Supreme Electromagnetic Tyrant-Chapter 539 - 351: A Galaxy of Stars

October 1st.

A week after Ji Xinghuo advanced to Legendary, the day of the duel with Li Xuan arrived, scheduled for 7 p.m.

But as usual, he spent half the day cultivating at the Ether Research Institute.

It was only in the afternoon that Ji Xinghuo left.

He took a luxurious magnetic levitation car on the superconductive highway, quickly leaving Chang’an City and entering the Qinling Mountains to the south of the suburbs, driving up the mountain road to reach a villa built on the mountainside overlooking Chang’an.

This was the house chosen by his eldest sister Ye Dongyun, and the family had been living there for over two months.

Normally, Ji Xinghuo alternated living between his own place and Zhao Manying’s apartment, though he would come to stay here for a day or two each weekend.

The car entered the parking lot.

Though called a villa, with seven or eight buildings and over two hundred acres of garden land, it could be considered a small manor.

It did not employ servants like those of manors in the New Roman Empire, using home-service robots instead.

The electromagnetic induction swept over the villa, all the friends and family were there.

The duel, hyped up by Li Xuan, had caught global attention, and every friend was concerned and would be present to lend their support.

By the afternoon, everyone had arrived.

Ji Xinghuo simply invited everyone to his home, seeing it as a good opportunity to gather before heading out together in the evening.

"Xinghuo is back!"

In the garden, there was a spacious lawn with a panoramic view and beautiful scenery where most of Chang’an could be seen, along with a standard-size constant temperature swimming pool, surrounded by flowers and plants to block outside prying eyes.

Ye Dongyun had arranged chairs, sofas, and drinks nearby, with people gathering in small groups to chat leisurely.

As soon as Ji Xinghuo’s car approached the entrance, everyone took notice.

He strolled leisurely onto the grass by the pool, first exchanging a knowing look with Zhao Manying, his face wearing a smile.

Then he turned to the others.

All five siblings were there, Zhao Cangming, Zhao Manying’s brother, Qi Feng from the Emperor Star Club, Jiangnan Caiyi, Lu Yunhai and his wife, along with the teammates who hunted the Nile giant lizard together, Chi Zhonglin and Zhuo Ligetu, were already getting tipsy.

There was also Wu Qifeng, a university classmate. After the wedding, they stayed in touch often, even closer than during their university days.

An Yitian and An Zhisu, the dragon-phoenix siblings, as well as Su Ziyou.

A guest among them came as a surprise to Ji Xinghuo.

Wang Yinlong, number one on the Legendary rankings!

They had met once two months ago in Ivangrad and had agreed to spar when the opportunity arose, though it had yet to happen.

"Brother Wang," Ji Xinghuo greeted.

Wang Yinlong was just 42 years old, not much older than himself.

"Xinghuo, I hope you don’t mind my imposing visit today. I’d like to join you this evening and watch your battle with Li Xuan," Wang Yinlong said with a smile.

"No problem at all, welcome!"

Ji Xinghuo didn’t mind.

His gaze swept over the four Legends present, all prominent powerhouses on the Legendary rankings, with reputations that preceded them. His friends and family held them in awe, and even though they were unpretentious, an air of distance was unavoidable.

Thankfully, Zhao Manying played the role of hostess impressively, preventing any awkward silence.

Suddenly, Su Ziyou asked, "Xinghuo, how certain are you about tonight’s battle?"

With his question, everyone’s attention was drawn.

"99%," Ji Xinghuo replied with an air of ease.

"That’s awesome!"

An Yitian couldn’t help but express astonishment, somewhat in disbelief.

Being number 24 on the Legendary rankings, having made his name even before Li Xuan, he knew Li Xuan, the internet-famous Sun King, might be one of the weakest among global Sun Kings, but even a weak king was still a king.

If it were up to him to face Li Xuan, he would have no confidence at all.

"Haha, it was just an offhand remark," Ji Xinghuo didn’t offer much in the way of explanation.

Actually, he wanted to say 100%.

However, considering the sudden surge in Li Xuan’s confidence on the day when the bet was placed, that 1% possibility of failure accounted for the unexpected factor.

