Crack!

130984!

The squelch of a blade sinking into flesh sounded incredibly melodious in that moment. It was also the moment Breeze and Rain realized that he had lost.

Parry was a technique that was worshipped like a god in this game. It was the level of skills countless fighters dreamed of attaining. Some people had even trained this skill to the point where they could parry tens of attacks from an expert. However, there was no such thing as an omnipotent technique, and parrying was no exception.

Parry could be defeated by a combination of absolute strength, pinpoint accuracy and incredible speed. It was how my Universe Break defeated Breeze and Rain’s supposedly perfect parry. There were three reasons the interaction happened the way it did. One, I had put absolutely every bit of power I had into the attack. Two, Dark Pupils showed me where the weak point of his parry was. And three, Breeze and Rain was faster than me, but not so fast that the third factor necessary for the destruction of parry—and Breeze and Rain’s very core of confidence—was invalidated. Long story short, the era where parry was an invincible technique was about to come to an end.

Pa!

I kicked Breeze and Rain in the chest and knocked him to the ground. I could see his fighting spirit extinguishing slowly in his eyes. Not giving him a chance to change his mind, I raised the Purple Ying Sword and used Burning Blade Slash.

Swhoosh!

Just like that, Breeze and Rain, the right hand man of God of War, died and was teleported out of the arena. Since he lost two rounds in a row, the first match was mine!

……

The score turned 1:0. Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls was now in the lead.

I sucked in a deep breath as I appeared outside the arena. The 2:0 clean sweep made it look like I was dominating from the start until the end, but I—and probably only I, since I was the one facing off Breeze and Rain myself—knew just how close it had been. A single misstep, a slight deviation in judgment, and our positions could’ve easily been reversed. Breeze and Rain was a careful man who didn’t allow even the slightest opportunity to slip through his grasp. The only reason I won was because I surprised him with Coiling Dragon Revolution during the first round, and created a whole new style in the middle of the second battle. And just because I succeeded using it the very first time, didn’t mean that I was going to succeed again on the second, third, or even the fourth try. Consistency could only come with practice, and this technique was no exception.

Of course, that didn’t stop us from celebrating the victory. Beiming Xue hugged my arm as she said cheerfully, "Big bro won! I knew big bro would be stronger than Breeze and Rain! Say, since Breeze and Rain beat Candlelight Shadow, and you beat Breeze and Rain, this means that you’re stronger than Candlelight Shadow, right?"

The comment caught me off-guard. I had just made the connection myself. I could already see Candlelight Shadow’s reputation coming under fire again after we returned to the country.

I gave Beiming Xue a pat on the shoulder and said, "Alright, time to focus on the next match. We may have won for now, but our next few opponents are just as dangerous as Breeze and Rain, so don’t let it get to your head, okay? I heard that God of War is even stronger than Breeze and Rain, and unlike him, he has both strength and speed. We look forward to your performance, Beiming!"

"Got it!" Beiming Xue said, "I’ll do my best!"

"Very good!"

Beiming Xue and God of War teleported into the arena at almost the same time. The warrior’s ridiculing smile was slight but unmistakable.

Beiming Xue summoned her Dragonscale Beast and rode it. The plan was to use her speed advantage to kite her enemy until they died. It was the tactic that defined an archer and the "royal road" among all the ways to play an archer, and Beiming Xue didn’t need me to remind her about this.

Meanwhile, God of War summoned a golden shield—Earth Shield, it stated on the combat log—that reduced his damage taken just like my Ghost Deity Shield. However, it was less effective against top-tier experts because the enemy would usually have tremendous Attack, powerful skills and amazing equipment. It mattered if you could tank a few more hits than otherwise, but not that much.

Swhoosh swhoosh swhoosh…

Cyan energy surrounded God of War as he activated Great Earth Transformation. Then, he growled and activated his Divine General Skill, God of War’s Art. Starting now, every hit he dealt would be critical 100% of the time.

The Divine General Skill was incredibly deadly because every hit would deal double damage. It was especially deadly against low-Defense, low-HP classes like Beiming Xue because the tiniest brush could be fatal.

"This is the first time God of War activated his Divine General Skill…" He Yi murmured.

Lian Xin pursed her lips as she said, "This isn’t looking good for Beiming."

To be honest, I knew myself that Beiming’s chances of beating God of War were less than 30%.

The moment the battle began, Beiming Xue moved to the back and let the Spiraling Arrow Blades, Skypiercers and Evil Spirit Volleys go wild. The skills were powerful and ate away at the blazing berserker’s HP like crazy, but God of War had almost 400k HP. He used an HP-buff card instead of a damage-boosting one because he already had God of War’s Art on. It wouldn’t have made that much of a difference.

God of War didn’t try to rush things. He waited until he had 35% HP left before launching his assault. Activating War God Rampage all of a sudden, he tanked Beiming Xue’s Freezing Arrows head-on and rushed her like a lightning bolt. He knew he wouldn’t be able to Leap away to safety either because it was in cooldown. He used a skill called Inferno Sixtuple Slash that, as its name suggested, hit its target six times, and although Beiming Xue managed to parry two, there was no chance she could survive the remaining four.

Our dark archer lost the first round, and the score turned 0:1.

