Everyone was shocked. Not even I expected the battle to end as quickly as it did. All Lian Xin did was to wait for A World Without Thieves to walk into her trap, and the moment she successfully surrounded him with Origin Force Fields, no amount of skill could've saved him from the super AoE skill, Ice Spiral Matrix. Moreover, Lian Xin's weapon was the Thunder Scepter, an Immortal-grade weapon we dropped from Ovia the b.l.o.o.d.y Finger himself. A World Without Thieves' death was one hundred percent deserved.

……

"Phew…"

A sigh of relief pa.s.sed through He Yi's lips as she smiled. "She has this. I thought Lian Xin would face considerable resistance, but… hehe…"

Remains also said, "I thought A World Without Thieves was a good player, but this is beyond embarra.s.sing..."

But I shook my head and defended A World of Thieves. "A World of Thieves isn't weak. Lian Xin is just too perceptive. She had discovered his location immediately after the breeze started, so not even Candlelight Shadow and Farewell Song could've escaped from the Origin Force Fields in time. After that, it's only natural that a skill like Ice Spiral Matrix would easily tear an a.s.sa.s.sin to shreds."

b.u.t.terfly Dance praised, "She really is amazing! I almost can't believe she spotted the discrepancy immediately and killed a powerful a.s.sa.s.sin in one hit!"

Murong Mingyue smiled proudly. "But of course! Our Lian Xin is an intelligent girl who went overseas to pursue her studies, so it would be stranger if she wasn't as skilled as she is. Compared to her, A World Without Thieves is a small fry at most…"

It was just as Murong Mingyue said. Just like the first fight, Lian Xin gave her opponent no chance to retaliate whatsoever. This time, the randomly chosen map was a snowy mountain, and the arena became covered in ice and snow. Lian Xin just stood in the middle of the snow and waited for her opponent to show up while casting Sea of Flames and Dimensional Storms all around her. A World Without Thieves waited patiently for an opportunity to appear, but the spell combo was just too tight for him to slip through. In the end, he was caught by Arctic Rain andIce Spiral Matrix and skewered to death by countless icicles.

The score became 2:0, and the second match of the 11th round was in the bag. It wasn't a surprising result, but that didn't mean that I wasn't pleased with the strength our roster was displaying, especially when we weren't fooling around. My Purple Ying Sword alone spoke enough about my strength. He Yi was an all-rounder magic knight with the Seven Star Veluriyam Spear. Beiming Xue was the Dark Archer with insane sniping ability, and Lian Xin was one of the best mages in the entire country.

"It's our maxed out handsome's turn now…" Murong Mingyue smiled at me.

I licked my somewhat dry lips and gripped my weapon tighter. "Well, time to see just how strong the legendary Gladiator truly is!"

b.u.t.terfly Dance nodded and advised me, "Keep your eyes peeled, Lu Chen. I heard that Silent Storm's win rate against Blue Sky Scar is over 50%. Combat ability–wise, he is just as strong as a super expert in the main guild."

"Got it!"

That's what I said, but I had full confidence that victory would belong to me. Control-wise, Silent Storm might not necessarily be able to beat me, and equipment and skill–wise, I was leagues ahead of him. There was just no comparison!

……

Swhoos.h.!.+

I entered the battle arena. According to the WEL rules, no cla.s.ses besides tamers were allowed to summon a pet during battle, although riding a mount wasn't forbidden. This compet.i.tion was a true man versus man battle where pets were mostly relegated to the background.

The map was a flat, wide plain where there was gra.s.s and only more gra.s.s. Terrain like this was excellent for riders, so I stayed on top of my Armored Ice Qilin Horse and watched my opponent slowly appearing on the battlefield as well.

Silent Storm donned a set of heavy, black armor. He rode no mount, and his weapon was a glowing pair of gauntlets. However, I spotted a dagger around his waist and a sword behind his back. It looked like this Gladiator cla.s.s had the freedom to wield any weapon or no weapon at all.

Silent Storm clasped his fists and shot me a smile. He said, "Well met, Broken Halberd Sinks Into Sand. Though I'm not sure if running into your team in the 11th round is lucky or not."

I nodded at him and replied, "Well met. Also, luck is just a justification of your mind. It is enough if you give it your all during a match, isn't it?"

Silent Storm smiled. "Well said! Although Candle Dragon and Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls are sworn enemies, and the fact that we'll always stand on opposite sides of the battlefield will not change, it is no reason for me not to respect your character. These days, Candlelight Shadow, the Martial G.o.d, is no longer the sole hero of China, and my praise is also extended to Wind Fantasy, Luo River G.o.d of the Capital, Farewell Song, Warsky, Stranger of Three Lifetimes et cetera. However, I consider you to be the most outstanding of them all because of the incredible courage and wits you displayed during the War of Dawn City. You are also the only person I admire wholeheartedly besides Candlelight Shadow. Don't disappoint me and show me what you've got, Lu Chen!"

"Thank you!"

I shot him a smile appreciatively and stared at the countdown—

3!

2!

1!

