On the ninth day of the carnival, the top 16 of the Fengyun Competition had yet to officially begin, but the official announcement stated that the viewership had reached 16.8%. The number of online viewers had exceeded 300 billion, and the number of views on the broadcast had reached 1 trillion. The prize pool of the Fengyun Competition had also exceeded 2 billion Star Coins.
Perhaps these numbers didn't mean much, but last night when Ding Meng and the others went to the city for supper, they could see the excitement of the competition everywhere. There were advertisements for the carnival everywhere in Blue Pole Star City, and everyone was discussing the competition. Even the customers at the barbecue stalls in the underground city were guessing who would be the winner. This event was indeed a celebration for everyone.
Ding Meng, Dai Yi, and Jun Ling had also entered the VIP room of the Holy War Temple early to wait. Lan Bing and the others were watching the live broadcast in the conference room of the building.
The top 16 matches were held in order, not all at the same time. This allowed everyone to experience the elegance of the various experts one by one.
The number of online viewers for the first match had exceeded 2 billion. This was a focal battle. The previous champion, Lei Jingtian, was up against Sheng Hao's Yu Ming. This Yu Ming was probably a famous figure in Sheng Hao.
This match was amazing for most of the audience. Both sides attacked each other for more than 20 minutes. During this time, all kinds of gorgeous martial arts dazzled the audience and made them gasp in amazement. However, for Ding Meng, it was very ordinary because the level of Lei Jingtian and Yu Ming were at the level of origin ability users. In other words, the two of them didn't have anything new, such as psychic powers, secret manuals, or the power of the God Race and Demons. They didn't have these, or rather, they were holding back.
If there was anything special, it would be that Lei Jingtian's foundation was very solid. At least, among the experts Ding Meng had seen, this was the most solid. Therefore, Lei Jingtian won the first match by a narrow margin and became the first contestant to enter the top 16.
The second match was Eisendale against Bai Yu from the Apocalypse Group. This was another fierce battle. Eisendale also used all kinds of martial arts and won by a narrow margin. The third match was Zhong Wuji against Vast Sky. In less than five minutes, Vast Sky was defeated.
In the fourth match, Jun Ling set the record for this year's Wind and Cloud Gathering's knockout round. He ended the battle in five seconds and finished off Dye Liquid with one slash. What made people laugh was the fifth match. It was Dai Yi against the eldest son of the Qi family.
This Young Master Qi was indeed a playboy. After the two of them entered the map, they didn't start fighting. Young Master Playboy just stood on the top of the mountain and bragged. He talked about how beautiful the young ladies were and how beautiful they were. After five minutes of bragging, not to mention the hundreds of millions of viewers, even Dai Yi couldn't take it anymore. Thus, he took the initiative to start fighting.
In the end, the eldest son of the Qi family symbolically resisted for three minutes before taking the initiative to admit defeat. This really shocked everyone. The eldest son of the Qi family had a lot of support and was not weak. Even if he was going to lose, he would not take the initiative to surrender.
However, this fellow had taken the initiative to surrender. Many of the audience had guessed that the Qi family's eldest young master had taken a liking to Miss Dai Yi.
Ding Meng also found it funny. When Dai Yi was sent back, he couldn't help but ask, "This eldest son of the Qi family is not weak. He lost to you on purpose, right?"
Dai Yi shook her head and smiled bitterly. "I know he's strong, but he insisted on admitting defeat. He even asked me out for dinner, but I refused."
Jun Ling curiously asked, "Why did you refuse?"
Dai Yi smiled bitterly. "I told him I had a husband and that we could forget about dinner. He looked very disappointed, but he handed me a business card and said he could cooperate with the Bingyi Group."
Ding Meng took the crystal card and looked at it. There was a logo on it: "Holy Grail Federation Tianhang Group Vice President Qi Shaoxing."
Jun Ling also smiled. "Liang Yiran definitely knows this person. He's the young master of the Tianhang Group. His reputation is very good."
Ding Meng smiled and said, "It's not a problem to agree to dinner with him. Our group also needs to cooperate with these big financial groups."
There was not much suspense in the following matches. In the sixth match, Dream Return easily defeated Jintianyi. In the seventh match, Long Feiyang defeated Lian Song. In the eighth match, Lone Ranger killed Wei Kang. In the ninth match, Official Wuming defeated Misty Rain. In the tenth match, Ouyang Guang eliminated Piccolo. In the eleventh match, Ji Chenyu defeated Mu Zhou. In the twelfth match, Star Rainbow – Leng Yeqiu defeated Red Moon – Li Xiaoyao. In the thirteenth match, Scar of Heavens lost to Star Rainbow – Dong Yihan.
However, in the fourteenth match, an upset finally appeared. The seeded player, Blue Moon, fell at the feet of the unseeded player, Neighbor. This match lasted more than 40 minutes. In the fifteenth match, I Was Born Dry easily defeated Ayin 9527.
After the first fifteen matches, it was only four in the afternoon. The last match would determine the last place in the top sixteen. This was also the most important match of the day: Star Rainbow – Ling Xingqi VS Crazed Explosion.
The teleportation light flashed quickly, and the players from both sides entered the map. The match was about to begin.
