Chapter 22: Global Rank: [4684]

In ranked matchmaking mode, during a continuous winning streak, Li Yuan would occasionally be matched against experts with over 500 points in the Gold rank.

But these were ultimately the minority; most of the time, the system prioritized those with similar rank points.

"After creating 'Dragon Hidden in the Rocky Ravine,' my spear technique has greatly increased. My win rate against martial arts experts in the low Gold rank has risen significantly." Li Yuan felt mentally exhausted, yet he remained full of fighting spirit.

His points had been soaring all the way until now.

"An ordinary adult, whose mental strength isn't strong enough, would probably need to rest after six or seven battles. They can fight at most twenty or thirty matches a day, otherwise, they would damage their spirit and affect their real-world cultivation." Li Yuan's eyes shimmered with light: "But I, I can experience two hundred virtual battles in a single day and still maintain a peak state."

Over this past year, why had Li Yuan's martial arts skills soared continuously?

Aside from the fact that he truly had an aptitude for spear techniques.

It was also inextricably linked to his constantly strengthening mental power.

The stronger his mental power, the greater his control over his body during daily cultivation, and the faster his spear technique improved.

Likewise, in virtual network battles, it allowed him to fight more matches.

The virtual battles he experienced in one year were worth the tempering many others received in three or even five years.

Given this, how could Li Yuan's martial arts skills not improve rapidly?

"The final battle, I must win."

"Fifty thousand credits, it's mine." Li Yuan clicked the option box—Start Matchmaking.

Beep—Matchmaking successful.

"About to enter the ranking match, opponent is Gold rank (499 points)... Countdown 10, 9..."

Inside a livestream room on the Starry Sky Fighting Network, the title of the stream was 'The Road to Martial Arts Top Graduate, Charging to 500 Gold Points.'

Inside the livestream room, there was a young girl in elf attire, looking about seventeen or eighteen, and... a middle-aged commentator.

"Brothers."

"Xiu'er is aiming to be the Martial Arts Top Graduate of Nanming City. In the last school martial arts test, her martial arts skill score exceeded 360 points... Today, she is attempting to break through to 500 points in the Gold rank."

The girl tilted her head from time to time, looking very cute, waiting for a match.

The middle-aged commentator, however, was very excited.

"500 points in the Gold rank, let alone Nanming City, even in the entire Jiangbei Province, there are fewer than 50 people under 18 who can reach this rank... Let's see if Xiu'er can succeed on her third attempt," the middle-aged commentator said rapidly.

"Oh! Matchmaking successful!"

"The opponent's points are 496. It seems they are also a martial arts expert charging for the Gold rank."

"The first two attempts today, the opponents encountered all had over 600 points. This time, the opponent only has 496 points... Let us wait and see... 5, 4..." the middle-aged man said excitedly.

Gold-ranked martial arts streamers were as numerous as hairs on an ox.

But underage streamers reaching the Gold rank were quite rare, and gimmicks like 'charging for the college entrance exam top graduate,' 'elf girl,' and 'pretty' were even more eye-catching.

This girl streamer named 'Xiu'er' had quite high popularity on the Starry Sky Fighting Network.

At this moment, the number of viewers had exceeded two thousand.

Of course, as a minor, she could not stream alone; she had to be over 16 at the very least, must be accompanied by a guardian, and there were time limits on weekly streaming... This was explicitly stipulated by law.

"This time it should succeed."

"The opponent's 496 points, it looks like they are much weaker than the previous two opponents."

"Beat them to death."

"Xiu'er has fought over 30 matches today, today's win rate is 56.6%, very good, sending a tip."

"Have been watching Xiu'er's stream for two years."

"Cultivation! Cultivating a martial arts top graduate, I'm just waiting for the day Xiu'er becomes the martial arts top graduate."

"Definitely can win." A large number of text comments, voice comments, and image comments flashed by... along with various tips.

Suddenly.

