Chapter 22: Global Rank [4684]
In the ranked match mode, with continuous victories, Li Yuan occasionally encountered those experts with over 500 points in the gold rank, but they were in the minority. Most of the time, the system prioritized matching with players of similar rank points.
"After creating 'Hidden Dragon in Rocky Ravine' my spear skills have significantly improved. When facing low-rank gold-level martial artists, my win rate has greatly increased." Li Yuan felt a bit mentally fatigued but was still full of fighting spirit.
His points kept soaring until now.
"Ordinary adults, without strong mental power, might need to rest after six or seven battles and can only fight twenty or thirty battles a day at most. Otherwise, it would be too taxing and affect real-life training." Li Yuan's eyes sparkled. "But I can maintain peak condition even after experiencing two hundred virtual battles in one day."
Over the past year, why did Li Yuan's martial skills keep improving rapidly? Besides having a natural talent for spear techniques, it was also inseparably linked to his ever-growing mental strength. The stronger the mental power, the better he controlled his body during daily training, and the faster his spear skills improved. Similarly, in virtual network battles, he could fight more battles. Li Yuan's virtual battle experience in one year equaled that of many people's three or even five years of virtual battle training. Thus, it's no wonder his martial skills improved so quickly.
"The last battle, I must win."
"The 50,000 yuan is mine." Li Yuan clicked the option box - start matching.
Beep—match successful.
"You are about to enter a ranked match, opponent's rank: Gold (499 points)... countdown 10, 9...".
...
In a livestream room on the Starry Sky Fighting Network, the stream title was 'Road to Martial Champion, Rushing to 500 Points in Gold Rank.'
In the room, there was a girl in an elf costume, about seventeen or eighteen years old, and a middle-aged man commentating.
"Brothers."
"Xiuer aims to be the martial champion of Nanming City. In the last school martial test, her martial skills score exceeded 360 points... Today she attempts to reach 500 points in the gold rank."
The girl occasionally tilted her head, looking very cute while waiting for the match. Meanwhile, the middle-aged commentator was very excited.
"Gold rank 500 points, not just in Nanming City, but even in the entire Jiangbei Province, there are less than 50 people under 18 who can reach this rank... Let's see if Xiuer can succeed on her third attempt today." The commentator spoke quickly.
"Matched successfully!"
"The opponent's score is 496, seems like another martial expert aiming for the gold rank."
"The opponents in the previous two attempts were all over 600 points. This opponent is only 496 points... Let's wait and see... 5, 4..." The commentator was excited.
Gold-ranked martial streamers were numerous, but underage streamers who could reach the gold rank were quite rare. The combination of aiming for the top in the high school martial exam, being a cute elf girl, and having a pretty face made her quite a hit. The girl, known as 'Xiuer,' had quite a following on the Starry Sky Fighting Network, with over 2,000 viewers at the moment. Of course, as a minor, she could not stream alone. Streamers had to be at least 16 years old, and must have a guardian present. There were also time restrictions on their weekly streams as per the law.
"This time, she should make it."
"The opponent's 496 points seem weaker than the previous ones."
"Defeat them."
"Xiuer has fought over 30 battles today, with a win rate of 56.6%. That's pretty good. Sending a reward."
"I've been watching Xiuer's streams for two years."
"Training her up! Training her to become a martial champion, I look forward to the day Xiuer becomes the champion."
"She will definitely win." Many comments, voice messages, and image messages flashed by, along with various rewards being sent.
Suddenly.
Swoosh! The live scene changed to a platform scene, with a boy holding a long spear appearing on the other side of the platform.
"A boy?"
"The opponent looks young. Could he be underage too?"
"He must be an adult. This is just a virtual image. If he were underage, wouldn't he also be competing for the high school martial champion?" The audience discussed.
...
On the battle platform.
"Hmm? So many people?" Li Yuan just stood on the platform and noticed the originally empty spectator stands now filled with a large number of spectators, densely packed.
Looking around, there seemed to be thousands of people.
"A big streamer?" Li Yuan glanced around and finally fixed his eyes on the elf girl with a silver spear about twenty meters away.
In normal gold rank matches, even if encountering a streamer, having over a hundred spectators was already impressive. Encountering a big streamer with thousands of spectators? This was the first time for Li Yuan today.
Li Yuan could completely mute the audience sound, but he didn't choose to.
"A streamer?"
"Seems to be an underage girl streamer?" Li Yuan heard some audience voices. "Let's see how strong she is."
In fact, Li Yuan had tried streaming. He once thought of making money through streaming to reduce his family's financial burden... but he soon realized.
This industry was too complicated.
Unless one reached the 'Eclipse Rank' of super experts, it was extremely difficult to become famous. Famous streamers' martial skills were only part of the reason.
Being good at fighting didn't mean being good at streaming.
Making money wasn't easy.
Moreover, Li Yuan understood clearly that virtual battles were just an auxiliary to honing martial skills. Real-life training was the core.
The purpose of making money was to train in martial arts.
One shouldn't neglect the fundamental goal.
"Xiuer?" Li Yuan looked at the elf girl's name and vaguely remembered. It seemed like he had come across her stream video before.
But the impression wasn't deep, so she probably wasn't a top-tier streamer.
