c104

All-Round Mid Laner 104

Cheng Xing had felt pretty bad at first, but as soon as he heard Ye Shaoyang reassure him, he became spirited again.

That was right. Even the marksmen who stood at the peak of the professional league were killed here and there. Cheng Xing was a newbie. So what if he was killed a few times? Plus, he had been hacked to death by a top-tier top laner! There was nothing shameful about that!

Cheng Xing swiftly adjusted his mood. He looked over to the side and attentively listened to Ye Shaoyang and Chi Shuo speak.

Ye Shaoyang was saying, "In the previous game, they continuously swapped lanes to mess with our rhythm. In a late-game team fight, they killed off Little Xing right away, leaving us without enough DPS. We also failed to take care of Xie Weiyu. These are the reasons Tianhuan lost."

Chi Shuo turned to face Ye Shaoyang. He quietly said, "The Wind Nymph is Xie Weiyu's signature hero. If we want to take care of him when he's playing that hero, we can use one of two tactics. One way would be to take a hero with hard control skills, in order to lock him down and make it impossible for him to fly around. Then we can kill him quickly. The second way would be to take an extremely powerful burst hero that can take him down in a second."

There were some control skills which couldn't be cleansed. For example, the Holy Mage's 'seal', the Nightmare's 'sleep', and the Six-Winged Angel's 'bind'. These control skills were very suitable for dealing with quick, nimble heroes.

However, when initiating a team fight, it was difficult to hit your intended target with these single-target control skills. Your enemies weren't stupid. They would definitely focus on protecting their marksman. If you wanted to get into their back line to lock down their marksman, you had to be very good at predicting where all your enemies would be moving.

In the first round, Chi Shuo and Ye Shaoyang had managed to repeatedly kill Xie Weiyu. This was primarily because the Enchantress could 'possess' a person from far away, and she could pull Ye Shaoyang in to help take the kill as well. But it was very likely Yueying would continue to ban the Enchantress in the next game. Without this 'you give me a ride, I give you a ride' set-up, it would be very difficult to handle Xie Weiyu with only one hero with a hard control skill.

…but it wasn't impossible.

Ye Shaoyang gave Chi Shuo a very serious look. "Captain Chi, how about you take a jungler core in the next round?"

Chi Shuo froze for a second. "What do you mean?"

Ye Shaoyang said, "You break through with a jungler core. I'll be your backup."

When Lin Feng heard that, his heart was slightly moved—how long had it been since Tianhuan won a game with a jungler core comp?

If he really thought about it… such a thing probably hadn't happened in nearly a year.

Chi Shuo's jungler cores had been targeted endlessly, and Tianhuan's jungle was often invaded by the enemy. The peak jungler who'd once taken pentakills with the Bloodstained Assassin was suppressed to the point that he could never develop on the map.

Later, Tianhuan gradually began to give up on their jungler core comps. This season, in their Group B games, Chi Shuo had consistently played support junglers. As a result, many netizens had even started to suspect that Chi Shuo's condition was declining. Some even voiced their theories that Chi Shuo could no longer play jungler cores.

But Coach Lin was very clear on this matter—Chi Shuo's condition hadn't declined at all; he was only sacrificing himself for his team.

When Ye Shaoyang took the initiative to bring up Chi Shuo taking a jungler core, Coach Lin's heart filled up with complex emotions. He patted Chi Shuo on the shoulder and said, "Take one. Take a hero you like for the next game. Regardless of whether we win or lose, show off your own style of play."

In the past, they didn't dare have Chi Shuo take a jungler core, because if he did, their jungle would definitely be destroyed by the enemy.

But in this season, Chi Shuo had Ye Shaoyang at his side.

In some games, he could play a support jungler for Ye Shaoyang. And in other games, Ye Shaoyang could be his backup.

Chi Shuo met Ye Shaoyang's gaze, which was full of confidence. Chi Shuo felt a wave of warmth spread through his chest. He straightforwardly said, "Okay."

The third round was due to begin.

In the picks and bans stage, Yueying continued to target Qin Yizhu. They started out by banning two top laners. Tianhuan didn't actually ban Xie Weiyu's Wind Nymph or Xu Zhuo's Willful Sword. They didn't ban the Kung-Fu Master that Xu Zhuo had played well with earlier, either. Tianhuan continued to calmly ban supports that were good at initiating team fights.

