Chapter 360 – Final Chapter: Summit of the World

Li Cangyu and Ling Xuefeng returned to their seats and the other players rose to greet them. Everyone excitedly embraced each other to celebrate this rare victory. A full two hours of hard work and losing two games only to chase back three. It wasn't easy to win and everyone tried their best, the final result satisfying everyone!

After a simple celebration, Li Cangyu took Su Guangmo, Tan s.h.i.+tian and the others over to the US team to shake hands in a polite and friendly gesture. Noah and Winfrey were very gracious and expressed their congratulations towards Li Cangyu.

Jack obviously wasn't very convinced and his face was unhappy. Such a fiery guy couldn't disguise himself. The moment he saw Li Cangyu and Ling Xuefeng, he shook hands with them with a stinky expression and vowed, "One day, I will defeat you!"

Ling Xuefeng replied quietly, "That will only happen if you find a partner with a higher understanding than us."

Li Cangyu added, "It is a tacit understand that requires complete trust in each other, so that we don't hesitate to give our backs to the other person in key moments."

Jack saw their two smiling faces and wanted to swear. Not only did they have a tacit understanding in the game, they wanted to tacitly bully other people after the game? Was there such a good partner?

Fire almost emerged from Jack's eyes. Li Cangyu felt this guy's personality was very interesting and stopped bullying him. He patted Jack's shoulder and cheered for him. "Refuel."

Ling Xuefeng also reached out and patted Jack's right shoulder. "Refuel."

Jack, "…"

The world's best blood kin summoner was about to die of anemia.

***

According to international practice, the losing team must be interviewed first. The US team's Noah and Winfrey came to the interview room. After a bombardment of flashes, an American reporter stood up and lost. "The US team won the first two games and gained a stable advantage, only to lose the match. What do you think is the main reason for losing to the Chinese team today?"

Today, 80% of the people who came to the venue were fans of the US team. Losing at home was hard for the fans to psychologically accept.

Noah could only force himself to be calm and replied quietly, "In today's match, our national team played well. The first two games went very smoothly but we completely lost the third home game at Universal Studios. The outbreak of the three summoners on the Chinese team was very novel. Using Cataclysm, Demon G.o.d's Rage and Corpse Mountain Blood Sea at the same time to force us to residual blood was unexpected and we were too late to defend."

Winfrey's personality was relatively gentle. She heard this and nodded in agreement. "The loss of the third game at home really surprised us. In the fourth game, I made some mistakes in my command. The coloured area of the Chinese team's map was too complicated and I couldn't cope for a while. I am very sorry about losing the key fourth game."

After all, Winfrey was very beautiful and popular. The gentle girl sincerely apologized to the reporters and the atmosphere eased a lot.

A reporter asked, "Captain, what do you think the difference between the US team and Chinese team is in terms of strength?"

"The overall strength is actually similar but to my surprise, it is very difficult once the Chinese team's Li Cangyu and Ling Xuefeng work together. They aren't teammates but their tacit understanding is higher than fixed partners."

Winfrey added, "The combination of the two summoners is really strong."

Noah softly concluded, "We didn't win the World Compet.i.tion and many players feel sorry. After going back, we will carefully study the Chinese team's lineup and will absolutely hold the champions.h.i.+p trophy at next year's World Compet.i.tion."

Noah's words caused resounding applause from the reporters encouraging them. However, it was still impossible to make a final conclusion about who would be next year's world champions. Noah said this to inspire hope in the fans.

No matter how unwilling, the fans of the US team had to admit that this world champions.h.i.+p belonged to China!

***

The full Chinese team attended the interview!

22 players came to the interview room, causing the reporters to feel shocked. This huge lineup was unprecedented.

Before the World Compet.i.tion, only Li Cangyu and Ling Xuefeng accepted brief interviews with the media as representatives of the team. They didn't expect for Li Cangyu to allow all team members to meet with the reporters.

Of course, it was impossible for the reporters to interview all 22 players because there wasn't enough time. The reason Li Cangyu brought the full lineup was to benefit the reporters. They could finally take a collective group photo.

The photographers set up their cameras and madly pressed the b.u.t.tons, flashes going off that were as bright as daytime. The first photo of the full Miracle national team soon became the headline of major portal sites.

After the group photo, a reporter stood up excitedly. "First of all, congratulations to the national team for winning the champions.h.i.+p in this year's World Compet.i.tion! Everyone has worked hard!"

