Wei Xiao’s thought process had always been different to that of others.

When faced with this gambling contract, most people would see heavy burdens, pressure, and cruel deprivation.

Even Lu Feng, who had struggled against his fate, had only seen the burden he had to carry to move forward.

Only Wei Xiao saw the buds of new growth emerging from the decaying ruins.

And he himself was the light that broke through the night sky, the light that allowed the bud to take root and grow!

Lu Feng’s dreary heart grew bright.

The damp coldness from the rainy night was swept away, leaving behind brilliant sunshine.

“Mm.”

His voice quivered slightly with this single monosyllable.

Wei Xiao wrapped his arms around his neck and pressed their foreheads together. “Captain.”

“Hm?”

“I’m very happy.”

“……”

“I’m very happy that you showed me.”

Lu Feng: “!”

Wei Xiao wasn’t afraid of difficulties and dangers, nor did he feel burdened moving forward. He was afraid of being alone.

Lu Feng was alone.

He was also alone.

Bearing burdens alone wasn’t beneficial to the other party. Rather, it pushed them away.

For two people who loved each other, what they desired the most of all was to move forward in life side by side.

One person might find it impossible to solve a problem alone, but two people together might suddenly see the light.

When one was tired from staring on ahead, why not turn around and take a look at the person beside them?

Their ten fingers were intertwined, and the edge of the knife, the sea of fire, became insignificant.

The dark haze in Lu Feng’s heart dispersed. He looked at Wei Little Xiao, who was only a short distance away, and finally couldn’t bear it anymore.

When the two of them separated, Wei Xiao’s face was red, his ears crimson. “Captain, you kiss so seductively.”

Lu Feng: “……”

Wei Xiao, who’d previously stirred up endless trouble due to how they were abstaining from sex was now faking being serious. “Don’t seduce me. I’m going to focus on training.”

Lu Feng’s kiss landed on his neck.

The sensation made Wei Xiao’s body shiver. “We said… wu…”

Lu Feng kissed him. “Tomorrow.”

Wei Xiao’s eyes curved. “Tomorrow? In that case, captain, go for it. Please do it enough for ten days…”

Lu Feng picked him up, then went to the two meter wide bed in the master bedroom.

Later on…

Don’t worry, no matter how much he could do it, it still wasn’t possible to fit ten days’ worth in one night.

Even if Lu Feng could do it, Wei Little Xiao couldn’t.

The consequences of letting his mouth say whatever it wanted was that Wei Xiao’s eyes ended up red and his voice hoarse the next day.

Brother Cai was shocked. “You…”

Wei Xiao: “……”

Brother Cai picked up a piece of leek for him. “Supplement yourself well.”

Wei Xiao hated eating this kind of thing. “…… Get lost!”

The internet was also boiling with activity after the new competition system was announced.

The audience scolded the game organizers for being stupid, calling the new system idiotic, saying that the competition system was becoming more backwards, and claiming that it was becoming less interesting the more they changed it. They claimed that the game organizers didn’t even want money anymore.

Just from looking at the competition system for the globals, many investors also wondered about what they intended to do.

The global competition that had originally lasted for a month was now compressed to a short week. Dozens of games were now reduced to a little over ten. Were they giving up on the ticket money? Did they not want the live broadcast fees anymore? Was advertising money not attractive anymore?

Were they treating money like dung?!

It was only after the official game spokesperson came out to clarify that everyone suddenly saw the light.

The game committee wasn’t treating money like dung at all. They were releasing a long fishing line to catch big fish.

The Glory system had a gaping wound that had lasted for many years. The global competition was outstanding, but the competitions in various competition zones were in a slump.

Every global competition was given special, extra attention, and regardless of whether it was tickets, broadcasting rights, or naming rights, they were all extremely profitable.

But Glory had over ten competition zones, and their competition period lasted for nearly eight months, while the global competition only lasted for a single month even before the restructuring.

This one month created great value, but had also had a deep impact on the competitiveness of each competition zone.

The seed teams from each competition zone were clumsy and weren’t played to their fullest potential, making the competitions in each competition zone very uninteresting to watch.