Question marks flooded the livestreaming room.

[What's going on? They're not banning the Wind Nymph?]

[The Wind Nymph was the MVP in the last round. She got a triple kill in a team fight. And they still aren't banning her?]

[What is the coach thinking? Does he want to lose another game?]

Yueying was very straightforward with their next move. If Tianhuan wasn't going to ban their star heroes, they would lock them in right away. They chose the Wind Nymph as their first pick!

Tianhuan continued to choose their bottom lane duo first. Cheng Xing chose the Princess of the Blood Clan; this marksman had a good degree of self-sustainability since she had a vampiric ult. Qu Jiang took the Radiant Shield to protect Cheng Xing.

Yueying took the Kung-Fu Master, as an extremely powerful top laner who could stand on his own in a fight, to go along with their nimble and hard-to-kill Wind Nymph.

Tianhuan took a typical top laner, keeping their comp very conventional and by-the-book.

But their decision to leave the enemy team's powerful heroes unbanned left many of the game's viewers confused. They couldn't understand what Tianhuan was planning.

The second phase of the picks and bans arrived. Yueying, as expected, banned the Enchantress and the Abyssal Lord. Tianhuan sealed away the Frost Goddess and the Tidal Goddess, two heroes with strong AoE ults.

Then, Tianhuan made their fourth and fifth picks.

For their fourth pick, they took the Holy Mage. For their fifth, they locked in the Stealthy Rogue.

As soon as these heroes came out, it wasn't just the comments in the livestreaming room that went wild. Backstage, even Fang Zhengqing—who had been dozing off on a couch—sat up straighter and became more alert. He squinted at the screen and remarked, "A jungler core comp?"

Xie Yuan smiled and said, "If Chi Shuo is taking a jungler core, he's definitely out to kill Xie Weiyu!"

The Stealthy Rogue was one hero that could be played as a jungler core.

This hero's best asset was his ability to stealth, going invisible and circling to the back of an enemy team's formation to assassinate the glass cannons. But in order for the Rogue to successfully kill off the enemy, his gear had to be good enough. If he didn't have enough gold to purchase good equipment, the Rogue was just a fragile little didi.

In the past, when teams played against Tianhuan, they would regularly ban this hero. Even if they didn't ban the Stealthy Rogue, they could suppress his development by targeting Tianhuan's jungle like crazy.

Furthermore, even when the Rogue was stealthed, AoE attacks could still hit him. As long as the enemy could hit him and make him visible, the Rogue—who was as fragile as a sheet of tissue paper—would be dead in an instant.

It had been a very long time since Chi Shuo last played this hero. It was too easy for him to be targeted when he picked the Rogue.

[Captain Chi's jungler core is finally out!]

[I thought Chi Shuo forgot all about this hero? He actually still knows how to play this one?]

[LMAO, with the Stealthy Rogue, Captain Chi often runs in from afar to give his head away. I wonder how many times he'll give his life away today?]

[They'll kill him once when he goes for their red buff, once when he goes for their blue buff… and then twice more when he tries to go for his own team's buffs. We see this sort of thing happen all the time.]

The anti-fans watching the livestream were starting to chime in with their derisive comments.

In the past, when Tianhuan used a jungler core comp, they would have a very high chance of losing. Chi Shuo's fragile jungler cores would be killed very frequently. It was no wonder anti-fans started to make these dark remarks when they saw Chi Shuo pick a jungler core.

Tianhuan's fans were also afraid to talk back. They were deathly afraid of Tianhuan losing this round.

The game began.

As expected, Yueying immediately charged into Chi Shuo's jungle.

Chi Shuo had chosen a jungler core, after all. If they didn't target Tianhuan's jungle now, wouldn't they be underestimating Chi Shuo?

Yueying's top laner, jungler, and mid laner all charged in to steal Tianhuan's blue buff. Although Chi Shuo's Stealthy Rogue didn't need the blue buff, not getting one at the start of the game meant that Chi Shuo wouldn't be able to hit Level 6 as quickly as possible. He wouldn't be able to set a quick rhythm for the round.