"I believe in you!"

Chi Zhonglin came over, slinging one arm around Ji Xinghuo’s shoulder and holding an expensive bottle of wine in the other hand, proclaimed loudly, "Xinghuo beat the Sun King, so for him, defeating Li Xuan should be a piece of cake!"

The family and friends all nodded in agreement, sharing similar sentiments.

Wang Yinlong smiled, neither agreeing nor disagreeing.

Of course, he wouldn’t underestimate Ji Xinghuo’s strength, but neither was he optimistic. Others might not understand the Sun King’s power, but as the top Legendary ranker, his perspective and experience far surpassed those of ordinary mutants, granting him a deep understanding.

The thoughts of the other few Legends were more or less the same.

Su Ziyou lamented, "If you beat Li Xuan, you’ll be the first on Earth to defeat a King beyond your level!"

Such feats of challenging or even killing above one’s level happen from time to time among Primary Level mutants all the way to Legendary.

But no one on Earth had ever defeated a King while beyond their level.

Wu Qifeng said enviously, "Xinghuo, you’ve already created many records, accomplishing something else that no one else can wouldn’t be strange."

The group chatted while sipping their drinks.

With Ji Xinghuo’s arrival, acting as a bridge between the family, friends, and the Legends, the atmosphere became relaxed and harmonious.

Of course, the focus of the conversation was still the upcoming battle that evening.

As the discussion grew lively, they brought out the data on Li Xuan’s abilities and past videos, analyzing them and offering strategic advice to Ji Xinghuo.

Actually, Zhao Manying had been working on this since last month.

But with four Legends present, evaluating from their perspectives and experience gave Ji Xinghuo additional insights.

Another magnetic levitation car drove into the villa.

Two familiar faces stepped out of the car: Jing Ji and Yuan Chongzhen.

"Long time no see," Ji Xinghuo greeted with a smile.

The last time they had met was on a hunting trip to Africa. An electromagnetic induction scan confirmed that both were still Super Mutants; it wasn’t easy for anyone to break through the bottleneck and become Legendary, even though they were both Mutants on the heavenly ladder, it would take a significant amount of time.

Jing Ji also sized up Ji Xinghuo, sighing, "Haven’t seen you in over a year and you’ve done so many big things."

"We heard about you in the Star Realm and hurried back specially, not wanting to miss out on the excitement tonight," Yuan Chongzhen followed.

Chi Zhonglin and the others came over, greeting each other with laughs and jests.

Ji Xinghuo went back to his room for a moment.

When he came out, he pulled the two aside and gave each of them a Transcendent Species; Jing Ji received a "True Spirit Fugue", and Yuan Chongzhen got a "Fungal Giant" avatar, both of high quality and well-matched to their Professional Templates.

The two did not refuse but accepted them happily and expressed their thanks. freewёbnoνel.com

At six in the evening.

The group left the villa, each taking their own vehicles to the battleground.

The arrangements for today’s showdown were mostly decided by Li Xuan.

Of course, he had consulted with Ji Xinghuo beforehand about the most crucial points and got his agreement.

Li Xuan hired a professional team of over a hundred people to handle the livestream channel, sponsorships, ticket sales, advertising bids, hosts, and so on.

Ji Xinghuo did not interfere, but let a few of Zhao Manying’s trusted subordinates join the operations team to monitor the whole process, to prevent Li Xuan from finding loopholes.

The battle venue was set at the "Heaven Qin National Stadium".

This was agreed upon by Ji Xinghuo and was also the home field of the Emperor Star Team, to make use of the stadium’s Spirit Realm World.

For tonight’s showdown, domestic and international leagues had all adjusted their schedules to avoid clashing with the event.

By the time they arrived at Heaven Qin National Stadium, it was already packed with people outside.

The grandeur was comparable to the finals of the Emperor Star Team.

Two months prior, over four hundred thousand tickets were sold out in less than a minute, with an average price exceeding ten thousand Ya Yuan, plus VIP boxes. Just from ticket sales alone, the revenue share was more than fifty billion.

