Six days later, in a canyon in the virtual world.

On the muddy mountain path, Xu Jingming lay on the ground, covered in dirt. He was panting weakly, and his body was covered in blood. He reached out and tapped his personal interface gently, returning his body to its peak state. Only then did he spiritedly stand up.

He picked up a pair of damaged shields and tapped them gently. His clothes became clean, and the dents in the shields disappeared, returning to their brand-new state.

It's difficult. Is it that difficult to defend against an opponent with a basic combat strength of 800?

Xu Jingming held his shield with both hands.

Again!

Hu! Hu! Hu!

A large number of figures appeared in the canyon. A total of 100 valiant bandits appeared, all holding myriad weapons—spears, axes, or sledgehammers. Of these three types of weapons, the ax and the hammer delivered great impact and damage, while the spear was faster and harder to deal with.

"Die."

The hundred valiant bandits, each with a basic combat strength of 800, swarmed him from all directions.

Even though these virtual bandits didn't have high combat intelligence, they didn't require much intelligence. Xu Jingming found it difficult to withstand their ganking attacks.

Swoosh.

Xu Jingming immediately moved. He couldn't just stand there foolishly; he had to rely on his movement technique to create an advantageous environment.

However, a hundred people surrounded him! Regardless of his evasive maneuvers, more than ten bandits soon arrived in front of him.

Bang!

Xu Jingming held a shield in each hand, and his shield techniques were brilliant. They were like two spider webs that made the attacks weak and powerless. He even borrowed the momentum of their attacks to force the bandits into a stumble.

His movement technique was also very agile. He blitzed through the bandits and made sure that fewer bandits attacked him each time.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Xu Jingming blocked three axes and two sledgehammers, only to have three spears tearing through the air from behind. Xu Jingming felt his scalp tingle from the spears' humming.

He instinctively ducked, barely avoiding the three spears.

"Die!"

"Kill him!"

The bandits were in a frenzy, and Xu Jingming had to face a flurry of axes, hammers, and spears almost constantly, inevitably leaving him in a sorry state. All he could do was dodge left and right, trying his best to borrow the attacks' force.

According to Master, my mind and will need to be one with every part of my body, allowing me to employ them with ease,

Xu Jingming thought.

My movement technique seems so clumsy compared to Master's. My shield technique isn't as fast as his, and my ability to borrow and deflect force isn't that perfect either. It's obvious that my control over my body isn't high enough.

I have to be faster and more agile. My shield techniques need to move faster too!

Xu Jingming tried his best to utilize his body better. He imagined his body to be like water and used his mind to sense every part of his body as he tried his best to mobilize every ounce of strength in his body.

"Pfft."

A spear stabbed through Xu Jingming's shoulder from the side. His right arm turned limp, and the shield he was holding failed to protect him.

The sledgehammer and ax crashed into the shield, followed by Xu Jingming's body. Xu Jingming fell down and didn't struggle anymore.

All the bandits around him disappeared—he had set it to have the bandits disperse the moment they hit him.

I failed again.

Xu Jingming lay in the mud, recalling the battle and thinking about his shield usage.

After lying down for a long time, he reached out and tapped his personal combat strength interface.

Player: Xu Jingming

Genetic Evolutionary Method: Heavenly Python Evolution (Intermediate 75%) (721 days of practice. No room for improvement)

Physique: 127

Technique: Spearmanship (Lv. 2 88%), Footwork (Lv. 2 62%), Shield Technique (Lv. 2 83%)

Basic Combat Strength: 1651 𝑏𝘦𝘥𝑛𝘰𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝑐𝘰𝑚

Combat Bonus: 23%

Combat Strength: 2030

It's the virtual world's seventh day, but I still haven't pushed the evolutionary method to Advanced. My shield and spearmanship improvements are relatively slow. On the other hand, my footwork improved quite quickly

, Xu Jingming thought.

Perhaps it's because my footwork was relatively weak to begin with.

He had broken his leg at the age of 20, and his long-term leg injury prevented him from practicing many footwork techniques.

Nowadays, with high-intensity training in the virtual world's martial arts arena, being ganked by 100 bandits improved his footwork greatly. Even if an ordinary person didn't have any foundation, their movement technique would improve greatly after being surrounded and attacked hundreds or thousands of times by 100 people.

It's almost seven? It's time for dinner.

Xu Jingming checked his personal interface and noticed the time. He immediately tapped lightly and exited the virtual world game.

******

After dinner, in the living room.

Xu Jingming and Li Miaomiao sat on the sofa and ate fruits while watching the program on the projection screen.

"As a Divine expert, you can spend up to 16 hours a day in the virtual world, but I can only be in there for 10 hours." Li Miaomiao ate her grapes and grumbled, "You have to spend more time with me. Don't be engrossed with the virtual world all the time."

