Somewhere in the middle of our conversation, Hegemon Palace had wiped the floor with Mad Dragon. It was the fourteenth of the Top 32 matches, and the MVPs of Hegemon Palace were of course Little Piglet and Shangguan Wan’er. Little Piglet especially had single-handedly deleted the Gemini Stars and Coldmoon Rose himself.

However, Roaming Dragon looked surprisingly calm. In fact, he wore an expression that suggested that everything was under his control from the start to the end of the match. It was slightly worrying. The struggle for supremacy in Sky City had been continuing for some time now, but Mad Dragon had maintained a low profile thus far. Could they be plotting something? Gathering their strength for a certain time?

It made no sense though. A cooked duck cannot fly, and I had seen through Mad Dragon’s limits a long time ago.

……

The fifteenth match was about to begin. It was Snow Moon versus Dirge Of War!

Snow Moon was a veteran guild and a legend founded by a Heavenly King a long time ago. However, the flow of time spared no one, and out of the Twenty Four Snow Moon Cavalrymen, Southern Barbarian was the only who was still serving the guild. He was also the weakest of them, so weak that the guild had steadily declined ever since he succeeded Yi Of Ice as the new guild leader. These days, they barely made enough money to feed themselves.

On the other hand, Dirge Of War was a freshly founded guild and one of the ten strongest guilds in Vanished God City. Their guild leader, Transient, was a mage ranked 25th in the CGL Hall of Fame. Supported by a group of first-rate experts, Transient had established quite the sizable power in Vanished God City. Snow Moon would be lucky to take even one point off Dirge Of War!

The battle was as quick as it was one-sided. In less than a minute, Transient had single-handedly annihilated all five players of Snow Moon with great skill and even greater magical power!

"Snow Moon truly is no more…" Lin Yixin sighed as she stared at the 2-0 on the screen. "When I entered Spirit of Grief as Beautiful Little Pepper, Dark Shadow Drifter and Paralyzing Wind And Sorrow hadn’t retired yet, so they were still capable of sweeping any nearby city without any problem at all. Today, they might not even be able to sweep a leveling map…"

I smiled. "This is just how life is. For example, do you think Snowy Cathaya can still sweep all its rivals five years after today? It may not even be able to make it to a tournament like this. The fact that Snow Moon still managed to defeat most opposition and make it to the LAN matches is proof of their strength…"

Lin Yixin nodded. "Mn, I guess…"

……

The sixteenth match started not long after, and it was Baidicheng versus Myth. Baidicheng was also one of the ten strongest guilds of Vanished God City. Although Vanished God City didn’t have one or two reigning super guilds, underestimating it would be a huge mistake. After all, four out of five of its top guilds—Blazing Hot Lips led by Stranger of Three Lifetimes, Fate led by Predestined, Hunting Moon Dynasty led by Wei-Jin North-South Dynasties, Dirge Of War led by Transient, and Baidicheng led by Come See The Snow Tonight—had made it to the LAN matches of Who Will Rise. As a whole, Vanished God City was definitely a formidable opponent.

The competition in Wind City and Sky City was extraordinarily fierce because the stronger CGL Hall of Famers were all there. As a result, the cities were split between a small number of super guilds, and the war situation could be compared to the War of the Three Kingdoms. However, Vanished God City was split between many middling guilds, so their war situation was more like the Warring States periods where countless powers vied for status and power.

Moreover, the current CGL Hall of Famers were starting to show their faces as well. The guild leader of The Monarch Descends, Beauty Ling Xueshang, was a CGL ranker, Moonkiss the Spirit Killer of Purple Lily was a CGL ranker, Wei-Jin North-South Dynasties, Transient, Come See The Snow Tonight, and Predestined were CGL rankers as well. Almost all of the 27 CGL Hall of Famers of China had shown up in Who Will Rise, meaning that whoever won the tournament was worthy of being called a king of kings! It was a competition between CGL Hall of Famers after all!

……

The match ended fairly quickly, and Baidicheng took out their opponent with a clean 2-0. Their party leader was the female magic knight and legendary CGL Hall of Famer, Come See The Snow Tonight. Back in the Nation Wars of Spirit of Grief, it was said that she and her troops had travelled a long way and attacked three neighboring major cities in a row. She was your classic goddess of war, and she was currently ranked 26th in the CGL Hall of Fame. Her skill was first-rate, her equipment was first-rate, and her ability to command was almost at the apex. She was very similar to October Rain.

Finally, the Top 16 parties of Who Will Rise was decided. The new groupings were displayed on the big screen—

Group A

Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls VS Immortal Sword Inn

Seize The Throne VS Dragon God Temple

Group B

Candle Dragon VS Riverside Pavilion

Purple Lily VS Othershore Flower

Group C

Hunting Moon Dynasty VS Snowy Cathaya

The Monarch Descends VS Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls Second Seed

Group D

Warsky Alliance VS Hegemon Palace

Dirge Of War VS Baidicheng

……

The afternoon matches would continue until the Top 4 parties were decided. It will be terrible, it will be epic, and it will be very exciting to say the least!

I looked up and said, "Our next opponent is Immortal Sword Inn, but I don’t think they’re too difficult. Dragon God Temple though—assuming that they make it to the quarterfinals—is an opponent to watch out for. Their guild leader, Painting Of My Country, is a Level 106 soulfire warrior, yet another hidden class. Their four party members are no small fries either."

