Chapter 71

In the Life Evolution Bureau of Xia Kingdom, at 4 a.m.

Waves surged.

Secretary Guo gently knocked on the door.

"Please come in." A voice came from inside, and the door opened automatically.

"Director." Secretary Guo saw Director Zhou sitting at his desk, watching the replay of a match on the screen in front of him.

Secretary Guo said, "The second round of the Fire Seed Cup has ended, and the eight teams that advanced have been determined. Should the media promotion follow the old rules?"

"Promoting the competition and these experts is the old rule," Director Zhou smiled, "but we need to be flexible. For example, the four matches tomorrow, the first three have little controversy, but the fourth is different! Both teams are strong... it will be a great topic for discussion. Increase the promotion of the fourth match, especially Fang Yu and Xu Jingming, and raise their promotion level to Level 1."

"Level 1?" Secretary Guo was surprised, "Currently, only Lei Yunfang has a Level 1 promotion. If we promote them so strongly now, won't it ruin them? Xu Jingming is fine, but Fang Yu is only twenty. If we over-hype him, I'm worried..."

"Liuhai's promotion is at the special level, known by everyone," Director Zhou smiled, "and I haven't seen him destroyed. True experts are also important in terms of their mental fortitude. If they can be so easily ruined, they don't have much future, and if they are destroyed, so be it."

"Yes." Secretary Guo respectfully responded.

"The time left for our Blue Star is not much," Director Zhou said softly, "we must seize the opportunity and do everything we can to cultivate a batch of experts. Our Xia Kingdom's strategy is already considered moderate, but the Sakura Kingdom is ten times more aggressive."

"I understand."

Secretary Guo nodded, "I will immediately arrange the tasks according to the Level 1 promotion."

Director Zhou nodded.

...

In the morning, the Xu family gathered for breakfast, which is now the main family meal.

Because after a night of virtual world games, breakfast is the time with the most topics.

"Grandson, the rewards for your match today are really high," Grandpa Xu, who is particularly sensitive to rewards, sighed, "over ten million for one match."

"Only a bit more than a quarter of that is actually received," Xu Jingming said.

"Still complaining? You brat..." Grandpa Xu glared.

Beside him, Li Miaomiao said, "Because people have seen too many god-level battles and are used to various amazing performances. It's getting harder and harder to get them to reward! Even in the Fire Seed Cup, performing very well and getting a million in rewards is already quite rare. Yesterday, Jingming's match received over ten million, which is probably the highest since the Fire Seed Cup started. Fang Yu defeated Zhou Yi and received only about three million in rewards."

"He's stupid."

Grandpa Xu immediately said, "Rewards are also about stimulating the audience's excitement. For example, Grandson did a great job, first dealing with the three members of the Golden Phoenix team, each kill making the audience excited, and then killing all three, continuously increasing the audience's excitement. After that, he fought with Tie Lianyun... the audience was sufficiently excited and naturally rewarded."

"Fang Yu is different; he didn't show his full strength at the beginning."

"One-on-one, he only burst out when facing Zhou Yi! Once he burst out, it was incredibly fierce and violent. The audience was still stunned when he had already killed Zhou Yi. After the kill, the match was over, and there was no more time to reward! Many viewers hadn't even reacted, and the match was already over." Grandpa Xu shook his head, "He doesn't understand the art of rewarding. Rewards are about stimulating the audience's emotions and giving them time to express those emotions. He didn't give the audience enough time to vent their emotions."

Xu Jingming gave a thumbs up.

Li Miaomiao also exclaimed, "Grandpa, I've done live streaming, but I never thought about it this much."

"You've only done it a few times, not even a fraction of what I've done," Grandpa Xu shook his head, "Back in the day, I streamed for at least five hours every day, all year round. After so many years of streaming, these are all basic skills. It's a pity that I don't have Grandson's gun-shield skills. If I had his skills... I could easily be one of the top three streamers on the entire platform."

"Sometimes, it's not about showing all your strength to attract attention," Grandpa Xu said, "even deliberately performing to create the battle situation you want, thoroughly igniting the audience's emotions, makes them excited."

"Perform?" Xu Jingming and Li Miaomiao were puzzled.

"Most of the audience knows you're performing, but if your match makes them feel happy, excited, and satisfied, they will like your live stream," Grandpa Xu said, "In short... in live streaming, you are the performer, and you need to put on a great show. Whether it's anger, roaring, these are all part of the performance. If the performance is good, the audience will reward you."

Li Miaomiao nodded, "I understand."

"I can't learn it," Xu Jingming shook his head, "Martial arts and weapon combat are my lifelong pursuit."

Grandpa Xu looked at Xu Jingming, "Perhaps that's why you are so strong, but the so-called 'lifelong pursuit' is not exclusive. You can pursue martial arts while also improving the观赏性 of your matches."

"Too troublesome," Xu Jingming frowned.

"Sometimes you don't need to perform; just changing some of your fighting style can improve the观赏性," Grandpa Xu said.

"I don't lack money," Xu Jingming said, "I really don't want to put in the effort. I haven't even started live streaming."

