Chapter 1 The Virtual World

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

Xu Jingming lay sprawled on the muddy mountain road, covered in dirt and blood, gasping for breath. He tapped his personal interface, instantly restoring himself to peak condition. Full of energy, he stood up, picked up his battered shields, and with another tap, his clothes became clean, and the dents on his shields vanished, making them look brand new.

"It's really tough. Even with my base combat strength, defending against opponents with a base of 800 in an encirclement is so difficult?" Xu Jingming gripped his shields. "Let's go again!"

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

A dense crowd of figures appeared in the canyon.

A hundred valiant bandits, each wielding a spear, axe, or heavy hammer. Axes and heavy hammers were about destructive impact, while spears were fast and more difficult to deal with.

"Kill!"

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

Even though these virtual bandits didn't have high battle intelligence, they didn't need much. Just the encirclement alone made it difficult for Xu Jingming to withstand.

"Swish." Xu Jingming moved immediately, knowing he couldn't stand still. He had to rely on footwork to create a favorable environment.

But a hundred people were surrounding him! No matter how much he dodged, more than ten bandits quickly rushed in front of him.

"Bang."

Xu Jingming held a shield in each hand. His shield techniques were extremely skillful, like two spiderwebs deflecting attacks, even using the force of the attacks to make the bandits stumble.

His footwork was also nimble, allowing him to weave through the crowd of bandits, minimizing the number of attackers he had to face at any one time.

"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!" As Xu Jingming blocked three axes and two heavy hammers simultaneously, three spears pierced from the gaps behind him. The sound of the spears tearing through the air made his scalp tingle.

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

"Kill!"

"Kill him!"

The bandits were frenzied. Xu Jingming was constantly facing a barrage of axes, hammers, and spears, making him look disheveled. He could only dodge left and right, trying to deflect and redirect the force of the attacks.

"As my master said, integrate your mental will into every part of your body, sensing every detail, so everything is effortless." Xu Jingming thought, "Compared to my master, my footwork seems so clumsy. My shield techniques aren't as fast, and my ability to deflect and redirect force isn't as perfect. Clearly, my control over my body isn't good enough."

"I need to be faster, more agile."

"My shield movements need to be faster too!" Xu Jingming tried to mobilize his body, imagining it as water, his mind sensing every part, striving to harness every ounce of strength.

"Pfft."

A spear pierced Xu Jingming's shoulder from the side. His right arm went limp, and his grip on the shield faltered. A hammer and an axe struck the shield, also hitting Xu Jingming's body. Xu Jingming fell to the ground, not struggling further.

Because all the surrounding bandits dissipated. According to the settings, as long as these bandits attacked him, they would disappear.

"Failed again."

Xu Jingming lay in the mud, recalling the earlier exchange, contemplating 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 (Middle Stage 75%) (Practice time: 721 days, cannot be improved)

Body: 127

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

Base Combat Strength: 1651

Actual Combat Bonus: 23%

Combat Strength: 2030

"The virtual world has been open for seven days, and my evolution method still hasn't reached the advanced stage. The progress of my shield and spear techniques is also relatively slow. But my footwork is improving faster," Xu Jingming thought, "Maybe it's because my footwork was weak to begin with."

He had broken his leg at the age of 20, and the long-term injury had prevented him from practicing many footwork techniques.

Now, the high-intensity training in the virtual world training ground, being besieged by a hundred bandits, was greatly promoting his footwork. Even an ordinary person with no foundation would improve a lot after being besieged 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 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, but I can only spend ten at most," Li Miaomiao mumbled while eating grapes. "You need to spend more time with me, don't always immerse yourself in the virtual world."

"Aren't I here with you now?" Xu Jingming said with a smile. "And I believe that with your talent, Miaomiao, you'll definitely reach the Sun Radiance level in a short time. That way, your online time in the virtual world can reach twelve hours."

"Sun Radiance level? Too difficult."

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

"The Silver Moon level is full at 30 stars, so it's still fast," Xu Jingming said. "And your base combat strength hasn't reached the threshold for the Sun Radiance 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 400 within a month."

"Within a month?" Li Miaomiao grimaced.

"If you work harder, half a month should be enough," Xu Jingming said with a smile. "Training in the virtual world to improve combat skills, progress is still very fast in the early stages."

At his level, progress became very slow.

"By the way, today, Lei Yunfang finally participated in a God-level battle," Li Miaomiao said. "This battle was very sudden, and the authorities 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 said with a smile, "I was planning to watch it with you after I logged off."

"Tsk."

Li Miaomiao pouted and manipulated the light screen, changing the program to a battle video.

"Of the three legendary experts of the Xia Kingdom's martial arts world, Tie Lianyuan 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 took action on the seventh day," Li Miaomiao exclaimed. At this moment in the video, the ten combatants were selecting weapons and equipment, but upon seeing Lei Yunfang, the other nine appeared 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 has a very long history in our martial arts circle, and because he was at his peak physical condition when he participated in the competition, the strength he displayed was even greater than my master's," Xu Jingming also said. "He is also recognized by the world martial arts circle as the strongest in the Xia Kingdom."

Master Liu Hai was old after all.

Senior Lei Yunfang was active on the world stage from his twenties to his thirties, and the strength he displayed was much greater.

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 the past thirty years, the three most dazzling contestants in the World Martial Arts Competition have been our Xia Kingdom's Lei Yunfang, the White Eagle Federation's Kui Sheng Mills, and the Raksha Country's Alan Emelianenko. They are also known as 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 wins and losses against each other!"

"Kui Sheng Mills and Alan also have wins and losses against each other!"

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

Xu Jingming sighed, "When the Three Kings are at their peak, they can easily crush other opponents, with a visible gap. This is something that 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 had a stern face with a scar across it. He wore cloth clothes and carried two sabers on his back, walking through the snow with ghostly steps.

"Whoosh."

An arrow shot out, but it only hit a residual image of Lei Yunfang's movement.

"Among the Three Kings, Lei Yunfang has the strongest footwork. He has the most terrifying footwork in the entire world martial arts circle." Xu Jingming observed carefully. Lei Yunfang was walking through the snow when he suddenly saw an enemy in the distance. His speed suddenly exploded, turning into a blurry afterimage as he chased after the enemy.

The enemy couldn't escape at all. Three of them immediately gathered together to face Lei Yunfang, while a hidden marksman released an arrow!

"Under normal circumstances, he should chase after the marksman first," Li Miaomiao exclaimed. "Senior Lei Yunfang directly charged towards the three gathered opponents, completely ignoring the hidden marksman."

"Too confident," Xu Jingming sighed. He saw Lei Yunfang, who had turned into an afterimage, quickly rush in front of the three God-level experts. He merely took a few steps and walked among the enemies, his saber light flashing.

The three God-level experts all fell to the ground.

Either they had a saber in their throat, or their chest armor had been grazed. Each of them was killed instantly.

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