The audience wasn’t stupid. Instead of spending money there, why not wait for that one month of globals?

One after another, each competition zone was sucked dry by the global competition, and the situation in some smaller competition zones became increasingly difficult.

The global competition was important, but the individual competition zones were the foundation for the globals.

The competition and the game complemented each other. If the competition in the competition zones were weakened, it would only reduce ordinary players’ devotion to the game––not all national teams were able to play and shine in the globals.

If they lost ordinary game players, then what would happen to the competition?

Fighting to the death domestically, then also having a fierce battle globally. That would be a genuinely brilliant performance.

Shortening the global competition cycle and strengthening the domestic competitions would create more exciting games.

Making the competition more brilliant would kick off a virtuous cycle.

Of course, no matter how much the game organizers and their water armies explained, the players would still scold whatever they wanted to scold.

The game officials understood the deep responsibility brought about by the love in their hearts (presumably).

Two or three days passed by quickly.

Wei Xiao had really been working hard these days. Not only were there training matches, he’d doubled his personal training, and when he had time, he would pester Lu Feng for solo like crazy.

He really wished that there were 48 hours to a day so that he could master the shadow thief’s nine light arcs.

Even Lu Feng couldn’t pinpoint exactly what was needed to fully master the nine light arcs.

Practice made perfect, but it wasn’t the case for the nine light arcs.

The theory for the nine light arcs was out there, and even the formula for the combo was very clear. Although it was more troublesome than the combo for other skills, it was still relatively easy to memorize.

The difficulty lay in the rapid changes that took place during the game.

In competitive games, it was the unexpected that made them so interesting to watch. But it was also the unexpected that made things so difficult.

There were changing talents and changing professions in the canyon, different ways of matching up equipment, and different players with different styles and positioning…

The mix was ever changing and could even be endless.

How could nine light arcs be played out amidst these changes?

It wasn’t impossible, but it was very risky.

Instead of relying on the nine light arcs, it was better to reduce the effort spent there and practice other talents. This was why most people didn’t pursue the nine light arcs.

An unstable ‘absolute kill skill’ was far less reliable compared with basic skills that succeeded 100% of the time.

There was an element of luck in competitions, but anyone who relied on luck had IQ problems.

Wei Xiao was so persistent with the nine light arcs for two reasons. Firstly, he was confident that he could achieve it, and secondly, this was something he yearned for.

He believed that he could do it, and he yearned for it because Lu Feng had achieved it, which led to his persistence.

Neither Chen Feng or Lu Feng tried to stop him, which was also related to these two reasons.

No one could do it, but Lu Feng could do it.

No one could do it, but Wei Xiao could also do it.

His self-confidence made others believe in him.

After the promotional video was released, the China competition zone welcomed its first game in the playoffs––

FTW vs GOQ.

As the first team in Group A, FTW took the lead in the playoffs.

The competition time was set at 3:30PM. FTW set out from their base to the venue at 2PM.

In the van, Wei Xiao leaned towards Lu Feng and said quietly, “Speaking of which…”

Lu Feng lowered his voice, “What?”

Wei Xiao counted on his fingers. “You promised me before that we would solo for three hours for each game we won in the regular season, ten hours for each game in the playoffs, and 100 hours for the China championship…”

This little brain of his was really the limit. He remembered everything so clearly.

Lu Feng glanced at him.

Wei Xiao chuckled. “Does that mean that we can solo however I want from now on?”

Lu Feng had really already paid out too much time soloing because of the sex ban. “Mm.”

Wei Xiao naturally had a reason for bringing this up. “In that case, this agreement can’t be voided.”

Lu Feng: “You can’t have already obtained the global championship achievement in advance?”

Wei Xiao still remembered this. “Oh yeah, if we win the global championship, then it’ll be for as long as I want.”

Lu Feng: “So?”

It would be void regardless.

Wei Xiao leaned in even closer, his breath blowing into his ear. “How about changing solo to making love.”

Lu Feng: “……”

Wei Xiao wanted to say more, but Lu Feng pulled off his coat and covered his legs.

Wei Xiao: “?”

Lu Feng held his hand under the coat. “Shut up.”