Begin!

The Armored Ice Qilin Horse let out a neigh, and I dashed toward Silent Storm along a crooked line. I stuck close to the edge of the map and moved at an insane speed thanks to my Divine Martial War Boots.

"Huh?"

My movement speed caught Silent Storm by surprise, but he reacted quickly and moved to the back. My Purple Ying Sword landed right where he was a moment ago and caused an explosion of purple ice.

I was surprised. I was sure that the attack would hit him. b.u.t.terfly Dance hadn't been exaggerating when she claimed that Silent Storm was a hidden expert. In fact, I would rate him higher than Blue Sky Scar.

"Well met!"

Silent Storm shouted and dashed to my flank as quick as lightning. A ball of flames burst from his fists, and he attempted to punch me while my Armored Ice Qilin Horse was still turning around to face him!

Excitement burned in my heart. Very good! Now this is what I call a challenge!

I lowered my center of gravity a bit and brought up my left arm. At the same time, I manifested the Dragon G.o.d s.h.i.+eld. It caught Silent Storm by surprise, but he was too late to cancel his skill!

Bang!

17283!

Flames scattered everywhere, and the combat logs stated: Player "Silent Storm" used "Fire Punch", dealing 17283 damage! Fire Punch inflicts a 10-second burn that deals 400 burn damage per second!

……

Before Silent Storm could even withdraw his fist, I thrust the Purple Ying Sword at him and used Universe Break. The skill took form almost instantly!

"Ah?!"

Surprise flashed across Silent Storm's eyes, but his reaction was swift. He raised his right arm and attempted to parry my Universe Break with his wrist guard.

Chiang!

The moment my blade touched his gauntlet, I knew that Universe Break wouldn't be able to inflict full damage onto the gladiator. It was because Silent Storm had successfully parried the skill, albeit partially.

I abruptly dismounted before Universe Break faded completely and swung my s.h.i.+eld at Silent Storm. I was going to sneak in a basic attack!

Bang bang!

The Universe Break + s.h.i.+eld bash combo struck Silent Storm and caused two damage numbers to rise above his head—

31202!

19283!

Silent Storm had obviously buffed himself with a card, and it was a card I was very familiar with, the Roland Bloodknight Card. Judging from his health bar, his max HP was around 200k. Since the momentum was still on my side, I raised my legs and kneed the Dragon G.o.d s.h.i.+eld from behind!

Chiang!

My body shuddered as a Strength check took place, and it was decided that Silent Storm was the indisputable loser. So, the Gladiator was sent flying by the attack. However, it seemed like that was exactly what he was hoping to happen, and before his feet even landed firmly on the ground, he thrust his right arm at me and shouted, "Qigong Bomb!"

Bang!

A light blue energy ball about one meter wide burst out of his fist and struck my Dragon G.o.d s.h.i.+eld squarely. It rocked my body and dealt a shocking amount of damage—50929!

……

I was surprised, but Silent Storm was straight up incredulous. "Impossible! My Qigong Bomb is a mixture of magic and physical attack, and it could hit even Candlelight Shadow for over 100k damage, so how…?"

I smiled but didn't reply. As the saying goes, you have Zhang Liang's strategy, but I have a scaling ladder myself. My Ghost Deity s.h.i.+eld was also a mixed skill that applied my s.h.i.+eld's Defense as both Defense and Magic Resist. It was no wonder that he dealt as little damage as he did.

"It's over!"

I let out a laugh and fired Burning Blade Slash at the gladiator. Nowhere to run, Silent Storm had no choice but to raise his arms and Guard!

His HP dropped drastically with each hit he took, and as he fell backward he summoned flames around his fist and fired another energy ball at me. It was yet another Qigong Bomb!

Swhoos.h.!.+

I activated Great Earth Transformation and boosted my Rank 10 Ghost Deity s.h.i.+eld even further. Then, I shouted and swung the Dragon G.o.d s.h.i.+eld horizontally right before the energy ball could hit me!

Bang!

Lightning flew everywhere, and Silent Storm's mouth fell open in shock. Empowered by the power of domain, I actually managed to bat his Qigong Bomb away like a baseball!

Before Silent Storm could return to his senses, I rushed him again and swung my weapon. This time, I used Coiling Dragon Revolution!

Boom!

90283!

Silent Storm groaned in pain, but there was nothing he could possibly do. He hadn't even recovered from the tremors caused by my Burning Blade Slash when the follow-up attack hit him and killed him where he stood.

……

Just like that, the first match ended in my favor. Although Silent Storm was one of the stronger opponents I had fought so far, he wasn't at the level of Farewell Song, Candlelight Shadow and Lin Yixin. There was almost nothing he could do to me once I activated Great Earth Transformation.

The next match, I used Great Earth Transformation immediately after the countdown hit zero. Two minutes later, I found an opportunity to hit Silent Storm with a double-skill combo and destroyed him again. It was almost a flawless victory!

The score turned 3:0, and the round was ours. No matter what happened during the fourth and fifth match, our team was sure to advance to the next round.