“Yeah, I chose it for you,” Lin Jingyan replied. Dark Thunder, charge!

“Lin Jingyan has made the first the move!” Pan Lin immediately called out. He was a bit surprised. Up until now, no one had given any trouble to Ye Xiu’s Lord Grim in direct combat. Tyranny choosing such a straightforward map was surprising enough. Lin Jingyan making the first move only added to that surprise.

“Could Tyranny have found a way to counter the Unspecialized Blitz?” Pan Lin continued.

But soon afterwards, Dark Thunder was sent flying away.

“This…” Pan Lin was dumbstruck. That didn’t look like someone who found a way to counter an unspecialized.

Lord Grim gave chase and began his counterattack. Pan Lin continued to commentate passionately, while Li Yibo remained silent.

He carefully watched the fight between Lin Jingyan and Ye Xiu. He was also wondering whether Tyranny had found a way to counter Ye Xiu’s unspecialized. After all, besides Ye Xiu, the most experienced players in the Glory Alliance were the players in Tyranny. The unspecialized playstyle required ample experience to support it. Perhaps the only players who could find a way to break it were the ones in Tyranny.

But in just three moves…

Dark Thunder only had a chance to attack three times before being sent flying by Lord Grim. Li Yibo didn’t see any signs of Lin Jingyan figuring out the unspecialized playstyle. Instead, all he felt from Lin Jingyan was that the fast unspecialized playstyle was rendering him helpless.

But…

When Ye Xiu counterattacked, the defense from Lin Jingyan was as tought as ever.

He didn’t run away or kite him. None of the dirtiness from his days with Fang Rui appeared either. Lin Jingyan looked as if he wanted to beat Ye Xiu in direct combat.

Competing against the opponent’s strength with one’s weakness seemed like he was letting his emotions affect his decisions know matter how it was spun. However, how could someone as experienced as Lin Jingyan make such a low-level mistake?

What is Tyranny planning? Li Yibo searched for an answer. Many people were searching for an answer.

Bang bang bang…

After another intense exchange, the two once again separated.

“So sharp?” Ye Xiu smiled.

“Yeah!” Lin Jingyan replied. Dark Thunder charged forward again!

Lin Jingyan was clearly losing. Dark Thunder had lost more than 20% of his health, while Lord Grim had lost less than 10% of his. However, Lin Jingyan didn’t make any adjustments. He kept doing the same as before and fought him directly even if it looked like there was no chance of him beating Ye Xiu this way.

Lord Grim dodged, turned around, and ran away…

“What!?”

Everyone was dumbfounded.

The way Ye Xiu was playing didn’t seem to have any problems, but right now, he seemed to be… running away!

Ye Xiu was running away from Lin Jingyan. Was Lin Jingyan’s way of fighting really that threatening?

Of course, to the normal players, Lin Jingyan would crush them. But when looking at a competitive match, it had to be looked at in terms of professional play. Even if you said that Lin Jingyan’s attacks were giving Ye Xiu trouble, the amount of trouble it was giving was very limited, no? From their last exchange, it was obvious that Ye Xiu had won that trade.

However, why would someone who had the advantage choose to run away and go on the defensive?

There was no time for everyone to think too much because Lin Jingyan had set his heart on his methods. Dark Thunder turned around and gave chase to Lord Grim, attacking again.

Lord Grim retreated another step, Dark Thunder advanced another step… Then, there was nowhere to run to. Lin Jingyan was an experienced general. He wasn’t going to let Ye Xiu run away as he pleased. He would think of some way to corner his opponent. If the terrain was richer in content, there would be more space and more options to choose from when escaping. But the Arena was a small map without any obstacles. The only way to run was by using one’s own movements. There was limited room to run, too. The Arena was only so big!

After running away twice, Ye Xiu was forced into a corner.

As a result, he counterattacked.

Cold light intertwined with the occasional sounds of clashing weapons. Dark Thunder’s weapon was the most common Brawler weapon, a Claw, which consisted of sharp blades. Blood would fly into the air every time the blades cut. Fast. The two were attacking and defending extremely fast. This was a contest of hand speed and reaction speed. The viewers could only watch the spectacle in awe. They couldn’t see what attacks they were using and whether it was effective. Their only choice was to look at their health bars to determine who was winning.

Ye Xiu. Ye Xiu was winning.

Lin Jingyan’s Brawler wasn’t a match for Ye Xiu’s unspecialized in direct combat. From this point, it seemed like it was obvious who would win the match.

However, Lin Jingyan didn’t retreat or give up. He persisted, insisting on using this sort of method to decide the winner.

Applause!

