Swhoosh!

The display flashed, and a team with 5 challengers only appeared on the screen. It was a team under Candle Dragon First Subguild, and their average Level was 175. Not only that, they were sponsored by a club called Tan Hua Keyboard—

Immortal Slayer Alliance (Club: Tan Hua Keyboard)

Boiling Wine By A Zither LV-177 Warrior

The Prodigal Son LV-175 Mage

A World Without Thieves LV-174 Hitman

Scarlet Melody LV-175 Mage

Silent Storm LV-176 Gladiator

……

"Hmm…"

I let out a hum as I stared at the line-up. "What do you guys think about this roster? They seem like difficult opponents…"

Beiming Xue’s beautiful features were arranged into a cautious look as well. "It’s not everyday you encounter a team with two hidden classes in them. I know that Hitman is the evolved version of Assassin, but I’ve never heard of Gladiator before."

He Yi said with a smile, "I’ve heard of this team before. They’re the strongest team in Candle Dragon’s first subguild besides Purple Dawn’s team. The Hitman has incredible attack power and armor penetration, and Gladiator has super high agility and a good repertoire of skills. At any rate, this is going to be a tough fight, so watch out everyone."

Butterfly Dance stuck out her tongue playfully before saying, "Silent Storm is an incredibly skillful player, and there’s almost no one in Candle Dragon’s first subguild who can beat him. Looks like we’re sitting out of this match."

I was surprised. "If Silent Storm has a hidden class and good skills, then why didn’t Candlelight Shadow move him to the main guild? That doesn’t seem like him…"

Butterfly Dance giggled. "That’s because Silent Storm is the vice leader of the first subguild. He’s also somewhat of a loner who doesn’t fall under Candlelight Shadow’s control completely. The reason he refuses to leave the first subguild is because he and Purple Dawn are the ones who founded it together, and to secure its future he created this WEL roster and even found a good sponsor for it. I’ve only met him one time, but I can tell that he’s a strong and daring fellow."

He Yi looked at me and asked, "What do you think?"

I licked my lips and sucked in a deep breath. "This Silent Storm has never participated in the battle arena or the Nation Wars, so it’s impossible to gauge how strong it is. He could very well be a threat to all of us. As for that hitman, there’s a chance he could beat Beiming Xue and Lian Xin, so we’ll need to consider our line-up properly this time. Our chances of winning are still bigger, but we might lose if we underestimate our opponent."

"Even if you say that, it’s still kind of a gamble, isn’t it?" Lian Xin asked.

"That is why I want you all to give me your best guesses. Can anyone guess which match Silent Storm will attend? I’ll deal with him myself…" I said while clenching my fists.

Beiming Xue was holding her bow and standing next to the window. A cool breeze brushed against her long, white legs and her clothes as she replied, "I think the strongest player would probably choose to attend the third match. It’s usually the match point, right?"

Murong Mingyue agreed with Beiming Xue’s logic completely. "She’s right. Let’s drop Lu Chen in the third match then!"

Beiming Xue continued, "The first match is the match that decides the mood of the team, so we need someone with a high win rate to secure it as well. Who else besides big bro has the best 1v1 skills?"

He Yi hugged the dark archer’s shoulder with a giggle and said, "You have over 100k HP, a ton of Defense, and the Blade of Windchasing effect thanks to the Windchaser set, Beiming. Therefore, you are the strongest 1v1 player we have besides Lu Chen. Not even that hitman might necessarily be able to beat you."

"You’re right." I nodded in agreement. "In that case, we’ll send Beiming out on the first match, Lian Xin for the second, me for the third, and Eve for the fourth. What about the 2v2 though?"

He Yi gazed out of the window and said, "We send our maxed out Divine General, of course!"

So I gripped the Purple Ying Sword and asked again, "Very well. Who will accompany me to the battlefield?"

Both Lian Xin and Beiming Xue raised their hands immediately. I was fine with either one of them because I hadn’t truly fought with them as a pair so far. This would be a good opportunity for us to hone our rapport.

And so I turned in the finalized name list and waited. A while later, the line-ups appeared on the display 30 seconds before the match began.

1v1: Beiming Xue LV-183 Dark Archer VS The Prodigal Son LV-175 Mage

1v1: Lian Xing LV-182 Phantasm of Stars VS A World Without Thieves LV-174 Hitman

1v1: Broken Halberd Sinks Into Sand LV-182 Undead Swordsman VS Silent Storm LV-176 Gladiator

1v1: From Water LV-180 Magic Knight VS Scarlet Melody LV-175 Mage

2v2: Beiming Xue LV-183 Dark Archer & Broken Halberd Sinks Into Sand LV-182 Undead Swordsman VS Silent Storm LV-176 Gladiator & Scarlet Melody LV-175 Mage

……

I pumped my fist in excitement when I saw this. The intelligent Beiming Xue had seen right through the enemy’s thoughts and correctly guessed which match Silent Storm was going to attend!

"Alright, this is the eleventh round, people! Defeat is not an option, so let’s give it our all!" I declared in an attempt to raise morale, but the girls simply shot me lazy and unconsciously seductive looks and complained, "It’ll be 12 am by the time we finish the 15th round, so what are we going to eat later for supper? It’s Chinese New Year man, it ain’t right to go hungry…"

I pursed my lips and said, "If we enter the Top 64, I’ll treat you all to zasui noodles later…"

"OMG, fine…"

The girls agreed to the plan easily, and Beiming Xue transformed into a ball of white light and flew to the battle arena below our room. Her opponent, the high-level mage The Prodigal Son, also appeared on the opposite end of the battle arena.

