Chapter 22 – Dropping the Ball

Every game in the regular season of the Miracle Professional League was divided into the single-elimination compet.i.tion (winner stays on until they are defeated) and the team battles.

The arena adopted the KOF system, which meant that three players played alternately on each side. The last player to survive would win the game and the winning team would acc.u.mulate three points. The team battle was a 6V6 battle to capture the crystals. There were three crystals: red, blue and white. One crystal was worth two points for a total of six points.  This way, the total score for each match in the regular season was nine points.

This game model of the arena and team battle had been in use since the first season. It was the unified system according to Miracle's official regulations and was used in the Professional Leagues of all countries.

The eight teams in the first division would be ranked by the total number of points after two rounds in the regular season. The top four would enter the playoffs and would knock each other out until there was the winner, runner up and third place team.

This time, Wind Colour and Time met in the regular season and both had very high chances of winning the season.

Both were traditionally strong teams. No one could doubt the personal ability and command level of Ling Xuefeng. On the other hand, the old captain might've retired after the fourth season and the rookie Tan s.h.i.+tian took over as captain, but Tan s.h.i.+tian's commanding style was very flexible and responsive. He was among the leading players in the next generation of players and his strength couldn't be underestimated.

“The seats for today's game are packed. I believe that many spectators are currently waiting in front of the screen for the showdown between Wind Colour and Time." Once the leaderboard was finished, Yu Bing continued. "We know that Wind Colour's play is dominated by dark spells and most players are of the demon or blood kin races. Meanwhile, the Time team favours the light department and they are mainly elves or angel players. The two teams have truly met their match."

“Yes, it is as Sister Bing said. These two teams are old rivals and I think many people are looking forward to today's game." Kou Hongyi followed closely. "The game will start soon and the players have officially entered. Let's look at the preparations of players on both sides."

The live broadcast cut to a soundproof room. The players were already seated in their uniforms.

The Wind Colour team took the characteristics of the demon and blood kin race. They wore pure black T-s.h.i.+rts with a small amount of red embellishments. This simple black-red look was domineering. Meanwhile, the Time team had a pure white uniform with a small amount of elf green forest embellishments. They looked sunny and the style of the Time team was very harmonious.

One was dark and one bright, the two teams were clearly enemies in the Miracle League.

The screen zoomed in on the two captains. Once he saw Ling Xuefeng's handsome face on the computer screen, Li Cangyu couldn't help laughing. "This person still hasn't changed."

He was just as handsome as before and his face still had no expression.

He sat in front of the computer and quickly tapped on the keyboard with his slender fingers. This was Ling Xuefeng's habitual pre-match warm up. His hand speed was very fast and his tapping fingers dazzled the people watching. They could imagine how this man's terrible speed would erupt at key moments in the game.

Compared to him, Tan s.h.i.+tian looked relaxed as he smiled in the soundproof room. He rubbed Cheng Wei's head and didn't know what to say. Cheng Wei sent him a look before turning to his position and ignoring him.

A group of fans excitedly wrote in the comments area: Captain Tan rubbed his head! –If Vice-Captain Cheng doesn't let you rub his head, I will give you ten heads to rub!

-Our Vice-Captain debuted earlier than you and his head is smaller than yours! Don't bully him!

Wind Colour's fans said: Asking for a crus.h.i.+ng by Captain Ling! Asking Captain Ling for an outbreak!

–Captain Ling is handsome when he abuses the opponent!

–Captain Ling smiles at good opponents. When he doesn't smile, the opponents will be under an extreme psychological pressure!

The game hadn't yet started and there were already tens of thousands of messages in the comments area. It was obvious that the two teams were extremely popular. Not only were the seats full but many viewers were watching the live broadcast.

***

Finally, the hour hand pointed to 9 o'clock and the camera cut to the big screen in the centre of the stadium. The words 'The Miracle Professional League's sixth season • The last match in the first round of the regular season • Time VS Wind Colour' appeared on the screen, causing warm applause.

Yu Bing said, "Audience and viewers, the match between Time and Wind Colour is about to start. The referee is in place and let's first look at the single-elimination battle… The two captains have submitted the players order list. The first player for Time is Vice-Captain Cheng Wei while the first player for Wind Colour is Vice-Captain Yan Ruiwen. Then the first stage of the arena will be the confrontation between a white magician and a black magician."

“What a coincidence." Kou Hongyi smiled and said, "Vice-Captain Yan and Vice-Captain Cheng are the top players in the magician cla.s.s. The black and white magic are incompatible with each other and the mutual restraints are very serious. This duel will certainly be exciting!"

As he spoke, Cheng Wei's character 'Only Dedication' and Yan Ruiwen's character 'Unforgettable' entered the compet.i.tion room.

