3:1!

The number on the big display changed, and Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls’s ascension to the top was finally complete. This time, no one was able to halt our advance. Thanks to Beiming Xue, Lian Xin, He Yi and my efforts, Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls had become the champion of the WEL China nationals!

We could choose to fight out the fifth and last match, but it was unnecessary as a matter of course. We had defeated every opponent on our way to become the champion. Naturally, there was no team more qualified than ours to bear the MVP title.

The arena boiled up. The ensuing applause and cheers were almost loud enough to explode the entire central arena.

……

He Yi, Murong Mingyue, Beiming Xue and Lian Xin were hugging each other and crying. Women were usually more emotional than men in situations like this, and tears were the only way for them to express their pride and excitement.

I could barely contain my own excitement, leaning against the handrail and looking at the sky.

Gui Guzi and Li Chengfeng walked up to me, and after an exchange of smiles we put an arm around each other’s shoulders. This wasn’t an individual victory, but a collective one. Naturally, everyone in Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls had the right to partake in the joy.

Tap tap!

Someone tapped me on the shoulder, and I turned around to see who it was. The next moment, Chaos Moon slipped under my guard and hugged me. "Can I have a hug? It’s a momentous occasion."

"Do you always ask permission after you do the deed?" I complained, but returned the hug with a smile of my own. I let go a few seconds later.

High Fighting Spirits and Gui Guzi said at nearly the same time, "Why are you hugging Lu Chen only, Chaos Moon? Give us a hug too! As you said, this is a momentous occasion, right?"

But Chaos Moon immediately feigned aloofness. "Men and women shouldn’t touch each other if they’re not close…"

The manly duo immediately roared, "Get lost!"

Snowy Cathaya and Blazing Hot Lips’ members let out an uproarious laugh at our antics.

Meanwhile, Fei’er had finally returned to the stage to declare with a smile, "The moment we waited for has finally arrived. Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls has answered their fans’ expectations to become the champion for the WEL China nationals! Congratulations, Broken Halberd Sinks Into Sand, From Water, Beiming Xue, Lian Xing and Murong Mingyue! You all deserve the honor! Of course, we would also like to congratulate Soul Battle Robes for taking second place, Snowy Cathaya the third place, and Candle Dragon the fourth place. Now then, it is time to distribute the reward, and I’m sure that a lot of you have been expecting this! What rare items will the WEL show us, I wonder? Let us look forward to the birth of the Divine Armaments together!"

Hell yeah! The best part of the whole competition is finally here!

Why did we fight as hard as we did? To express our youth and energy and all the other bullshit? Of course not! It’s all for riches and bitches, baby!

……

The reward-giving phase kicked off with the reward distribution of the 33rd to 64th teams. As mentioned before, only 5 players could qualify for the reward of the play-offs, but even then, a whopping 160 players were summoned to the stage. Almost all of them were no-names, and I barely recognized a couple of faces. Their reward was Level +1, Luck +1, and a consolation prize of consolation prize. All things considered, it was better than nothing...

The next group to appear on stage was the 17th to 32nd teams. The rewards were Level +2, Luck +1, and 20000 RMB. Again, it wasn’t a bad reward. The monetary reward alone was equal to a white collar’s half-a-year income.

Next, it was the 9th to 16th team’s turn to show up. Their reward was Level +3, Luck +2, 100000 RMB and a chance to draw a prize. Unfortunately for Blazing Hot Lips and Purple Lily, their main players—Stranger of Three Lifetimes, Luo River God of the Capital and even Moonkiss—only managed to draw Earth-grade equipment. Still, the level and Luck reward were more or less handsome enough to make up for all the regrets they had experienced in this competition.

Things got a lot more interesting when it was the 5th to 8th teams’ turn to receive their reward, and Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls 222nd and Warsky Alliance were among this group. Their rewards—Level +3, Luck +3, and 250000 RMB—were way better than the previous ones, and it was almost scary how much money the WEL organizers were spending on their competition.

The best reward the 5th to 8th teams could receive was Heaven-grade equipment, and Li Chengfeng and Gui Guzi were both lucky enough to draw Heaven-grade metal armors. They were about 25% stronger than your average Heaven-grade armors, and almost as strong as some Immortal-grade ones. It was why so many players were inclined to participate in competitions like these. Unfortunately, Chaos Moon, Farewell Song, Warsky and more only got Earth-grade equipment. Their disgruntlement was clear to see.

With that done, it was time to distribute the 3rd and 4th–place rewards. Snowy Cathaya and Candle Dragon only had a world of grudge to share with one another, and they actually almost fought each other on stage. Thankfully, nothing of the sort happened. This time, the prize pool was of much higher quality than the last, and everyone got Heaven-grade equipment, or an item of equal value. Lin Yixin got a seven-star Outstanding Heaven-grade cape with stats that were comparable to that of an Immortal-grade cape, so that was nice. Candlelight Shadow got a pet egg of unknown power. Purple Marquis got a Heaven-grade sword with very good stats.

Then, it was the 2nd-place team to receive their reward. Song of Cloud and Water walked up the stage with God Bone, Song of Ice and Fire, Ringwraith and a magic knight following behind her. Of course, the reward for the first runner-up was very excellent. It was Level +4, Luck +4, and a whopping 500000 RMB. It was like hitting the jackpot.

The big display showed a short summary of their rewards—

System Notice: Player "Song of Cloud and Water" drew "Cyan Flame Blade" (Immortal-grade, Outstanding★★★★★★)!

System Notice: Player "Song of Ice and Fire" drew "Atlan Hero War Armor" (Immortal-grade, Outstanding★★★★★★★)!

