Chapter 1613: Forever Dirty
Translator:Nomyummi
Editor:Nomyummi
Air and qi whirled together and blasted towards One Autumn Leaf.
Sun Xiang realized that he had been wrong. He had thought too little of Fang Rui. Whether it was thinking of him as a sandbag or attempting to force Boundless Sea to use mana, he had completely overlooked the possibility that Fang Rui could counterattack.
After his Tyrant’s Destruction was dodged, he lost control of the tempo. Immediately switching to a defensive stance would be his best option, but he had forgotten that Fang Rui could be an offensive threat. Boundless Sea didn’t have any stamina, but that didn’t mean his skills were all on cooldown.
Spiral Qi Kill!
Not a single bit of qi was wasted. All of it struck One Autumn Leaf’s chest. The powerful twisting force of the qi warped One Autumn Leaf’s leather armor.
Team Happy’s characters couldn’t compare to characters on other teams, especially those on top teams. Even Lord Grim was no exception. It was mainly his transforming weapon and unspecialized that made things troublesome. In terms of actual stats, Lord Grim had no class advancement bonuses or armor proficiencies. His stats didn’t come close to the stats on other pro characters.
Happy only had two characters that could compete with characters on other top teams.
One of them was Su Mucheng’s Dancing Rain. When the level cap was raised to Level 75, Excellent Era hadn’t given Dancing Rain their full support. However, after transferring to Happy, that gap was quickly mended. For one, the leader of Happy’s R&D team, Guan Rongfei, had come from Excellent Era, so he was already very familiar with Dancing Rain. In addition, while Happy’s low-end material reserves couldn’t compare to other top guilds, they had accumulated quite a lot of high-end materials during Ye Xiu’s time playing in the game.
Dancing Rain’s equipment was upgraded from Level 70 to Level 75, and most of the materials were Level 75 materials. Everyone had started the race for these materials at the same time. During this race, not only did Happy not fall behind, due to Ye Xiu’s participation in the race, Happy had a significant lead over the other guilds.
Dancing Rain’s strength quickly caught up to the other top characters. As for Happy’s other strong character, that would be Fang Rui’s Boundless Sea.
Boundless Sea had been Glory’s number one Qi Master. Even if the character had been in the low-tier Team Seaside, the team had poured in all of their resources to maintain this title of number one. In Season 9, Zhao Yang announced his retirement. For Team Seaside, maintaining this number one title became their team’s burden. As a result, the team gave up on Boundless Sea and sold it to Happy.
Boundless Sea had been number one when the level cap had been 70. Once the level cap was raised to 75, he had the same advantage as Dancing Rain. Happy didn’t lose to any of the powerhouse clubs in Level 75 materials. Although Guan Rongfei had never touched Boundless Sea’s equipment before, a Qi Master had been a main part of Excellent Era’s force for many years. Thus, Guan Rongfei was no stranger to this class. Boundless Sea just wasn’t as convenient for him to upgrade as Dancing Rain.
Boundless Sea’s equipment was soon upgraded to Level 75, and the character kept the title of Glory’s number one Qi Master. The only problem was that his new owner was Fang Rui, who had switched classes from Thief to Qi Master. This new dirty Qi Master playstyle was very unconventional. For a time, neither Qi Master players nor Fang Rui fans liked it. Boundless Sea falling out from the All-Star roster was unrelated to its stats.
Boundless Sea was not weak, not even close. This was another big reason for why Fang Rui was very concerned with his performance in the playoffs.
He was Happy’s highest-paid player, and he possessed one of Happy’s strongest characters. But his performance in the playoffs was only so-so. He felt like he wasn’t living up to his pay or his character.
I have to win!
Fang Rui’s desire to win had never been stronger.
The powerful Boundless Sea fired an enormous blast of qi towards One Autumn Leaf, towards the Battle God. At its peak, the Battle God had stood at the top of Glory, overlooking everyone else.
Go!
The whirling qi scattered. One Autumn Leaf’s leather armor looked as if it was about to warp. The hair on his head rippled from the intense winds.
Spiral Qi Kill. Depending on how the qi was used, the attack would have different effects. If the qi rotated clockwise, it would send the target flying. If the qi rotate counterclockwise, it would suck in the target.
The spiralling qi was whirling counterclockwise. Fang Rui didn’t want to send One Autumn Leaf flying away, because he wanted to win! Boundless Sea had enough stamina now, but he didn’t need it. He just needed to get close and attack with all his might, pouring out as much qi as possible into One Autumn Leaf.
The spinning force from Spiral Qi Kill locked One Autumn Leaf into place. As soon as it dispersed, Boundless Sea fired out another blast of qi with his other hand.
Flash Burst!
Another powerful attack. The qi violently surged around One Autumn Leaf as if it were trying to rip him apart.
Taking advantage of the fact that One Autumn Leaf was stunned, Boundless Sea retracted his other hand and pointed with his two fingers, gathering qi around them.
Pulse Break: Break Intelligence!
Battle Mages were considered Mages. Their Strength stat was higher than other Mages, but their Intelligence wasn’t low either. Due to their Leather Armor Proficiency, their equipment would usually have bonus Strength and Intelligence.
Battle Mages had high Intelligence, and the Battle God One Autumn Leaf would be on an even higher level. Facing the killing power of another top character, Boundless Sea, One Autumn Leaf’s Intelligence decreased the damage from the qi attack by a considerable degree. After all, qi attacks were considered magic attacks.
