Lin Yixin looked at me with a smile. "You also qualified? Not easy, huh. I thought that you would break your halberd in the prelims...”

"Fuck...” I was almost instantly shut down by Lin Yixin’s words and my face turned grave.

Looking at me, Lin Yixin grinned and laughed. She covered her mouth and said, "Lu Chen, guess. Will Snowy Cathaya and Bloody Mercenaries join forces in the finals?"

I stretched out my index finger and led patiently, "Yiyi, you really want to join forces in the finals?"

"Yes, I have been waiting for a public chance to beat you up...” Lin Yixin laughed.

I was used to her and continued to say solemnly, "Join forces in the finals. This term has great meaning. Only two beings that make up a whole can join forces when they meet in the finals. It’s like family. Yiyi, if it’s as you say, do you want to be part of my family? Alright, I don’t mind adding you to my household registry...”

Lin Yixin immediately froze. She found she had fallen for my trap and her face flushed red. She waved her fist and said, "Little Cheat, you dare make a verbal trap for me. Hmph, come here, I’m gonna kill you!"

At this time, Purple Marquis and Zi Chuanyu who were behind Lin Yixin pulled out their swords and said, "Leader, don’t worry. We’ll kill him for you!"

Behind me, Gui Guzi and Du Thirteen also pulled out their weapons, and said with a smile, "What, Snowy Cathaya thinks that Bloody Mercenaries is a joke?"

Clear Perfume laughed from the side. "Ah, a beauty brings forth calamity, a beauty brings forth calamity...”

Lin Yixin laughed and looked into the distance. "Oh, it is so lively today, I really want to stand on the winner’s stage...”

I looked at her long neck and enchanting smile. Sigh, just like Sun Qingqing said, a beauty is a calamity!

……

Soon, the Top 16 brackets were announced. They appeared on the large screen and immediately caused drooling—

Upper Bracket:

Lover's Place VS Heaven Fortune

Snowy Cathaya VS Flower Room.

Peach Garden VS Rivers and Lakes

Eternal Friendship VS VVS

Lower Bracket:

Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls VS Personal Guard

Soul Combat Robes VS Gods of Destruction

Bloody Mercenaries VS Thunder and Wind

Plum Wine VS Mad Dragon

……

"How are the matches? I don’t understand...”

Gui Guzi was slightly confused. With his intelligence, he needed to expend some effort to understand. Du Thirteen patted Gui Guzi's shoulder and patiently said, "Little Gui, do not pursue attack power in your future build. Switch to intelligence. That’s your end-game build~~"

I explained, "The upper half is basically Snowy Cathaya's world. With Lin Yixin, Purple Marquis, Clear Perfume, and Shadow Chanel's strength, their chances of entering the finals are above 50%. The lower half is pretty much a deathmatch. Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls, Mad Dragon, Gods of Destruction, Bloody Mercenaries. Four popular teams. There is going to be some ruckus! In conclusion, we’ll fight them one by one. If we win the next four matches, we will be the champions!"

"Yes!"

Beiming Xue nodded and said with a smile, "Just four matches, everyone, let’s go!"

I laughed. It was easier said than done. All of the teams that we would encounter next were strong teams that managed to make it to the Top 16. There were definitely going to be hard battles ahead!

"The first match is about to start!"

Beiming Xue glanced at the tall stage and said with a smile, "There are a lot of people watching the battle right now...”

I glanced over. Yes, there were over 20 million players watching. As expected of Floating Ice City, the biggest central city of the China server!

Compared to the eight other tier 2 cities, Floating Ice City's competition was much stronger. There was Gods of Destruction that was in the Guild Ranking, then Snowy Cathaya, Bloody Mercenaries, Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls, Mad Dragon, and some up-and-coming recently established guilds. From now on, the Who Will Fight Me tournament would be a battle of tigers and dragons.

The first match was Lover's Place VS Heaven Fortune. I wasn't familiar with these two teams, and I was too lazy to watch. The winner of these two would definitely encounter Snowy Cathaya. Under the blade of the Fruit Knife Goddess, could they survive?

After a hard ten-minute battle, victory was determined. Lover's Place knocked out Heaven Fortune 2:0.

……

Lin Yixin held her longsword and smiled slightly. "Students, prepare for battle!"

In the next moment, the list of the two teams appeared on the screen on stage—

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

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

……

I smiled. Spectacular. The two teams were both school teams of Suzhou Tech. Li Le had been pursuing Lin Yixin but had never made any progress. I didn’t know what would happen in the fight between these two teams. However, I could vaguely make out a smell of dynamite in the air.

