Chapter 12 – Xie Shurong

Once Li Cangyu saw the terran swordsman fall into the lake, he knew that this guy was definitely Xie Shurong and couldn't help feeling excited.

It was a coincidence that old friends could actually meet in the new district!

When it had been three against six, Li Cangyu hadn't needed to say anything. The swordsman actively used a group attack to lower the opponents' blood and cooperate with the elf summoner. Li Cangyu immediately used the thunder spirit's group attack and the cooperation of the two people led to the elite group of the Wind Colour Guild being defeated in 20 seconds.

It was hard to fake a master's subconscious reaction at critical moments. Moreover, Xie Shurong was the fastest swordsman in the domestic Miracle League. Very few people could imitate his 'Light and Shadow Rotation'. Even if he hadn't done his best in the last attack, Li Cangyu immediately recognized him.

However, Xie Shurong had been away from Miracle for several years. Why was he back this time?

Li Cangyu was very confused and asked in the team channel, "A'shu, I am Old Cat of the FTD team. Do you remember?" (TL: 'A' used to indicate familiarity)

Blossoming Tree: […]

Bai Xuan: [Don't just use ellipsis. Speak up!]

Blossoming Tree: […]

Bai Xuan looked at Li Cangyu and said with contempt. "Look at him. You frightened him so much that his IQ fell."

Li Cangyu laughed. "He is probably shocked. Don't be so hard on him."

Bai Xuan's character had always been gentle and he was very kind to most people. However, Xie Shurong was definitely a special case. Every time Bai Xuan saw his ID, he would be filled with so much anger that his teeth itched and he wanted to beat Xie Shurong up.

At that time, Xie Shurong took advantage of the agile swordsmans.h.i.+p and skills of the terran swordsman and specialized in killing healers. Every time FTD played against the Flying Feathers team, Xie Shurong would get close to Bai Xuan, constantly interrupting and not letting Bai Xuan use a skill.

Killed once… well, it was the right idea to kill the healer in a group battle.

Killed twice… he blamed himself for the mistake.

Killed three times… Bai Xuan was very depressed.

Xie Shurong chased this small priest and killed him 10 times! Was this killing your father's enemy?"

In that game, FTD undoubtedly lost to the Flying Feathers team. After the game, Xie Shurong ran over, stood in front of Bai Xuan with a smile and stretched out his hand. The always good-natured Bai Xuan didn't shake hands with him, actually picking up his keyboard and turning away.

Xie Shurong made a puzzled expression and Li Cangyu patted his shoulder. "Xiao Bai ordinarily doesn't become angry. The consequences of his anger if very serious. Maybe he will never talk to you later."

Xie Shurong, "…"

Since then, everyone in the Miracle Professional League knew that Xie Shurong had provoked Vice-Captain Bai, so that the good-natured vice-captain didn't shake his hand…

Unfortunately, FTD disbanded not long after that incident and Li Cangyu and Bai Xuan moved to Wulin with their few remaining teammates. Xie Shurong also left the Flying Feathers team for some reason and he was never seen again.

These old matters were still vivid but time flew quickly. In today's Miracle League, these stories were just legends.

***

The three people were somewhat emotional from recalling the past.

After a long silence, Xie Shurong typed a question: [Cat G.o.d, Vice-Captain Bai, why are you in Miracle's new district? I heard that you went to play Wulin together?]

Bai Xuan replied: [The team's performance was bad and it disbanded.]

Xie Shurong touched his nose and typed: [Vice-Captain Bai, are you still angry at me for the previous thing?]

Bai Xuan immediately denied it. [No!]

He denied it so quickly and with an exclamation mark. Wasn't it obvious that he was angry?

Xie Shurong smiled helplessly. He only followed his captain's tactic of 'killing the healer and then Cat G.o.d'. He managed to kill Bai Xuan 10 times because the members of FTD didn't protect Bai Xuan at all, always letting Bai Xuan fall under his sword.

In the field of battle, it wasn't easy to let the other team's healer go.

Perhaps in the eyes of Bai Xuan, he thought that Xie Shurong felt the FTD team was too weak and deliberately bullied them?

Xie Shurong really didn't have such thoughts.

He might've been young and frivolous at the time but most players in the league agreed about the standards of Cat G.o.d and Vice-Captain Bai. Xie Shurong had been a player who just debuted and couldn't despise the predecessors who played Miracle for a long time.

