148: You are completely different from your father.

Qiu Gu held his takeout, leaning against the wall. The food tasted bland to him as his mind was preoccupied with other things.

He glanced at Gao Xiaofan, who was sitting in a chair eating while watching a video about the changes to the tournament rules, and couldn't help but speak up.

"How can you still eat with such gusto?"

Gao Xiaofan didn't even look up as he continued shoveling food into his mouth.

"What else am I supposed to do? I can't let myself starve to death from anxiety before the fight even starts!"

Qiu Gu was left speechless by Gao Xiaofan's retort. He looked at the lunch box in his hand, truly having no appetite, and set it down on the table.

"Didn't you say you were going to sign up? Why hasn't there been any movement?"

Gao Xiaofan looked up, saw Qiu Gu's serious expression, and smiled.

"Since I've already decided to sign up, I should naturally let the bullet fly for a while."

"What do you mean?"

Gao Xiaofan tapped the phone on the table a few times and pushed it over.

"Heh, it means letting public opinion ferment a bit longer. Look, 51 million followers."

Qiu Gu stared wide-eyed at the follower count on the homepage. He suddenly felt like he was getting old; his sensitivity to these new things couldn't compare to Gao Xiaofan's at all.

"Hurry up and eat. Once you're done, we need to study the new tournament format properly."

Gao Xiaofan took back his phone and continued watching.

The changes to the tournament format this time were truly a massive undertaking.

Registration for this Kings Battle had already begun and would last until the end of the year, over a month away.

Under the new format, the biggest change was that the previously sky-high registration fee was now completely waived, with only one condition.

The participant's fishing-related TikTok account must have at least 1,000 followers.

This was the main reason the entire fishing world was in an uproar. 1,000 followers was too easy; it meant that practically anyone who put in a little effort could meet the registration requirements.

The subsequent changes to the tournament schedule and structure even made Gao Xiaofan suspect for a moment that the Competition Organizing Committee had opened a back door for him, because no matter how he looked at it, it seemed to favor his current plans.

First were the qualifiers. The number of participants for this Kings Battle would undoubtedly be a terrifying figure.

Therefore, the qualifiers would last for a full ten months.

Starting from January 1st of the following year, the qualifiers would officially begin. Once a city reached 10 registered participants, a wild fishing qualifier spot would be established, where one could participate at any time.

This had virtually no conflict with Gao Xiaofan's nationwide fishing tour. Upon arriving in a city, he could just stop by to compete along the way.

Even though it seemed he could exploit a bug with the current Sheathed yun jian value, he had made a promise to his fans, so he naturally couldn't change his plans easily.

The qualifiers would continue until October 1st. Based on the point rankings, the top 108 teams would enter the semi-finals!

The semi-final schedule would be very tight. Within one month, the dust would settle, and a champion would be decided.

Participation would be in the form of teams. You could be alone or have multiple people, but the Competition Organizing Committee had set a limit this time: a maximum of three people per team!

As Gao Xiaofan ate, potential candidates constantly flashed through his mind, only to be rejected one by one.

Brother Quan definitely wouldn't work. How would a tycoon have time to compete in a tournament?

Zhang Dali was also out. His skills were fine for leisure, but for a tournament, forget it.

Although his own fishing skills were just average, he had the system. With the buff from the Sheathed Enhanced Edition title, the current bonus to his fishing skill had already reached 0.5%. By the time the semi-finals arrived, increasing it to 10% was possible.

While he wasn't exactly a top expert, he wasn't a complete novice either. With a 10% increase on his current base, he felt he could already rank among the first-line master levels.

Gao Xiaofan shook his head, clearing the stray thoughts from his mind. The top priority right now was to find another teammate. As for the second teammate, it was naturally Qiu Gu. Although his skills were mediocre, he could be trained, and every team needed someone to play support.

The steady Qiu Gu was a very good choice. Netting fish, maintaining frequency—he could handle all of it.

Gao Xiaofan thought for a while but still couldn't think of a suitable candidate. However, it was still early in the registration period, so there was no need to rush; he could observe slowly.

Gao Xiaofan had never considered entering the competition alone. That would be ridiculous. His own skills weren't as formidable as those masters, and he was missing an arm. If he was also short a teammate, wouldn't that be equivalent to announcing an exit during the qualifiers?

He had a very clear self-perception. He was just an Angler. Most of his fans liked him because of his various ways of Creating Hype, not because of his fishing skills.

After eating, Qiu Gu was cleaning up the lunch boxes when he saw Gao Xiaofan, who had been leaning back in his chair smoking, suddenly sit bolt upright.

"What is it now?"

Gao Xiaofan looked up and smiled. "The opponent's bullet has been fired completely. It's faster than I imagined."

...Deng Yuan, the fishing king recognized as the ceiling of fishing skills in the industry with 35 million TikTok followers, had just posted a video.

The video wasn't long, and below the title, it @mentioned Gao Xiaofan's TikTok account.

"More and more young people are falling in love with fishing these days. This makes me very happy~"

The very first sentence set the tone, directly positioning himself as a senior, his voice carrying the air of an old veteran.

However, regarding this point, Gao Xiaofan was indeed quite impressed. Many people nowadays only learned about and fell in love with fishing after watching Deng Yuan's videos.

Deng Yuan had indeed played a massive role in promoting and popularizing the sport of fishing.

"The rule changes for this Kings Battle make me look forward to it even more. I hope to see more new faces in this competition!"

At the end of the video, Deng Yuan smiled and spoke softly to the camera.

"Brother Wo Zi, I'll be waiting for you!"

As soon as the video was posted, comments and likes surged frantically. The video instantly became a hit, taking the number one spot on the TikTok trending list.

"A challenge!!! The challenge is here!!"

"Brother Wo Zi is really being roasted over the fire this time!!"

"Heh, he brought it on himself. A junior being so arrogant; he would've been fine if he'd just kept a low profile!"

"I don't understand what that Brother Wo Zi relies on to dare fire shots at the Kings Battle. How dare someone climbing the mountain mock a god descending from it!"

"Don't brag about 'a god descending'! Brother Wo Zi hasn't said anything with his 50 million followers. Get your follower count up first!"

"50 million? I bet they're fake followers!!!"

While the clamor and arguments online continued... Gao Xiaofan, the person at the center of it all, was currently staring at himself in the mirror with a dark expression.

Just moments ago, a long-absent system notification sound had suddenly echoed in his mind. The content of the notification made him instinctively walk into the only enclosed space in the room—the bathroom.

After locking the door, Gao Xiaofan propped himself up on the sink with one arm, his eyes bloodshot.

"What did you just say!!!"

"I said, you are completely different from your father!"