After the map was loaded, both characters appeared at their spawn points.
Xiao Li, the Black Rose player, controlled the magic swordsman, Laughing Sky. Zhang Fengyu, the Scattered Clouds player, controlled the black mage, Mad Fish. As soon as they revived, both characters rushed without hesitation, and after a while, they met on the huge stone platform in the middle of the map.
The Lava Purgatory map was almost a reflection of a real-life cave complex. Large and small caves spread out in all directions, making it a very suitable map for guerilla strategy. However, the wide stone platform in the middle had no obstruction at all and was as flat as a martial arts arena, offering a clear view. Usually, this map was the favorite of assassin-type characters, and the players who left this map at the end often used specific strategies. A situation like this, when the opponents rushed head-on without saying a word, was indeed rare.
“To actually choose to attack head-on like this, it seems that Xiao Li is very confident in his maneuvers.” Xiao Wu said, “After all, he is a melee type. Such a proactive attack will indeed put a lot of pressure on the opponent, since the black mage operated by Zhang Fengyu is a typical long-range profession. Once he is close, he will be easily driven on defense.”
“But after all, his opponent is Zhang Fengyu, a player who is best at taking advantage of the situation and an expert in counterattacks. He is very difficult to deal with.” Xu Qingli said, “Look at where he is standing now, it seems that he is deliberately baiting Xiao Li…”
Heeding his words, the audience discovered that the location of Mad Fish was at the very edge of the relatively steep lava, which was a very delicate position. At this moment, Laughing Sky rushed forward without hesitation and was immediately greeted with a flash of light.
He is still young after all.
That was the thought that many people had.
As if to confirm everyone’s suspicion, Zhang Fengyu was obviously waiting for him. The moment the sword light flashed, Mad Fish retreated three steps in a row, and dark clouds suddenly formed right above where Laughing Sky had landed. An overwhelming hail struck straight down, pinpointing him exactly where he was.
“Movement speed 3.8, breakthrough distance 4 feet, Error range 0.2 feet. The control time of 0.5 seconds is enough to remove 650 health points.” Seeing Laughing Sky landing on the predicted spot, a ray of light flashed on Zhang Fengyu’s glasses as his skills fell accurately.
He precisely drained 650 points of Laughing Sky’s blood bar and looked at the blood ratio that had dropped in the opponent’s status bar. He glanced at the other player’s equipment and mumbled to himself: “Oh, wearing micro-armor, that’s kind of interesting. The current ratio of energy and blood is 75.8%. I’m afraid the necklace he’s wearing should be a lucky crystal chain, in which case, the magic defense attribute should probably be in the range of 768 to 804. A bit high, but not a big deal.”
Zhang Fengyu’s soliloquy in the battle room couldn’t be heard by people outside, but in a window on the screen bottom, his mouth could be seen opening and closing. Also, his moving fingers could be associated with his well-known sophisticated analysis that made people uncomfortable and was a nightmare to anyone who has ever come into contact with it.
Feeling goosebumps all over his body, Xu Yiming couldn’t help but be a little sympathetic with his teammate, Xiao Li: “Hey, hey, hey, that non-human being is talking nonsense again!”
Others also showed a look of pain, coming from experience.
“Now, Xiao Li is at a disadvantage, and things are not looking good.” Shen Changyu’s eyes fell on the big screen with a frown, worrying, “It’s really a bit of a strain for him to face a player like Zhang Fengyu. He is still too inexperienced.”
“Oh, you think so?” Lin Xiao just smiled in the face of his worries, lay lazily on the chair, and turned his head to look at You Jing, “What do you think, Captain You?”
You Jing said: “It’s too early to draw a conclusion now.”
Lin Xiao admired his calm manner and patted Shen Changyu on the shoulder with a smile: “Did you hear that? What do you mean, it’s too much of a strain to deal with Zhang Fengyu? It’s still not clear who is whose nemesis.”
Looking at this familiar smile and calm expression, Shen Changyu felt a dose of reassurance. He stopped asking questions and sat down to continue watching the match.
Meanwhile, the fight on the field was one-sided, Laughing Sky‘s blood-bar still being drained by Mad Fish. In front of the computer screen, Zhang Fengyu’s gaze hidden behind his glasses was like a wild wolf’s eyes staring at the prey. It was very different from his usual meticulous, cold, and sharp look.
There was a faint smile on his face as he said: “The only way out now is at a 60-degree angle directly behind you, but the skill still has 2.6 seconds CD to recover. If you want to escape, you can only teleport 0.8 feet away. You only need to use…”
His words ended abruptly as the magic swordsman made a move.
His opponent did not act on his prediction, and the light that blossomed from his wand landed brightly and precisely on the lava stone platform, striking magnificently.