In fact, he felt quite sorry for Cat G.o.d and Vice-Captain Bai. He always felt that these two G.o.d players were too wasted in the FTD team.

However, this incident wasn't easy to explain. Despite so many years pa.s.sing, it seemed that Bai Xuan was still concerned about the grudges in the game. Xie Shurong skipped this topic and asked, "The two of you are in the new district. Are you planning to return to the league?]

Li Cangyu straightforwardly said, [That is the idea.]

Xie Shurong sent a row of admiring thumbs up. [Great.]

This was the spirit of perseverance!

The team had been disbanded two times yet he still had the courage to try again. This was Cat G.o.d!

Li Cangyu asked: [What about you? What are you doing in the next district?]

Xie Shurong replied: [I'm just bored and playing casually.]

Bai Xuan sent a contemptuous expression. [Bored and playing casually? This excuse would only trick three year old children!!!]

There were so many exclamation points. It seemed that Vice-Captain Bai was really biased against him.

Xie Shurong tried to imagine the mild-mannered man being angry and found it impossible. He thought that Vice-Captain Bai was just joking with him and replied: [Okay Vice-Captain Bai, don't be angry. Can I honestly explain?]

Bai Xuan smiled. [Hurry and confess!]

Xie Shurong quickly typed a paragraph to explain. [In fact, after I left the Flying Feathers team, I joined the ICE team in the United States and played there for two and a half years. However, Miracle is launching the World Compet.i.tion next year and I have a Chinese nationality. It isn't good to continue staying on this side of the world. I think it is better to return home after my contract expires and see if there are any teams willing to take me on. The national server opened a new district so I was practicing with a side account. I didn't expect to meet the two of you here.]

Li Cangyu immediately captured the key point in his words and asked directly: [When will your contract expire?]

[The end of this year.]

[Do you plan to return to the Flying Feathers team?]

[I won't return there.] Xie Shurong's words were very decisive.

Li Cangyu couldn't help smiling. [Then why don't you come to our team?]

Xie Shurong was surprised. [You are forming a new team?]

[Yes. At present, I haven't found all my teammates yet. If you join, I have a bit more confidence about winning the champions.h.i.+p.] Li Cangyu said this without changing his expression.

[…] Xie Shurong was speechless at Cat G.o.d's strong self-confidence. [Cat G.o.d, don't joke around like there. There are so many good first-cla.s.s teams domestically. Flying Feather, Time, Wind Colour, Ghost Spirits, Pure Cleansing… do you have the confidence to kill all these strong teams?]

[I'm not joking.] Li Cangyu said confidently. "There are many strong domestic teams but they are also people. People have weaknesses and can lose. I don't think I will be worse than them."

[…] Xie Shurong smiled and didn't take this sentence seriously.

Self-confidence was a good thing but a confident person wouldn't necessarily succeed.

From his point of view, Li Cangyu's personal ability was indeed first-cla.s.s. However, Miracle was a team compet.i.tion. The FTD team had been too weak and helplessly disbanded. It was difficult to imagine that Li Cangyu, the captain of a weak team, could bring a newly formed team to directly win the champions.h.i.+p.

The number of masters in the domestic Miracle League was like clouds. Don't talk about the super hard to beat Captain Ling Xuefeng of the Wind Colour team. There were the sharp swordsmen of the Flying Feathers team, the a.s.sa.s.sins of the Ghost Spirits, the kiting ability of the Time team… the performance of these strong teams were very stable and had their own style of play. It was impossible to beat them all with the same style.

Li Cangyu knew his doubts and spoke bluntly. [I have signed a contract with the Dragon Warriors Club, which will provide me with the best platform. As for teammates, you shouldn't be able to deny our Vice-Captain Bai's healing? We also have a talented knight in the front row. If you join, the front row of a terran swordsman and beast paladin will be very stable.]

[…] Xie Shurong hadn't expected Cat G.o.d to be so serious and stayed silent, carefully reading the words.

"In this team, the front row of defense and the back row of healing is guaranteed. The next step is to look for outputs.] Li Cangyu asked: [My output level, what do you feel about it?]

[…] Xie Shurong, who was once abused by Cat G.o.d by someone in the dueling arena, didn't know how to answer this question.

[A'shu, I won't ask about the reason why you left Flying Feather. But a good horse can't eat gra.s.s. The Flying Feathers team has too many swordsmen, there is no place for you. The other masters in the teams are like clouds and you are from the past. You might not be able to play in the main team so it is better to give yourself a new beginning.] Li Cangyu typed very quickly: [I very much welcome you to join my team. Do you want to think about it?]

