Chapter 1 Zhongyuan

Zhongyuan, a term imbued with legendary significance.

In its narrowest sense, Zhongyuan refers to the present-day Zhongyuan Province. But in a broader context, Zhongyuan can even stand as a synonym for the entire nation of Hua Xia.

The land of Zhongyuan, the cradle of Hua Xia civilization, is truly blessed with remarkable people and abundant resources.

Politicians, military strategists, thinkers, and literary giants of all kinds are too numerous to count.

Just taking the familiar Three Kingdoms period as an example, the big shots from Zhongyuan Province could easily form an all-star lineup: Guo Jia, Xun Yu, Xun You, Sima Yi, Deng Ai, Xu Shu, and so on.

And that's just one era. If we broaden our scope, all sorts of famous generals shine like brilliant stars in the long river of history.

It's not just talk that strategists have always come from Zhongyuan.

For modern times, this saying can be completely changed to: Nimble warriors have always come from Zhongyuan.

In the history of Hua Xia, a total of three World Cup individual championships have been won, and two of the champions are from Zhongyuan Province.

Mu Yan, the 1997 World One-on-One King, and Mu Qianying, the 2003 World One-on-One King, although both were soldier kings from Xiangnan Military Academy, they were native Zhongyuan people, scouted and poached by the sharp-eyed Xiangnan Military Academy before the college entrance examination.

Each region of Hua Xia nurtures a unique other-dimensional space, which has also created different styles of Star Warriors in each province.

The Summit of the Ancient Pagoda is the representative other-dimensional space of Zhongyuan Province. Awakeners who have trained and struggled here are generally more skilled than Awakeners from other provinces.

Beneath the Star River, the magic system reigns supreme.

Above the Star River, warriors rise.

Warriors, who rely more on physical qualities, have surpassed others after the leap of the carp over the dragon gate. Although they still cannot shake the core position of the magic system in the team, warriors have ushered in a wave of great explosions in the field of individual one-on-one combat.

This can be seen in the World Cup, where the proportion of nimble warriors and shield warriors participating is far higher than that of the magic system. From the number of final championships, nimble warriors lead, shield warriors are second, and the magic system is last.

When Jiang Xiao heard that the preliminary round of this national team selection competition was at the Summit of the Ancient Pagoda, he was secretly delighted. He finally had the opportunity to meet the group of grimace monks!

He wanted to experience the power of the grimace monks and admire the superb martial arts of the great gods to see how they trained world champions.

What surprised Jiang Xiao even more was that Zhao Wenlong said... the individual competition could actually be a team?

Jiang Xiao picked up the honey grapefruit tea, took a sip, and said, "That's right, it's not alcohol, is it?"

Zhao Wenlong seemed like a very serious person, a bit humorless. He looked at Jiang Xiao with a solemn expression and repeated, "The preliminary round can be a team, at least the rules don't prohibit teaming."

Jiang Xiao quickly took out his phone and started searching for the online announcement.

Zhao Wenlong quietly drank tea, while the couple opposite them, with surprisingly consistent movements, both rested their chins on their hands and silently watched Jiang Xiao...

"Pea Sister, don't look at me, you should know how much pressure it puts on someone when your eyes lock onto them, my hands are shaking." Jiang Xiao tapped the phone screen constantly, without even raising his head.

As a shooter, the way she looked at people was really different from others.

This was a very relaxed and pleasant small gathering, but Hou Mingming's gaze really ruined the atmosphere, making Jiang Xiao feel like he was about to start a war at any moment.

To be honest, Jiang Xiao thought that he would find a sense of constant combat and vigilance here with Zhao Wenlong, but he did not expect that Zhao Wenlong was very refined and had a peaceful heart, which was vastly different from the temperament he showed during combat.

As for Hou Mingming... it could only be said that she was consistent inside and out.

Hou Mingming raised her eyebrows and her tone was slightly raised: "Pea Sister?"

Jiang Xiao suddenly raised a finger, still not looking up, and asked, "When you look in the mirror, have you ever shot yourself?"

Her boyfriend, Zhang Ren, looked extremely surprised and said, "How did you know? She has shattered so many mirrors that it's almost become my alarm clock every morning."

Hou Mingming couldn't help but bump Zhang Ren lightly with her shoulder, revealing a look of coquettishness.

Wow, they're living together?

There will soon be little peas...

Jiang Xiao frowned and said, "Climbing the tower?"

