Chapter 34

"Li Miaomiao said, 'I don’t know why the mission space has been delayed until now.' 'From the name, it should be giving us tasks, right?' Xu Jingming replied. 'It’s probably not that simple,' Li Miaomiao pondered, glanced at the time, and immediately got up to walk towards the bedroom. 'Come on, let’s not chat here anymore. We need to log in quickly.' Xu Jingming also got up, and the two of them entered the bedroom, lying on the bed and putting on their virtual helmets. 'I always feel that this mission space will have a big surprise,' Li Miaomiao turned to look at Xu Jingming lying beside her. 'We’ll know soon,' Xu Jingming smiled, lightly touched the activation point of the virtual helmet, and the metal contacts inside the helmet touched his scalp, causing a slight tingling sensation as his consciousness quickly submerged.

******

In the virtual world's personal space, atop a snowy mountain.

Xu Jingming sat leisurely in the living room, opened his personal panel, and saw that the mission space option was still gray and could not be clicked, but there was now a countdown.

'10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3... 2... 1!' Xu Jingming watched the countdown, and when it ended, the mission space, like the battle space, could be clicked.

'Enter.'

Xu Jingming lightly tapped, and he was immediately transported to the mission space.

At this moment, countless people around the world were in the virtual world, clicking to enter the mission space.

Whoosh.

Xu Jingming appeared high in the sky of a world, looking down at the vast land.

'Is this the mission space?' Xu Jingming looked down at the vast land, where over 99% of the area was shrouded in black mist, and only the central area was clear, with a towering tower standing there.

Xu Jingming fell like a meteor and landed in front of the tower.

'This tower must be several kilometers high. The tallest building in reality isn’t this exaggerated,' Xu Jingming looked up at the tower, amazed.

It felt more majestic than any mountain in reality.

Alone, Xu Jingming walked to the main entrance of the tower, where text began to appear on the tower wall.

'Personal Task 1: Conquer the Starry Tower.'

'The Starry Tower has seven floors.'

'The top 100 people who conquer the third floor will be listed on the Starry List, showing their names and nationalities. The first place will receive a prize of 500 million Blue Star Coins, the second to tenth places will receive 100 million Blue Star Coins, and the 11th to 100th places will receive 10 million Blue Star Coins.'

'The rewards for the fourth and fifth floors are the same as the third floor.'

'The rewards for the sixth and seventh floors are unknown (not disclosed).'

'Everyone can attempt to conquer the Starry Tower an unlimited number of times.'

Xu Jingming read the text and thought, 'Conquering the Starry Tower is the first personal task, which means there might be a second and third personal task, or even team tasks in the future.'

'However, the prizes are really substantial, even more than the World Martial Arts Competition prizes,' Xu Jingming was also quite excited.

In the World Martial Arts Competition, the champion receives 500 million in cash, but the runner-up only gets 100 million, and the third place and below receive decreasing amounts, with the group stage only receiving consolation prizes. However, the Starry Tower’s third floor alone offers 100 million for the 2nd to 10th places and 10 million for the 11th to 100th places.

...

'Global public ranking? Who is the world’s first and who is the world’s second will be clear,' a long-haired man in a dark red robe in Japan looked at the Japanese text on the Starry Tower wall, his eyes gleaming.

...

'Gather all the top fighters from different eras and categories from around the world, from the world’s first to the world’s hundredth, and list them all. No more empty talk,' a bald man looked at the Rōmaji text on the tower wall, 'I can also prove to the world that I am the strongest human being!'

...

'Even the nationalities are displayed, so experts from different countries will compete fiercely. And there are so many prizes.'

'500 million, 100 million? Even the least, 10 million, if given to me, would make me rich. If I put it in the bank, I’d earn hundreds of thousands in interest every year.'

'So much money, if I get it, I can pay off my loans!'

'Let’s go in and try, maybe a miracle will happen?'

'The Blue Star Alliance is awesome, offering so many prizes!'

'First come, first served, let’s go!'

'Be the first to run!'

Countless people around the world, seeing the text on the Starry Tower wall, were stirred up and rushed into the Starry Tower. Xu Jingming, Liu Hai, Lei Yunfang, Gao Chong, Yang Qingshuo, and others also entered the Starry Tower.

******

The first floor of the Starry Tower was a vast grassland.

A figure descended, and it was Xu Jingming, enveloped in a faint light.

'Xu Jingming, please choose your weapon and equipment,' a voice said.

Xu Jingming, very familiar with the process, lightly tapped the panel, and he was immediately dressed in dark red armor, holding a long spear. If it were a team battle, to coordinate with teammates, dual shields might be more useful. But if he had to fight alone, a single long spear was better, and not carrying dual shields would also reduce his burden.

'Swish.' After selecting his equipment, gray wolves began to appear in the distance, over a hundred of them lurking in the grass, staring at Xu Jingming and gradually closing in.

'Wolf pack?'

Xu Jingming held his spear and observed, 'These gray wolves are over two meters long and about 1.2 meters tall at the shoulder. They seem much more agile than real-world wolves. It makes sense; ordinary wolf packs pose too little threat to evolved humans.'

The wolf pack closed in and naturally formed a包围圈.

'Aoouu.'

With the howl of the lead wolf, the gray wolves finally charged, their figures darting through the tall grass at incredible speed.

Their eyes were cold, filled with killing intent.

'Are they here to help me practice my spear skills?' Xu Jingming smiled and moved forward, his speed increasing with just a few steps, his figure blurring as he ran.

'Roar.'

The moment the two sides were close, six gray wolves leaped forward.

Puh puh puh!!!

Xu Jingming’s spear moved, and the spear shadow danced, almost instantly dividing into six! The six wolves that charged first were simultaneously pierced, falling helplessly to the side.

'They are much weaker than my virtual bandits, probably only about 200 base combat power,' Xu Jingming thought, while wielding his spear and charging through the wolf pack, the spear shadow flashing continuously, and one by one, the gray wolves fell dead.

These gray wolves, despite their large size, could only attack in groups of eight or nine at most. With Xu Jingming’s speed in wielding the spear, he could easily kill all of them. If they attacked in groups of three or five, it would be even easier.

In just a few moments, the large wolf pack was reduced to only two gray wolves, which were now whimpering and fleeing in the distance.

'First floor cleared, preparing to enter the second floor of the Starry Tower,' a voice said.

At this moment, Xu Jingming’s body was restored, and even the blood on his spear had disappeared.

'The first floor was really easy,' Xu Jingming thought, suddenly remembering his girlfriend, 'It might not be very friendly to beginners like Miaomiao.'

For Li Miaomiao, even a single large gray wolf would be quite intimidating.

A hundred of them attacking at once?

It was too cruel for beginners!

'Whoosh.'

The scene before Xu Jingming changed, and he was now on the second floor of the Starry Tower.