Translator: Exodus Tales Editor: Exodus Tales
After an uneventful night…
As the sun rose again, Qin Fen hurriedly had breakfast before joining the crowd to the drawing lots venue of the recruit tournament.
The martial arts tournament was one of the hottest topics nowadays.
The army treated the martial arts tournament like the main event, as there were other similar activities in the Federation which often had martial arts tournaments as well.
In the five-star Federation Olympic games that were held every four years, the martial arts tournament had replaced the track and field events of the past and had become the most popular event of paramount importance.
The Football World Cup that was once held every four years also withdrew from the historical stage with the rapid rise of the Great Ensemble that was held every four years.
As the highlight of the recruit tournament, the venue chosen wasn’t the venue of the pistol shooting tournament, but rather it was replaced by a large stadium that could accommodate eighty thousand people.
Although the Recruit King of Martial Combat wasn’t as influential as the Great Ensemble, its opening battle still drew in over thirty thousand people.
Various recruits participants in the competition very quickly formed a small phalanx at the center of the venue.
As the organizer of this tournament, the European Military Region sent out a General to preside over the opening ceremony of the martial arts tournament.
With greying hairs at his temples and a trimmed military uniform, the General stood at the stage and spoke fervently, a speech held in his hand, “After mankind entered the interstellar era, we are no longer facing Earth, but rather a vast universe. Many of our planets don’t have a natural atmosphere. We must rely on our own hands to change the harsh atmosphere and create one that is one hundred percent suitable for our human habilitation. As soldiers, we must consider the general interest of the public and always prepare for the worst. If we encounter a hostile and unknown lifeform on an interstellar voyage, we have a greater responsibility to protect the people. For this reason…”
As Zhao Huzi, who was sitting next to the General, yawned slightly, he just so happened to see American Major General Will also yawning in boredom from the corner of his eyes.
Although the opening lines of every martial arts recruit tournament was changed, the essence of the content was repetitive.
A few major generals of other continents had already heard the openings of previous tournaments. As such, the seemingly impassioned speech of the European General was unable to arouse their interest.
Some military fans who had already watched several tournaments simply took out their earphones and started listening to the music player they always carried with them to pass the time.
In contrast, the military fans who had forgotten to bring their music player, were on one side regretting that they forgot to bring this important piece of equipment, and on another, looking at the sixty-four recruits standing on the field with much anticipation.
Sixty-four recruits from five military regions. With the exception of the previous champions, the American Military Region, who could only send twelve recruits due to them being the defending champions, the other four military regions could each send thirteen recruits to participate.
Qin Fen sized up the man standing next to him quietly. Not only did most of the recruits of the other continents not know each other, the East Asian contestants were also not familiar with everyone in their own region.
These sixty-four recruits were said to represent sixty-four of Earth’s most powerful recruits. Qin Fen was curious about his first opponent. Who is it going to be?
Drawing lots was a matter of sheer luck.
One may draw a relatively weaker opponent, or if one had completely expended their luck, he or she may even draw an expert like the legendary European Emperor, Caesar.
According to the data, Emperor-Caesar had received an invite from the Sacred Martial Hall before he even joined the army.
Having received the invitation of Sacred Martial Hall, he was eligible to be exempted from joining the army and still retain his citizenship. But this Emperor-Caesar did not immediately go to the Sacred Martial Hall. Rather, he sent a postponement letter to the Sacred Martial Hall, choosing the route that had already been set – joining the army!
Sacred Martial Hall was the holy land in the minds of almost all the martial artists.
For a martial artist to resist the great temptation of Sacred Martial Hall, how determined does his heart need to be? A martial artist with such firm convictions would absolutely not be weak.
Although the military speech was somewhat old-fashioned, they still practiced that efficiency pursued in the military. As such, the speech was finished in a short time.
Just after the speech, a huge electronic projection appeared above the stadium.
Sixty-four contestants were divided into two upper and lower halves, each with thirty-two contestants. And the recruits at the end of two halves stood out from the rest. In the final battle, the winner would be the Recruit King of Martial Combat of this tournament.
A black box with sixty-four ball was slowly rotating. On the inside, one could hear the crisp sounds of balls colliding with each other.
The box with sixty-four balls that had numbers written on them finally stopped after this simple rotation, completely hooking the excitement of the audience. They began to wonder what the result of drawing would be.
At this instant, the aura of the recruits’ phalanx also underwent a significant change.
When their opponents were about to be decided, slight fluctuation appeared in the unperturbed hearts of the recruits.
The impartial staff that was responsible for this drawing lots ceremony gently waved their hands to the recruits’ phalanx.
Standing at the forefront of the phalanx was naturally the defending champion of the last recruit tournament, the soldiers of the American Military Zone.
Little Dragon King – Yang Lie was the first one to come to the black box. He reached out and took out a glass ball before raising it high.
The cameraman in charge of broadcasting immediately moved the lens in front of the ball in Yang Lie’s hand and gave it the biggest close-up.
As the close-up appeared on the projection screen, over thirty thousand viewers cheered at the same time.
Number one! Much to everyone’s surprise, the Little Dragon King – Yang Lie drew number one as the first drawer!