The audience applauded and once it ended, the reporter followed up with, "I want to interview Cat G.o.d. The lineup for today's match, did you decide it before the match?"

"No." Li Cangyu answered calmly. "Every game was arranged on the spot. We drafted a few plans before the match but after all, I couldn't guess what lineup the US team would send. I had to make some adjustments on the spot."

"In other words, every game was a temporary arrangement?"

"Yes."

"Did you think that today's match would be a lose two, chase back three result?"

"I didn't think it but before the match, we were ready to play all five games. After all, the US team is very strong and the finals would've definitely been a hard fight." Li Cangyu replied.

"Did you arrange the tactics and lineup with Captain LIng?"

LI Cangyu smiled. "It wasn't just the two of us. I opened several tactical discussions before the match and sought the views of many great G.o.ds."

"Cat G.o.d, what do you think is the reason for losing the first two games?"

"In fact, Captain Su and Captain Tan's commands weren't a problem. It was just that we had bad luck and the map refresh location was very bad." Li Cangyu intended to help out Su Guangmo and Tan s.h.i.+tian but the reporter obviously wasn't so foolish. He immediately switched to Su Guangmo. "What does Captain Su think?"

Su Guangmo spoke quickly. "In the first death racing game, the refresh location was indeed very bad. However, I am also to blame for not preparing enough for the Doomsday map. The impact of the zombies was too big."

Tan s.h.i.+tian followed suit. "In the second game, I didn't expect the US team to suddenly kill the fire dragon and we lost the home game. My responsibility is the greatest."

The two people rus.h.i.+ng to take responsibility wasn't good for the reporters. After all, everyone made mistakes and no one was undefeated.

The reporters changed the topic again. "After losing the first two games, the third game was the key to the full match. Cat G.o.d sent the relatively new lineup of three summoners in the third game. Did you practice this type of play in private?"

Li Cangyu and Ling Xuefeng glanced at each other before smiling. "We naturally practiced it. I usually train with Qin Mo and Xuefeng will help Xiao Han when he has time. We often fight together and are familiar with each other's rhythm.  Bai Xuan was added to the training lineup a few days before the match. However, his level is first-rate and we have been partners for many years. He quickly picked up on our rhythm."

The praised Bai Xuan spoke modestly, "It is Cat G.o.d who played well. In fact, whenever I cooperate with them, the pressure to maintain blood isn't great."

The reporter suddenly realized. "No wonder all of you have such a tacit understanding!"

A male reporter who was excellent at a.n.a.lyzing the lineup stood up. "Cat G.o.d, I found that some very interesting combinations were sent in today's finals. In the first game, you sent the Su Yu combination, Captain Liu, Meng Jie and Jiang Xu. The second game was the Time team's Tan s.h.i.+tian, Cheng Wei, Lu Xiao, the Yan Guo combination and Yang Muzi. The third game was Cat, Ling, Qin, Xiao and Bai. The fourth game was Lou Zhang, Chu Zhu and Vice-Captain Yu. Finally, the fifth game was Tan Zhuo, Su Xie and Ling Cat. In the entire match, all 22 national team members got a chance to play. Is this a coincidence or was it deliberate?"

After hearing him say this, many people reacted. No wonder why today's lineup was so diverse and there were so many changes in the five games. It turned out that the entire national team played!

Ling Xuefeng glanced at Li Cangyu and voluntarily answered. "He told me before the match that he wanted to try to get everyone involved in the finals. After all, we all travelled to the US to play the game and finally reached the finals. I believe that every player wants to experience the atmosphere of the world finals and letting them sit on the bench isn't appropriate."

"Yes, I told Xuefeng this and in order to allow everyone to play, the two of us privately discussed a number of programs." Li Cangyu smiled and added. "I did this to ensure that no one has any regrets about the World Compet.i.tion. I hoped that everyone could partic.i.p.ate in the champions.h.i.+p battle, regardless of outcome, as we work hard to come together."

The reporters heard this and clapped with appreciation!

Every member of the national team was excellent and Li Cangyu would have regrets, no matter who was left on the bench. Li Cangyu's arrangement today took care of all aspects and made this world champions.h.i.+p complete.

Many players of the national team only realized the captain and vice-captain's good intentions now.

It was no wonder why Li Cangyu took such a long time to think whenever he sent someone. It turned out he wanted to give everyone a chance to play as much as possible.