Lin Yixin disliked Li Le greatly. Li Le always tried to take Lin Yixin for himself. This battle could be a closure of sorts. If he won, he would take Lin Yixin as his wife. Otherwise, he would have to leave her alone.

Whoosh...

Light flashed, and the members of both sides stepped onto stage. On Lin Yixin's side, Purple Marquis and Lin Yixin were fighters, and Shadow Chanel was a super mage. Clear Perfume was a strong archer while Scattered Rain was a soft-looking priest.

On Li Le's side, their average level was 5 lower. Only that assassin, Purple Daylight, and the mage, Winds of Jiangnan, had higher levels. Barring no accidents, they would not withstand Snowy Cathaya. Lin Yixin’s team was filled with first-class experts that could not be stopped!

Once the battle started, Lin Yixin pointed forward with her sword and shouted, "Kill them!"

The Flower Room’s assassin, Purple Daylight, immediately tried to enter stealth but was shot by Clear Perfume’s Volley. Purple Marquis immediately followed up with a Charge and killed him with a swing of his sword.

Winds of Jiangnan chanted a spell. Fire Dragon Roar charged toward Lin Yixin. The light wanderer remained composed and tanked it. Chugging down a potion, she closed the distance. Winds of Jiangnan had no chance and slumped to the ground, dead.

The mages of the both teams clashed, and Li Le’s fair-weather friend, Life of Luxury, was sent out of the battlefield by Shadow Chanel's Ice Dragon Howl.

Lin Yixin killed A Dot of Red from Pinggu quickly, and lunged at Li Lie, pressing the Snow Shadow Sword to Li Le’s chest, her smile bright. "Li Le, give up already, you failure!"

Puchi.

Right through the heart. Lin Yixin immediately killed the enemy leader. Li Le's level was too low. Trash!

As another player who entered the game late, He Yi was much more professional. She knew that her level would drag everyone down so she gave up and watched instead. Li Le was not so perceptive.

The result, clean 2:0. Snowy Cathaya knocked out their opponent. Flower Room, as one of the guilds near the Top of Floating Ice City, left the Who Will Fight Me tournament like this. It was really tragic. Li Le was killed twice by Lin Yixin. Despite the disparity between the two being so great, he still looked like he wouldn't give up. Lin Yixin was so angry she was gritting her teeth and wanted to kill him again.

There was no much suspense in the next two battles. Peach Garden took away Rivers and Lakes with a 2:0, and VVS defeated Eternal Friendship 2:1. Soon, it was time for the second half of the Top 16 phase to begin.

……

The first match was Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls VS Personal Guard.

By the stage, He Yi held a sword in one hand and propped the other on her waist. Her expression was strict, and her brow furrowed as she gave the last orders before battle. Murong Mingyue did not look serious at all, covering her mouth and saying something with a smile. Xu Yang couldn't help but laugh out loud. Night Sorrow, Spring Mud, and Moon Shadow still looked arrogant as though they looked down on everyone present.

White light flashed. The five members of the Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls were sent into the field.

The Bloody Mercenaries paid close attention to this battle because everyone knew that Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls was the guild we were about to join.

"Boss, you see that Spring Mud, Night Sorrow, and Moon Sorrow look so arrogant, are they very strong?" Beiming Xue blinked and asked me.

I didn’t know how to respond for a moment and could only laugh softly. "Hard to say.”

Gui Guzi's eyes grew cold and said, "These three are the top dogs of the Ego workshop. A year ago, I encountered them when playing in Spirit of Grief. These three are skilled and have good mechanics. At the time, I was definitely not a match for them. Ego workshop did not have many members, but had a good reputation among professional players because of their strength. I hadn't expected them to merge into Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls.”

Yamete sneered, "Their members were recruited, but maybe not their hearts. In my view, these people are rebellious and likely would not follow anyone but He Yi.”

Du Thirteen had a serious expression and said, "This makes me think. If we return to Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls, we will undoubtedly clash on many occasions with the Ego workshop!"

Beiming Xue stuck out her tongue and said, "So what should we do? Not return? I feel that Sister He Yi and Sister Murong Mingyue are both good people...”

I laughed. "Of course.”

Then I regained my seriousness and said, "We can’t make it hard for He Yi and Sister Mingyue once we return. We must prove ourselves and become champions so that these three can’t say anything!"

"Yes!"

Everyone clenched their fists and looked solemn.

While we were speaking, the three main players of the Ego workshop had managed to help Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls kill their opponents twice and successfully reached the Top 8!