Chapter 138: Virtual World

Chapter 138: Virtual World

"Give it a try," said Ji Xinghuo.

Qinghong raised her head, her eyes flashing with thought, and soon she understood the utility of the Gravity Mutation.

She revealed her true form in the bed, her serpentine body over forty feet long and weighing several dozen kilograms. But in an instant, she became as light as a feather, her body lunging forward, her speed increasing severalfold. In the blink of an eye, she reached the corner of the room, and just as she was about to crash into the wall, she suddenly descended, forcibly changing her direction of motion.

This lunge and fall demonstrated the essence of a Gravity Master's ability.

By momentarily altering their own weight, they could change their speed and strength.

When light, their speed increased exponentially without compromising their strength; when heavy, their speed decreased, but the same amount of force inflicted greater damage.

"Come here."

Qinghong coiled herself around Ji Xinghuo's hand.

Her weight immediately increased, and Ji Xinghuo felt his arm sink slightly as Qinghong's weight tripled to over a hundred kilograms.

Then she became lighter again, weighing just over ten kilograms.

The shift in gravity was incredibly fast, almost instantaneous.

And this was just the transformation in her true form; when miniaturized, Qinghong became even lighter, nearly weightless, and her speed increased further. When in her giant form, she could become extremely heavy, reaching ten tons! Her giant form could also become lighter, allowing her to balance speed and strength.

"Gravity Mutation is truly a perfect match for miniaturization and gigantism!" exclaimed Ji Xinghuo as he watched Qinghong explore the effects of Gravity Mutation.

Moreover, when Qinghong hid inside him, Gravity Mutation also affected him!

He let Qinghong coil around his hand, altering his own weight.

The sensation was peculiar; although his body mass remained unchanged, his speed and strength varied, still abiding by the law of conservation of momentum.

He looked at the interface, seeing that upgrading Gravity Mutation to level two required 67 points of spiritual source energy. He had just over 80 points remaining, enough for the upgrade.

Ji Xinghuo placed his hand on Qinghong and channeled his spiritual source energy.

Soon, Gravity Mutation reached [Level 2 - 1/347].

After the upgrade, Qinghong could manipulate gravity over a wider range, increasing her weight by up to five times or reducing it to a fifth, thus amplifying her speed and strength.

"You practice on your own now."

Ji Xinghuo sent Qinghong to the training room to practice her new ability, while he returned the remaining abilities.

By the time he finished, it was already 2 a.m.

The days and nights on Earth and in the Star World differed in length, and having spent a year and a half in the Star World, he now experienced jet lag upon his return. Thus, he couldn't fall asleep but didn't feel like cultivating either.

Ji Xinghuo noticed the virtual platform login cabin in the corner and suddenly felt intrigued.

He lay down in it.

Magnetic lines fixed his body in place, and two neural sensory lines attached to his temples. He closed his eyes and whispered, "Power on."

The virtual cabin trembled slightly as it activated.

Ji Xinghuo felt a weak electric current pass through his body, causing no harm or discomfort. In an instant, it collected his physical data: height, weight, muscle and bone density, heart rate, brain waves, and more. He felt a slight pressure on his temples, and without opening his eyes, he could "see" his surroundings.

This was a visual neural signal sent directly to his brain, forming images in his mind.

Ji Xinghuo entered his secure house.

This was the login point for every virtual platform user, customizable to their preferences.

His login point was set to default, located on a low-lying hillside. The sun shone brightly, a gentle breeze blew, and all around was a boundless grassland. In the distance, there were snow-capped mountains, and fluffy clouds drifted in the sky.

Ji Xinghuo looked down at himself; his avatar was also set to default, identical to his real-life physique and build. He wore a white short-sleeved shirt and long pants.

He raised his hand and a row of icons appeared before him.

Each icon represented a different virtual world, offering various functions. Shopping, tourism, movies, online offices, classes, social media, battle platforms, games—almost everything from the real world had been replicated in the virtual one.

Ji Xinghuo stared at the icons before him, lost in thought.

In the past, he had barely noticed that this was a virtual world. It was incredibly difficult to distinguish between the virtual and the real, and to him, it was convincingly lifelike.

The majority of people felt the same way.

Hence, countless individuals became addicted to the vibrant virtual worlds, escaping their dull and mundane lives.

However, Ji Xinghuo could now instantly tell that this was fake.

His microscopic perception constantly reminded him that everything around him was illusory—smells, touches, sights; everything he perceived was like a bubble, easily popped.

Ji Xinghuo still sensed the real world, and even without opening his eyes, he clearly understood his physical state.

It was as if he possessed two bodies simultaneously.

For an ordinary person, this might have induced neurological disorders, but Ji Xinghuo easily adapted to this state, temporarily ignoring reality and focusing his attention on the virtual world.

He reached out and lightly tapped one of the icons before him.

The icon was designed with simplicity in mind, featuring a variation of the character for "martial" that resembled a person throwing a punch, conveyed through clear and concise strokes.

"Martial World!"

The Global Martial Arts Association had launched this martial arts battle platform for online sparring. From the first to the sixth dan, practitioners could earn points on this platform by defeating opponents and use those points to advance in rank.

Ji Xinghuo's surroundings transformed, and he instantly found himself in an ancient-style courtyard.

More options appeared before him.

Spectate, advance in rank, match, clothing, leaderboards, character profiles... Ji Xinghuo opened his character profile and viewed his information.

