Reality was cruel.

Hundred Blossoms had taken 2 points from Samsara with great difficulty, yet they were still in a predicament. It was a huge blow to their morale. Although their captain Yu Feng was constantly trying to encourage them, every player had a different personality. Not everyone was so tenacious.

Team Hundred Blossom's third player in the individual competition, their Summoner Zhu Xiaoping, was downcast. Knowing that Hundred Blossoms could not afford to lose a single point, the pressure bearing down on him was enormous. In the end, he performed poorly and lost to Samsara's Assassin, Wu Qi.

At the same time, news from two other matches came, which only added hail to snow for Hundred Blossoms.

Team 301 had won against against Happy, taking a 2-1 lead with the individual competition.

Wind Howl had swept the individual competition against Tiny Herb, taking all three points. If Hundred Blossoms wanted to surpass Wind Howl, they would now need to win 2 more points over them instead of 1.

After Zhu Xiaoping, who had just gone down from the stage, heard this news, the color on his face became even paler. He wanted to apologize to his teammates, but he didn't know what to say. He just stood there like a statue, unable to even find his own seat.

"We're going to need to win 2 more points than Wind Howl, or win 3 more points than 301. What are your thoughts everyone?" Captain Yu Feng said.

Everyone was dead silent.

"Uh, or to be more precise, it should be what are your thoughts, and what are your thoughts?" Yu Feng looked over two players.

Zou Yuan and Zeng Xinran.

They would be the players going up in the group arena. Yu Feng ignored the rest of the team and only picked out the two players, who would be fighting for the points.

"I won't give up!" Zou Yuan spoke firmly.

Yu Feng nodded his head and fet gratified. In fact, Zou Yuan held more seniority than him in Hundred Blossoms. He was the successor of Hundred Blossom's Spitfire, the core of the team for many years. But after his arrival, Zou Yuan was perfectly happy to give him full authority in the team. This sort of trust and acceptance made Yu Feng even more confident that he had made the right choice. Right now, with their backs to the walls, Yu Feng trusted that Zou Yuan would not let him down, and he would put in his utmost as well.

Yu Feng and Zou Yuan both turned to Zeng Xinran.

"Fight! What's there to be afraid of!" Zeng Xinran responded. In his very first match on the professional stage, he had been so nervous that his entire body had froze. To Zeng Xinran, that was his most shameful moment. From then on, he carried the attitude that it was impossible to ever do worse than that time. In fact, he became braver and braver on stage until he gradually rose to his position in Hundred Blossoms, a position high enough such that in this crucial match, the team had sent him up for the group arena.

Seeing the determination of his two seniors, Zeng Xinran found no reason to retreat and boldly stood together with the two of them.

"Good!" Yu Feng said in a voice loud enough for the entire team to hear.

"What's there to be afraid of? If we win the group arena and Wind Howl loses there's, we'll take the lead," Yu Feng said.

"Watch us!" Zou Yuan was Hundred Blossom's vice-captain. In this crucial moment, he would bear the burden together with Yu Feng.

"Let's go!" Yu Feng said.

"Yes, captain!" Zeng Xingran replied loudly. At age 17, he strode forward at the very front.

This was Samsara's home stadium. They would receive no encouragement or support, but their hearts were firm. They knew that in City K countless Hundred Blossom fans were waiting for them to grab the ticket to playoffs, and there was only way to get that ticket --- win.

The other matches were taking place at roughly the same pace.

When the group arena between Hundred Blossoms and Samsara began, Wind Howl's three players, their fighting spirits burning, were continuing their charge towards Tiny Herb.

Zhao Yuzhe started the group arena, facing Tiny Herb's Gao Yingjie.

The two were rookies of the same generation. Gao Yingjie joined the champion Team Tiny Herb as soon he began and received countless attention. It seemed as if it had already been predetermined that he would be Best Rookie that season. However, in Season 8, the Best Rookie title was given to Zhao Yuzhe. Why not Gao Yingjie? It was because he had played in too few matches and didn't qualify for the Best Rookie contention.

The title had been awarded to Zhao Yuzhe, but in response, many people simply sighed - it was a pity that Gao Yingjie hadn't been given enough chances to play this season.

Zhao Yuzhe was very unhappy, extremely unhappy.

If he wasn't given enough chances to go on stage, then it meant he wasn't ready yet. However, everyone seemed to think that if Gao Yingjie had played in enough matches, the title of Best Rookie wouldn't have been given to that Zhao guy.

Peh!

Zhao Yuzhe didn't believe it. He didn't believe that this so-called genius was anything incredible.

But in Season 9, Gao Yingjie, who had failed to qualify for Best Rookie, had directly been chosen into All-Stars. And Zhao Yuzhe? He still carried the title "rookie" and was "still maturing" in Wind Howl! Even more infuriating was that season, a little demon had popped out of Blue Rain, taking the title Best Rookie and voted into All-Stars.