Only Dedication was wearing white angel equipment. His hands held a staff where the tip had a three layered ring symbolizing peace. The centre emitting a dazzling silver-white light. Unforgettable wore pure black magician robes and his staff had purple vines wrapped around it. The tip was similar to the shape of an eye, giving off a hint of dark arrogance.

“We can see that the weapons chosen by the two players are the angel's Bright Heart and the demon's Eye of Death. The two weapons' data are very close and maximum magic damage is added." Kou Hongyi spoke excitedly, "Vice-Captain Yan and Vice-Captain Cheng should show us the ultimate showdown between black and white magic. Let's see who can seize the chance!"

***

The match officially started.

The arena map for the regular season was very simple. It was a wide square with light marble tiles and a circular fountain in the middle for players to walk around. This terrain was fair to both players.

Kou Hongyi just finished speaking when the two players met at the central fountain on the screen.

Yan Ruiwen started with using Death Spell on Cheng Wei while Cheng Wei instantly resolved it with Purification. He followed up with Seal of G.o.d to counter Yan Ruiwen but the latter flexibly moved and evaded it.

Yu Bing explained calmly, "The level of both sides isn't much different. It is obvious that they are trying to test each other and this game might be played slowly…"

She hadn't finished speaking when Yan Ruiwen suddenly used Soul Curse black magic, hitting Cheng Wei and directly reducing his blood by 20%!

"Uh…" Yu Bing was stunned before quickly reacting. "The attack by Vice-Captain Yan is truly unexpected.  Soul Curse is an instant skill but it doesn't lock onto the target. A person with quick reactions can move a bit to evade it. Xiao Wei… is he a bit distracted?"

Yan Ruiwen was actually quite surprised. He used this trick but he didn't expect it to actually hit the opponent.

Cheng Wei's status seemed a bit wrong?

Yan Ruiwen immediately grasped this opportunity. His fingers quickly hit the keyboard and he released Dark Fear.

“It's another hit!” Kou Hongyi's tone was very surprised. "Cheng Wei is affected by fear for three seconds and is probably very uncomfortable."

A player affected by the fear status couldn't release any skills. This was a single player arena and there were no teammates to help relieve the negative state. Cheng Wei could only rely on moving to avoid the opponent's attack.

However, Yan Ruiwen wasn't a fool. Immediately after the fear hit, he used the ultimate black magic spells— Shadow Winding and h.e.l.l Flames!

The two spells. .h.i.t and Cheng Wei's blood volume directly dropped to 50%!

The audience watching the game were very confused. Cheng Wei and Yan Ruiwen were at almost the same level. It was reasonable to say that these skills should've been avoided. The match had just started yet Cheng Wai was inexplicably beaten to half blood? Where was the expected duel between masters? Why did Cheng Wei seem to be in a trance today?

The 50% blood Cheng Wei seemed to have finally recovered his spirit. He directly used Sacred Light to improve his magic defense while he used Combat Voice to attack Yan Ruiwen. The success of his pre-judgement meant that he removed 15% of Yan Ruiwen's blood. This was the standard that Cheng Wei should be at!

Yu Bing finally sighed with relief. "There were some surprises in the opening but this is a chance to see how Cheng Wei recovers from the disadvantage."

The two sides started to fight with magic. Black magic spells tended to have very strong attack power while white magic spells facoured soft control. One was bright and one was dark, the two people pouring out their spells was very exciting.

However, Cheng Wei experienced too much of a loss in the beginning. He later tried to recover the situation but Yan Ruiwen was the vice-captain of Wind Colour. His play was very calm and they had a similar level. It was impossible for him to give Cheng Wei an opportunity.

10 minutes later, Cheng Wei finally fell helplessly and Yan Ruiwen entered the second stage of the arena with 40% of his blood.

***

On the Wind Colour side, the black magician Guo Xuan sat in the spectators position and couldn't help feeling puzzled. "Is Time's vice-captain not awake?"

Ling Xuefeng frowned slightly. "Perhaps he hasn't adjusted his state."

He knew that Cheng Wei was affected by the news of Canglan's disbandment. Ling Xuefeng was very clear about the relations.h.i.+p between Li Cangyu and Cheng Wei and he knew that Cheng Wei saw Cat G.o.d as his master. This guy must've slept badly last night and the game was early in the morning. He was presumably still sleepwalking. It was normal for Yan Ruiwen to seize the opportunity to win since there was no room for distractions in a duel between masters.

In the second round of the arena, Time sent Lu Hao, who was a main elf archer of the Time team. The 40% blood Yan Ruiwen met Lu Hao and knocked out half of the opponent's blood before dying, successfully completing his mission.

Ling Xuefeng didn't openly praise his vice-captain but looked at him with appreciation.

Yan Ruiwen smiled and spoke with sitting down, "Xiao Cheng played strangely today."

Ling Xuefeng nodded. "I can see that."

