Chapter 93

Xu Jingming looked at the quiet valley before him, surrounded by rugged peaks, from which the distant cries of apes could be heard.

"Is this the fourth level of the Starry Sky Tower?" Xu Jingming held his spear, cautiously observing his surroundings.

Whoosh.

A figure leaped from a distant peak, drawing a large arc in the air before landing on a large tree in the valley. It stood on a thick branch, staring at Xu Jingming.

"Is this... an ape?" Xu Jingming was somewhat uncertain.

The ape standing on the tree was relatively slim, with brown-black fur, holding a dark stick in one hand. Its eyes were cold, and it looked at Xu Jingming with hostility.

Indeed, it looked like an ape, but Xu Jingming was unsure because it seemed to possess the intelligence of a sentient being.

"Its eyes are too full of spirit, not like a wild beast, but like a sentient being." Xu Jingming observed it.

"Roar!"

The ape suddenly let out a low growl and darted from the tree trunk, moving as fast as lightning.

"Its speed rivals that of Lei Yunfang." Xu Jingming immediately became more cautious. "I can't match it in speed."

In just half a second, the ape, which was dozens of meters away, had already reached Xu Jingming. Xu Jingming suddenly dodged, and his spear flashed, stabbing out.

"Bang." A shadow of a stick struck Xu Jingming's spear, and he felt an immense weight. He immediately turned his spear to deflect the force and tried to stab again. However, the stick, after the collision, followed through with a thrust, aiming at Xu Jingming.

Xu Jingming instinctively swung his spear in an arc to block the stick, still stepping back to dissipate the force.

"Its strength is slightly greater than mine, but its speed is much faster. Moreover, it has a powerful stick technique. This is the first time I've encountered an opponent using a weapon since I started the Starry Sky Tower." Xu Jingming felt the pressure.

The first three levels were wolves, bears, and tigers, whose behaviors were more like wild beasts, relying on their physical advantages.

The ape on the fourth level not only had a weapon but also knew stick techniques.

"Bang, bang, bang."

The stick, primarily using techniques like chopping, sweeping, and thrusting, was at a disadvantage compared to the spear. After all, the spear could use the same techniques and was much better at penetration. However, the ape's stick technique suppressed Xu Jingming.

Because the ape was too agile and fast, even though its strength was only slightly greater than Xu Jingming's, its stick techniques were continuous, and its speed was much faster, forcing Xu Jingming to focus on defense.

"Bang, bang, bang."

Xu Jingming and the ape moved continuously, fighting, and the sound of their weapons colliding echoed repeatedly. Some trees in the valley were affected, breaking from the impact.

These movements caught the attention of other apes on the surrounding peaks.

Hearing the roars and howls, apes leaped from the peaks, drawing arcs in the air, and landed in the valley. Some landed on trees, others on the grass, but each one held a dark stick.

The apes varied in size, some were slim, but a few were extremely robust.

There was even an ape with slightly reddish fur, surrounded by other apes, clearly the leader.

"The first three levels were dealing with wolf packs, bear packs, and tiger packs. This time, am I also facing a group?" Xu Jingming realized this. His master Liu Hai and others had never passed the fourth level, and Xu Jingming was just trying to explore the fourth level, not minding failure.

Although he was distracted, Xu Jingming's mind was extraordinary, controlling the entire battlefield. His spear techniques were still very fast, changing rapidly, and he managed to hold out for five minutes under the ape's strong pressure.

"Roar." One of the apes watching the battle suddenly became impatient, holding a stick and rushing into the battlefield. Its sudden attack, a shadow of a stick tearing through the air, increased the pressure on Xu Jingming.

Bang, bang, bang!! Continuous shadows of sticks filled the sky!

Xu Jingming barely blocked a few sticks but was struck on the head by one, turning into nothingness and disappearing in the valley.

"One ape suppressed me, and two apes are too much to handle." As Xu Jingming turned into nothingness, he glanced at the dark red-furred ape king. "That ape king must be terrifying. There's no hope of passing the fourth level in the short term."

