The King's Avatar
chapter-1274

"hehehehehehehe"

The response that Zhao Yuzhe received was seven consecutive "hes." Coming from the master of playing dirty, this sent a chill down everyone's spines. They instantly felt that not only would Zhao Yuzhe lose, he would lose miserably.

"What is senior laughing about?" After Fang Rui's seven "hes," Zhao Yuzhe's reaction was fairly calm. He wouldn't feel any chill from Fang Rui's dirty playing. From the very start, he had never thought highly of this senior. But for a Thief to play dirty, that was excusable, as this class relied on playing dirty to reach full potential. But now that he had switched to Qi Master, yet he was still this dirty, that wasn't because of the class, that was because of the person himself. This person was dirty, so whatever class he played was dirty.

"I'm laughing at you!" Fang Rui answered.

"Laughing at me about what?" Zhao Yuzhe asked.

"Laughing that you still have the time to chat. I'm already behind you right now, don't you know?" said Fang Rui.

"Haha, senior is as funny as always." Zhao Yuzhe of course wouldn't be tricked by something like this. Although he was chatting with Fang Rui in the channel, he was very careful with his character's controls. He was rotating his camera often, doing his best not to leave any blind spots.

As long as you closely watched the opponent's movements, then there was nothing to fear from dirty playing. That was what Zhao Yuzhe believed. Back when they were teammates, during practice matches within the team, his win rate against Fang Rui had been relatively high.

The group arena map was Forest Corridor, a relatively complex map for 1v1 matches, suitable for the dirty playstyle. But for an Elementalist, a class that required casting to launch attacks, extra cover wasn't a bad thing.

Neither character charged directly towards the center. Both were steadily approaching using all sorts of cover. The crowd was also gradually affected by this kind of atmosphere. The shouts became quieter, quieter, until it was almost completely silent, and then, the two characters met!

Boom!

Zhao Yuzhe was the first to attack. Elementalist Beautiful Light waved his staff and launched a Fireball. This sort of low-level spell could be cast almost instantaneously for a pro character. For an Elementalist's equipment, cast speed was one of the most important attributes to boost.

Boundless Sea, who had been trying to take a roundabout path to flank him, had actually been directly seen through by Zhao Yuzhe. The stadium was filled with sighs of regret. Boundless Sea rolled and dodged, and with a flip of his palm, he pushed out a Qi Bullet.

He sure has a few tricks, huh?

The light of the Qi Bullet directly covered Zhao Yuzhe's view. He laughed coldly and cleanly used a Teleport.

Using this sort of skill to dodge a Qi Bullet was indeed a bit wasteful, but Zhao Yuzhe was clear that Fang Rui only used the Qi Bullet as a cover. The true attack would come after. A Teleport would allow him to avoid both the interference of the Qi Bullet and the follow-up attack, wasn't that convenient?

Beautiful Light raised his staff, preparing to fire another spell, but he suddenly saw the air around him rippling in an unusual pattern.

Qi Blade!

Pu!

Zhao Yuzhe had no time to react, and Beautiful Light's cast was brutally cut short by this attack. But what really shocked Zhao Yuzhe was the sheer accuracy of this attack. Had the opponent predicted early on that he would come to this position? And if that was the case… how could a Qi Blade be the only attack?

Of course it wasn't!

With that Thief posture that looked particularly ugly on a Qi Master, Boundless Sea flew toward him. In the midst of his leaping, he slapped his palms against the ground, using a Landmine Quake after that Qi Blade.

The Qi spread rapidly along the ground. Beautiful Light, having just been hit by that Qi Blade, didn't have the chance to escape the range. He was shaken by the Qi, and sent staggering and falling over. Boundless Sea activated Qi Flowing Cloud, instantly arriving in front of Beautiful Light, Pulse Break: Break Intelligence, Flash Burst, then a Qigong Blast, and at the very end there was even a Sky Piercing Strike!

The Qi Master's fierce attacks surged toward him, instantly landing on Beautiful Light's body. The rippling Qi energy lifted his robe, and Beautiful Light looked like a giant balloon as he floated upward. No blood spilled, but his slipping health let everyone know that even if these weren't bloody attacks, the damage they brought was no inferior to any hacking and slashing attack.

"How about it? A pleasant surprise?" Fang Rui began his trash talk attack in the channel.

Surprise, sure. But pleasant? Zhao Yuzhe of course didn't feel that at all.

"Don't just think that you understand me well! Teammates are mutual, I'm no stranger to your fighting either. The only difference is that, as your senior, I was kinder," Fang Rui said.

As your senior I was kinder?

What did that mean? That in their previous practice fights, he hadn't been using his full strength?

No! How was that possible!!

Zhao Yuzhe didn't believe it. He instantly adjusted Beautiful Light's condition, prepared to launch a counterattack, but… where was Boundless Sea?

The target had vanished.

Zhao Yuzhe was shaken. He immediately used an Electric Ring, creating a coil of lightning around him. No matter from which angle the opponent wanted to approach, he would first be zapped by this lightning. Even though this low-level skill didn't cause much damage, it could serve as some protection.