When the second round began, Beiming Xue got lucky and triggered the Ice Soul effect of her weapon while firing an Evil Spirit Volley. The ice didn’t just freeze God of War’s feet to the ground, it also prevented him from using War God Rampage. Skypiercer + Spiraling Arrow Blade combo later, Beiming Xue trapped her opponent with Well of the Abyss, waited until right before the skill came to an end, and shot another Skypiercer to God of War’s face. The Windchaser set was just too good at armor penetration, and not even 400k HP was enough to save God of War.

The score turned 1:1, and now the match was tied. Again, I must repeat that Beiming Xue was insanely lucky to have triggered Ice Soul at that exact time. God of War was certainly aware of it judging from how red he looked.

The third match was the deciding match, and unfortunately, Lady Luck wasn’t on Beiming Xue’s side this time. She kited her heart out, but God of War’s equipment was just too good. In the end, Beiming Xue died to the devastating Inferno Sixtuple Slash.

Swhoosh!

After Beiming Xue teleported out of the arena, she gave us a shrug and said, "Sorry I lost, big bro…"

I pouted. "Are you kidding me? That guy has a skill that hits six goddamned times in rapid succession. Even I would have a hard time trying to parry them all, much less you. Where the fuck did that lucky sonuvabitch pick up that skill anyway? If I had a skill like that, I could’ve beaten Breeze and Rain without all the bruises and scars…"

Beiming Xue giggled. "You have a big heart, don’t you big bro? I wouldn’t be able to joke in this situation!"

I glanced at Lian Xin next and asked her, "What do you mean? It’s Lian Xin’s turn now. She’s absolutely going to kick her opponent’s ass, right Lian Xin?"

The mage shot me a look. "Yes, I thank you soooooooo much for the unnecessary pressure!"

"Well, go get 'em…"

"Mn!"

……

Lian Xin versus Yeye the Witch was a mage versus archer match-up, but I was fairly optimistic that Lian Xin would take this. It was because Lian Xin’s secret class was absolutely bonkers. Telekinetic Shield, Origin Force Field, Ice Spiral Matrix; every single one of her skills was a god-tier skill in PvP, not to mention that Lian Xin herself was close to super-tier. DPS-wise, she was 100% going to outdo her opponent.

Yeye the Witch assumed evasive measures the second the battle began. She used a skill called Netherflame Volley that was similar to Beiming Xue’s Evil Spirit Volley in that it was much stronger than the usual Volley.

Lian Xin’s tactic was the same as Yeye’s; aiming to wear down her opponent while dodging their attacks. Both players fought at the range of 40 yards, and ideally, they wanted to kill their opponent without taking any damage.

Lian Xin quickly learned of her opponent’s skill when she missed three Dimensional Storms in a row. It was incredible how many spells Yeye the Witch managed to dodge despite going up against someone like Lian Xin.

"Lian Xin needs to find an opportunity to one-shot her opponent soon, or Yeye the Witch will wear her Telekinetic Shield thin and one-shot her first…" He Yi said a bit worriedly.

I nodded. "Of course. Don’t worry, I’m sure she’s looking for it already."

"Hehe, yeah…"

It was at this moment Lian Xin Blinked forward and raised her scepter up high. Touch of the Dragonkiss!

Shocked, Yeye the Witch reacted immediately by Leaping to the back. However, instead of taking a gamble and firing her spell, she ran forward and slammed all twelve of her Origin Force Fields around the magic archer. I had to admit that Lian Xin’s grasp of positioning was amazing. It was almost hilarious how Yeye the Witch was repeatedly bumped toward Lian Xin’s direction the second she hit the ground! By the time it was finally over, she was only 25 yards away from the mage!

A blue formation appeared beneath Yeye the Witch and deleted over 100k HP in an instant. Panicking, Yeye the Witch tried to escape only to step right into Lian Xin’s Gravity Trap. At that point, she knew it was over. She couldn’t believe how strong the cute, doll-like girl was.

Well, I could. In fact, I was always confident in Lian Xin’s ability to 1v1!

Touch of the Dragonkiss appeared for real this time, and Yeye the Witch was deleted from the arena.

The second round didn’t differ much from the first. Lian Xin held the absolute advantage here, and she was at her best when going up against a ranged opponent. There was no reason for her to think she would lose.

The overall score turned 2:1, and Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls earned another valuable win.

……

The calm of God of War’s face finally faded into worry. He uttered through gritted teeth, "Fuck, I can’t believe Yeye lost without being able to take a single round…"

Leaning against a nearby tree and hugging his sword, Breeze and Rain said, "Trust in your general. Shallow Sunlight won’t lose no matter what. And even if he did, it will be well-deserved. Even you have to admit that Broken Halberd Sinks Into Sand is strong…"

God of War let out a cold snort. "I know. He’s the guy who created a new style while fighting against you after all."

Breeze and Rain nodded. "Yeah. The essence of parry is speed; to move your weapon or your body fast enough to cancel the enemy’s attack. However, in that moment, he moved faster than me, found my parry’s weak point, and crushed it via brute force. Both his reaction and power are both off the charts."

God of War said grimly, "He wouldn’t be worthy to be our opponent otherwise. Anyway, let’s prepare ourselves for the 2v2. No matter what happens with Shallow Sunlight’s match, I’m not going to let the chance to face off against the Little Heavenly King of China slip by!"

"Yeah!"