As soon as he heard the serious matter, Zhao Wenlong put down his teacup, seemingly having been holding back from looking at the couple beside him, and said, "Yes, not only do you have to climb the tower, but you also have to defend the tower."

Jiang Xiao looked at the phone screen and thought to himself, "I haven't played many tower defense games."

Zhao Wenlong: ???

"I don't like this nickname." Hou Mingming suddenly said.

"Okay, Pea Sister, I won't call you Pea Sister anymore in the future." Jiang Xiao replied casually.

Hou Mingming: "......"

"Hey." Zhang Ren looked at Jiang Xiao with envy and couldn't help but sigh deeply.

Hou Mingming: "What?"

Zhang Ren: "When will I dare to talk to you like that? My life would be complete."

Hou Mingming glared at her boyfriend coldly.

Jiang Xiao frowned and said, "You have to climb to the top floor and ensure that the number of people on the top floor does not exceed 32. If the number of people is within 32, and no one else enters within 15 minutes, then the first stage of the assessment is considered complete."

Zhao Wenlong: "Yes, these 32 people can enter the next stage. In the next stage, it will be a pure one-on-one competition, a 1v1 elimination round."

Hou Mingming reached out and picked up a pistachio from the small plate, gently cracked it open, and said, "The rules don't say you can't cooperate."

Jiang Xiao's expression became serious and said, "This is to sift through the sand and first select the top 32 in the country, and then go through several rounds of real combat to determine the final ranking. The previous individual selection competitions were not like this. From beginning to end, they were all 1v1 elimination rounds."

Zhao Wenlong nodded and said, "In previous years, there have been too many strong match-ups in the preliminary rounds. For example, Hou Mingming and I may both be qualified to enter the national team, but if we face each other in the first round, no matter what the result, one of us has to leave."

Jiang Xiao laughed dumbly: "Isn't it the same with the top 32? If you two run into each other in these rounds, you'll have to leave anyway."

Zhao Wenlong shook his head and said, "Who knows, since the country has changed the rules, it means they are willing to try to reform and use the method of sifting through the sand to first eliminate the weaker ones. As for the final result, let's see the effect."

Hou Mingming interrupted and said, "This is not what we should consider. The country is reforming the competition rules. What we should study is not the reason, but how to make good use of this rule."

Zhao Wenlong said, "You are the only special one, Jiang Xiaopi. If they were all war-magic dual-system, maybe the selection competition would go in the direction predicted above, but this year, the Capital Star Warrior came up with an assistant as a team member. You are probably the only assistant in this national team selection competition.

In the preliminary stage, no one will be willing to be your enemy, they will all try to form an alliance with you. Your identity represents state and endurance. It is no exaggeration to say that you are the guarantee of survival.

People may even try their best to send you into the second stage. Because the next stage is a 1v1 knockout round, at that time, everyone will want to draw lots to meet you. Most people may think that you pose no threat and are the weakest one."

Jiang Xiao smiled and shook his head and said, "The contestants who can enter the national team selection competition are not fools. My growth process and every battle can be easily found online."

Hou Mingming casually fed a pistachio into Zhang Ren's mouth and shook her head: "Indeed, no one is a fool, but arrogance and prejudice are engraved in the bones of human nature."

Jiang Xiao was stunned for a moment. He never thought that Hou Mingming would say such a thing.

"For example, me." Hou Mingming picked up the pistachio again. It was hard to imagine that such an arrogant person would show a self-deprecating smile, "You have shown a certain strength, one knife at a time, clean and neat, all of which I have seen with my own eyes, but..."

Hou Mingming raised her eyes to look at Jiang Xiao: "But when I think of your Star Power realm and Star Warrior profession, I never thought that you would become an obstacle to me. A challenge? Maybe there is, but pull me down? Hehe..."

"You know..." Hou Mingming stared closely at Jiang Xiao and said, "Before you came, half an hour ago, Zhao Wenlong said something to me."

Jiang Xiao: "What?"

Hou Mingming cracked open the pistachio, but her eyes were locked on Jiang Xiao: "Every opponent in your growth process, from small school competitions and secondary wilderness reclamation to provincial and national leagues, almost every opponent you encounter has the same idea as me, but look at their current fate."

!!!

Jiang Xiao slammed his hand on the table, leaned forward, and slowly stretched out his palm.

Hou Mingming frowned slightly, secretly on guard.

But Jiang Xiao took the freshly peeled pistachio from her hand, threw it into his mouth, and chewed, "Continue! Don't stop! If you can talk, say more!"

Hou Mingming: "......"

Zhao Wenlong: "......"