Chapter 409: Global Genius Exchange Competition! I

"The winner of this match is Xu Jingming!"

Seeing Cao Ren voluntarily concede, Liu Wei promptly announced the result of the match.

As soon as she spoke, a wave of stunned cheers erupted from the audience seats.

"He won! Xu Jingming actually won!"

"Who could have imagined that Xu Jingming, a fifth-rank lower-tier, could truly defeat Cao Ren, a sixth-rank mid-tier!"

"That means Xu Jingming has the strength to fight a seventh-rank Master!"

"Incredible—it's a full two major ranks he crossed!"

"......"

Before the match began, many spectators had not held high hopes for Xu Jingming.

But reality had slapped them hard across the face!

Yet some spectators familiar with Cao Ren's fighting style felt puzzled.

"That doesn't make sense—I remember Cao Commander possesses several extremely powerful S-rank combat techniques."

"He even has one SS-rank technique—why didn't he use a single one just now? Could he be deliberately holding back?"

Indeed,

in the match just now, the strongest technique Cao Ren displayed was merely the S-rank Wind Spirit Barrier.

And it was a defensive technique, with zero offensive capability.

Immediately, a knowledgeable adept stepped forward to refute this claim:

"Heh, you think Cao Ren didn't want to use them? He simply had no chance to use them!"

"Notice this—throughout the entire match, every spell-based technique Xu Jingming cast took less than one second!"

After activating that terrifying SSS-rank technique, his casting speed skyrocketed!"

Cao Ren was lucky just to get off one S-rank Wind Spirit Barrier."

"Any other sixth-rank elemental master would've barely managed an A-rank technique!"

"Damn! That's actually true!"

Hearing this, many spectators suddenly realized.

Indeed, Xu Jingming's casting speed was simply too fast.

The higher the rank of a technique, the longer its startup time!

Under Xu Jingming's relentless barrage of spells, Cao Ren had no opportunity to cast high-damage techniques.

"One step ahead, always ahead—in elemental combat, whoever casts faster seizes the initiative."

Someone remarked.

On the frontlines, enhancement-type adepts take the front line.

Elemental masters merely retreat to the rear and keep casting, with ample preparation time.

But in one-on-one combat, it's all about casting speed!

"Whoa! This guy Xu Jingming is really this strong?"

Gazing at the towering figure standing on the arena, resembling a Thunder God,

Chen Hai swallowed hard and instinctively asked Wang Dong:

"Big Brother Wang, what should we do now? Except for you, we seem utterly unable to suppress him..."

"After this match, Xu Jingming's reputation in the training camp will surge dramatically."

"Even I can't justify attacking him without cause."

Wang Dong shook his head.

Though he was a staunch loyalist of Deputy Director Hu Jinyu, he wasn't a fool.

He wouldn't risk opposing Director Su Qingli to target Xu Jingming—unless he truly wanted to die.

"But the Global Genius Exchange Competition starts in just over three months."

"With the strength Xu Jingming has shown so far, his ranking in the competition won't surpass mine."

"So I don't need to target him specifically—I can still keep him under my heel."

Wang Dong rose thoughtfully and walked away; Chen Hai's eyes lit up and hurried after him:

"Right! The Exchange Competition's coming soon—Big Brother Wang, with your strength, you'll definitely get a great ranking!"

"Xu Jingming, what's your bank account number? I'll transfer the money to you right now."

Cao Ren wasn't someone who couldn't accept defeat—he descended from midair.

He directly opened the smart wristband on his left hand and asked.

Xu Jingming also exited Thunder Extreme Mode and gave his bank account number.

Moments later, a text message notification arrived on his phone:

"Ding~. Your Zhongxia Bank account ending in 7043 has received 1 billion, balance now 4.423 billion Daxia currency."

"The cash has arrived."

Xu Jingming nodded with a smile, flipped his right hand, and the Thunder Scepter vanished into his space ring.

"Spending one billion to fight a genius like you isn't a bad deal."

Cao Ren laughed heartily and walked off the arena with Xu Jingming.

As they walked, he glanced around, adding with a hint of regret:

"This arena's still too small—I couldn't fully unleash my power. Otherwise, you wouldn't have beaten me so easily."

"It is a bit small."

Cao Ren's words sounded like an excuse, but Xu Jingming knew he spoke the truth.

With his wind-elemental enhancement, Cao Ren's instantaneous movement speed reached a terrifying 300 m/s.

An 800m x 800m arena was nothing to him—he could cross it in three or four seconds, leaving no room to maneuver.

If the battlefield were larger, Cao Ren could simply create a distance of several kilometers.

Even with the Thunder God's descent, Xu Jingming wouldn't have defeated him so easily.

"I lost—I won't make excuses for myself."

"But Xu Jingming, how about we fight again next time?"

Cao Ren looked at Xu Jingming, eager and excited.

Honestly, he still felt a bit resentful—he hadn't even had time to use his S-rank or SS-rank techniques.

"Sure. But where can we find an arena that big?"

This alloy arena at Thunder Martial Arts Gym was already huge—even bigger than the National University League's field!

Xu Jingming couldn't imagine an alloy arena thousands of meters long and wide.

And ordinary ground? A few techniques would destroy it—it's not sturdy enough.

"Hard to find in reality, but easy in the virtual world."

Cao Ren smiled back. "The Global Genius Exchange Competition starts in a few months, right?"

"Then everyone can log into the Virtual Blue Star server."

"We can just open a private room and fight a few matches then."

"By the way—you'll be participating in this year's Global Genius Exchange Competition, right?"

"Global Genius Exchange Competition?" Xu Jingming froze.

The Global Genius Exchange Competition, organized by the United Nations, is a global event held every five years with extremely generous rewards.

All adepts under age 26 on Blue Star can participate.

The last time it was held, Xu Jingming was only fifteen—still unawakened.

With Cao Ren's reminder, he realized five years had slipped by unnoticed.

It was time again for the Exchange Competition.

Thinking of this, Xu Jingming smiled and said:

"I'll participate. Of course I will."

The Global Genius Exchange Competition is held online, like the Magic University Virtual Trials.

No need to travel to a designated venue—it's incredibly convenient.

The rewards are also extremely generous, including not just SSS-rank items, but even treasures beyond SSS-rank.

For an opportunity to compete with global geniuses and win such rewards, he certainly wouldn't let it slip away.

"Alright, once the virtual world for the Exchange Competition opens, I'll contact you."

Cao Ren said with a smile.

After exchanging contact information, he waved goodbye and left from the opposite side of the arena.