Everyone admired Li Cangyu.

In the case where he had to send out all players, he also needed to use lineups that restrained the US team, stabilized the situation and won. Li Cangyu had to consider a number of issues. Thanks to this rich experience and superb view of the overall situation, he calmly controlled the match, strategizing and finally killing the opponents.

The 22 national team members all had the opportunity to play under Li Cangyu's arrangements and won the champions.h.i.+p together. This World Compet.i.tion was finally worthwhile.

***

After interviewing Ling Xuefeng and Li Cangyu, the reporters raised some questions with the players they liked.

Chu Yan was first. "Chu Yan, our country's illusion flow isn't as good as some European teams. As the best auxiliary in the country, do you have any thoughts?"

"I learnt a lot in this World Compet.i.tion. After returning home, I will rebuild the Pure Cleansing team." Chu Yan smiled. "Xiao Zhu is also very good now. I want to raise a few more disciples and slowly perfect the illusion flow style."

Zhu Qingyue nodded in agreement.

The performance of the Pure Cleansing hadn't been very good in the past two years but they believed that the popular European illusionist flow was bound to have a path in China.

"In the arena today, Ah Shu and Captain Su's understanding was very high. Are there any thoughts about returning to Flying Feathers and restructuring the Three Musketeers?" A reporter suddenly aimed at Xie Shurong and Xie Shurong replied honestly, "The Three Musketeers are already a thing of the past. If I go back to Flying Feathers, my brother definitely won't accept me. In addition, I don't want to leave Canglan."

He glanced at Bai Xuan who looked away with embarra.s.sment.

The reporter found that Xie Shurong was watching Bai Xuan and couldn't help asking, "What is the reason you can't leave Canglan?"

Xie Shurong smiled. "It is because the dishes made by our Vice-Captain Bai are too delicious."

Li Cangyu nodded in agreement. "Really delicious."

Zhuo Hang raised a hand. "Super delicious!"

Xiao Han also added, "It is unusual and very delicious."

Everyone, “…”

Then in the Canglan food camp, Bai Xuan was the biggest boss? If someone was disobedient, he just had to sprinkle a handful of salt into the dish and the group of people would die!

A fan of Tan s.h.i.+tian stood up and asked, "Captain Tan, you were a commander several times in the World Compet.i.tion. What are your plans after returning to China? For example, do you intend to compete for the captain's position of the next national team?"

Tan s.h.i.+tian smiled. "I haven't thought too much about it. As long as I can stay in the Time team and play with my teammates, I am very satisfied."

Here, Tan s.h.i.+tian couldn't help looking over ta Cheng Wei. The reporters followed his gaze and handed the microphone to Cheng Wei. Cheng Wei spoke with a red face, "I… cough, I will stay in the Time team to play. At this World Compet.i.tion, I discovered that there are too many white magician masters and I still have a lot to learn."

A reporter wanted gossip. "When Captain Tan and Zhuo Hang cooperated in the arena, Kou Hongyi gave something away about your private relations.h.i.+p. Can you tell us… what is your relations.h.i.+p?"

Zhuo Hang smiled and pretended to be collapsed. "It isn't so complicated. My parents know Captain Tan's parents and Captain Tan is a player I admire. Before I joined Canglan, I often asked him questions…"

Su Guangmo coughed.

Zhuo Hang added, "Of course, Captain Su is also a player I admire…"

Li Cangyu looked over at him and Zhuo Hang followed up with, "Naturally, Cat G.o.d is the player I admire most."

The reporters were amused. It seemed that Zhuo Hang really admired many players!

The great G.o.ds weren't too arrogant so the atmosphere of the interview was very fast. The allocated time of 30 minutes pa.s.sed quickly. The reporters were still somewhat unsatisfied but there were so many G.o.ds present that all their questions probably couldn't be answered in three days and three nights.

After seeing that the time was up, the reporters were surrounded by the security guards. Li Cangyu took the initiative to comfort them. "Don't worry if there are still some unanswered questions. After returning to the country, the various teams will hold press conferences and everyone can ask questions. Or you can organize the questions and send them to the club's mailbox. There are still many opportunities for an exchange!"

The reporters let everyone go and Li Cangyu left the interview room with the team.

On the way back, Cheng Wei excitedly ran to Li Cangyu. "Cat G.o.d, it was my first time seeing such a big scene. There were many foreign reporters! I sat there in front of the cameras and almost felt that I had become a star!"

