Cosmic Professional Gladiator

Xu Jingming ate his supper happily and ate the rice, beef, and pork ribs in large mouthfuls. Li Miaomiao murmured to the side, “I only have 400-plus combat strength while you have 5,000. I don’t even have one-tenth of yours. What a blow!”

“You’re a genius singer.” Xu Jingming looked at his girlfriend and smiled. “I’ve practiced martial arts since I was a child. There’s a good saying: People are good in different fields!”

“Cut the act. Finish up quickly; I’ll bring you to meet a beauty after dinner,” Li Miaomiao said.

“Who is it?” Xu Jingming asked as he ate.

“Wang Yi, China’s number one sharpshooter!” Li Miaomiao said. “I’ve already contacted her for you. As long as you show her your combat strength interface and invite her to join the team, there’s a high chance of it happening.”

“You managed to contact her?” Xu Jingming looked at his girlfriend in admiration. She was really a woman of action.

Li Miaomiao urged, “Eat quickly.”

“Alright.” Xu Jingming quickly ate.

…

In the virtual world, in Wang Yi’s personal space.

“Hello, Wang Yi.” Xu Jingming stepped forward and shook her hand.

“Spear Demon, you’re being too polite.” Wang Yi shook his hand and smiled at Li Miaomiao. “Cat, you said that you wanted to find a team that satisfies me.”

Cat Li sat there and pointed at Xu Jingming. “I’ve brought the team leader here!”

“Oh?” Wang Yi looked at Xu Jingming curiously. “Spear Demon, are you that confident in inviting me?”

“I heard from Miaomiao that you want to find a strong teammate who can compete with teams from all over the world in the future.” Xu Jingming directly displayed his personal combat strength interface. “Do you think I’m strong enough?”

Wang Yi looked at the personal combat strength interface Xu Jingming had displayed and was stunned.

“Advanced evolutionary method? Lv. 3 spearmanship? 5,000 combat strength?” Wang Yi was a little stunned, and her eyes burned as she stared at Xu Jingming. “Xu Jingming, with your strength, a large group of experts will take the initiative to join your team as long as it’s made public!”

“I like teammates who share the same ideals,” Xu Jingming said. “My other three teammates have been my best friends for years! I also know your character very well—you don’t care about the huge fees you get from signing with those large corporations and are famous for keeping your word. I also need such teammates. I wonder if you’re willing to join my team?”

“I’m more than willing to accept your invitation, Spear Demon.” Wang Yi smiled happily. “Oh right, why didn’t you invite Zhuang Ziyu? His archery isn’t inferior to mine.”

“He already has a team, so there’s no point breaking up his team,” Xu Jingming said. “Besides, you’re Miaomiao’s good friend. I believe in Miaomiao’s taste in people.”

“Cat.” Wang Yi hugged Li Miaomiao. “You’re really my lucky star.”

“Hey, hey, hey. It’s too early to be happy,” Li Miaomiao said. “You still have to meet the other three teammates. You also need to settle some of the trivial matters regarding the team.”

“Let’s quickly do the confirmation,” Wang Yi immediately said.

Moments later…

Heng Fang, Yang Qingshuo, and Liu Chongyuan also came to Wang Yi’s personal space.

“Let me do the introductions. This will be our team’s sharpshooter, Wang Yi,” Xu Jingming said with a smile.

The three were a little surprised.

“Old Xu, are you serious?” Heng Fang looked at Xu Jingming and then at Wang Yi.

Wang Yi smiled at the three of them. “In the future, I’ll need the three of you to take care of me. Please protect a weak archer like me in combat.”

“Awesome, that’s awesome.” Liu Chongyuan watched this in surprise and gave him a thumbs-up. “Old Xu, you’re amazing. You actually managed to recruit the strongest female sharpshooter. Our team is going to hit it big.”

“It’s my honor to join the team,” Wang Yi said. “With Captain’s strength, just having any four civilian contestants would hit it big.”

“Huh?” Yang Qingshuo, Heng Fang, and Liu Chongyuan looked at Xu Jingming.

“Registration for the Firestarter Cup will begin soon. Let’s first understand everyone’s strength,” Xu Jingming said calmly. “As the captain, I’ll first reveal mine to you. But everyone, remember… This is a team secret. Don’t spread it.”

As he spoke, Xu Jingming displayed his personal combat strength interface.

“Lv. 3 spearmanship? Advanced evolutionary method?” Yang Qingshuo blinked. “Brother Xu… I’m so lucky.”

“Awesome.” Liu Chongyuan was a little stunned.

“5,000 combat strength? I’m only at 2,000 plus.” Heng Fang was a little dazed. “Old Xu, you’re too ruthless.”

“I’m not that strong yet; I’m still inferior to Master Liu Hai and Senior Lei Yunfang,” Xu Jingming said. “However, my teammates are stronger than their teammates! I believe that with the five of us joining forces, we have a chance of becoming the Firestarter Cup’s champion.”

“Champion!” The look in the eyes of Wang Yi, Yang Qingshuo, Heng Fang, and Liu Chongyuan changed.

“Previously, I thought it would be good if we could enter the top ten,” Liu Chongyuan couldn’t help but mutter. “Now, I actually feel that we stand a chance of coming first.”

“There’s only hope,” Xu Jingming said. “Don’t be too smug. After all, on the surface, only Master Liu Hai, Lei Yunfang, and Zhou Yi’s combat techniques have reached Lv. 3. But if I can break through, perhaps others can as well. We have to be careful in order to go further.”

