Different Paths, Different Strategies!
{ Ye Qiu's Avatar: The Enlightened One(mechanic class)
Su Mucheng's Avatar: Dancing Rain
Liu Hao's Avatar: Total Darkness
Han Wenqing's Avatar: Desert Dust
Zhou Guangyi's Avatar: Cold Seasons
Zheng Chengfeng's Avatar: Mountain Split }
Accompanied by a fierce forward kick from Desert Dust, Total Darkness suddenly raised his short sword.
Parry!
With a "clang," Total Darkness blocked Desert Dust's forward kick.
"Oops!" Han Wenqing felt a panic in his heart as Total Darkness's anticipated parry disrupted his attacking rhythm.
Liu Haosighed in relief; he wouldn't miss this perfect counterattack opportunity.
Liu Hao controlled Total Darkness to consecutively jump back twice, creating distance, then swung his sword, releasing a wave of fluctuating light.
Spellblade's skill—Ghost Seal Pearl.
The huge spherical wave slowly moved towards Desert Dust, causing Han Wenqing to sweat slightly on his forehead.
It wasn't that he couldn't dodge the Ghost Seal Pearl, but rather that it obstructed his vision, preventing him from seeing Total Darkness's movements behind it.
"This feels like Knight's shield-blinding technique, but instead of a shield, it's the Magic Swordsman's Ghost Seal Pearl!" Han Wenqing was amazed, praising Liu Hao's adaptability. The Ghost Seal Pearl not only blocked Desert Dust's vision but also obstructed his attack route, once again buying Total Darkness a chance to chant.
"The next move is crucial!" Han Wenqing took a deep breath.
If Total Darkness's Wave Sword had hit Desert Dust, then he would undoubtedly die. But if Total Darkness's Wave Sword missed, and Desert Dust managed to evade, then Liu Hao would lose this precious attacking opportunity, and his hope of winning would vanish.
Han Wenqing furrowed his brows tightly, once again caught in the whirlpool of choosing whether to move left or right.
Compared to the tense Han Wenqing, Liu Hao appeared relaxed. In his view, Desert Dust had only three options: jump up to pass over the Ghost Seal Pearl, move left, or move right. But among these three paths, one was a dead end...
At the critical moment when the Ghost Seal Pearl hit, Han Wenqing finally took action.
"I see... your future!" Liu Hao's lips curled up.
Total Darkness struck, the Wave Sword heavily slashing through the air. However, at that moment, Desert Dust leaped high, catching the Wave Sword perfectly, then struck it down once again.
Han Wenqing's eye twitched; his choice to jump had once again been predicted by Liu Hao.
"I lost..."
Seeing the skill hit, Liu Hao calmly unleashed two more Wave Slashes, killing Desert Dust.
[Killing Desert Dust triggers a reward: Obtained the Magic Swordsman's specialised weapon, the short sword—Wind Chime, Grass, Silver Weapon Design Blueprint.]
"DAMN, can this system even drop silver weapon design blueprints?" Liu Hao was astonished.
But compared to Liu Hao's surprise, everyone present was even more shocked.
Liu Hao actually... actually defeated Han Wenqing? How was this possible?
Su Mucheng's eyes were filled with disbelief. Previously, when she soloed with Liu Hao, she only thought he won by using trash talk to disturb her mentality, a despicable tactic. But now, seeing Total Darkness replace 35% of Desert Dust's health with only 45% of his own remaining, Liu Hao didn't use any despicable tactics. He won fair and square.
When did Liu Hao become so formidable? Why didn't he show this performance in the seventh season's regular matches?
Ye Xiu also widened his eyes. He had watched the entire solo match, but never expected Liu Hao to possess such amazing prediction abilities, accurately foreseeing Han Wenqing's movement choices twice in a row...
Liu Hao's eyes were quite eerie... eerie... somewhat frightening.
Inside the Tyranny training room, you could hear a pin drop; no player dared to speak, afraid of provoking Han Wenqing.
They all had the same thought: "Captain Han losing to Liu Hao, this ordinary professional player, must be quite humiliating, right?"
"Captain, you... don't think too much. Liu Hao winning was just luck, and Ye Xiu had already consumed too much of your health. If you both were at full health, Liu Hao would definitely have lost," Zhou Guangyi cautiously said.
The surrounding players echoed, cursing Liu Hao for winning unfairly by having an advantage in health.
Han Wenqing became angrier as he listened. "Shut up!"
