The applause we received from the audience was thunderous.

There were countless people who didn’t expect Candle Dragon, the sun of the China server and a party with 5 CGL Hall of Famers, to lose this badly in the hands of Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls. In fact, Candle Dragon had barely had any real chance of winning in the second and third round of the match. Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls had suppressed them completely!

Beneath the stage, many of our fans raised banners with the slogan "Together with Dreaming Souls, our Ancient Sword paves the way" and shouted on top of their lungs—

"Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls is king! From Water is king! Broken Halberd Sinks Into Sand is king! Legendary Brave is king!"

"That was absolutely awesome! The arrogant Candle Dragon has finally encountered a real challenge!"

"Hahaha, go home and stop embarrassing yourself any longer, Candlelight Shadow! You and your lackeys don’t deserve to be called kings!"

……

Candlelight Shadow was undoubtedly the loser of this match, and it came at the cost of almost 20% of his popularity and the invincible status Candle Dragon had enjoyed in the China server until now. His supporters supported him because of his victories and strength, but now that that myth was broken, how many more losses could he take before Candle Dragon lost all of its support? It wasn’t like Candlelight Shadow was a superstar who cemented his position through sheer handsomeness. That was why he couldn’t afford to lose this match.

But he did, and that was that.

After we walked down the stage, Luo River God of the Capital walked up to us with a wide smile on her face. "Congratulations, He Yi, Lu Chen! I’m so happy you guys actually took down Candle Dragon, hehe!"

I nodded and smiled back. "You’re welcome, you’re welcome!"

A couple more guild representatives including the guild leader of The Monarch Descends, Ling Xueshang, the guild leader of Baidicheng, Come See the Snow Tonight, and so on came over to congratulate us as well. They were all smart people who understood the importance of maintaining a good relationship with other guilds especially now that the super cities were open. No one wanted to be alone and isolated when the guild wars really started kicking into action!

Candle Dragon was the symbol of Wind City, and when the guild wars began in earnest, Vanished God City couldn’t possibly stay out of it even if they wanted to. There was a saying called "make distant friends, defeat close enemies", so it was imperative for the ten great guilds of Vanished God City to maintain a good relationship with Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls, Snowy Cathaya, and other super guilds. Only then they would be able to prepare fully for the potential invasion of Candle Dragon.

I suspected that the guild base system would go live after the Who Will Rise tournament. When that happened, a war for supremacy was sure to break out across the maps of Sky City, Vanished God City and Wind City.

……

Tap tap tap...

Lin Yixin made her way to me like a lithe bird with her handbag in tow. The next match after ours was Snowy Cathaya versus Warsky Alliance, and it looked like she was completely confident in her chances of winning. Hair dancing and her chest puffed up proudly, she walked up to me and said, "I didn’t think you would actually win, Lu Chen. I was going to take revenge for you…"

I rolled my eyes at her. "Fuck, don’t look down on me that much!"

"Hehe. I’m going!"

"Yeah!"

The two of us passed by each other. I suddenly turned around to look at Lin Yixin, and I discovered that she was watching me as well. A bit of nervousness entered her eyes; she clearly wasn’t expecting me to catch her mid-act.

"Do your best. The champion is ours after you take out Warsky Alliance," I said with a smile.

She nodded. "I will!"

……

Purple Marquis, Shadow Chanel, Clear Perfume, and Beauty At First Sight followed their beautiful guild leader into the battle room while I led He Yi and Beiming Xue back to our seats. Not long after, the next exciting semi-final match began in earnest—

Snowy Cathaya VS Warsky Alliance

Warsky Alliance was running on a high since the start of the LAN matches. First, they eliminated Soul Battle Robes and the domineering Hegemon Palace. Then, they took out one of the top ten guilds of Vanished God City, Dirge Of War. Just like Snowy Cathaya, they gave off the feeling that there was nothing in the world that could stop them, not to mention that Warsky Alliance was one of the few super guilds of Sky City. This was also the first time Snowy Cathaya and Warsky Alliance truly engaged each other in direct combat, so there was no way Lin Yixin was going to lose this match.

After Candle Dragon was eliminated, Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls, Snowy Cathaya and Warsky Alliance were the only guilds still left in the tournament. No one had expected Who Will Rise to turn into a civil war between the guilds of Sky City, but there was no changing the fact that the popular Purple Lily was eliminated by Candle Dragon, and the favored to win Candle Dragon was eliminated by us. It was almost like a sign from heavens that the old had passed, and the new generation was about to usher in a new era!

……

I stared at the big display. Both parties had entered the tournament ring, and the countdown was soon to begin.

Sitting beside me, He Yi asked a question while enjoying a cup of tea boiled with cheap tea leaves that cost only 0.5 RMB per catty, "What do you think of Snowy Cathaya’s chances, Lu Chen?"

"They have a 70% chance of winning at least," I answered seriously.

"Oh?" He Yi looked at me for a second. "Is it because you lack confidence in Warsky, October Rain, Laughing At The Heavens, and Farewell Song, or because you have great confidence in Beauty Lin?"

I curled my lips and replied, "Eve, I haven’t fought Lin Yixin for almost two months, but I can still tell you that her skills are much better than before. She has always been a fast learner, and the her from when we first fought at Frost Mound and the her now were two completely different people. In the past, I could beat her even when I was bogged down by almost a second of delay, but now I’m not sure I could beat her even if that lag had been reduced to 0.2 seconds…"

He Yi smiled a little as she nodded. "Yeah, Lin Yixin is incredibly powerful. Super experts like Purple Marquis, Shadow Chanel, and Beauty At First Sight wouldn’t have chosen to follow her otherwise."