So, Tianhuan absolutely had to take a blue buff.

Ye Shaoyang instantly made his way over to their blue buff to provide assistance. When he saw that Chi Shuo had already been beaten down to half-health, Ye Shaoyang used a W skill to throw a shield around Chi Shuo, enabling Chi Shuo to quickly run away.

At the same time, Qu Jiang placed a ward to establish visibility by the river near the bottom lane. Chi Shuo ran through that area to reach Yueying's jungle, in order to steal their blue buff.

In this opening bout, the two teams ended up stealing each other's blue buffs. Chi Shuo didn't come out at a loss.

Immediately afterwards, Yueying ran over to steal Tianhuan's red buff. Xu Zhuo returned to the top lane to clear minions, while Yueying's mid laner, jungler, support, and marksman formed a four-man team to go after the red. Tianhuan also answered by dispatching a four-man team to guard their red buff.

Cheng Xing shot at the enemy from his hiding spot in the woods. Qu Jiang put up a shield and tanked damage from the enemy heroes. Ye Shaoyang also shielded Chi Shuo again; with the Holy Mage's shield surrounding him, Chi Shuo charged in—and with a swift QW skill combo, he forced the enemy to retreat!

One commentator said, "At the start of a game, the Holy Mage can either learn his Q skill for clearing minions, or his W skill for generating a shield. In this round, Lieyang has chosen to take a shield first. This shows that he intends to devote himself to protecting the jungler."

"Exactly. The Holy Mage's shield is directly proportional to the Holy Mage's own HP. It seems like Tianhuan isn't going for a mid/jungle duo in this game. They're running a support mid laner?"

Before long, everyone saw Ye Shaoyang help Chi Shuo take down the river crab. Chi Shuo also farmed some of the minions on the middle lane.

"The mid laner is actually giving resources to the jungler now?"

"If the jungler is taking minions from the middle lane, they definitely discussed this ahead of time. With this, the mid laner won't be able to reach Level 6 quickly, but the jungler will get there faster."

In previous games, viewers often saw Chi Shuo leaving the blue buff for Ye Shaoyang. He would sometimes even leave the small monster spawns in the jungle to the mid laner. In this game, the reverse was true. Ye Shaoyang had given a wave of minions to Chi Shuo.

As a result, when Yueying's jungler was still at Level 4, Chi Shuo swiftly hit Level 6.

At Level 6, the Stealthy Rogue learned his ult—he could now do a huge amount of burst damage while stealthed.

Yueying's mid laner warned, "Their jungler hit Level 6, be careful!"

Xu Zhuo knew that Chi Shuo's jungler cores were incredibly fierce. He immediately called out, "Bottom lane, retreat a bit. Careful you don't get ganked."

Xie Weiyu instantly exercised caution and retreated to his own tower.

At just that moment, Yueying's mid laner suddenly saw a warning pop up over his own hero's head—

A stealthed hero is nearby.

Yueying's mid laner instinctively used his flash to flee back under his own tower. However, Chi Shuo decisively gave chase. The moment he shed his invisibility, he used a swift RW skill combo to instakill the mid laner!

First Blood!

The first kill of the game had been made with no warning at all.

Please read this chapter at www.lightnovelreader.com for faster releases

Yueying's mid laner muttered, "Damn. I saw him leave the area. I thought he was going to gank the bottom lane."

But Chi Shuo had only pretended to move away, before circling back around to the middle lane.

Viewers who could watch the game from the eagle-eye view noticed that Chi Shuo had perfectly calculated the enemy mid laner's field of vision. He created the illusion of leaving the area, then suddenly ambushed the unsuspecting enemy. The mid laner's flash, unleashed when he was already facing death, was ultimately wasted.

The ability to take many factors into consideration at once was the most important skill for a jungler. A good jungler had to be able to kill, and they had to be able to pick the perfect time to kill.

Chi Shuo had clearly chosen the best opportunity. If he really had gone to gank the bottom lane at that moment, Xie Weiyu definitely would have been on high alert. But the mid laner, who thought Chi Shuo had left, was prone to letting down his guard.

And as a result, Chi Shuo had taken advantage of the moment that mid laner relaxed!

