Chapter 331: Tournament Start!

Translator: Oneshotwonder Editor: Hitesh_

Somewhere in Europe, far away from Shangjin, Ma Xiaoru was training as hard as her friends. To return to her friends, she would have to prove to her parents that she had recovered from her ailment.

All the while, Li Ruoer had greatly pleased Ma Dutian by keeping her daughter company. Ma Dutian was confident that with the company of another Enchantress, his daughter's soul energy would replenish much faster.

The Ma and the Li were inextricably connected, and their tight relationship seemed to have blurred the boundary of many terms. Intrigue was only half a step away from an alliance, and infighting in the morning could quickly turn into a pleasant lunch by the noon.

By then, the Li had focused entirely on the pan solar system tournament, as they considered it as important as the marriage with the Ma, if not even more so.

Li Shiming reckoned that the marriage and the pan solar tournament were not mutually exclusive. As long as Li Shiming was able to prove himself at the tournament, the Li would have the upper hand in negotiating the terms of the marriage. Li Shiming was confident that once Ma Xiaoru saw his gallant victory, she would fall in love with him helplessly in a heartbeat.

To the Li, the success of their master plan seemed to hinge entirely on the outcome of the METAL tournament.

At the onset of the summer break, the stage of the METAL tournament finally drew back its curtain; a fantastic show was about to get started.

To get to the final stage on the Moon, all participants, regardless of their levels, would have to undergo the qualification matches on their home planet.

The qualification match had attracted the media's attention. On the first day of the qualification match, both Li Shiming and Patroclus had fought their matches on their home planet. Although Li Shiming's victory was already in the bag, the appearance of Li Shiming had driven many people rushing to the arena to watch the fight.

There were over twenty qualification matches taking place at the same time on the earth. The METAL combat was not only the most popular form of entertainment, but it also helped to secure victory against the Zergs by strengthening the public's bodies and sharpening their minds.

Under Wang Tong's lead, the students at Ayrlarng had also started the first round of qualification match. Although Wang Tong was the champion of the fleet combat, no one had paid any attention to him, since all of the media's attention was on Li Shiming.

In addition to Li Shiming, Li Ruoer had also joined the tournament. She had quickly become another hot topic, because it had been a while since an Enchantress had partaken in the sport.

Despite a large number of matches, the media could only focus on a very few to broadcast. Li Shiming's fight was not just the Earth media's top pick, but also that of other planets, since fighters on the other planets had treated Li Shiming as one of their toughest competitors.

Li Shiming's opponent was a nobody from an A-class academy whom no one had paid any attention to.

As Li Shiming appeared inside the arena, the audiences boiled over, and their shouts and cheers were laced with respect.

This was not the first time that Li Shiming ever felt the glory of his family. But this time, he felt an impending inevitability in the grace of his ancestors for the first time. He knew then that the deeds of his ancestors would, and should, never be forgotten. It was his duty to carry on the flame, protecting it so that its light would never wane.

"LI SHIMING!-LI SHIMING!-LI SHIMING!"

The shout of the audiences was intoxicating. When he younger, Shiming might have flushed in a fit of self-indulgence. But, he had grown up, and had become custom to the frenzied crowd. Li Shiming masked his face with a faint and aloof smile, then he bowed to the audiences. Li Shiming's natural and unaffected manner struck a chord with the audiences, as a wave of blaring applause erupted in the arena.

"What's up with the hype?" Karl said indignantly.

"Don't be jealous. When you are as powerful as him, you would be popular as well."

"It's hard. He holds an advantage in the tactics he uses. We are born to serve the prince on his high horse."

"Hey, don't be so pessimistic!" Karl shouted. Karl had dabbled himself in METAL combat before he switched to Fleet combat. Therefore, he knew the importance of tactics to a fighter's power. Although he wanted to see his friends remain hopeful in their victory, he conceded that the power gap between his friends and Li Shiming was huge, despite the fact that he still saw a sliver of hope in Wang Tong.

The fight had begun. Li Shiming's opponent, Dong Liang, shouted a battle cry and then hacked at Li Shiming with a blade. He knew that the odds were against him, but the hopeless situation seemed to have spurred his courage and lent him mettle.

Li Shiming was a good fighter, and an even better showman. He waited until the tip of the blade was only an inch away from his neck, then he suddenly snatched the blade with two fingers— a familiar troupe in many movies. Dong Liang struggled to get the blade out from in between Li Shiming's index and middle fingers, but the clamp was iron-tight. All the while, Li Shiming stood still and did not attack his opponent, nor did he take away the blade. Dong Liang's face flushed red and finally let go of the blade handle. He stepped back and bowed to his opponent, "I submit. You have won."

Dong Liang had realized that the gap between his power and that of Li Shiming was unbridgeable, and continuing the fight would be pointless, especially when Li Shiming had already given him face and didn't humiliate him in front of the crowd.

A wave of cheers rose from the audience. Although everyone had expected Li Shiming's victory, they praised his consideration for the dignity of the weak.

Li Shiming bowed to the audiences again before he retreated to the backstage. He had won not only a fight, but also the hearts of his viewers. Li Shiming knew that to he needed the public's opinion on his side to sit on the throne of the world. He reckoned that there was nowhere better than the stage of the tournament for him to perform PR stunts.

Meanwhile, on the Moon, the Ivantian Prince, Patroclus, had also shown up at his qualification match. Even the Ivantians were excited by the rare opportunity to take a glimpse at Patroclus's power. All the Ivantians believed that the title of champion of the tournament belonged to Patroclus, and even Li Shiming was no match for their prince.

Patroclus's opponent was a second-year student at the Starry Sky academy. Like many participants of his age, he was a fourth level METAL fighter. Knowing that it was hopeless to win the fight, the boy wanted to give up the match before it even started. However, neither the organizing committee nor the audience would allow him to spoil their show. After a while, the young boy plodded into the arena with a solemn face.

As desperation festered inside the Ivantian boy, he charged up his soul energy and hurled himself at Patroclus like a religious martyr. Before the tip of the boy's sword found its target, Patroclus suddenly disappeared into thin air. Seized by despair and hopelessness, the boy was not able to stop his movement, and he crashed into the wall behind Patroclus. The blade bounced off the wall, and the back of blade hit the poor boy in the face and knocked him out.

Game over.

Zhang Jin watched the short and almost comical ending of Patroclus's first fight, and she fell into deep thought. Just like Rilangalos, Patroclus was perfect, not only in combat, but also in anything that could lead him to more power. What was hidden under his power frightened Zhang Jin. She knew that no one would be able to stop Patroclus once the beast inside him finally woke up.

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