I smiled. "Yeah, she’s similar to you in that she has a unique quality that attracts people to her…"

"Oh really? Why don’t you tell me some specifics…"

"I can’t describe it."

"Hmph hmph…"

He Yi glanced at me again before saying, "Since our final opponent is most likely Snowy Cathaya, let’s pay attention to them and think of ways to counter them as soon as possible."

"Mn!"

……

The countdown had already started while we were talking to each other. When the barrier disappeared, both parties immediately charged toward each other. Purple Marquis was holding back Laughing At The Heavens and Warsky. Beauty At First Sight successfully cast "Hopeless" thanks to Lin Yixin and Purple Marquis’s efforts and reduced the enemy party’s strength drastically. -10% attack speed and Attack wasn’t deadly, but -40% hit rate absolutely was!

Thud thud thud!

October Rain exclaimed in shock when she missed three arrows in a row, "What is this stupid skill? This miss rate is absolutely broken…"

Purple Marquis chuckled and attempted to zigzag past Laughing At The Heavens to get to October Rain. However, Laughing At The Heavens was no small fry himself, so he managed to foil block Purple Marquis’s way again and thrust his spear. "Die, you mule…"

A strange smile suddenly spread across Purple Marquis’s lips as he slipped behind Laughing At The Heavens from an imperceptible angle. He launched the Vacuum Sword Energy at the magic knight’s shield and followed up with an Ice Ray + basic attack combo!

3984!

3678!

2488!

Purple Marquis’s Attack was so high that Laughing At The Heavens turned pale in shock. He immediately counter-attacked with a sweep across the chest that deleted almost half of Purple Marquis’s HP, but that was all. Not far away, the Dark Tongue Mage Shadow Chanel was smiling and summoning a gigantic purple dragon above her head. The next moment, the dragon opened its mouth and unleashed a dragon breath at the magic knight—

Thunder Dragon Breath, Level 100, Magic Attack increased by 150%

7134!

……

Laughing At The Heavens dropped to his knees. He never thought that he, a high-HP magic knight, would be one-shot in the first exchange of blows, and he definitely didn’t expect Purple Marquis and Shadow Chanel to work so well together that the interval between their attacks was less than half a second. He didn’t even get a chance to drink a health potion before he was killed.

On the other side, Lin Yixin was fighting Warsky with her Frozen Sword. She had completed her fourth perfect parry, but Warsky had less than one third of his health left. Warsky was almost a first-rate expert, but it turned out that he had zero chance of winning a duel against the Fruit Knife Goddess!

Swhoosh!

Moonlight glazed over Lin Yixin’s pupils. Here it comes, the killer combo Moon Gaze + Extreme Break!

Warsky shivered and withdrew to the back, shouting, "Save me, Rain!"

October Rain hurriedly fired a Shock Arrow at Lin Yixin!

Lin Yixin smiled a little and crossed her dagger in front of her chest, parrying the deadly bolt with perfect accuracy. She even allowed the knockback of the skill to carry her to the back, pass by an enemy warrior and slap Moon Gaze on his head! Before the Level 105 warrior could do anything, a dagger plunged into his throat and killed him!

Thump!

Warsky felt horrible, but thankfully his party’s counterattack finally began. At Snowy Cathaya’s backline, the Holy Bard screamed when Farewell Song appeared out of nowhere and stunned her. The stern-faced assassin then one-shot her with a Blade Vortex and Cruel Blade!

Lin Yixin yelled, "Purple Marquis, stop him!"

However, Farewell Song entered stealth mode again with a fluorescent powder in less than three seconds, giving Snowy Cathaya no chance to do anything to him. After he had regained his energy, Farewell Song targeted Purple Marquis and launched his second sneak attack. Although the warrior was ready for it, he still couldn’t stop the deadly assassin. A Blade Vortex and Evil Will later, Purple Marquis groaned and collapsed to the ground as well.

Two of Snowy Cathaya’s main players dropped to the ground in the blink of an eye. Once again, he proved that he deserved to be named as the strongest assassin of the CGL Hall of Fame!

Lin Yixin gritted her teeth and took down Warsky by force. When she spun around, Clear Perfume had died to an enemy as well, meaning her and the Dark Tongue Mage Shadow Chanel were the only ones still standing on the battlefield. Shadow Chanel’s Thunder Dragon Breath was powerful, but it took her 2 to 4 seconds to cast the spell properly. That was enough time for Farewell Song to enter stealth again and launch another sneak attack.

Lin Yixin made the snap decision to kill October Rain first and deal with Farewell Song later.

The archer’s pupils shrank when she realized Lin Yixin’s intentions. "Hmph, it’s you again!"

Lin Yixin smiled sweetly. "Here I come, sister!"

……

Lin Yixin’s sword passed through October Rain’s body and killed her, but when she spun around, she discovered that Farewell Song was pulling his blood-red dagger out of Shadow Chanel’s chest as well. The Dark Tongue Mage was a powerful hidden class, but it was still a cloth-armor class. Assassins were the bane of all cloth-armor classes, not to mention one as skillful as Farewell Song.