Chapter 133: The World is Watching
Chapter 133: The World is Watching
Virtual Network.
The Ten Schools Freshman Battle, held on the Starfield Combat Network, had specially designated a unique battle arena for the second round, allowing spectators from all participating schools to watch the matches.
At 8:00 a.m., Li Yuan entered the Starfield Combat Network. As his identity had been registered beforehand, he was able to directly access the 'Ten Schools Freshman Battle Arena'.
With a flash of light, Li Yuan found himself in an enormous arena.
In the center stood a circular free-for-all arena with a diameter exceeding 200 meters.
Surrounding the arena was a sea of spectators, so dense it resembled a human ocean. Looking around, there were probably over 100,000 people.
Li Yuan was seated in a viewing area very close to the arena.
"Brother Yuan, you're finally here!" Gu Qianghan, sitting in front of him, exclaimed with excitement, "The matches are about to begin, and you, as a seeded player, didn't come earlier."
"Senior Brother!"
"Senior Brother." The area was packed with freshmen from the six academies.
Li Yuan scanned the area further away and spotted many familiar figures—first-year students from other academies.
There were so many people.
"Li Yuan, hang in there!" A voice suddenly called out from behind Li Yuan.
Li Yuan turned around and couldn't help but smile at the caller, his senior sister Qiu Jing.
She was surrounded by many sophomores.
"Why are there so many people?" Li Yuan turned back and sat down, unable to resist asking.
"Senior Brother, you didn't come to watch yesterday's matches," An Nong explained with a smile.
Li Yuan shook his head.
With the super-expert Dantai Feng present, it would be extremely difficult to claim first place, so he dared not relax.
Yesterday, he had been immersed in cultivation.
"Only students from our ten schools are participating, plus a few wildcard students," Gu Qianghan explained. "But among the spectators, in addition to students from our ten schools, students from the top three elite martial arts schools also have viewing privileges."
Li Yuan instantly understood.
No wonder Lin Lan Yue had mentioned the previous night that she would come to watch once he advanced to the finals.
"Additionally, students from participating countries like Xia Nation, Sakura Nation, ASEAN, and Tenzin Nation will also be granted viewing rights to learn from the competition," An Nong explained with a smile. "For example, students from our country's twenty-nine ordinary martial arts universities are eligible to watch."
"Only first-year students are participating, but sophomores to fifth-year students can also spectate."
"So..."
"In theory, the number of spectators could easily surpass three million," An Nong sighed. "Of course, it's just a theory; students above the third year usually don't pay much attention."
"The main spectators are first-year students and a small number of sophomores."
"But just yesterday, the peak number of spectators exceeded 200,000."
"Today's Cage Free-for-All battles will be even more exciting. Based on past data, surpassing 500,000 spectators shouldn't be difficult." An Nong smiled.
Li Yuan nodded slightly and scanned the area beyond the spectator stands, where more 'spectator seats' seemed to be appearing.
500,000 spectators? That's terrifying!
Fortunately, this is a virtual network, and creating a virtual battle platform is effortless.
If it were in reality, finding a venue to accommodate a million spectators would be nearly impossible.
"In the Cage Free-for-All, there will be ten matches in the morning and ten in the afternoon," Gu Qianghan couldn't help but exclaim. "Brother Yuan, which matches are you in?"
"Matches 3 and 17," Li Yuan replied with a smile.
After the conclusion of the first round the previous day, all students advancing to the second round had received their battle schedules.
"I'm in matches 6 and 12," An Nong said helplessly from the side.
"It's great that you made it to the second round. You're even better than Gu Qianghan," Li Yuan said with a smile.
"Damn it, Brother Yuan, don't say that. I was ranked in the top 3,000 in the first round, just a bit away from making it to the second round," Gu Qianghan blurted out.
The people around them laughed.
Li Yuan also smiled.