[…] Xie Shurong was stunned silent for a moment. Then he replied: [I'll think about it and give you an answer.]

Bai Xuan had been watching Li Cangyu's explosive speed as he tried to convince Xie Shurong to join the team. Once he finished, he couldn't help saying, "Shouldn't you ask me before typing all that? When did I promise to be your vice-captain?"

"Haven't you always been?" Li Cangyu turned back. "I have already decided that you are the vice-captain."

"…You really have decided!" Bai Xuan watched him helplessly. After a pause, he asked seriously, "Is it appropriate to bring Xie Shurong in?"

"I think it is quite appropriate." Li Cangyu looked up seriously at Bai Xuan. "You should know the level of Xie Shurong. Domestically, he is definitely a first-tier player. As one of the famous three swordsmen line in the league, there is no need for me to speak about his personal strength. You should be clear about it after being killed by him so many times. In addition, he had experience with playing against foreign giant clubs. This can also provide me with new ideas in terms of tactics."

Li Cangyu saw that Bai Xuan still felt complicated and gently patted him on the shoulder. "Don't you dislike him because Xie Shurong used to kill you in the arena? If he really joins our team, you can bully him every day with your ident.i.ty as the vice-captain."

Bai Xuan, “…”

Bullying him every day?

Bai Xuan couldn't help smiling when he thought of this.

When he thought about how the tree who used to always kill him in the arena would one day fall into his hands, it felt really… great!

Xie Shurong suddenly gave a big sneeze from where he was sitting in front of the computer.

Chapter 13 – Hunting and Protection

Li Cangyu hadn't expected to meet Xie Shurong in the new district.

He was very impressed with Xie Shurong. Three years ago, Li Cangyu had just turned 20 years old and the Miracle Professional League was in its third season. This was the year that FTD's performance was too poor and they disbanded. It was also the year that many talents joined Miracle's Professional League.

There were many talented players on the field that year. The Best Newcomer Award went to the angel white magician, Cheng Wei and the Most Promising Rookie award went to the terran swordsman Xie Shurong. These two awards could be considered to have the greatest degree of recognition for newcomers to the league.

Cheng Wei was directly promoted to vice-captain of the Time team after winning the Best Newcomer Award. Meanwhile, Xie Shurong inexplicably left the Flying Feathers team after winning the award and his whereabouts afterwards was unknown.

The other players in the league didn't seem to know what happened with the Flying Feathers team in the past. Li Cangyu was also very confused but it involved the inside story of other teams and it wasn't easy to ask directly.

Xie Shurong ran to the American ICE Club to play the game. This meant he was the same as Li Cangyu, who was in the United States.

[If I remember correctly, the ICE Club is in New York?] Li Cangyu asked on the team channel.

[It is in New York.]

[Are you used to playing the game here?]

[The environment and teammates are good. But I'm not used to the food. Every half-cooked steak everyday makes me want to vomit.]

[I'm also in New York with Bai Xuan. Do you want to come over for dinner tonight?] Li Cangyu added another sentence. [Our Vice-Captain Bai can cook delicious meals.]

Bai Xuan couldn't help looking at Li Cangyu. "You are trying to do anything to pull him in. Are you actually selling my cooking?"

"Your cooking is good." Li Cangyu turned back and smiled. "If we feed him a delicious meal, maybe he will be tempted to join?"

Bai Xuan asked, "Do you still want me to make braised fish for you?"

Li Cangyu earnestly said, "I just ate braised fish in the morning and I want steamed fish at night."

Bai Xuan, “…”

Every time he cooked, he needed to prepare a plate of fis.h.!.+

***

Xie Shurong saw Cat G.o.d's sentence and couldn't help feeling greedy when he saw the IDs of Love to Eat Braised Fish and Love to Eat Twice-cooked Pork.

[Where are you? I will look for you in the evening. It has been a long time since we've seen each other and we can chat.] Xie Shurong no longer hesitated. He immediately typed a positive reply because he wanted to taste Vice-Captain Bai's cooking. He had heard that Vice-Captain Bai was good at cooking.

Li Cangyu sent the address of his sister's house and asked him: [What time do you finish training?]

[5 o'clock.]

[Then come over for dinner at 6 o'clock?]

[No problem!]

