Chapter 132: In the Spotlight
Virtual Network.
The Ten Schools Newcomers' Battle was held on the Starry Sky Combat Network. Upon entering the second round, a special battle space was created, allowing spectators from all participating schools to watch.
At 8 AM, Li Yuan entered the Starry Sky Combat Network. Since his identity was already registered, he could directly enter the "Ten Schools Newcomers' Battle Space."
Swoosh!
With a flash of light, Li Yuan found himself in an enormous arena space. At the center was a circular battle arena with a diameter exceeding 200 meters. Surrounding it were densely packed spectators, likely exceeding a hundred thousand.
Li Yuan was seated very close to the arena in the spectator area.
"Yuan-ge, you finally arrived," Gu Qianghan, who was seated in front, said excitedly. "The match is about to start, and you're a seed player who should have come earlier."
"Senior Brother!"
"Senior Brother." Surrounding him were all freshmen from the six institutes. Further away, Li Yuan noticed many familiar faces—freshmen from other institutes. There were so many people.
"Li Yuan, good luck," came a shout from behind Li Yuan. Turning around, he saw Senior Sister Qiu Jing among a group of second-year students.
"Why are there so many people?" Li Yuan asked as he sat down.
"Senior Brother, didn't you come to watch yesterday?" An Nong, sitting beside him, asked with a smile.
Li Yuan shook his head. With a super expert like Tantai Feng, it would be extremely difficult to take first place. He dared not relax. Yesterday, he had been fully engrossed in training.
"Only the students from the ten schools and a few wild card participants are competing," Gu Qianghan explained. "But besides the students from the ten schools, students from the three top martial arts schools also have viewing privileges."
Li Yuan instantly understood. No wonder Lin Lanyue said she would come to watch if he made it to the finals.
"Additionally, students from ordinary martial arts universities in participating countries like China, Japan, ASEAN(Association of Southeast Asian Nations), and India can also watch and learn," An Nong said. "For example, students from our country's twenty-nine ordinary martial arts universities can come to watch."
"Only freshmen participate, but second-year to fifth-year students can also watch."
"So."
"Theoretically, the number of spectators can exceed 3 million," An Nong marveled. "Of course, that's just theoretical. Students above the third year generally don't care."
"The main spectators are freshmen, along with a few second-year students."
"But yesterday, the peak number of spectators exceeded 200,000."
"Today is the cage battle, which is more exciting. According to past data, the number of spectators should easily exceed 500,000," An Nong said with a smile.
Li Yuan nodded slightly and glanced further at the spectator seats, which seemed to be filling up more.
500,000 spectators? Terrifying!
It's worth noting that this virtual viewing is not like watching on a screen but a real simulation of 'arena viewing.' Every additional person means an additional seat.
Fortunately, this is a virtual network, making it easy to construct a virtual battle platform.
In reality, there would be no venue large enough to accommodate a million spectators.
"The cage battle, ten matches in the morning, ten in the afternoon," Gu Qianghan couldn't help but ask, "Yuan-ge, which matches are you in?"
"3 and 17," Li Yuan replied with a smile.
After the first round ended yesterday, all students who entered the second round received their battle schedules.
"I'm in the 6th and 12th matches," An Nong said with resignation.
"Making it to the second round is good," Li Yuan said with a smile. "Better than Gu Qianghan."
"Damn! Yuan-ge, that's not fair. I ranked over three thousand in the first round, just missing the second round by a bit," Gu Qianghan couldn't help but complain.
Everyone around laughed.
Li Yuan laughed too.
"Our six institutes have 67 people in the second round, ranking second in number among the eight institutes," An Nong explained to Li Yuan. "Our school has a total of 453 people in the second round, ranking first among the ten schools."
"Good." Li Yuan nodded slightly.
Globally, Kunlun Martial University was second only to the three top martial arts schools.
It was considered among the top five.
Of course, this top five martial arts university still had a significant gap compared to the top three globally.
As time passed, with the official start time approaching, the number of spectators continued to grow. By 8:30 AM, the number of spectators exceeded 400,000 and was still increasing toward 500,000.
400,000 people gathered around a single arena? What a concept!
It was truly a sea of people, creating an incredibly lively atmosphere in the battle space.
Students from various universities were engaged in intense discussions.
Finally, at 8:30 AM.
Although the time zones of the participating countries differed slightly, their close proximity in reality minimized the impact.
Swish!
A huge light shone across the sky, and a giant light screen appeared above the spectator stands, focusing on every part of the central arena.
This allowed spectators seated anywhere in the arena to see everything happening on the stage clearly.
Additionally, each spectator had a 'viewing light screen' that could be manually adjusted.
Spectators could also send 'bullet comments' in real time.
"Welcome, students from various prestigious martial arts schools," a deep voice rang out.
A burly man in a black robe appeared in the arena, with the character '武' (Martial) emblazoned on his chest.
His voice resonated throughout the entire battle space.
"Today is the second round of the Ten Schools Newcomers' Battle, featuring the most exciting 'cage battles,'" the burly man announced in a high-pitched voice. "1997 elite students from the ten prestigious schools will compete with three martial arts geniuses from Starlight University for 136 spots in the elimination round."
"The rules are as follows:"
...
"Alright, the participants know the rules," the host said with a smile. "As for our live audience, there's only one thing to know."
"Cage battle, the winner survives!"
