Huang Shaotian smirked. He knew Tiny Herb’s roster, and this name wasn’t familiar. This kid claimed to be from Tiny Herb, but he was probably just from the training camp like the two of them. Speaking with that kind of confident tone was really overcompensating.

“You-”

“Hello, Blue Rain, Yu Wenzhou.”

Huang Shaotian was prepared to unleash some verbal ridicule, but Yu Wenzhou had already extended his right hand to the other person. The players in two different rows shook hands.

“Do you not think that this sort of immediate, complete reversal was possible only because of Ye Qiu’s skill and One Autumn Leaf’s strength?” Yu Wenzhou followed up immediately.

“Of course it was for those reasons,” said Wang Jiexi.

“Fuck, then what’re you so cocky for?” said Huang Shaotian. Wang Jiexi’s initial tone made it sound like he himself could pull off what Ye Qiu had done.

“I merely asked because I am not very familiar with the capabilities of a Battle Mage,” answered Wang Jiexi.

“Oh? Then your class is?” Yu Wenzhou asked.

“Witch,” Wang Jiexi answered.

Witch… At that, Yu Wenzhou and Huang Shaotian unconsciously met each other’s eyes. They’d never heard of this player’s name before, but Tiny Herb’s core was the famed and powerful Witch Vaccaria. To play the class of the team’s core – there was significance there!

“A Witch? In that case…” Yu Wenzhou turned back to look at the stage. Didn’t Hundred Blossoms have a Witch of their own? But One Autumn Leaf had landed right in the middle of them from above, and then Excellent Era’s counterattack had smothered them ruthlessly.

“If I were him… May I?” Wang Jiexi made a gesture, and Yu Wenzhou handed over his notebook and pen.

“I’d get to here, (58, 70), and then from there, cut through!” With deft strokes, Wang Jiexi quickly sketched a diagram on a blank page of the notebook.

“Huh?” Huang Shaotian couldn’t quite follow Yu Wenzhou’s notes, nor Wang Jiexi’s plan.

But Yu Wenzhou was paying close attention. “Attack from this position? Here?” He pointed to a spot to verify.

“Yes,” Wang Jiexi nodded.

“This… how is that possible?” Yu Wenzhou wasn’t one to openly challenge others; for him to say this, Wang Jiexi’s proposed plan must have really been quite ambitious.

“And then what would you do?” But despite any doubts, Yu Wenzhou still wanted to listen to Wang Jiexi’s train of thought.

“Disperse Powder, Frost Powder, Broom Tornado.” Wang Jiexi simply named these three skills.

Disperse Powder to lower the opponents’ speed.

Frost Powder to give his weapon ice elemental damage and the chance to freeze.

Broom Tornado to break apart the enemies.

Yu Wenzhou grasped the reasoning behind these three skills. But to cast all of them in those conditions? Wang Jiexi’s plan of seizing that position and cutting through would put him right between the back-to-back Blossoming Chaos and One Autumn Leaf. How would he be able to quickly pull off those three skills from that position?

“You’re bragging,” was Huang Shaotian’s blunt claim, now that he finally understood Wang Jiexi’s plan.

“Next season, you’ll see.” Wang Jiexi didn’t try to explain more; there was a limit to what could be shown with pen and paper.

“Hmph.” Huang Shaotian, still feeling somewhat disdainful toward this player, refused to let him have the last word. “It’s not like Blossoming Chaos couldn’t have stopped One Autumn Leaf’s attack on his own. He could have forcibly cancelled his Earth-Shattering Slash and turned in midair with a Falling Light Blade.”

Wang Jiexi glanced at him and smiled. “Oh? Was there such an opportunity?” There was often a gap between theory and reality.

“Of course!” said Huang Shaotian, without a trace of uncertainty.

The screens were currently replaying the scenes showing One Autumn Leaf’s pivotal kill. Huang Shaotian turned to watch, and the other two did likewise.

Coming up…”Right now!” declared Huang Shaotian. Yu Wenzhou and Wang Jiexi glanced at each other, then back to the screens. The moment flashed by quickly, but it was replayed several times, and when the screens slowed down the replay, both Yu Wenzhou and Wang Jiexi could see the moment he was referring to.

Wang Jiexi looked at Huang Shaotian in a new light. It looked like this chatterbox wasn’t just some talkative guy – he knew his stuff, even discovering something that Wang Jiexi himself hadn’t noticed.

