Finally, the final match of the WEL China nationals—Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls and Soul Battle Robes—was about to begin. Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls was one of the hot picks to win the nationals, and our presence in the final certainly caused a ton of supporters to break out in tears. Soul Battle Robes was the representative of the older generation of gamers and the elites of Spirit of Grief. The younger sister of Seven-Star Lamp, Song of Cloud and Water, managed to recruit the aid of top-tier experts such as Ringwraith, Song of Ice and Water and G.o.d Bone. Naturally, they had plenty of supporters themselves.

It had been almost ten months since Heavenblessed was launched, but Spirit of Grief's servers were still active to this day. Although the current player count of that game was less than 2% of what it used to be, there were still a bunch of hardcore fans fighting to protect their dreams to this day. This included many of Soul Battle Robes' famous veterans such as Great Kingdom, Empire of Qin, Gregory of Loyalty and more. According to a certain rumor, Song of Cloud and Water was currently communicating with these players and gradually bringing them over to Heavenblessed. I could already imagine the bloodbath that would occur once the transfer was complete.

Soul Battle Robes' resurgence couldn't be stopped, and even ace guilds like Snowy Cathaya, Blazing Hot Lips and Warsky Alliance had lost to them in this compet.i.tion. It showed just how powerful Soul Battle Robes' peak experts were. In a virtual game like this, peak experts were basically the face of the guild, and the source that attracted new blood to the guild. For example, Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls had completed their resurgence only because I, Gui Guzi, Beiming Xue and Li Chengfeng were there to hold up the banner. Chaos Moon, High Fighting Spirits, Eighteen Steeds of You and Yun, Heaven's Rain, Diamond Dust and more would never have joined the guild if we weren't there.

The battle between Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls and Soul Battle Robes was inevitable, not to mention that there were personal feelings involved in it. There could only be one king of China, and the generals of Soul Battle Robes—Ringwraith, Song of Ice and Fire and G.o.d Bone—were of course not willing to bow their heads to another. They must be looking forward to this battle as much as we were.

……

Meanwhile, Fei'er had swayed back to the rainbow bridge above the arena in that tight, leg-showing mini skirt of hers. Wearing a beautiful smile on her face, she announced, "The time is now 21:00 in Beijing, and I'm sure everyone's pretty tired after a whole day of competing without rest, am I right? Unfortunately, that will have to wait for half an hour. Why? That's because the final of this WEL compet.i.tion is about to begin! On one side, we have the Lenovo-sponsored Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls. On the other, we have the Samsung-sponsored Soul Battle Robes. Team leaders, you may enter your line-up now. Don't keep us waiting on this battle of the century any longer!"

Speaking of which, Samsung had signed Soul Battle Robes as their China e-sports club. The famous company had contracted many teams across the world—for example, they had an e-sports club made of top-tier experts at their Korean headquarters—and at the time, they could've signed many other guilds who, on the surface at least, seemed better than Soul Battle Robes. Today, their foresight had been proven to be correct. Not only did Soul Battle Robes manage to fight their way into the final, the ratings for this match were the highest they had ever been for the past half a year or so. One just needed to look to know how much publicity they were getting.

Meanwhile, Rose sent me a message with a smiley face emoji: "Well done, Lu Chen! Hoho, the club CEO just told me in person that he's extremely satisfied with your performance thus far. He also promised to reward you handsomely if your team wins this and becomes the WEL champion of China! Give us a pleasant surprise, and the club will return the favor, understand?"

Pleased, I replied, "Rose, I want $$$$, get it?"

"Dude, you're way too direct sometimes…" Rose seemed flabbergasted, but that wasn't enough to hide her good feelings. Just like us, she was looking forward to bringing back the champion trophy.

……

Beiming Xue and I wanted to change things up a bit, so we put Beiming Xue for the first match, me for the second, He Yi for the third, and Lian Xin for the fourth. Not only that, we changed our 2v2 line-up to Lian Xin and me as well. The reason we did this was because G.o.d Bone and Song of Ice and Fire were super metal-armor cla.s.ses that even Beiming Xue might not be able to punch through, at least not without considerable effort. On the other hand, Lian Xin held a cla.s.s advantage over both players, and she could either control their position with Origin Force Fields or destroy them with powerful spells like Ice Spiral Matrix. We had already seen how ridiculously good the combo was during the previous matches; there was literally no one more suited than her to kill the likes of Song of Ice and Fire and G.o.d Bone.