The two people were chatting in the game when there was a system prompt and the escort NPC's head glowed red. Apparently, another team had come to intercept the bounty mission!

After being sent to the independent instance, Li Cangyu looked over the battle list and saw that the elite group of the Time Guild had intercepted them.

—Time Machine, Time Bean, Time Ocean, Time Dumpling, Luo Xiaoluo, Tang Xiaotang.

Among them, Li Cangyu knew Luo Xiaoluo who was the elf archer he teamed up with. Luo Xiaoluo also considered him a fan of Cheng Wei and sent him a lot of invites to join the Time Guild.

Li Cangyu couldn't help smiling. He typed on the area channel: [Is it the Time Guild?]

Luo Xiaoluo also recognized him. [Braised Fish, this is really a coincidence! Why is it only the three of you?]

Li Cangyu said: [We don't have enough people.]

Luo Xiaoluo cried out: [It is better for you to join our guild! As long as you join the Time Guild, things will be much more convenient. Many guild members are doing bounty missions. You just need to shout in the guild channel and you can instantly fill one six member elite team!]

Li Cangyu, […]

This person was definitely a super-responsible guild promoter.

Li Cangyu naturally couldn't join Time so he sent a smiling expression. [Forget it.]

The Time Guild's voice channel.

The president, Time Machine asked with confusion, "Xiaoluo, this is the powerful elf summoner that you told me about before?"

"Yes, this is him!" Luo Xiaoluo replied.

His teammate Time Bean looked at the information of the bounty mission and was surprised. "President, the reward for the bounty mission has increased. The gold coins increased by 1,800 coins and experience by 18,000. This shows that they have just killed a six person team!"

This was the thrill of the bounty mission. Li Cangyu killed the six member team and added 1,800 gold coins and 18,000 experience. The current rewards have reached 2,800 gold coins and 28,000 experience. If Time was successful, these rewards would be given to the Time Guild. But if the Time Guild also failed, the rewards would continue to acc.u.mulate.

As long as the people doing the bounty mission were strong enough, the rewards would continue to s...o...b..ll.

Time Machine was the president of the guild and wasn't lacking gold and experience. However, he had a very strange intuition that this Love to Eat Braised Fish wasn't simple.

Previously he hadn't cared when Luo Xiaoluo said that this person was a master. After all, it was too rare for brilliant people to play an elf summoner. But the fact that these three people could kill a six member team indicated that Love to Eat Braised Fish truly wasn't weak.

Time Machine carefully considered it before giving an order. "Everyone first stand by, I will investigate."

Then he quickly sent a message to the undercover guild members in the guild management group. "The various undercovers in the other guilds, were there any six member elite teams in your guild that was completely destroyed?"

An undercover member soon typed: [Wind Colour's vice-captain, Wind and Clouds are Light had his team wiped out just now. It was announced in the Wind Colour channel that all six people were wiped out and the president asked what happened. They said that the person who killed them was called Braised Fish.]

"…" Time Machine was shocked!

He thought that the Love to Eat Braised Fish team had wiped out a common group pa.s.sing by. Yet it unexpectedly turned out to be the Wind Colour elite team!

The several major guilds often had large-scale guild wars for robbing bosses and other activities. Therefore, he was quite certain about the strength of the Time Colour Guild.

It was simply incredible that the six elites of the Wind Colour guild were actually killed by the three member team of Braised Fis.h.!.+

Time Machine immediately made a decision. "We will retreat first."

Luo Xiaoluo asked with amazement, "President, we aren't fighting?"

Time Machine said calmly, "These three people are unknown and it is better not to offend them. Xiaolou, since you know them, try to win them over."

It was better to recruit a master than to offend a master.

Time Machine was really calm. He couldn't understand the situation of the other side so he led the team to give up on intercepting the bounty mission and typed in the nearby channel: [We will leave this mission to you. Let's be friends. If Masters are interested in joining the Time Guild, please look for me at any time.]

[Time Machine has actively abandoned intercepting the bounty mission]

[The team of Time Machine has 100 coins and 1,000 experience deducted from each person. This mission reward has acc.u.mulated 3,400 gold coins and 34,000 experience.]

[Love to Eat Braised Fish's team bounty mission will continue.]

If a team gave up, the amount of gold coins and experience deducted would be less. Li Cangyu saw the opposite side give up and laughed. "This Time Machine is very smart."

Bai Xuan said, "I guess he heard that Wind Colour's elite team lost to us and wants to wait and see."

