Stepping on the Demoness to become the strongest

Tomorrow, September 11th, the first national cultivator simulation battle will take place in the Ancient City Secret Realm located northwest of Gaodu County in Sanjin Province. The event will be officially broadcast live in its entirety.

The domestic TV live broadcast will be through Central Channel 5, and the internet broadcasting rights have been auctioned to Shi Xun for 600 million RMB (for all mysterious realm battle competitions scheduled from September to December this year). The audio broadcasting rights went to Zhūmùlǎmǎ Company.

As for the overseas broadcasting rights, it is said that the Court Ministry of Commerce has been communicating with several major foreign platforms for a long time. The most hopeful is Miti Netflix, which already handles the livestreaming of superheroes. They have ready-made technology and equipment and have offered up to 1.4 billion US dollars per year.

However, Netflix wants to snap up the global broadcasting rights for three years straight (2023, 2024, and 2025 for all countries except Lu Country), while the Ministry of Commerce is only willing to sell the remaining four months of this year. Therefore, it's said that the two sides have been haggling back and forth for quite a while.

Rumors are that the "Kyoto Communications" of Heavy Sakura also intends to enter the bidding competition. As a financial tycoon, they have always been known to flaunt their wealth. Hence, the Ministry of Commerce has been quite confident, adopting an arrogant attitude of "if you don't buy it, others will; if worse comes to worst, I simply won't sell."

Crazy!

Who would've thought that our Rikoku cultivators are so formidable? With the Battle of the Three Islands as a precedent, the entire world knows that Rikoku cultivators are more awesome than superheroes. The immense anticipated traffic is just sitting there — surely we won't lack buyers!

This year's price is set, but next year's will be different!

Of course, since the Ministry of Commerce hasn't officially secured a deal yet, domestically we haven't started the "far ahead" promotions.

The current hot discussion is mainly about which team has a better chance of winning between the Zhenghai Team and the Flying Dragon Battle Team.

The fans supporting the Flying Dragon Battle Team have listed the following points:

First, this event is Dingbei Army's home ground, so the Flying Dragon Battle Team definitely has an advantage. Although ostensibly the simulation battle is fair to both parties, "cheating is a traditional part of the Three Powers Championship," and "when you play on Hogwarts' turf, do we even need to say who the professors will help?"

Second, the Flying Dragon Battle Team was established only four months later than the Zhenghai Team. Even if there's a difference in strength, it's not going to be so vast as to be crushing.

Third, the Zhenghai Team has a lot of negative public sentiment recently, which could likely translate into psychological pressure for the cultivators on the team. They may not perform steadily, and just one mistake could lead to a resounding defeat and loss.

In summary: In terms of geographical advantage, timing, and harmony among people, the Flying Dragon Battle Team either has a significant advantage or at least no serious disadvantage, making their chances of winning seem very strong.

The fans of the Zhenghai Team, however, responded to each of these points:

First, no matter how much your Flying Dragon Battle Team cheats, can you slay a dragon? Yan Yu has slain a Flood Dragon before!

Second, you acknowledge that you were established four months later? When Yan Zhanlong became famous after the battle in the South Sea, your team was still playing house at school!

Third, talking about psychological pressure, when the "Flying Dragon Battle Team" faces "Yan Zhanlong," won't they feel extreme pressure?

In summary: We want to see Yan Zhanlong crush the opponent!

The Zhenghai Team fans refuted the aforementioned points one by one. The Flying Dragon Battle Team fans then countered their refutations one by one again. Thus, the quarrel quickly spread to every forum, leading to a level of hype that it probably didn't deserve.

In a bathing house somewhere in Shengjing, Liu Longtao, Ai Lu, Guo Feiyun, and Yang Linhui, four guys, had just finished being scrubbed by the masseur and were now soaking in the pool, playing with their phones.

"You kidding?" Guo Feiyun couldn't help laughing as he looked at his phone, "Are there really that many fans of the Flying Dragon Battle Team? I can't imagine Cai Qianlong's team ever being a match for Yan Yu!"

"They simply don't understand cultivators," Ai Lu scoffed, "It's like outsiders trying to understand insiders, pure guessing."

"You guys just don't get it," Yang Linhui retorted, "Just check the IP of the fans. Those supporting the Flying Dragon Team are mostly from the provinces of North China and Northeast."

Surprisingly enough, they were right.

Since every battle team is affiliated with one of the four regional armies in the Southeast, Northwest, and Northeast, they naturally carry a regional attribute. Take a resident of Pingjing for example. If you ask him whether he supports the Dingbei's Lord Master Liu Longtao or Zhendong's Princess Jiang Hai Chen Lingyun, his choice would be obvious.

"Enough bickering," Liu Longtao suddenly said, "I'm going to call Old Yan and mock him."

The other three immediately shut up, pricking up their ears, ready to listen to an anticipated performance of comedic banter.

