Next day at noon.

There was a fine notebook placed in front of the sickbed. Daddy Thirteen ordered, "You can only watch for two hours at time. Pay attention to your rest!"

As a result, this was a tragedy. For hardcore players like me that spent more than 12 hours online each day, having me face the empty room was a kind of torture.

I opened the notebook and looked at Heavenblessed's official forums. The Who Will Fight Me preliminaries would start at 1 in the afternoon. I could not go online and so Gui Guzi was the temporary leader. I hoped that the four-person team could successfully reach the Top 64. Otherwise, our previous efforts would have been in vain.

However, to my shock, the Heavenly Ranking of Floating Ice City had changed considerably. Lin Yixin and I were Level 64, and Dominating Heaven Blade was Level 63. Also, Lin Yixin had not overtaken me yet. Strange.

On the site of Floating Ice City was a banner—Who Will Fight Me is formally open! Where will the laurels land? Who will be the king of Floating Ice City?

Then there was a series of popularity poll with players to vote for and see who was the most popular for being the champions. Without any surprise, Snowy Cathaya's main team was ranked first, the Gods of Destruction team led by Dominating Heaven Blade was second, and the third, Mad Dragon’s team led by Roaming Dragon. The Bloody Mercenaries were ranked pitifully at 6th. Damn it, the other teams must have gotten fake votes!

Snowy Cathaya

Members: Wind Fantasy (Leader), Shadow Chanel, Purple Marquis, Clear Perfume, Scattered Rain

Gods of Destruction

Members: Dominating Heaven Blade (Leader), Dominating Warrior God, Dominating Knight God, Dominating Archer God, Dominating Mage God

Mad Dragon

Members: Roaming Dragon (Leader), Iron Pardon, Inconstant, Coldmoon Rose, Mad Dragon Sweetie

Peach Garden

Members: Indigo Collar (Leader), Moon Scar, Soft Nocturne, Wheel Shadow, Painted Skin

Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls

Members: Murong Mingyue (Leader), Hot Sun, Spring Mud, Night Sorrow, Moon Shadow

Bloody Mercenaries

Members: Broken Halberd Sinks Into Sand (Leader), Beiming Xue, Gui Guzi, Yamete, Amazing Expert

Soul Combat Robes

Members: Song of Cloud and Water (Leader), Crimson Ghost, A Green Foot, Battle Soul Metal Wings, Battle Soul Heaven Palace

Lover's Place

Members: Yellow Springs (Leader), Duanmu Xuan, December Youth, Monster, Flower Pinching Finger

Eternal Friendship

Members: Friendship of Gems (Leader), Big Head Shrimp, Wind Listener, Wanrong, Cold Wind

Flower Room

Members: Young Master Le (Leader), Life of Luxury, Purple Daylight, A Dot of Red from Pinggu, Winds of Jiangnan

……

All the major factions finally surfaced. Snowy Cathaya was the first created guild, and the leader was a beauty with both beauty and strength, Wind Fantasy, who had the reputation of the Fruit Knife Goddess. They were undoubtedly the most popular choice. Mad Dragon had many people, a vast force, and a lot of votes due to that.

Also, Lover's Place, and Peach Garden, who had been unknown previously, appeared. When I searched their average player ranking, they were not low. These were the experts hiding in the shadows. Wealthy young master Li Le’s team was near the top, ranked ten. I didn't know how good the four people he had recruited were.

In conclusion, I hoped that Bloody Mercenaries would not encounter these teams in the first few rounds. Otherwise, they would be at a disadvantage fighting 4 on 5, and could be easily eliminated in the prelims.

Beep beep...

The phone sounded. I looked and it was Lin Yixin's number. After pressing pick up, Beauty Lin's beautiful voice came over. "Lu Chen, you animal, how come you haven't appeared for a few days?"

Lin Yixin's voice was slightly accusing. I laughed, feeling warmed. Regardless of whether she was accusing or cursing, she was willing to call me and this meant she thought of me. Was there anything happier than having a beautiful woman think of you?

"Haha, Yiyi, you miss me?"

"Miss you, yeah right... " Lin Yixin said angrily. "Who Will Fight Me is about to start. You aren't online yet? I was planning to have Snowy Cathaya and Bloody Mercenaries fight in the finals. Where are you fooling around?"

"No, I am in Nanjing...”

"Oh, Nanjing?" Lin Yixin was slightly shocked and said, "Oh, you went to Nanjing to find a girl, yes? I heard that the sisters of Stone City are very open and beautiful...”

"Damn, what are you thinking of? Am I that kind of playboy?"

"Heehee, you are~~~"

Facing Lin Yixin's laughter and mockery, I was exasperated. I slowed my voice and said, "I don’t think I can get online today. Yiyi, work hard. I hope that Snowy Cathaya will win and get the Hero's Token. Sell it to me for 1000 gold. Old customer, old price..."