...

While Xu Jingming was trying to pass the fourth level of the Starry Sky Tower, the outside world was in a frenzy.

If other countries were closely watching the new name on the Starry Sky List, frantically digging up all information about this Chinese Xu Jingming, then... the Chinese media had completely gone into a frenzy.

During the Seed Cup, when the seventh place in the world appeared, countless live streams and media in China were discussing the seventh place.

Now that the competition was over, the eighth place in the world was born, and it was a Chinese person. The enthusiasm in China was unimaginable.

"Just now, just now! The eighth name appeared on the Starry Sky List, the eighth in the world: Xu Jingming (China)..."

"Among the top eight in the world, we have three from China! This is the strength of China!"

"If Liu Hai and Lei Yunfang are the older generation of martial artists, then Xu Jingming, at just 29 years old, is definitely part of the younger generation. Our young generation of experts can also rank in the top ten globally."

On the virtual world viewing platform, countless live streams were already excitedly discussing this topic.

In Li Miaomiao's live stream, the number of viewers, which was originally just a few hundred thousand, suddenly increased.

Two hundred thousand, three hundred thousand, five hundred thousand, one million...

The growth rate was astonishing!

"What's happening?" Li Miaomiao was still a bit confused, seeing the number of viewers in her live stream skyrocket. She immediately looked at the countless floating comments.

"Brother-in-law is eighth in the world!"

"Eight in the world!"

"Xu Jingming, eighth in the world!"

"Brother-in-law, eighth in the world on the Starry Sky List!"

"Kitty... Brother-in-law is amazing!"

The comments were completely crazy.

Li Miaomiao blinked, her heart racing, her face turning red.

"Jingming finally passed the third level of the Starry Sky Tower?" Li Miaomiao thought. Although Xu Jingming had said he could pass within three days, when the moment came, Li Miaomiao still felt incredibly excited and proud of Xu Jingming.

Li Miaomiao lightly tapped her right hand, opening her friend list, and looked at Xu Jingming, who was at the top. Xu Jingming's status was "battling in the Starry Sky Tower," which made Li Miaomiao suppress the urge to log out. Logging out now wouldn't help her see Xu Jingming.

Li Miaomiao then opened the viewing platform and looked at other live streams.

Other live streams had screenshots of the "Starry Sky List," clearly showing the new name of Xu Jingming.

"I've seen everyone's comments." Li Miaomiao, with slightly red eyes, smiled in the live stream. "I'm also happy for Jingming."

"Brother-in-law is awesome!!!" (squeal)

"Brother-in-law, you're amazing."

"Kitty, you must treat Brother-in-law well."

The comments kept rolling, and the number of viewers kept surging, already approaching ten million. For a personal live stream, this was an unimaginable number.

Some viewers couldn't contain their excitement and started tipping.

Li Miaomiao looked at the comments, chatting, and kept an eye on her friend's status.

The moment she saw Xu Jingming leave the Starry Sky Tower,

"Your brother-in-law is looking for me, I'm logging out." Li Miaomiao said and immediately left, even forgetting to close the live stream. Only the empty live stream scene remained, with millions of viewers facing it.

...

Xu Jingming had just failed and returned to his personal space.

He found Li Miaomiao at the gate, knocking.

According to his settings, only Li Miaomiao could enter his personal space without an invitation.

"Miaomiao." Xu Jingming went to open the gate. Snow had accumulated outside, and Li Miaomiao, wearing a light coat, stood there, not feeling cold at all, her heart burning with excitement.

"Jingming." As Xu Jingming opened the gate, Li Miaomiao excitedly leaped and jumped onto Xu Jingming.

Xu Jingming caught his girlfriend.

"The whole internet is crazy now." Li Miaomiao said, "My live stream is also crazy. Just a while ago, it had millions of viewers, all because of you."

"Okay, okay, I know. Get off me first." Xu Jingming laughed.

"No, carry me inside." Li Miaomiao shook her head.

"Alright."

Xu Jingming could only carry his girlfriend back inside.