Suddenly, Moon Shadow rushed over and attacked me with Blaze!

Bang!

Caught off-guard, I got knocked back a couple of steps and lost around 500 HP. There was even a crack on my shoulder armor. His character notwithstanding, his attack power was definitely impressive!

Furious, Gui Guzi retaliated with a thrust of his own spear!

Puchi!

Moon Shadow took a Death Combo to the chest and got knocked back himself. But unlike me, he only had a sliver of HP left. Gui Guzi’s attack was clearly nothing to be scoffed at as well!

Murong Mingyue hurriedly applied an instantaneous heal to Moon Shadow. However, her expression was ugly.

Beiming Xue grabbed my elbow with a frigid expression and uttered, “Boss, it’s clear they don’t welcome us. Let’s not sully our eyes with the sight of the Ego Three and leave already!”

Spring Mud pointed his sword at Beiming Xue and shouted angrily, “Say that again, bitch!”

Gritting my teeth, I pulled my right arm away from Beiming Xue and punched Spring Mud right in the face, dealing over 300 damage. Then, I followed up with an arrogant Pardon!

MISS!

My sword glowed blood-red, but I didn’t follow up the attack and kill Spring Mud with Desperate Gambit. The guy looked as pale as death, however. He knew he would die no matter what if I chose to act.

Staring at the stunned Spring Mud, I said, “Insult my men again, and I’ll wipe you from the surface of Floating Ice City!”

Finally, I grabbed Beiming Xue’s hand, turned away and walked back to Bloody Mercenaries’ waiting zone.

On the way back, I frowned deeply without saying a word. Beiming Xue whispered beside me and said, “Sorry, boss…”

“You have nothing to apologize for…” I shook my head and smiled at her. “It wasn’t your fault.”

“I know, but, we…”

“It’s fine…”

I sucked in a deep breath to clear my mind. For now, it didn’t look like we would be returning to Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls anytime soon. The three heads of the Ego workshop had become the biggest obstacles to our return.

Although He Yi looked moved just now, she wasn’t able to confirm my identity. The fact that she stood through the whole exchange earlier without lifting a finger showed just how out of sorts she was. That was why I didn’t want to burden her even more than she already was. She was the guild leader of Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls, and it was her duty to treat her subordinates with respect. If she hired the Ego workshop only to ditch them like dirt because of us, the fallout was sure to impede the growth of Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls.

I won’t deny that I felt wronged, but I was no longer a child either. I could no longer act as I pleased without considering the consequences. The reputation and stability of Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls were more important than me returning to my old guild immediately.

“What should we do now, boss?” Gui Guzi asked.

I thought for a moment before replying, “There’s no need to be hasty. Let’s focus on winning this competition and founding our own guild. Once our strength is greater, we can return to Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls anytime we want to. I want the world to know that I, Lu Chen am not working to earn a living, but to fulfill my promise. I am a king, not a servant!”

Gui Guzi, Du Thirteen, Beiming Xue and Yamete turned red with excitement. They clenched their fists and echoed my words, “That’s right! We are kings, not servants! Even if we must return to Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls, we will become the pivot that carries our guild to the top!”

......

The second match of the semifinals, Snowy Cathaya versus Peach Garden, was yet another must-watch. On one hand, Snowy Cathaya was a well-known powerhouse in Floating Ice City. On the other, Peach Garden was a new force that showed a lot of potential during the tournament.

The general information of the players on both sides was displayed on the screen.

Snowy Cathaya:

Wind Fantasy LV-65 Light Wanderer

Purple Marquis LV-62 Warrior

Clear Perfume LV-63 Archer

Shadow Chanel LV- 62 Mage

Scattered Rain LV-58 Priest

Peach Garden:

Indigo Collar LV-62 Warrior

Moon Scar LV-61 Assassin

Soft Nocturne LV-61 Bard

Wheel Shadow LV-62 Archer

Painted Skin LV-62 Mage

…...

Both sides were pretty much equal in terms of strength. In fact, Peach Garden had a slight advantage over Snowy Cathaya because their priest had yet to undergo the third class promotion!

Everyone paid close attention to the stage as the countdown began. Out of everyone in Peach Garden, their third-promotion bard was the one who worried me the most. Bards were notoriously terrible during the early stages because they had poor Attack, poor Defense and poor healing abilities. Their key skills also had to be farmed from boss drops too. However, if a third-promotion bard managed to assemble all of their skills, then they were absolutely a force to be reckoned with. Considering that Soft Nocturne had made it all the way to the semifinals, she must’ve had all of her third-promotion skills already. Right now, Peach Garden was undoubtedly Snowy Cathaya’s greatest obstacle.

Lin Yixin clearly thought the same thing as me because she charged the bard the moment the match began!

Soft Nocturne was a woman around 25 years old, and she reacted quickly to Lin Yixin’s assault. Retreating toward the back playing her dark green zither, she applied Divine Valor to her leader, Indigo Collar, before following up with Death Match. With a 20% buff to both his Attack and Defense, Indigo Collar’s strength was nothing like before!

Lin Yixin was an intelligent woman. The moment the situation changed, she adapted immediately and ordered, “Marquis, kill Indigo Collar!”

“Got it!”

But before Purple Marquis could finish his sentence, Indigo Collar surprised everyone and activated Charge. His target was none other than Purple Marquis himself!

I felt my heart sink inside my chest. Oh no, this is going to be bad...

As I thought, Indigo Collar immediately swung his blade twice at Purple Marquis the moment the latter got stunned. It was Blaze and Desperate Gambit!