"Ain't I here accompanying you now?" Xu Jingming smiled obsequiously. "Moreover, I believe that with your talent, you will definitely reach Radiant Sun in a short period of time. That way, you can spend 12 hours online in the virtual world."

"Radiant Sun? It's too difficult." Li Miaomiao said helplessly, "I train my movement technique and swordsmanship every day, but ever since I reached 20-star Silver Moon, I lose two matches for every match I win! It's too difficult!"

"Silver Moon only needs 30 stars to max out; that's still very fast," Xu Jingming said. "Moreover, your basic combat strength hasn't reached the Radiant Sun threshold. There's no need to rush. I'll teach you for half an hour a day. I believe your basic combat strength will reach 400 in a month."

"In a month?" Li Miaomiao wore a bitter expression.

"If you work harder, you'll probably be done in half a month," Xu Jingming said with a smile. "Improvements happen quickly early on when training your combat techniques in the virtual world."

At his level, improvements became very slow.

"Oh right, Lei Yunfang finally participated in the Divine battle today," Li Miaomiao said. "This battle was very sudden, and the officials didn't have the time to livestream it. However, the video was released afterward. Did you watch it?"

"Nope." Xu Jingming shook his head and smiled. "I planned on watching it with you after going offline."

"Tch." Li Miaomiao curled her lips and issued commands. The program on the projection turned into a battle video.

"Of the three legendary experts in China's martial arts world, Tie Lianyun showcased himself on the first day of the virtual world's launch. Liu Hai showcased himself on the third day, but Lei Yunfang only did it on the seventh day." Li Miaomiao sighed.

At this moment, the ten people in the video were choosing weapons and equipment. But when they saw Lei Yunfang, the other nine people appeared somewhat shocked.

"Senior Lei Yunfang is actually only 56 years old this year; he's much younger than my master. However, he participated in the third World Martial Arts Tournament and has a lot of seniority in the martial arts circle. Moreover, he was at his peak during the Martial Arts Tournament, so the strength he displayed was even greater than Master's," Xu Jingming said. "He's also publicly recognized as China's strongest expert in the global martial arts circle."

His master, Liu Hai, was ultimately old.

Senior Lei Yunfang was active on the world stage during his twenties or thirties. This allowed him to showcase much more strength.

Li Miaomiao nodded. "I know. Senior Lei Yunfang is one of the three kings of the World Martial Arts Tournament."

"Right." Xu Jingming nodded. "In the past 30 years, the three most dazzling contestants of the World Martial Arts Tournament—China's Lei Yunfang, USA's Kai Saint Mills, and Russia's Alan Emelianenko—are also known as the three kings of the martial arts world. As long as any three of them participate in the World Martial Arts Tournament, they can easily crush all the other opponents. There is a saying in the martial arts world… Only a king can defeat another king!"

"For example, Lei Yunfang and Kai Saint Mills have won and lost to each other!"

"Same for Kai Saint Mills and Alan!"

"Nobody has defeated the three kings." Xu Jingming sighed with emotion. "When the three kings were at their peak, they could easily crush their opponents. There was a visible gap between them. This is a feat that's very difficult for other contestants."

As he spoke, Xu Jingming also watched the battle on the projection. This battle was on the 'snowland' map.

In the vast snow.

Lei Yunfang had a cold expression on his scarred face. He wore a cloth robe and had two sabers on his back as he walked in the snow with ghostly steps.

Swish!

An arrow shot over, but it only hit the afterimages of Lei Yunfang.

"Of the three kings, Lei Yunfang has the best movement technique. It's the most terrifying movement technique in the martial arts circle globally." Xu Jingming carefully observed the scene.

Lei Yunfang walked in the snow when he suddenly saw an enemy in the distance. His speed suddenly increased, and he turned into a blur as he chased after the enemy.

The enemy couldn't escape at all, but three people immediately gathered together to deal with Lei Yunfang. At the same time, the sharpshooter secretly shot an arrow!

"Under normal circumstances, he should've chased after the sharpshooter first." Li Miaomiao exclaimed in surprise. "Senior Lei Yunfang charged straight for the three people that gathered and ignored the sharpshooter in the shadows."

"He's too confident." Xu Jingming sighed.

Lei Yunfang—who had turned into a blur—quickly arrived in front of the three Divine experts. In a few steps, he was among the enemy, unleashing shimmering saber beams.

The three Divine experts collapsed. Be it struck in the throat or on their chest armor, all of them died.

"Killing Divines is akin to chopping vegetables for him," Li Miaomiao said. "Jingming, how are you compared to him?"