“Leave that female mage to me!” Xu Yang declared in a stupid voice while holding the Purgatory Sword.

High Fighting Spirits asked, “Both their mages are female. Which one are you talking about?”

“The one with big breasts?”

“You mean Murong Mingyue?”

“Fuck off, she’s huge, but she’s a priest, okay?”

Beneath the stage, Murong Mingyue uttered through gritted teeth, “I’m gonna send these bastards to the slaughterhouse the second this match is over!”

……

The moment the match began, Gui Guzi swung his spear and charged the enemy’s party leader immediately. His footsteps were steady, and his spear was already in motion the instant he took off. His movement was so fluid that it was beautiful to look at.

Thud thud thud!

A couple of arrows hit his Spirit-grade shield Titan Barrier and caused a number of sparks, but it didn’t result in too much damage. With over 2000 Defense and almost 15000 HP, Gui Guzi was probably the most broken tank in this tournament right now. If possible, no one wanted to face the undead knight in combat.

The enemy mage cried out hastily, “You idiots, don’t hit Gui Guzi, you won’t be able to kill him! Kill High Fighting Spirits and Hot Sun first!”

Unfortunately, they were too late. The moment the battle began, Gui Guzi was able to cut right into their formation and shatter both mages’ Magic Shield with an Aurora Thrust. He had effectively split their party in half. After Xu Yang, High Fighting Spirits and the others activated their Charges and fought to end the round as quickly as possible, no amount of planning could turn the tides in favor of Zero Pitch Sonata.

Three minutes later, the battle ended in favor of Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls Second Seed, granting them one point.

The second round wasn’t too different from the first. Gui Guzi was the main attacker, and because he had a fair amount of attack power, his Aurora Thrust wasn’t something the enemy could afford to ignore. This was especially true for Zero Pitch Sonata because their party was completely made up of archers and mages. Unable to come together and burst down the enemy, the only thing they could do was delay the inevitable.

In the end, Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls Second Seed successfully beat Zero Pitch Sonata 2-0 and advanced to the Top 16!

……

“Hahaha, I knew Gui Guzi wouldn’t let us down!”

I smiled and tried to lift a cup, but I abruptly realized that a snow white hand had grabbed my cup instead. When I looked up, I saw that the owner of the hand was a cute and refreshing-looking girl about seventeen to eighteen years old. She was the same type of woman as Beiming Xue. The girl smiled at me and said, “Hello, Lu Chen, I’m Song of Cloud and Water, the guild leader of Soul Battle Robes. Are you interested in joining us? We promise to pay you handsomely for your service…”

Oh, it’s that girl again!

I grabbed Lin Yixin’s cup instead and took a sip. Then, I complained, “This red tea is so bitter! I can’t believe you can swallow something like this, Yiyi.”

Lin Yixin smiled. “A person should learn to appreciate both the bitterness and sweetness of life.”

Song Of Cloud And Water’s eyes turned as round as saucers. “Fuck, he… he ignored me again…”

Hmph hmph, that’s exactly right, little girl!

It was at this moment four players walked up to Song Of Cloud And Water and asked, “Guild leader, what are you doing here? It’s our turn to go on stage.”

The girl looked at the big screen—

Group G

Soul Battle Robes VS Warsky Alliance, Mad Dragon VS Hegemon Palace

Group H

Dirge Of War VS Snow Moon, Baidicheng VS Myth

……

A sigh slipped through her parted lips. “What a shame that we ran into Warsky Alliance so soon. We could’ve fought Snow Moon if it was a weaker party…”

One of her members chuckled awkwardly. “Those days are long gone, guild leader. Both Snow Moon and Soul Battle Robes are no longer the king-level guilds we used to be. Even if we win this match, I doubt Snow Moon will beat their opponent and meet us in the Top 16…”

Song Of Cloud And Water turned around to face him. “What do you mean?”

“Do you know who the current guild leader of Snow Moon is? He’s a super noob called Southern Barbarian. Their opponent is Dirge Of War, one of the Top 10 guilds of Vanished God City. I would suspect foul play if they somehow won this…”

“Sigh…”

……

Soul Battle Robes went on stage, and on the other side stood Warsky Alliance. Warsky was a handsome young man in real life, and the corners of his lips looked like they would turn up at any moment. Behind him was Farewell Song, Laughing At The Heavens, October Rain and a priest called To Make Rain Ripple. Their comp was perfectly standard, but the three CGL rankers in the party definitely weren't!

Obviously, Soul Battle Robes party was no match for their opponent, and Song Of Cloud And Water knew this very well. That was why she and her party members didn’t bother to put up too much resistance. Under Warsky’s leadership, Warsky Alliance quickly obliterated Soul Battle Robes and advanced to the Top 16!

Song Of Cloud And Water left unhappily when the players got off the stage. Surprisingly, Warsky and his friends came to us instead of leaving as well.

“Hello, everyone!” Warsky smiled.

I stood up and gave him a hand. “Hello, Warsky!”

“Lu Chen!”

Warsky gave me a friendly handshake and smiled. “You deserve your title, Falling Dust. No matter how fierce our competition inside the game is, it wouldn’t come between us and stop us from being friends in real life, right?”