Su Guangmo smiled at him. "You really look like a star."

Cheng Wei was excited. "Is that so? Captain Su, do you think I'm handsome?"

"Yes, a child star."

Cheng Wei, "…"

Wasn't this calling him naive? Cheng Wei's face instantly reddened with anger and Zhang Shaohui spoke up, "Don't bully Vice-Captain Cheng, how can he be a child star?" He carefully observed Cheng Wei before concluding, "Oh, he really looks like one!"

Cheng Wei was very depressed. He was born with a round face that was still a bit fleshy. Many people described him as cute but he also wanted to be handsome! Was this gene so strange to him?

Tan s.h.i.+tian came forward and grabbed Cheng Wei's shoulder. "Ignore them."

Cheng Wei's heart jumped and he ran away like he received an electric shock. Tan s.h.i.+tian retracted his hand and stared at Cheng Wei's back.

***

Everyone returned to Miracle Village while chatting and laughing and ate a simple lunch.

The World Compet.i.tion's awards ceremony would be held tonight. Li Cangyu let everyone go back to take a nap and as a result, almost everyone slept until dinner time. It was because their nerves had been strained in the last few days and they didn't get enough sleep. They finally relaxed and slept, just like after a university entrance examination.

Ling Xuefeng got up first and used the internal telephone to wake everyone up.

After eating dinner, everyone gathered in one place and returned to the main venue of the World Compet.i.tion.

The awards ceremony and closing ceremony would start at 8 p.m.

The auditorium was already full and media from all over the world would be broadcasting this feast.

The Chinese team's seats were arranged in front and there were many familiar opponents next to them.

The official closing ceremony had many things prepared, including the Miracle theme songs being performed by famous singers, a costume show for the six races, a stage drama involving a Miracle plot etc. Thunderous applause came one after another and pushed the closing ceremony to the climax.

However, the most exciting event was the final awards stage.

It wasn't until 10 o'clock that the awards ceremony officially started. The president of the Miracle League personally presented the awards and started with the individual awards first.

The World Compet.i.tion wasn't like the domestic compet.i.tion where the awards including things like most popular, best newcomer, rookie with the most potential etc. It was difficult for newcomers to be selected for the World Compet.i.tion and popularity awards were hard when it was a gathering of world-famous players. The award would be questioned by fans of various countries.

Therefore, the World League simplified the individual awards and left only one behind. The MVP, most valuable player award!

In the World Compet.i.tion, there were many players with relatively high world rankings who hoped to win the MVP Award such as Noah, Winfrey, Edmund, Jack of the US team, Park Joonseo, Kim Yoonhee, s.h.i.+m Yoocheol of the South Korean team, Fujita Rika of j.a.pan, Stein of France and the Chinese team's Ling Xuefeng, Lou Wushuang, Su Guangmo, etc.

In the end, the name that appeared on the screen surprised many people but they didn't oppose it.

—Old Cat, China!

The Chinese team's player, Li Cangyu!

Many people around him expressed their congratulations while Ling Xuefeng stood up and directly hugged Li Cangyu in front of the world audience.

Li Cangyu smiled and hugged him back, patting his shoulder before turning to receive the prize.

The world's most valuable player, this was the highest degree of affirmation for a player by the World League.

Li Cangyu used his strength and was finally recognized by the World Miracle League!

This was a supreme honour that was exciting enough for tears.

However, Li Cangyu's expression was very calm. He took the trophy that symbolize the highest honour and smiled as he faced the camera. He spoke in a straightforward and enthusiastic manner, "The fact that I could come here today and win the MVP Award was thanks to all those who helped me. I am very glad that I didn't give up, no matter how hard the circ.u.mstances. I am also fortunate to have met so many like-minded friends in the Miracle League."

He made and stared sincerely into the camera. "Thanks to the Miracle League, I gained the opportunity to become an e-sports player. The career of an e-sports player is actually very short but this short experience of a few years is the most precious wealth in my life."

He spoke in standard Chinese and his words were translated into the languages of various countries and spread widely around the world.  Much later, whenever Li Cangyu was mentioned, many e-sports players remembered his speech at the World Compet.i.tion's awards ceremony. The career of an e-sports player was actually very short but this short period of time was the most precious treasure.

This was what many e-sports players recognized— youth, blood, struggle and no regrets.

