Chapter 2 Second Round

"Ah!"

As the second map loaded, many people in the audience exclaimed.

Because the map Ye Xiu chose for this match was actually a擂台场 (lèitái chǎng, arena)…

In that online game, for the sake of a quick battle, it was simple and clear—basically a large, flat square.

There was no cover whatsoever, and the area was extremely small. The moment the two characters entered the map, their eyes met. After rushing forward a few steps, they were already within firing range of each other's gun-wielding classes.

"He actually chose this map…" Zhang Jiale said in the public channel. The meaning behind choosing this map couldn't be clearer. It was a direct head-on fight, no hiding, no dodging. Of course, there was nowhere to hide or dodge.

"Yeah, scared yet?" Ye Xiu replied.

Scared yet, scared yet, scared yet!

Back and forth, online and offline, just these few lines. Scared my ass! Zhang Jiale was enraged. Dazzling fireworks of ammunition instantly bloomed around him, like a miniature universe suddenly igniting and exploding, sometimes large, sometimes small, with both expansion and contraction.

Ye Xiu didn't back down at all. Lord Grim, charge!

Light and shadow instantly enveloped him, providing both cover and attack.

Lord Grim instantly became a bubble, and the light and shadow attacked… only a shadow clone technique.

The real body was already behind Dazzling Hundred Blossoms, Throat-Slitting! A bright light struck.

Dazzling Hundred Blossoms rolled to avoid it, while simultaneously tossing back a grenade.

Lord Grim didn't retreat or dodge, and the Myriad Manifestations Umbrella whirred open, blocking the explosive flames outside the umbrella.

The umbrella surface folded inward, and the flames shattered in mid-air. The Myriad Manifestations Umbrella had already transformed into spear form, and Dragon Tooth shot out swiftly.

Rolling, Dazzling Hundred Blossoms continued to roll, while tossing back another unknown type of grenade.

Lord Grim still didn't give way, holding the Myriad Manifestations Umbrella spear beside him, sliding forward, and striking out with a palm.

Falling Flower Palm!

He slid to dodge the newly thrown grenade, but as for hitting Dazzling Hundred Blossoms, after two rolls, the distance was a bit too far for Falling Flower Palm to reach.

Who knew that a cold light would suddenly rise, a Draw Sword Strike!

The Myriad Manifestations Umbrella was held upside down, the stance for Falling Flower Palm, but wasn't holding the sword by his side also the starting stance for Draw Sword Strike?

Two skills, a similar posture, were completely combined together because of the Myriad Manifestations Umbrella's spear and sword forms.

This Draw Sword Strike was faster and more sudden.

The sheath posture that was usually observed when preparing to defend against Draw Sword Strike was disguised by the Falling Flower Palm posture.

Dazzling Hundred Blossoms was hit, and blood splattered. Lord Grim took the opportunity to close in on Dazzling Hundred Blossoms, and the Myriad Manifestations Umbrella was disassembled into two Oriental sticks, one held in each hand, beating Dazzling Hundred Blossoms with a flurry of fists and kicks.

Close combat was something a Sharpshooter was extremely bad at. Zhang Jiale desperately tried to dodge, finally seizing an opening and dropping a grenade on the ground.

Implosion Grenade!

The shockwave released fiercely, an irresistible force.

But Lord Grim had completed a step of movement before that.

One step couldn't escape the shockwave range of the Implosion Grenade, but one step could change his relative position to the Implosion Grenade.

One step before, the shockwave of the Implosion Grenade hit the front of Lord Grim.

One step after, the shockwave of the Implosion Grenade hit the back of Lord Grim.

For area-of-effect skill damage, the method was still the same. Whether or not it had a backstab determination was another matter. The Implosion Grenade didn't have a backstab determination. So, the damage and effect were exactly the same.

The difference was that there was no one behind Lord Grim, but Dazzling Hundred Blossoms had always been in front of Lord Grim.

Lord Grim was blasted away by the shockwave. Almost face-to-face with Dazzling Hundred Blossoms, he immediately crashed into Dazzling Hundred Blossoms, and Dazzling Hundred Blossoms also flew.

"You damn…" Zhang Jiale was in tears, never expecting such a shameless close-combat tactic.

The two characters flew intimately together. The Sharpshooter in mid-air was still not good at close combat, and Lord Grim in mid-air had already started to attack.

By the time they landed, Lord Grim had already delivered several low-level skills. In the end, he didn't let Dazzling Hundred Blossoms free fall. Eagle Stamp, Silver Light Falling Blade—Lord Grim simply landed by stepping on Dazzling Hundred Blossoms. And that wasn't the end. Then came Trampling Shot, firing several shots at Dazzling Hundred Blossoms' head.

The audience was dumbfounded!

This was the battle map they were most familiar with, the combat style they were most accustomed to. But who could play at such a swift pace as these two?

Zhang Jiale could still parry one or two attacks at first, but after Lord Grim got close, he was completely passive. He finally managed to throw out an Implosion Grenade to try to push Lord Grim away, but instead, Lord Grim used it to get even closer to Dazzling Hundred Blossoms.

The continuous stream of low-level skill transformations from the unspecialized class was truly dazzling. The audience no longer bothered to count the skills, just watching the Myriad Manifestations Umbrella changing forms with a "ka-ka-ka" sound was already a visual feast.