Wei Xiao’s heart felt sweet, and he quietly scratched at his palm with his fingers.

Lu Feng closed his eyes to rest his mind.

When they arrived at the stadium and the fans waiting outside saw FTW’s van, their shrill screams penetrated through the window, scaring awake the sleeping Brother Cai.

Wei Xiao slid down the window and waved to the fans.

The fans screamed even more fiercely, and there was a sentence mixed with the shouting, “God Q, where’s your husband!”

Wei Xiao: “……”

That person changed their words, “Oh, that’s not right, God Q, where’s my husband!”

Wei Xiao was originally going to let Close show up, but now, he straightened his waist and strictly blocked his captain from view.

Your husband? You must be dreaming!

Brother Cai, who’d noticed this little detail: Wasn’t sleeping great? Why did I have to wake up!

In the backstage lounge, Wei Xiao saw GOQ’s mid-laner, jungler, and support trio.

The three children stood upright and stopped just short of giving him a salute.

Wei Xiao waved his hand. “Work hard.”

The three children: “Yes, grandmaster! We will work hard, grandmaster!”

Wei Xiao was amused. “What are you working hard at?”

These three children had a sense of propriety. “We’ll work hard at lying flat!”

Wei Xiao clapped them on the shoulder. “Not bad, not bad, your futures are promising.”

Bai Cai: “…………”

Can you be a little less f*cking shameless? Was ‘your future is promising’ supposed to be used like that? Don’t insult these four words!

Their words might be bratty, but they played very seriously once they went up on the stage.

The better their private relationship was, the more they should play their hardest in the arena.

For example, when it came to the three from GOQ, after becoming grandmaster fanboys, they became even more eager to kill the grandmaster, even in their dreams.

They were too embarrassed to ask FTW for a training match, but they would regret it for a lifetime if they didn’t seize this opportunity now that they were meeting in the competition.

These three had indeed been polished by their experience, and their performance was very promising. Ten minutes into the start of the game, Wei Xiao went to GOQ’s top jungle zone to seize resources, while Little Ning provided vision from the mid-lane. “The ice mage isn’t here.”

Brother Cai also spoke from the bottom lane, “There’s only a druid here.” Which meant that the other side’s support wasn’t there.

Wei Xiao looked at the minimap and understood in his heart. “Captain!”

Lu Feng: “Okay.”

In the live broadcast room, the fans who were watching from God’s perspective were all panicked. ‘Is Quiet just going to go in alone?”

“There are three people from GOQ hiding there!”

“This red daddy is bait, and the big fish they’re trying to catch is Quiet.”

“Ahhhh, stay steady, grandmaster! We can’t afford to play recklessly in the playoffs!”

The haters also started to make noise, “Let’s congratulate GOQ on winning the first playoffs in advance!”

“They might not get the first win, but they’ll get the first kill.”

“This year’s dark horse sends out a First Blood. God Q is really godly!”

The scrolling comments were filled with scolding, but the commentator noticed more details. “Close is coming closer, but GOQ’s top-laner hasn’t noticed yet!”

GOQ’s top-laner had been pressured too miserably. He didn’t dare to poke his head out even when clearing his lane soldiers, always feeling as if the great demon king was waiting for him everywhere.

Wei Xiao finally arrived at GOQ’s red jungle zone. Seeing that the other side’s ice mage’s skill was tossed over, the berserker thief tossed his scythe towards the grass and interrupted the skill, locking in on the ice mage.

GOQ’s mid-laner’s heart was shocked, and he cried out in their team chat, “I-I-I got locked in!”

GOQ’s jungler forced himself to remain steady. “Don’t panic, there are three of us. You die first, and the two of us will get revenge for you!”

The ice mage cried and wailed. After being drawn in by the berserker thief, he saw something out of the corner of his eye, and his heart practically froze. “I seem to have caught a glimpse of the divine warrior…”

In this game, Close had taken the divine warrior.

GOQ’s jungler: “……”

GOQ’s support: “…………”

The two of them spoke at the same time, “Is there still enough time to run away now?!”

Wei Xiao could see what they were thinking in their hearts through the screen. “It’s too late.”

xiin: i think i got the chapter number right this time… *whistles*