"DId he decline?" Su Mucheng asked, after seeing Ye Xiu sigh and close his QQ chat window.

"Yeah." Ye Xiu nodded his head. His tone was filled with regret.

Among the current Qi Master pros, the first person Ye Xiu looked for was Guo Yang, who was originally part of Excellent Era. After Excellent Era had been relegated from the Alliance, Guo Yang had joined Team Wind Howl.

There was no need to question the skill of a player that had been part of Excellent Era's main roster. Ye Xiu and Su Mucheng used to be his teammates. They already had good synergy with each other, so Guo Yang would have a much easier time assimilating into Happy compared to any other candidate. As a result, even though Chen Guo wasn't too pleased with it, she had to admit that in theory, Guo Yang was their best choice.

Unfortunately, Guo Yang very resolutely declined Ye Xiu's invitation. Compared to Happy, he looked more favorably upon Wind Howl's future. Although he wasn't in an important position at Wind Howl right now, Fang Rui's departure had been confirmed. When his old Excellent Era teammate Liu Hao joined the team, Guo Yang felt like the day he had been waiting for had finally come.

"Happy? No thanks!" Guo Yang wasn't interested in Ye Xiu's invitation. Even though Boundless Sea was certainly very enticing, Guo Yang felt like that alone wasn't enough to convince him. He had once been part of a powerhouse. The character that he had used previously, Qi Breaker, had been top-tier too, so his standards and ambitions were high. He didn't just want a good character. He wanted a team of powerful teammates and a team of powerful characters. Wind Howl suited him. As for Happy, he didn't feel like he needed to run away to a new team. So what if you had Boundless Sea? I'm not some small fry who hasn't seen the world.

"Why not try Song Xiao?" Guo Yang said to Ye Xiu.

Ye Xiu could only close his chat window after seeing this recommendation. He could obviously tell that Guo Yang was being sarcastic. Song Xiao's position in Team Blue Rain was solid. He had a powerful character and his future at Team Blue Rain was bright. There was no reason for him to try out Team Happy. As a result, Ye Xiu hadn't put Song Xiao as a candidate.

But with this recommendation, it was clear that Guo Yang felt like his situation was the same as Song Xiao's. To him, Happy was being delusional asking him to join. Thus, there was nothing more to say. Wind Howl had made it to last season's semifinals. Their momentum was going strong. Transferring from this type of team to a new team didn't make any sense. Ye Xiu had thought that he had a chance because Guo Yang didn't have too important of a position in Wind Howl, but Guo Yang seemed to be optimistic about his future at Wind Howl, so there was no point wasting any more time with him.

Zhao Yang had retired. Song Xiao wasn't an option. Guo Yang had confidently declined. There were only three more Qi Masters in the Alliance: Team Heavenly Sword's Ning Yuan, Team Parade's Zhao Bin, Team Radiant's Sun Haowen.

These three guilds had superb relationships with Happy in the game. However, the team was an entirely different matter. Team Heavenly Swords was an exception. Lou Guanning was very kind to them. If they really asked Heavenly Swords for a trade, it wouldn't be too difficult, relatively speaking. But the problem was that Team Heavenly Swords was a team made up of friends. Lou Guanning's group of friends firmly occupied their spots on the main roster. Even if Zhou Zekai, Huang Shaotian, Wang Jiexi, etc. came to Team Heavenly Swords, the only spot for them would be as the sixth player.

As for Ning Yuan? Ye Xiu had no idea where Lou Guanning found him. He had most likely been invited to meet the minimum requirements to form a team. An entire season had passed, and he had never appeared on stage. Unless Lou Guanning's friend group had all their hands broken, he would probably never go on stage. If Happy actually asked, Ye Xiu reckoned that Lou Guanning would probably just gift him to them. Lou Guanning didn't care. After all, the chances of all five friends breaking their hands were very low.

How could Happy dare to use this type of player though? This person was a substitute with no future at Team Heavenly Swords, yet this person was still calm and composed. It looked like he knew very well that he was just there as a stopgap. He didn't have any excessive thoughts. Just from this middling ambition alone, no one would want to place their team's hopes on him.

Team Parade's Zhao Bin and Team Radiant's Sun Haowen were from bottom-tier to middle-tier teams. It was hard not to overlook them. These two didn't have anything that would make people's eyes light up. They were still better choices than Ning Yuan though.

However, if Happy wanted to be the champions, getting a player "better than Ning Yuan" was far from enough!

Chen Guo looked at Ye Xiu. She didn't know what other plans he had. Going from their theory of many monks but not much gruel, the outstanding Qi Master players were probably buried by others. But from the looks of it, they were buried so deeply that there weren't any suitable candidates in the pro scene. Maybe the outstanding Qi Masters were buried in the game because no team needed them?

Or there was an outstanding seedling at some club's training camp?

Like Excellent Era?

Ye Xiu should be very familiar with Excellent Era's training camp. Excellent Era had a Qi Master as part of the main roster, so if an outstanding Qi Master seedling was found, it was very likely for Excellent Era to keep him or her. Excellent Era may have disbanded, but it wasn't like these outstanding seedlings disappeared. This should be another possible solution.

