Virtual Ascension: Awakening the Supreme Talent

"Ding~ Player from Zone 885 has killed Player [Storm Angel] from Zone 886, plundering 1754 energy points!"

"Ding~ Player [Proud of the Crowd] has ended [Storm Angel]'s godlike streak. The strongest from both regions, this is an unprecedented powerful showdown!"

As these two announcements echoed, all the players watching outside the instance in Zone 886 fell silent, staring in disbelief at the live stream showing Storm Angel fallen before Proud of the Crowd!

Unexpectedly, 10 seconds later, the defeated Storm Angel was resurrected with full health!

"He bought a revival!"

Someone spoke in the live stream.

Storm Angel, who had used gold coins to revive on the spot, engaged in a second duel with Proud of the Crowd.

A few seconds later, Storm Angel was killed again!

Considering that dying a few more times would not only cause a level drop but also allow Proud of the Crowd to steal all his energy, Storm Angel did not buy another revival until his body refreshed 10 seconds later.

Just before the live stream closed with Storm Angel's death, Proud of the Crowd was seen flipping the bird towards the camera.

"Heavens!"

In Hope Town, countless players who had just been watching Storm Angel gathered on the street and started discussing.

Player A: "Damn! Even Storm Angel couldn't beat him. How is that Proud of the Crowd from Zone 885 so powerful?"

Player B: "Didn't you notice his attack speed is insanely fast? Now that guy's even more arrogant. Our strongest player got one-shotted, who can beat him?"

Player C: "Sigh, Storm Angel is strong, but not the strongest. If only Yinuo Qingcheng were here. Speaking of which, why hasn't Yinuo Qingcheng entered the instance all day?"

Player D: "Yeah, with the strength of our zone's Heaven Ranking top player Yinuo Qingcheng, taking down Proud of the Crowd would be a piece of cake! Where did he go?"

At this moment, in the cross-region chat channel between Zone 885 and Zone 886, Proud of the Crowd sent a message—

[Proud of the Crowd]: "Is this your Zone 886's top player?"

[Proud of the Crowd]: "I've killed so many from your zone, and so far, none have lasted more than 5 seconds against me. Finally met your top-ranked player, thought he'd be an expert, but turns out he's just a noob."

[Proud of the Crowd]: "Is this the level of Zone 886? Is there no one else who can fight? (Disdain)"

These provocative messages instantly ignited the players of Zone 886.

[Storm Dragon King] (Zone 886, Male, Level 23 Warrior): "What's so great about you? If our captain hadn't been leveled down a few days ago and hasn't caught up yet, could you win against him in a duel? You only won because of the level difference!"

[Lolita] (Zone 886, Female, Level 23 Priest): "Hmph, the one you just killed isn't our zone's top player. If it were, you wouldn't even have a chance to touch him, you'd be instantly killed, believe it or not? (Angry) (Angry)"

[Proud of the Crowd]: "Oh? You have such an expert in your zone? Where is he, why hasn't he shown up?"

[Bloodthirsty]: "I bet your zone's top player is too scared of our Mighty Xiong to show his face and is hiding in some corner to level up sneakily, haha!"

In the restaurant of Hope Town, Zhang Yi was eating hot pot while browsing these messages in the chat channel, looking calm and composed.

Even Han Yaru, sitting across from Zhang Yi, couldn't help but speak up.

"Zhang Yi, aren't you angry about what they're saying about you?"

"Did you see them talking about me?" Zhang Yi replied nonchalantly, "I'm not the top expert of our zone."

Han Yaru frowned, "Aren't you? Aren't you the top of our zone's Heaven Ranking?"

"I'm no expert." Zhang Yi said, putting a piece of beef in his mouth, "I'm just a noob."

Han Yaru was silent for a moment, then said, "Alright, your mindset is really good!"

Zhang Yi smiled, "If you don't eat soon, I'll finish all the beef."

"I don't believe you can eat that much." Han Yaru glanced at the hot pot, then exclaimed in surprise, "Ah! It's really gone... you ate all the beef..."

Seeing Han Yaru's conflicted expression, Zhang Yi couldn't help but chuckle, "No worries, we'll order more later. Eat well and sleep well."

After a pause, Han Yaru said, "But Zhang Yi, are we really not going to enter the instance?"

"This instance seems to have a lot of good stuff," Han Yaru looked around, then leaned closer to Zhang Yi and whispered, "We don't have to kill anyone, we can just farm monsters and collect some energy, how about that?"

"Energy Struggle, without killing, what's the point?"

Zhang Yi casually asked Han Yaru, "Do you want to go in?"

With a hint of anticipation, Han Yaru asked Zhang Yi, "What about you? Will you go? If you go, I'll go!"

Zhang Yi shrugged, "Even if we both go in, we won't be assigned to the same spawn point."

Han Yaru thought for a moment, then said seriously, "Then you go in and stream, I'll watch your stream and send you gifts!"

"I have money, today's quest rewarded me with a lot of silver coins, I can send you flowers!" Han Yaru said earnestly.

Zhang Yi smiled, "Hurry up and eat, then go to sleep."

Han Yaru pouted and didn't continue to "persuade" Zhang Yi.

After finishing their meal, Zhang Yi and Han Yaru left the restaurant and entered the Hope Inn across the street.

Many players eating in the restaurant watched as Yinuo Qingcheng finished eating and took his girlfriend to get a room, sparking a wave of discussion.

"No wonder Yinuo Qingcheng hasn't been in the instance all day, he was with his girlfriend!"

"Though I'm envious, it's a bit of a pity. If Yinuo Qingcheng were in the instance, that Proud of the Crowd from Zone 885 wouldn't have had a chance to be so arrogant."

"Don't mention it, the instance isn't mandatory for everyone to enter. Whether to go in or not is a personal choice. If Yinuo Qingcheng doesn't want to play this instance, can we really force him?"

As usual, they booked two rooms. After settling Han Yaru in, Zhang Yi was about to leave when Han Yaru suddenly said, "Are you going out to level up again later?"

"Yeah." Zhang Yi was a bit surprised, "How did you know?"

"Because you haven't been in the room at night these past two days, you always come back in the morning. You must be going out alone to level up all night!" Han Yaru blinked and said, "Can you take me with you to level up tonight?"

Zhang Yi hesitated for a moment.

Considering that soloing the third floor of the Undead City was much less efficient without Han Yaru's support, Zhang Yi agreed, "Alright, let's rest for a few hours to recover from fatigue. I'll call you around ten."

Back in his room, Zhang Yi lay on the bed, looking at the top of the energy leaderboard in the City of Energy: Proud of the Crowd. He suddenly showed a mischievous smile, "Go Xiong Da, you got this."