Yan Ruiwen patted Guo Xuan's shoulder and said, "Xiao Guo, it is your turn."

“Yes, look at me!' Guo Xuan immediately went to his position.

Guo Xuan VS Lu Hao, both sides were having a duel using their strengths.

Guo Xuan was full of blood while Lu Hao had been knocked to half blood by Yan Ruiwen. There was no suspense about the outcome. The two people steadily fought and Guo Xuan successfully killed Lu Hao, bringing Yan Ruiwen's half blood advantage to the third stage. In other words, the half blooded Guo Xuan was about to face the last defender of the Time team.

Yu Bing frowned. "The Time team has lost two players in a row while Wind Colour's second player Guo Xuan still has 50% blood and the third player hasn't appeared yet. If the third player is Captain Ling, it will be very difficult for Time to win."

Her statement was very polite. If Ling Xuefeng played personally, it didn't matter if Guo Xuan only gave him a bit of advantage. Ling Xuefeng was almost always the winner when he played guard.

"I can see that Time's player is Ten Days, the youngest captain in the league, Tan s.h.i.+tian!" Kou Hongyi's voice increased with excitement. "Will Captain Tan make a comeback for his team? Let's wait and see!"

***

Li Cangyu couldn't help asking, "This is Tan s.h.i.+tian?"

The player's appearance was shown at the bottom of the live screen. The young man sitting at the table looked very relaxed. He had a smile on his face and didn't seem affected by the disadvantage of the previous two players.

Li Cangyu didn't know this person but after seeing his calm and excellent mentality in the face of a disadvantaged situation, he knew that Captain Xu made the correct decision when he appointed Tan s.h.i.+tian as Time's captain. Tan s.h.i.+tian was much more mature than Cheng Wei.

Sure enough, Tan s.h.i.+tian wasn't affected by the disadvantageous situation and played very calmly.

His cla.s.s was a 'bard', also known as an 'archer'. Tan s.h.i.+tian's debut was late but his reputation was the loudest. His style of play was quite elegant and flexible and he took full advantage of the agility of elves. When he stayed in the distance and kited the opponent with his bow and arrow, his winning percentage was very high.

Guo Xuan with 50% blood was soon sent off. Time's Captain Tan s.h.i.+tian had 70% of his blood left, which was equivalent to recovering 20% blood. This captain's strength wasn't normal.

Li Cangyu couldn't help praising him. "Tan s.h.i.+tian played well."

This comment meant that Cat G.o.d acknowledged Tan s.h.i.+tian's strength.

Bai Xuan couldn't help glancing over at him. "Even if Tan s.h.i.+tian recovered a bit of the situation, his health has been reduced and he also consumed a lot of blue. He will die if he faces Ling Xuefeng."

Li Cangyu replied, "He might not necessarily face Ling Xuefeng."

He just finished speaking when Wind Colour revealed their player player. ID: Shepherd, the blood kin summoner Qin Mo!

The audience was in an uproar.

Li Cangyu smiled at his correct guess.

Bai Xuan reluctantly said, "You really know Ling Xuefeng!"

"Yes." Li Cangyu honestly admitted it. "With my understanding of him, he sent Qin Mo to the arena so the group battle will be his double control with Xiao Xu, the black magicians Vice-Captain Yan and Guo Xuan will be the outputs, plus a berserker in the front line and a blood kin sacrifice healer."

The arena battle was still ongoing and he actually guessed the lineup of the six member team.

Bai Xuan laughed. "With your worldly knowledge, the games will be spoiled in advance every time."

Li Cangyu touched his chin. "It is just my guess. I might not necessarily guess right."

Li Cangyu said this but Bai Xuan knew that his probability of guessing was almost 100%.

Li Cangyu knew Ling Xuefeng too well. Every time he guessed Ling Xuefeng's lineup against another team, he would be very accurate. However, every time they met each other, they would guess wrong. It was probably because Ling Xuefeng also understood Li Cangyu very well?

There was such a strange understanding between them that they couldn't understand each other.

From the first season to the third season, Wind Colour and FTD faced each other six times. The two captains kept guessing each other's thoughts and the result was that they guessed wrong. They never faced each other on the arena!

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Chapter 23 – Thrilling Moment

Li Cangyu knew that if Ling Xuefeng personally appeared as the guard, Wind Colour would definitely be able to win three points in the single-elimination battle. However, he gave this opportunity to the newcomer Qin Mo who just debuted this season. It was obviously to hone his young apprentice's mind.

As the captain, sometimes the team's performance wasn't the only thing to be considered. It was also the status of each team member.

Qin Mo was Ling Xuefeng's apprentice and his debut came with a halo. Combined with his young age, he found his own position relatively easily after playing a few times. Now Ling Xuefeng put him as the third player in the arena against the master Tan s.h.i.+tian. It was estimated that Ling Xuefeng was ready to lose three points.