Many spectators have already purchased the contestant guidebook of this year’s martial arts tournament from the staff. Little Dragon King-Yang Lie’s name was impressively in the first place. He was also one of the outstanding contestants of the first group to win this tournament.
Initially, the audience was worried that the opener would be too mediocre, and not produce as much excitement. But with Little Dragon King – Yang Lie taking part in it, the uproar in the stadium of thirty thousand spectators changed drastically.
The second recruit to draw wasn’t an American recruit but rather, had walked out from the file of European recruits.
For the sake of fairness in the draw, the method of drawing lots also followed a rotation system, in which the recruit of every continent was given the chance to draw once.
Today, Caesar didn’t have his long golden hair hanging loose. He had it tied high behind his head, revealing his face, which was like the artwork of a sculptor.
His handsome face was full of masculine charms. Those sapphire-like eyes of his were full of heroism that was no less inferior to Little Dragon King – Yang Lie’s, who had just drawn lots.
Number forty-five, the glittering glass ball became the focus of the camera once more. Its projection slowly rotating on the projection screen.
Over thirty thousand spectators exclaimed in unison. To their surprise, Emperor – Caesar was in the lower group. Everyone’s wish to see the wonderful showdown between him and Little Dragon King – Yang Lie could only be possible if both of them entered the finals.
Having been in third place in the last tournament, East Asia also had to send someone to draw the lots in accordance with the ranking. Qin Fen was pushed to the front, and as such, he had to step forward to draw the lots.
Looking at the black box, Qin Fen put his hand in it.
Number thirty-two.
Looking at the number, a light smile appeared on Qin Fen’s face. The number at the end of the upper group had been drawn. This draw was very interesting.
Next, Mourad Tschick stepped out from the file of West Asia. Until he stood before the lottery box, his eyes hardly left Qin Fen’s figure. He put his palm together before closing his eyes and mumbled something as if he was praying.
While others were believing that he was praying not to draw number two or number forty-six, only those close to him could hear him mumbling a number continuously, number thirty-one!
Number sixty-three!
Upon seeing this number, Mourad Tschick’s face turned slightly ashen. This number meant that he was allocated to the lower group; he was not in the same group as Qin Fen. If he wished to meet him, then there was only one way, and that was to get to the finals!
The drawing continued. And as each recruit mentioned in the guidebook appeared on the stage, the spectators would exclaim in surprise.
Very soon, the numbers of all sixty-four people had been drawn.
“Old Qin, from today on, I’ve decided to believe in God.” Xue Tian happily drew a cross on his chest. “Just before I drew lots, I kept on praying to not assign me in your group. As a result, I was really assigned to the lower group.”
Qin Fen felt the sympathetic gazes of almost every recruit around him focused on Kyokushin Genichi who was standing by his side. Even the East Asian recruits were looking at Kyokushin Genichi with a sympathetic look.
There was really no method to quantize the thing called luck.
Number two, the number for the opening match.
Before the drawing had yet to start, many recruits had hoped to get this number.
The opening match was the first match of the recruit martial arts tournament.
Even if the contestant was unable to win the title of the Recruit King of Martial Combat in the end, he or she would be remembered by many people just because of this special match.
However, the moment Little Dragon King – Yang Lie drew number one, almost all of the participating recruits hoped that they would not draw number two.
With Little Dragon King – Yang Lie having drawn number one, most of the recruits knew that when they encounter the Little Dragon King – Yang Lie as an opponent, he or she could only become the stepping stone for the other side in the opening match.
In this world, no one liked to be a stepping stone for the others.
Only, Kyokushin Genichi’s luck had drawn what should be called as the jackpot.
Qin Fen was very clear of Kyokushin Genichi’s strength. He might not have fought with Little Dragon King – Yang Lie, but he still knew that the chances of Kyokushin Genichi winning against Yang Lie were almost zero.
Qin Fen lightly heaved a sigh. Raising his hand, he patted Kyokushin Genichi’s shoulder in comfort. “Fight well! The result is not important, the most important is the process.”
Kyokushin Genichi stared blankly at Qin Fen. His confused and depressed eyes gradually regained their brilliance as he mumbled to himself, “Most important is the process, most important is the process.”
“Gen.” Xue Tian put his hand on Kyokushin Genichi’s shoulder. “Let me tell you, you should think like this. Little Dragon King is a dick! It’s much better to meet him than to meet Old Qin!”
Suddenly, Kyokushin Genichi’s eyes shone even more brightly. Yes! Encountering Little Dragon King is better than to encounter Qin Fen!
Meanwhile, the other recruits began to retreat to their seats, ready to watch the next opening match.
Kyokushin Genichi looked at Qin Fen. “Master, do you have any other advice for me?”
“This…” Qin Fen pondered a little before he smiled and said, “It doesn’t matter who the opponent is. The important thing is to fight the battle like you want, got it?!”
“Old Qin, let’s leave.” Xue Tian patted on Qin Fen’s shoulder as he spoke in a low voice, “Conventionally, the second match after the opener would be the match between number thirty-two and thirty-one. I reckon that Kyokushin Genichi will not be able to hold on for too long. You better adjust your state and prepare for the match.”
