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Finishing with 72% health left could be considered a massive advantage in the group arena.

Because this sort of advantage could stack in the group arena, the group arena was very different from individual matches, though it might seem that they were both 1v1s. In the individual competition, all you needed to do was beat your opponent first, but in the group arena, you had to consider how to use the least amount of HP possible to defeat your opponent.

Efficiency. The group arena valued the efficiency of your attacks far more. In the round that had just ended, Sun Xiang had doubtlessly managed to exhibit that excellently. Using positioning and patience, he had greatly diminished the space his opponent had to perform, winning very efficiently.

A player who usually depended on hand speed, mechanics and technique to win his opponents had suddenly decided to switch tactics and lure and trap his opponent, even managing to trick the Master of Dirty Play, Fang Rui.

”This is a very atypical victory for Sun Xiang!” Li Yibo was now confidently expressing his own opinion on the previous match. Before, when he was given the chance to make an accurate prediction, he was too careful and missed it. Li Yibo, frustrated, was frantically trying to make up for it by showing off how much he knew about Glory. For a moment, not even commentator Pan Lin had the chance to cut in and say anything. It was just good that there was a time limit to switch between players for the group arena. After Happy’s Fang Rui returned to the bench, Happy’s second player quickly headed off.

”How come this guy brought his brain with him today?” Fang Rui complained, returning to the bench. ”This guy” naturally referred to Sun Xiang. It was clear that in his eyes, Sun Xiang was the kind of player who didn’t use his brains to fight.

”You were rather impatient, too!” Ye Xiu replied.

”Yeah!” Fang Rui lamented. ”I should’ve just stayed there and continued to stall, and see who snapped first!”

Ye Xiu didn’t know if he should laugh or cry. ”There’s no way you didn’t know about that ambush point. You should’ve been more careful.”

”Didn’t I say that I didn’t know he brought his brain today?” Fang Rui retorted.

”...”

”Ok, I admit, I underestimated him,” Fang Rui sighed.

”Sun Xiang’s choice of action was truly rather unexpected.” Ye Xiu gazed at the stage. Sun Xiang, once the overconfident captain of Excellent Era who thought himself more than good enough to replace Ye Xiu, had truly matured after being relegated and then defeated in the Challenger League.

Crafting such a plan, especially in the group arena, meant that he was starting to understand his position more, as well as what he should do on the field. He was no longer fighting for himself, but the entire team.

”Mo Fan… might not be able to do well against him either…” Fang Rui said, watching Happy’s second player, Mo Fan, as he entered the booth.

”That’ll depend on how he plays. The current Mo Fan isn’t the Mo Fan of the past with his monotonous style anymore,” Ye Xiu said.

After half a year of actual battle experience, everyone had grown. Mo Fan wasn’t that same scrap-picker who would always lie in wait to ambush. He learned to judge the situation, and to use a wider variety of styles and techniques. Still, he had managed to preserve the habits and virtues he had gained from scrap-picking in-game. He had patience, he was careful, good at finding and grasping opportunities. These were the characteristics that suited a Class like Ninja, which focused on moving undetected.

Originally, Deception was a widely known and hated character in the online game. Before, many guilds had noticed him and his talents. However, his loner personality caused him to ignore the olive branches being extended his way from all over. It wasn’t until he was pulled into the pro circle by Ye Xiu that his potential was realized, proving that the guilds hadn’t misjudged him. It’s just that Ye Xiu managed to brute force this talent, who no one else had been able to recruit, into his camp.

After Mo Fan went up, the second round soon began. In the beginning, Mo Fan didn’t dart into the shadows and move carefully like usual, but instead had Deception run towards the center at full speed.

”Happy’s Mo Fan is also one who’s good at hiding and ambushing, but it seems like he’s not planning on doing that this time!” Pan Lin noted, seeing Deceptions movements.

”In reality, with so many gullies in this map, one can use them at any time so long as they aim well. In the last match, Fang Rui’s playstyle was a little too dirty to work,” Li Yibo commented. History was always on the side of the victors, so the losing Fang Rui immediately turned into a bad example.

”This time, it seems that Sun Xiang doesn’t plan on using the same method as the last round,” Pan Lin brought up. Sun Xiang’s One Autumn Leaf had also quickly ran for the center after the match began, returning to his usual style.

”An ambush like that wouldn’t work a second time,” Li Yibo said.

”So this time he had One Autumn Leaf charge directly. This is the Sun Xiang we’re all more familiar with. It seems like this match will be a direct clash between the two. Okay, their characters have now entered each other’s field of vision. What will they do next? Huh?” Pan Lin was just getting rather excited over all this when Deception, who had been charging forward head on, suddenly rolled to the side and jumped into a gully after appearing in One AUtumn Leaf’s field of vision.

”Uh, it seems like Happy’s Mo Fan still intends to use the terrain to cover his movements. However, he’s already been seen, so Sun Xiang can probably make a relatively accurate judgement of his position, no? Huh?” Just as Pan Lin was saying this, Mo fan’s Deception then jumped out of the gully after moving around for a while.