Nickname: Stellar Flame

Gender: Male

Age: 25

Rank: Amateur 3rd Dan

Record: 1935 wins, 504 losses

Points: 1563

To the right of the character interface was his avatar, with the system's default appearance and clothing. He hadn't spent a single cent on this martial arts platform.

Those high-scoring players on the leaderboard had participated in millions of matches! In comparison, Ji Xinghuo's number of matches was minuscule.

He opened the platform's data, and at this time, there were still over three hundred million people online on the martial arts platform. The users weren't just anomalies; ordinary people could also participate in the battles, although it was difficult for them to advance in rank.

"Time to practice."

Ji Xinghuo was eager to give it a try.

Ever since gaining microscopic perception, he hadn't truly sparred with anyone in martial arts.

And the biggest improvement microscopic perception brought was in close-quarters combat.

Although in the virtual martial arts platform, the attributes of the character were not as advanced as his real body, and many abilities couldn't be used, only pure martial arts prowess was allowed in the competition.

But he believed that microscopic perception would still make him invincible in the virtual world!

Ji Xinghuo was about to start when he noticed that some of his classmates and friends were online. He thought for a moment, exited the martial arts platform's login interface, and registered a new account, creating a character with the default appearance and clothes, but with body statistics identical to his real-life ones.

He spent a few minutes deciding on a name, as all the names he could think of were already taken.

Ji Xinghuo furrowed his brows in thought and typed "New Heaven".

It was already in use.

He shook his head, added the numbers 2223 after "New Heaven", but that was also taken. 2224 was taken as well, and he finally settled on 2225. He successfully created the account, skipped the newbie tutorial, but couldn't immediately participate in rank-up matches. He had to first complete ten newbie matches for the system to determine his initial rank.

"What a hassle."

Ji Xinghuo set his weapons to sword and knife, chose his preferred style, and started the match.

The matchmaking was almost instant, and after a three-second countdown, he arrived on a battle stage.

The square stage had a side length of fifty meters, with spectator seats all around, but they were empty.

In the middle of the stage, a light screen separated the two opponents, and Ji Xinghuo saw his rival—a teenager of seventeen or eighteen. One look and you could tell that his character had been carefully customized, with star-like eyebrows and a sword-like gaze, a handsome and graceful figure. He wore a fitted white martial arts uniform, with a jade belt around his waist, a silver crown on his head, and held an ornate longsword.

"A pay-to-win player."

Ji Xinghuo opened his opponent's profile but couldn't see his name. Like himself, he had no rank and was a newbie.

However, he was a wealthy newbie.

This set of equipment was worth several thousand Asia Dollars, but it didn't actually increase his combat power at all. No matter how ornate the longsword was, the attack power was the same for everyone.

The opponent was also observing Ji Xinghuo, and seeing his default white-board character, his initially tense mood eased a little.

A ten-second countdown appeared on the light screen.

Ji Xinghuo, holding a knife in his right hand, walked step by step towards the light screen. When he reached it, the countdown ended, and the screen disappeared as he continued towards his opponent.

His opponent suddenly felt a sense of pressure.

He raised his longsword and rushed towards Ji Xinghuo. When the distance between them narrowed to just five steps, he suddenly accelerated, using a thrust he had practiced for several years, pointing the tip of his sword at Ji Xinghuo's throat. He was confident that even if he couldn't defeat his opponent, he could at least force him back a few steps.

Puh.

Before the longsword could pierce anything, Ji Xinghuo's knife had already slashed open his opponent's neck.

The battle was over.

The stage was once again separated by the light screen, and both players returned to their original positions.

"What the hell!"

His opponent's face was filled with disbelief and bewilderment, not understanding how he had lost, but knowing that he had encountered a master.

According to the rules, the losing side could initiate another challenge, and the points would still be calculated as usual.

The winner could accept or refuse.

If the winner accepted the rematch and lost the second round, the loser would no longer have the right to challenge again; but if the loser won the second round, they could initiate another challenge for a third round; regardless of the outcome of the third round, this set of matches would then be completely over.

It could be understood as a best-of-three format, with points calculated separately for each round, on the premise that the winner agreed to the rematch.

Ji Xinghuo received the request for the second round.

He immediately accepted.

A countdown appeared on the light screen, and in ten seconds, Ji Xinghuo ended the match with a single knife strike, not giving his opponent any chance at all, without even clashing blades once.

Two victories in a row, and this set of matches was completely over.

Ji Xinghuo ignored his opponent's intention to chat and exited the stage, starting the matchmaking process again and seeing his next opponent.

In less than five minutes, Ji Xinghuo had defeated five opponents in a row.

These opponents weren't all newbies, and the system matched him with stronger opponents each time, but the result was the same. Each opponent lost twice in a row, and none could withstand him for even three seconds, with the most time-consuming part being the pre-match countdown.

"New Heaven2225, you have completed the matching battles."

"According to the system's assessment, your rank is 'Elite 6th Dan'!"

Ji Xinghuo received the system prompt, and his character's information jumped directly to the 6th Dan in martial arts, with his points soaring from 0 to 7000.

This was the highest rank and points that the matching system could offer.

To reach the 7th Dan in martial arts, one needed to accumulate 10,000 points and maintain a win rate of 55% or above; or one could participate in offline ranking matches, or join martial arts competitions and place highly, to be promoted directly by the Martial Arts Association.

Ji Xinghuo had no intention of participating in martial arts competitions; he just wanted to test his skills, so he chose the "rank-up" battle.

Soon, he was transmitted to the stage and saw his opponent.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end