"Hello."
"Can you let me win this round?" The elf girl, holding a silver spear, smiled cutely.
Li Yuan frowned slightly.
Swoosh!
The elf girl suddenly moved, with 8.0 level physical fitness, her speed was extremely fast, like lightning, she rushed towards Li Yuan.
"Xiuer started being dishonest again."
"Stab him!"
"This kid probably got tricked too, probably hasn't watched Xiuer's streams." The audience roared.
"Whoosh!" The silver spear thrust straight!
"Straight thrust?"
Li Yuan didn't hesitate at all, holding the spear with his left hand, supporting it with his right hand, also performing a middle thrust.
It seemed like a mutual destruction move.
But the spear chosen by Li Yuan was nearly three meters long, half a meter longer than the opponent's... and Li Yuan's character model was taller with a longer arm span.
It was destined that Li Yuan's spear would reach the opponent first.
An inch longer, an inch stronger.
"Boom~"
At the moment the spear tips crossed, the elf girl's silver spear suddenly shook, bursting out terrifying power trying to knock Li Yuan's spear away... Obviously, she also realized her weapon's disadvantage.
"Boom~"
However, Li Yuan seemed to foresee this, and also shook his spear, confronting it head-on.
Then, Li Yuan glanced aside, retreating swiftly to land and dissipate the force.
"Whoosh!" The violent spear wind howled.
The elf girl's following thrust missed, the spear tip just an inch away from Li Yuan's head.
"She can maintain spear stability and continue attacking after continuous collisions... This must be a set of killing moves." Li Yuan dodged the thrust, making a judgment: "I need to be cautious."
In normal combat, after continuous collisions, the rebound force would affect oneself through the spear, making many movements difficult to perform, requiring readjustment.
The opponent could continue attacking, indicating the combo was very special.
A killing move means being able to perfectly manipulate force, achieving defensive and offensive combos that ordinary people can't.
"Such fast reflexes, strong footwork." The elf girl was equally astonished.
This set of combos was one of her killing moves, often solving battles in two or three moves during sudden attacks.
...
"Such impressive footwork."
"Very steady!"
"A hidden expert."
"Xiuer got shown up." The audience laughed. They didn't really care about winning or losing.
...
"Clang!" "Clang!" "Clang!"
After multiple collisions, both were considered spear experts, their bodies moving rapidly, constantly testing each other.
Trying to catch the opponent's flaws and find opportunities.
But Li Yuan was very steady, mostly defending, not seeking merits but avoiding faults, repeatedly blocking the elf girl's silver spear.
"Virtual battles are for honing spear skills, fighting one more or one less doesn't make a difference." Li Yuan's mind was calm, not in a hurry.
But the elf girl grew increasingly anxious.
She could hear the audience's sighs and many were teasing her with remarks like 'boring,' 'not fighting,' 'charge ahead,' 'running in circles,' 'are they acting?' 'can't live up to the name Xiuer?' 'bluffing before,' 'told you she's not good'...
The elf girl wanted to win, to reach 500 points and get the reward, and also wanted a good show for the livestream.
"This guy, like a turtle."
"Continuing like this, it won't end in five minutes, probably half the audience will leave, can't wait anymore." The elf girl braced herself and attacked.
"Clang!" "Boom~"
After several collisions of spear shafts and tips, Li Yuan kept retreating while the elf girl stepped forward.
"There's a chance." The elf girl's eyes brightened.
After less than ten collisions, Li Yuan was almost forced to the edge of the platform. Just when the elf girl thought she was about to win.
"Whoosh!" After a whole battle of defense, Li Yuan suddenly exploded, thrusting his spear forward.
"Rip~"
The spear pierced through the air, emitting a sharp whistle!
"Not good." The elf girl 'Xiuer' narrowed her pupils. Just as she tried to retreat, the spearhead had already pierced through her throat.
It was too fast!
After nearly two minutes of combat, with more than ninety percent of the time, she was in control.
But in the moment of old force fading and new force yet to arise, she got caught by Li Yuan and defeated in an instant.
"Martial arts streaming can generate income if it has good viewing effects and attracts rewards from viewers."
"Audience can sometimes stimulate one's fighting spirit." Li Yuan quietly retracted his spear, glancing at the bustling audience stand: "But riding on the trend can often lead to being trapped or disturbed by it."
"Life-and-death combat should be pure."
"Fighting is not for entertainment, but to determine life and death."
"Your martial skills are not inferior to mine, but your mind wasn't fully focused on the battle." Li Yuan stared at the now-vanished elf girl: "So, you lost."
Life-and-death combat is never solely determined by physical fitness or martial skills.
Mindset is crucial.
Practicing 'Rock Steady Training Method,' Li Yuan had a terrifyingly stable mindset.
"Congratulations, Defender Yuan, you have won this gold-ranked match, points +10."
"Congratulations, Defender Yuan, you have reached 500 points in the gold rank and are eligible for the 50,000 yuan reward."
"Congratulations, Defender Yuan, you have entered the 'Blue Star Youth Ranking,' ranked globally at [4684], [1224] in the China Country area, and [47] in the Jiangbei sub-region. Detailed rankings can be queried through the following methods..."