Chapter 8 Seasoned Veteran, Lü Boyuan

Lü Boyuan had performed outstandingly in the eighth season's finals between Samsara and Blue Rain, a major contributor to Samsara's first championship. It was after that year's finals that Lü Boyuan's reputation soared. In the following year's All-Star selection, he squeezed into the thirteenth position, replacing the original All-Star Judo player, Li Yihui, who originally played for Tiny Herb and now plays for 301. Lü Boyuan then stepped into his professional peak, while Li Yihui, who was also at his peak, quickly faded into obscurity due to this transfer. The contention for the title of Number One Judo Player was completely without suspense.

This season, Lü Boyuan successfully made it into the All-Stars again. Although his ranking wasn't high, only twenty-second, being among the All-Stars meant he was one of Glory's most popular star players. Considering that Samsara had also introduced a top-tier player, Sun Xiang, this season, wielding the legendary character Battle God One Autumn Leaf, a significant portion of the fan votes were already diverted. It was already quite difficult for Lü Boyuan to squeeze into the twenty-four All-Stars. Anyone with slightly inferior strength or popularity would probably have all their glory stolen by Samsara's other big stars.

Zhou Zekai, Sun Xiang, and Jiang Botao, Samsara's three All-Stars, were all ranked in the top ten. And now, their captain's fourth All-Star, Lü Boyuan, ranked twenty-second, was fighting in the third round of the individual competition.

The cheers and applause symbolized his popularity. Samsara's players were using their strength to furiously demonstrate their existence, making the whole of Glory realize that they weren't a one-man team.

The match began amidst applause. Since Su Mucheng had achieved a complete victory in the previous round, both characters had full health. The mana consumed by Dancing Rain wasn't enough to prevent her from lasting a single one-on-one match. This could be described as a duel with no advantages. However, the difference between the two professions could be said to be the greatest among Glory's 24 professions.

This greatest difference mainly manifested in attack range.

Gunners had the longest attack range, without a doubt. And Judo? Even compared to the Striker class, which focused on close-quarters combat, Judo's attack range could be said to be even shorter. They didn't just have to hit their opponents, but also grab them during the attack. The way they inflicted damage was at true point-blank range.

The atmosphere at the scene was good, but the commentators, Pan Lin and Li Yibo, weren't in high spirits. They had been slapped in the face too many times. However, they still couldn't resist talking about the "farthest versus closest" topic. Then, they cleverly avoided talking about the two players and only discussed how these two professions were, so they wouldn't be slapped in the face. They spoke quite confidently.

Soon, the two characters, without any detours, met in the center of the map.

Su Mucheng didn't hesitate, Dancing Rain fired directly; Lü Boyuan wasn't ambiguous either, the Judo character Yunshan Luan decisively dodged.

Faced with the heavy firepower suppression of a Gunner, there were people who directly charged head-on, but Lü Boyuan clearly didn't plan to do that. After Dancing Rain appeared in his sight, he had already begun to carefully survey the terrain. As soon as Dancing Rain fired, he had already found an idea from the terrain. Yunshan Luan quickly hid behind a stalactite.

The terrain in this Stone Forest Cave was nothing more than the distribution of stalactites. In the recently concluded match, although Jiang Botao was ultimately taken away by Su Mucheng in one wave, he actually showcased his familiarity and utilization of the map quite well. If Su Mucheng hadn't happened to choose the skill "Electronic Eye" for this match, it would be hard to say what the situation would have been like.

Jiang Botao used the map well, and Lü Boyuan wasn't much worse. However, he was now well aware that Su Mucheng possessed the "Electronic Eye" skill, so he naturally had to be careful. However, this "Electronic Eye" was just a small mechanical device the size of a ping pong ball. If it kept floating in the air, it would be easy to spot. But like in the previous match, when Su Mucheng remotely controlled it and simply dropped it in a certain location, it was really not that easy to detect.

The match broadcast was also paying special attention to her main view interface this time after knowing that Su Mucheng had this method. Previously, because they only presented her main view in a small window, not the entire interface, the visual screen that appeared after the Electronic Eye was used had never been noticed until the replay.

This time, the director noticed it right away, but Su Mucheng was slow to use the Electronic Eye. Even when Lü Boyuan's Yunshan Luan hid behind a stalactite, she didn't rush to send out the Electronic Eye to investigate. Instead, she continued to control Dancing Rain, moving the character to try to expose Yunshan Luan's position.

With one turn, half of Yunshan Luan's figure was revealed. Dancing Rain's hand cannon immediately began to roar, but Lü Boyuan was also staring in this direction. With a contraction of his body, Yunshan Luan immediately retreated back. Dancing Rain fired while moving horizontally, pulling the view. Yunshan Luan retracted quickly, and Dancing Rain followed quickly, but Yunshan Luan quickly circled half a stalactite. If Dancing Rain wanted to circle and pull the view like this again, the distance she had to travel would be too long. Both of them were making circular movements around that stalactite. The radius of the circle that Dancing Rain had to walk was at least ten times that of Yunshan Luan. How could she keep up in this way?

