"In the virtual realm, our bodies don't tire. Imagine practicing archery—shooting a few hundred arrows a day in the real world would make you a pro. But here, we can loose tens of thousands of arrows without a hint of fatigue. We can even conjure bandits, beasts, and even 'assassins' to attack us, and we can fight back with our bows at close range. With sheer volume, our archery skills naturally soar."

"The same principle applies to gunplay, swordsmanship... any technique can be practiced tirelessly, ten thousand times a day. The virtual world also offers the perfect training environments, accelerating our growth at an astonishing rate. A day in the virtual world can match months of real-world progress. For a genius... it's enough to reach the pinnacle of the world's standards!"

"The virtual world is an opportunity to change our destiny!"

"In the virtual world, there's no injury, no exhaustion! If you don't fight now, when will you?"

"Want to increase your income? Change your fate? Seize this rare opportunity in the virtual world! You must be ruthless with yourself! Train to the death, because you can't die from training!"

"It's the usual time, 10 PM, let's practice swordsmanship with Old Li. We'll start with thrusting, a thousand thrusts to begin with!"

On the spectator platform, many 'chicken soup' live stream hosts were shouting, and some hosts live-streamed their training in full.

Many people were in their training grounds, watching the live stream in a small window while practicing swordsmanship in sync.

"Director, we are guiding the public to practice martial arts in all aspects, and geniuses are emerging one by one among the people," Charles Bennett observed the situation in numerous live streams, with his secretary reporting the situation.

"With a population base of billions, it's normal to see some geniuses emerging," Charles Bennett said, "Your work must be more diligent. This is a key process for human civilization, and our Xia country must seize the opportunity. The White Eagle Federation, the Roman Nation, the Cherry Blossom Country, and others are also guiding their people at full speed."

"Yes, sir," the secretary respectfully replied, "Director, major corporations have also entered the virtual world, forming teams to prepare for the Spark Cup National Competition."

"This is a good thing," Charles Bennett said, "It's necessary to make the competition more intense."

The secretary nodded and then withdrew.

Charles Bennett looked out the window. The night outside was pitch black, with no light visible, only the faint sound of the sea waves could be heard.

"Where will the fate of humanity go?" Charles Bennett looked at the night outside the window, "The future is unclear, all we can grasp is the present!"

******

Time passed day by day, and in the blink of an eye, the virtual world had been open for a month.

August 25th, evening.

Jamie Smith sat on the living room sofa, watching the 'Nymph Fairy' live stream on the light screen.

"Dear family, as of 9 PM tonight, the virtual world has been officially open for a month," Nymph Fairy said, wearing a cute rabbit mask, her voice was very sweet. In reality, she was a professional host and later became a popular anchor. In the virtual world, she is still a very popular host.

"The Fairy has compiled the latest version of the 'Xia Country Master Ranking List', which includes a hundred divine masters," Nymph Fairy said, "These hundred divine masters are divided into four echelons."

This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

"The first echelon includes Ray Willow, Ray Cloud, and Yvonne Archer. The members of the first echelon are absolutely leading in strength! Any other master in Xia Country, in front of the three of them... there is only one result, which is death. Everyone is very familiar with their information, and the ranking list also includes a lot of information."

"The second echelon includes Celia Green, Skye Bearman, Lily Steel, Feng Baiyu, Zhuangzi Yu, James Brown, Eugene Yeung, Eric Lee, Emily Johnson, Daniel Taylor, Oliver Williams, Kevin Davis, and twelve others."

"The members of the second echelon have all developed their own perfect moves and can easily defeat the masters of the third and fourth echelons."

"The third echelon includes Zachary Wilson, Fiona Anderson... Chase Goff, Jamie Smith... Dylan Thomas, Ava Moore... Liv Jay Windsor, Cameron Scott...

... Finn Brown, Yvonne Green... a total of twenty-one people! Although the masters of the third echelon also have some unique moves, they are still not perfect and have many flaws."

"The fourth echelon includes Samuel Clark... William White, Quincy Shawn... Ryan Lee, Daisy Young... Lena Smith... a total of sixty-four people. Although the members of the fourth echelon are also quite powerful, they generally do not have unique moves and are slightly inferior to the third echelon. However, among the more than three thousand six hundred divine masters now, being able to rank in the top one hundred, the masters of the fourth echelon are already very powerful."

Nymph Fairy briefly talked about the list, and then began to comment in detail.

Jamie Smith listened, understanding the current divine masters.

Click!

Suddenly, the courtyard door was pushed open, and May Lee walked into the living room with some vegetables: "Jamie, these are some vegetables planted by my parents, just picked." Speaking, May Lee saw the live broadcast on the light screen.

Xia Country Master Ranking List?

"This Nymph Fairy, she keeps belittling Jamie on the list, and Jamie has fallen to the third echelon." May Lee touched her watch and clicked.

Snap!

The light screen was turned off.

"Jamie, don't listen to this Nymph Fairy, she's a big liar, and many people think her list is getting more and more fake." May Lee sat down and said, "Now the ranking description is also getting vague, and she has come up with the idea of four echelons."

"She has put a lot of effort into the list." Jamie Smith said, "The idea of four echelons is actually quite suitable."

"Suitable?" May Lee was surprised.

"For example, those in the second echelon, some of them are martial arts masters, legendary boxing kings, and archery grandmasters. In the month of the virtual world, they have all undergone transformation and created their own combat systems, possessing their own set of unique moves." Jamie Smith said, "Compared with them, I am still a bit worse, my 'Invisible Thrust' and 'Mountain Breaking' are also becoming more perfect, but only two moves do not constitute a complete combat system, I really admire them, how did they come up with such powerful moves, and they can also form a system!"

"In fact, Chase Goff is also very powerful, he has also created three major spear techniques, which are even more fierce than my moves, but he is a bit too reckless, easy to show flaws." Jamie Smith said, "That's why he and I are still in the third echelon."

Jamie Smith laughed and sighed, "Thinking about it, I am really ashamed. When the virtual world just opened, I defeated Chase Goff, James Brown and others, thinking that in the future, I would make greater progress, and the advantage would be greater. But the fact has proved that I am still too naive. Many people have deeper accumulation than me, and their talent is also higher, and they have all created a complete set of unique skills."

"Being in the third echelon is my true strength, and I am still very convinced." Jamie Smith said.

In the month of the virtual world, in a battle of divine masters, I am indeed a bit worse.

"At least I am still in the top thirty in Xia Country, and I still have hope to catch up if I work hard." Jamie Smith said.

May Lee hugged her boyfriend's arm and said, "People's life is full of ups and downs. Only by enduring the suffering at the low point can we harvest the joy at the peak!"

"Hmm." Jamie Smith nodded.

With the support of his girlfriend, Jamie Smith has always been full of fighting spirit.

Suddenly there was a phone call.

Jamie Smith gently touched, and a man appeared on the light screen in front of him, it was Lena Smith.

"Old Xu." Lena Smith greeted with a smile.

"What's the matter with the special call." Jamie Smith said with a smile.

"It's like this." Lena Smith explained, "Recently, more than one big group wants to sign me, like the Golden Roc Group, they have come to my hometown, personally visiting me, I really can't refuse. And I really need to make money, you know, I haven't made much money for so many years, so old Xu, I'm sorry, I have to quit the team."

"Oh." Jamie Smith was silent for a while, "Have you told Finn Brown and the other three?"

"Help me tell them, there's no way, I also need to make money." Lena Smith said, and hung up the phone.

Jamie Smith sat there, silent.

————

（To be continued）