"Aaaaaaaahhh???"

Stranger of Three Lifetimes' anger meter went from zero to one hundred in an instant. She hadn't expected Nangong Lexi to act so c.o.c.ky after her resurgence. She grabbed her waist with one hand and pointed with the other, "Don't get so c.o.c.ky, Nangong! If I hadn't started my career this late, you would've known to fear me even when Frivolous Scholar was still around to protect you!"

Nangong Lexi continued taunting, "Oh wow, you lost your cool already? Hmph hmph, I guess I should've known better than to expect some modic.u.m of magnanimity from you…"

Stranger of Three Lifetimes stomped her feet furiously. "Pooh! Now I really regret not starting my career sooner! I would've kicked your a.s.s and make the Twenty Four Snow Moon Cavalry scream for your papas and mamas like Beautiful Little Pepper!

That got to Nangong Lexi, and her smile pressed into a thin, mirthless line. "Beautiful Little Pepper… hmph, she has nothing to do with our fight, does she? Anyway, if she runs into us we'll teach her and her guild a lesson this time!"

A triumphant grin immediately widened across Stranger of Three Lifetimes' lips. "Oho, it looks like I hit a nerve. You can forget Wind Fantasy though, because you ain't going to win this match!"

"Save that for after the match!"

……

Coincidence or not, the system began its countdown only after the two girls had finished trading barbs with one another. The moment it hit zero, the mage summoned her Origin Energy s.h.i.+eld and launched a fire dragon straight toward Nangong Lexi.

"Roar!"

Nangong Lexi hurriedly dashed to the right. A continuous speed up and change of direction later, she successfully dodged the spell and retaliated with an arrow shot!

However, the arrow merely bounced off Stranger of Three Lifetimes' Origin Energy s.h.i.+eld and amused her. "Are you trying to die, Nangong?"

She brought down her foot, and a wave of ice spread across the ground at high speed. It was none other than the mage skill "Ice Blast”. Not only that, she followed up with the deadly Level 180 mage spell, Touch of the Dragonkiss. Nangong Lexi would surely be annihilated if she failed to dodge either spell.

The ice hit Nangong Lexi, and a damage number rose above her head—

31928!

The fact that the guild leader did so much damage with a single Ice Blast was a testament to her strength.

However, a beautiful figure suddenly burst out of the cloud of ice and dust caused by Stranger of Three Lifetimes' attack. Unperturbed by the damage she took, Nangong Lexi quickly deduced the distance between herself and the mage before taking three steps to the back. Then, she drew her bow and charged a silver light at her arrow tip!

Swhoos.h.!.+

Strange of Three Lifetimes' reaction was seriously amazing. Right after the arrow was shot, she was already holding her scepter in front of her chest. She was actually trying to Guard and maybe even nullify the skill completely! Unfortunately, Nangong Lexi's skill was even stranger than she imagined. When the silver arrow was about 10 yards away from Stranger of Three Lifetimes, it suddenly sped up with a loud boom, punched right through her Origin Energy s.h.i.+eld and exploded in between her 34Ds!

41029!

Combat Log: Player "Nangong Lexi" triggered the "Blink" effect of "Blink Arrow", dealing 41029 damage to player "Stranger of Three Lifetimes"!

Then, the bowstring started glowing with holy energy as Nangong Lexi pulled it into a half crescent. "This is the end, Stranger of Three Lifetimes! Holy Light Arrow!"

Boom!

The arrow covered in rings of energy left a trail of silver as it flew toward Stranger of Three Lifetimes. It tore apart her Origin Energy s.h.i.+eld and deleted the mage's remaining HP. As it turned out, the Holy Light Arrow also ignored Magic s.h.i.+eld—although not to the same extent as her Blink Arrow, which had ignored the Origin Energy s.h.i.+eld completely earlier! No wonder Nangong Lexi was as confident as she was!

……

The score turned 0:1. Stranger of Three Lifetimes lost the first fight.