"Yes." Li Cangyu said, "In any case, it doesn't matter. Our mission's gold and experience has acc.u.mulated so much that someone will definitely act."

***

Li Cangyu guessed right and someone soon couldn't sit still.

The escort marker on the NPC's head had turned red, representing that the NPC's value had doubled.

They had walked 10 metres when they met another team trying to intercept the NPC and were once again transferred to a separate instance. Li Cangyu swept over the battle list and typed in the team channel: [It is the Flying Feathers Guild.]

Blossoming Tree: [Yes]

Love to Eat Braised Fish: [It isn't very good to fight against four swordsmen. You protect the healer while I kill them one by one.]

Blossoming Tree: [OK!]

The two people did a good job splitting up. Li Cangyu opened his summoner and hid behind a tree.

The Flying Feathers Guild saw that only three people were on the opposite side and didn't hesitate to rush forward, like hungry wolves seeing fat sheep.

The berserker was in the front row while four swordsmen followed closely. The goal was obvious: to kill the healer!

Bai Xuan stood behind the NPC, ready to add blood. having so many swordsman close by meant it was basically impossible to read out a healing array. Bai Xuan evaded the attacks of the other side and healed himself in an orderly manner.

Xie Shurong saw that the healer was besieged and used Spirit Lock to directly freeze the berserker rus.h.i.+ng in the front, followed by Light and Shadow Rotation!

The other four people had gathered in one place to surround and kill the healer, meaning Xie Shurong's Light and Shadow Rotation was just like cutting vegetables. His sword swept over them, directly decreasing the blood of the four swordsmen by half!

The other party's healer saw that several teammates collectively lost blood and quickly read a spell for group healing. Li Cangyu saw it and before the skill was released, he accurately summoned a water spirit and directly froze the healer.

After the frozen healer, Li Cangyu changed his pet for the thunder spirit. Thunder's Wrath was used and purple thunder descended, causing the four swordsmen to only have residual blood left.

Summon Fire Spirit, Fireball!

Instantly changing pets after using a skill! This single-target fire attack was extremely strong. The fireb.a.l.l.s were linked to the swordsman with the least amount of blood and directly killed the opponent!

Xie Shurong also wasn't idle. He used Breaking Bone Sword to also kill the residual blood swordsman in front of him!

Two swordsmen of the elite Flying Feathers team were killed in an instant, causing the captain to be momentarily stunned. However, he quickly reacted. This was the result of the healer and main T being controlled, while the positions of the four swordsmen were too concentrated.

Fortunately, the attack power of the four swordsmen was extremely strong and the healer was desperately trying to treat them. In addition, the other side's healer was also in a residual blood state.

"Kill the healer!" The captain quickly ordered.

The priest was freed from the control effect and quickly healed his teammates. The still alive two swordsmen and berserker immediately rushed towards Bai Xuan.

Four against three was still advantageous.

Bai Xuan didn't have a lot of blood left. He relied in his skilled movements to avoid several important attacks but he was being chased by two swordsmen. It was difficult for the low-defense priest to survive.

At this moment, Xie Shurong suddenly rushed over and used Spirit Lock. The swordsman with less blood was locked in place and Xie Shurong used three combos to directly kill the other party.

Li Cangyu saw him rus.h.i.+ng to kill the melee and immediately used Fireball to interrupt the enemy's healer.

Immediately afterwards, Xie Shurong chased after the remaining swordsman interfering with Bai Xuan. His sword skills were in a cooldown state so he simply didn't use any skills. He used normal attacks to decrease the opponent to resident blood, like chopping vegetables. Then once the cooldown ended, he used Breaking Bone Sword and directly finished off the swordsman!

Bai Xuan, “…”

This guy's burst of speed was really terrible, which was why Bai Xuan particularly hated him on the field. Xie Shurong was the fastest attacking swordsman in the league. He dared to even kill a berserker, let along a crispy healer. When he was chasing people with the sword in his hand, the chased person was so scared that it felt like they would have a heart attack. It was only after meeting Xie Shurong that they knew how fast a swordsman's attack was!

Bai Xuan saw Xie Shurong close in on him and couldn't help stepping back outside of Xie Shurong's attack range.

Xie Shurong was puzzled. [Why are you hiding?  I am here to protect you.]

Bai Xuan: [I'm too used to you killing me and reflexively hid.]

Xie Shurong: […]