Swish! The livestream scene changed, forming a ring scene, and a youth holding a long spear appeared on the other side of the ring.

"A youth?"

"The opponent looks so young, could they also be a minor?"

"Must be an adult, this is just a virtual avatar. If they were also a minor, wouldn't they also be able to charge for the college entrance exam top graduate?" The audience discussed.

On the battle ring.

"Hmm? So many people?" As soon as Li Yuan stood on the ring, he discovered that the originally empty spectator stand had suddenly filled with a large number of viewers, dense and packed.

Looking around, there were probably thousands of people.

"A big streamer?" Li Yuan's gaze swept over, finally landing on the elf girl holding a silver long spear more than twenty meters away.

In normal Gold rank matchmaking, even if you encounter a streamer, having a hundred viewers would be considered good.

A big streamer with thousands of people watching? This was the first time Li Yuan had encountered one today.

Li Yuan could have completely blocked the sound from the spectator stand and blocked the off-stage audience... but he chose neither.

"A streamer?"

"Seems to be an underage girl streamer?" Li Yuan heard some of the audience's voices: "Let's test how strong she can be."

In reality, it wasn't that Li Yuan hadn't tried streaming; he had once thought about relying on streaming to make money to reduce the economic pressure on his family... but he soon discovered.

The water in this industry was too deep.

Unless one was a super expert who reached the 'Sun-Eclipsing rank,' it was extremely difficult to become popular.

For streamers who could become popular, martial arts skill was only a small part of the reason.

Being able to fight didn't mean being able to stream.

There was nothing simple about things that could make money.

Moreover, Li Yuan was very clear that virtual combat was ultimately just an aid to temper martial arts skills; real-world cultivation was the core.

The purpose of making money was also for martial arts cultivation.

One could not put the cart before the horse.

"Xiu'er?" Li Yuan looked at the elf girl's name, having a vague impression; he seemed to have scrolled past her livestream videos before.

But the impression wasn't deep; she shouldn't be that kind of top-tier streamer.

"Hello."

"This round, can you let me win?" The elf girl held her silver long spear, smiling cheekily, looking quite cute.

Li Yuan frowned slightly.

Swish!

The elf girl moved suddenly; her 8.0-level physical fitness made her speed extremely fast, and she charged toward Li Yuan like lightning.

"Xiu'er is starting to ignore martial ethics again."

"Stab him!"

"This kid has been fooled too, probably hasn't watched Xiu'er's stream." A large number of voices emerged from the spectator stand.

"Puff!" The silver long spear thrust straight out!

"A straight thrust?"

Li Yuan didn't hesitate in the slightest; his left hand gripped the shaft, his right hand supported the spear, and he also used a mid-level straight thrust.

It was as if it were a move of mutual destruction.

But the long spear Li Yuan chose had a shaft nearly three meters long, exceeding the opponent's by about half a meter... and Li Yuan's character model had a taller body and a longer arm span.

It was destined that Li Yuan's spear would strike the opponent first.

One inch longer, one inch stronger.

"Boom~"

The moment the spear tips crossed, the elf girl's silver spear suddenly shook, erupting with terrifying force in an attempt to knock Li Yuan's long spear away... Clearly, she had also noticed the disadvantage of her own weapon.

"Boom~"

Li Yuan, however, as if he had foreseen it, also shook his large spear, meeting force with force.

Then, Li Yuan caught a glimpse out of the corner of his eye, and his whole body took advantage of the momentum to flash back and retreat, landing and unloading the impact of this force.

"Whoosh!" The violent spear wind whistled.

The elf girl's follow-up spear missed, the tip just an inch from Li Yuan's head.

"Under continuous collisions, she can still maintain the stability of the spear shaft and attack continuously... This should be a killing move." Li Yuan avoided this spear and made a judgment: "Must be vigilant."

In normal combat, under continuous collisions, the rebound impact would pass through the spear shaft and affect oneself; many movements were difficult to perform and had to be readjusted.