After she appeared outside the stage, Eyes Like Water said worriedly, "What should we do, Momo? That Nangong Lexi's archery skills are no joke!"

Lasting nodded in agreement. "Yeah, that Blink Arrow is so weird. I can't believe it can just go through Magic s.h.i.+eld…"

Stranger of Three Lifetimes appeared to be unusually calm, however. She said, "Relax, I'll win the next fight for sure. I'll quit being a guild leader if I lose!"

Eyes Like Water stared at her with wide eyes. "But what will you be if not our guild leader?"

Stranger of Three Lifetimes suddenly blushed a little. "Well, that b.a.s.t.a.r.d Lu Chen hasn't returned the 1000 mages he borrowed, has he? Maybe he'll let me join Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls and become a vice leader…"

Shocked, Eyes Like Water pointed at her friend's nose and bl.u.s.tered, "You're still thinking about that, Momo? I've misjudged you, we've all misjudged you! You're eating spoiled wotou for tonight's dinner!"

Stranger of Three Lifetimes: "..."

……

When Stranger of Three Lifetimes reappeared on the battlefield, she didn't look perturbed by her previous loss in the slightest. Nangong Lexi was also staring at the mage wordlessly as well.

The countdown reached zero, and the battle began instantly!

Just like the first match, Stranger of Three Lifetimes opened up with Fire Dragon Spell and Ice Blast to sound out her opponent. She still managed to delete almost half of Nangong Lexi's HP though.

Using the ice cloud as her cover, Nangong Lexi rolled out into the open, knelt on one knee and drew her bow. She was going to repeat her previous trick!

A near indiscernible smile crossed Stranger of Three Lifetimes' lips. She abruptly ran five yards to the front, and the Blink Arrow Nangong Lexi shot exploded harmlessly behind her. It didn't even hurt her Origin Energy s.h.i.+eld.

"Ah?!"

Nangong Lexi tried to back away, but there was no way the mage was going to allow that. Flames converging at the tip of her scepter. She said, "Blink Arrow has a blink range of 30 yards, right? Tell me, I'm wrong, Nangong."

"You!"

Nangong Lexi finally understood why Stranger of Three Lifetimes and her guild was able to rise above all the other powerful guilds in Vanished G.o.d City. Her greatest trump cards had always been her powerful judgment and her ability to face any situation calmly!

"Touch of the Dragonkiss!"

The savage head of a magical dragon burst out of the earth and bit Nangong Lexi in her thighs, deleting her last sliver of HP!

The score turned 1:1. Stranger of Three Lifetimes had scored one back for herself in dominant fas.h.i.+on!

The third match was just as intense as the first two, but this time Nangong Lexi chose to kite Stranger of Three Lifetimes and potentially snipe her with Blink Arrow. Unfortunately for her, the mage was too smart to fall for the same trick after figuring out how it worked. She kept baiting out Nangong Lexi's Blink Arrows by changing her speed and direction repeatedly. A grueling 127 seconds of skill trading and potion drinking later, Stranger of Three Lifetimes ultimately killed Nangong Lexi with Ice Blast and proved herself to be the better of the two of them!

……

The overall score turned 2:0 for Blazing Hot Lips. Thus far, not even the elite riders of the once all-powerful Snow Moon were able to score a point against their opponent.

After Nangong Lexi returned to her teammates, she fell silent for a moment before explaining herself to Summer Last Year, "Summer, I… I underperformed, okay? I normally am better than this…"

Summer Last Year nodded. "I know…"

Yi of Ice looked at Fleeting Fireworks and said, "Looks like it's up to us, girl."

Fleeting Fireworks raised her fiery spear with a chuckle. "No problem. They've already used up their strongest players. If we still lose after this, we might as well return to Hangzhou and sell flowers…"

Yi of Ice nodded. "Mn. Now get ready. It's your turn to fight!"

"Yeah!"