Li Chengfeng laughed. "It’s fine, we’ll find a way to deal with whatever comes our way. There is no opponent we fear in this tournament, is there?"

"That’s the spirit!"

I checked the time and noted that it was past 11 am. He Yi asked, "Should we eat lunch inside the venue, or head out for something different?"

I thought for a moment before saying, "Let’s not move away from the crowd. We can use this opportunity to listen in on the other parties and see if we can find out their strategy or whatever. If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles, right?"

"Okay…"

……

At the banquet hall, the Top 16 parties were naturally enjoying the time of their life. The parties who were disqualified were in no hurry to leave either. Win or lose, everyone’s meals and accommodation had already been paid for, and the service we were receiving was equivalent to that of a 5-star hotel. Who would choose to leave immediately unless they had urgent business or something?

Not far away from our table, Candlelight Shadow, Tempest Shadow, and the rest of the Candle Dragon party were surrounded by a group of players. Besides asking all kinds of questions ranging from A to Z, many of them also expressed their desire to form an alliance with Candle Dragon. It wasn’t a difficult sentiment to understand. Candle Dragon was strong enough to beat Purple Lily and Peach Garden with energy to spare, so it was only natural that some of the undecideds would choose to ally with them. After all, not many people were willing to antagonize an opponent who was way stronger than they were.

I picked up a piece of fish meat from the dish with a pair of chopsticks. "Eat more so you can beat up Candlelight Shadow and Transient Smoke and Clouds later, Lil Beiming…"

Beiming Xue giggled. "I’ll get fat if I eat any more than this. Or do you actually prefer elephant-sized thighs?"

I shot her long, perfectly shaped legs a glance and noted how supernaturally fine they were. I shook my head repeatedly, "Never mind, you are fine the way you are…"

It was at this moment Xu Yang walked over with a plate in his hand and joined our table. "Boss, Lu Chen, what do you think of your chances of winning this afternoon? It’s highly likely you’ll encounter Candle Dragon at the semifinals, and if you fail, we can only hope that Snowy Cathaya from our half of the grouping is up to the task. Speaking of which, our luck is absolutely rotten. Our opponent for the quarterfinals is Snowy Cathaya for sure…"

Beside me, Lin Yixin was sipping her soup and smiling smugly.

I stared at her. "Fuck, this makes the second party Snowy Cathaya is going to take out. One way or another, you’re footing the bill for tonight’s supper, you hear me?"

Lin Yixin giggled. "Fine, fine, but what are you so angry for? It’s not like I want to eliminate your party. Blame RNG if you must pin the blame on something!"

"Hmph hmph!"

He Yi blinked once before commenting, "The match starts at 2 pm, so we can catch some shut-eye if you want to…"

"Nah, there’s not enough time to sleep comfortably. It’s more fun to sleep after we take out Candle Dragon anyway!"

"Hahaha, that’s true!"

……

After we were done eating, we grabbed our gaming helmets and arrived at the competition venue early. Then, we started talking about everything to pass time—

Gui Guzi: "The afternoon matches are split into four groups, and only one party from each group will enter the quarterfinals. Guild Leader Yi, Boss Broken Halberd, we’ll be counting on you to start off the afternoon with a bang. At the very least, we need to reach the semifinals and win some glory for our Sky City."

Li Chengfeng slapped his own chest. "Relax, we’ll make it to the semifinals for sure!"

Xu Yang: "Hehe, everyone who enters the Top 16 gets at least 50k RMB worth of prize money. This is awesome! A couple more tournaments like this, and I can officially go home and marry someone!’

He Yi stared at her loyal subordinate with a dumbfounded expression. "Is this really all you desire in life?"

"Ha… haha!" Xu Yang rubbed the back of his head. "I’m not someone who can see far into the future, so I would rather focus on the present. And for now, my present goal is to earn a million RMB to buy a house and marry a wife…"

He Yi smiled a little. "Xu Yang, without you and Lu Chen, Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls couldn’t have been rebuilt, so I promise I’ll gift you all a house each some time in the near future. Does that sound better to you?"

Xu Yang exclaimed in shock, "Boss, you’re too good for me…"

He Yi: "..."

Meanwhile, Clear Perfume, Shadow Chanel, Purple Marquis, and the rest were clicking their tongues in shock. Even among rich people, it took a special kind of person to promise a house to their loyal generals, and the GGS vice president was exactly that.

……

Suddenly, I recalled something. "Eve, didn’t you get a mount during the war of Skull Castle? Why aren’t you riding it?"

He Yi smiled. "Did you forget? You can’t bring pets or mounts in Who Will Rise, and you can’t use skills with a cooldown over 30 minutes. That’s why I didn’t use it in battle."

"I see. Show me your mounted stats after the tournament is over, okay?"

"Sure~"

I was very envious. Both magic knights and wanderers could equip mounts, but not me. I was stuck being a foot soldier until the end of times. It was a tragedy!

……

Time passed again, and finally it was time for the afternoon matches to begin. The competition was only going to get fiercer and fiercer from now on. The venue was already overcrowded with people, but there were tens of thousands of gamers clumping in front of the big screens to watch the live broadcast. The tournament organizers had tried to sell as many tickets as humanly possible, but it still wasn’t enough to accommodate everyone. Young gamers these days are seriously hot-blooded!