345: Rapid improvement

Tang Yinghui screamed, “What?! Long Yuan from Fengyang No. 1 High School? It must be him! There’s only one Long Yuan at Fengyang No. 1 High School, I checked long ago!”

“Ahhhhhh!” Fang Siyu screamed toward the sky, clutching her head with both hands, stomping her feet wildly. Her expression alternated between excitement and dejection. Combined with her movements, it was clear her mood was incredibly complex!

A look of regret also appeared on Tang Yinghui’s face. She had initially wanted to log in, but then she let Fang Siyu go first. Maybe if she had logged in, she would have encountered Long Yuan! Such a great opportunity was missed in vain... Both of them were naturally fans of Long Yuan. If it weren't for their strict families, they definitely would have flown to South Yue City to see the concert he was holding with Justin. Therefore, once they realized what a rare opportunity they had just missed, they naturally became heartbroken... Long Yuan, however, was unaware of his opponents' subsequent change in mood, and even if he knew, he would only smile and move on. He was continuing his challenge. In the second battle, he defeated a Late-stage Martial Master, and in the third battle, he defeated a Peak Martial Master. His ranking rapidly soared, reaching 1,543,211. After these two battles, his ranking had improved by about two million spots, which made him feel that the Martial Master Ranking Board was highly inflated. After all, the ranking competition had been launched for some time, and many experts had already entered, so improving by one million ranks for a single victory seemed absurd... He then consecutively defeated two more Peak Martial Master competitors, and his ranking dramatically increased again to 219,876. Suddenly, he realized a problem: the opponents he was currently matched against were generally in the Peak Martial Master stage. This meant that the Great Ming Empire alone had accumulated nearly five million people just at the Martial Master stage!

“Looking at it this way, the Great Ming Empire’s reserve strength cannot be considered small, right? After all, there must be many people who haven't even entered the challenge competition. This scale is quite considerable!” Long Yuan lamented in his heart. It truly was a Martial Dao World. Even just the Great Ming Empire alone possessed so many Xuan Practitioners. If you added in all the other countries on Blue Star, the number of Xuan Practitioners would likely be uncountable and constantly growing.

But Long Yuan knew very well that the competition between nations relied on top-tier combat power. The presence or absence of a single Martial King could very likely determine the outcome of the struggle for dominance. Even if the foundational strength was vast, if they couldn't dominate at the high-end level, it would be useless. This was the cruel reality!

The ultimate goal of the Great Ming Empire in holding such a Genius Challenge Competition was to select and nurture individuals with absolute potential, hoping that some of them could eventually break through successfully and grow into the Empire's high-end combat power, even reaching the level of Martial Commander or Martial King!

This action might not be unprecedented, but it had certainly never occurred in the history of the Great Ming Empire. This was because, in the past, the Great Ming Imperial Dynasty absolutely forbade the emergence of high-end combat power that surpassed the Royal Family, as that would certainly shake the Foundation of the Royal Family's rule. However, the introduction of such a measure now was quite thought-provoking. Although the threat posed by the “Three Martial Kings in One Day” incident was certainly a factor, Long Yuan believed that publicly launching this Genius Challenge Competition must contain other important information.

What exactly was this information?

“Perhaps the Great Ming Royal Family is confident in controlling any potential Martial King combat power? Or perhaps the Great Ming Royal Family already possesses Martial King combat power? Could it be that Prince An, whom I previously speculated about, has truly become a Martial King? Or have other hidden Royal experts also become Martial Kings? Only then would the Great Ming Royal Family promote this Genius Challenge Competition with such fanfare, right?” Long Yuan analyzed in his heart.

He had actually long suspected that the Great Ming Empire must possess Martial King combat power, whether within the Royal Family or among civilian forces. Not to mention that martial Dao development has spanned nearly a thousand years now, even the Spiritual Qi Tide has been around for hundreds of years. With both factors combined, certain super experts might have evolved long ago, but simply haven't revealed themselves publicly. Just like the three great nations—War Bear Country, Snow Eagle Country, and Flying Lion Country—each could unveil their own Martial King within a single day. Clearly, Martial King combat power is high-end strength secretly reserved by all nations, only revealed when needed to achieve the effect of deterring opponents!

“However, while the Human Race has reserves of Martial King combat power, the same might not be true at the Martial Saint level. Yet, among the Exotic Beasts, there are already powerful entities who have reached the Martial Saint stage. If the Human Race cannot produce Martial Saint combat power, I'm afraid they will soon suffer a major blow from the Exotic Beasts... I hope the Human Race also has Martial Saint combat power! Excluding myself, of course...” Long Yuan shook his head, recovered his focus, and continued the challenge. For him, this kind of low-level fighting consumed almost none of his Mental Energy. Since he was idle anyway, he might as well earn some points first.

In this Genius Challenge Competition, every victory yields a point reward, while failure results in a deduction of a certain number of points. Fighting across ranks doubles the point reward, and failure does not result in a deduction. These points are quite valuable; they can be exchanged for Cultivation resources offline, used as circulating currency for purchases, transfers, payments, and so on. Their utility is growing, making them increasingly popular.

Since the space currently rewards generously and deducts little, aiming to encourage people to engage more in fighting and Cultivating, many individuals have become enthusiastic about entering the space to challenge others. If they can catch a weak opponent, they can vigorously fleece them, achieving the personal goal of rapid wealth accumulation.

“Does Long Yuan wish to continue the challenge?” The Intelligent Voice sounded.

“Continue!”

“Understood! Your current rank is 876. Your next matched opponent is...”

As soon as the voice finished, Long Yuan arrived in a Desert Area. Yellow sand filled the sky, and in the distance, dunes piled up, spreading outwards in circles. The sun hung high, baking the ground, and the air was filled with a scorching aura... Focusing his Divine Sense, he saw a change in aura not far away on the opposite side, revealing a young man wearing black battle armor and wielding a Square Sky Halberd. His skin was bronze, his expression stern. Upon seeing Long Yuan, he immediately adopted a fighting stance, his eyes cautiously scanning the information displayed on the Virtual Light Screen beside Long Yuan... “Long Yuan, Fengyang No. 1 High School, Late-stage Martial Master? Where is Fengyang...” A hint of confusion appeared on the young man's face. He had absolutely no impression of Fengyang, thinking it must come from a small place. But for this Long Yuan to charge up to this rank, it was clear a great Dragon had emerged from a small place. He would not underestimate his opponent... Long Yuan chuckled inwardly at the sight of the opponent's serious, combat-ready posture. He looked at the opponent's information: “Tang Chengfeng, Shuntian Academy, Late-stage Martial Ancestor...”