Chapter 520: Arena Free-for-All! Entering the Preparation Zone!

"Isn't it more interesting when there's a challenge?" Xu Jingming replied with a smile.

The next Genius Tournament five years from now?

By then, he would probably already be a ninth-rank Martial Saint, or even a Supreme.

Going back to crush a bunch of sixth-rank ability users would be utterly boring.

For example, next year's National Collegiate Exchange Tournament—even if Modu let him go back to compete, he wouldn't go.

"Fair point." Su Qingli didn't deny it either.

Back in her day, it had been the same—her strength far surpassed that of her peers.

Only geniuses considerably older than her could give her any real pressure.

"Oh right, I heard from Instructor Ling earlier that you reached the Law Saint realm three years ago.

In other words, after the Genius Tournament ended,

you only needed a little over two years to go from the peak of sixth rank all the way to ninth rank.

Is that true? How did you do it, Instructor?"

After a brief pause, Xu Jingming asked curiously.

The higher an ability user's rank, the harder it is to advance—but Instructor Su seemed to have broken that rule.

In just two years, she had leapt across two entire major ranks—seventh and eighth—straight into ninth!

"It is true, but how I did it is a secret. I can't tell you at this stage."

Su Qingli turned her large, pretty eyes toward him, her words giving away very little.

"You really know how to keep people hanging, Instructor."

Xu Jingming could understand that.

After all, it probably involved some of Instructor Su's personal secrets—perfectly normal that outsiders wouldn't know......

After leaving Instructor Su Qingli's place, Xu Jingming headed back to his villa.

Four straight days of non-stop beast hunting—he really did need some rest.

"S-rank, get up! The arena free-for-all for your group is about to start."

More than ten hours later, the holographic-projection loli Eva sat at the bedside and called out in a sweet voice.

Swoosh—

Xu Jingming's eyes snapped open on the bed; he leaped up and landed steadily on the floor.

"Which group are they on now?"

"Group 836. Only twenty more groups before yours."

Eva sat on the edge of the bed, swinging her little crystalline feet. "How do you feel, S-rank? Fully recovered?"

"Yeah—stamina, mental energy, abilities—all back at peak."

After sensing his own condition, Xu Jingming grinned.

"You're absolutely insane, S-rank—ninety-two straight hours killing beasts in Demon Lair No. 4.

Keeping your mental energy taut the whole time, and then handing the beast materials over to the Black Dragon Legion in the end. I have no idea what you're after."

Eva played with a strand of hair as she complained.

A prodigy as obsessed with hunting beasts as Xu Jingming was rare—whether in the Second Civilization era

or in modern times.

Xu Jingming just smiled.

Who could have guessed that the beasts he hunted were the very root cause of his rapid growth in strength?

"The arena free-for-all is about to start. Log into the virtual world first."

Xu Jingming couldn't even be bothered to change clothes.

Still in his loose training suit, he walked into the living room, lay down comfortably on the sofa, and put the thought helmet on his head.

"Esteemed Mr. Xu, the Global Genius Exchange Tournament's arena free-for-all is currently underway.

A competition ticket has been detected on your account. Would you like to be teleported to the arena now?"

The moment he logged in, a crisp prompt sounded.

"Teleport." Xu Jingming nodded.

Swoosh—

His figure vanished on the spot, and when it reappeared, he was already inside a colossal arena.

The colossal arena's shape resembled an ordinary stadium, but was tens of millions of times larger!

Looking out, row upon row of seats stretched densely into the distance with no end in sight.

Every single seat was occupied by a spectator!

One hundred million spectators from countries all over the world had gathered here.

Right at the very center of the arena was the free-for-all competition ground.

A holographic projection in mid-air broadcast the battle, letting all one hundred million spectators on-site see clearly.

"Candice! Go! Get through the free-for-all!"

"Hansen, you're the strongest!"

At that moment, a free-for-all was underway on the field.

Of the 100 participants, only 54 remained after eliminations!

The surrounding spectators were all cheering on the competitors they favored.

Shouts in countless languages rolled across the entire venue like a tide.

"Jingming, only nineteen more groups before it's your turn on the field."

At that moment, Song Qiuyun, seated beside her, said with a smile.

Besides her, the white-haired young girl Jiang Chuxuan and Little Aunt's family were also present.

This was a ticket Xu Jingming had specifically set aside, so the whole family could watch the battle together.

"Xiaoming, once you take the field later, we'll immediately cheer you on."

Little Aunt Xu Qingwan was visibly excited.

"As early as five days ago, a notice went out across Jiangcheng.

Anyone from Jiangcheng who holds a Genius Battle spectator ticket will be cheering you on."

Uncle-in-law Tang Daolin added with a smile.

"Jiangcheng put out a notice just to cheer me on? Is it really that exaggerated?" Xu Jingming was somewhat surprised.

"Not exaggerated at all."

Cousin Tang Qi nodded in agreement and explained with a smile:

"You're the Wu Ke provincial champion who came out of our Jiangcheng.

And now you're representing Great Xia in this Genius Battle, competing on the same stage against prodigies from all over the world.

If they don't cheer for you, who will they cheer for?"

Ever since Xu Jingming passed the Wu Ke provincial exam as champion, entered the Magic City Ability University, and led Magic City University to the national collegiate league championship—

Jiangcheng's reputation had risen considerably, and the various resources it received from the province had multiplied more than a hundredfold!

Cheering for Xu Jingming was also a way for Jiangcheng to show its gratitude.

In truth, she was also looking forward to seeing what the scene would look like once Xu Jingming took the field—

when all the cheers and shouts gathered together into one.

"Arena free-for-all, Group 854's battle has ended. The 10 advancing are..."

An hour and a half later, a woman with a hot figure—

wearing a silver-white skintight combat suit—announced the match information from the very front of the arena:

"Next we begin Group 855's battle. The contestants of Group 856, please prepare to teleport into the staging area."

Each arena free-for-all has 100 people; on average, it takes about 5 minutes to finish the battle and select the 10 who advance.

As soon as the host finished speaking, an option to teleport into the staging area popped up before Xu Jingming's eyes.

He said a word to Song Qiuyun and the others, then immediately clicked confirm.

Whoosh—

His sturdy figure vanished from the spectator seats in an instant, reappearing in the staging area of the arena below.

"It's Great Xia's Xu Jingming! He's really in the same group as us!"

"F**k! That's trouble—one fewer advancement slot now!"

"Not necessarily. Those few from the U. S. might be here too.

If they team up to eliminate Xu Jingming first, we'll get one extra advancement slot."

"..."

The instant Xu Jingming teleported into the staging area, gaze after gaze filled with wariness immediately turned his way.