In the Glory Alliance, the title Best Rookie had first been awarded in Season 3 to Wang Jiexi.

Zhang Xinjie in Season 4. Zhou Zekai in Season 5. Yu Feng in Season 6. Sun Xiang in Season 7. Him in Season 8. Lu Hanwen in Season 9...

Every player who had been awarded the title Best Rookie became All-Stars or even Gods. In comparison, the name Zhao Yuzhe seemed pitifully pathetic among them. He was often nicknamed the Worst Best Rookie by some.

I'm definitely not trash!

Zhao Yuzhe really wanted to prove himself, and Gao Yingjie, the same-generation rookie who many believe should have received the title of Best Rookie, was an eyesore to him.

I'll definitely give you a good beating!

Zhao Yuzhe made a firm decision.

"Come! Genius!" After the match began, Zhao Yuzhe called out into the chat. He was going to tell everyone that a genius was nothing special.

Gao Yingjie didn't reply. He simply had his Kind Tree quickly move forward. The group arena map was neither complicated nor simple, a balanced map. Gao Yingjie flew directly towards the center of the map. Zhao Yuzhe didn't want to show fear either. His Elementalist, Beautiful Light, also moved swiftly. Not long afterwards, the two sides met.

Piercing Lightning!

Zhao Yuzhe wanted to make a show of his strength to Gao Yingjie. As soon as Kind Tree entered Beautiful Light's range, he immediately acted.

Lightning flashed, but at such a distance, no matter how fast the attack, it wouldn't be able to threaten Gao Yingjie. He easily shifted to the side, dodging the Piercing Lightning.

Forward!

Kind Tree moved like the wind towards his opponent. Team Tiny Herb was currently in 4th place, but it would be difficult for them to move up or down from 4th, unlike Wind Howl and Hundred Blossoms who were placing their entire season's hopes onto this single match. However, Tiny Herb definitely wasn't a team that would just simply give away a free win.

The first day Gao Yingjie came to Tiny Herb, the first word he heard was "champions".

They were a champion team. They existed to be the champions, and champions were always built upon victories.

They would never give up on the pursuit for victory. A team that aspired to be the champions should never let up.

Boom!

The spells by the two mages collided into brilliant lights. Gao Yingjie did not have Kind Tree stop though. These were the steps to victory, the steps to become champions.

Zhao Yuzhe was astonished.

He could clearly feel Gao Yingjie's determination in a match that didn't even matter to Tiny Herb.

Was it because he felt it was embarrassing for Tiny Herb to lose all three matches in the individual competition?

Zhao Yuzhe always thought about things from this perspective. He looked at himself and the team in this way. He also wanted to win, but his reason for winning was to show off his skill, to let everyone know his might. Even at the bottom of his heart, winning the championships was simply a way to show off.

This was Glory, not flaunting.

Zhao Yuzhe clearly didn't think so, so he couldn't understand Tiny Herb; he couldn't understand Gao Yingjie's pursuit for the championships, nor his heartfelt pursuit for Glory.

"I won't let your arrogance run rampant!" That was all Zhao Yuzhe could think about.

In terms of spirit, he had already lost.

What about skill? Gao Yingjie was called a genius, and that wasn't a title just anyone could have.

Boom!

The Witch's spells gradually suppressed the Elementalist's. Kind Tree finally made his way to Beautiful Light, and Elementalists could not match Witches in close combat capabilities.

"Shit!" Zhao Yuzhe hastily tried to Teleport. Beautiful Light shifted away, creating distance between them.

But who didn't know how to use Teleport?

Kind Tree was a mage subclass. He had added the Teleport skill to his weapon, Morning Dew.

With a flicker, Kind Tree puller closer to Beautiful Light. His Teleport was only Level 1 though, so his Teleport distance wasn't as far as Beautiful Light's. But with just a sweep of his broom, Morning Dew, he instantly closed that remaining distance.

"How annoying!" Zhao Yuzhe refused to admit defeat. As he shouted, Kind Tree's Morning Dew swung downwards.

Beautiful Light hastily dodged, but that swing had been exceptionally fast.

Gravity Accelerated Sweep!

Magic was used to increase the gravity and thus the speed of the swing to strengthen the strike.

Bang!

Morning Dew didn't hit Beautiful Light, but rather the ground. With a loud bang, the force from the Gravity Accelerated Swing produced a shockwave. Beautiful Light had just jumped away to dodge the swing was hit by the shockwave and shot up even higher.

Kind Heart leapt onto his broom and flew towards the airborne Beautiful Light.

Pa pa pa.

Morning Dew struck Beautiful Light again and again.

These simple attacks didn't contain any other meaning. Gao Yingjie and Kind Tree would always only have a single goal: victory.

GLORY!

The word "GLORY" flashed onto the big screen.

Any pro player, any Glory player would see this single word who knew how many times every day. For some, it was a word that was rooted deeply in their hearts. For others, it was simply a symbol of victory.

Glory only belonged to those who truly cared.