However, Fang Rui seized this opportunity to use Pulse Break, lowering One Autumn Leaf’s Intelligence by a large amount, which in turn, would lower One Autumn Leaf’s magic resistance.
Boom boom boom!
Explosions one after the other.
Fang Rui was planning on using all of his Qi Master’s instant qi attacks. Right now, he didn’t care about cycling through his skills. Qi continued to flood into One Autumn Leaf’s body and explode. The shockwaves produced were more powerful than what any other class could create. This dirty Qi Master wasn’t holding anything back, attacking with a reckless violence.
Because I’m going to win!
Spiral Qi Rush!
The roaring qi carried along Boundless Sea, pushing One Autumn Leaf forward. After this Spiral Qi Rush, he would have to gather qi for his other skills. It was time for the finishing move.
Qigong Blast!
The finishing move was the Qi Master’s strongest attack, the Level 70 Qigong Blast. Even with the addition of the Level 75 Pulse Break, Qi Masters didn’t have a stronger attack.
The Qigong Blast struck One Autumn Leaf, knocking him back.
The qi exploded as One Autumn Leaf slid back. The series of qi attacks seemed to erupt all at once. Blood blossomed from One Autumn Leaf like a crimson flower, blooming and withering in an instant.
55%
The system showed how much health One Autumn Leaf had after this combo. He had lost nearly half his health.
Fierce and aggressive!
The crowd could feel their blood racing as they watched Boundless Sea’s wave of attacks. It was almost hard to believe that this was being done by that dirty Fang Rui. But after the wave passed, it was hard not to be worried. He had used all of his instant-cast skills. Although the combo had been immensely satisfying, it would likely be very difficult for him to hold off One Autumn Leaf’s counterattack with his other skills that had cast times.
They quickly discovered that they had been too worried. They unexpectedly forgot that the player who performed this crazy combo was Fang Rui, that dirty Fang Rui.
Boundless Sea had recovered quite a bit of stamina during that combo. The dirty Fang Rui was back!
Roll, climb...
When Sun Xiang’s One Autumn Leaf counterattacked, Fang Rui’s Boundless Sea began playing dirty again, sneaking around and scurrying about like a Thief.
Dodging, not running.
Fang Rui patiently kited around Sun Xiang. Whenever there was an opening, he would harass him using fast low-level skills.
Qi Bullet!
The cast time was extremely fast. It was practically no different from an instant-cast. The Qi Bullet went straight for the eyes, blocking Sun Xiang’s view. Fang Rui had used this trick who knew how many times. It didn’t create any particularly good opportunities, but Fang Rui never got tired of it.
Countercurrent!
A knock-up skill used when his back was turned away. One Autumn Leaf narrowly walked right into it.
Qi Blade!
When you lost sight of Boundless Sea’s hands, you didn’t need to think about where he was hiding them. Nine times out of ten, what came next would be a Qi Blade. But you also had to be careful, sometimes when he hid his palms, what came out wouldn’t be a Qi Blade, but a Cloud Pushing Palm. Sun Xiang had fallen for it many times and was hit by the Cloud Pushing Palm. The damage wasn’t much, but he would be sent flying back.
Endless tricks and endless hidden attacks.
It was annoying, frustrating, and nauseating.
Many players in the pro player group felt triggered recalling these unpleasant memories. It had happened when Fang Rui was a Thief, and when he was a Qi Master. Times had changed, but Fang Rui’s dirtiness never would. Even if he seemed heroic and flashy, in the next moment, he would be dirty again. He never disappointed.
Sun Xiang was a young player, one who had been extremely arrogant. This sort of player was the easiest to tilt. But today, he had held back his emotions. After Boundless Sea knocked him down to 55% health, he told himself not to think about Tang Rou’s battle. Right now, beating Fang Rui and keeping one point for Samsara was much more urgent. Winning the next round might not even happen at this rate. He needed to give everything he had to win the current one.
Keep calm and search for an opening!
Sun Xiang sucked in a deep breath. He calmed himself down and carefully contended with Fang Rui.
However, constantly telling himself to stay calm was also a form of distraction. Seeing the careful One Autumn Leaf, Fang Rui seemed to see victory waving her hands at him.
People who played cautiously would always be thinking more things. However, Sun Xiang wasn’t that type of player. Even if he knew that it wasn’t his strong point, even if he was purposefully telling himself to be careful, Sun Xiang was Sun Xiang. He wasn’t Zhang Xinjie. It was a crucial moment, and Sun Xiang wasn’t doing what he was best at. In Fang Rui’s eyes, it wasn’t wise. In contrast, it was easier to find an opening against this type of Sun Xiang.
Fang Rui kept making feints, releasing smoke, sending himself messages, all to make Sun Xiang think and decide until those thoughts and decision became hesitation...
Sun Xiang lost his resolve, his drive. He himself didn’t realize it. He thought that he was calmly and effectively dealing with Fang Rui’s dirtiness. However, the pro players watching could tell that Sun Xiang had fallen into Fang Rui’s pace. Fang Rui was leading him by the nose.
He was waiting for Fang Rui to let out an opening, but he didn’t know that Fang Rui was gifting him the opening. This gift definitely wasn’t candy either, but poison wrapped in sugar.
I’m coming!
Sun Xiang’s eyes lit up. He had been patiently waiting for this opening for a long time. Finally, it was time to harvest the fruits of his labour.
Charge!
One Autumn Leaf charged towards that lie of an opening.
"Let’s get ready for the team competition..." Samsara’s Jiang Botao sighed.
Victory had been decided.
Group arena, Happy 5-3.