà, short choppy hair), holding a Tang Dao (Chinese straight sword) in his backhand, horizontally in front of him, with cherry blossoms lingering around the handle.

One of the hosts, a recognized top 8 and aiming for the top 4 contestant!

Hua Ni (Chinese-Japanese) mixed blood, the Japanese Sword God, the national captain—Saito Nobuyuki!

Jiang Xiao secretly thought it was bad. This guy is probably one of the few contestants in this list of 21 who can restrain Hou Mingming relatively well.

Before the last game, during Wan Ming and Ye Xunyang's interview, Jiang Xiao answered Wan Ming's question about the key factors to defeat Hou Mingming: speed.

Without a doubt,

Saito Nobuyuki is the representative of speed in this World Cup.

This game will really test Hou Mingming's close combat level.

Ordinary contestants don't even have the chance to get close to Hou Mingming before they are shot full of holes.

The Hunting Goddess in the last game also tried to shoot arrows at each other, supported for a while, and finally tried to fight in close combat, but in the end, she was a bit slow, and Hou Mingming seized the opportunity and took her away with a few arrows.

And this Saito Nobuyuki is afraid that he will not give Hou Mingming any chance to react.

Jiang Xiao turned his head and looked to the front left. Hou Mingming leaned against the back of the chair, with his arms crossed, staring silently at the big screen, coldly humming.

The next moment, Hou Mingming actually turned her head and met Jiang Xiao's eyes.

Jiang Xiao blinked.

Hou Mingming looked at Jiang Xiao with full of regret for a full 5 seconds, and finally Jiang Xiao looked up at the big screen before she silently withdrew her gaze.

There are only 10 groups of battles in total, with 1 person getting a bye.

When Jiang Xiao appeared in the 9th group, he had an ominous premonition.

And this premonition soon became a reality!

When Jiang Xiao appeared in the number one spot, and the three character images in the number two spot switched rapidly, the small auditorium was silent. People nervously watched the big screen, secretly praying that fate would not joke...

Ding!

The number two character is locked, and the Red Star flag is flying high.

Xie Yan, tearing off the black boxing tape, broke into everyone's view.

"I fu*king..." Jiang Xiao held his forehead with one hand and couldn't help but curse.

The auditorium was eerily quiet!

Chinese civil war, Xie Yan continues!

Sending away teammates is not a normal amount of pressure for the player to bear.

No matter who Jiang Xiao and Xie Yan send away, the domestic public opinion will inevitably be a bloodbath.

If you win against your teammates, then you must win in the subsequent games.

On the one hand, you are carrying the hope of your teammates, on the other hand, if you lose, you will inevitably be dug up and whipped.

In fact, meeting Xie Yan is not the worst option.

If it really goes as Hou Mingming wishes, and this game is Jiang Xiao fighting Hou Mingming, if... if Jiang Xiao wins by chance, then Jiang Xiao will really have no way back.

Once Jiang Xiao knocks down Hou Mingming, the person with the most hope of winning the world championship, then if Jiang Xiao makes any mistakes in future games, what awaits him will be the judgment of the general public.

In that case, it will not be "the world owes Hou Mingming a world champion" anymore, but "Jiang Xiao owes Hou Mingming a world champion."

The small auditorium was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop. To everyone's surprise, Xie Yan actually stood up.

In the first five rounds of the competition, no matter what draw he got, no matter what opponent he faced, even if he drew his teammate Yu Jin, Xie Yan was indifferent, but this time...

Xie Yan walked over from the back of the auditorium and stood in front of Jiang Xiao.

Jiang Xiao looked up at Xie Yan and moved one position inward.

Xie Yan did not sit down, but said lightly, "Don't hold back."

Jiang Xiao: "Huh?"

Xie Yan: "Don't be disturbed by any words."

Jiang Xiao was stunned for a moment, this is...

Xie Yan looked directly at Jiang Xiao and said, "Respect the star warrior profession, and also respect me. Do your best and strive for victory."

"Decide the outcome, and if necessary, decide life and death." Xie Yan continued, "Only the stronger person is qualified to wear this team uniform and enter the next round."

With that, Xie Yan turned and left.

Jiang Xiao frowned. Xie Yan is definitely not an ostentatious person. Why did he say these words in public?

Jiang Xiao's heart skipped a beat. Xie Yan had the experience of an internal battle once before. His last match was against Yu Jin.

So, is there any secret about these two people's matches?

Or is Jiang Xiao overthinking it?

Xie Yan simply wants a battle, a real fight to the death.

Instead of a sparring match under pressure and public opinion, where he is afraid to act?