Sometimes words wouldn't have as deep an effect as personal experience. Ling Xuefeng often used such cruel but effective methods to let players completely wake up. He was the league's least nonsense and most effective captain.

Li Cangyu thought this and couldn't help sighing in his heart.

The pressure on Ling Xuefeng's shoulders during these years wasn't much smaller than Li Cangyu's own. Li Cangyu was the captain of a weak team. It might be difficult to win a game but no one would scold him when the results were poor and his mentality was more relaxed. Meanwhile, Wind Colour had always been a big club. Every time they lost a game, Ling Xuefeng would be scolded by the sunspots on the Internet. If he didn't win the champions.h.i.+p, he would have to face various pressures such as sponsors.h.i.+p funds and advertisers.

Still, Ling Xuefeng was a tough person. Every time the Wind Colour team encountered troubles, he would take the responsibility. This made the team members have an unconditional trust in him.

No matter who played in the arena, the team members wouldn't say a word as long as it was under Captain Ling's orders.

The fans weren't as rational. Once they saw that the guard wasn't Captain Ling but his apprentice Qin Mo, many people questioned it in the comments:

-Xiao Qin has performed well but his experience is still insufficient. Captain Tan might be able to make a comeback.

–I admit that the young apprentice has potential but isn't Captain Ling too bold to put the young newcomer in the guard position?

–Why didn't Captain Ling personally go? Win in person!

The Wind Colour fans were disturbed while the Time fans saw hope. In the comments area, they screamed:

-Cheering on Captain Tan's comeback!

–Don't be polite to Wind Colour's Qin Mo!

***

Tan s.h.i.+tian's expression didn't change when he saw that Wind Colour unexpectedly sent the rookie Qin Mo.

No matter who the opponent was or the current situation, he always had a relaxed and happy expression when playing the game. It felt like he enjoyed every type of game. Li Cangyu didn't understand Tan s.h.i.+tian's style of play yet but this mentality was really very rare.

In contrast, Qin Mo seemed excited. His fingers were slightly shaking as he pressed them against the keyboard.

This was the first time he played against Tan s.h.i.+tian. He must play well in order to live up to his master's trust and prove his strength.

At present, he was full of blood and blue. Meanwhile, Tan s.h.i.+tian only had 70% blood and 75% blue. The advantage was still quite big!

Qin Mo took a deep breath and wanted to call out his four blood kin pets in order to surround the person. Suddenly, one person's words filled his mind. 'You rushed all out with your pets without knowing the strength of your opponent. In fact, you have been pa.s.sive since the beginning.'

—Sender: Love to Eat Braised Fish.

Qin Mo was stunned as he remembered the words he exchanged with Love to Eat Braised Fish. His fingers couldn't help hesitating.

Was it too rash to call out four pets? Qin Mo thought about it and simply summoned his death knight. He wanted to improve his defense first and then seize the opportunity to counterattack.

However, Tan s.h.i.+tian didn't give the opponent a chance to defend against the attack. He saw that Qin Mo summoned the death knight and unceremoniously fired the bow and arrow in his hand. He shot five consecutive arrows in an incomparable manner and instantly killed QIn Mo's defensive pet!

"Tan s.h.i.+tian is an archer and his bow and arrows belong to the cold weapon type. This is meant for breaking the defense system of the fragile magic cla.s.ses. Qin Mo's actions aren't reasonable. In front of an archer, it is impossible for a summoned death knight to defend." Yu Bing disagreed with Qin Mo's approach but she still gave the young teenager some face, tactfully saying, "As a newcomer facing Captain Tan, Qin Mo's desire to be defensive is understandable."

When Qin Mo had played against Li Cangyu, both of them were summoners of the magic cla.s.ses. Meanwhile, Tan s.h.i.+tian was an archer who used cold weapons and the playing strategies against him were completely different. Qin Mo once again fell into thinking the wrong way.

Li Cangyu couldn't help frowning slightly. "Qin Mo is looking for death in this game."

Xie Shurong spoke up, "He was abused by you once and has slowed down. It is obviously a problem of his mentality."

Li Cangyu nodded. "It seems Ling Xuefeng was right in his desire to hone Qin Mo's mind. I didn't do my best when I abused him that day."

Xie Shurong, "…"

If Qin Mo heard these words, it was estimated that he would be crying because of Cat G.o.d!

***

On the field, the death knight was killed and Qin Mo couldn't help remembering the day he fought Love to Eat Braised Fish in the game.

Tan s.h.i.+tian wasn't nervous. As the youngest captain in the league, his qualifications were first-cla.s.s and his ability to grasp opportunities extremely strong. The moment Qin Mo's thoughts were wandering, dense arrows fell from the sky.

