I will eventually become a god through sheer hard work.

"Xiao Jing!"

"Sister Wei." Xue Jing smiled and nodded at her.

"You've come at the right time. Someone from the organizers just arrived; they said they want to record a pre-match interview..."

As Jiang Siwei was speaking, she noticed that Xue Jing seemed to want to say something, and immediately realized that he didn't want to go, so she quickly added:

"Every player has to go; it's a tradition in every U19 finals. You should go; it's not good to be too unconventional."

Upon hearing this, Xue Jing thought for a moment and nodded, saying, "Alright."

Jiang Siwei breathed a sigh of relief, closed her laptop, stood up, and said, "Let's go then, I'll take you to the studio."

Xue Jing followed behind her, making several turns as they walked towards the studio.

The Super Arena is enormous, not only the arena and the stands, but also the backstage area.

It took more than ten minutes to walk from the players' rest area to the studio.

Xue Jing was fine, but Jiang Siwei, who was leading the way, had never practiced martial arts and was wearing high heels. She was panting heavily and covered in sweat.

"arrive……"

She pointed to the double doors at the end of the corridor ahead and said with a relieved expression.

Xue Jing followed her to the studio door, and just as he was about to push it open, the door was opened from the inside.

A boy with sharp, hawk-like eyes and a youthful face stepped out and exchanged a glance with Xue Jing.

That one glance made both of them stop in their tracks.

“Young Master Zhou, we…” The voice of a middle-aged man who was speaking to the boy suddenly stopped.

Jiang Siwei also froze.

The previously busy and noisy studio suddenly fell silent.

"boom--"

A ring of intense airflow suddenly burst out and expanded from the center where Xue Jing and the boy were facing each other.

The documents Jiang Siwei was holding were blown away by the wind, and the sounds of papers flying and tables and chairs falling over could be heard from inside the studio.

Xue Jing stared directly into those sharp eagle eyes, and for the first time in his life, the spiritual power deep within his consciousness instinctively surged without his conscious intervention.

An invisible, formless, and intangible yet undeniably real force emanated from Xue Jing and the boy, colliding with each other.

Everyone and everything within a hundred meters of the two was subjected to an inexplicable pressure, suppressed in place, unable to move.

The clash of their spiritual auras caused powerful bursts of energy to erupt continuously from between them.

Zhou Yinglin...

Xue Jing recognized the person in front of him immediately.

Although he hadn't done any prior research and didn't know what the other person looked like, Xue Jing was certain at first glance that it was him.

"Oh my? What are you two doing?"

A gentle voice came from inside the studio, and a graceful figure with long hair walked out.

That striking beauty, even more radiant than any woman's, belonged to Otogisuka.

His arrival momentarily halted the tense atmosphere between the two men present, and they tacitly averted their gazes.

"Xue Jing..."

Zhou Yinglin looked at Xue Jing and spoke in a calm voice.

"You've surprised me a bit... You were able to look me in the eye for more than ten seconds. Among people my age, there are probably no more than ten who can do that."

"Looks like you'll be a pretty good source of amusement."

Xue Jing first nodded to Otogi Suzuka and greeted her, "Suzuka-san."

Otogi Suzuka nodded and smiled at him, saying, "Master Xue."

Xue Jing then looked at Zhou Yinglin and said softly:

"You're exactly what I expected... nothing special."

Zhou Yinglin's expression remained unchanged; he simply scoffed, "Save your boasting for after you win, you country bumpkin."

……

Chapter 228 You Are the Challenger, Eagle and Snail, Xue Jing's Traffic Code (Thanks to Alliance Leader Da Long!)

The excessive commotion outside the studio had already attracted the attention of everyone nearby.

Zhou Yinglin was the most watched player in this U19 finals. As the disciple of the eternal title holder, his every move was watched by countless people.

Inside and outside the studio, staff, contestants, and reporters all turned to look at Xue Jing. The sound of flashing cameras was incessant as reporters excitedly captured this unexpected news story.

"That's Xue Jing, one of the U19 players this year. I've seen some of his information. Isn't he from the outer ring? How come he knows Zhou Yinglin?"

"Sounds like there's some past conflict?"

"These two have terrifying auras... They can actually hold their own against Zhou Yinglin. It seems I need to investigate Xue Jing's background carefully when I get back. The old website should have his match videos, right?"