"Electric Ring? Aren't you forgetting something?" Boundless Sea had vanished from Zhao Yuzhe's sight, but Fang Rui's messages were still constantly appearing in the match channel before his eyes.

"I'm… not a Thief anymore!" Fang Rui said. Boundless Sea suddenly appeared, but he was… above Beautiful Light.

Thieves had the most fearsome tool at their disposal for launching close-range sneak attacks: Stealth. Electric Ring? It was undoubtedly a useful countermeasure towards Stealth. When Zhao Yuzhe couldn't find Boundless Sea, he instantly activated Electric Ring, because… he thought that Boundless Sea would use Stealth to quietly get in close range? Had he subconsciously treated Fang Rui as the King of Thieves like when he had been in Wind Howl?

But he was no longer a Thief. He could no longer use Stealth or such techniques to sneakily come into close range.

Where was Boundless Sea?

Zhao Yuzhe spun around in a full 360-degree circle several times, finally stopping at that fallen willow tree in the 2 o'clock direction.

He'd overlooked something?

Zhao Yuzhe suddenly raised his camera view and saw above his head the near-invisible, silent glittering.

Spirit Reaches to the Rainbow!

The level 55 Qi Master Awakening skill. Qi was pushed through the whole body, and what was blasted out was no longer just Qi, but the Qi Master himself as well.

Boundless Sea, like a heavy bomb, fell from the sky. Qi collected around his whole body, thick and radiant, slicing through the air like a rainbow, falling straight down and crashing into Beautiful Light.

Boom!

The Qi around Boundless Sea exploded when he hit Beautiful Light. It wasn't as bright as the surging fireworks of a Launcher's cannonfire, nor was it as elegant as the light of an Elementalist's spells. Even the light of the rainbow around his body faded in that instant of impact. But because this was the case, the damage caused by this attack was incredibly apparent.

The surrounding plants, the rocks, the mud, were all bent out of shape from the pressure of the Qi, some directly breaking. As for Beautiful Light, the direct target of this attack, even less needed to be said. Spirit Rainbow Blast was an attack that could be charged up, and while Fang Rui was chattering away at Fang Rui, the audience could see clearly that Boundless Sea had gotten into position early and begun charging.

"I'm not done yet!" Fang Rui yelled. Spirit Rainbow Blast was only a starting attack; more would follow. But compared to most combos, which would save the powerful attack for the end, Fang Rui used a powerful attack to blast the opponent first. Afterward, if there was an opening he'd continue, otherwise even just one powerful attack was worth it.

Zhao Yuzhe had clearly been thrown off by the powerful attack. This was a good chance for Fang Rui to seize the opening, and he didn't hesitate as he blasted another series of Qi Master attacks, which appeared gentle, but hit so hard that Zhao Yuzhe even felt pain on his real body.

How did things end up like this?

Zhao Yuzhe didn't understand. He hadn't dared to say his victory was guaranteed, but he had originally had a lot of confidence. But why? Why was he battered so harshly that he had no way of parrying? He couldn't predict the opponent's movements, but his own choice of position, his reactions, all seemed to be within Fang Rui's calculations.

Was it really like Fang Rui had said? Fang Rui understood him extremely well, but he had never taken advantage of this point before?

How could that be possible?

Zhao Yuzhe didn't believe it. He wasn't convinced. Beautiful Light stood up again, rushed forward… and in the end, lost the match brutally.

"You actually hid your strength even from your teammates?" In the last moment before he fell, Zhao Yuzhe shouted, full of venom.

"Hehe, dirty, no?" This was Fang Rui's answer.

In the first battle of the group arena, Fang Rui's Boundless Sea used only ten percent of his health to defeat Zhao Yuzhe's Beautiful Light. The crowd was filled with joking and laughter, and they threw all sorts of ridicule at Zhao Yuzhe as he walked out of the competitor booth.

"Is Fang Rui really so evil to actually hide his true strength even from his teammates?" But some people were still wondering about this question, including Chen Guo.

"Of course not. That kid just doesn't understand," said Ye Xiu.

"What doesn't he understand?" Chen Guo said.

"He doesn't understand that understanding your teammate and understanding your opponent are two different things. Before, Fang Rui treated him as a teammate, and now, he treated him as an opponent. As for him… he probably only knows how to understand people from the position of an opponent!" Ye Xiu said.

"Oh…" Chen Guo nodded, beginning to understand.

At this time, Wind Howl's second player of the group arena stood up.

Lin Feng.

Lin Feng, a transfer from Blue Rain to Wind Howl. Immediately upon his arrival, he obtained the top Thief character, Doubtful Demon. Lin Feng's luck was quite good. But he hadn't grasped this opportunity very well, and on the final All-Star rankings this year, there was no Thief representative.

And now, Lin Feng was challenging Doubtful Demon's old owner. He, who hadn't completed the inheritance of this character very well, what kind of answer would he give in this battle?

"Hahaha, my luck today is really good! First it's my familiar old teammate, and now it's my familiar old character. I can already hear the cheers of victory." When the battle started, Fang Rui was already beginning his trash talk. But, his old teammate, and the character he'd fought with for so many years, for them to suddenly become opponents, this… was this really good luck that could make the heart happy? No one would believe this.