We requested to fight out the remaining matches even though we had already advanced to the quarter-finals. It was because we needed the points to become the MVP.

One of the requirements to become the MVP was that the player could lose a round, but not a match. Therefore, even a player in the runner-up team could potentially become the MVP as long as they maintained an all-win record. In the case where there were multiple players who maintained an all-win record, then the one with the most matches won would become the MVP!

The fourth match was between He Yi and Red Hot Vortex. Red Hot Vortex was one of the top players in the Japan server and famed for his extraordinary Attack and super-tier skill. He wasn’t a foe that could be underestimated.

Staring at Red Hot Vortex inside the arena, our beautiful guild leader said uncertainly, "I’m not sure if I can beat that guy. I just checked his battle videos, and he seems real strong…"

I gave He Yi a pat on the shoulder and a smile. "There’s nothing to worry about. I won’t lie to you and say you’re going to win this, but that doesn’t mean you should just surrender without a fight. So how about this: I want you to delete as much HP from his health pool as you can. Treat this like a training battle, and use your opponent to propel yourself to greater heights. Show us your ability to trade blows, Eve!"

"Mn!"

He Yi gave me a smiling nod before teleporting into the arena. She then summoned her Dragonlight Armored Horse—which was really the Dragonscale Beast—and mounted it. She wasn’t as skilled as her opponent, but her stats should be higher than Red Hot Vortex’s. With a bit of luck, she might even be able to win this.

Red Hot Vortex looked like a middle-aged man. Staring at our beautiful guild leader and licking his lips, he said, "While God’s Domain failed to advance to the quarter-finals because of you, I gotta admit that you and the rest in your team are world-class beauties. Everyone, including that big-breasted priest who didn’t join the fight, is so cute!"

He Yi turned bright red as she glared at him. "Pooh!"

When the countdown hit zero, Red Hot Vortex immediately launched a frontal assault. First, he buffed all his stats by 20% using Furious Roar. Then, he swung his sword five times in a row—Furious Flurry!

Chiang chiang chiang...

He Yi put her shield in front of herself and defended against the five-hit skill with Guard. The moment the skill reached its end, she immediately moved her shield to the side and stabbed Red Hot Vortex in the chest using Barrier Break!

60399!

Red Hot Vortex laughed loudly as he circled to He Yi’s flank. Once he was behind her, he raised his sword and hit her with Earth Shattering Slash. The guy was exploiting the mount’s slow turn rate to the maximum degree.

He Yi tried to turn around and block the attack, but she was just a tad too slow. It wasn’t a fluke either. As it turned out, Red Hot Vortex had an amazing sense of space. He was always able to maneuver himself to a position where He Yi—and even me—didn’t expect him to be and land a clean blow. It also made me realize that God’s Domain wasn’t as weak as they seemed to be. Red Hot Vortex’s swordsmanship might be no match for Red Maple’s, but his tactics and positioning completely outstripped the so-called number one player. He Yi’s opponent was a true expert!

As expected, He Yi lost both rounds, but it wasn’t a complete loss. Red Hot Vortex had 34% HP left during the first round, but only 7% during the second round. It must’ve been quite the frightening experience for Red Hot Vortex, and exactly what I was hoping to see. The bigger the competition, the faster He Yi could evolve into a true super-tier expert.

……

The fifth match was Beiming Xue and I versus Red Maple and Purple Thunder. Teamwork was the key to winning group battles, but in this case, I had Red Maple completely pinned, and Purple Thunder was no match for Beiming Xue. Even better, they had no good answer to Beiming Xue’s Well of the Abyss at all. We could’ve won the match without her Divine General Skill, but the girl loved toying with her opponents and used it both rounds to scare the enemy. As a result, both rounds were landslide victories. In the end, Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls was able to sweep Japan’s number one guild, God’s Domain, with a 4:1 score!

When we walked out of the battle room with our bags, we were welcomed by a thunderous applause and cheers from the fans. I spotted even European and African fans among these people. There was no such thing as national borders in games, and everyone liked exciting matches and incredible displays of skills. It didn’t matter which country you came from, they would love you as long as you were sufficiently skilled. Right now, my duel with Red Maple was without a doubt the most exciting match in the competition besides Lin Yixin’s duel with Titan God. Moreover, we were both the MVPs of our respective countries, and our battle had everything you would want to see in a battle of experts. Of course the fans loved us.

As usual, the host walked up to us and held the mic in front of me. She asked me in fluent Chinese, "Lu Chen, your team just defeated God’s Domain. Is there anything you would like to say?"

I gave it some thought before saying, "I dislike anyone who looks down on Chinese players. If someone like that shows up in front of me, I’ll beat them up until they change their minds!"

The host looked surprised by my declaration, but every Chinese fan within the stadium understood what I meant. They immediately roared on top of their lungs.

He Yi took over the mic and repeated my words in fluent, polite English. The words were the same, but the declaration felt completely different coming from He Yi. Still, the message got through to the European and American fans, and they too shouted their approval. Of course, the Japanese fans’ response was the complete opposite. Red Maple especially looked like he could swallow me whole.

……

After the short interview was done, we returned to our waiting area.