“I’ll defer to Old Xu.” Heng Fang immediately nodded.

“Brother Xu is right.” Yang Qingshuo flattered.

“Shuo, when did you become such a bootlicker?” Liu Chongyuan murmured.

“I’ll equally suck up to you when you reach Lv. 3.” Yang Qingshuo curled his lips.

Li Miaomiao looked at the five members of the team who were in a harmonious mood and smiled. “According to the Firestarter Cup’s rules, you have to submit how the prize money will be distributed during the registration.”

“I’m fine with anything,” Wang Yi said. She didn’t care about the prize money.

Before the virtual world’s launch, she was already a national idol, and she earned a lot. After the virtual world’s launch, she became one of the top three popular streamers on the spectator platform and received a lot of tips. She didn’t care about the prize money for the competition; she only cared about fighting stronger opponents.

“I’ll defer to Old Xu.”

“I’ll defer to Brother Xu.”

Heng Fang, Yang Qingshuo, and Liu Chongyuan were very straightforward.

“Then, we’ll split it equally,” Xu Jingming said.

“No.” Wang Yi, Heng Fang, and the others spoke almost simultaneously.

Heng Fang stared at Xu Jingming. “Old Xu, you’re much stronger than us; you can match the four of us added together. You’re insulting us if it’s divided equally… We won’t feel good either.”

“Don’t burden us with the prize money.” Yang Qingshuo and Liu Chongyuan looked at Xu Jingming.

Xu Jingming hesitated.

Of the five people in the team, Wang Yi was naturally the richest. He and Heng Fang had achievements in the past and didn’t lack money. Liu Chongyuan and Shuo were far worse. Xu Jingming still wanted to help his old friends.

“Let’s do this—we’ll divide it according to strength,” Li Miaomiao said. “The others will receive 16%, and the rest will go to Jingming.”

Xu Jingming looked at his friends. The difference between 16% and 20% wasn’t that great, and he had to consider his friends’ self-esteem.

“We also need a substitute,” Xu Jingming said. “We’ll give some to the substitute from my cut.”

“With your strength, the substitute in our team isn’t important,” Wang Yi said. “You can carry all of us. There’s no need for our team to have a reserve.”

Li Miaomiao raised her hand in anticipation. “Then, can I be a substitute player?”

Xu Jingming, Heng Fang, Yang Qingshuo, Liu Chongyuan, and Wang Yi glanced at Li Miaomiao and agreed with her.

“A talented singer being a substitute is also very impressive,” Heng Fang said.

“It’s our honor to have Sister-in-law as a substitute,” Yang Qingshuo said with a smile. Ever since he earned money in the virtual world, he didn’t feel pressured financially. His mother’s illness had also improved, so he became much more cheerful.

“In that case, Miaomiao will be the substitute player and she gets 6%. If the four of you get 16% each, I’ll get 30%,” Xu Jingming said.

“We have no objections to how much you want to give Cat,” Wang Yi said with a smile.

Xu Jingming didn’t mind.

In this era, strength was the foundation. The stronger one was, the greater the chance of earning money!

“Since there are no objections, it’s decided.” Xu Jingming nodded.

“Then, you have to submit a team name during the registration,” Li Miaomiao said. “What’s the name of our team?”

“Team name?” The five people pondered.

“Actually, we can accept a company’s title sponsorship,” Li Miaomiao said. “I can arrange for a team to liaise with them. We should be able to earn a sum of money for the title sponsorship. When that happens, everyone can share the money.”

“There’s no need.” Heng Fang looked at his teammates and shook his head. “I don’t really want to carry the name of those corporations.”

“Forget it.” Xu Jingming rejected it as well. “If we do a good job and advance by one more placing, the prize money will increase a lot. The prize money for the champion is 500 million.”

Li Miaomiao nodded and asked, “What’s the name of our team then?”

“The team name…” Xu Jingming and the others hesitated.

“It’s a headache to come up with a name. I thought about it for months but couldn’t come up with a name for my daughter.” Wang Yi shook her head. “You guys do the thinking.”

“Why don’t you use the name of my song?” Li Miaomiao blinked. “For example, my most popular song—Pearwood. How about that?”

“Team Pearwood?” Wang Yi immediately said happily, “I like this name. I’ve played Pearwood on repeat countless times.”

“The name of Sister-in-law’s song is very classy. I agree,” Yang Qingshuo immediately said.

“Me too,” Liu Chongyuan said deliberately.

“Agreed.” Heng Fang immediately said, “Sister-in-law is really impressive. You’ve helped us solve another problem.”

Li Miaomiao smiled. “I’m taking advantage of you. When our team becomes popular, the entire country will know of us—even the entire world… Won’t my songs become even more popular?”

Xu Jingming nodded. “The basic matters for registration have been confirmed. Is there anything else?”

“We need a team manager who will be in charge of liaising with the officials of the virtual platform. I’ll take on the role,” Li Miaomiao said. “I can handle all the other small matters; you can focus on the competition.”

“Oh right,” Wang Yi said, “I’ve promised all my fans that I will make my team public at 8 p.m. tonight. When that happens, can our team make a public appearance?”

Xu Jingming and the others looked at each other.

“Alright. After all, the Firestarter Cup will be held soon. This will be our team’s debut before the competition.” Xu Jingming nodded.