"Whoa, with how much has gold devalued, you are shameless to even say such things! Right, if you cannot be online, will the Bloody Mercenaries still participate in Who Will Fight Me?"

"Yes, today's only the prelims. The four of them are attending. With their strength, I believe reaching the Top 64 is not a problem. I will return to Suzhou tomorrow and will arrive for the finals.”

"Yes, that's good!" Lin Yixin laughed. "Alright, that's it. I'm hanging up, bye bye~~"

"Bye~"

After hanging up the phone, I continued to pay attention to the official website and focused my attention onto the Bloody Mercenaries' schedule. After confirming, the entire page became the Bloody Mercenaries team and their grouping.

Five members, four were lit up, meaning online. My card was dark, what a tragedy.

The grouping was chaotic. No one knew how many teams from Floating Ice City were participating. But after the calculations, Bloody Mercenaries needed to win fifteen matches to reach the Top 64. It could be seen how many players were in the China server.

As time grew close, the first lineup was released.

When I saw the others' levels, I laughed. It was five little friends, their highest level being 42. With such levels, I thought any person of the Bloody Mercenaries could challenge their entire team. In Heavenblessed, when the disparity in levels was over 20, then there was basically not much suspense in the battle.

The difference in level brought along a suppression of stats. Low-level players would have a higher chance of missing their attacks. Basically, when Level 40 players were fighting Level 60, no matter how good their equipment was, they would have a terrifying miss rate of at least 50%.

I clicked to spectate. The page in the computer quickly jumped into the field. I put my hand on the fingerprint reader on the notebook. After confirming my identity, I could log onto the spectating system as Broken Halberd Sinks Into Sand.

Swhoosh!

The scene jumped into the area. I saw Beiming Xue, Gui Guzi, Mamate and Du Thirteen standing in the area. While the enemy was a group of newbies, the four of them still maintained their calm and respect toward their opponent, and did not put on any arrogance or expert aura.

"Whoa, boss is watching!" Beiming Xue saw my name on the screen and said with a smile, "Gui Guzi, give command permissions to boss!"

"Yes!"

Gui Guzi nodded. The next moment, a pop-up appeared on my screen. "Do you accept the status of team commander?"

After confirming, my name became red on the spectator page. Now, any word that I typed out would turn red, and remind every person who was fighting.

"Boss, any instructions?" Beiming Xue asked with a smile.

I smiled and quickly typed. "Just kill this team as you wish, they won’t give you any trouble.”

"Yes, then let me!"

Beiming Xue was eager and said with a smile, "You guys don't move. Give all five to me!"

"Oh, alright!"

Du Thirteen, Gui Guzi and Mamate were happy to be idle. Watching the strongest archer of Bloody Mercenaries perform was quite good. Beiming Xue was not fully grown yet, but she had a good figure and considerable strength. A battle of an archer beauty like here was bound to be a pleasurable watch, much better than a battle of dark ominous fighters like I or Gui Guzi.

As a result, during the countdown to battle, Du Thirteen, Gui Guzi and Mamate all moved backward, leaving the beautiful archer standing at the front.

However, the five enemies did not dare to underestimate their opponent. They recognized this dark archer, ranked sixth on Floating Ice City's rankings. The Level 61 Dark Archer Beiming Xue. Who wouldn't know her?

Beiming Xue held the longbow in her hand, laughing as she taunted her enemies. "Come, don't be polite!"

The countdown finished and the battle started!

The five opponents charged together. Beiming Xue's eyes moved and she calmly moved backward to the right. At the same time, she notched her arrows, quickly guessing their locations. A string of arrows flew out. This was the AoE skill of archers—Volley!

Volley was a painful skill. It had no aim assist at all, relying on the player's own aim. An expert archer could have each arrow strike their target while a newbie could miss every arrow.

Beiming Xue clearly belonged to the former, and had reached a certain level of understanding of archer mechanics. Otherwise, I would not have recruited her into the Bloody Mercenaries!

Rank 6 Volley would release 8 arrows!

Pa pa pa...

A string of explosions. All 8 arrows struck. The enemy archer and assassin fell to the ground, killed by the Volley. The disparity in level was too great. Beiming Xue's Volley only dealt 50% to 70% of basic attack damage, but that was enough to instantly kill her opponents!

Precision Shot! Penetrating Arrow!

Another two shots, and the five people had all died, their bodies falling to the ground. The entire battle had only lasted 6 seconds!

Ding~!

System Notice: The Bloody Mercenaries team has won!

……

Beiming Xue cheered, and shouted toward the air and the screen, "Boss, am I great? Am I great?"

I smiled and typed. "Yes you are. Keep it up!"