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Chapter 1363: Hundred Blossoms on the Cliff

Translator: Nomyummi Editor: Nomyummi

Happy vs Wind Howl, 1-0.

The scoreboard in the stadium clearly displayed the two teams’ points after the first battle.

Ye Xiu’s win streak continued. In the live broadcast, Pan Lin and Li Yibo only mentioned this once, almost with an air of resignation. It was simply too repetitive. And with this battle in particular, Li Yibo felt that he had been faceslapped once again. He hadn’t even dared to make any thorough analysis at the start of the match, he’d only said that this map was suitable for Spellblades, and that Liu Hao had chosen it carefully. He felt that he couldn’t go wrong with such an obvious observation!

But in the end, had this map actually been suitable for the Spellblade? If only looking at the actual performance, and not the map, then Li Yibo could only be given a regretful “haha.”

Just from the onstage performance, it was impossible to see that Liu Hao’s Absent Sun had used any special characteristics of the map. But would Coach Li be beaten that easily?

“Ye Xiu played very well!” Li Yibo said. “From the very start, he could tell that the map put him at a disadvantage, so step by step, he drew the opponent into his plan, took control, and ended the match.”

“Yes, yes – what did Liu Hao want to do with this map? We didn’t even get the chance to see!” Pan Lin followed Li Yibo’s thought process.

“This match between old teammates didn’t ignite the fireworks we’d expected. Ye Xiu easily obtained victory,” said Li Yibo.

“Yes, Ye Xiu won easily, and now Happy is 1-0 in the lead. The Wind Howl audience seems somewhat disappointed!” Pan Lin said.

“This outcome probably caught them off-guard as well! The first player in a match is usually chosen to be someone with a tougher style. This kind of player can carry the atmosphere, and even if they lose, they won’t disappoint people too much. Liu Hao is more of a calculating player, but if he miscalculates, then his loss is a bit more ugly,” said Li Yibo.

“Yeah… this match, he seemed a bit off,” Pan Lin said.

While the two of them discussed, the two players had already begun to come offstage. Liu Hao’s face was ugly as he walked along, and he heard a few boos directed at him. Clearly, a number of Wind Howl fans were unsatisfied with his performance. But overall, the Wind Howl audience was still relatively tolerant.

“Let’s get ready to enjoy the second battle!” Pan Lin said. The camera switched back to show the digital display in the stadium, and very soon, the names of the players participating in the second battle of the individual round appeared.

Happy, Mo Fan, Deception.

Wind Howl, Guo Yang, Qi Breaker.

“Another former Excellent Era player,” Li Yibo said.

“Happy sent out Mo Fan, unlike their recent pattern of sending Luo Ji or Wei Chen. It looks like the situation’s getting more tense, so Happy doesn’t dare to continue to let Luo Ji and Wei Chen find their condition,” said Pan Lin.

“Haha, if they lose points now, they won’t have any more chances to win them back,” said Li Yibo.

Indeed, these were the last two rounds. Every single point was precious. It was very possible that the final standings would be determined by this single point.

Wind Howl had lost one point, but they were still in seventh place, and had a points advantage over eighth and ninth. Meanwhile, Hundred Blossoms, currently in eighth place, was in a greater need of points, but they also lost the first point of the individual round.

Song Qiying, the young general of Tyranny, went first, and ultimately defeated Hundred Blossoms’ old general Zhang Wei to win a first point for Tyranny.

The second Tyranny player instantly provoked boos from all corners of the Hundred Blossoms stadium.

Zhang Jiale, it could only be Zhang Jiale. Every time he returned to this stadium, he was met with this kind of welcome.

It had already been three years since he retired from Hundred Blossoms.

It had already been two years since he joined Tyranny.

Yet Hundred Blossoms’ resentment toward him seemed not to have lessened in the slightest. Even if there were many Hundred Blossoms fans that understood him, their voices would never be loud enough. Those who passionately despised Zhang Jiale had a stronger presence.

This season, Hundred Blossoms’ fans had organized a poll amongst themselves, a contest in which they ranked the various players in Hundred Blossoms history in different categories. The player toward whom they were most grateful, and the player they hated the most, the number one for both categories was Zhang Jiale.

Zhang Jiale, to Hundred Blossoms, was an angel and a demon combined.

Some remembered his many years of contributions, while others hated his final abandonment.

Love and hate tangled together like this, in a never-ending debate. Now that he came onstage, there was some applause, but there was more booing. In the end, Hundred Blossoms desperately needed victory at this time, and Zhang Jiale had become an obstacle standing in their way. Evidently, this would ignite more hatred than gratitude.

And on Hundred Blossoms’ side, when their player name was announced, the crowd instantly hushed.

Zou Yuan, Bright Blossoms.

By coincidence, Hundred Blossoms’ old and new Spitfires stood opposite each other on the battlefield. The very air seemed thick with tension.

But Zhang Jiale was very calm.

