The King's Avatar

Ye Xiu could tire too.

Perhaps sometimes, perseverance would be enough to overcome fatigue, but Chen Guo knew that Ye Xiu did not lack perseverance. He needed to rest for the same reason that he insisted Wei Chen and Luo Ji play matches: he needed to prepare for the playoffs as well. He needed a hundred percent of his energy to face the playoffs.

And now, even though they were stuck in the struggle for top eight, Happy did have the most points out of all their direct competitors.

Chen Guo tried to think optimistically, and when they trained for the team round this week, they practiced without Ye Xiu and Lord Grim.

Soon, May 8th arrived, and Round 34 began.

Happy and the other teams vying for the playoffs underwent their desperate struggle, while the powerhouses at the top were already preparing for the playoffs.

Team Blue Rain was rotating their team battle roster nonstop.

Team Tiny Herb was working hard at strategies that didn’t rely too much on Wang Jiexi.

Team Tyranny’s three old generals ended rotation after that one round where they all appeared. Now, they all played both the individual and team battles.

And this round, Tyranny played a home game against Heavenly Swords.

There weren’t many interactions between these two teams. Tyranny’s fans cheered for their own team, just like normal. But when the names for the first individual battle were announced, the entire stadium froze.

Tyranny, Zhang Jiale.

Heavenly Swords, Sun Zheping.

Team Hundred Blossoms, Blood and Blossoms, one of the most quintessential partnerships of the Alliance. These former partners suddenly met in this match.

Reunited at last, but in a confrontation that had never occurred before.

Neither Tyranny nor Heavenly Swords would care about this one point very much, but the significance these two carried…

Tyranny’s home fans and Heavenly Swords’ visiting fans wouldn’t have the same deep ties to these two that Hundred Blossoms fans would have. But who hadn’t heard of the madness that these two brought, back in the day?

Blood and Blossoms had made its lasting mark in Glory’s history. Even though they ultimately hadn’t managed to win the championship, but in competition, heroes weren’t determined solely by success or failure.

That former prosperity had ended on that summer five long years ago. Since then, the two had never reunited on the battlefield, and there was no more Blood and Blossoms, only victory and defeat.

But the outcome of this one battle truly didn’t matter too much, and when the audience saw this pair of opponents, they didn’t care too much who won or lost. They were more curious about what this duo, who had left behind countless regrets, would say to each other, when they had this sort of meeting on the battlefield.

And so, no one watched the match. Everyone was staring at the chat displayed on the large screen.

Nothing. Nothing at all.

The two had no conversation, no exchange. The characters simply charged forward and met at the center of the map.

Flowers blossomed, concealing Dazzling Hundred Blossoms. But the Berserker’s slashes were no longer creating a scene of blood, and even if they were, it would be the blood of Dazzling Hundred Blossoms.

Charge!

Sun Zheping’s Berserker Another Summer of Sleep once again charged forward. Would anyone understand Zhang Jiale’s playstyle than he? This playstyle relied on the light and shadows created by skills, and those on the same team weren’t immune to these effects. It could impede teammates just as easily as opponents. Sun Zheping, as the partner who had once stood the closest to him amidst this light and shadow, of course understood how to maintain his bearings and search for targets to attack.

But this time, he was searching for the owner of this expanse of light and shadow.

Wild Blood Strike!

The blood-red silhouette of the greatsword instantly carved through the dazzle, and Another Summer of Sleep advanced forward as though there were nothing in his way.

“Oh…” The whole stadium made noises of understanding. From Sun Zheping’s camera view, they could see how the light and shadow didn’t give him any confusion at all. His field of vision was just as clear as always.

As expected! Everyone thought. As expected of former partners. They understood each other too well.

But just in this moment, when Another Summer of Sleep continued to advance, taking one step closer to Dazzling Hundred Blossoms, the light and shadow suddenly closed in, enveloping Another Summer of Sleep in their midst.

Is that so?

Sun Zheping rotated his camera view, looking around him in a circle. This time, he couldn’t very much see through it.

So the Hundred Blossoms playstyle had also changed a lot! These years, he’d purposely not paid much attention to it, and now, he was truly beginning to feel that he couldn’t keep up…

But, this shouldn’t be enough to cause him any difficulty, right? He would never forget the logic of this playstyle! It wasn’t too late to learn now!

Another Summer of Sleep looked left and right, as though searching for directions.

The audience watched silently, and Zhang Jiale, controlling the blossoming display, gradually revealed a shocked expression.

This was no longer the Hundred Blossoms style he had used during his time with Sun Zheping. After all, after so many years, the levels, equipment, and skills had all changed so much. But, just over the course of this battle, Sun Zheping’s Another Summer of Sleep caught up. Slowly, step by step, he had already entered the rhythm of the new Hundred Blossoms style.

Sun Zheping, knowing the Hundred Blossoms style so thoroughly, only needed the span of one match.

As expected of old partners. Just like this, Zhang Jiale watched as Another Summer of Sleep finally charged in front of his Dazzling Hundred Blossoms. The greatsword came down without a moment of hesitation – Dazzling Hundred Blossoms leapt aside and counterattacked.