After taking that kill, Chi Shuo continued to farm in the jungle. Once Yueying's mid laner respawned, the first minor dragon appeared on the map.

When a team ran a core like the Stealthy Rogue, it was critical for the other team to not let the Rogue snowball his advantage. So, it was best for Yueying to not let go of the first minor dragon.

Xu Zhuo said, "Get ready to fight for the dragon."

Soon enough, the five players from both teams hurried over to the dragon pit. They briefly clashed outside the pit, but Yueying couldn't find where Chi Shuo was hiding. They didn't dare let go of the dragon either.

Xu Zhuo warned, "The jungler has gone invisible. Support, do a search, find him!"

When a stealthed enemy hero was nearby, an alert would pop up above your own hero's head.

Although this alert wouldn't tell you exactly where a stealthed enemy was, it would narrow down the scope of your search by a lot.

Yueying's support took a few steps to the lower right. That stealthed enemy warning popped up above his head. Just as he was about to announce that the Stealthy Rogue was near him, he saw Ye Shaoyang suddenly flash out from the dragon pit—

With an ult, Ye Shaoyang instantly sealed away Xie Weiyu!

The Holy Mage's ult, the Holy Seal, was a hard control skill. There was no way to escape.

Xie Weiyu was locked down in place, with no way of moving. The Stealthy Rogue circled around behind him and dealt a huge burst of damage, swiftly taking Xie Weiyu's head! After killing Xie Weiyu, Chi Shuo instantly stealthed again and retreated.

Xu Zhuo obviously wasn't going to stand by and simply watch his marksman be killed.

If you kill my marksman, I'll kill yours!

He charged in at Cheng Xing, intending to beat him to death, but then—Ye Shaoyang flung out a shield with his W skill, protecting Cheng Xing.

While shielded by the Holy Mage, Cheng Xing used his blood-leeching ult. In the blink of an eye, he'd healed up all his own injuries.

Xu Zhuo had no choice but to retreat.

Tianhuan swiftly took down the minor dragon.

The two commentators met each other's gaze.

"Let's take a look at the slow-motion replay of this last fight… Captain Chi was hidden in a very distant place at first. Lieyang used a flash to get in and immobilize the enemy marksman. Then, Chi Shuo instantly charged in took down that marksman!"

"That's right. Although they aren't ganking enemies with a mid/jungle duo in this round, the two of them are still in perfect sync!"

In team fights, it was extremely common to experience a situation in which you immobilized an enemy, but your teammates couldn't follow-up quickly enough with a kill. In this bout, Ye Shaoyang and Chi Shuo once again proved their brainwaves were perfectly in sync.

Ye Shaoyang used a flash to initiate, and Chi Shuo instantly followed up with an attack on the marksman.

Xie Wieyu didn't even get a chance to react.

The two teams had clearly been locked in a clash in the pit. How had Ye Shaoyang suddenly leapt out to immobilize him?

Chi Shuo had two kills now, plus the first minor dragon. His gold and experience points soared.

He started to stealth around the whole map.

At a time like this, it was extremely important for a jungler to be able to keep their eyes on all aspects of the game. Chi Shuo had to swiftly roam the map and build up his advantage.

Yueying's jungler was currently fighting the red buff. When he saw the 'stealthed enemy nearby' alert pop up over his own head, he hastily said, "Chi Shuo's here, at the red buff!"

As soon as the enemy jungler's words sounded out, Chi Shuo revealed himself and took the other jungler's head.

He took the red buff, too.

Xu Zhuo furrowed his brow and ordered, "Group up! Get him!"

The mid laner and top laner came from either side, one from the left and one from the right, to surround Chi Shuo. They wanted to take Chi Shuo down with this two-pronged attack. The Stealthy Rogue could do huge amounts of burst damage, but he was very fragile. As long as they could trap him, Xu Zhuo could take his life with two blows.

Please read this chapter at www.lightnovelreader.com for faster releases

The viewers gazed at the screens playing out the eagle-eye view of the game. They were all at the edges of their seats.

Chi Shuo swiftly started to retreat; meanwhile, Ye Shaoyang rushed up to meet him halfway.