"I originally thought the champion would definitely be Zhou Yinglin or that player with an unknown potential, Otogi Suzuka, but now it seems that it's hard to say!"

"Come on, what can a clash of auras prove? How could an outer-circle person possibly compare to the disciple of the 'Gun Saint'..."

"Wei Junwu and Song Nanxing might not necessarily have no chance either."

"If you want to say that..."

Ignoring the surrounding whispers and noise, Zhou Yinglin fixed his sharp, hawk-like eyes on Xue Jing and said calmly:

"You might think you're some amazing genius just because everyone you've met since you started practicing martial arts has been mediocre."

"In rural areas like the outer ring road, your understanding might be correct, but you'll soon find out..."

Zhou Yinglin said, enunciating each word clearly: "A genius is merely the threshold to meeting me."

Xue Jing blinked: "You seem to have misunderstood something."

“I didn’t participate in this competition to see you… Think about it, why are you standing here?”

He strode forward and entered the studio.

"It's not that I want to see you, it's that you want to see me."

As he passed by Zhou Yinglin, he whispered:

"Don't misunderstand your position... You are the challenger."

After speaking, Xue Jing did not linger and went straight into the studio.

Upon seeing this, Jiang Siwei suddenly realized what was happening and quickly followed Xue Jing, clutching the documents.

She looked somewhat excited.

Although I had long thought that Xue Jing was no ordinary person and would definitely become a star player with great potential in the future.

But unexpectedly, in such a short time, he has already reached the point where he can contend with someone of Zhou Yinglin's caliber.

As an agent, there's nothing more gratifying than having a top-tier talent like Xue Jing, whose potential is clearly visible, yet who is still in his 'early stages' and hasn't reached his peak yet.

The only downside is that Xue Jing isn't particularly enthusiastic about building her personal brand, which makes her role somewhat dispensable...

But these are trivial matters now. As long as she can stay by Xue Jing's side, she has everything she needs for the rest of her life!

"..." Zhou Yinglin's expression remained unchanged. He simply turned his head to look at Xue Jing's back until he disappeared from his sight.

The otogi Suzuka beside her smiled and teased:

“Mr. Zhou, it seems that you are far inferior to Mr. Xue in terms of eloquence.”

Zhou Yinglin didn't react much, only saying calmly, "Martial arts aren't something you can fight with your mouth."

Otogi Suzuka asked curiously, "Does this mean you admit you lost the argument?"

Zhou Yinglin had no intention of arguing about this; he looked at Otogisuka, his eyes narrowing slightly:

"You seem to really like him?"

Otogi Suzuka smiled and said, "I really like people who are pure and powerful."

Zhou Yinglin walked out: "Then take a few more glances at him, because you'll soon never see him again."

Watching Zhou Yinglin's retreating figure, Otogi Suzuka waited until he was far away before muttering to herself in Far Eastern language, "I don't think so."

"...However, Xue Jun is quite handsome, so I should definitely take a few more glances at him."

With that, he turned and went into the studio.

……

In the interview room, Xue Jing sat in a chair with a small wireless microphone clipped to his collar, his back against a blue curtain that read "The 37th U19 Unrestricted Elite Fighting Tournament Finals".

There were eight cameras around him... Originally there were only three, but as soon as the director in charge of the interview saw him, he immediately waved his hand and brought over a few more, placing them in various positions.

Jiang Siwei whispered to Xue Jing, "This guy is shrewd; he knows how to generate traffic."

Xue Jing had no objection to this, but declined the organizer's suggestion to put on some makeup and sat quietly in the interview room, waiting for the interview recording to begin.

"Lights... OK, OK, everything's ready."

"Okay, let's begin!"

The director waved his hand, and all the cameras started simultaneously. A female staff member, probably around twenty years old, stood off-camera, holding a small notebook, and smiled at Xue Jing:

"So, let me introduce myself to everyone first?"

Xue Jing nodded and said, "Hello everyone, I am Xue Jing, a contestant from Qingcheng on the outer ring."

The female employee looked at Xue Jing's face and secretly admired him.

No wonder the director suddenly said that the interview time for this person needed to be extended and that more key questions needed to be asked...

With that kind of appearance, even if she just sits there motionless, the viewership and streaming numbers won't be low.

She roused herself, opened the notebook in her hand, and smiled as she spoke:

"So, the first question."