Chapter 9: News from Overseas

Hayama Kotaro, a member of the Uncrowned Five Generals, is a second‑year student at Luoshan High School and plays the small forward position.

Five Dimensions: Strength 3.5; Speed 5; Stamina 3.5; Spirit 4; Skill 4; Total 20.

Character core skills:

Wildness·Leopard (golden), an active skill that awakens the leopard‑like nature hidden deep within the body, voluntarily entering an instinctual state; while concentration is highly focused, it enhances bodily functions and can radiate a beastly aura to intimidate opponents.

Thunderous Dribble (golden), an active skill that concentrates the body's strength into the fingers, executing a dribble filled with booming sound, combining speed with a deafening roar.

State One: when dribbling with three fingers, its sound is like thunder.

State Two: when dribbling with four fingers, its momentum is like crackling lightning.

State Three: when dribbling with all five fingers at full force, the sound is like thunder, the momentum like lightning, thunder and crackling lightning.

After carefully reading Ye Shan Xiao Ta Lang's profile, Jiecheng Wu had only one assessment in mind.

"Luxurious!"

As expected, worthy of the Uncrowned Five Generals title, he not only has a Five Dimensions total of 20, but also carries two golden‑rank character core skills, 【Wildness·Leopard】 and 【Thunderous Dribble】.

Among them, 【Wildness·Leopard】 can be seen as an advanced version of 【Wildness·Mountain Cat】.

Beyond merely triggering instinct to boost his own abilities, it adds the trait of releasing a beastly aura to deter opponents.

In Jiecheng Wu's mind, the image of Ju Ji Ping instantly appeared.

Like golden hair resembling a lion's mane, the lion‑king's beastly aura made the opponents on the court shiver, and even the spectators around the match felt a chill.

Thus, he thought, Ju Ji Ping's beastly aura should be a technique very similar to Wildness in Heilan World.

Or perhaps they are merely different names for the same technique, Jiecheng Wu silently speculated.

As for whether the guess is correct, he'll verify it when he meets Ju Ji Ping later.

After Ye Shan Xiao Ta Lang's template appeared, Jiecheng Wu instantly stopped hesitating.

There's no need to consider it further.

Anyone would immediately choose Lei Shou·Ye Shan Xiao Ta Lang.

However, to be safe, Jiecheng Wu still glanced over the few remaining unchecked templates.

If luck is overflowing, a Miracle Generation template might pop up as well.

Swish! Swish! Swish!

Yi Yue Jun. Gong Di Qing Zhi Fu Jing Jian Ke

These templates flashed by in front of his eyes; they usually only showed a name and avatar before being replaced by the next template.

Anyway, there are only a handful stronger than Ye Shan Xiao Ta Lang, so as long as they're not those, Jiecheng Wu can pass without close inspection.

At this speed, he quickly finished reviewing the remaining templates.

Unfortunately, Jiecheng Wu's good luck seemed exhausted; the remaining templates not only failed to surpass the Uncrowned Five Generals, but also fell short of the three previously shortlisted candidates.

So he no longer hesitated, his mind resolutely clicking "Confirm Load" on Ye Shan Xiao Ta Lang's template.

Another white flash lit up; having anticipated it, Jiecheng Wu closed his eyes, leaned his body back onto the chair back, looking relaxed, and quietly waited for the character template to finish loading.

After a moment, the dazzling white glare faded, and he slowly opened his eyes.

【Name: Jiecheng Wu】

【Age: 12】

【Five Dimensions: values in parentheses are the template character's Five‑Dimension data】

【Strength: 1.8 (3.5)】

【Speed: 2.5 (5)】

【Stamina: 2.2 (3.5)】

【Spirit: 3 (4)】

【Skill: 2.5 (4)】

【Total: 12 (20)】

【Loaded character templates: Xiao Jin Jin Shen Er (full), Ye Shan Xiao Ta Lang (loading)】

【Character core skills: Basic (blue), Wildness·Mountain Cat (silver), Wildness·Leopard (golden), Thunderous Dribble (golden)】

The moment the template loaded successfully, Jiecheng Wu instantly felt a lightness in his body, an urge to dash out and do weighted training right away.

