"I haven't done the preliminaries yet," Xu Jingming explained. "I've been cultivating in the martial arts arena."

"Training hard is important, but so are life-and-death battles!" Liu Hai asked, "Is your basic combat strength enough?"

"It's enough." Xu Jingming nodded and examined his personal combat strength interface.

Player: Xu Jingming

Genetic Evolutionary Method: Heavenly Python Evolution (Intermediate 20%) (735 days of practice. No room for improvement)

Physique: 115

Technique: Spearmanship (Lv. 2 75%), Footwork (Lv. 2 16%), Shield Technique (Lv. 2 62%)

Basic Combat Strength: 1380

After all, he had practiced 'Heavenly Python Evolution' for nearly eight hours at the martial arts arena. He reached basic mastery after practicing it once and had reached 20% intermediate mastery afterward. After raising his body to its limits, he was naturally even stronger.

After his body evolved, his strength, speed, and reaction underwent changes in all aspects. Therefore, Xu Jingming also chose sparring partners in the martial arts arena and familiarized himself with his shield and spear techniques to ensure that he could unleash his full strength.

"Having enough combat strength is good." Liu Hai nodded. He also knew that the basic combat strength threshold for Divine was 1,000. If he wanted to rely on the 'preliminaries' to enter the Divine level directly, his basic combat strength needed to reach 1200.

It was still very difficult.

"You didn't slack off on your shield techniques after you retired, right?" Liu Hai asked.

"There were many teammates on the national team to act as sparring partners. My sparring partners were much worse after retirement," Xu Jingming said, "but I kept practicing a few times a week."

"Practicing shield techniques is very helpful in grasping one's physical strength," Liu Hai said. "This needs to be done your entire life. You can't slack off on it."

"I understand," Xu Jingming said.

He had practiced spearmanship since he was a child. After he joined the national team, his master, Liu Hai, taught him shield techniques.

His master's shield technique originated from the Taiji lineage.

"Quickly do the preliminaries. 31 people have reached Divine—there are many hidden experts in China." Liu Hai sighed with emotion before terminating the communication.

There are already 31 people?

Xu Jingming didn't hesitate anymore. He tapped his personal interface and headed straight for the combat space.

...

When he first entered the combat space, he saw nothing.

The cyan-shirted man appeared in the void and said, "Xu Jingming, welcome to the combat space. Your basic combat strength has reached 1380, exceeding the 120% basic combat strength threshold for Divine. You can proceed with the preliminaries for Divine. Would you like to proceed with the preliminaries?"

"Yes." Xu Jingming nodded.

"The combat space is divided into five environments: town, forest, city, snowland, and ancient battlefield. Please choose one of these environments as your designated arena."

Xu Jingming thought for a moment and said, "Forest!"

"Please choose your equipment," the cyan-shirted man said. "You can carry at most two weapons. Moreover, you can't have any protective equipment on your head."

"Is the head the only thing that needs to be exposed?" Xu Jingming asked.

"Yes. Even if you are wearing heavy armor, your head has to be exposed." The cyan-shirted man nodded and said, "This is a rule established in the virtual world game. Therefore, the head will be the biggest weakness in combat. You have to protect it well."

Xu Jingming nodded.

He tapped lightly and started choosing his equipment. He had experimented many times in the martial arts arena, so he was very proficient.

A set of light armor that clings close to my body without affecting my movements.

Xu Jingming selected his body equipment. After making the selection, he wore dark-red armor and a pair of light and firm boots.

A double shield with a diameter of 60 centimeters is a relatively light shield.

Xu Jingming carried the two shields on his back and reached out to choose a spear.

A spear weighing 36 kilograms will be quite handy.

Xu Jingming held the spear.

For his equipment setup, he had a set of light body armor and boots weighing 55 kilograms, double shields weighing 30 kilograms, and a spear weighing 36 kilograms. For Xu Jingming— whose Physique index had reached 115—it was indeed considered relatively light equipment. Heavy armor weighed hundreds of kilograms, and of course, they had stronger defensive effects. Those who cultivated Black Tortoise Evolution and Giant Bear Evolution were more suited for that kind of heavy armor.

"Let the preliminaries begin." Xu Jingming nodded and got ready.

Five maps immediately appeared in the void in front of him. Then, he plummeted straight for the forest map.

******

The mountain path was muddy after the rain.

Xu Jingming descended from the void and stood on the mud as he looked around.

There were weeds under a large tree in the distance, and a sloppy man was sitting cross-legged on a clean patch of grass. He had a sword at his waist, and when Xu Jingming appeared, the sloppy man looked up.

"Another one who isn't afraid of death," the sloppy man murmured to himself. He chuckled and slowly stood up.

A cloth robe with only a sword?

Xu Jingming observed his opponent.

He's wearing a cloth robe, but I'm wearing body armor. I also have a huge advantage when using a spear against a sword. He's at a huge disadvantage based on his equipment, so he might be very strong himself.

If one was weak and had weak equipment, there wouldn't be a challenge.

"Since you have a death wish, I'll send you on your way." The sloppy man moved—his body turned into a blur as he moved extremely quickly and lunged at Xu Jingming.

Xu Jingming stood still and waited calmly.

The distance closed!

Xu Jingming was about to make a move while holding the spear's end in his left hand and the shaft of the spear in his right.