Indeed.

Grandson hasn't started live streaming.

Grandpa Xu shook his head and walked away, "I spent my whole life mastering live streaming, and no one has inherited it. What a pity, what a pity."

Xu Jingming and Li Miaomiao looked at each other and laughed.

Neither of them could learn it.

Xu Jingming is more focused on martial arts and doesn't even want to start live streaming.

Li Miaomiao, before the virtual world, only streamed once a month. Now, she mostly streams to play games, and she is very serious about singing, only starting after thorough preparation.

"Dad, you want to teach your live streaming skills again?" Xu Hong, eating a meat bun, smiled at his father, "You wanted to teach me back then."

"None of you have ever lacked money," Grandpa Xu shook his head, "When you lack money, you'll know it's a good skill."

At that moment, the wall screen was playing the news.

"The second round of the national Fire Seed Cup has seen a major upset. Tie Lianyun, who has won the world martial arts championship three times, was easily defeated by Xu Jingming in the Fire Seed Cup."

The family, eating breakfast, turned to look.

The news showed the battle scenes, with Xu Jingming, like a demon, using his shield to crush the three members of the Golden Phoenix team into nothingness, and then smashing Tie Lianyun into a residential building.

"Of the five members of the Golden Phoenix team, including the captain Tie Lianyun, four were killed by Xu Jingming alone with his shield."

...

Penghai City.

Cheng Zihao stood proudly by the office window, overlooking the bustling scenery of Penghai City.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk, compared to the immortal mansion in the virtual world, this new office is still lacking," Cheng Zihao sighed.

The wall screen was showing a program that was discussing the elimination of Xu Jingming and Fang Yu.

"I favor Fang Yu! Fang Yu faced Zhou Yi one-on-one and defeated him with overwhelming force. Who is Zhou Yi? For a long time, he was one of the top three experts in Xia Kingdom. Fang Yu can defeat him, and he has the qualifications to be one of the top three in Xia Kingdom. As for Xu Jingming? He only defeated Tie Lianyun, who is far inferior to Zhou Yi."

"Didn't you watch the match? Xu Jingming used his shield to crush each opponent, completely overwhelming them. Tie Lianyun couldn't even let Xu Jingming fully display his strength! Moreover, he is 29 years old and has international competition experience, which makes him more experienced than Fang Yu."

"Yes, he is 29, and Fang Yu is only 20. Fang Yu is the real genius."

"Let's not talk about it. Let's look at some information about Fang Yu. This is the first-hand information from our program."

The program began to show some of Fang Yu's growth information.

"Boss."

Zhou Feng, puzzled, said, "What's going on? Why are there so many news stories and programs discussing Xu Jingming and Fang Yu today?"

"The Fire Seed Cup is a nationwide event," Cheng Zihao said nonchalantly, "There are four matches in the third round, and the only controversial one is the match between Xu Jingming and Fang Yu. It's normal for there to be more discussion."

"But this Xu Jingming, he's really lucky," Cheng Zihao sneered, "A retired guy with a broken leg, and with the arrival of the virtual world era, he turned it around. But Xia Kingdom is full of hidden talents, and new experts keep emerging. In just over a month, Fang Yu has emerged. I believe in a few months... there will be ten or a hundred Fang Yus, and then Xu Jingming will be nothing!"

"Boss is right. In the past, professional players were geniuses who rose from millions of people worldwide. Now, with seven billion people competing, the geniuses of the past... are mostly not considered geniuses anymore," Zhou Feng nodded.

"However..."

Zhou Feng frowned, looking at the program, "Boss, I've been collecting information from various live streams, and I feel that the discussion about Xu Jingming and Fang Yu today is a bit exaggerated."

"After all, one defeated Tie Lianyun, and the other defeated Zhou Yi. If they were eliminated, how many people would still discuss them?" Cheng Zihao frowned, "Alright, let's not talk about Xu Jingming anymore; it's a downer."

"Yes." Zhou Feng understood that his boss didn't like Xu Jingming.

"Focus on our company's growth," Cheng Zihao instructed, "Now is the time for our live streaming company to grow rapidly. The Fire Seed Cup has clearly stirred up the public's emotions. The enthusiasm for martial arts and live streaming... is clearly much higher than before."

"Yes." Zhou Feng obediently responded.

...

In a bar.

During the day, Sun Li was getting drunk in the bar.

He looked up at the screen in the bar, which was split into two, showing Xu Jingming killing Tie Lianyun on the top and Fang Yu killing Zhou Yi on the bottom.

The host was still excitedly talking.

"Why are Xu Jingming and Fang Yu everywhere?" Sun Li, with bloodshot eyes, looked at the screen.

"The Golden Phoenix Group, so heartless, kicked me out right after the match? How can they be so despicable?" Sun Li was angry and frustrated, "If it weren't for you, I would still be on Xu Jingming's team, and the match rewards alone would be more than what the Golden Phoenix team gives me!"

"These big corporations, none of them are good," Sun Li raised his head to drink, angry and frustrated.