Since his Five Dimensions surpassed Xiao Jin Jin Shen Er's, he hadn't felt this sensation for a long time.

Moreover, the entire development process of Ye Shan Xiao Ta Lang's Thunderous Dribble unfolded in his mind.

A lively yellow‑haired boy had been fascinated with dribbling past opponents since childhood, immensely enjoying the joy of surpassing an opponent in an instant.

However, as he grew older and faced stronger opponents, superior physical attributes alone were insufficient, so he resolved to develop an unbeatable dribbling technique.

One night, golden lightning danced wildly in the sky, its deafening roar bombarding the heavens, and inspiration struck him instantly.

"It's thunder!"

To develop this move, he expended great effort, failing repeatedly, persisting each time, and after countless trials...

As Ye Shan Xiao Ta Lang originally hoped, the unstoppable Thunderous Dribble was born.

From then on, relying on this technique, he secured a place among the strongest five of his generation.

These five were collectively called the Uncrowned Five Generals, and he became renowned nationwide as Lei Shou.

Now, all the failed and successful experiences from Ye Shan Xiao Ta Lang's development of the ultimate move have been absorbed by Jiecheng Wu.

Although these basketball techniques cannot be applied directly to tennis, for Jiecheng Wu they are valuable assets that will play an irreplaceable role when he later creates his own tennis signature move.

"How much?"

After settling the coffee bill at the front desk, Jiecheng Wu didn't go straight home; instead, he detoured to the tennis club he had signed up for.

Since the new template was already set, wasting even a second would be unacceptable.

He thought this to himself.

Time flew by, and more than a month had already passed.

While Jiecheng Wu immersed himself daily in improving his strength, new stories unfolded outside every day.

In early December, the autumn rookie tournament had completely concluded.

Several eye‑catching players emerged in this competition.

For example, Bu Er Zhou Zhu from Youth Academy, whose dazzling triple‑counter technique made him a striking sight in the tournament.

His pleasing looks and consistently gentle personality left a deep impression on many spectators.

A certain newspaper even dubbed Bu Er a genius and spread the title, instantly drawing many people's attention to Seigaku.

Rikkai University, which recently won the National Competition, also seemed to have many strong newcomers.

Mibuchi Reo, who can execute the genius net‑tightrope skill.

Nebuya Eikichi, whose stamina is extraordinary and baseline defense is as solid as a wall.

Mayuzumi Chihiro, whose unpredictable style makes him unreadable.

Adding to that are the three first‑year members of Xingcun, who already led Rikkai University to the National Champion title.

All the school tennis coaches felt a tightening in their hearts, a thought they were reluctant to believe flashing through their minds.

"Could Rikkai University truly achieve a three‑peat national championship?!"

Besides Seigaku and Rikkai University, Shan Chui's Qian Shi and Ice Emperor's Ci Lang.

The fresh blood from the other schools in Guan Dong Di Qu also began to shine.

And in the rookie tournament over in Kansai, if one asks who the most dazzling player is.

Any spectator who watched the matches would inevitably answer.

"That would obviously be the Bible of the tennis world, Shiraishi Kuranosuke of the Four Heavens Treasure Temple!"

He focuses solely on basic tennis techniques, yet perfects the simplest moves to a flawless level, earning him the nickname 'Bible' in the Kansai tennis world.

With his formidable strength, Shiraishi Kuranosuke dominated the spotlight in this Kansai autumn rookie tournament.

In an instant, Japan's junior high tennis scene saw a surge of geniuses, presenting a thriving picture.

But these widely talked‑about events did not keep everyone happy for long.

Soon, a piece of news from overseas arrived.

It instantly shattered the prosperous illusion the domestic tennis world had strived to maintain.

(End of chapter)