I nodded and smiled back. “Of course! These days, the only thing I can't let go are my chopsticks!”

“Hahaha, not bad at all!”

Warsky shot me a look of approval before introducing the people behind him. “I don’t need to tell you who they are, do I? Anyway, this is Farewell Song, Laughing At The Heavens, October Rain, and finally To Make Rain Ripple. You’ve probably met them all in the game already.”

I nodded. “Your reputations certainly precede you…”

Farewell Song chuckled before giving me a thumbs-up. “Lu Chen, I must admit that the performance you put on at Fire Desert was top-notch. Frivolous Scholar and Lin Fan are probably the only players in the entire China who can emulate that level of skill…”

I shook my head humbly. “Nah, it’s only because I had a class and equipment advantage. There’s no way I could’ve fought you all by myself otherwise.”

“Hahaha!”

Warsky occupied the seats next to us as if we were old friends. Then, he started talking animatedly with Xu Yang, Purple Marquis, and the others. I must admit that Warsky was an extremely charming person, and it was probably the main reason his guild was able to rise to the top so quickly and without warning. It took a special person to fight an enemy to the death online, only to greet them amiably or even make friends with them offline.

……

I played with my phone distractedly and fell a bit more silent than usual. I must remember that the opposite was equally true. Warsky might be a friendly person in real life, in the game only one of us could remain standing in the end. The struggle for supremacy in Sky City would only get worse and worse because there were only so many lands, but millions of people fighting over them!

It was at this moment a girl wearing a purple dress pulled a chair over and sat on the opposite side of me. She stared at me and smiled. “Lu Chen!”

Fuck, it’s October Rain!

I felt a shiver from head to toe. Beside me, Lin Yixin and He Yi were watching, but they weren’t trying to help me at all. The only thing missing in their hand was a bag of popcorn!

“What is it?” I asked.

October Rain smiled again. “Nothing. I just want to talk with you, that’s all. What, am I not welcome or something?”

“Of course you are…” I muttered. “And what do you want to talk about?”

She giggled. “How about something sexy?”

“...” What could I even do except maintain my silence?

Finally, October Rain burst into laughter. “Just kidding. Well, the guild leaders of Snowy Cathaya, Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls, and Warsky Alliance are all here. I’m not exaggerating when I say that all the powerhouses of Sky City are here, am I? In that case, why don’t we talk about the future of Sky City?”

Curiosity piqued, Lin Yixin asked with a smile, “And what would you like to talk about, Beauty Chen?” (October Rain’s real name is Chen Yu. It’s recorded in the CGL Hall of Fame)

October Rain looked at Lin Yixin before praising her. “Ohh, you’re the legendary Wind Fantasy. You really are as beautiful as they say! Just look at that smooth skin, soft cheeks, lively eyes, and firm breasts. Hmm, do you happen to perform breast-firming exercises frequently? I can’t see how you managed to maintain such a perfect body shape otherwise. You look way better than most models…”

Lin Yixin turned bright red. “I… I’ve never done such an exercise. Can we focus on the topic at hand, please?”

October Rain giggled. “Sure, sure. Forgive me, I’m a little forgetful sometimes. So, Sky City!”

October Rain’s expression turned serious, and the change in her aura was so drastic that I could almost pretend that she was a different person. “The next stage of Sky City is still going to be a war between China guilds, and I estimate that around 5 guild bases will be spawned around Sky City in the next two or three months or so. This means that Sky City will have a total of 5 super guilds, also the ultimate pillars of power during the Nation Wars. These guilds will have the power to decide the fates of our country!”

“Therefore…” October Rain smiled, but unlike before her eyes were full of ridicule. “It is war as usual for all the big guilds such as Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls, Snow Cathaya, Warsky Alliance, Gods of Destruction, Hegemon Palace, Mad Dragon, Flower Room and so on, with one small difference: whoever claims a guild base first would probably be called the king of Sky City, wouldn’t they? That being said, no matter who gets a guild base first, it is only a matter of time before Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls, Snowy Cathaya, and Warsky Alliance claim a guild base of their own, making us one of the main forces of China in the upcoming Nation Wars.”

October Rain drenched her fingertip in tea before drawing a rough map of Sky City on the table. “China is situated at the center of the continent, so we are surrounded by powerful enemies from all directions. The good news is that our cities are right next to each other, so we at least don’t have to worry about our backs. However, Sky City faces the biggest threat of all the super cities because Vietnam’s main city is right next to ours. I heard that it’s a pretty big city, and their government spent a lot of money unearthing the talented gamers of their people and injecting almost 100 thousand of them into that city. Moreover, they all answer to their government, and they are a united front that intends to wage a great online war against the other countries. Needless to say, we’ll be facing great pressure when that happens.”

Lin Yixin looked at October Rain and asked, “What do you want, exactly?”

October Rain turned a little awkward. “I just want to say that… no matter what happens… we… well… we should...”

I put down the cup and gave her a reassuring smile. “Don’t worry. When the Nation Wars begin, no matter what happens between our three guilds, we promise you we will unite in the face of the greater enemy and defend our country to the last man!”

October Rain immediately turned toward me with stars in her eyes. “How astute. You really are the man of my dreams…”

Lin Yixin and He Yi blurted at the same time. “Fuck…”