System Notice: Player "Ringwraith" drew "Mage Robe of Netherspring" (Immortal-grade, Outstanding★★★★★★)!

System Notice: Player "God Bone" drew "Shield of Thunder God’s Protection" (Immortal-grade, Outstanding★★★★★)!

System Notice: Player "Remember The People" drew "Hilly Peak Helmet" (Immortal-grade, Outstanding★★★★★★)!

……

All five high-grade items that Soul Battle Robes drew were almost priceless at the current stage of this game. After this WEL, I could see the guild becoming much stronger than before, and the fact that they were a Sky City guild didn’t exactly set me at ease.

On stage, Fei’er asked Song of Cloud and Water a question, "Song of Cloud and Water, you are the team leader of Soul Battle Robes, and to be able to become the runner-up of the WEL China nationals is an impressive achievement to say the least. Is there anything you would like to say to the audience?"

Song of Cloud and Water cleared her throat before speaking in a slightly childish voice, "Well, I suppose that I only have one thing to tell everyone. Soul Battle Robes is making a comeback, and already we are in the process of transferring our core over from Spirit of Grief—in case anyone is wondering, I have the permission of my big brother, Seven-Star Lamp, to do so. We will make a name for ourselves in Heavenblessed. To all those who have supported and loved Soul Battle Robes to this day, I would like to invite all of you to join our guild! Starting now, Soul Battle Robes will fight to make Sky City the capital city of the Heavenblessed Continent!"

It wasn’t the most considerate speech she could’ve given, but I must admit that her last sentence was pretty invigorating. She was practically declaring that she would make Sky City the most impressive city in the entire world. How cool was that?

Not far away, Stranger of Three Lifetimes commented with curled lips, "Hmph hmph, looks like Sky City is going to get busy pretty soon. Interesting. Looks like Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls and Snowy Cathaya still have a long way to go…"

I smiled fearlessly. "I doubt it. We’ve met stronger opponents than Soul Battle Robes, haven’t we? Not to mention that the peerless Dark Moon City is in our hands, not theirs. Anyway, girls, let’s get up there and receive the champion rewards already!"

They burst into a giggle before lining up behind me. Together, we climbed the steps of the rainbow bridge until we arrived next to Fei’er. Speaking of which, Fei’er was a woman who almost looked immune to aging. Her real age was close to 30, but I could’ve mistaken her for a 20-year-old girl. It was one of the reasons she became the spokesperson for three of Eternal Moon games in a row...

……

After the system confirmed our identities, it quickly distributed the reward. Level +5 and Luck +5 alone were already very amazing, but the 2 million RMB monetary reward transferred directly to our bank accounts was even better!

Swhoosh!

After that, a screen appeared in front of each of us, and the champion reward roulette started spinning rapidly before our eyes. There were Immortal-grade items, pet eggs, skill books and more. Even with my eyesight, I could only make out the grades of some items. There was a 7-star Outstanding Archean-grade item and even a Divine Armament of unknown grade. It was spinning too fast for me to see, but it was shinier than all the other items in the wheel.

Beneath the circle was my ID, Broken Halberd Sinks Into Sand and the Confirm button.

My heart beat wildly as I stretched out my hand and pressed Confirm. A blue light instantly rippled across the roulette and caused it to slow down. Metal armors, legguards, skills—none of them mattered. My eyes were set on one and one prize alone, the fiery gold wristguards that were shinier than all of them. It has to be a Divine Armament!

"Stop! Stooooooooop!" I shouted inside my heart.

The wheel’s spin slowed to a crawl, but the needle was pointing at the item right before the fiery gold wristguard. I thought I was going to have a heart attack there and then. Then, the virtual wheel passed into the fiery gold wristguard’s slot!

"Oh my heavens…" The roller coaster of emotions I was experiencing was definitely going to stop my heart if this continued.

"Stop! Stop! The next slot is a fucking Earth-grade shield…" I wailed inside my head.

It was as if the heavens heard my plea, and the wheel stopped moving at that exact moment. A beep later, my reward was listed on the display—

System Notice: Player "Broken Halberd Sinks Into Sand" drew “Nine Heavens Li Fire Bracelet” (Cambrian Divine Armament, Outstanding★★★★★★★)

Fuck yeah! Overjoyed, I opened my bag and pulled out the wristguards that looked like a chain bracelet. Chains were suspended beneath the golden metal, and divine energy was surrounding it. Its stats were positively insane—

Nine Heavens Li Fire Bracelet (Cambrian Divine Armament, Outstanding★★★★★★★)

Defense: 4500

Magic Resist: 3850

Strength: +1350

Stamina: +1450

Agility: +1250

Intelligence: +1200

Tactics: +92

Passive: Increases user’s Attack by 65%

Passive: Increases user's max HP by 20000

Outstanding Property: Li Fire of Xuanming. There is a 15% chance that the user’s attack is imbued with the Li Fire of Xuanming. Deals extra damage to the target.

Property: Storage Space. User’s inventory slot count is increased by 1000.

Slots: 12

Introduction: Beyond the Nine Heavens where the Ceiling of Heaven lies burns the Li Fire that divine experts claimed was unapproachable even by the Gods. The Li Fire of Xuanming burns impossibly hot, and it has killed countless divine experts who tried to do the impossible. Countless years later, a divine bone, combined remains of all the divine experts who had burned to death, fell from the Ceiling of Heaven. After many, many rounds of refinement, the divine bone was finally turned into the Nine Heavens Li Fire Bracelet. The divine energy it contains astounds even divine experts.

Level Requirement: 185

Reputation Requirement: 500000