Chapter 188: Holy Crap! Matched with Gu Yuexi? Going to Fight the Empress Head-on?

By now, the audience was in an absolute uproar!

They had originally thought this Great Cockroach was just winning with sneak attacks, but they never expected its true strength to be so formidable!

"Holy shit, that’s thirty straight wins! It’s long since broken the win streak record for the Fourth-Grade Early Stage! And now it’s tied the all-time arena record across all stages!"

"Right now, the highest win streak in the arena across all stages is thirty wins, set by a Third-Grade Middle Stage player. If this Great Cockroach wins just one more match, it’ll set a new record!"

"That record was set shortly after the server launched. It’s been four years, and no one has been able to break it! To think someone might finally do it today!"

"Actually, someone already broke it, but the officials temporarily voided it. Ptooey, not someone—it was that Evil Giant Mushroom. The Evil Giant Mushroom got all the way to forty straight wins!"

"Who do you guys think would win if this Great Cockroach went up against the Evil Giant Mushroom from before?"

While the audience was passionately debating, Chu Sheng was still inside the arena, waiting for his next opponent.

It couldn’t be helped. The system’s matchmaking was extremely strict, and as Chu Sheng reached a thirty-win streak, the matching time grew incredibly long—especially at such a critical moment!

If it matched him with someone too weak, the record would be broken too easily.

If it matched him with someone too strong, the match would be meaningless.

Either way, the audience would definitely be unsatisfied!

...

「At the same time.」

News that the arena’s highest record might be broken spread through various channels, reaching more and more players.

Many players logged on in a hurry just to watch this momentous match!

The number of online players skyrocketed, and the servers were instantly overloaded!

On the Spirit Martial Eternity game forums, a mega-viral thread even appeared:

[Evil Giant Mushroom VS Invincible Great Cockroach, Who Would Win?]

In just a few minutes, the thread’s discussion heat soared into the tens of millions. Two factions even emerged among the players on the forum:

The "Great Cockroach Sect" and the "Great GG Sect."

The two sects argued endlessly over which one was stronger!

"What do you guys know? The Invincible Great Cockroach can one-shot a Peak of Fourth-Grade opponent. That Evil Giant Mushroom just knows how to be disgusting, it’s a fucking joke!"

"The mushroom *is* a joke, so what? Your Great Cockroach gets a measly thirty-win streak and you’re already hyping it to the heavens? In the face of my Great Mushroom’s forty-win streak, it’s not even worth a single hair!"

"Shabi! It’s a system-generated bug. Only an idiot like you would be a fan."

"Shabi! I could say the Great Cockroach is just an NPC. Keep talking. If you’ve got the guts, let’s 1v1. Loser calls my Great Mushroom ’Daddy’!"

...

「Kyoto, Capital City University.」

Inside a luxurious single dorm room, a man with a cool and detached aura was looking at a WeChat message on his phone.

"Wudao, the record you set back in Spirit Martial Eternity is about to be broken, and by a great cockroach, haha. Don’t you want to go check it out?"

The man’s name was Qin Wudao, a fourth-year student at Jing University.

The record of thirty straight wins in the Spirit Martial Endless Arena was something he had set casually out of boredom during the summer vacation of his third year of high school.

After setting that record, Qin Wudao felt the game was too easy and tossed it aside. He never imagined that a record he set so casually would remain unbroken for four years.

Now, looking at the message, Qin Wudao frowned slightly.

’A great cockroach?’

’Heh, that’s somewhat interesting. I’m bored anyway, might as well go take a look.’

...

Ten minutes passed, but on Chu Sheng’s end, the system still hadn’t found him an opponent.

Meanwhile, in another arena, Gu Yuexi’s winning streak was also quietly growing.

Thirteen straight wins... fourteen straight wins... twenty-five straight wins... twenty-seven straight wins!

Originally, with all the hype surrounding Chu Sheng, no one was paying much attention to her win streak.

But, as she claimed her twenty-seventh consecutive victory, the tens of millions of players waiting for Chu Sheng’s match finally had their attention drawn to her once again!

"Holy shit, there’s someone else with a twenty-seven-win streak over here!"

"It’s that Empress from before! I almost forgot, she was already at twelve straight wins. I can’t believe it’s been half an hour and she’s already at twenty-seven!"