Yueying's two players were very quick to attack. They surrounded Chi Shuo from either side. Xu Zhuo unleashed his ult and jumped straight in, getting right up in the Stealthy Rogue's face. The brilliant white light of a special attack burst around the fragile assassin. From afar, Yueying's mid laner threw out a control skill. But when Chi Shuo had just a sliver of HP left—

Suddenly, a fine golden light burst forth from his body.

The Holy Shield!

Ye Shaoyang had gotten there just in time to protect Chi Shuo with his life-preserving shield. The badly bloodied Chi Shuo was saved. At the same time, Ye Shaoyang used his ult to immobilize the mid laner, who was hiding nearby to fling out his skills.

Chi Shuo turned and unleashed a burst of skills that took down the mid laner. Then, he quickly retreated with Ye Shaoyang.

Double Kill!

Xu Zhou was silent.

Damn! It really was nice to have a bodyguard!

The most disgusting thing about the Stealthy Rogue was that he could stay stealthed once he got his optimal gear. That way, he could roam freely without being detected. He could sneak up behind you, pop up from out of nowhere, and take your life—leaving your team with fewer members before a team fight.

If Yueying continued to allow Chi Shuo to snowball his advantage, they would have no way of fighting him in late-game.

Xu Zhuo instantly made a decision. "I'll push the top lane. You four focus on destroying them on the bottom lane. Do your best to take pressure off Little Yu."

After respawning, Yueying's mid laner and jungler swiftly headed down to the bottom lane to assist. The four of them faced off against Cheng Xing and Qu Jiang. Cheng Xing decisively turned and fled—Yang-ge had told him before. For a marksman, surviving was the most important thing.

They simply let the enemy destroy their bottom lane outer tower.

After Yueying took down that tower, they also invaded Tianhuan's jungle along the way. The completely swept the lower jungle free of Chi Shuo's valuable resources.

And at the same time, Xu Zhuo was pushing towards Tianhuan's tower on the top lane. Suddenly, Xu Zhuo saw a warning pop up over his head.

Fuck! Here he comes again!

Xu Zhuo decisively turned and retreated.

However, Chi Shuo was hiding out in the path of his retreat. He revealed himself and dealt a huge wave of damage, leaving Xu Zhuo in critically low health.

Xu Zhuo had no choice but to return to his base to heal up.

Ye Shaoyang came up to the top lane to assist. Three of Tianhuan's players worked together to destroy Yueying's top lane outer tower.

The game reached the fifteen-minute mark. Both sides had lost an outer tower, and Chi Shuo had taken three kills—he had the most gold of anyone on the field. Yueying had to quickly take care of the Stealthy Rogue. Otherwise, this powerful jungler core could kill off all their glass cannons in one go if he got into their back line!

Xu Zhuo said, "Force a fight over the grand dragon! Mage, give us cover with your ult. Make that Stealthy Rogue reveal himself!"

Yueying was as fierce as ever in team fights. Xie Weiyu's marksman was very nimble; he already had three pieces of gear at that time. Xu Zhuo's top laner was an excellent anti-pressure hero, and he had a high attack stat as well. Their support, mid laner, and jungler all had control skills.

Xu Zhuo took the initiative to start the next team fight. He set his sights on killing off Tianhuan's marksman.

Cheng Xing had been killed too many times in the last game. He'd learned his lesson for this game. Now, he would use his flash to flee as soon as he caught sight of Xu Zhuo!

With Cheng Xing running away, the fight became a 4v5. Chi Shuo was hiding somewhere, so technically—it was a 3v5.

Xu Zhuo immediately ordered, "Kill the mid laner!"

Although Ye Shaoyang had equipped himself with some HP-boosting gear, a mage had a naturally low defense stat. He couldn't fend off a fighter or a tank. Since Xu Zhuo couldn't get at Cheng Xing, he charged straight towards Ye Shaoyang!

Yueying's mid laner and marksman also targeted Ye Shaoyang from their back line. In the blink of an eye, Ye Shaoyang was brought down to critically low health.

One commentator anxiously exclaimed, "Lieyang is nearly down! If he shields himself, he can hold on for a few more seconds!"

"Wait! What is he doing?!"

The badly bloodied Ye Shaoyang didn't shield himself. Instead, he suddenly flashed deeper into the fray. With an ult, he expertly immobilized Xie Weiyu, whose Wind Nymph was flying towards him in 'storm' mode!

