"I will be back…"

Loyal died right after he cursed at Lian Xin. The dragon head of Touch of the Dragonkiss lingered for a moment, almost as if looking down on Loyal and ridiculing him before fading away completely. It was deserved though. Lian Xin’s Magic Attack was so high that she dealt over 150k damage in one spell.

"What should we do? Lian Xin is growing a bit too powerful…" was what He Yi said, but the smirk on her face was unmistakable.

I let out a snicker myself before touching our shoulders together. "Nah, Loyal must have very poor Magic Resist. Even considering Lian Xin’s strength, it’s rare for a mage to deal over 150k damage in one hit."

A blinking Beiming Xue asked me, "What did that uncle mean when he said, ‘I will be back’?"

My smile widened. "He’s saying that he’ll get destroyed again…"

……

As predicted, uncle Loyal returned for the second fight only to be crippled by Lian Xin’s Gravity Trap right as the countdown hit zero. Then, she started ravaging using Ice Arrows. Freezing Arrow was a slowing spell with low base attack, but thanks to the Thunder God Scepter, Lian Xin was able to do over 50k damage per hit. A couple of hits later, Loyal collapsed on all fours again and left as quickly as he came!

The score was now 3:0. We had already won.

Butterfly Dance attended the fourth match, and she was able to sweep her opponent with ease. The Dark Ritualist class possessed some pretty powerful skills, it seemed.

The fifth match was a 2v2 battle. He Yi and I were teleported onto the battlefield!

Swhoosh!

We appeared on a grassy plain with fragrant flowers and flying butterflies. It was a beautiful scenery, but it only lasted until Hero and Loyal entered the battlefield and dirtied the atmosphere with their presence.

……

"Holy shit…"

Hero gasped and clutched his heart in shock when he saw He Yi. "My god… is this what Beiming Xue can look like when she grows older? So beautiful, so picturesque…"

Loyal clenched his fists as he said, "So this is the guild leader of Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls, From Water. It’s incredible how a beauty like her is able to create the best or second best super guild in China. If I can win her affection, I can finally tell my mother to stop forcing me to attend those terrible arranged interviews every day. Have you seen that woman I went to meet a couple of days ago? Not only did she look like Sister Feng, she wanted me to buy a beach villa for her! Pooh, if I had that kind of money, I would be changing partners every day and enjoying every type of woman there exists in this world already! Just why is marriage so ingrained in our customs, Hero?"

Hero shrugged. "How the fuck should I know that? I do know you’re completely out of From Water’s league though. I heard that she was the vice president of GGS until she resigned and became the CEO of Raincube, you know, the partner of Blue Star? It’s the company that grabbed over 30% of Eternal Moon Corporation’s shares in China’s VR technology market in less than a month. How crazy is that…"

Loyal licked his lips and said enviously, "Oh man, if I could find a girl like that, I wouldn’t need to go to work everyday and be yelled at by that stupid Head Wong…"

"I know right? But there’s no way a woman like From Water would ever fall for a short ugly bastard like you, so stop dreaming and keep going on those arranged interviews of yours. That is what fate has in store for you…"

Loyal wept manly tears.

He Yi looked away expressionlessly and pretended that she didn’t hear anything.

I wanted to console the two miserable uncles, but really, what the fuck should I even say in this situation?

……

3!

2!

1!

When the system finished the countdown, He Yi and I immediately split up and dashed to the sides. We didn’t plan any of this ahead of time, but somehow we knew what each other was thinking and paused our footsteps at almost the exact same time. Then, we raised our weapons and launched Purgatory of Ice and Magma + Burning Blade Slash combo at our enemies. I also threw in an extra Coiling Dragon Revolution afterward for good measure.

Boom boom boom!

A series of devastating explosions later, the world turned silent once more.

He Yi looked at me for a moment before breaking into a sweet smile. "I ran out of patience a while ago…"

I tilted my head 45 degrees toward the sky and said solemnly, "I am the sword who will right all that is wrong in this world…"

Inside the viewing room, Beiming Xue asked in confusion, "What on earth is big bro talking about?"

Murong Mingyue replied indifferently, "Ignore him, he’s just suffering a relapse of the eighth grade syndrome. It’d be weirder if you understood him…"

……

With this, we took the 13th round by storm with a 5:0 overall score or 10:0 individual score. Not only that, we secured two perfect victories in a row very deep into the preliminaries. It was an impressive result to say the least!

The fourteenth round came and went almost just as easily because our opponent was just a Vanished God City team with an average level of 174. Butterfly Dance and Remains threw a battle each, but with an individual score of 10:2, and an overall score of 5:0, our dominance was still unshakeable.

Ding~!

System Notice: Congratulations, your team has advanced to the Top 128 of the WEL tournament (China)! If your team wins one more round, you will enter the Top 64! All players who enter the Top 64 will be rewarded at least 1 Level and 1 Luck!

……

"Damn…"

He Yi and I exchanged a look. "The rewards of this year’s WEL competition sure are no joke. 1 Luck just for entering the Top 64? Even during the Nation Wars, only the top players are given a Luck reward…"

Beiming Xue asked, "The reward details should be announced tomorrow morning. Also, I heard that the matches will be held in the central arena when the Top 64 matches begin, so we won’t be stuck in a small and confined viewing room like this anymore. Also, every match starting from the eighth-finals will be broadcasted live in the gaming channels."

