The King's Avatar

November 22nd, Glory Professional Alliance Season 10 Round 12. Happy played their home game against Misty Rain, and once again the television chose to live broadcast Happy’s match.

In this round, there were many matches between powerful teams, such as Wind Howl versus Void, Tiny Herb versus Hundred Blossoms, Blue Rain versus Thunderclap and so on. But in the end, they chose to broadcast this match between two teams that currently weren’t in the playoff zone. They took into consideration the current situations of these two teams.

After eleven rounds, Happy’s claim of aiming for the championship was still treated as a joke, but with their current ranking, people had to notice the potential this team had to make it to the playoffs. With a performance stronger than Samsara’s in three consecutive rounds, they finally met a strong team, and everyone was curious as to whether or not Happy could continue their strong performance. Misty Rain had performed poorly in the past two rounds, instantly sliding from fifth place out of the playoff zone, and they urgently needed to regroup. So, the collision of these two teams was a bit more exciting, and was therefore chosen to be broadcast.

The attendance rate at Happy’s home games continued to rise. Because of Excellent Era’s many years of operation in City H, there was already a strong Glory fanbase. The old Excellent Era shut down and New Excellent Era was in the Challenger League. Many fans continued to follow Excellent Era matches, but many who liked watching professional matches slowly began to watch Happy’s home matches. Happy’s strong performance in the past three rounds incited even more attention and excitement, and now that they were facing the relatively strong Misty Rain, there was quite a crowd that came to watch the match in-person.

The players were introduced as they came onstage. Misty Rain, on Happy’s home turf, actually received a decent amount of applause.

After Misty Rain let go of their Sharpshooter Lu Yining, the twin flowers Shu Keyi and Shu Kexin became part of Misty Rain’s main force. Half of Misty Rain’s positions were now occupied by females, and they finally became a veritable woman’s army. This unique scenery naturally inspired unique attention.

”Haha, the Shu twins are very popular right now! They can receive such a welcome even at an away game.” Television commentator Pan Lin noted the current atmosphere of the stadium.

”Their skill is very high,” Guest Li Yibo said.

After the away team, the home team players came onstage. In terms of female players, Happy only had one fewer! Su Mucheng and Tang Rou were both part of Happy’s main force. Su Mucheng’s popularity in City H really didn’t need to be mentioned. Her appearance always caused the audience to reach a peak in energy. But Tang Rou… after the 1v3, her supporters drastically diminished. Never mind neutral audience members, even many of Happy’s supporters didn’t like to see her anymore. The applause after her introduction was always scattered and lacking, and the atmosphere was so cold that it was awkward.

”Ah, the welcome received by the home players is even less than what the away players received, this is really…” Pan Lin lamented.

”Tang Rou is very talented, but the way she dealt with this incident was really…” Li Yibo also gave a half-sentence lament.

After the introductions of the two teams, what came next were of course the polite greetings and interactions between the teams onstage.

”Welcome back.” Even though she was Misty Rain’s captain, Chu Yunxiu didn’t follow the custom to shake hands with Happy’s captain, Ye Xiu. Instead, she went to her close friend Su Mucheng and gave her a hug.

Ye Xiu was left hanging with his hand still extended, smiling awkwardly, but from the side someone suddenly appeared to shake his hand. ”God Ye, it’s been a while.”

”It’s been a while,” Ye Xiu answered, smiling. This small and scrawny man before his eyes was Misty Rain’s Li Hua, the current number one Ninja in Glory. He entered Misty Rain in Season 7, appearing on the main roster that year, and that season he and Sun Xiang were the most attention-grabbing rookies. But the styles of these two were exactly opposite, one was bright and eye-catching, charging at the frontlines of battle; the other preferred to lurk in unnoticed shadows, launching sudden attacks when the opponent was defenseless.

That season, Sun Xiang had snatched the title of Best Rookie, and the next year he joined the powerhouse Excellent Era, taking up One Autumn Leaf, a top account in Glory. And then his team was relegated, and failed to fight through the Challenger League, and only now in Samsara this season did he have a strong chance of winning. Sun Xiang’s pro career could be said to be extremely unfortunate and frustrating.

And Li Hua, who debuted the same year, had spent all his time working hard in Misty Rain. After his abilities were recognized, the team began working hard to build a character for him. The Ninja Dark Forest was voted into the All-Stars along with Li Hua in Season 8, and again in Season 9. And in this season, Misty Rain’s strategic style changed, and experts could all tell that it now revolved around Li Hua. This skinny little man played an extremely major role in Misty Rain. But after shaking hands with Ye Xiu, he backed away and quietly stood to the side. If no one introduced him, it would be hard to imagine that this person was also an all-powerful top player in Glory.

Chu Yunxiu finally broke apart from her hug with Su Mucheng. She turned to look at Ye Xiu and casually slapped the right palm he was extending. ”What, you want a hug too?”

”I don’t dare,” Ye Xiu grinned.

”If you want a hug, then hug!” And Chu Yunxiu really came over to give Ye Xiu a hug, just like that.