"This is the most brutal duel, the most iron-blooded test," the host said passionately. "Only the strongest can survive to the end."
"Now, I announce the start of the second round of the Ten Schools Newcomers' Battle, the 'cage battle.'"
Boom! Music resounded through the sky.
The battle space, now with over 500,000 spectators, erupted in thunderous cheers, deafeningly loud.
"Such enthusiasm," Li Yuan couldn't help but marvel. It was his first time experiencing such a large audience.
"When the crowd exceeds ten thousand, it becomes a sea of people," Gu Qianghan laughed. "Yuan-ge, remember, most of these spectators are students from various ordinary martial arts universities. They mostly come for the excitement and will support any winner from their own country."
Li Yuan nodded.
Spectators had their allegiances, hoping their school's representatives would win.
But if students from Jiangbei Martial University were watching, they would support any winner from Xia Country.
Gradually, the cheers lessened.
"The first match." The host's voice boomed like thunder, "Get ready."
Swish! Swish! Swish!
Some students who had been spectating on the stage disappeared, entering the 'preparation space.'
Of course, 200 students disappearing was hardly noticeable in a crowd of over 500,000.
Just 15 seconds later.
Swish! Two hundred participants, armed with weapons and armor, appeared on the stage, standing at the edges of the arena, forming a large circle.
Simultaneously, the names of the 200 participants appeared on the giant light screen above the arena, along with their 'total ranking points.'
The top 8 and top 136 rankings were marked in special colors.
The top 8 in total points would directly enter the fourth round.
The top 136 in total points would advance to the third round.
...
As the participants appeared, cheers and encouragement erupted from the spectators, like waves crashing against the shore.
"Yang Hong!"
"Yang Hong! Go!" Some Kunlun Martial University students shouted.
In the first match, Kunlun Martial University had dozens of participants, but the strongest was Yang Hong.
However, there was no individual player introduction.
So, no single student received particularly high cheers; countless voices echoed in the air, creating a cacophony.
"Gaurav." Li Yuan's gaze swept across and spotted an unremarkable figure.
With dark skin, standing over 1.7 meters tall, and an ordinary face, he was inconspicuous.
Holding a long spear.
"Yang Hong is in trouble."
"Not good." Many elite students from Kunlun Martial University also recognized Gaurav.
Yang Hong himself noticed too.
...
On the arena, the ten-second countdown ended quickly.
"Begin," the host roared and flew into the air, not interfering with the participants' battles.
Simultaneously, the restraints on the 200 participants were lifted.
Boom! The cage battle erupted in an instant.
It seemed as if in perfect unison, swoosh! Swoosh! The dozen participants around Gaurav moved like shadows, rushing away.
Like a tiger entering a flock of sheep, no one dared to engage Gaurav.
Students who made it to the second round were no fools.
Most knew about the top few experts.
Boom!
The dark-skinned youth seemed to have anticipated this, moving like lightning toward the densest group.
"Swish!" "Swish!" The spear shadows shifted, and in an instant, several experts fell.
"Avoiding battle?"
"My goal is to take the top score in the second round," Gaurav thought clearly, his eyes calm. "None of China's top experts are here. No one can match me."
"Kill them all!"
Surround him? Over a hundred people attacking together might end up being swept away by him alone.
In the fierce battle, Gaurav's score skyrocketed, directly soaring to 'total points first,' far ahead of the second place.
"Gaurav!"
"Gaurav!" This scene made the tens of thousands of Bharat spectators erupt in unprecedented cheers, overwhelming all other sounds in the arena.
Gaurav's performance was overwhelmingly strong.
Simultaneously, the viewing light screens were filled with comments from Bharat students.
"India is the strongest!"
"Gaurav is the strongest!"
"We Indian people are the best! Defeat the China people! Take first place!"
"Gaurav!" Countless comments scrolled, showing the Bharat students' immense excitement.
...
In the first match, Gaurav undoubtedly survived to the end.
The most intense battle was between him and Yang Hong.
However, the so-called intense battle ended in less than ten moves, with Yang Hong being defeated.
In the end, Gaurav scored 52 points! Temporarily ranking first in total points!
Yang Hong scored 14 points, temporarily ranking second.
Most participants scored 0.
...
In the second match, there was no particularly dominant expert. The standout was 'Kimura Tatsuo' from Japan, who also wielded a long spear.
He scored 31 points, temporarily ranking second in total points.
The viewing arena, with tens of thousands of spectators, erupted with cheers from thousands of Japanese students.
"Kimura-kun!"
"Kimura is amazing. I think he's no weaker than Gaurav from the first match, maybe even the strongest."
"The strongest Kimura."
"Kimura-kun will definitely take first place." Many comments scrolled on the viewing light screens.
...
In the third match, as the host announced 'begin,' 200 participants appeared from the preparation space onto the arena.
Immediately, tens of thousands of spectators looked over.
"Senior Brother."
"Where is Li Yuan?"
"Hmm? Why can't I see Senior Brother!" Thousands of Kunlun Martial University students searched for Li Yuan.
But they couldn't find him right away.
"Whoa! Senior Brother wore a mask to avoid being recognized? Senior Brother is so sneaky."
"Not just Li Yuan, others from our school wore masks too."
"This seems to be An Nong's idea. He urgently contacted other students participating in the third match."
"No name reminders, and with a dozen wearing masks, other schools won't recognize Senior Brother right away."
"An Nong 666!"
"The battle has started."