Death Arrows Rain!

"Captain Tan has directly used a big move!" Kou Hongyi couldn't help marveling. "It is the ultimate technique of an archer and Captain Tan really isn't polite! He caught the moment when Qin Mo had no pets and used this ultimate big move, directly knocking out 35% of Qin Mo's blood.

Yes, Tan s.h.i.+tian used less than five seconds to reverse the advantage made by the previous hard-working members of Wind Colour.

This move was greeted with enthusiastic applause. It was apparent that the Time fans were cheering for their captain's decisive shot.

All previous advantages were gone…

Qin Mo's fingers started to shake and he felt that his mind was blank. The keyboard shortcuts that he clearly remembered were a bit fuzzy and he didn't know what to do next.

How should he fight so that he wasn't suppressed?

Qin Mo wondered this and got a splitting headache.

Shock Shot!

Rapid Shooting!

Seize Life Shot!

Tan s.h.i.+tian fired his arrows and three consecutive moves. .h.i.t Qin Mo again!

Qin Mo was like a target, stupidly standing there to be hit by Tan s.h.i.+tian, the three moves directly reducing his blood to 40%.

This was simply a master abusing a weak person.

Even if the player for Wind Colour was a newcomer, how could he be completely suppressed by Tan s.h.i.+tian without making an effort to fight back?

The netizens were upset while Yu Bing couldn't help frowning. "It might be because today's match is at 9 in the morning. Perhaps it is too early and some players aren't fully awake?"

She endured it for too long and couldn't help letting out some venom in her words.

She woke up early in the morning to commentate only to be shown this?

The game was extremely disappointing. Cheng Wei was sleepwalking and somehow had 50% of his blood knocked out. Meanwhile, Qin Mo seemed to have lost his soul and stood there in the same spot, acting like a target as he was destroyed by Tan s.h.i.+tian. Yu Bing even felt there she was in the wrong place.

Wasn't this the showdown between the giants of Wind Colour and Time? Why did it feel like a match between weak teams?

In the arena, Tan s.h.i.+tian killed Qin Mo without any pressure. Qin Mo had been full of blood and Tan s.h.i.+tian had 70% blood when the duel started. When Qin Mo died, Tan s.h.i.+tian still had 70% blood.

Qin Mo didn't knock out a single drop of blood from Captain Tan.

Qin Mo looked at the screen that turned grey when his character died and was pale and bloodless, his expression looking like he was about to cry.

Tan s.h.i.+tian might've easily won the arena battle but his heart was full of doubts. 'What happened?' Captain Ling's apprentice shouldn't be so weak.

***

The soundproof room of the Wind Colour team.

Ling Xuefeng didn't say anything to Qin Mo when he saw Qin Mo coming over. He just looked calm as he said, "Prepare for the group battle."

Qin Mo didn't need to fight in the group battle and could only sit quietly in the corner. His head bowed low as he feared attracting other people's attention.

There was a five minute intermission before the group battle started.

There were many Miracle team battle maps and the crystal refresh point in each map wasn't the same. However, professional players were already familiar with the library of maps and there would be no unfamiliar maps.

During the regular season, the two sides would exchange maps for the home and away games. Today was the home match of the Time team so Tan s.h.i.+tian selected the map.

Once the group battle began, Tan s.h.i.+tian sat in the command position and his mouse quickly scrolled through the maps library, selecting one.

—Frost Temple.

Commentator Kou Hongyi smiled and said, "This map is an instance in the online game. Online game players should be familiar with it?"

Gu Siming actively replied, "Yes, we are currently clearing this instance!

Bai Xuan was speechless. "He can't hear your answer…"

Xiao Gu scratched his head and said with a smile, "In Frost Temple, the refresh locations of the three crystals are very close. No matter which one the teams try to steal, there will certainly be major battles!"

Li Cangyu asked, "Xiao Gu, you are very familiar with the league maps?"

Gu Siming nodded. "Yes, I have studied all the maps and know the crystal locations."

Li Cangyu exclaimed, "You did your homework well."

In some game maps, the crystals would refresh at the 12 o'clock and 6 o'clock positions and the two sides might miss each other.

There were also maps like Frost Temple, where the crystals refreshed in three consecutive rooms. It meant that no matter which crystal they went after, they might encounter opponents and a team battle was unavoidable.

“Frost Temple is a circular map. The red, blue and white crystals will respectively refresh at points one, two and three with only one wall between them. It seems that Captain Tan is ready to fight the Wind Colour team."

Yu Bing just finished speaking when the players list for both teams appeared on the big screen.

Time had a beast paladin in the front row, three elf archers as remote output, Cheng Wei's angel white magician for control and an angel priest for healing.

On the Wind Colour side, there was Ling Xuefeng's demon summoner, Xu Feifan's blood kin summoner for double control, Yan Ruiwen and Guo Xuan's black magicians playing output, a beast berserker in the front row and a blood kin sacrifice healer.

