With a 2:0 score, Lin Yixin destroyed the enemy’s ace, Song of Ice and Fire, with perfect tactics and control. It was both surprising and unsurprising in many ways. Beautiful Little Pepper was already an incredible player during the end stages of Spirit of Grief, but her skill, tactical thinking and reaction speed grew even better after she entered Heavenblessed as Wind Fantasy. The many trials of battle had strengthened her to the point where even a powerful opponent like Song of Ice and Fire couldn’t put a dent in her strong but nimble PvP style at all.

The few top-class experts in the entire China region all had their own personal styles. For example, Candlelight Shadow’s style was fast, aggressive, and constantly on the lookout for an opportunity to instakill his opponent. Li Chengfeng’s style was that of a classic overlord who would fight any foe in their best areas without surrendering an inch. Lin Yixin’s style was a nimble fighter who could always land a fatal blow from an unexpected angle at an unexpected timing. It was why she came to be known as the Fruit Knife Goddess.

Warsky Alliance’s Farewell Song was similar to Lin Yixin in the sense that he was also a top-tier, tactical-minded technician. Contradictory to his collected mind was his equal unrelenting ferocity. When he hid, he could hide until the end of the world. When he attacked, he usually didn’t stop until his enemy was dead. He was an extremely terrifying opponent to say the least. As for me, I was a flexible fighter who could turn the tap on or off depending on the situation. I could attack when the time was right, or retreat when I was clearly outmatched. I was also fairly tactical and could always pick out the most suitable timing and location to land a fatal blow on the enemy at a minimum cost. My style aimed to end a fight in the least troublesome manner possible.

And that was it. Melee-combat wise, no one else besides the people I listed above had truly formed a style that could be considered as master class. For example, High Fighting Spirits’ way of fighting could be described as a full on confrontation where the strongest person emerged as the natural victor. While it was a combat style, it was difficult to call it a style that could make it to the top.

……

The second match began very soon after Lin Yixin defeated her opponent. It was Song of Cloud and Water versus Shadow Chanel, and from our perspective, it was clear who was going to become the victor.

However, our expectations were overturned almost immediately after the battle began.

Song of Cloud and Water didn’t dismount after she appeared on the battlefield. When the countdown hit zero, she charged toward Shadow Chanel in a straight line even though it meant eating a deadly Galaxy Storm in the process. The moment she found an opening, she waved her hand and cried, "Soul Binding Art!"

Swhoosh!

A huge, cyan arm burst out of the ground, penetrated Shadow Chanel’s Magic Shield and grabbed both her legs. It was like a vengeful spirit from hell who had come to claim the mage’s life. Everyone was stunned by the skill, of course. A skill that goes through Magic Shields and immobilizes their opponents directly? It was practically the bane of all mages! No wonder Song of Cloud and Water had looked as confident as she did!

The rest of the match was simple. Song of Cloud and Water closed the distance between herself and Shadow Chanel with Charge, and hit her with Barrier Break + Triple Slash. Just like that, the strongest mage of Snowy Cathaya lost her Magic Shield and died!

"Uu…"

After Shadow Chanel was teleported out of the arena, she stared at Song of Cloud and Water from the waiting area and murmured in shock, "Soul Binding Art? How can a skill this bullshit exist? Not even Lu Chen’s God Binding Art can go through Magic Shield! Pooh, so shameless…"

Lin Yixin responded while observing the battlefield herself, "Keep your wits with you, Shadow Chanel. The Soul Binding Art must have a cast time of sorts. All you need to do is Blink away when she uses it, and you’ll be able to destroy her with your ice and fire magic easily!"

Shadow Chanel nodded and returned to the arena once more.

Song of Cloud and Water smiled at Shadow Chanel, but she stayed where she was without saying anything.

This time, Shadow Chanel moved the second the battle began and CC’d Song of Cloud and Water with her magic. It didn’t take her long to delete over 75% of the magic knight’s HP at all. However, just when it looked like victory was firmly in her grasp, Song of Cloud and Water launched a sudden attack and cried, "Ice Flame Slash!"

Swhoosh!

An icy blade wreathed in flames abruptly burst out of her spear tip. It was none other than one of Lin Yixin’s signature skills, the Ice Flame Slash! When did she learn this skill?

If there was anyone who wasn’t shocked before, they were now. It was all so unexpected. Soul Battle Robes had been hiding their strength from the beginning, but who would’ve thought that even Song of Cloud and Water had kept two powerful skills hidden until the semi-finals? The Ice Flame Slash slammed into the ground and caused a huge cloud of dust. Visibility within the dust cloud instantly dropped to zero.

Shadow Chanel knew that the situation was really bad. If her opponent were to use the Soul Binding Art now, it was almost certain that she wouldn’t be able to dodge it. Having no choice, Shadow Chanel Blinked diagonally to the side and tried to escape while the dust cloud was still covering her tracks. It was a mistake. The moment Song of Cloud and Water used Ice Flame Slash, she had run toward the right side almost as if she knew that Shadow Chanel would try to escape from there. The moment she saw Shadow Chanel, she waved her arm and trapped her with Soul Binding Art again. An absolutely pissed off Shadow Chanel attempted to kill Song of Cloud and Water with Galaxy Storms, but the magic knight had already activated War God Recovery and recovered much of her HP beforehand. What happened next was almost a carbon copy of the previous round. Song of Cloud and Water closed the distance with Charge and once again hit the defenseless dark tongue mage with Barrier Break and Triple Slash.

The 1:1 score was broken by another loss from Shadow Chanel. The overall score was now 1:1 as well.