Having walked to this point today, he would have no other emotion. All of those feelings and conflicts of the past were now buried deep in his heart. He would reminisce, but not at this moment. Perhaps the points didn’t matter to Tyranny right now anymore, but Zhang Jiale absolutely would not throw the match for Hundred Blossoms. He still hoped he could earn the understanding and support of the Hundred Blossoms fans, but he would not do so through such a method.

He would play this match seriously. It wasn’t a victory that Tyranny needed, but to himself, and to Hundred Blossoms, this was the greatest respect he could offer.

Gunshots.

The two Spitfires were already fighting.

These were perhaps the two best Spitfires in Glory right now, both from Team Hundred Blossoms, both controlling Spitfire characters with the word “blossoms” in their names.

Who was weaker? Who was stronger?

This was not a question that could be answered with one match. In one match, there was only victory and defeat.

Zou Yuan’s playstyle had inherited many characteristics from Zhang Jiale’s, but later on, he had integrated many of his own traits as well. The two’s styles seemed to be similar, but they weren’t the same.

This had nothing to do with which was superior. They simply each used their own abilities to the limit.

Amidst roars, explosions bloomed like flowers. In this instant, everyone forgot all debate, as they were captivated by the sights onstage.

Victory and defeat, that was all there was. No matter what player, what class, what style, what debate – once on the battlefield, only victory and defeat were displayed in the end.

The loser would fall; the winner would remain standing. Aside from this, there would be no other outcome. And when this moment arrived…

Glory!

The display flashed with this large word. The holographic projection, showing the details of the battle, played the final moments in slow motion.

Amidst the fireworks exploding like blooming flowers, Bright Blossoms fell. In the end, Zou Yuan could not defeat his senior. As for Zhang Jiale, he knew very well that this match was just icing on the cake for Tyranny, while it could be fatal for Hundred Blossoms. But he didn’t hesitate, didn’t retreat, as he resolutely controlled Dazzling Hundred Blossoms to fire the final shot.

As for what consequences this would have for Hundred Blossoms, it was no longer his business.

Hundred Blossoms’ core player, ace character, this was all in the past.

2-0!

In Tyranny’s away game against Hundred Blossoms, when Tyranny no longer needed to care too much about victory, they still obtained the first point, pushing Hundred Blossoms to the cliff’s edge.

The news from the other ongoing matches only gave Hundred Blossoms even more of a panic.

301, who had only been behind them by one point, was facing the last-place Seaside this round. By now, they’d already won all three of their individual battles, squeezing Hundred Blossoms out of the top eight.

Thunderclap was playing their home game against Samsara and had already finished two individual matches. Even though Thunderclap was generally weaker individually, they had actually taken the lead 2-0 against Samsara.

In Wind Howl against Happy, they’d finished two battles and were tied 1-1. When two direct competitors were gaining points at an equal rate like this, it was the worst for the other competitors. It would be better for Hundred Blossoms if one team dropped a lot of points, because then there’d be space to pass them.

Not a single piece of good news.

Team Hundred Blossoms, at ninth place right now, had no road of retreat.

Victory, they needed victory! If they weren’t able to earn points this round, then their season would come to an end right here. Hundred Blossoms was facing an away game at Samsara next round. It was truly too difficult to push any hopes onto that match.

“You have to win!”

Carrying all of Hundred Blossoms’ hopes as he walked onstage was their Summoner Zhu Xiaoping. The one he was about to face was the player who quietly demonstrated his strength through positioning and movement, Qin Muyun.

Zhu Xiaoping knew how critical this battle was, but it was a difficult task!

His summoned creatures had no way of completing an encirclement around Qin Muyun’s Negative Nine Degrees. Qin Muyun’s precise movement allowed him to thread his way through the army of summons, while his bullets were sent wave after wave toward Zhu Xiaoping’s Wind Carving.

The summons he’d sent to surround the opponent weren’t enough, but Zhu Xiaoping didn’t have anything left to summon creatures to protect himself. Both attack and defense were too difficult, and in the end, he unfortunately lost this crucial third match.

0-3!

Hundred Blossoms was now lagging 0-3. Just when they thought the situation couldn’t get any worse, Tyranny dealt them another blow.

When he came offstage, Zhu Xiaoping’s expression was anguished. He hadn’t been able to manifest the hopes that the entire team, the entire audience, had placed upon him. He knew what this loss implied.

The stadium was deathly silent. No matter how dissatisfied they were by Hundred Blossoms’ performance, the audience was in no mood to boo or jeer.

We have to win!

In everyone’s hearts, there was only this one sound: win!

“We can’t lose any more points. We have to win every single one of the next seven points. This is the most crucial moment of our entire season. Everyone, focus! Win, we must win. Erase every other thought from your minds. Don’t hope that Tyranny will let up, because they won’t, that team never will. We can only bring out everything we have and wager it all on this stage. This is our opportunity, and we can only rely on ourselves to seize it. Win! Win all the way until the end!”

In the short break after the individual round ended, Yu Feng was desperately trying to boost the team’s morale.

“Let’s go!” he roared. “Don’t let the opponents look down upon us, don’t let down our fans! Let’s get them.”