Contrary to expectations, our 12th round opponent was a rather weak one. It was the third seed of Flower Room with an average level of 172 only.

"Eh, I guess I will be sitting this one out."

I looked to the waiting room on the opposite side of the arena and saw the Flower Room players getting ready for battle. I said, "Just like last time, Beiming and Lian Xin will fight two 1v1s, and sis and Eve will fight the 2v2. I’ll just be the spectator this time."

He Yi nodded with a smile. "That’s fine. The point calculation for the national MVP starts from the Top 64 anyway. Once we enter Top 64 though, you must attend every match and fight for the MVP title, Lu Chen. I heard that the rewards for becoming the MVP are very good, and it wouldn’t do to give them up to the likes of Candlelight Shadow, Farewell Song or Purple Marquis."

"Got it!"

The round began, and Lian Xin and Beiming Xue easily won their matches as a matter of course. Butterfly Dance won her match, and Heart Like Water lost hers.

While the round was ongoing, I took a moment to inquire how everyone was doing in the guild channel—

Me: "So, how’s everyone doing so far? Is ASUS and Dell doing okay?"

Li Chengfeng: "We’re fighting the 12th round right now. We didn’t encounter any noteworthy opponents, or rather they were all wrecked by Little Gui, Chaos Moon and High Fighting Spirits. I barely got the chance to stretch my limbs…"

I smiled. "How about Dell and the Bloody Mercenaries? Xu Yang?"

Xu Yang replied solemnly, "We’re in the 12th round as well, but things aren’t looking as good for us. Our opponent is the fourth seed of Warsky Alliance, and while I won my match with a 2:1 score, Du Thirteen unfortunately lost to the enemy assassin with a 1:2 score, that feeder. Thankfully, Lu Buyi managed to 2:0 the enemy archer, and Moonlight Stone scored a point for the team as well, so it’s an overall victory…"

Beiming Xue: "Awesome! By the way, please tell Sister Moonlight we say hello. We all miss her very much…"

"Mn, I know!" Xu Yang replied with a clear chuckle.

Me: "Just give it your all every time and try to deliver as many of our teams into the Top 64 as possible. Once you enter the Top 64 you’ll get a reward no matter what, so don’t miss it!"

……

I turned off the communicator. Although Moonlight Stone had gone to Candle Dragon, she was still contracted to Dell. This meant that she was contractually obligated to participate in the WEL competition, and Candlelight Shadow couldn’t interfere with that no matter how much he wanted to sever the bond between us completely. I hoped that both Du Thirteen and Xu Yang’s teams would be able to progress as far as they could because, in a sense, it meant that Moonlight Stone would be closer to us as well. No matter what happened, I still thought of Moonlight Stone as one of our own.

Anyway, back to the present. He Yi and Murong Mingyue were wrecking the two-man team of Flower Room completely, and He Yi looked like she was positively unstoppable. Her Barrier Break + Purgatory of Ice and Magma combo was the highlight of the match, and her Level 180 seventh-promotion skill, Trapping Net even more so. It kept the enemy archer tightly bound while Murong Mingyue, a priest, annihilated them with her spells. It was an unsurprising result. He Yi’s Defense and HP was too good, and in a 2v2 match she could even solo the enemy team depending on how strong they were. One of the magic knight’s key advantages was the good ol’ War God Recovery, a skill that healed 100% HP over 60 seconds.

We proceeded to the 13th round with an individual score of 9:3 and an overall score of 4:1. Heart Like Water was the only one who lost her match with a 1:2 score.

……

Swhoosh!

Another team appeared on the big display, and our new opponents were—

Tygem Wild Heroes

Chivalry LV-175 Warrior

Hero LV-175 Warrior

Loyal LV-175 Warrior

Righteous LV-175 Warrior

Inculpable LV-175 Warrior

……

Incredibly, it was your once-in-a-blue-moon pure warrior team. They clearly belonged to one big hot-blooded family, and I was very impressed how they were able to snatch these very popular IDs for themselves.

"Yo! It’s a pure warrior team!" Beiming Xue giggled. "Who are we sending this time?"

I sheathed my sword, leaned against the window sill and waved a hand lazily, "Just do whatever you’d like. You don’t need me to destroy a pure warrior team, do you? That being said I haven’t fought the last round, so I’ll deal with the 2v2 battle with Eve, and you guys deal with the rest. What do you say?"

He Yi’s eyes curved like crescent moons as she smiled. "Okay! I also want to fight a 1v1 match as a warm-up!"

"Sure!"

The line-up was decided quickly. He Yi would be fighting the first match, followed by Beiming Xue, Lian Xin and Butterfly Dance. Finally, He Yi and I would fight the 2v2 match.

Swhoosh!

My beautiful guild leader turned into a ball of light and descended on the battlefield in all her glory. Her shiny armor accentuated her gorgeous curves, and there was a fleshy gap between her boots and her fauld that I could barely look away from. The wind brought up her cape as she spurred her mount closer toward the barrier. Everything was so picturesque I almost wished it could last forever.

"Get ready!"