So Dancing Rain simply stopped and fired her hand cannon directly, even though Yunshan Luan wasn't in her view.

The exploding flames weren't off-center. They rose directly against the stalactite in front of it. Su Mucheng wanted to use the area damage characteristics of a Gunner's attack. Although the target of the attack wasn't directly facing Yunshan Luan, the splash effect of the area attack could still cause him some damage, unless Lü Boyuan chose to dodge. Then, he would inevitably be exposed from behind the stalactite.

Su Mucheng's idea wasn't bad, but Lü Boyuan had also anticipated this. Yunshan Luan's stance wasn't close to the stalactite. Rather than using the stalactite to protect himself, it was purely to use the blind spot created by the stalactite's visual obstruction to Su Mucheng.

The area of this blind spot was determined by the distance between the opponent's character and the stalactite. Lü Boyuan had an accurate grasp of the blind spot's area, at least based on Dancing Rain's previous position. He just wanted to use the blind spot to hide, and even more so to use the blind spot to move. Amidst the cannon fire, Yunshan Luan had long left that stalactite. Using the blind spot, he smoothly transitioned to behind another stalactite.

But the audience also saw at this moment that Su Mucheng finally used the Electronic Eye during this attack gap. However, she didn't use the Electronic Eye to scout forward. Instead, she had the Electronic Eye perform a circular motion around the stalactite. Dancing Rain, taking advantage of the stalactite's visual obstruction of Lü Boyuan, continued to launch that kind of splash attack while quietly advancing forward.

Soon, the Electronic Eye's view showed the back of the stalactite. Yunshan Luan had already left at this time. The Electronic Eye rotated twice, and immediately the scene of Yunshan Luan using the blind spot to transition to behind the next stalactite appeared.

Su Mucheng continued to remain calm, but Dancing Rain's movement was obviously much faster. The Electronic Eye that was released this time was no longer for reconnaissance purposes. It simply moved along different lines from Dancing Rain in order to grasp a more comprehensive view. In this way, the stalactite's concealment effect was completely lost. Su Mucheng was completely clear on Yunshan Luan's position.

Then, when Lü Boyuan once again wanted to use the blind spot to have Yunshan Luan transition to the stalactite below, a flare rolled and burned, falling to his feet. There was no time to dodge. A heat-seeking missile quickly fell to the ground at an extremely fast speed. The mushroom cloud raised by the explosion engulfed the entire Yunshan Luan. Dancing Rain's figure turned around from behind the hidden stalactite. The muzzle was facing the rising mushroom cloud, preparing to continue attacking. But unexpectedly, an irresistible force suddenly came. Dancing Rain seemed to be pulled by something, sliding straight towards the mushroom cloud.

Cloud Grasping Hand!

Su Mucheng was aware.

The smoke from the mushroom cloud dissipated. Yunshan Luan, this Judo, extended his hands forward, with qi flowing in his palms. The stance he was in was none other than the Qigong Master's skill, "Cloud Grasping Hand"?

In the previous match, Jiang Botao's intentions were completely ruined because Su Mucheng chose the Electronic Eye as a weapon-modification skill. This round, Su Mucheng would soon be caught by Yunshan Luan because of the Cloud Grasping Hand that Lü Boyuan chose for his weapon. Dancing Rain was about to be grabbed by Yunshan Luan.

Applause immediately erupted at the scene. Samsara's fans were still worried that Lü Boyuan had been completely controlled by Su Mucheng, but they didn't expect such a reversal. How was this done?

The electronic screen at the scene showed what Lü Boyuan had done at that moment even faster than the TV broadcast.

The heat-seeking missile fell, but Lü Boyuan didn't think about dodging at all. Yunshan Luan shook his arms and immediately activated Steel Bones. Although it was painful to be hit directly by this heat-seeking missile, he wasn't blown away by this powerful strike because of his super armor state. Yunshan Luan immediately used Cloud Grasping Hand directly in this attack. The mushroom cloud rising from the heat-seeking missile became a perfect cover for Yunshan Luan. Even if Su Mucheng had more eyes, she wouldn't know that Yunshan Luan was already planning his counterattack at this time. He predicted that Su Mucheng's Dancing Rain would show her figure at this time to attack. As expected, Dancing Rain turned out from behind the stalactite and was immediately locked by his Cloud Grasping Hand. In the blink of an eye, Dancing Rain had been pulled to Yunshan Luan's front. The distance between them was zero!

Spin Throw!

Yunshan Luan's movements were incredibly smooth. Dancing Rain had just been pulled to his front when Yunshan Luan grabbed her with one hand, twisted his body, swung his arm, and immediately threw Dancing Rain into the air. At the same time as he threw her, Yunshan Luan's own body seemed to be carried up into the air as well. As a result, he was head down, feet up, and his legs were directly clamped around Dancing Rain's neck.

Aerial Choke!

Yunshan Luan twisted and flipped. Dancing Rain, who had just been thrown up, was twisted and slammed to the ground. The Judo's continuous grabbing and killing had just begun.