"Our academy has 67 students in the second round, ranking second among the eight academies in terms of numbers," An Nong introduced to Li Yuan. "In the entire school, a total of 453 students advanced to the second round, ranking first among the ten schools."
"Mhm." Li Yuan nodded slightly.
Globally, Kunlun Martial University is considered one of the top five martial arts universities, second only to the three top-tier martial arts academies.
It is indeed among the top five.
Of course, the gap between this top-five global martial arts university and the top three is quite significant.
Time passed.
As the main event drew nearer, the number of spectators increased. By 8:30 a.m., the number of spectators exceeded 400,000 and was steadily approaching 500,000.
400,000 spectators in a single viewing arena? What does that mean? Intelligence Quotient: The entire arena was packed with people, and the atmosphere in the battle arena was extremely lively.
- Students from various universities were engaged in intense discussions.
Finally, at 8:30 a.m., the event began.
Although there were slight time zone differences between countries, the impact was minimal due to their close proximity in the real world.
A brilliant light streaked across the sky, hundreds of meters high. Following this, a series of gigantic light screens appeared above the spectator stands, each one focused on a different part of the central arena.
This allowed spectators sitting anywhere around the arena to see everything happening on the stage.
Moreover, each spectator had a 'viewing screen' in front of them, which they could manually adjust.
Spectators could not only watch the matches through these screens but also send real-time 'danmu' (bullet comments).
"Welcome, students from various renowned martial arts schools," a deep voice resounded.
A man in a black robe appeared on the stage, with the character 'Wu' engraved on his chest.
His voice echoed throughout the entire battle arena.
"Today, we present the second round of the Ten Schools Freshman Battle, the most spectacular 'Cage Free-for-All'!" The towering man's voice rose with excitement. "1,997 elite students from the top ten schools will compete against three martial geniuses from Starfire University.
"The rules are as follows:"
...
"Excellent. The participants only need to know these rules," the towering host announced with a smile. "For those of us watching, there's just one thing to remember."
"In the Cage Free-for-All, the survivor lives!"
"This is the most brutal battle, the most blood-boiling test!" The towering man's voice rose with fervor. "Only the strongest will survive until the end!"
"I hereby declare the official start of the second round of the Ten Schools Freshman Battle, the 'Cage Free-for-All'!"
Boom! The music reverberated through the sky.
The spectator stand in the battle arena, with over 500,000 viewers, erupted into thunderous cheers that deafened the ears.
"So passionate," Li Yuan couldn't help but exclaim, as it was his first time experiencing such a massive audience.
"Once the crowd surpasses ten thousand, it's a sea of people," Gu Qianghan laughed. "Brother Yuan, you should know that most of these spectators are students from various ordinary martial arts universities. They're here for the spectacle, and they'll cheer as long as their own school's students win."
Li Yuan nodded in agreement.
Each spectator had their own allegiances, hoping for their own school's victory.
But when it came to students from Jiangbei Martial University, they were there to support any Xia National who won.
Gradually, the cheers subsided.
"First round!" The towering man's voice boomed like thunder, "Preparation begins!"
Swish! Swish! Swish! The students who had been observing on the arena quickly vanished, entering the 'Preparation Space'.
Of course, the disappearance of 200 students was barely noticeable in an arena with over 500,000 spectators.
Just 15 seconds later...
Swish! Two hundred participants, armed with weapons and armor, appeared on the arena, forming a large circle along its edge.
Simultaneously, a giant light screen above the arena displayed the names of all 200 participants.
It also showed the 'Total Score Rankings'.
The top 8 and top 136 in the total rankings were highlighted in special colors.
The top 8 in total scores would directly advance to the fourth round.
Only the top 136 in total scores could enter the third round.
...
All the participants appeared on the arena in an instant.
The arena erupted with cheers and encouragement from various schools, like waves crashing upon the shore.
"Yang Hong!"
"Yang Hong! Go for it!" Students from Kunlun Martial University shouted in unison.