The next moment, Fleeting Fireworks appeared on the stage donning a silver armor and a red cape, riding a Frostscale Horse and wielding a blazing spear. She looked very cool and heroic. She swung her spear and said to the Lasting the Soul of the Wild, "Aiyo, look at you cute little thing! I just can't bear to hurt a delicate little flower like you…"

Lasting curled her lips and retorted, "Yeah right. Why don't you stop pretending and come after me already, pervert?"

Fleeting Fireworks: "..."

The countdown reached zero, and Lasting immediately released three pets—a Ghost Chariot, a Crimson-eyed Mantis, and a Lightning Mouse. It was a combination of two melees and one mage; a good pet composition in most cases. At the same time, Lasting swung her whip and said, "Grasp of the Divine Beast!"

The Level 180 seventh-promotion skill immediately applied animalistic runes onto the three pets, increasing their attack power by 120%!

Maintaining a cool head, Fleeting Fireworks took off and ran toward Lasting's flank in a straight line. The Crimson-eyed Mantis screeched, but the Ghost Chariot acted even faster than it was. Before the tournament, we had givenStranger of Three Lifetimes five baby Ghost Chariots as a gift, and she had given one of them to Lasting. Extending itself to full length, the umbrella pet hit Fleeting Fireworks with Ghost Chariot Slash and dealt a whopping 110k damage to her!

"Eh?"

Fleeting Fireworks was surprised by the damage she took, but she immediately regained her cool and trapped the Ghost Chariot with Trapping Net. Then, she set her sights onto Lasting and Charged!

Swhoos.h.!.+

Unfortunately for Lasting, it was a successful stun. One Barrier Break + Triple Slash combo later, she was killed where she stood!

The next battle went more or less the same way. Despite Lasting's best efforts, Fleeting Fireworks was always able to kill her first before the three pets could interfere! In that moment, the magic knight had carried out the philosophy of "cutting off the head of the snake" perfectly!

Thanks to Fleeting Fireworks, Snow Moon was finally able to score one against Blazing Hot Lips. The score was now 1:2.

……

The fourth match was between Yi of Ice and the archer, Nono.

But unlike the previous matches, it was clear that Nono was completely outcla.s.sed by Yi of Ice. The warrior easily destroyed the archer and brought the overall score to 2:2.

"G.o.d d.a.m.n, this is a close fight…" Li Chengfeng commented while gripping his fists.

I nodded in agreement. "It all falls on the final 2v2 battle now. Still, I'm surprised that weakened Snow Moon Twenty Four Cavalry is still strong enough to go toe-to-toe against Blazing Hot Lips in their prime."

Beiming Xue giggled. "Even Momo should be getting worried now."

I looked at Stranger of Three Lifetimes and discovered that she was counting her gold. I couldn't help but laugh at this and said, "Nah, the sky could fall and the earth could be rent asunder, but this girl would still remain as cool as ever…"

Murong Mingyue sighed. "Yeah. She's the type of girl you want to marry if you ever run into her in your life…"

It was at this moment the old-looking Eighteen Steeds of You and Yun asked, "Should I give it a try?"

However, High Fighting Spirits destroyed his dreams mercilessly. "Look at yourself in the mirror before you say such things, Eighteen. If I were you, I would've taken a p.i.s.s and washed my face in it!"

Eighteen Steeds of You and Yun immediately pointed at the pockmarks covering High Fighting Spirits' whole face and yelled, "You of all people have no right to call me ugly!"

Before the argument could devolve into a fight, I planted my sword on the ground and said, "Enough. You are all as beautiful and s.e.xy as G.o.ddesses, so there's nothing to argue about, is there?"

Eighteen Steeds of You and Yun: "Yeah, you're right. The vice leader sure knows what to say in the right situations…"

High Fighting Spirits: "Yeah…"

He Yi: "..."

Lin Yixin: "..."

……

It was at this moment the system announced the start of the final battle between Blazing Hot Lips and Snow Moon, and the combatants were Stranger of Three Lifetimes + Eyes Like Water versus Yi of Ice + Nangong Lexi. The duel of aces begins now!