Chapter 882: Audience Numbers Exceeding the Genius Competition! Arrogant Meng Ke!

"Good, I hope you won't disappoint me."

Xu Jingming nodded slightly.

"Understood, sir!"

Hearing Xu Jingming's tone, which carried a hint of encouragement.

Fu Xingye's expression grew even more excited, then he vanished instantly with a stealth move.

"Sending Fu Xingye to handle this—aren't you afraid he'll mess it up and make Li Gang even more cautious?"

Only after Fu Xingye left did Su Qingli, who had remained silent throughout, speak up curiously.

"His enhancement ability leans toward assassin-type skills; he rarely fails."

Xu Jingming smiled faintly, "Besides, even if he fails, it doesn't matter—aren't we still counting on Teacher Ling?"

Li Gang is just a minor player; unless absolutely necessary, I won't ask Teacher Ling to intervene.

If he truly fails, it just means Fu Xingye isn't capable enough.

In the future, he'll only be useful as a public-facing bodyguard.

No important missions will be entrusted to him again.

"S-rank, Meng Ke from the Xinhuo Temple has responded—the fight is set for tonight at nine."

At that moment, Eva's holographic projection emerged from her smart bracelet, reminding him.

"Alright."

Xu Jingming's tone was calm.

He wasn't particularly concerned about tonight's battle.

Among the three prodigies of the Xinhuo Temple, he only cared about the strongest one, the eighth-rank middle-level grand master Green.

"Looks like tonight's online population in the virtual world will skyrocket."

Su Qingli's fair, delicate face bore a look of anticipation.

Because of Xu Jingming's top position on the Avoidance List.

The Thunder Martial Arts Gym, and even all of Greater Xia, have faced considerable criticism across the international network.

By tonight, all these doubts will vanish.

When Meng Ke set the fight time,

Above the central purple leaderboard in the virtual sky, a countdown instantly appeared.

"Xinhuo Temple – Meng Ke vs. Greater Xia – Xu Jingming: Countdown 6 hours, 12 minutes, 07 seconds!"

"Here it comes! Tonight at nine, there'll be a huge battle!"

"The number one prodigy of Blue Planet versus the mysterious Xinhuo Temple—who will win?"

The news of Meng Ke and Xu Jingming's upcoming battle swept through the virtual world like a hurricane.

Countless people were passionately discussing it, many logging into the virtual world early just to wait for the fight to begin.

Meanwhile, in the real world, Xu Jingming waited until just ten minutes before the fight to put on the neural helmet with Su Qingli and others, entering the virtual world.

Ling Shuang, Song Qiuyun, and Jiang Chuxuan had already left the Wild Zone and teleported back by 6 p. ., so they joined as well.

"Ding! Detected that you are about to engage in a battle against the Xinhuo Temple. Would you like to be teleported to the VIP seating?"

As soon as he entered the virtual world, a crisp notification sounded in his ear.

Without hesitation, Xu Jingming selected Su Qingli and the others as invitees, then clicked confirm.

His consciousness blurred; when he regained awareness, he was inside a luxurious VIP lounge.

In front of the lounge was a massive transparent floor-to-ceiling window, through which he could see a sea of people below.

They were in midair above a stadium!

Their VIP lounge was suspended directly above the upper-right section of the stadium's spectator seats.

Across from them, on the upper-left side of the stadium's spectator area, lay the Xinhuo Temple's VIP section.

"The Thunder Emperor has arrived!"

"It's the Thunder Emperor!"

"Thunder Emperor is the strongest!"

"Go Thunder Emperor, crush those guys!"

"......"

As soon as Xu Jingming teleported in,

A massive holographic projection appeared above the entire stadium.

The hologram showed Xu Jingming clad in a black battle suit, gripping a dark-gold spear.

Behind him, a golden ring slowly rotated, golden lightning flickering and dancing across his skin.

His gaze was firm and steady, standing like a god of thunder.

This was a scene from his battle during the Global Prodigy Exchange Competition.

Now, it was being used as a promotional image to announce his arrival!

And immediately, a deafening roar erupted from the entire stadium like a tidal wave!

"Are there really this many people watching? It feels like even more than the Prodigy Games!"

Xu Jingming was surprised.

He felt the cheers now were louder than even during the Prodigy Games.

"When the Xinhuo Temple first appeared, no one took them seriously.

But as they kept winning, defeating prodigies like Catherine and Andre,

More and more people began paying attention—I'd guess there are at least four or five hundred million people in this stadium."

Su Qingli explained with a smile.

There are always people who crave attention.

In the virtual world, there are plenty of groups like the Xinhuo Temple that position themselves as challengers to prodigies.

But those groups never even get close to someone like Catherine—they're defeated long before that.

Only the Xinhuo Temple has fought their way up, winning continuously.

Added to that, the presence of three ninth-rank peak experts behind them made them even more conspicuous.

Everyone wants to know: which country do they come from, and who will finally defeat them?

"Four or five hundred million spectators? These Second Civilization folks are going to be humiliated tonight."

Ling Shuang snorted from beside him.

She had already learned the Xinhuo Temple's origins from Xu Jingming.

Naturally, she had no patience for their previous behavior...

"Xu Jingming has arrived."

In the opposite VIP lounge, Meng Ke and the others watched the holographic promotional image of Xu Jingming.

"Regardless of talent or strength, he's got quite the handsome face."

Even Meng Yu, as his opponent, couldn't help but smile and compliment the towering figure in the hologram.

"Just a pretty face—I hope he's not all show and no substance.

Otherwise, this fight will be terribly boring."

Meng Ke still didn't consider Xu Jingming a real opponent.

"Please have both combatants enter the arena!"

Time flew by, and less than half a minute remained until nine p. . when a grand announcement echoed above the stadium.

Simultaneously, a teleport button appeared before Xu Jingming's eyes.

After clicking confirm, he was instantly teleported to the center of the stadium.

The arena was a massive circular field ten kilometers in diameter; Xu Jingming appeared on the right side.

As soon as he arrived, the crowd's cheers intensified further.

Across the field, about five kilometers away, Meng Ke's figure slowly materialized.

Compared to Xu Jingming, he was significantly taller and more imposing.

Standing there, he resembled a steel tower, radiating overwhelming pressure.

When he noticed Xu Jingming's gaze, he returned it immediately.

After a single glance, his dismissive voice rang out across the entire arena:

"Xu Jingming, the number one prodigy of Blue Planet?

I thought you'd keep hiding like a cowardly lizard—never expected you'd actually have the guts to show up.

Fine then—I'll show you natives what a true prodigy really is."