……

In Heavenblessed, the Mage class had a not insignificant advantage over the Archer class thanks to their Magic Shield. It wasn’t easy for an archer to break a Magic Shield especially if their attack power was low. However, Beiming Xue’s Windchaser set ignored 45% Defense, which was to say that The Prodigal Son’s Magic Shield was only 55% as durable as it should be. It was one advantage Beiming Xue had over her class superior.

"Well met, Beiming Xue!" the 27 years old young man greeted the dark archer politely. "It is a fortunate thing to run into you in the WEL."

The terrain was a forest, and Beiming Xue replied with her bow at the ready, "You mean unfortunate, since it means there’s a huge chance you’ll be eliminated from the preliminaries, right? Anyway, let’s just save the pleasantries and focus on the battle, shall we?"

The countdown began, and The Prodigal Son immediately turned serious. He summoned his Magic Shield and summoned wisps of flames around his scepter. It was the prelude of the Fire Dragon Spell.

3!

2!

1!

Beiming Xue leaped into action the second the countdown ended, and she was so fast that she exceeded everyone’s expectations.

"Ah?!"

The Prodigal Son hurriedly conjured Sea of Flames to protect himself, but he underestimated Beiming Xue’s abilities too much. Not only was she a ranged class, she was a mobile nuke after she activated Bow God.

Swhoosh swhoosh…

Two arrows pierced through the Sea of Flames and struck The Prodigal Son’s Magic Shield. It was the Penetrating Arrow and Armor Breaking Arrow!

Thud thud!

The Prodigal Son shook like a leaf and lost around 40% of his shield durability, but considering that his opponent was Beiming Xue it was an unbelievable feat. He must have an insane amount of Magic Attack, or there was no way his Magic Shield could’ve taken two hits without falling apart!

"Eat this!"

Vision was poor in the Sea of Flames, but The Prodigal Son was able to make an accurate judgment and launch Galaxy Storm + Fire Dragon Spell straight at Beiming Xue’s location!

Both spells struck the dark archer and forced her out of the shrubbery she was hiding in. Her HP dropped twice in a row—

28721!

19283!

It only deleted 33% of her max HP, however. Beiming Xue was still in the game.

Windchaser War Boots crushing the wet soil of the forest floor, Beiming Xue dashed away from her spot just in time to dodge Ice Dragon Howl. As she retreated, she pulled her bow into a perfect crescent and fired a devastating twelve-hit Evil Spirit Volley at The Prodigal Son!

Bang bang bang...

The explosions happened in rapid succession, and because her bow flicking technique was top-notch she was able to land 11 arrows on the enemy’s Magic Shield. A muffled groan and a breaking sound later, The Prodigal Son’s Magic Shield shattered like glass right before another two Evil Spirit arrows came through. They easily penetrated his fragile body.

42727!

52823!

It was an instakill. There was no way The Prodigal Son could endure a full round of Evil Spirit Volley.

1:0. Beiming Xue scored the first point and took the lead.

The second match began, and Beiming Xue fought just as calmly as she did in the first match. The Prodigal Son’s Magic Attack was as strong as Moonlight Stone’s at least, but there was absolutely nothing he could do against Beiming Xue with her Bow God active, not to mention that she hadn’t even used Well of the Abyss yet. If she wanted to, she could’ve cast Well of the Abyss to delete half of his health pool instantly and one-shot him the second the invulnerable state was over. It was a killer combo few possessed the tools to deal with.

Just like the previous match, The Prodigal Son humiliatingly fell to the Evil Spirit Volley again even though he saw it coming this time!

Just like that, the first point of the round was ours!

……

Swhoosh!

When Beiming Xue returned to us, she waved her bow and smiled. "That was way too easy…"

Me: "Fuck, keep building that pressure on our shoulders, will ya? Lian Xin, it’s your turn now."

"Mn." Lian Xin replied. She was already done preparing even before I asked her the question. Her opponent was a Level 174 hitman with supposedly good skills, and logically speaking, assassins were the bane of all mages. Unfortunately for A World Without Thieves, Lian Xin was no ordinary mage and could go toe-to-toe even against the likes of Luo River God of the Capital and Stranger of Three Lifetimes.

The cute little mage appeared in the forest battlefield and planted her scepter in the ground. She puffed up her slightly full mounds in confidence as she stared wordlessly at her opponent; an assassin donning black leather armor.

A World Without Thieves stared back icily before taking a step backward, bending his body and vanishing into thin air. This starting move alone made him look like a master of assassins.

"Hmm?"

Lian Xin shot a sweeping glance at her surroundings before wrinkling her nose. She said, "Do you think you can escape my eyes? Show yourself, little thief…"

……

Behind us, Remains let out a chuckle. "What is she doing? She didn’t really think that A World Without Thieves would be foolish enough to show himself, did she?"

I said calmly, "Just watch."

It was at this moment an autumn breeze brushed against the fallen leaves on the ground. Some of them actually encountered some sort of invisible resistance.

……

"There you are!"

Lian Xin’s eyes lit up, and she fired 8 Origin Force Fields in a row!

Bang bang bang!

Once the force fields surrounded a small space, she immediately followed up with Ice Spiral Matrix! A storm of icy blades instantly filled up the center!s

Boom!

80284!

One hit was all it took to tear the lurking shadow into shreds!