I clenched my fists and declared confidently, "Let’s give it our all, enter the Top 16, advance to the finals and claim the crown for ourselves. This is another good opportunity to advertise Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls."

He Yi smiled. "According to Rose, 25% of our winnings must be given to Lenovo as per our agreement with them. However, not only did Lenovo decide to give us all our winnings this time, they’ll even pay us extra if we become China’s champions!"

My face immediately began shining with the color of gold. "Money…"

Murong Mingyue shot me a disdainful look. "This is the only language he understands..."

"Alright alright, the last round is about to begin, so focus…"

The big display flashed, and the line-up of our final opponent appeared on the screen. To our pleasant surprise, our opponent was a most familiar face—

Hall of Immortality (Sponsor: Rongguang Detector)

Bloodthirsty Battle Monarch LV-179 Berserk Knight

Wing Breaker LV-180 Destruction Warrior

Galaxy Breaker Mage LV-180 Mage

Dark Guardian Angel LV-178 Magic Knight

……

"It’s the first seed of Hall of Immortality…" He Yi commented with a frown. "Are we too lucky, or are they too unlucky?"

I clenched my fists and said with a laugh, "One way or another, this is good news for us! Hall of Immortality tried to rob us when we were escorting 4 million resource units to Stranger of Three Lifetimes’ city, and we weren’t able to take revenge at the time because our numbers were lacking. Now though, we can stop their first seed right before they enter the eighth-finals and deal a heavy blow to that arrogant Bloodthirsty Battle Monarch!"

He Yi nodded in agreement. "Yeah, you’re right."

Butterfly Dance cautioned, "Let’s not underestimate the enemy. They have two hidden classes. Wing Breaker is a super offensive warrior with incredible offensive power. Galaxy Breaker Mage is a pretty famous mage with high Magic Attack and good standing in the 1v1 arena. Dark Guardian Angel and Bloodthirsty Battle Monarch aren’t noobs either, so this match won’t be a one-sided slaughter."

He Yi said, "Let’s choose our line-up now!"

I gave it some thought before replying, "I’ll fight the first match. I’m sure they want to kick off the match with a win, and the best way to do that is to send their strongest expert. In that case, who better than me to fight fire with fire and knock them down a peg? After that, Lian Xin will go next, Eve will secure the third match, Beiming Xue will take the fourth match, and we’ll go with Lian Xin + Beiming for the final 2v2 match!"

"Got it!" All the girls nodded in unison.

……

It didn’t take long for the line-ups of the last round to appear on the big display, and thank goodness for that. My stomach had been growling since a long while ago. We’re heading out for supper right after we slaughter Hall of Immortality!

1v1: Broken Halberd Sinks Into Sand LV-182 Undead Swordsman VS Galaxy Breaker Mage LV-180 Mage

1v1: Lian Xing LV-182 Phantasm of Stars VS Bloodthirsty Battle Monarch Berserk Knight

1v1: From Water LV-180 Magic Knight VS Wing Breaker LV-180 Destruction Warrior

1v1 Beiming Xue LV-183 Dark aArcher VS Dark Guardian Angel LV-178 Magic Knight

2v2: Beiming Xue LV-183 Dark Archer & Lian Xing LV-182 Phantasm of Stars VS Galaxy Breaker Mage LV-180 Mage & Dark Guardian Angel LV-178 Magic Knight

……

Level-wise, we didn’t have a decisive advantage over the enemy. Class-wise, we had three hidden classes and they had two, so it wasn’t a big gap either.

The first match was between me and Galaxy Breaker Mage.

Swhoosh!

When I teleported onto the battlefield, the enemy’s best player, Galaxy Breaker Mage, was waiting for me already. This wasn’t the first time our guild clashed against him, and the fact was that he had always been able to put great pressure on us. He was a super mage with very unique defensive and offensive capabilities, and he had the equipment to support his style.

"Hehe, we meet again, Broken Halberd Sinks Into Sand!"

Galaxy Breaker Mage let out a confident chuckle before starting, "I know that the spectators must think that Hall of Immortality will lose to Ancient Sword for sure, but I don’t think so, especially after I saw this line-up. In fact, I thank the heavens for granting us the opportunity to halt Ancient Sword’s advance right before the eighth-finals. It will be an unimaginable achievement, I’m sure!"

I let out a chuckle myself while keeping the Purple Ying Sword lowered. "It will indeed be glorious, if you can beat us, that is!"

"Hmph. You will know if we have the strength very soon!"

"Please, do show me!"

You could practically smell the gunpowder. Forget that Hall of Immortality was now allied with Candle Dragon, even before then they had been hostile toward us. The heavens must be on our side today!!

……

Buzz…

The Ghost Deity Armor turned into the Ghost Deity Shield and wrapped around my left arm. At the same time, the Mark of the Divine Arm shone and manifested the Dragon God Shield into existence. The skill would take effect the moment I was attacked!

Eyes steely, Galaxy Breaker Mage stomped the ground and summoned the Origin Energy Shield, also the signature skill of all powerful high-level mages, since this unique version of Magic Shield was twice as durable as!

Finally, the system started the countdown.

3!

2!

1!

The moment the countdown hit zero, I spurred the Armored Ice Qilin Horse toward Galaxy Breaker Mage and fired Dragon Slaying Slash at him!

Boom!

The green energy blade missed completely and hit the ground, but that was fine. I wasn’t expecting a skill with a long channeling time to deal a serious blow to an opponent like Galaxy Breaker Mage anyway.