"The Only Beast Taming Empress in Ancient and Modern Times! Isn’t that the owner of the Evil Giant Mushroom? So she’s decided to take action personally this time?"

"Last time, this Empress also got a twenty-five-win streak. And back then she was only Second-Grade Middle Stage, but now she’s at Qi Sea Third Transformation? Hiss... isn’t that a bit too insane?"

"Forget about that for now, she just won another one! She’s at twenty-eight straight wins. Don’t tell me this Empress is also going to break the record?"

"Well, this guy is still matchmaking. I’m gonna go check out her room first!"

The number of spectators in Gu Yuexi’s arena began to swell.

At that moment, two players from Hong Kong Island University also entered the room.

"An Empress? But we have a real Future Empress here on Hong Kong Island... Wait a minute! Do you think this Empress player could be our very own Future Empress from Hong Kong Island, Lin Zhixia?"

"Holy shit, now that you mention it, their auras are actually pretty similar! I heard that the Nangong Family recently provided Lin Zhixia with a set of top-of-the-line gaming equipment, saying she was going to train in the game..."

"Same time, same aura—it has to be her! Think about it, if she weren’t the Future Empress, who else could pull off a twenty-eight-win streak!"

"No wonder that mushroom was so badass before. It was probably some kind of special tool of the Empress. I bet that mushroom isn’t a Contracted Beast, but some kind of Top-Grade Magical Treasure, maybe even one of those legendary ones with Spiritual Wisdom!"

"Yes, yes, yes! That explains everything! No wonder she named herself ’Beast Taming Empress.’ It was intentional, a disguise for her Top-Grade Magical Treasure!"

The two students became more and more convinced that their speculation was true!

"Ancient and Modern First Beast Taming Empress" was, in fact, Hong Kong Island’s Future Empress, Lin Zhixia!

"I can’t just stand here, I have to go tell our classmates to come and watch!"

"I’m gonna go make a post!!!"

[Congratulations to ’Ancient and Modern First Beast Taming Empress’ on her victory, now at a twenty-nine-win streak!]

...

On the Spirit Martial Eternity forums, three more viral threads quickly appeared.

[The Evil Giant Mushroom’s True Face: A Top-Grade Magical Treasure?]

[Identity of ’Ancient and Modern First Beast Taming Empress’ Revealed: A Real Empress?]

[The Empress’s Twenty-Nine-Win Streak! Will She Face the Invincible Great Cockroach?]

With the appearance of these three threads, the forums completely exploded!

「At the same time.」

Inside Hong Kong Island University, many students who received the news that Lin Zhixia was about to break the record hurriedly logged on.

「In the office of the Array Academy’s Dean.」

Zhao Hongwu let out a cry of surprise.

"What? Miss Lin is about to break a record in Spirit Martial Eternity?"

"Quick, quick, get me a full set of equipment immediately! I’m going to spectate!"

"This is Miss Lin’s first appearance after clearing the Star Sea Glazed Tower, I have to be there! Send word—all the senior staff of the academy are to log on and cheer for Miss Lin!"

The same scene was playing out in the other academies.

For a moment, all these middle-aged senior staff members, who had never even played the game before, began urgently registering accounts!

Meanwhile, the situation was the same in the Beast Taming Academy.

Shepherd Mountain was even faster and was already lying in his game pod. Most of the other teachers and students from the Beast Taming Academy had also entered the game.

However, the Beast Taming Academy was different from the others; they were there to support the "Divine Locust." Shortly after Chu Sheng had entered the arena, a student from the Beast Taming Academy had spotted it and notified everyone in the academy.

The high-end internet cafes near Hong Kong Island University were packed! Almost half the teachers and students of Hong Kong University had entered the game Spirit Martial Eternity.

Even... members of Hong Kong Island’s Ten Great Clans were doing the same!

The Spirit Martial Eternity servers nearly crashed from the traffic!!!

...

...

...

「Spirit Martial Eternity, inside the arena.」

Gu Yuexi had won another match!

[Congratulations to ’Ancient and Modern First Beast Taming Empress’ on her victory. Current win streak: 30!]

[Do you wish to continue?]

"Continue."

Gu Yuexi stood calmly in the center of the arena and uttered a single word.

[Matching you with an opponent...]

[Match found!]

The next second, Gu Yuexi’s figure flashed and she appeared in another arena.

She looked up and saw a great cockroach, which was also looking up at her.