Bai Xuan looked at Li Cangyu and couldn't help raising a thumb. "Wind Colour really sent out this lineup. You guessed Ling Xuefeng's layout."

"It is just a coincidence."

This was too much to be a coincidence. The game was about to start soon and Bai Xuan had no time to discuss the coincidence with him.

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Chapter 24 – Wind Colour VS Time

Frost Temple was located in the Divine World in the game. It was the place where the angels wors.h.i.+pped the G.o.d of Light. The ice-blue buildings soared into the clouds and the entire temple was large enough to accommodate thousands of people. It looked very magnificent.

The Frost Temple in the match was scaled down and all the angel guards removed. It was completely empty with a red, blue and white crystal refres.h.i.+ng in three adjoining rooms.

Crystals close to each other were the most difficult to play. Tan s.h.i.+tian selecting this map showed that he was confident in the Time team's abilities in a group battle.

The referee pressed the indicator light and the team battle officially began!

If the Frost Temple map was regarded as a clock, then the 12 o'clock position was the Wind Colour team's birth point. The 1 o'clock position was the red crystal refresh point, the 2 o'clock position was the white crystal refresh point, the 3 o'clock position was the blue crystal refresh point and the 4 o'clock position was the Time team's birth point. In other words, the five positions were exactly fan-shaped and the three crystals were sandwiched between the birth points of both sides.

In the Miracle Professional League, the rule was that the red and blue crystals refreshed at the same time 30 seconds after the game started. Once the blue and red crystals were taken away, the white crystal would refresh in the form of the last boss.

It was easier to compete for the red and blue crystals since the players who attacked it would only lose blood or blue. The white crystal was more troublesome. It would give random negative states to the people who attacked it, such as weakness, fear, confusion etc.

***

At the beginning of the game, the Wind Colour was led by Captain Ling Xuefeng to wait behind a huge pillar at the 2 o'clock position. Ling Xuefeng's idea was very clear. The Wind Colour team lost the arena match and were currently at a 0:3 disadvantage. They must win the team battle to get points.

If Tan s.h.i.+tian went to the nearest room to take the blue crystal, they would definitely pa.s.s the fork in the process of transporting the crystal home. Ling Xuefeng set up an early ambush him in order to intercept the crystal in the middle.

Yes, in Miracle, the crystal needed to be moved back to the birth point in order to receive the points. It could be intercepted in the middle and all the previous efforts lost, just like the bounty mission.

Tan s.h.i.+tian's idea was very simple. In a 3:0 dominant situation, he wouldn't lose in scores as long as he won the blue crystal.  Therefore, he took the Time team to the refresh point of the blue crystal at 3 o'clock.

Yu Bing had the perspective of a G.o.d and couldn't help saying, "Wind Colour's ambush point is just outside Time's field of view. It seems a group battle will be inevitable later."

"In this map, if Wind Colour takes the red crystal and Time takes the blue crystal, both sides can peacefully gain two points." Kou Hongyi paused. "Captain Ling's actions… does he want to take all six points?"

"There is this possibility." Yu Bing calmly explained. "Captain Ling's style has always been more offensive than defensive. He might currently have the inferior score but he won't play too conservatively. After all, it is the first round of the regular season. Even if he loses, the impact won't be too big."

Six points, this was actually very difficult to gain in a group battle.

In the Miracle League, most games consisted of each team winning a red and blue crystal. Then they would compete fiercely for the final white crystal.  In order to take three crystals in one go, a careful tactical arrangement was needed as well as some luck.

Wind Colour was lucky today and their ambush location wasn't discovered by Tan s.h.i.+tian.

The members of the Time team peacefully attacked the blue crystal.

The Time members moved quickly. Everyone let out a burst of hand speed and the blue crystal was empty of blood in less than one minute. The blue crystal changed to a 'transportable' state and a beautiful white freight car appeared in front of everyone. The blue crystal shone beautifully as it was loaded on it. They just needed to click on the car and then transport it back to the spring at their birth point.

The Time team was escorting the blue crystal out the door when a large group of crows appeared, making everyone stunned!

"Captain Ling is very decisive!" Kou Hongyi called out excitedly. "The sky is covered up. This is the demon summoner's big move, Summon Black Crows. The flying pets cause large-scale interference, causing the Time team to collectively lose their vision!"

The skill of the demon summoner's black crows, 'Cover the Sky' was the skill that annoyed Li Cangyu the most.

Li Cangyu couldn't help revealing a disgusted expression when he saw this. "A group of black crows filling the computer screen easily makes people feel queasy."

Bai Xuan also smiled. "Players in the league are afraid of Captain Ling and don't dare say it, but the demon summoner's black crows are really annoying."