Virtual tickets for online viewing, sold cheaply but in bulk, went out globally by the billions!

And it was still growing rapidly.

Other revenues, such as livestream, sponsorships, and advertisements, all added up, ensuring that the income from today’s battle would definitely exceed fifty billion Ya Yuan.

The bet signed between the two was one hundred and fifty billion.

This was a battle worth two hundred billion, the most gimmicky, topical, and globally watched fight in over a decade!

Ji Xinghuo, accompanied by family and friends, entered the stadium through the official passage.

He had reserved one of the best VIP boxes, which could accommodate over twenty people watching together.

Upon entering the box and overlooking the entire Heaven Qin Stadium, more than half of the over four hundred thousand seats were already filled. The noise from the crowd circumference the central oval field was deafening, and the live broadcast already had hundreds of millions of viewers waiting.

Five hosts and guests were warming up before the match, analyzing the strength of the two contenders from all angles, guiding the audience to predict the winner.

A large promotional film was playing on the giant projection screen.

However, most of the content in the promo featured Li Xuan, with Ji Xinghuo appearing in less than a fifth of the scenes.

This was clearly on Li Xuan’s instructions, but Ji Xinghuo didn’t care.

The camera switched to the box.

The big screen showed Ji Xinghuo. He sat there relaxed, chatting with friends beside him.

A cheer erupted from the venue as soon as Ji Xinghuo waved at the camera; he then ignored it.

He was relaxed himself, but his family started to get nervous.

Apart from Zhao Manying, they had never experienced such a grand event and were more anxious than Ji Xinghuo himself.

Approaching seven o’clock.

The Heaven Qin Stadium was already packed to capacity, with social elites from all fields occupying the front rows and boxes—Heavenly Kings, Legends, tycoons, movie stars, and singers, along with many famous people from abroad. Some came for the excitement, some to be in on the trend, and of course, some simply came to watch the match.

Ji Xinghuo spotted many familiar faces, and they spotted him too, but no one came over to disturb him.

Before the opening, Li Xuan came to the box.

He was, as always, dressed in an ancient-style robe. Today’s robe was even more exquisite and luxurious. With an ethereal air, he carried the look of a hero straight out of a fantasy film.

The box fell silent.

Ji Xinghuo stood up and locked eyes with Li Xuan for a moment before turning his attention to the people beside him.

Several floating cameras followed around, filming Li Xuan from various angles, with a few uniformed official personnel accompanying him.

They were from the National Public Notary Office.

The two shook hands.

In front of the cameras, Li Xuan said solemnly, "As per the contract, we need to have it notarized before the opening."

"Okay," Ji Xinghuo replied.

Without any fuss, Ji Xinghuo brought out the "Absolute Hit" Mutant Ability and handed it over to an expert from the notary office for authentication.

Li Xuan immediately opened his bank account, showing his funds.

After the notary office confirmed there were no issues, both sides then confirmed once again.

Normally, according to the professional procedure of the notary office, Ji Xinghuo would have to entrust the Mutant Ability to a third party for safekeeping and Li Xuan’s account funds would also need to be frozen. After the winner was decided, the third party would directly give the stake to the victor.

But the value of the Star-falling Species was too high, and one hundred and fifty billion Ya Yuan was also a massive sum that couldn’t immediately find a third party for safekeeping and operations.

Therefore, the two decided to retain it themselves.

Neither Ji Xinghuo nor Li Xuan feared the other defaulting on their bet; the stake was huge, but it wasn’t worth putting their reputations on the line.

"See you on the field, and good luck," Li Xuan said, displaying his confident composure.

Ji Xinghuo just smiled.

He watched Li Xuan leave the box before sitting down again.

Although tonight was a showdown between the two of them, to enrich the content, extend the broadcast time, and increase revenue, Li Xuan had also arranged other events: two teams comprised of stars, renowned Mutants, and retired competitive Mutants would compete in five matches first.

Between each of the matches, there would be entertainment performances, featuring top artists from both the national and global stages, a gathering of stars.

Finally, it would be time for Ji Xinghuo and Li Xuan to take the stage.