Zhang Fengyu frowned.
To actually make an error in judgment? It was a mistake he rarely made on the field.
Another voice was also cut off at this time: the commentator Xu Qingli, who was speculating on Laughing Sky‘s chances of escaping just a moment ago. After a pause, his surprised voice raised a little: “Xiao Li didn’t retreat, he actually charged again! What is he thinking!”
It was no wonder that Xu Qingli was agitated. Obviously, to any player at such a big disadvantage, the first thing that came to his mind should probably be a tactical retreat. How could Xiao Li charge head-on like this? Hey, why don’t you play your cards according to the rules?! You know, this is the semi-finals of the League tournament, not the usual ranking matches in online games, boy!
Just as the entire audience watched in awe, Laughing Sky, who had been advancing menacingly just a moment ago, unexpectedly retreated in a flash. The head-on blow up front seemed to be deceiving. Before the sword light hit the opponent, it had already fled away with its owner.
The interval for this series of actions was as Zhang Fengyu had predicted before, a 2.6-second cooling time. But in that interval, he did not choose to retreat but feinted an attack forward. Was it really just a coincidence?
The eyes behind the glasses narrowed slightly.
Seeing Laughing Sky retreating like this, the entire audience was inevitably a little confused, but Lin Xiao couldn’t help but laugh: “As expected of Boss Xiao, experience and tactics are all bullshit. Sure enough, the battle is all based on intuition!”
Shen Changyu silently glanced away.
Was this a compliment for a professional player? At best, it was all based on intuition; at worst, it was all luck!?
But it had to be said that this was indeed better than any trick against Zhang Fengyu, who always relied on rational judgment. Faced with such a contestant who didn’t even know what choice he would make next, that’s what probably gave “The Strongest Brain” the biggest headache. I’m afraid that this time, the Scattered Clouds team wanted to play it smart, but it played right into this man’s hands.
Being able to turn the opponent’s calculations against himself was worthy of his teammate Lin Xiao. Thinking of this, Shen Changyu took a deep look at Lin Xiao with a bit of admiration and a hint of pride in his eyes.
What he didn’t notice was that there was another gaze behind him that took everything in. In the depths of those eyes that rarely rippled, something flashed.
After this episode, the rapidly changing situation on the field became even more tense. Xiao Li’s fighting style of completely relying on instinct for his operations became more obvious as the fight continued. This obviously disrupted the battle rhythm that Zhang Fengyu was familiar with. In addition, as the ‘Solitary King’, he possessed unquestionably excellent skills. Like this, the advantages and disadvantages were instantly reversed.
Laughing Sky, who had left the stone platform, changed his previous brave style and suddenly began to make use of the Lava Purgatory map features, playing a cat-and-mouse game with Mad Fish.
Although this was supposed to be the correct way to engage this map, seeing such a back-and-forth entanglement, the expressions of the viewers became complicated.
—Who could explain what happened to Xiao Li?! Was this still the invincible ‘Solitary King’ they knew before? Why was this magic swordsman giving a strong sense of déjà vu as an assassin?!
Unaware of the helpless complaints in the hearts of millions of people, Xiao Li felt extremely happy as he watched the Mad Fish‘s blood bar being drained away bit by bit by him.
After all, it shouldn’t feel too good to face such an intense counterattack!
It was really helpful for him to spend so much time with Liu Zeshen’s dedicated 1V1 training. He had even beaten that human shield paladin many times. How could he not handle such a fragile black mage? As for these despicable skills, there was no need to learn them in a certain place. After playing with Lin Xiao a lot, he naturally became self-taught.
“No wonder that kid likes those outrageous tactics so much. It feels really good!” With another sneak attack from behind, Xiao Li took out his opponent’s last drop of blood. The smile on his face was extremely bright, and he felt as if he had opened the door to a whole new world.
Playing tricks with him? You know, his biggest trick is that he has no tricks!
The outcome has been decided.
In the first game of the individual competition, the Black Rose team took the lead, scoring a point.
“Sorry, I miscalculated.” Back at the players’ bench, Zhang Fengyu looked at Wen Shuqing and said, his expression calm, “I’m afraid that the strength of that Black Rose team’s rookie needs to be reassessed.”
Wen Shuqing smiled gently at him: “It’s just one point. Don’t let it bother you too much.”
“Vice Captain Zhang…” Yan Lingjiang stood up from his seat, hesitating to speak.
“Do what you need to do, don’t think too much about the rest.” Without waiting for his words of comfort, Zhang Fengyu patted his shoulder and interrupted him, “Just win the next battle for me…”
Yan Lingjiang bit his lip when he heard this, nodded heavily, and said: “Don’t worry, Vice Captain Zhang, I will definitely win this one point!”