"That's right." Xie Shurong immediately nodded in agreement.

Gu Siming cried out excitedly, "The black crows are so handsome! Captain Ling is so cool!"

A fanboy was really a terrible creature, Bai Xuan couldn't help thinking.

***

The Time team was currently silent. The black crows didn't have a high attack power but they were annoying since they would obscure the field of view. The skill Cover the Sky caused a large amount of demon crows to fly over, filling everyone's eyes with black.

The even more annoying thing about the Wind Colour team wasn't the demon summoner's black crows but the blood kin's blood bats.

After Ling Xuefeng's big control move, the Wind Colour member Xu Feifan followed up with an aggressive attack. "Blood Bat Festival!"

A large number of blood-sucking bats flew in the sky. It was a big group attack and the Time team's blood collectively fell.

　The negative states given by the vampire bats were terrible. If the healer couldn't keep up, the situation could become quite dangerous.

The Time team's healer wanted to use a healing array when Ling Xuefeng suddenly summoned the demon pet, a banshee. The banshee's Charm was used and directly pulled the healer over!

Charm, this was a spell from the demon banshee that could force the target to come over to her.

Once the opponent was successfully led to his side, Ling Xuefeng exchanged pets for the Skeleton Infantry, used Death Imprisonment and completely sealed the enemy within the encirclement of the Wind Colour team.

The other players in Wind Colour weren't fools. Once the captain forcibly brought the healer over, everyone tacitly attacked the healer. All four outputs focused on the healer and if there were no accidents, the healer would soon be killed.

Yu Bing saw this and couldn't help sighing. "Captain Ling is really fast and ruthless! Calling the crows to control the field of view, calling the banshee to take away the healer and then changing to the skeleton infantry to seal the retreat of the healer… In just five seconds, he changed between three types of pets and completed three precise operations. This hand speed is truly one of the best in the league. Only…"

Yu Bing's voice suddenly stopped.

—Only Li Cangyu's hand speed could fight him.

It was just that this person had left the Miracle League a long time ago.

In that year, Ling Xuefeng's demon summoner used four types of pets, such as the crows, banshee, skeleton infantry and demon to fight against the water, fire, wind and thunder spirits of Li Cangyu's elf summoner. The fierce attacks and rapidly movements meant that in every team battle between FTD and Wind Colour, a dazzling sight could be seen.

They were the well-deserved best summoners of the domestic Miracle League!

At that time, Yu Bing had been the captain of the Red Fox team. Wind Colour had won the champions.h.i.+p in the second season while the FTD team didn't even score in the top four. However, she always felt that Ling Xuefeng's strongest opponent should be the summoner Li Cangyu.

They were both summoners and knew each other best. Their pet skills were very balanced and their gameplay against each other was the most exciting.

If the two of them fought in a single arena match, in the domestic Miracle League… no, it would be a cla.s.sic battle in the world's Miracle circles.

While Yu Bing was slightly distracted, the people on the Wind Colour team had already killed the opponent's healer in seconds.

The crows' vision control was over and Tan s.h.i.+tian immediately ordered, "Retreat!"

It wasn't that he didn't have the confidence to fight with Wind Colour. However, they were ambushed and the healer had died. There was almost no chance of victory when fighting Wind Colour right now. If the Time team was wiped out, it would be harder to fight later.

The group followed Captain Tan's instructions and quickly retreated.

However, Cheng Wei didn't seem to hear Tan s.h.i.+tian's words and kept attacking. Ling Xuefeng immediately seized this opportunity and used the skeleton infantry's Death Imprisonment to fix Cheng Wei in place. Xu Feifan immediately had the blood snake bit Cheng Wei and Yan Ruiwen followed with the black magic spell Shadow Plague. Guo Xuan wasn't willing to lag behind and used h.e.l.l Flames to smash Cheng Wei!

“This is the terrible ability of the Wind Colour team!" Kou Hongyi couldn't help sighing.

Ling Xuefeng didn't need to give any commands for the other three outputs of the Wind Colour team to follow his rhythm. This was the tacit understanding created by long-term training between the four players of Wind Colour. The person who the captain controlled would immediately receive everyone's attacks.

***

Tan s.h.i.+tian got a bad feeling the moment Cheng Wei was killed.

Xiao Wei's mood was clearly wrong today. When he started the arena, he was cut to half blood in the opening. Fortunately, Qin Mo was also in a bad state and Tan s.h.i.+tian personally saved the three points from the arena matches.

Now Xiao Wei hadn't been concentrating on his commands and was caught by Captain Ling.

Tan s.h.i.+tian looked back and found that Cheng Wei's face seemed unnaturally pale.

Tan s.h.i.+tian endured the urge to ask him questions and calmly ordered, "Go back to recover our blue and blood at the birth point. Then we will go to take the red crystal."