A while later, the finalized match-ups appeared on the big display—

1v1: Beiming Xue LV-183 Dark Archer VS Song of Ice and Fire LV-181 Frozen Berserker

1v1: Broken Halberd Sinks Into Sand LV-182 VS Ringwraith LV-180 Undead Mage

1v1: From Water LV-180 Magic Knight VS Song of Cloud and Water LV-180 Magic Knight

1v1: Lian Xing LV-182 Phantasm of Stars VS G.o.d Bone LV-180 Iron Knight

2v2: Lian Xing LV-182 Phantasm of Stars & Broken Halberd Sinks Into Sand LV-182 Undead Swordsman VS Song of Ice and Fire LV-181 Frozen Berserker & Ringwraith LV-180 Undead Mage

……

Beiming Xue would be fighting the frozen berserker, and I would be fighting the undead mage. It was exactly the outcome I wanted to see. Ringwraith's skills were too bizarre, and I was the only one who had a solid chance of beating him. It wasn't that I didn't trust the girls, Soul Battle Robes team was just too strong for us to give up on any advantage we could get. Only an idiot would think that our opponent had reached the final because they got lucky. Song of Ice and Fire and Ringwraith especially had strong cla.s.ses, powerful equipment, and equal or better skills than Chaos Moon. That was to say, they were super-tier experts we couldn't afford to underestimate.

The first match was Beiming Xue versus Song of Ice and Fire. Beiming Xue's advantage lay in the Windchaser set's armor penetration effects. Song of Ice and Fire's advantage lay in his high Attack and HP. Given the right circ.u.mstances, it was entirely possible for him to one-shot Beiming Xue.

"Is there any advice you'd like to give me, big bro?" Beiming Xue asked me with a smile.

I replied simply, "It's very simple. Keep your distance, for distance is the HP bar of all archers. Never engage Song of Ice and Fire in melee unless it is the only choice, and ideally you'll want to kite him to death!"

"Got it. Just watch me!"

The dark archer bade us goodbye and appeared on the battlefield with a swhoosh. For the past half a year or so, the young woman was growing in all the right places and filling her outfit. The mere sight of her longbow touching against her firm, round b.u.t.t was enough to drive imaginations into overdrive. The red cape fluttering behind her back added a bit of s.p.u.n.k to her appearance as well.

Chiang!

After Song of Ice and Fire appeared on the battlefield, he leaned against his Fire Dragon Axe and asked with a grin, "Beiming Xue, I heard that you're Broken Halberd Sinks Into Sand's younger sister?"

Beiming Xue replied, "Yes, I am."

"Just in name, right?"

"Mn."

His smile turned wicked. "Still, I know a lot of people who claim to be brothers and sisters in name, but really are something else. Do you happen to be one of them?"

Beiming Xue immediately blushed. "Whatever our relations.h.i.+p might be, how is that your concern in any way, you pervert? Pooh pooh pooh! Prepare to die!"

Song of Ice and Fire immediately added, "I knew it! Your reaction told me everything already!"

Beiming Xue was so frustrated that she could only stomp the ground in response.

……

Meanwhile, I was growing increasingly worried at the waiting area. "What the f.u.c.k? Beiming, you!"

He Yi said in resignation, "Oh no, Beiming Xue fell for Song of Ice and Fire's taunt and lost her cool. What to do, what to do…"

Lin Yixin shot me a meaningful look before saying, "I gotta say, Song of Ice and Fire is pretty good at this. He had found Lil Beiming's weak point immediately. There's no one she cares more than you in the entire world, is there?"

I rubbed my nose and complained loudly, "Are you trying to imply something, Yiyi?"

"Nope!"

"Bulls.h.i.+t!"

"Fine, I am, but so what? What can you possibly do to me?" Lin Yixin puffed up her awesome b.r.e.a.s.t.s and smiled fearlessly at me.