The opponent, however, could attack continuously, indicating that the combo was very special.

A so-called killing move was one that could perfectly mobilize force, capable of performing defensive and offensive combos that ordinary people could not.

"Such fast reaction ability, such strong movement technique." The elf girl's pretty face was also quite surprised.

This combo was one of her killing moves; often, by surprising the opponent, she could end the battle in two or three moves.

... "Such an amazing movement technique."

"Very steady!"

"There are experts among the folk."

"Xiu'er got shown up." On the spectator stand, a large number of viewers laughed; they actually didn't care that much about winning or losing.

"Clang!" "Clang!" "Clang!"

Collision after collision, both sides were considered spear technique experts, and their bodies were moving at high speed, constantly probing.

Trying to catch the opponent's flaws and find opportunities.

But Li Yuan was very steady, basically not attacking actively, seeking no merit but seeking no fault, blocking the elf girl's silver spear time and time again.

"Virtual combat is for tempering spear techniques; fighting one more match or one less match makes no difference." Li Yuan's heart was as still as water, not in a hurry.

But the elf girl became increasingly anxious in her heart.

She had already heard the sighs from the surrounding audience, many of which were teasing her: 'A bit boring,' 'Why aren't you fighting yet,' 'Rush up!', 'Just circling around,' 'Are these two acting in a play?', 'If you can't show off, are you still Xiu'er?', 'What about the bragging from before?', 'Said she couldn't do it'...

The elf girl wanted victory, to rush to 500 points and get the reward, but even more, she wanted the livestream effect.

"This guy is like a turtle."

"If we keep fighting like this, it won't end in five minutes, and I guess half the audience will leave. Not waiting anymore." The elf girl bit the bullet and took the initiative to attack.

"Clang!" "Boom~"

Several collisions of the spear shaft and spear tip; Li Yuan held his spear and kept retreating, while the elf girl stepped forward continuously.

"There's a chance." The elf girl's eyes brightened slightly.

After less than ten collisions, Li Yuan had already been forced to the edge of the ring. Just when the elf girl thought she was about to win.

"Whoosh!" Li Yuan, who had been defending the entire match, suddenly erupted, his long spear thrusting out violently.

"Rip~"

The long spear pierced the air, erupting with a sharp whistling sound!

"Not good." The elf girl 'Xiu'er's' pupils shrank; just as she wanted to retreat, the spearhead had already pierced her throat.

It was simply too fast!

The combat lasted nearly two minutes, and for over ninety percent of the time, she had occupied the situational advantage.

But the moment she attacked continuously, at the instant her old force was exhausted and new force had not yet been generated, she was caught by Li Yuan, and she was defeated in a single encounter.

"Martial arts streaming, the viewing effect is good, the audience will tip gifts, and one can profit."

"The audience can sometimes also stimulate one's own fighting enthusiasm." Li Yuan silently retracted his spear and glanced at the bustling spectator stand not far away: "But rising because of the trend often means being trapped and disturbed by the trend."

"Life-and-death combat should be pure."

"Combat is not for viewing, but for determining life and death."

"Your martial arts skill is not below mine, but your mind was not entirely focused on the battle." Li Yuan stared at the elf girl whose body had already disappeared: "Therefore, you lost."

Life-and-death combat is never determined solely by the level of physical fitness or martial arts skill.

There is also mindset.

Li Yuan, who cultivated the 'Rock Cultivation Method,' had a terrifyingly stable mindset.

"Congratulations, Guardian·Yuan, you have won this Gold rank match, points +10."

"Congratulations, Guardian·Yuan, you have reached 500 points in the Gold rank and are eligible to claim the 50,000 Blue Star Coin reward."

"Congratulations, Guardian·Yuan, you have entered the 'Blue Star Youth Ranking,' ranked [4684] globally, [1224] in the Xia Country region, and [47] in the Jiangbei sub-region. Detailed ranking information can be queried through the following methods..."

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 24 =====