The commentators were stunned.

"…my god, those are some godly powers of prediction! He could even guess where Xie Weiyu was going?!"

"He's already in critically low health himself, but he won't run. He actually charges in to immobilize the enemy marksman?"

Xie Weiyu was close to spitting up blood.

There was no way to cleanse the Holy Mage's seal. Xie Weiyu was completely immobilized for two seconds.

What could be done in two seconds? It was long enough for Xie Weiyu's teammates to kill Ye Shaoyang. But it was also long enough for Chi Shuo to kill Xie Weiyu!

As expected, Chi Shuo struck instantly. He took Xie Weiyu down in a second.

YY-OldXu (Kung-Fu Master) killed Tianhuan-Lieyang (Holy Mage)!

Tianhuan-Shuoyue (Stealthy Rogue) killed YY-Rain (Wind Nymph)!

These two notifications popped up at nearly the exact same time.

And before Ye Shaoyang died, he granted a shield to Chi Shuo.

Chi Shuo, wearing that shield, swiftly circled around and attacked Yueying's mid laner. The enemy mid laner hastily tried to flee, but Chi Shuo used up a few movement skills to catch up. With one deft strike, he claimed the fragile mage's head.

Then Chi Shuo turned back around and went after the enemy jungler.

Double Kill!

Triple Kill!

Three kills in one fight! Yueying's marksman, mid laner, and jungler were all dead!

And on Tianhuan's side, only Ye Shaoyang had died.

He had sacrificed his own life in order to create the best possible opportunity for Chi Shuo. Just before dying, he'd thrown his precious shield around Chi Shuo, to make sure Chi Shuo wouldn't be instakilled while hunting down their enemies.

An unbidden heat rose in Chi Shuo's eyes. Just then, when Shaoyang had been beaten to low health, Chi Shuo had thought Shaoyang would shield himself and use his flash to flee… but Shaoyang didn't.

Ye Shaoyang had flashed forward instead of back. He'd immobilized Xie Weiyu, and he'd even said to Chi Shuo, "All yours."

He had given the battlefield to Chi Shuo.

He had believed in Chi Shuo's ability to turn the tide of the battle.

Tianhuan's jungler core comps had been suppressed for a very long time. One reason was that Chi Shuo's jungle was always invaded by the enemy. But there was another key reason—after their jungler core comps were defeated time and again, Tianhuan's other teammates had gradually started to lose faith in their jungler core.

Even Chi Shuo himself had started to waver, thinking he couldn't excel as a jungler core any longer.

But today, Ye Shaoyang wanted to tell him—

You can do it.

As long as your teammates can fend off the pressure and create the best opportunities for you, you can still be the first-class assassin that took the world by storm in S6.

You're Chi Shuo. The world-class jungler who once took the individual championship title!

Out loud, Ye Shaoyang had simply said, "All yours."

But that was enough to make Chi Shuo absently drift back to thoughts of S6—his teammates had put their complete faith in him; they were even willing to give their own lives to create opportunities for him.

That was also the season in which Tianhuan was bathed in the brightest glory.

In this key team fight, Cheng Xing hadn't died. He worked with Chi Shuo to wipe out the rest of Yueying's heroes. Then they swiftly took the grand dragon.

It took too long for the enemy to respawn at this stage of the game. Tianhuan armed themselves with the grand dragon's buff and charged into Yueying's base.

"Congratulations to Team Tianhuan for taking the third round!"

"Tianhuan's jungler core has finally made a return. Captain Chi's triple kill in that last fight was just too cool!"

The two commentators were both clearly very excited.

The ear-splitting sound of applause thundered through the stands. Many fans were sobbing and shrieking.

Chi Shuo took off his headset, and he took the initiative to stretch out both arms, tightly wrapping Ye Shaoyang up in a hug.

In this moment, things like 'alpha' and 'omega' didn't matter at all—he simply wanted to give Shaoyang a tight hug.

Shaoyang had allowed him to regain the confidence to play a jungler core. Shaoyang had put his full faith in him. At a critical moment, Shaoyang hadn't hesitated to turn over his own life in order to create a chance for Chi Shuo.

He was truly the best teammate imaginable!