Was that an opportunity?

In theory, yes. In that instant, if the actions Huang Shaotian had named were executed, then there was indeed a chance to break One Autumn Leaf’s attack.

“What’s your name?” Wang Jiexi asked him.

“Huang Shaotian.” He inclined his head.

“You’re correct, there was such an opportunity,” Wang Jiexi acknowledged. “But would you be able to seize it?”

Seeing an opportunity was one matter. Being able to take advantage of it was the real test.

But Huang Shaotian simply threw Wang Jiexi’s own words back at him. “Next season, you’ll see.”

Wang Jiexi nodded. “Then, next season, we’ll meet onstage?”

“We’ll meet onstage!”

“What about you?” asked Wang Jiexi, turning toward Yu Wenzhou.

Huang Shaotian suddenly winced. This outsider had no clue about Yu Wenzhou’s crippled hands and low status in the team. If he knew the truth, would he still anticipate Yu Wenzhou’s onstage appearance?

Yu Wenzhou, however, remained as calm as ever. “You two, aren’t you forgetting something?”

“What?” This time, it was Huang Shaotian and Wang Jiexi’s turn to exchange a glance.

“Ye Qiu is a living person, with the ability to adjust his actions as the situation demands. Not to mention that Excellent Era is composed of more members than just him. You make plans to counter him, but are you really sure they would be enough to change the overall result?”

That silenced both of them.

Huang Shaotian had assumed that his response could break the deadlock. But would his actions have been enough to render Ye Qiu helpless? With that simple question, he deflated, and, judging from Wang Jiexi’s silence, the other player felt similarly.

“Thus,” concluded Yu Wenzhou, shutting his notebook, “I believe that I am not yet ready.”

Part 7

Onstage, Excellent Era pulled off the reversal and crushed Hundred Blossoms. At the front was the king of the Alliance of Season 1 – Battle God One Autumn Leaf.

Hundred Blossoms suffered a brutal defeat.

The attention-grabbing Blood and Blossoms playstyle, after going undefeated for half a season, finally met their Waterloo. And the one to defeat them was Ye Qiu, was Excellent Era.

The Hundred Blossoms players had been filled with hope and anticipation as they walked onstage, but as they now made the return trip through the player passageway, they did so in dejected spirits.

No one had anything to say. Sun Zheping didn’t, Zhang Jiale didn’t either.

They returned to their preparation room in silence, but when they arrived at the door, the door to the opposing preparation room opened, and someone walked out. Someone who had been with Excellent Era earlier, but whom they hadn’t met.

“Ye Qiu!” Sun Zheping immediately shouted.

“Ah?” That person looked at Team Hundred Blossoms gathered before him.

This was Ye Qiu, the person whom they had been looking forward to meet for a long time. But now, they were the losers; the battle had drained their earlier anticipation and fighting spirit. And Ye Qiu, the person who had vanquished them, chose this moment to appear, making them feel somewhat awkward.

But even so, Sun Zheping didn’t lower his head – he would never lower his head. Ye Qiu was indeed very strong, stronger than he had seen while watching from the sidelines. This would only spur his improvement.

“Next time we’ll win for sure!” said Sun Zheping.

Ye Qiu smiled. “It won’t be that easy.”

“For sure!” Zhang Jiale stepped forward, supporting his partner.

“Don’t be so worked up.” Ye Qiu was still smiling. His hand had been rummaging through his pocket his whole time, and he finally withdrew it, holding half a pack of cigarettes.

“Do you smoke?” he offered to the two of them, seemingly ignoring their combative attitude toward him.

“Huh? Don’t know how…” The two of them had been strengthening their resolve to defeat him – faced with this unexpected question, they didn’t really know how to respond.

“No smoking in the passageways!!” The voice came from some unknown place – loud and clear, it seemed as though it were prepared for this moment.

“I’m going to smoke.” Ye Qiu waved at the Hundred Blossoms crowd, then headed toward the passageway exit.

Hundred Blossoms stared after him, stunned. This was the strongest in the Alliance, the person who had just defeated him. They found no trace of a victor’s arrogance on him, but at the same time, in the face of their challenge, their provocative promise to win next time, he wasn’t particularly humble or polite.

It won’t be that easy.

That’s how he responded.

This sentence was straightforward, was honest.

Indeed, it wasn’t that easy! They knew this from the beginning, and now, they knew it even more.