Chapter 359: The First Legend
Chapter 359: The First Legend
After Li Xuan left, the celebrity contestants remaining on stage all turned their gazes towards Ji Xinghuo. Many of them were eager to approach and befriend him.
However, Ji Xinghuo didn't give them the opportunity and directly flew back to his private box.
"Big Brother!"
Liang Qiu Feiyan exclaimed excitedly, "This time, you've truly struck gold! 1,500 billion, you could live several lifetimes in luxury and still not spend it all!"
The entire family was in high spirits.
"Everyone here shares in my good fortune," Ji Xinghuo said with a smile to his siblings. "Man Ying and I also placed bets overseas, amounting to 150 billion, all on my victory. The payout won't be much less than Li Xuan's wager, and it might even be more."
Everyone was left dumbfounded.
The An Yitian siblings and Su Ziyou's group had also placed bets at that time. "Thank you for letting us share in your wealth," they said.
Wang Yindragon expressed his surprise. "You guys too?"
Su Ziyou provided a brief explanation.
"So, all of you were so confident in Brother Xinghuo. If I'd known, I would have placed a bet as well. What a pity." Wang Yindragon shook his head, unable to hide his regret.
"Holy sht!"
Chi Zhonglin exclaimed, "You guys went all out!"
He and Zhuo Lige Tu had also placed bets, but they didn't have as much confidence in Ji Xinghuo, so they had only wagered a few million. Now, he felt like his heart was bleeding, having missed out on a huge opportunity.
Ji Xinghuo patted his shoulder. "You lacked conviction."
"How was I supposed to know that you'd become so strong, to the point of defeating a Heavenly King? That Li Xuan guy is such a pushover!" Chi Zhonglin regretted his decision immensely. "Next time, I'll blindly bet on your victory."
"There won't be a next time," Ji Xinghuo said with a smile.
Such good fortune was hard to come by. Now that the whole world knew his strength, no one would dare to gamble against him, and even if they did, the odds wouldn't be nearly as high.
"Let's go!"
Ji Xinghuo waved his hand. "I'm hosting a celebration party tonight. I invite you all to join me. Let's head out now!"
Everyone in the box responded enthusiastically, agreeing to attend.
Zhao Manying had reserved a venue at the best nightclub in Chang'an, and moments later, Ji Xinghuo arrived with his family and friends. The nightclub was located on the top two floors of a skyscraper that soared over two kilometers high in the heart of the city, boasting comprehensive facilities and top-notch service.
Expensive liquor and delicious delicacies were constantly served, and the attendants were all handsome men and beautiful women.
Everyone let loose and enjoyed themselves.
Chi Zhonglin had already wrapped his arms around two beauties, flirting on the sofa while drinking with Zhuo Lige Tu.
The unmarried had their own style of fun, and the married couples had theirs.
Although Ji Xinghuo was unmarried, he had his girlfriend by his side, so he naturally had to exercise some restraint.
He soaked in the rooftop's infinity pool, admiring the bustling nightlife of Chang'an. He felt completely relaxed and at ease.
Among the attendants serving by the pool, there were several beauties with exceptional looks. They had recognized Ji Xinghuo and were inwardly stirred, frequently glancing at him. However, not a single one of them dared to make a move.
This was because they also recognized the woman beside Ji Xinghuo.
It was Zhao Manying!
Zhao Manying had changed into a bikini, confidently showcasing her perfect figure. She leaned against Ji Xinghuo, whispering intimately and asserting her claim on him to the other women.
Even as Ji Xinghuo and his family celebrated, the online world remained ablaze with excitement.
People were still relishing the aftertaste of those three battles.
Related videos were repeatedly watched on various websites, with total views surpassing a hundred billion.
Countless people engaged in fervent discussions across social media platforms, forums, live streams, and more. Ji Xinghuo's name could be seen everywhere, with over half of the top one hundred global trending topics being related to him. People debated his strength and talent, his background, his wealth, his age, his appearance...
Everything about Ji Xinghuo was up for discussion!
The number of followers on Ji Xinghuo's social media accounts continued to surge.
After winning the Global Marathon and defeating the Sun King to claim the championship, his follower count had already surpassed 30 billion on that day. Now, it was rapidly approaching 50 billion!
A significant portion of these followers were from overseas. On average, one out of every eight people worldwide had followed him.
Zhao Manying snuggled in Ji Xinghuo's embrace as the projection screen continually refreshed with new content.
The two of them watched together.
"Your fame and popularity have already surpassed mine," Zhao Manying said as she refreshed Ji Xinghuo's social media account, which now showed a follower count of over 50 billion.
Over the past few years, she had consistently won championships, but her follower count only stood at over 30 billion.
"This doesn't hold much significance for me," Ji Xinghuo said, wrapping his arms around Zhao Manying's slender waist underwater. "Besides, my popularity is your popularity. We're not separate entities."
Zhao Manying smiled. "I'm not jealous of you, but I like it when you say things like that."
"Hahaha..."
Ji Xinghuo laughed, and then an idea struck him.
He stretched out his hand, and the nearby phone floated over, hovering in front of him. He activated the camera and framed himself and Zhao Manying in the shot. "Let's take a picture."
"Okay!" Zhao Manying guessed his intention and readily agreed.
The camera angle lifted to capture an overhead shot of the two of them pressed closely together by the pool. Zhao Manying turned her head and gently kissed Ji Xinghuo, who was only showing his side profile. Their fingers were interlaced, and behind them was the vibrant nightlife of Chang'an. The moment was frozen in time.