Whoosh.

The moment the sloppy man approached, his figure twisted strangely, and his sword flashed.

Bang!

The sword struck Xu Jingming's spear, but the spear was like a flood dragon that had emerged from the sea. With a slight tremble, the spear shaft crashed into the sword with terrifying force, sending the sloppy man flying.

The sloppy man's foot tapped the tree trunk beside him, and he somersaulted to land a distance away. His hand holding the sword trembled.

He's fast and agile.

Xu Jingming looked at the man.

I'm inferior to him in terms of movement.

The sloppy man stared at Xu Jingming and slowly approached the latter again. He also wanted to finish the battle with a single strike, but with a three-foot sword and his arm, he needed to get close enough to stab Xu Jingming. However, Xu Jingming's spear was 2.6 meters long. The sloppy man would enter Xu Jingming's attack range before he could even close the distance!

This was the advantage of the weapon! The sloppy man had also been forced to attack Xu Jingming's spear.

He had to parry the spear to get close.

Whoosh.

The sloppy man closed in again.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

He circled Xu Jingming and moved at high speeds, thrusting as fast as lightning time and time again. His sword collided with Xu Jingming's spear as he sought a good opportunity.

His movement technique is better than mine, and his sword technique is quite good, but his equipment is terrible.

Xu Jingming understood this.

A normal strategy is to rely on the advantage of my equipment to kill him. But… there's no need.

When the sloppy man patiently made another probing attempt to seek out a good opportunity, the spear in Xu Jingming's hand moved.

"Hiss!" A strange wind howled.

A blurry spear shadow tore through the air and even formed a shockwave—the speartip had already arrived in front of the sloppy man.

In his panic, the sloppy man swung his sword to block but failed. His throat had been stabbed through as the speartip retracted.

The sloppy man held his throat and collapsed.

"This is my ultimate move, Shadowless Thrust. You won't be able to block it once you enter my attack range," Xu Jingming said softly. "You're faster than me, but you're not as fast as my spear."

After killing the sloppy man, the post-rain mountain forest began to dissipate, and Xu Jingming returned to the void.

In the void, a projection replaying the kill in slow motion appeared in midair. Xu Jingming's spear was so fast that it tore through the air, and the shockwaves blasted to the sides. The speartip stabbed through the sloppy man's neck, but the sloppy man only managed to swing his sword halfway—it was clearly much slower.

Combat Rating: 98

Level: Divine ★

Moreover, Xu Jingming's personal combat strength interface appeared—

Player: Xu Jingming

Genetic Evolutionary Method: Heavenly Python Evolution (Intermediate 20%) (735 days of practice. No room for improvement)

Physique: 115

Technique: Spearmanship (Lv. 2 75%), Footwork (Lv. 2 16%), Shield Technique (Lv. 2 62%)

Basic Combat Strength: 1380

Combat Bonus: 20%

Combat Strength: 1656

An additional bonus in actual combat? It also increases combat strength.

Xu Jingming came to a realization.

No wonder it was called basic combat strength previously. With the added bonus from actual combat, that will be one's full combat strength.

Right, the timing and use of various factors in combat are also very important.

Xu Jingming knew very well.

"Congratulations on passing the preliminaries with nearly a perfect score." The cyan-shirted man smiled and said, "I have another piece of news for you. It has been 8 hours and 36 minutes since the virtual world game was launched, and there are a total of 32 Divine players in China."

Xu Jingming nodded. There were many people who were faster than him. There were indeed many talented people in China.

"Do you want to begin engaging in competitive combat?" the cyan-shirted man asked. "When players in the combat space fight, they will team up with five people and engage in a life-and-death battle with the other five in any one of the environments—mountains, snowland, city, town, and ancient battlefield."

"In a battle, you can queue up alone and get the game to match four teammates for you. You can also invite friends to team up with you before you engage in battle."

"Queue up alone?" Xu Jingming was puzzled. "Queue?"

"Yes, there are only 32 Divine players as of now. Some are in the martial arts arena, some are watching a live broadcast, and some chose to queue before giving up their spots. It might take some time to assemble a team of ten," the cyan-shirted man explained. "It's the first day of the game, and there are too few Divine players. Queuing is very slow, but it will become much faster in two weeks."

"Then, let's begin queuing." Xu Jingming's eyes were filled with anticipation. "Those who can reach Divine are no ordinary experts."

Xu Jingming pressed the battle button.

A notification appeared—"Six people are ready…"

"There are six people in the queue," the cyan-shirted man said. "The battle will only begin when there are ten people."

"How long will it take?" Xu Jingming asked. 𝐛𝗲𝗱𝐧𝗼𝐯𝗲𝗹．𝐧𝐞𝘁

"It might take some time. One of the six has queued for two hours," the cyan-shirted man said. "There were also people in the queue earlier on, but they eventually gave up their spot. You can cultivate at the martial arts arena while waiting in line or watch a live broadcast. You can even go offline! Once there are ten people, you will be immediately notified! You just have to come online in three minutes."

Xu Jingming nodded slightly. "Put me in the queue."

"Once this battle begins, it will be China's first Divine competitive battle," the cyan-shirted man said.

China's first Divine competitive battle?

Xu Jingming fell into thought.