In the first round, several dozen students from Kunlun Martial University participated, but the strongest among them was Yang Hong.
However, there was no individual introduction of the contestants.
Therefore, no single student received particularly loud cheers, and countless voices echoed above the spectator stand, creating a chaotic din.
"Galava," Li Yuan's gaze swept across the arena, landing on an inconspicuous figure.
His dark skin, height of over 1.7 meters, ordinary features, and unremarkable appearance made him easily overlooked.
He held a long spear in his hand.
"Yang Hong is in trouble."
"Oh no," Li Yuan wasn't the only one who noticed Galava; many elite students from Kunlun Martial University recognized him as well.
Yang Hong himself also noticed.
...
On the arena, the ten-second countdown ended swiftly.
"Begin!" The towering man roared, then soared into the sky, not interfering with the combatants.
At the same time, the 200 participants simultaneously that their restraints had been released.
Boom! The free-for-all battle erupted in an instant.
As if in perfect harmony, whoosh! Whoosh! Over a dozen participants near Galava darted away like shadows, heading for more distant areas.
It was like a tiger entering a wolf pack; no one dared to engage Galava willingly.
The students who had advanced to the second round were no fools.
Most of them were aware of the top few experts.
Boom! The dark-skinned youth seemed to have anticipated this, and his figure flashed like lightning as he charged towards the area with the highest concentration of people.
Pfft! Pfft! The spear's shadow shifted, and in an instant, a renowned expert fell to the ground.
"Avoiding battle?"
"My goal is to secure the first place in the second round's points," Galava thought clearly, his eyes calm. "With Xia Nation's top experts absent, no one can match me."
"Wipe them out!"
A siege? It was more likely that he would sweep them all alone.
The intense battle raged on.
Galava's score skyrocketed, surging to the top of the total scores and leaving the second-place competitor far behind.
"Galava!"
"Galava!" This scene ignited the enthusiasm of over ten thousand Tenzin Nation students, who erupted in unprecedented cheers, momentarily drowning out all other voices on the spectator stand.
Galava's performance was overwhelmingly dominant.
...
In the first round, Galava undoubtedly survived until the end.
The most intense battle unfolded between him and Yang Hong.
However, even in this so-called intense battle, the exchange lasted no more than ten moves before Yang Hong was defeated.
In the end, Galava scored 52 points, temporarily securing the top spot in total scores!
Yang Hong scored 14 points, temporarily placing second.
The vast majority of participants had scores of zero.
...
In the second round, there was no expert strong enough to completely dominate, but the most dazzling was 'Kimura Toshio' from the Sakura Nation, also wielding a long spear.
He ultimately secured 31 points, temporarily placing second in total scores.
The spectator stand, accommodating hundreds of thousands, instantly echoed with cheers from tens of thousands of Sakura Nation students.
"Kimura-kun!"
"Kimura is so powerful; I think he's no weaker than Galava from the first round, and might even be the strongest."
"The strongest Kimura."
"Kimura-kun will definitely take the ultimate first place." Numerous comments scrolled across the spectator screen.
...
The third round commenced with the towering man's announcement.
200 participants had already emerged from the preparation space and were now on the arena.
Instantly, hundreds of thousands of spectators turned their attention to them.
"Senior Brother!"
"Where's Li Yuan?"
"Hmm? Why can't we see Senior Brother?" Thousands of Kunlun Martial University students searched for Li Yuan's figure.
But for a moment, they couldn't find him.
"Damn! Senior Brother is wearing a mask, afraid of being recognized? Senior Brother is so cunning."
"It's not just Li Yuan; others from our school are wearing masks too."
"This seems to be An Nong's idea, contacting the other academies participating in the third round at the last moment."
"Without name reminders and with over a dozen people wearing masks, the other schools won't recognize Senior Brother in a short time."
"An Nong, you're brilliant!"
"The battle has begun."
(End of Chapter)
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