……

"Song of Cloud and Water is good enough to beat Shadow Chanel?" exclaimed Gui Guzi as his eyes widened like saucers. "This can’t be right. Shadow Chanel’s stats and control are good enough to have an even win rate against me! And yet, Song of Cloud and Water definitely beat her with a 2:0 score…"

Li Chengfeng responded seriously, "No, you’re not mistaken. Skill-wise, Song of Cloud and Water is still weaker than Shadow Chanel. In fact, if this match was a round of 5, her chances of winning against Shadow Chanel again would probably be less than 30%. Therefore, the real reason she won is because she chose to hide her trump cards until the last moment. Not only that, she even rationed them so that she could catch Shadow Chanel out twice in a row. It is an incredible display of strategy and tactics."

I nodded in agreement. "Chengfeng’s right. The reason Snowy Cathaya lost is because Song of Cloud and Water was prepared too well!"

Lin Yixin tightened her fists a little, but said, "It’s fine. We drew, but we still have two chances to turn this around. Plus, Purple Marquis is going next, so the third match is ours for sure!"

Purple Marquis raised his blade confidently and declared, "Don’t worry, guild leader. If I fail to claim a point, you may punish me via martial law!"

Lin Yixin chuckled. "That is a bit over the top. I don’t really care if we win or lose this WEL, and it’s not like we’ll die if we fail to become the champion. All I ask of you is for you to do your best."

"Yes, guild leader!"

Purple Marquis was a very strong and loyal general. His individual strength and skill had improved by leaps and bounds ever since he joined Lin Yixin, and today he was without a doubt one the Top 10 best players in the China server. However, his opponent was the mysterious Undead Mage Ringwraith, so it was hard to say who would emerge victorious between the two. Purple Marquis knew me, Li Chengfeng and Lin Yixin quite well, so he knew our ways of fighting to a certain degree. Ringwraith though was an enigma besides everything he had shown us in the previous battles, and no one knew if he still had a trump card or two hidden up his sleeves.

……

Swhoosh!

Purple Marquis and Ringwraith appeared in the arena at the same time. As usual, Ringwraith looked like he was about to die or something, but this time he managed to curl his lips into a small but sinister smile and said, "Let’s have a good battle, Purple Marquis!"

"Likewise!"

After that, Purple Marquis raised his blade and waited patiently for the battle to begin.

The moment the countdown hit zero, Purple Marquis rushed Ringwraith and fired Vacuum Slash straight at the undead mage. The skill was his trump card for killing mages because it ignored 40% of the target’s Defense and somewhat pierced Magic Shield as well.

As expected, Ringwraith decided to Blink away to safety, and the moment he reappeared, Purple Marquis immediately Charged toward him!

Chaos Universe!

The super powerful double-hit skill destroyed Ringwraith’s Magic Shield instantly. At the same time, he waved his hand and used Absolute Zero!

The earth shuddered a little, and the undead mage was immediately trapped in a block of ice. However, 0.5 seconds before the skill could immobilize him completely, Ringwraith smiled and cast Bone Cage from his scepter!

It was terrible. Bone Cage’s shackle time was 7 seconds, but Absolute Zero’s was only 3 seconds! This meant that Ringwraith would have 4 full seconds to hit Purple Marquis with everything he got!

"Fuck!"

Purple Marquis swore before clenching his teeth in determination. He then threw his weapon at Ringwraith and shouted, "Die!"

The sword passed right through Ringwraith’s chest and sank into the rock behind him. The attack left a huge hole in the undead mage’s chest, but it failed to do any real damage at all! Purple Marquis quickly realized why. Ringwraith was a normal undead and not an Asura, so his physical body was just bones and more bones. As a result, his fatal attack had passed right between the undead mage’s ribs and made almost no physical contact whatsoever!

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Purple Marquis’s eyeballs nearly fell out of their sockets in disbelief.

After Ringwraith recovered, he said menacingly, "You dare dirty my robes, Purple Marquis? Die!"

He raised his scepter and cast Galaxy Storm, Touch of the Dragonkiss and Night of the Undead Dragon in rapid succession. It was terrifying. The first two skills already tore Purple Marquis’s fragile human body to shreds, but that last Night of the Undead Dragon dealt almost 100k damage!

The score turned 1:0. For now, Ringwraith was in the lead.

The second round began, and Purple Marquis decided to hit-and-run while searching for an opportunity to one-shot Ringwraith. However, Ringwraith was incredibly perceptive, and he was able to anticipate the warrior’s movements and catch him time and time again with Black Dragon Waves. Worse, Purple Marquis had to fight under the assumption that his enemy could cast Bone Cage and end the battle in the blink of an eye. In the end, the class disadvantage was too big, and Purple Marquis ultimately lost the third match.

Purple Marquis’s strength was undeniable, but unfortunately his class was almost completely countered by Ringwraith. There were few things as frustrating as being unable to unleash your full strength twice in a row, and Purple Marquis displayed that frustration by tossing his sword to the ground right after he reappeared in the waiting area and swearing, "FUCK! I feel like deleting my account after this match!"

Lin Yixin responded, "Calm down, victory and defeat is commonplace in battles, and it’s not like all hope is lost. We still have Qingqing, don’t we?"

Sun Qingqing shuddered in realization. "I… I suddenly feel ten times more pressured than before…"

Although Qingqing was one of the founders of Snowy Cathaya, she was really a greenhorn in gaming. She didn’t have Lin Yixin’s experience in Spirit of Grief, and this was her first time participating in a competition this big. As a result, she was so nervous that she blurted at God Bone the Iron Knight the moment she teleported into the arena, "Where are you from, uncle?"

God Bone was completely caught off-guard by the question. He replied, "Taiyuan, Shanxi. Where are you from?"

Sun Qingqing replied, "I’m from Suzhou…"

"I see…"

……

Thankfully, the impossibly awkward conversation was disrupted by the system countdown. I wasn’t sure if the audience or us could handle the second-hand embarrassment otherwise.