They took several more photos, and then Ji Xinghuo handed the phone to Zhao Manying. "Choose one and post it."
Zhao Manying carefully selected her favorite photo, added a caption, and then uploaded it.
Within seconds, hundreds of thousands of comments flooded the post.
Zhao Manying happily scrolled through the comments, a smile on her face. Whenever she came across funny comments, she would laugh and even take the time to like them. On the other hand, she immediately deleted and reported any offensive or inappropriate comments.
"Women..." Ji Xinghuo sighed inwardly.
No matter how famous or powerful a woman was, they tended to care more about what others thought. Of course, Zhao Manying wasn't an ordinary woman; her independent personality made her feel a sense of crisis.
With this thought, Ji Xinghuo suddenly felt a twinge of guilt, and he glanced in the direction of Chi Zhonglin.
Jiang Nan Caiyi was also present today.
Out of everyone here, she only knew him and Chi Zhonglin, but she had only exchanged a few words with him earlier. Instead, she kept glancing at Zhao Manying.
"That was a mistake," Ji Xinghuo thought, his expression unchanged.
He hadn't invited Jiang Nan Caiyi, but coincidentally, she had returned to Earth from the Star Realm and had messaged him after seeing the news, concerned about his well-being. In hindsight, he shouldn't have invited her to the venue.
If Zhao Manying and Jiang Nan Caiyi had chatted more, their secret might have been exposed.
Fortunately, that didn't happen.
Most of the time, Jiang Nan Caiyi stayed by Chi Zhonglin's side and didn't say anything out of the ordinary, behaving like a normal friend.
"The Legend Ranking and Celestial Ladder have been updated!" Liang Qiu Feiyan ran over excitedly.
Everyone opened the ADC's official website.
At the same time, someone posted the news online, and it quickly rose to the top few spots on the trending search list.
Zhao Manying opened the Legend Ranking on the projection screen in front of her, and Ji Xinghuo's name was indeed at the top.
"Legend Ranking first place!"
"Wow..."
Everyone instinctively looked at Ji Xinghuo and then turned to Wang Yindragon, who was with the An Yitian siblings. Wang Yindragon had been the previous Legend Ranking first place, but now he had dropped to second. However, his expression remained unchanged.
Wang Yindragon smiled lightly, "As I said, after your three matches with Li Xuan, you would soar to the top of the Legend Ranking."
"Thank you," Ji Xinghuo nodded to him.
"There's no need for thanks. Your strength surpasses mine, and this first place is well-deserved." Wang Yindragon said sincerely, "When I feel that I'm strong enough, I will challenge you again."
Ji Xinghuo agreed, "I'll be waiting."
However, he didn't think Wang Yindragon would have another chance.
With his rapid growth in strength, unless he was stuck at the Saint Master of the Stars bottleneck for many years, Wang Yindragon wouldn't be able to catch up.
"I'm back to the top of the Celestial Ladder too!" Zhao Manying noticed her name.
With Ji Xinghuo's ascension to a legendary being, he was automatically removed from the Celestial Ladder, and Zhao Manying rose from second place to the top.
Liang Qiu Feiyan quickly congratulated her, "Congratulations, Sister Manying!"
Zhao Manying nodded, but she didn't feel particularly happy.
She had been at the top of the Celestial Ladder for several years and was used to it. However, these brief two to three months as second place had put a lot of pressure on her, and the source of this pressure was none other than Ji Xinghuo. Her boyfriend's strength was growing too quickly, leaving her behind.
There was a significant difference between being first on the Celestial Ladder and being a legendary being.
If Zhao Manying didn't work harder to catch up with Ji Xinghuo, their gap would only widen.
Unaware of Zhao Manying's thoughts, Ji Xinghuo continued browsing the rankings. ADC provided a simple explanation for his new ranking.
Defeating a Heavenly King as a legendary being, the first person in the world to do so.
"Hmm?"
Ji Xinghuo instinctively opened the Heavenly King Ranking and noticed that the name of the ranking had changed.
Soon, an official announcement popped up.
He quickly read through it. Apparently, the "Star Realm Defense Council" of ADC had carefully considered that the Heavenly King Ranking could no longer accurately reflect the strength of global beings. In the past, only Heavenly Kings could be ranked, and being a Heavenly King meant that one was undoubtedly stronger than any legendary being. Even the weakest Heavenly King was stronger than the top-ranked legendary being.
Therefore, as long as one became a Heavenly King, they would be ranked.
However, today, an exception had occurred.
That exception was Ji Xinghuo!
Ji Xinghuo had directly defeated Li Xuan, a Heavenly King. According to the rules of the Heavenly King Ranking, their rankings should have been swapped.
But since Ji Xinghuo was still a legendary being, placing him on the Heavenly King Ranking didn't seem appropriate.
After an emergency discussion, the "Star Realm Defense Council" decided to include Ji Xinghuo in the ranking but changed the name of the ranking.
It was now called the "Global Battle Power Ranking."
As the name suggested, this ranking was based solely on actual battle power, and anyone could be ranked, regardless of being a Heavenly King or a legendary being.
Ascending to Heavenly King automatically qualified one for the ranking.
For beings below the Heavenly King tier who wished to be ranked, they would have to defeat any being on the Global Battle Power Ranking.
Currently, there were 50 people on the Global Battle Power Ranking, including 49 Heavenly Kings and Ji Xinghuo.
Ji Xinghuo opened the Global Battle Power Ranking.
To his surprise, he found himself ranked 31st!
(End of Chapter)
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