Her opponent was the guy called Chivalry. He wielded a heavy sword and rode the Cyan Battle Tiger. Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls didn’t stake claims to maps like many other guilds, so the Cyan Tiger Forest had been open to other players for a long time now. Therefore, it wasn’t unusual to encounter someone who rode a Cyan Battle Tiger. Ironically, it was also why I was certain that Chivalry would lose to He Yi. Stat-wise, He Yi’s Dragonlight Spirit Beast was leagues ahead of the Cyan Battle Tiger.

Just as I predicted earlier, both combatants fought each other in the most classic way possible—trading blows and seeing who died first—and a short while later, He Yi lost 25% HP, but Chivalry lost over 85% HP thanks to the Seven Star Veluriyam Spear.

Chivalry gritted his teeth before declaring, "My form isn’t good today, so we’ll decide our battle another day, heroine! So long!"

After that, he turned tail and rode away.

It was such an incomprehensible sight that He Yi was stunned for an entire second before she came to. She hurriedly pointed her palm at the fleeing rider and said, "Where do you think you’re going?"

Swhoosh!

The Trapping Net fell from the sky and wrapped Chivalry tightly. She then ended his misery with her five-hit skill, Purgatory of Ice and Magma.

The second battle was the same. Not only did He Yi have the better skills and equipment, her technique was also far ahead of Chivalry’s; her positioning and attack timing especially so. A few exchanges later, Chivalry lost again and surrendered the match.

……

The next match was Beiming Xue versus Hero.

Hero was a 30 years old uncle at the very least, and his resistance toward the cute and innocent dark archer was practically zero. The second he appeared on the battlefield, he said, "OMG, it’s Beiming Xue! It’s actually Beiming Xue! Nice to meet you, girl! Where do you come from? You can’t be a northerner, or your skin wouldn’t be this good. If you’re a southerner, hmm, are you from Yangtze? That will explain your round eyes and white teeth. Oh right, what is your QQ number?"

Beiming Xue had no idea how to respond to this. She muttered, "I haven’t used QQ in a very long time."

"Oh!"

That didn’t deter Hero though. "That’s a shame. By the way, I have a movie company that’s busy adapting The Legend of Sword and Fairy 4 right now. Would you be interested in playing as Han Lingsha? You’re practically the spitting image of her, I’m sure you’ll do well in her role! If not, Yun Tianhe is fine too…"

Beiming Xue: "..."

"Don’t worry, we’re not a shell company or a sham. As the producer, you have my word that we are perfectly transparent, and we definitely don’t do unwritten rules. You don’t need to worry about your chastity at all…"

Hero had walked up to Beiming Xue at this point. The moment the countdown was over, his expression suddenly turned savage as he shouted, "Duel me to the death, girl! You will not win!"

Swhoosh!

Caught off-guard, Beiming Xue barely managed to bring up her bow and parry the overhead blow aimed at her torso. She still lost over 10k HP, however. She allowed herself to be pushed about 20 yards away from the point of impact.

Angry at the deception, Beiming Xue declared menacingly, "I’m going to beat your butt, you old, despicable bastard…"

Thud!

Shock Arrow stunned Hero, and Well of the Abyss halved his HP. Ten or so seconds after the Divine General Skill ended, Evil Spirit Volley hit Hero right in the chest. And so, the cunning and perverted uncle came to be vanquished, albeit temporarily, by the little girl.

The second round was even worse than the first. The moment the battle began, Beiming Xue covered the entire battlefield with Evil Spirit Volley + Spiraling Arrow Blade + Skypiercer, stunning everyone speechless with the power of the super archer. Hero died again after putting up a token struggle.

……

The third match was Lian Xin versus Loyal. Again, it was a 30+ years old uncle.

Lian Xin was wearing a glowing robe with an elegant design. There was a split in the skirt that revealed her long, white legs and a low cut at the center of the shirt that revealed her growing bosom. The way they rippled to the wind and her movement caused Loyal to salivate against his will.

"Uh…"

Loyal wiped his saliva and asked with wide eyes, "This team is way too deadly in more ways than one. Can I surrender?"

Inside the waiting room, Hero shouted at his companion, "Of course not! This is the match point! Give it everything you’ve got and take this girl down! If you lose, it is the end of our dreams to return to the jianghu!"

Loyal turned toward Lian Xin and continued staring at her wholesome chest. "Well, you heard the man, little girl. Sorry."

Lian Xin turned around and asked me with a blush, "What should I do, big brother Lu Chen?"

I was leaning against the window sill and preparing to tease He Yi when Lian Xin asked me the question. So, I turned around and answered, "What else? End this in 7 seconds and come back to us…"

Loyal froze like a statue, but even if he didn’t it still would’ve been pointless. Activating berserk mode, she slapped down three Origin Force Fields and hit Loyal with Ice Spiral Matrix + Dimensional Storm + Touch of the Dragonkiss. Touch of the Dragonkiss was a seventh-promotion single-target mage skill with a power that would make a man weep. In fact, Loyal did weep when the three skills engulfed him—

90772!

82737!

152723!

It was a complete one-sided slaughter, especially that Touch of the Dragonkiss. It made perfect sense though. How could a loyal heart like Loyal possibly withstand the kiss of a big ass dragon made of pure magic?