”What is he doing? Advisor Li?” Pan Lin couldn’t understand and immediately went to ask Li Yibo.

”He’s probably trying to confuse the other using his pace!” Li Yibo answered rather weakly. He really wanted to append a ”this is my personal opinion and might not be right” to the end of his words.

”Sun Xiang doesn’t seen very affected. One Autumn Leaf is continuing forwards,” Pan Lin exclaimed.

Shuriken!

In the end, the one to strike first was still Decepton, who had a few mid-ranged skills.

Clang!

One Autumn Leaf didn’t slow down, flicking his spear up and knocking the shuriken away in midair. Just from a technical perspective, Sun Xiang performed flawlessly.

The shuriken didn’t do anything to his opponent. Deception flicked his hands again. Fwoosh, fwoosh, fwoosh, fwoosh, four shurikens flew out in rapid succession. This time, it was the improved version of Shuriken: Storm Shuriken.

The shurikens sliced through the air, all four of them approaching rapidly. This time, Sun Xiang could no longer block them all with pure mechanics alone.

Dragon Breaks the Ranks!

In the end, One Autumn Leaf forwent blocking and directly used a Dragon Breaks the Ranks to charge forward, ignoring the damage from the shurikens.

Under the effects of Dragon Breaks the Ranks, all Storm Shuriken did was deal damage. It didn’t hinder One Autumn Leaf’s advance at all. One Autumn Leaf arrived in front of Deception in the blink of an eye.

Poof!

The struck Deception exploded into smoke and his real body appeared behind One Autumn Leaf. Despite facing Dragon Breaks the Ranks at such a close range, he could still dodge so precisely. Mo Fan’s mechanics were impressive.

Ninja Arts: Bird Fall!

Deception, who had appeared in midair with a Shadow Clone Technique, immediately stepped down with both feet at One Autumn’s Leaf’s shoulders. Sun Xiang reacted extremely fast though. With the momentum of Dragon Breaks the Ranks still in effect, One Autumn Leaf had already jumped up and turned, throwing himself back with his own momentum. His spear Evil Annihilation struck with deadly precision.

Sky Strike!

The lowest level skill used at the best timing. Deception’s Bird Fall couldn’t hit One Autumn Leaf’s shoulders anymore. In midair, Mo Fan adjusted himself swiftly, and Deception’s Bird Fall ended up stepping right on the tip of One Autumn Leaf’s Evil Annihilation.

Such precise mechanics! It was truly awe inspiring. The venue immediately exploded into applause.

Ninja Arts: Bird Fall might be a level 45 skill, but it didn’t have very high priority. Meanwhile, Sky Strike might be the lowest level skill, but its knockup priority was very high.

Bird Fall couldn’t stop Sky Strike’s upwards momentum, and Deception was still thrown into the air. It was just that since he had used skill to step on the spear, he didn’t take any damage. He was thrown into the air, but he didn’t tumble out of control like he would have, if he had been hit directly by Sky Strike.

Furious Dragon Strikes the Heart!

Deception might not have been thrown too badly into the air, but Sun Xiang tried to rip that composure away. One Autumn Leaf’s Evil Annihilation retracted and then struck lightning fast, a Level 60 skill thrown out, in pursuit of the airborne Deception.

Poof!

Furious Dragon Strikes the Heart hit, but after a bang, the airborne Deception was replaced with a straw dummy with a poof of smoke.

Ninja Arts: Hundred Streams!

Deception, having already landed, rapidly formed seals and his ninjato swung. Streams of water lunged towards One Autumn Leaf.

Sun Xiang had not noticed the sneak attack from behind, but since Furious Dragon Strikes the Heart had hit a straw dummy, he knew that an attack was imminent. He didn’t even bother turning to look, having One Autumn Leaf dodge to one side immediately. As he dodged, he turned his camera to see the Hundred Streams flowing across the ground. If he had been just a little late in reacting, he would be inside a water prison right now.

”Mo Fan is competing with Sun Xiang in mechanics!” Pan Lin yelled in shock. As a newbie, this sort of courage was truly quite shocking. What was even more shocking was that after these exchanges, neither side had gotten the upperhand. It seemed like they were at a draw.

”His reactions are very fast, his mechanics precise!” Li Yibo noted. He was, obviously, commenting on Mo Fan. As for Sun Xiang, there was no need to use these general praises to comment on his performance anymore.

But after these evenly matched exchanges, Deception rolled to the side and jumped into a ditch. He had turned and hid after seeing that his attacks weren’t working.

Sun Xiang’s One Autumn Leaf rushed over, Evil Annihilation held in front of him and ready to strike.

However, Deception had disappeared. A short, small ditch just like the place Sun Xiang had hid last time. It had turns left and right. Where did Deception go?

Sun Xiang was trying to make a decision when, under One Autumn Leaf’s feet, the ground suddenly loosened.

Underground Tunneling Technique!