The first thing that caught Ding Meng's eyes was a colorful jungle. He was standing under a giant tree in the depths of the jungle. This was the only open space, and this place was very similar to the camp on Pandora V4. It was obvious that this map was a poisonous planet.
What was strange was that the fans in today's live broadcast were unusually quiet. However, the System View showed that the number of viewers for the match had reached 1.3 billion. Ding Meng could not help but say, "It's a bit quiet."
The fans finally responded.
"Can it be quiet?
1.2 billion of the 1.3 billion viewers are on the other side. The other side has the majority. "
"Boss, you can do it!"
"I just went to Ling Xingqi's live broadcast to take a look. It's so lively there."
"Aren't you a hardcore fan of our boss?
Why are you a traitor on the other side? "
"It's not that. I just went to take a look. I still have faith in our boss."
"You don't even believe what you're saying, do you?"
…
The fans were still arguing. At this moment, Ding Meng could already feel an extremely powerful aura approaching his location. When he turned around, he saw Ling Xingqi. He immediately understood why his live broadcast was so quiet.
This time, Ling Xingqi didn't wear any armor. Just this point alone showed that her attainments in martial arts were different from before. At the same time, Ling Xingqi didn't appear with her true appearance. She had made some adjustments to her appearance.
First of all, her height had been adjusted from 1.8 meters to 1.68 meters. This was the standard height for women in the Federation. Next was her attire. Ling Xingqi wore a khaki colored lady's windbreaker, casual pants, and high boots. Her figure was just right to be proud of. If he only looked at her attire and not her face, Ding Meng might have thought that she was Lu Qing.
As for her facial features, they had been weakened to a certain extent. Those who had seen Ling Xingqi's true appearance before would be able to recognize her at a glance. Those who had not seen Ling Xingqi before would also be attracted by her unique beauty. Especially those light blue eyes, they were clear, bright, and without any impurities.
When she looked at you, it was as if a beautiful goddess was quietly staring at you. It was as if you were facing a vast blue ocean for the first time. Your heart would be moved.
It was obvious that at this moment, the attention of over a billion viewers was focused on Ling Xingqi. Her popularity was already very high. In comparison, she was the one who was favored. Even Ding Meng's own fans did not have high hopes for Ding Meng. This was because Ling Xingqi's popularity and aura were just too strong.
The system notified that the match had begun. However, neither of them made a move. Instead, they stood there quietly and observed each other. The empty space in the forest was extremely quiet. The fans from all over the world seemed to have quieted down as well. There was an oppressive atmosphere in the air. Everyone knew that this was the calm before the big battle.
"Long time no see!" Ling Xingqi was the first to break the silence.
"It has been quite a few years!" Ding Meng calmly replied.
His own fans went crazy the moment he opened his mouth.
"F * ck, boss is boss. He actually knew the goddess before. That's awesome!"
"It seems like I'm full of confidence in boss again!"
"Be more confident. Remove the word 'seems' and 'again'!"
"F * ck your immortals. Be quiet!"
… …
Ling Xingqi stared at Ding Meng and said, "I'm here to collect my debt!"
Back on Planet Poison Dragon, Rion, Peng Long, Yao Dao, Wu Cangzhen, and the other Battle-Saints of the Starbow Group were all killed by Ding Meng. Ling Xingqi had not forgotten about this grudge.
However, Ding Meng laughed at this moment. "Don't even think about collecting my debt. Even if I win and you're lucky enough to escape, no one will really die here anyway."
Both of their livestreams exploded again. "F * ck, did this crazy guy defeat the goddess before?"
Ling Xingqi's expression turned cold. Ding Meng's words were actually a reminder to her. "Even if you kill me, I won't really die. What's the point of collecting my debt?"
"If you lose, you should know how big of a loss you'll suffer!" Ling Xingqi said calmly.
What she said made sense. Although this was not like the previous energy battle, the forces behind each of them had invested a lot of manpower, money, and resources to get to where they were today. If they were really eliminated in the top 16, they would not only lose a lot of popularity, but they would also lose a lot of business profits and a lot of subsequent benefits. This was no different from taking someone's life.
Ding Meng laughed. "You seem to be very confident. Bring it on then. Ladies first, I'll let you make the first move."
Ling Xingqi nodded. "Remember what you said!"
As soon as she finished speaking, her image became slightly blurry. Before the eyes of the fans could catch up, Ling Xingqi was already in front of Ding Meng. She raised her hand and threw an elbow at Ding Meng's chest.
Ding Meng stretched out his palm and caught it lightly. With the two of them as the center, an invisible force spread out from the soles of their feet. The surrounding weeds, bushes, and trees were reduced to dust at a speed visible to the naked eye. The only thing that everyone could see was that the wave-like energy had flattened everything within a one-kilometer radius.
As for Ding Meng and Ling Xingqi, everyone could only see their afterimages flashing back and forth. The air crackled one after another, and they were completely unable to see their real bodies. Their speed was so fast that their eyes couldn't keep up with them.
More than a billion fans started to feel dizzy and nauseous. Many of them gave up on the first-person view and switched to the third-person view. Otherwise, it would not look like they were watching a battle. It would look more like they were flipping through a book. It was very dizzying.