I made the mistake of looking down and found myself completely dazzled by her deep, white cleavage. A while later, I snapped back to reality and threatened, "Just you wait, I'm going to teach you a lesson when we have lunch tomorrow…"

A sweet smile spread across Lin Yixin's lips, and she moved her face closer until we were within touching distance of each other. The way she bent forward and smiled tauntingly at me was arresting in more ways than one. "Oh please, do teach me a lesson, Little Cheat. I want to know exactly what you're capable of…"

Not far away, Nangong Lexi pressed a palm to her forehead and groaned. "OMG, guild leader! Have some shame, please…"

Clear Perfume giggled beside her. "It's no use. Yiyi loses all semblance of shame whenever she's near Lu Chen…"

Nangong Lexi: "..."

……

Meanwhile, Beiming Xue was engaging Song of Ice and Fire in battle already. She kept her distance and fired both ice-element arrows with slow effects and armor break arrows such as Bone Eroding Arrow at him.

However, Song of Ice and Fire displayed an impressive ability to control the distance between himself and his opponent. He wasn't aggressive, but through Guarding, parrying and just running toward Beiming Xue from the right angles, he was able to push her to one corner of the map little by little. Eventually, the distance between them had shortened to 15 yards or so, and Beiming Xue had no choice but to escape to her left or right.

The moment Beiming Xue made a breakthrough, Song of Ice and Fire exploded into action and activated War G.o.d Rampage. For 12 seconds, he was immune to all status effects, and his Attack was increased by 40%!

"Die, dark archer!"

He roared as he pounced toward her like a tiger. He raised a palm and shouted, "Bone Wall!"

Bang bang bang!

Three bony walls burst from the ground and blocked Beiming Xue's way.

"Hmm?"

Beiming Xue skidded to a stop but reacted quickly. Instead of running into Song of Ice and Fire's embrace, she actually chose to run up the walls before Leaping toward the opposite direction. While she was soaring through the air, she drew her bow and fired Spiraling Arrow Blade at the frozen berserker!

Boom!

58299!

Song of Ice and Fire shook as his HP dropped below 25%. He didn't lose his cool, however. Eyes burning with fighting spirit, he abruptly threw his axe and shouted, "Splitting Heaven and Earth!"

Bang!

An explosion suddenly burst from the Fire Dragon Axe. A ranged AoE skill? None of us had seen this coming. Before we knew it, a damage number had appeared above Beiming Xue's head—178842!

A critical hit even? It looked like luck was on Song of Ice and Fire's side this round!

Beiming Xue was one-shot because she had used Ghost Chariot Card to buff her offensive power. Also, Song of Ice and Fire displayed an incredible amount of tenacity by enduring until the last moment, and seizing that tiny chance of victory when it finally presented itself. Another warrior would've broken down before Beiming Xue's kiting technique and thrown in the towel themselves.

……

Swhoos.h.!.+

After Beiming Xue returned to us, she said in a regretful tone, "I lost, big bro…"

I said, "Victory and defeat is commonplace in battles, also you fell for Song of Ice and Fire's taunt and moved a bit poorer than you normally would, or that Splitting Heaven and Earth would've missed you. Just keep your silence, and you won't lose your cool next time."

Beiming Xue blinked and nodded. "Got it!"

The second round began quickly, and both players were teleported into the arena once more.

……

Beiming Xue grabbed her bow and stood proudly in the wind. Her body looked tiny, but it contained a tremendous amount of power.

Song of Ice and Fire quickly figured out what Beiming Xue was planning. He would've to try harder to provoke a reaction from her.

"Ahem, why are you quiet?" Song of Ice and Fire asked.

Beiming Xue's eyes brimmed with hostility, but she didn't respond to him.

"Oh? You're angry? You're really going to ignore me until the battle begins?" Song of Ice and Fire continued.

Beiming Xue remained the same as before.

The frozen berserker let out a sigh before breaking into a smile. "Would you marry Lu Chen if he would be willing to marry you, Beiming Xue?"

A tremble coursed through Beiming Xue's shoulders, causing her bow to s.h.i.+ver a little. The hostility in her eyes also dissolved into complicated feelings.