Chen Guo trusted that Ye Xiu hadn't just started coming up with plans after buying Boundless Sea. When he decided to get Boundless Sea, he probably had ideas in mind. Guo Yang was their first choice. He had declined unfortunately, but it wasn't likely that Ye Xiu put all his eggs in one basket.

What next? Chen Guo didn't ask. She quietly walked to Ye Xiu's side. Chen Guo was able to maintain her composure better than in the past. She wouldn't panic before she got a clear understanding of the situation.

Ye Xiu was scrolling through his QQ friends list, but after scrolling for awhile, Chen Guo was finally starting to get nervous.

No way we've reached a dead end? There are no more choices?

Just when she was worrying, she saw Ye Xiu turn his head to the side and ask Su Mucheng: "Do you have Song Xiao as a friend?"

"Song Xiao? Isn't he pretty unlikely?" Su Mucheng said. Cheng Guo was dumbstruck. Hadn't they already crossed out Song Xiao as a candidate? Did Ye Xiu have a way?

Even though Su Mucheng was puzzled, she still told Ye Xiu: "I don't have him, but he's in the chat group."

"Oh, right." Ye Xiu mumbled. He found Team Blue Rain's Receding Tides in the pro player chat group and messaged him, but he didn't get any response back. Then, Chen Guo saw as Ye Xiu scrolled through his friends list and found Troubling Rain.

Huang Shaotian. Song Xiao's teammate in Team Blue Rain.

Chen Guo was feeling dizzy. Then, she saw Ye Xiu type: "Is Song Xiao there? Have him check his QQ."

"Song Xiao? Why are you looking for him? If you're looking for him, why are you asking me? F*ck! No way! What are you doing? What do you want? Are you trying to get Song Xiao to join? Are you drunk? Why would Song Xiao be interested. You should ask Guo Yang. You guys know each other. He's at Wind Howl, and he's not doing too well either." Huang Shaotian replied promptly. Chatting with him was very fast-paced. As for whether asking him would save time, only a wise man knew. For example, take his recommendation. Let alone Ye Xiu already trying, in reality, the pro circle had already discussed it and felt like Guo Yang was very suitable for Happy.

"Let's cut the nonsense. Is he there?" Ye Xiu didn't act like someone asking for a favor.

"Tch, it looks like you're dead set on him. Hold on." Huang Shaotian typed. Not long afterwards, he sent Ye Xiu an invite. He had formed a group and added Song Xiao into it. However, he was also there, watching on the side.

Ye Xiu cut to the chase and happily stated: "What do you think, Song Xiao? Are you interested in coming over and becoming a champion with us?"

"Hahahaha, champion? This probably isn't even your biggest selling point, right? Song Xiao, keep listening." Huang Shaotian said.

"Happy has a great environment. It's very quiet." Ye Xiu said.

"F*ck off f*ck off f*ck off!" Huang Shaotian spoke first.

"Haha, I was almost tempted!" This time, Song Xiao replied too. Of course, "I was almost tempted" meant he hadn't been tempted. It was another rejection. His words still stabbed at Huang Shaotian's heart though. Huang Shaotian was quiet at the moment. Ye Xiu was wondering whether those two were fighting right now.

Of course, Ye Xiu hadn't looked for Song Xiao for fun. He had wanted to give it a try. The discussion in the chat group wasn't a very serious one. In reality, in his private chat window with Song Xiao, he was still trying to persuade him.

"Think of Happy's chances of winning the championships. Maybe you'll feel interested afterwards." Ye Xiu said.

In terms of pure resources, Happy indeed couldn't compete with Blue Rain. But what they did have was the possibility of shocking the world. Maybe he was the type who sought novelties and was willing to give it a try?

"Haha, I'm kinda looking forward to it, but I still think Team Blue Rain has better chances!" Reality proved that Song Xiao was rather practical and wise. He didn't seek novelties.

"You're not interested in creating history?" Ye Xiu said.

"History?"

"Just think, a new team winning the championships! Wouldn't that be exciting?" Ye Xiu said.

"Uh, I think I'll pass!"

"Young people have no drive these days! They're so depressing!" Ye Xiu said.

"I'm feeling quite good where I'm at, really" Song Xiao said.

"Think about it carefully. If you're interested, contact me any time." Ye Xiu said.

"Honestly, there's a tiny part of me that's tempted, but I'm still more afraid that I'll regret it." Song Xiao was a nice person. He didn't hide his real thoughts, but because he made it clear, he didn't drag on his refusal. He was a person who was confident in his decisions.

"What a pity" Ye Xiu expressed his regret, but he didn't pursue it any further.

"Another refusal." Ye Xiu shook his head and sighed.

"That shouldn't be surprising though, no?" Chen Guo said. She had to admit that when Ye Xiu talked about the possibility of creating history, she thought it might have been possible. Words like that were truly moving.

"Yeah." Ye Xiu said. His mindset had been that he might as well try.

"What now?" Chen Guo finally asked.

"Hm." Ye Xiu replied. He clicked on the chat group that he hadn't closed yet and clicked on someone.

"Dirty Fang, have you ever thought about changing classes? What do you think about Qi Masters? There's one waiting just for you!" Ye Xiu typed into the new chat window.