Attack, attack, constant attack. Lord Grim continuously launched attacks, and when he was occasionally hit by Dazzling Hundred Blossoms, he would directly sell his health to endure it.

Could it be that Dazzling Hundred Blossoms would be eliminated just like that?

Everyone had this thought in mind, and then Dazzling Hundred Blossoms was really eliminated just like that.

The corpse lay sideways in the corner of the arena. Lord Grim sheathed his blade, opened the umbrella, and held it up in mid-air, blocking the blood falling from above.

"I've been practicing very hard recently," Ye Xiu left the last sentence in the public channel, cleanly exiting and taking the point.

The audience remained stunned for a long time before snapping back to reality.

This round was already over, a one-sided crushing victory. And this opponent wasn't just anyone, but Zhang Jiale, one of the top-tier gods. The unspecialized class, in this round, showed an unprecedented dominance. The extremely fast skill rhythm and complex changes were fully utilized. Zhang Jiale ran into it, but what about others? What would happen? Would they also be blown away like this?

Zhang Jiale walked out of the competition booth with a look of astonishment on his face.

If he was annoyed by the unspecialized class's difficulty in dealing with before, then this time, Zhang Jiale felt fear. That large group of 24 classes' low-level skills, constantly bombarding his body, left him with no gaps to break through.

However, not finding a gap didn't mean there wasn't one, just that he was unfamiliar and inexperienced, so his reaction couldn't keep up at all.

This match would probably be a good source of intelligence, right? Zhang Jiale smiled wryly. This was the only gain he could use to comfort himself. He was actually blown away. Zhang Jiale shook his head and sighed as he walked off the stage and returned to the player area. Over there, Ye Xiu had just returned, and when he saw him looking over, he smiled and said, "Scared yet?"

Scared yet, scared yet, scared yet! You damn scared yet!

But this time, Zhang Jiale was really a little scared…

This profession couldn't be dealt with in a short time, but fortunately, they wouldn't meet again until several months later, and who knew what the situation would be like then!

Now is now, and the future is the future.

We haven't fought yet, who knows?

Zhang Jiale continued to hold this mentality. After shrugging at Ye Xiu's "Scared yet?" he sat back in his seat.

The second match of the individual competition ended, with Happy at 2 points and Tyranny still at 0 points.

Fans also need morale, and their morale often comes from the team's performance. When the team is in a slump, how can the fans have the energy to shout and cheer for you?

Zhang Jiale's direct defeat severely damaged the fans' morale, and the score deficit also made them feel down.

Fortunately, there's still the third round. Get a point quickly!

The fans tried their best to cheer for Tyranny. They were already fighting on the road, and the number of fans was at a disadvantage. Before, they relied on tacit understanding to overwhelm Happy's scattered fans in terms of momentum. But now, their morale had been continuously damaged. After such a heroic victory on Happy's side, everyone became excited. The home field advantage was immediately regained, and the Tyranny fans had just shouted a few words of encouragement for the third round when they were suppressed by a chorus of boos from Happy's scattered fans.

The third round, Tyranny's player, Song Qiying, class, Monk, Long River Sunset.

A Tyranny rookie making his debut, with the same Monk class as the core Han Wenqing of the past ten years, and even the poetic name corresponding to the Fist Emperor Desert Dust: Long River Sunset.

Could this be the successor to the future Fist Emperor?

People couldn't help but make some guesses. There were two ways to succeed a core class: internal cultivation and selecting other players of the same class to re-establish the core.

Tyranny had also done inheritance training in the past. As a result, Han Wenqing was so old and strong that he never retired, and the players waiting to take over his position were worn out.

A pro player's career only lasts a few years, and no one wants to waste time waiting. In the sixth season of the Pro League, Jia Shiming, the Monk player Tyranny was cultivating to take over Han Wenqing's position, left Tyranny.

In hindsight, this decision was quite wise. Han Wenqing played from the sixth season all the way to the tenth season now, and he was still a strong main player. If Jia Shiming had kept waiting, he might have melted into the bench by now.

However, Jia Shiming didn't make a big name for himself after leaving Tyranny.

He first went to Wind Howl and played for two seasons before transferring to Void. He was still on the Void team, but he was always on the fringes of the main roster.

Now in the tenth season, Jia Shiming's professional career has also passed four years, and no one believes that he can make any breakthroughs.

Many people were wondering how a player who was selected to be the team's absolute core ended up not even having a starting position? What was Tyranny's eye for talent?

Even when Zhang Jiale and Lin Jingyan joined Tyranny one after another, some people used this to tease them. They said that after Jia Shiming, Tyranny lost confidence in their own eyesight, so they had to collect proven great gods.

Of course, this was just a joke. Tyranny's training camp was always actively and earnestly cultivating young players who aspired to this.

Song Qiying, the player whose information shows that he is 17 years old, whether or not he will become Han Wenqing's successor, there is no accurate statement at present.

However, as long as he is good enough, this kind of thing doesn't need to be verified with Tyranny at all.

What will this young man's debut be like? In anticipation, Happy's player had already taken the stage.

Fang Rui, the master of dirty play…

Many people were already mourning. For newcomers, there was no type of player more annoying than this.