Luo River God of the Capital commented while sipping her red tea, "Looks like change is upon us yet again. When the WEL internationals are over, Heavenblessed’s power structure is sure to undergo a massive change once more. If it wasn’t a sure thing if Purple Grape City is going to launch an attack on Sky City before, it is now…"

I nodded. "Yeah, that Red Maple is such a sore loser. It’s just a WEL competition, and he made it so as if I was the murderer of his family or something."

Stranger of Three Lifetimes chuckled. "No, I think it’s because he has too much useless pride. He has never met a match in the Japan server, and then you appeared out of nowhere and kicked his ass twice in the WEL internationals. Of course his fragile ego wouldn’t be able to accept this. That is why he’s going to use every resource available to him to launch a Nation War and take revenge against you!"

Lin Yixin leaned into her sofa and added, "Actually, I don’t think Red Maple will go for Sky City. Do you know how hard it is to siege a flying city? It’s far likelier than he’ll attack Dark Moon City directly after he passes through White Rose Fortress. You’re its city lord after all!"

At the corner, Warsky delighted in our misfortune and teased us, "Oh man, sounds like I should prepare the popcorn. Frankly, I think your chances of winning are low if Red Maple really does attack Dark Moon City. But Dark Moon City is also Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls’ lifeline, so you have to do everything in your power to protect it, right?"

He Yi immediately replied, "Pooh! Shut your mouth, Warsky. Maybe Candle Dragon will raid your city first!"

Warsky: "..."

I wasn’t worried though. "There’s nothing to be afraid of. It’s a 10-hour march between White Rose Fortress and Dark Moon City. Our cavalry can run over them a million times over before they even reach us!"

Farewell Song suddenly said, "What if the Northern Alliance launches another naval assault at the same time?"

Lin Yixin spoke up this time. "Snowy Cathaya will take care of it!"

Farewell Song looked shocked, but Purple Marquis and Clear Perfume merely laughed. This is why you make allies!

……

I felt bored, so I made an international call to Gui Guzi to check on things. A couple of beeps later, he accepted the call—he was in-game right now—and asked me, "What is it, Boss Broken Halberd? I’m fighting a boss with Chaos Moon and the gang right now. We didn’t miss your matches though. Just takes a bit of multitasking…"

"How are things in Dark Moon City, Little Gui? And how is our production of Dragonlight Cavalry and Dragonlight Archers?" I asked.

Gui Guzi replied with a smile, "It’s slowed to a crawl. We’ve already wiped out every Resource Bag there is in Sky City, Vanished God City and Wind City, so we have to kill bosses to farm more Resource Bags. Our trade with main cities in other countries has also begun failing because some of them found out what we’re planning to do with all these Resource Bags…"

I chuckled. "Well, this is expected. Of course they’re afraid of our growing strength."

Gui Guzi replied, "Don’t worry about us and focus on the competition, Boss Broken Halberd. Dark Moon City is in safe hands."

"Yeah. Let’s both do our best!"

……

Meanwhile, the next match had already begun.

Candlelight Shadow’s university junior, Tear Stain, and the first string of Korea, Throne of the Wild, swept their opponents in a dominant fashion. They advanced to the quarter-finals and would become our next opponent.

Cyan Beast’s match in Group D was really a one-man show by the king of the India server, God of War. He single-handedly carried his team to the quarter-finals. So far, Candlelight Shadow also lived up to his fans’ expectations and defeated Thailand’s The Gods with a 4:1 score. It wasn’t long before the finalized quarter-finals match-ups were displayed on the screen—

Upper Bracket

Hero Alliance (USA) VS Heavenly Disaster (Korea)

Snowy Cathaya (China) VS Wheel of Sun and Moon (Korea)

Lower Bracket

Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls (China) VS Throne of the Wild (Korea)

Cyan Beast (India) VS Candle Dragon (China)

……

The true clash between the strong had finally arrived. Starting now, there truly was no one who could be considered a weakling anymore. Hero Alliance’s Vienna’s Sorrow, Snowy Cathaya’s Lin Yixin, Throne of the Wild’s Tear Stain, Cyan Beast’s God of War, and Candle Dragon’s Candlelight Shadow. These were all people who could shake their respective servers with a stomp of their foot, and the very reason for the WEL internationals was to pit all these gods against one another!

It was time to decide the god king!

……

The quarter-finals began with the applause of the excited spectators, and the first match was between Hero Alliance and Korea’s Heavenly Disaster. It had to be said that Korea’s gaming skill was excellent. They had three teams at the start of the internationals, and all three of them were still in the quarter-finals. Even we were outdone by them in this regard, one of our four teams having been eliminated. On the other hand, USA wasn’t doing so hot right now. They hadn’t had the best luck in terms of grouping, and Hero Alliance was the only one left to carry their banner.

Cyan Beast was a real threat as well. The number one guild of India led by God of War, the number one player of India, were also a hot contender to win the whole thing.

After Hero Alliance and Heavenly Disaster shook hands, they entered their respective battle rooms and began the match. It was a surprisingly heated battle that ended with Vienna’s Sorrow merciless culling of his opponent with a 4:1 score. His teammates were just too strong for Heavenly Disaster to handle.

The second match of the upper bracket was Snowy Cathaya versus Wheel of Sun and Moon. It was yet another Korean team!

Lin Yixin grabbed her bag, rose to her feet and declared with a smile, "C’mon. It’s time to battle the kimchis!"