Another Summer of Sleep fell. Charging through the cover of the Hundred Blossoms style was already his limit…

“Good luck.” When he fell, Sun Zheping simply said this.

“Yeah,” Zhang Jiale answered.

The only words exchange in the whole battle…

At the same time, Ye Xiu helped Happy win a first point in the individual competition. Although he was not playing in the team competition this time, he was still first in the individual competition as always.

And then Luo Ji and Wei Chen were up. This time, Luo Ji won, but Wei Chen made a mistake and lost the point. Winning and losing matches was an ordinary thing, but Luo Ji and Wei Chen were in a very delicate position. If they lost points, there would always be people jumping forward to question Happy’s plan, as though if it weren’t for the two of them, if other people fought instead, Happy would be guaranteed to win points.

But nothing was ever guaranteed on a battlefield.

And so even though Wei Chen lost a point, they were open and forgiving.

Then, in the group arena, Happy won a clean victory, entering the team round with a score of 4-1.

When the team competition lineup came out, without Ye Xiu’s name, the crowd burst into whispers.

Beginning to let the main force rest? The team was really confident! Everyone thought this way, but no one was too worried, as Lightly wasn’t a very strong team and didn’t have much fighting spirit.

But in the end, in their home game, Happy lost the team competition.

4-6. The digital scoreboard recorded this all. In this crucial time before the playoffs, Happy lost a team competition.

The reason? Ye Xiu hadn’t played.

No matter what, this point could not be avoided. Core players were simply like this. Even if they weren’t onstage, they had to carry the responsibility of their team’s mistakes. You weren’t onstage! This was your biggest mistake…

Happy paid the price for their arrogance!

This was how multiple media reported it, especially those who liked to hate on Happy. They liked this angle.

After the match, all was quiet in the prep room.

Everyone could see Ye Xiu’s hard work. No matter what, none of Happy’s members would object to Ye Xiu’s choice to rest, even during this crucial time where every point mattered. They were all upset, all blaming themselves, that as soon as Ye Xiu was gone, they lost points.

No one said anything. In the prep room, everyone silently watched the television, which was currently broadcasting the match between Samsara and 301.

To face Samsara during this crucial point-earning period, 301 seemed fairly unlucky. But a number of people felt that perhaps 301 was lucky.

Because no team’s position was more stable than Samsara’s right now. After 33 rounds, they had 282 points, over 42 points above the current second place.

Samsara didn’t need any more points in the regular season. They could casually let their main players rest, train rookies, practice strategies. They faced no pressure.

Perhaps these conditions would give their opponents a precious opportunity. Perhaps a match against Samsara would actually be easier to fight.

301 won two battles in the individual competition. Samsara had sent up their rookies, and everyone believed their hypothesis was correct.

Then, in the group arena, Samsara sent up their strongest lineup as always, and won.

For the team round, they also used their strongest lineup this season. At that moment, although the match had yet to end, 301’s loss was set.

Even with two championships under their belt, Samsara was still hungry for more. They didn’t relax, they didn’t let their team enter a trash or a performative period. They still faced battles with all they had. They continued to strive for victory above all else; they didn’t want to slack off while still sprinting forward.

Let the main players rest? They might not even need it. Samsara’s players were all in their prime. For them, one match a week was no great burden.

Just like that, Samsara still won in the end, 8-2. Samsara did not give 301 a so-called break.

After 34 rounds, Samsara had 290 points, and by now, Blue Rain’s match against Parade had ended, with Blue Rain winning 9-1. But even so, this only shrunk their difference with Samsara from 42 to 41 points.

With four rounds remaining, Samsara led second place by 41 points.

The moment that Samsara won the match, their home stadium burst into cheers and applause louder than any other during this season.

Samsara had earned first place in the regular season, four rounds early. Even though there was no trophy associated with this, this was a still a result to be proud of.

It seemed that Samsara’s home stadium had anticipated this possibility, and so they’d prepared a small celebration ceremony beforehand. Of course, it was just a small ceremony. After all, the season still hadn’t ended, and having a large celebration now would be inconsiderate to the other teams.

Samsara, four rounds early, celebrated a beautiful end to their regular season. Happy, meanwhile, because of their failure this round, continued to struggle in the mud.

This round, their fellow competitors’ results: Wind Howl defeated Royal Style 8-2, Thunderclap defeated Misty Rain 9-1, Hundred Blossoms defeated Void 9-1.

And so Thunderclap, with 226 points, surpassed Happy by 3 points, charging into fifth place and pushing Happy down to sixth. Hundred Blossoms beat Wind Howl by one point, rising to seventh. Wind Howl and 301 were once again tied with points, and based on their head-to-head score, Wind Howl was eighth, and 301 was pushed to ninth.

The situation became more of a deadlock. Happy was only 7 points away from ninth place. And in Round 35, Happy was playing their away game against a strong opponent, the team that had just surpassed them by three points, Thunderclap.