The blue crystal had been intercepted by Wind Colour so they could only wait for an opportunity to seize the red crystal.

Cheng Wei might've made a mistake but Ling Xuefeng wouldn't make any mistakes.

As the team with the lowest error rate in the league, the Wind Colour team could completely reverse the situation in one breath as long as the chance to counterattack was given!

In the battle over the red crystal, Ling Xuefeng seized the loophole called Cheng Wei and directly used the banshee to pull Cheng Wei over!

Ling Xuefeng even killed three power and got a 15% attack bonus.

After successfully winning the red crystal, in the final white crystal battle, Ling Xuefeng with his attack bonus was like a person who controlled the dead!

[Undead Demon has killed Only Dedication, fourth kill!

[Undead Demon has killed Happy, fifth kill!

[Undead Demon has killed 10 Days, sixth kill!

……

Ling Xuefeng was such a cool and scary player.

On the field, regardless of advantages or disadvantages, as long as the other side was slightly careless, he would use this tiny mistake to make a breakthrough, directly tearing open the opponent's formation and defeating all their defenses!

This was only why most people were fans of the Wind Colour team.

This style of playing the game was enjoyable to watch. Wind Colour might be losing until they turned it around in the last 10 seconds, stimulating the hearts of the people watching.

Today they showed a wonderful comeback. They might've lost three points in the arena but they incredibly got six points in the group battel!

Yu Bing found it somewhat unbelievable. "The gap between Time and Wind Colour isn't big. It is really unexpected for there to be such a big loss in the team battle. However, Captain Ling has played for six seasons and his experience is definitely more abundant than Captain Tan. He has more tactical ideas. Captain Tan's way of thinking wasn't wrong. It was just that his team members couldn't keep up and Captain Ling seized the opportunity…"

Yu Bing saw Cheng Wei's pale face and held back her words.

The key point of the team battle's defeat was Cheng Wei. He couldn't keep up with Tan s.h.i.+tian's rhythm and was caught by Ling Xuefeng two times. In Miracle's team battles, killing a person would give a 5% attribute bonus. In the case of killing three people, Ling Xuefeng with his 15% attribute bonus definitely wouldn't be polite to the opponents.

Tan s.h.i.+tian was quite helpless. In the first round of the blue crystal battle, he had an unpredictable feeling. The strength of both sides were similar so it was normal for Wind Colour to win when a member of Time was off.

He felt a bit angry but when he saw this little guy's pale look… he wasn't willing to scold Cheng Wei.

Tan s.h.i.+tian sighed and gently rubbed Cheng Wei's head. "It's okay. It is just a game in the regular season and it isn't a big deal to lose a few points. We scored three points today so our ranking is in the top three."

As Tan s.h.i.+tian said, the game was 6:3 in favour of Wind Colour. The rankings were updated in real time and Wind Colour was currently first, Flying Feathers was second and Time was ranked third.

Tan s.h.i.+tian tried to ease the atmosphere but Cheng Wei didn't seem to buy it as he kept staring at the computer in a daze.

***

A moment later, the two captains signed to the referee to confirm the score. Then Ling Xuefeng led the Wind Colour team over to shake hands.

Tan s.h.i.+tian stood up politely and stretched out his hand. "Captain Ling, you played well today."

Ling Xuefeng shook hands with him and said, "Captain Tan is very kind."

In any case, Ling Xuefeng debuted in the first season while Tan s.h.i.+tian debuted in the fourth season. He was a new captain who only took over Time in the fifth season so he should show respect for Captain Ling.

The captains politely shook hands while Vice-Captain Cheng Wei sat there, not talking..

Ling Xuefeng headed to Cheng Wei and whispered in a voice only he could hear. "Is it due to the disbandment of Canglan?"

It might be a question but his tone was already certain.

Cheng Wei suddenly raised his head, a complicated expression in his eyes.

Ling Xuefeng gently patted Cheng Wei's shoulder. "Some people don't need your help when they fall down. You should believe in his ability. After this setback, he will surely become more powerful."

"…" Cheng Wei was stunned. By the time he recovered, Ling Xuefeng had already turned to leave.

This man was tall and upright, his spine as straight as a pine.

He had always been indifferent and decisive, his personality not changing after so many years. He used his own body to prop up the most feared Wind Colour team in the Miracle League. Today there was just a mistake in positioning and he accurately seized the opportunity. In an instant, the Time team collapsed…

Cheng Wei might've lost but he was convinced.

Cheng Wei saw Cat G.o.d as a master and his relations.h.i.+p with Cat G.o.d was very close. However, he also admired Ling Xuefeng, a player who could match Cat G.o.d.

This man had sharp eyes that could see through other people's thoughts with one glance.

Was he just telling Cheng Wei that Li Cangyu would become stronger and there was no need to worry?

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