The e-sports circles were deep and maybe there were only a few people who could make a difference. There were many more unknown players working hard for their dreams but as long as they didn't forget their initial heart, this short experience would be the most dazzling scenery in their life's journey.

Li Cangyu walked down the stage with the trophy and the lights on the stage converged, causing his entire body to s.h.i.+ne.

Such a bright man had been buried for many years.

Today, he shone on the world stage and everyone remembered his name.

—Old Cat.

Li Cangyu from China.

***

The individual award ended and the president of the league immediately presented the group awards.

The third place winner in the First World Compet.i.tion: South Korea.

After the 1:3 loss to China in the semi-finals and the United Kingdom losing to the US, the third-place battle was particularly fierce. Park Joonseo sent many great G.o.ds and played four games against the British team before finally winning 3:1 and gaining the bronze medal.

All the Korean team members took to the stage under Park Joonseo's leaders.h.i.+p. They actually felt very reluctant and wanted to change the colour of the trophy to gold. Of course, this goal could only be achieved next year.

Next was the runner-up: the US team.

Since the US was the organizer of the compet.i.tion this year, the applause at the venue was particularly enthusiastic as Noah led his team members to the stage.  The US team accepted the silver trophy. They were sorry about not winning the champions.h.i.+p but everyone couldn't help smiling when they lifted the trophy.

The last one to be awarded was the champions.h.i.+p team of the World Compet.i.tion, the Chinese team!

Li Cangyu and Ling Xuefeng got up at the same time and the other 20 members of the national team walked neatly to the stage.

22 people across different teams united for the same goal. Under the leaders.h.i.+p of Li Cangyu and Ling Xuefeng, they merged into a powerful team to compete in the world battlefield, sweeping through the group stage, winning a thrilling semi-finals and finally counterattacking 3:2 in the finals to win the champions.h.i.+p!

At this moment, the lights were focused on one place and the flag was raised high.

Many domestic audience members couldn't help crying when they saw the national flag being raised.

Amidst the deafening applause and cheers, the president of the Miracle League and the hostesses walked towards the stage. The president personally picked up the golden champions.h.i.+p trophy and presented it to the Chinese team's captain, Li Cangyu.

Li Cangyu's expression was still very calm, just like when he won the MVP Award. He bowed deeply to the president and respectfully took the trophy.

The custom made gold trophy had the words 'First Miracle World Compet.i.tion' in English on the base. The trophy was heavy and had great texture. The production process was quite superb.

Ling Xuefeng stood beside him and gently raised Li Cangyu's left hand with his right hand, the two of them looking at each other. At the same time, they raised the golden trophy above their heads!

The overhead lights seemed to brighten, letting the golden trophy s.h.i.+ne with a dazzling light.

At this moment, the eyes of the audience all over the world were focused on the stage of the awards ceremony. The first Chinese Miracle national team's captain Li Cangyu and vice-captain Ling Xuefeng jointly raised the highest glory that symbolized the strength of the Chinese team!

They still remembered that many years ago, the 17 year old Ling Xuefeng had once said to LI Cangyu, "If you can't be my teammate, I hope you will become my strongest opponent."

Many years later, the 24 year old Li Cangyu returned to Miracle. Despite the many frustrations, he was still confident and seriously told Ling Xuefeng, "The thing I'm most looking forward to is standing with you in the World Compet.i.tion."

Seven years had pa.s.sed and the teenagers in their memories had become first-rate G.o.ds who were fearless.

They walked through a b.l.o.o.d.y road of thorns and experienced many hards.h.i.+ps.

Now, they finally stood side by side, standing together in the place that belonged to them— the summit of the world!

-【 The End 】-

TL: This is the end of the main story but there are still a bit over 40 chapters worth of extras. Every arc in the extras will focus on the side CPs before eventually ending with our main couple, Li Cangyu and Ling Xuefeng.

I will clearly label the posts and chapters with the CP, just in case there are certain CPs that people want to skip. Be sure to keep an eye on the main page. Even if you don't like the side CPs, be sure to check out Li Cangyu and Ling Xuefeng's extra at the end because it is extremely sweet and ends their story well. In addition, each extra has its own s.e.x scene for the CP involved.

Added a ko-fi for the people asking for an alternative to Patreon:

Pledge any amount to my Patreon to access to the BL google drives, where you can get early access to any chapters I have completed.