Just like Xia Yi, Gu Yue wasn't very interested in participating in the "Star Battle Net All-Federation Challenge Tournament."
However, under Xia Yi's persistent pestering, she eventually agreed.
Although it was difficult to get a Star Battle Pod for the competition, Xia Yi, Gu Yue, and Mu Xi each had their own exclusive Star Battle Pod. These devices each occupied a full eight square meters of space.
Just as the three were about to register for the competition, someone delivered the Star Battle Pods directly to Xia Yi's room.
From the outside, a Star Battle Pod looked like a giant, enlarged coffin. It appeared very complicated and must have been extremely expensive.
Xia Yi recalled that Leng Yaozhu had once mentioned that there were only just over a hundred Star Battle Pods available in the entire Spirit Pagoda of Shrek City. Yet, the three of them had gotten three pods to themselves.
These pods were said to be extremely costly and transporting them was no easy task.
Even within the Spirit Pagoda, the public-use Star Battle Pods could not be reserved in advance — you had to line up, and every day they were packed with people.
Therefore, when Xia Yi saw the three private Star Battle Pods in his room, he couldn't help but feel a surge of excitement.
Even though he had expected this, he was still thrilled.
If they really had to line up, Gu Yue probably wouldn't have agreed to participate no matter what.
Three people each having their own Star Battle Pod — in this era when this new technology had just been developed — was definitely a luxurious extravagance.
"Let's try it out first. Registration has already started. The regional qualifiers will be held in a few days. We need to complete registration before that and familiarize ourselves with the system inside," Xia Yi said as he pressed the button to open the Star Battle Pod and climbed inside.
Gu Yue and Mu Xi immediately entered their own Star Battle Pods as well.
The internal structure of the pod was very complex — much more complicated than the Spirit Pagoda's Ascension Platform devices.
After the pod lid closed, it didn't feel stuffy. Various metal wires connected to him and adhered to his body.
Metal clasps locked onto his body as well.
This was to prevent energy leakage during battles inside the Star Battle Net.
It took a full five minutes for all the connections to be completed. Xia Yi felt like he had become a test subject.
His vision turned completely dark. At that moment, an electronic voice sounded, "Star Battle Pod ready. Would you like to connect to the Star Battle Net?"
The electronic voice sounded very mechanical and was not particularly pleasant to hear. Xia Yi replied, "Connect."
His whole body trembled as a strong sensation of electricity surged through him, making it feel like he was being electrocuted.
No wonder ordinary people weren't allowed to use Star Battle Pods.
Without sufficient physical resilience, the energy scan alone could cause irreversible harm to an average person.
As he silently complained in his heart, a wave of dizziness hit him.
When he regained clarity, the darkness in front of him had turned into a bright scene.
Unlike the Ascension Platform where you were transported directly into another world, here he was surrounded by various streams of data.
"Body scan complete. Star Battle Net connection successful. Please speak the action you wish to perform. The system will process your voice command," the mechanical voice said again.
"I want to register for the Star Battle Net All-Federation Challenge Tournament," Xia Yi said.
"Understood. Starting registration. What is your name?" the machine asked.
"Xia Yi!" he answered. Before registering, Leng Yaozhu had already told him that the strongest feature of the Star Battle Net was its confidentiality. The internal records were only accessible to the network's main brain, and once recorded, all participating soul masters would have a ranking system assigned. Rankings would only rise through actual performance.
Even the Federation Council couldn't randomly investigate participants' information.
Only through a formal Council meeting and approval could such information be accessed.
This effectively prevented ill-intentioned individuals from digging up others' data through the Battle Net.
It was designed to allow soul masters to participate boldly without concerns.
Soul masters held high status, and especially for this tournament — facing opponents up to the level of titled Douluo and below three-word battle armor — the participants were among the elite of the soul master world.
Even the Sun-Moon Federation dared not offend such people.
Thus, the confidentiality measures were extremely strict.
The mechanical voice asked a series of further questions before finalizing Xia Yi's registration.
"You can now choose a nickname. This nickname will be the name displayed publicly during the tournament," the mechanical voice stated.
Xia Yi thought for a moment and said, "How about Tianhu Xiaoyao Wang (Heavenly Fox Free King)?"
"Tianhu Xiaoyao Wang Ba? Please confirm."
Xia Yi froze. If the system really stuck the word "Ba" (Wang Ba can mean "bastard" in Chinese slang) onto his name, how could he ever show his face again?
The Star Battle Net matches were broadcast live, after all!
Quickly, he corrected himself, "Tianhu Xiaoyao Wang!"
"Tianhu Xiaoyao Wang? Please confirm."
"Confirm."
"Sorry, the nickname you chose is already taken."
"What the heck?" Xia Yi's face must have been full of black lines if he could see himself right now.
Someone had actually taken such a strange name already!
"Please choose another nickname," the mechanical voice said, totally indifferent to Xia Yi's inner complaints.
"Tianhu Wang (Heavenly Fox King)," Xia Yi said, dropping two characters in frustration.
"Sorry, the nickname you chose is already taken."
"Ahhh! I—" Xia Yi gritted his teeth.
"Ah! I! Please confirm!" the mechanical voice intoned emotionlessly.
Xia Yi nearly exploded. Wasn't the Star Battle Net supposed to be the pinnacle of the Federation's new technology, featuring the early stages of artificial intelligence? He thought to himself: Artificial intelligence? More like artificial idiocy!
He didn't dare speak again and could only grumble silently in his mind.
"Please confirm!" the mechanical voice prompted again.
In resignation, Xia Yi blurted out, "Hello, Big Brother!" (大哥好, Dàgē hǎo)
"Hello, Big Brother? Please confirm."
"Confirm."
"Nickname registration successful. Xia Yi, nickname 'Hello, Big Brother,' soul power level 75, special constitution, chaotic attributes, body strength exceeding norms — classified as a 'Gifted-Type' soul master. Registration complete. Would you like to officially sign up for the Star Battle Net All-Federation Challenge Tournament?"
"Sign up," Xia Yi said, nodding as he spoke.
After the embarrassing nickname fiasco, he noticed something curious.
Previously, whether it was the Spirit Pagoda's Ascension Platform or other similar simulation worlds, one thing was very different — there was no real interaction.
But now, the electronic system was genuinely interacting with him!
This meant something profound: Xia Yi finally realized the true breakthrough of this "cutting-edge technology" — it wasn't the simulation system itself, but the integration of artificial intelligence.
Even though this "AI" seemed pretty idiotic at the moment, wasn't every early stage of AI a little foolish?
The Federation's technology had already progressed to the point where artificial intelligence could be applied inside simulation systems.
Although the system still appeared rough, with the integration of AI, it was operating on a completely different level from the Ascension Platform.
Upgrading the internal setup of a simulation wasn't difficult — what was hard was developing artificial intelligence!
That mechanical electronic voice he had heard? That was the primitive form of AI.
It was humanity's first step into applying artificial intelligence — a truly monumental development.
Thus, this competition wasn't just about letting soul masters experience new tech — it was actually a large-scale test to observe the application of artificial intelligence in real combat scenarios.
As AI matured and became less "artificially idiotic," it could very well usher humanity into a brand-new technological leap forward.