The crowd applauded.

Brawlers could fight close-range or long-range; they had CC and burst damage; they were an extremely versatile class. Fang Rui was Lin Jingyan’s most important and reliable partner for many years. To synergize with him, he had adjusted his playstyle, and that was during the later parts of his career. Before that, Lin Jingyan was an aggressive player who liked direct combat.

Demon Subduer!

Just hearing his former Brawler’s name, how did that sound like someone who sneaked around and used dirty tricks?

The Lin Jingyan of that time had been chasing after the footsteps of the geniuses. When fighting against them, Lin Jingyan didn’t want to show fear. Even if he lost, he would stand straight until he fell.

Now that he was thinking about it, he had fallen numerous times.

But he had never cowered!

Even when he had adjusted his playstyle to not be as aggressive, he had never cowered. He had ambitions too. For his dream to be the champion, he could give up on everything. To bring back the wild days as Demon Subduer, he could do that too!

Tiger Flips the Mountain!

Double Crescent!

Pain of Scars!

A bright red streak of blood blossomed into the air. As Lord Grim retreated, blood poured out from his right shoulder.

“Oh? Demon Subduer… it’s been a long time,” Ye Xiu said.

“Are you scared?” Lin Jingyan spoke as if he were Ye Xiu. Dark Thunder, charge!

The Demon Subduer here wasn’t referring to the one that Tang Hao was using in Team Wind Howl, but the three-hit Brawler combo that Lin Jingyan often used back in the day. It was precisely because of this three-hit combo that he included the name “three” in the the name Demon Subduer. His team saw this connection, and so the three-hit combo was named Demon Subduer as well.*(See TL note at the end of the chapter)

However, as Glory developed and levels increased, more skills became available. Lin Jingyan’s famous three-hit combo gradually became outdated. Nowadays, it was rarely used and couldn’t be considered a signature move. If his opponent wasn’t Ye Xiu and a younger generation player, they might not have recognized the three-hit combo from Dark Thunder.

“Haha, I was never scared. You know that,” Ye Xiu said. Lord Grim faced him again.

Lin Jingyan’s move had been sudden. Ye Xiu had been caught off guard. But if it was this skill, then even when Lin Jingyan had used it in the past, he indeed had never been afraid of it, let alone now when it had fallen behind the times.

“Take a look at it again!” Lin Jingyan called out.

“You still want to use it?” Ye Xiu disapproved.

“Get ready!” Lin Jingyan wasn’t going to use it again. He already knew that suddenly using this skill to catch him off guard might give him some benefit, but using this secret weapon again would be a joke. The reason it had become outdated was because it had no value anymore. He didn’t mind bluffing though.

“I’m ready. If you use it, I’ll beat you to death!” Ye Xiu said. On the other hand, he wasn’t bluffing. He was threatening him, and it was a real threat too. Nowadays, if Lin Jingyan used it, it would be considered an opening. Taking advantage of an opening to kill the opponent was the duty of a player.

Sure enough, Lin Jingyan didn’t use it again. The two continued to trade blows, and the applause continued. Lin Jingyan’s strategy was somewhat stupid. The current him could definitely play smarter. Perhaps by doing so, he would be able to contend with Ye Xiu to the end.

But this was Tyranny’s home stadium, an the ones supporting him were Tyranny’s fans. Lin Jingyan’s strategy might not be smart, but it was exactly what they wanted to see. People might say that playing smarter would give them a higher chance of winning, but sorry, Tyranny’s people loved to use this sort of brute force method to win. This was what the fans wanted and what they hoped their team could prove.

Team Tyranny was changing, and they couldn’t control it. However, Lin Jingyan’s fighting style right now was something they enjoyed from the bottom of their hearts. It was because of this that they liked Tyranny.

“GO!”

“Beat Ye Xiu!!”

Lin Jingyan didn’t hold the advantage, but Tyranny’s fans didn’t care. From their energy, it seemed as if Lin Jingyan was suppressing Ye Xiu.

“Can you see what Tyranny is trying to do?” Huang Shaotian, who had run to Tyranny’s stadium to watch the game, messaged Yu Wenzhou.

“They’re trying to wear him down,” Yu Wenzhou replied.

Wear down, Huang Shaotian was no stranger to this word. It was a rather painful phrase to him.

That was their strategy in their game against Happy: wear down Ye Xiu in the group arena. But it turned out that Ye Xiu wore down their energy instead.

Team Tyranny was doing the same strategy: wear down Ye Xiu.

It was just that their method was different. They chose the simplest map and simplest method to wear down Tyranny.

Wear him down with brute force.