On the plane, Yan Yu was listening to Chen Lingyun report on the Flying Dragon Battle Team along with the rest of the girls.

There wasn't much important information as it was a relatively new team, and the more formidable players had already been chosen by Lord Master Liu Longtao beforehand.

Cai Qianlong himself was quite capable as a Sword Immortal, although sometimes his way of talking was arrogant and sometimes just offbeat.

As for his four teammates... it was hard to see anything special about them. At most, Yan Yu had three comments to offer about them: "Solid foundation," "Infinite potential," and "Bright future."

Ah, there's a call from Lord Master.

Yan Yu stepped outside to answer the phone and said without any niceties:

"Don't call me when I'm on the airplane, okay? What if there's a problem? Will you take responsibility?"

"Hey, old Yan." Liu Longtao laughed heartily, "With our military aircraft technology, who's still afraid of passengers making calls? Here's the thing, I've seen some heated debates online recently and wanted to remind you not to feel too much pressure. The team led by Cai Qianlong, they're actually not that tough to beat!"

"Oh?" Yan Yu asked with surprise, "But I heard him say that although he lost the one-on-one to you last time, it was basically even throughout, and he only narrowly lost the game to you in the end."

Liu Longtao: ????????

No way, I was holding back the entire time to spare him some dignity, to see how capable he was! How did it become "basically even throughout" when it came out of his mouth? Were there not loads of classmates watching? Cai, aren't you ashamed of padding your resume like this?

Lord Master instinctively felt something was off. But after thinking it over carefully, it seemed to him that Cai Qianlong indeed had this kind of oddball temperament, and a few days ago he had indeed heard about him calling Yan Yu...

Damn it, if he really said that, wouldn't that just crack Yan Yu up!

"Old Yan, you didn't actually believe him, did you?" he asked tentatively.

"Why wouldn't I believe him?" Yan Yu replied, feigning cluelessness, "He's so cocky when he talks in the group chat, you saw it too. If he didn't nearly fight you to a draw, where would he get the confidence to talk like that?"

"No, I…" Liu Longtao was so amused he almost wanted to laugh, trying to explain patiently, "Think about it, old Yan. If little Cai were really that strong, wouldn't my Dragon Soar Team have made a place for him back then? I was intentionally going easy on him last time!"

"Old Liu, no need to explain, I get it," Yan Yu comforted him, "It's okay. Winning or losing a one-on-one doesn't mean much, the real key is the team's strength and coordination."
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"Old Yan." Liu Longtao felt a bit upset, "You're being unfair. Don't you trust in my skills?"

"Of course, I trust your skills." Yan Yu replied earnestly, "The problem is I don't know about Cai Qianlong's strength!"

"How could you not know?" Liu Longtao was suddenly anxious, raising his voice, "Tell me, what's his surname?"

"Cai?"

"Lousy!"

"Old Liu, calm down. That's a bit too broad-brushed; you can't just say things like that." Yan Yu quickly interrupted him.

"I'm not attacking all people surnamed Cai, I'm saying Cai Qianlong himself is lousy." Liu Longtao calmed down and explained, "If you were up against him, you'd throw him down with a few slaps. What's this about breaking even with me? He's talking nonsense, isn't he!"

"Hmm." Yan Yu fell silent, "I'll see for myself then."

"Come on, don't wait until you see for yourself," Liu Longtao was getting a bit frantic seeing Yan Yu seemingly still unconvinced, "You'll know when you play tomorrow, do I need to lie to you about this? I'll put it this way, right now he's at the same level as that Lin Ning in your team, get it? Lin Ning!"

Perhaps because Lord Master's voice was loud, Lin Ning's voice came from behind Yan Yu:

"Who's calling me? Yan Yu?"

"Didn't call you," Yan Yu turned around to manage the situation, "We're discussing units of measurement here."

Lin Ning: ?

Yan Yu turned back and continued to ask:

"How many Nings?"

"How many Nings can there be?" Liu Longtao was simply speechless, responding coldly, "It fluctuates between 0.9 Ning to 1.1 Ning!"

"Seems like he is a bit lousy," Yan Yu pretended to be somewhat skeptical, "So, what did you do when you fought against one Ning?"

"Isn't it because he talked big?" Liu Longtao said scornfully, "He came at me with 'The number one cultivator of Dingbei Army is going to be replaced.' If I didn't play with him a little longer, where would I put my face?"

"Got it, okay." Yan Yu said, "Thanks for the intel, I've got to go now, hanging up."

After Liu Longtao hung up the phone, he let out a long sigh of relief, his peripheral vision suddenly catching that the other three teammates were all silently grinning and laughing quietly.

But when his gaze swept over them, their smiles vanished instantly, and they began to study the patterns on the floor of the bathhouse tiles with earnest seriousness.