With this roar, the training room fell silent again. Many players trembled at being yelled at; Han Wenqing was too awe-inspiring. Even the owner of Tyranny had to fear him to some extent, let alone these junior players?
Deep down, Han Wenqing was a proud human. He detested not admitting his failures more than actual failure.
"Lost is lost," Han Wenqing said solemnly. "Liu Hao played well."
...
"Liu Hao, did someone cast a spell on you? How did you suddenly become so powerful? You even defeated Han Wenqing?" Su Mucheng exclaimed.
Ye Xiu also stared at Liu Hao with curiosity. Like Su Mucheng, he initially thought Liu Hao wouldn't win against Han Wenqing, even with a health advantage. But in the end, Liu Hao won, and he only used about 30% of his health to take down Han Wenqing's 45%.
Liu Hao pretended to be profound, remaining silent.
Su Mucheng couldn't help but chuckle at Liu Hao's antics; it was the first time she heard him speak like this.
Ye Xiu also couldn't help but smile, applauding. For the first time, he praised Liu Hao, "Well played!"
But before Liu Hao could bask in the praise for two seconds, Ye Xiu's expression turned cold. "But if you had supported us earlier, we would have won faster and more easily."
"Isn't winning the result we wanted?" Liu Hao retorted sharply. He knew arguing with Ye Xiu would inevitably lead to a verbal battle, but he had to do it, not just to make Ye Xiu acknowledge him but also to pave the way for his own future.
"Liu Hao!" Ye Xiu raised his voice.
"Ye Xiu!" Liu Hao didn't back down, shouting loudly. Who had the louder voice? He wouldn't lose to Ye Xiu in even that.
Seeing Ye Xiu and Liu Hao confronting each other again, Su Mucheng immediately stood by Ye Xiu. "Liu Hao, your performance in this training match was exceptionally outstanding, but what Ye Xiu said makes sense. If you had supported Ye Xiu in time, he wouldn't have died, and we would have won more easily. Isn't that better?"
"From the audience's perspective, it's indeed better, but not for me!" Liu Hao argued back.
"Why?" frowned Ye Xiu.
"If I had supported you, what would the audience see? They would see the brilliance of Ye Xiu, leading the team to victory against Tyranny's Desert Dust. But what credit would I have in that? But if it's the scene just now, the audience would see Liu Hao turning the tide against all odds, defeating Desert Dust in a desperate situation, soloing him and saving the day!"
Su Mucheng fell silent; she found Liu Hao's argument reasonable, albeit unexpected.
But Ye Xiu's face darkened. "Professional players should pursue stable victories!"
"In my opinion, as long as we win, the process doesn't matter at all!" Liu Hao retorted firmly.
Ye Xiu fell silent, still not agreeing with Liu Hao's point of view.
Liu Hao pursued a kind of extreme performance desire, like Zhou Zekai's brilliant playstyle, but such a style carried too many risks. What he pursued was simply stable victories.
"Letting you mess around on the field is like having a ticking time bomb!" Ye Xiu sighed.
"What? Captain Ye is going to ban me from playing again?" Liu Hao smiled.
"Excellent era needs stability, not ticking time bombs. I am the captain of Jia Shi and must consider the Excellent Era's performance," Ye Xiu said faintly, his gaze towards Liu Hao now held a bit more appreciation but still contained a stranger's hostility.
Liu Hao chuckled inwardly. He had long expected Ye Xiu's next move. Reporting to Tao Xuan to ban him from matches? In the past, when his original self made mistakes on the field, Ye Xiu would punish his original self in this way.
But that was in the past. Tao Xuan would give Ye Xiu some face and ban his original self from matches.
But now things are different. Tao Xuan didn't value Ye Xiu at all because Ye Xiu had no commercial value. With the videos of him soloing Desert Dust plus his outstanding skills and handsome appearance, Liu Hao now had commercial value!
This was why he dared to sell Ye Xiu, confront Ye Xiu head-on. His strategy succeeded. Tao Xuan was a businessman with different pursuits from Ye Xiu and no regard for Ye Xiu. This coincided with his own goals.
"Ye Xiu, I admire your purity, but the current professional league can't accommodate purity. The audience wants to see performance matches, not dull victories," Liu Hao countered.
Ye Xiu narrowed his eyes, not saying a word, and left the training room.
Su Mucheng, seeing this, gave Liu Hao a stern look and quickly followed Ye Xiu.
(End of Chapter)