”Welcome back!” she said, patting Ye Xiu’s back.

”Haha, in a while you won’t be so welcoming,” Ye Xiu laughed.

”Give it a try,” Chu Yunxiu laughed coldly and pushed him away.

To the side, Fang Rui also opened his two arms. ”Come! The embrace of love,” he called.

”Get out. The player is as dirty as his playing.” Chu Yunxiu ignored Fang Rui.

The players continued to move, shaking hands with each other down the line. When the Shu twins came to shake Ye Xiu’s hand, their feelings were a bit complex. Last year during the Christmas event, they really wanted to tear out the heart of this person in front of them. For this round against Happy, the two were already secretly planning to give this God a proper retaliation.

”How about it, do you regret joining Misty Rain? You should’ve come to our Happy!” Ye Xiu said as he shook their hands.

”We’re ahead of you in ranking,” Shu Keyi said.

”Not for long,” Ye Xiu smirked.

”Just wait and see!” The sisters glared at Ye Xiu, not at all afraid.

The greetings were quickly completed. The first players in the individual round stayed onstage while everyone else returned to their player areas.

Happy, Ye Xiu, Lord Grim.

Misty Rain, Li Hua, Dark Forest.

”What a coincidence, Senior.” The easily-overlooked Li Hua was set up with Ye Xiu again.

”It is!”

”I hope to learn from you in this match,” Li Hua said politely.

”Likewise.”

After this exchange of meaningless words, Li Hua paused. He clearly still wanted to say something, but he couldn’t find the right words. After silently thinking for a while, the judge already declaring that they could enter their player booths, Li Hua finally said a third pointless sentence. ”Good luck, Senior.”

”Good luck.”

The two headed toward their respective competitor booths.

”Ye Xiu, Happy once again sends out Ye Xiu for the individual competition… So far he has almost always appeared in the individual competition. He already has ten consecutive wins, this is the twelfth round,” Pan Lin said.

”In other words, this season, he hasn’t lost a single 1v1,” Li Yibo said. Right now was Round 12, and Ye Xiu was heading toward his eleventh straight win in his eleventh individual appearance, the answer was clear.

”With such a powerful 1v1 ability, why doesn’t he anchor the group arena?” Pan Lin didn’t understand, since that was how most teams set it up.

”Probably to lessen his burden, Ye Xiu isn’t young anymore. Tyranny’s already rotating their players,” Li Yibo said. In a question of age, Tyranny always had to be mentioned.

”Then if Ye Xiu continues with this pattern and rhythm, this season’s King of Dueling award will be uncontested,” Pan Lin said.

”Uh… For now, his unspecialized class gives him too great of an advantage. We’ll see everyone’s professional ability!” Li Yibo said.

”Even if everyone is able to adjust, that doesn’t necessarily mean they can beat Ye Xiu if they meet! With his current win streak, even if he loses the next few rounds, there’s a good chance that no one can surpass his 1v1 record,” Pan Lin said.

”We need someone to hurry and break his consecutive win record first!” Li Yibo laughed.

”Alright, let’s watch Li Hua.”

The two characters loaded onto the map. This was Happy’s home game, so of course Ye Xiu was the one choosing the map. He had already chosen all of the maps with nothing on them, so this time he had to pick one with some terrain features.

This time, Ye Xiu chose the Hillside map. It was still flat with no barriers or obstacles, but the flat surface was slightly tilted, which of course would cause some changes.

The two characters spawned at the two ends of the map, at the same height. Since this was a map with no barriers, the two of course wouldn’t try any strategic maneuvers. They both charged straight ahead, at the same time staring at the opponent’s position. There was much strategy involved in choosing a position to stand on the Hillside map. Because there was a slope, this would affect many skills and movements like jumping and rolling. To seize the high or the low ground, this was a question that had to be considered.

The two players were both paying attention to this, so they both stayed at the same elevation, neither one gaining an advantage. Ye Xiu didn’t launch an attack as soon as he was in range. Lord Grim continued to rush forward all the way until he was in the Ninja’s attack range, but even then, Li Hua didn’t control Dark Forest to attack, either.

Shining Cut!

Lord Grim suddenly swept forward with his blade, instantly springing forward and greatly reducing the distance between the two.

Li Hua was no longer quiet. Dark Forest waved his hand and a Shuriken was sent flying toward Lord Grim. Next, his two hands were already rapidly forming seals, preparing the next step of attack.

Ninjutsu - Shadow Dance!

This powerful Level 70 attack saw increasing direct use among Ninjas. It could be used as a main attack, or to hide movements and confuse the opponent. In any case, with a Shadow Dance, a Ninja suddenly had many options available. It didn’t necessarily have to be used as a pure attack skill.

Immediately, over a dozen Dark Forests charged at Lord Grim together. As the number one Ninja in Glory, his mastery over this powerful Ninja skill didn’t need to be mentioned. The live broadcast cut to Li Hua’s camera view, which was constantly switching. It was clear the Li Hua was jumping nonstop between clones to achieve the best possible control over them. The fourteen shadow clones formed an impressive array to surround Lord Grim.