1245!

1310!

Holy shit! He actually managed to one-shot Purple Marquis?

I had to keep my surprise from showing on my face. Indigo Collar might only be Level 62, but thus far he had proven himself to be a super black horse. It was no coincidence that he was able to kill Purple Marquis in a single exchange. Even if he hadn’t received the two buffs, Purple Marquis would have been one or two hits away from death anyway!

A player’s core strength was defined by several factors like equipment, pet, skills and so on. Just the fact that Indigo Collar had Desperate Gambit deserved my respect already!

But the worst had yet to come. The enemy mage had somehow made his way to the borderline before casting an Ice Dragon Howl at Clear Perfume. It was a direct hit!

Thud thud thud...

Clear Perfume fired a Volley and chased the mage away, but her HP was almost empty!

Peach Garden’s archer, Wheel Shadow, acted at the perfect moment and fired a volley of arrows into Snowy Cathaya’s formation. One of the shots unfortunately hit Clear Perfume and killed her there and then!

Swhoosh!

It still wasn’t the end of Snowy Cathaya’s misery. Faint red light flashed next to Shadow Chanel, and the assassin, Moon Scar, appeared and thrust his dagger forward three times in a row!

The first two attacks, Cold Blade and one basic attack tore apart Shadow Chanel’s Magic Shield, and the third and final strike, Eviscerate, hit Shadow Chanel directly. His movement was smooth like water.

MISS!

MISS!

1092!

An assassin was the bane of any class who donned cloth armor, not to mention that Eviscerate ignored 25% of the enemy’s Defense. Shadow Chanel was only able to cast one Ice Dragon Howl before she was one-shot by Moon Scar.

Crack!

Meanwhile, Lin Yixin finally managed to kill a double-buffed Indigo Collar with Moon Gaze and Extreme Break, but it was hardly enough to turn the tide of battle around. After all, she was the only one still alive in her team!

Meanwhile, Peach Garden still had Moon Scar, Wheel Shadow and Painted Skin. They were all third-promotion players as well.

“Oh no, Beauty Lin is going to lose…” Du Thirteen clenched his fists.

I gritted my own teeth and said, “Not yet. There’s still hope…”

On the stage, Lin Yixin hadn’t given up either. She charged Wheel Shadow as the archer backed away trying to kite her. Behind her, the assassin followed her like a shadow, searching for an opportunity to end her life.

Suddenly, Lin Yixin turned around and killed Moon Scar in one strike. However, she also took a shot from Wheel Shadow, and worse, Painted Skin’s Ice Dragon Howl was coming for her!

Roar!

The roar seemed to affect Lin Yixin, slowing her down just enough for her to get hit even though she was already mid-dodge. The spell immediately deleted a huge chunk of her HP!

“Uuuu…”

Lin Yixin groaned unhappily at her failed dodge before lifting the Snow Shadow Sword and charging toward Painted Skin again, but the damned mage was uncannily quick. He actually started kiting her back and forth like he was an archer, toying with her as he worked together with Wheel Shadow to chip away at her HP!

I clenched my fists together and uttered, “Fuck!”

Beiming Xue also opened her eyes wide. “Damn those bastards, how dare they fool around with Beauty Lin like this…”

Lin Yixin’s shoulder had at least seven arrows stuck to it. Her snow white cloak was completely drenched in blood. She still hadn’t given up on chasing down her opponent, but she was always one hair away from hitting them. In the end, she was killed by a powerful Devil Piercing Arrow.

I actually felt a twinge of pain in my heart when Lin Yixin collapsed helplessly to the limestone floor.

0:1!

The first round went to Peach Garden.

Beside me, Gui Guzi commented with a frown on his face, “Why do I feel like Lin Yixin isn’t herself today? She’s normally sharper than this…”

I didn’t say anything.

The second match was practically a copy of the first. The experts of Peach Garden weren’t inferior to Snowy Cathaya in the first place, and Lin Yixin herself looked completely out of form today. She was always just one millimeter away from hitting her opponent. In the end, Peach Garden pulled an upset and defeated Snowy Cathaya 2:0!

…...

Swhoosh!

Lin Yixin was the last one to be teleported out of the battlefield. She looked incredibly tired.

I walked up to meet her, and she looked up and gave me a smile. It made me hurt on the inside. I had never seen her looking this forlorn since I knew her.

“A-are you okay, Yiyi?” I asked softly.

“Mn. I’m fine…” Lin Yixin shook her head slightly before sitting on the steps next to her. Setting the Snow Shadow Sword beside her, she said, “Lu Chen, first place has nothing to do with Snowy Cathaya now… I was going to throw the final and give up the Hero’s Token to you, but I guess I lost my chance to show off…”

Touched, I replied, “You didn’t have to. We will claim the Hero’s Token with our own hands. You don’t have to throw anything.”

Lin Yixin raised her eyebrows and regained some of her usual vigor. She smiled. “Hah, don’t pretend you weren’t afraid of me kicking your ass. And don’t you get chauvinistic with me, hmph. If I wasn’t out of form today, there was a chance Snowy Cathaya could’ve beaten Peach Garden… Seriously though, they’re very good. Their overall strength is even better than the Gods of Destruction team's. Be careful. If you lose the final, Bloody Mercenaries are sure to lose face…”

I nodded. “Don’t worry, we will win for sure!”

“Mn. Now go…”

I turned away and left Lin Yixin. If I kept the conversation going any longer, Purple Marquis and Zi Chuanyu were sure to chase me away, and that was if Murong Mingyue didn’t come over herself and take a bite at me.