1573 Their Own Roads

The simple celebration that Tyranny had set up in order to celebrate their own team making it to the finals ultimately couldn't be used. On the display screen in the stadium, there was just a rather standard congratulations to the winning team.

The two teams lined up in the center of the stage.

Ye Xiu, Han Wenqing, Lin Jingyan, Zhang Jiale…

On this stage built from passion, these old generals met each other, knew each other, killed each other; some felt joy, others felt sadness, others felt moved.

Perhaps they couldn't be called friends, but their mutual understanding was no inferior to that between any pair of closest friends. They had the same desires and the same goal. On this stage, they shed the same sweat, burned with the same passion.

But it was a shame, for not everyone could achieve the results they desired. Every time, there would always be those who had to leave the stage partway through.

It was over…

Han Wenqing looked at this familiar stage, at the silent stadium.

Another season was over. The tenth season of his professional career had come to an end.

Another failure.

Yes. In Han Wenqing's heart, not obtaining the championship was a failure. "Glorious defeat" was not a phrase that he liked.

And this time, the one who had orchestrated his failure – Ye Xiu, Ye Xiu once again, although in the past he had been called Ye Qiu.

Han Wenqing did not care at all about why he had to change his name. No matter what it was changed to, he would always immediately recognize this person onstage. This was the person who had left him the most memories over his ten-year career, from start to finish, from happiness to tragedy.

And this time, this was the fourth time, the fourth time that Ye Xiu had brought him and his Tyranny to bitter defeat in the playoffs. But after it was over, the first word that Han Wenqing said to Ye Xiu was: "Congratulations."

Congratulations, congratulating victory. His own grief was the other side's joy. Competition was simply this cruel.

"Thank you," Ye Xiu answered, and the two shook hands.

In the silent stadium, applause suddenly rose forth, applause that lasted for a long time This was truly a pair of opponents worthy of respect. Ten years of Glory, they continued to persevere. No matter what difficulties they faced, their pursuit of the championship never faltered.

But between the two of them, only one of them could remain. This was truly an incomparably saddening fact. 

Tyranny's fans disliked and even hated Ye Xiu, but in this moment, they couldn't help but think: if Ye Xiu and Han Wenqing were on the same team, if they could lift that championship trophy together instead of constantly being at each other's throats, then how wonderful would that be?

But these two players did not have such melancholy.

Countless cameras were focused on these two at this moment, desperately hoping that they would have some moving interaction, but there was none.

Congratulations, thanks, separation.

Never mind a hug or anything like that, when the two of them shook hands they hadn't even lingered very long before separating. And then the two of them each turned away, walking toward their next goal…

The next person that Han Wenqing met was Su Mucheng. What about Ye Xiu? He saw Lin Jingyan, Zhang Jiale.

Normally, when the teams lined up to shake hands after a match, they would follow a certain order. The captain first, and then the vice-captain, continuing down from there.

Happy only had Ye Xiu as the captain, and no one set as the vice-captain, so they were a bit more casual in their lineup. On Tyranny's side, vice-captain Zhang Xinjie's presence was very strong, but right now, Zhang Xinjie hadn't followed the typical order of shaking hands with Ye Xiu after Han Wenqing had. Instead, Lin Jingyan and Zhang Jiale arrived at about the same time in front of Ye Xiu.

"An excellent match," Lin Jingyan said, shaking hands with Ye Xiu first.

"Thank you." Ye Xiu still only had this simple reply.

These two in front of him now hadn't fought with him for ten years like Han Wenqing had, but they were perhaps more tragic than Han Wenqing.

The pair of Han Wenqing and Zhang Xinjie had at least defeated Ye Xiu in Season 4, overthrowing Excellent Era's dynasty and obtaining a championship. With that, they had somewhat of a foundation, so that even if they did not manage to obtain any results for the rest of their careers, they would not be considered a total tragedy. 

But Lin Jingyan and Zhang Jiale, these two Season 2 debuts, had fought for only one less year than Ye Xiu and Han Wenqing had. Yet they still were unable to obtain that championship.

Lin Jingyan, last season was the first time he had even made it to the finals; Zhang Jiale, the synonym of unlucky in Glory, four times in the finals, four times his hand brushed against that championship trophy, yet in the end he still had nothing to show for it. And this time, he hadn't even had the chance to touch that trophy.

"Good luck," Zhang Jiale said to Ye Xiu. At this moment, he would still think of that summer two years ago, when he and Ye Xiu, the two retired pro players, met in-game.

They had seemingly already said farewell to Glory, but their championship hearts refused to die, and in the end they chose different paths. Ye Xiu picked up a new account, trained it up through the game, recruited soldiers and bought equipment. He built his opportunity himself, built hope himself, and ultimately created a team. And Zhang Jiale, he chose an easier and more direct road, he returned and chose to join Tyranny, creating an incomparably beautiful roster with Han Wenqing, Lin Jingyan, and Zhang Xinjie.

Zhang Jiale wouldn't forget that Ye Xiu, too, had given him an invitation at that time. If he had agreed, he would be a member of Happy right now.

But Zhang Jiale wouldn't deny, either, that at that time he didn't look favorably upon Ye Xiu's starting over from scratch. At the time, he'd thought, Ye Xiu is someone who already holds three whole championships, maybe he would attach more importance to this more difficult path. But Zhang Jiale himself? All he wanted was to have a single championship trophy. No matter the method, he hoped that his professional career wouldn't have this blank space.

The two walked their own paths in the pursuit of victory.

Ye Xiu and his Happy defeated Excellent Era in the Challenger League. Zhang Jiale and Tyranny together lost last year's finals to Samsara.

Continue, again!

The two continued their pursuit. Ye Xiu broke through the Challenger League and arrived at the Pro Alliance, boldly carrying his Happy toward the championship. Zhang Jiale, with his Tyranny teammates, once again mounted a charge against the championship. In the end, the two teams met outside the doors to the finals, and in the end, Ye Xiu and his Happy won, while Zhang Jiale and Tyranny together fell at the doorway.

Did he regret it?

Did he regret rejecting Ye Xiu's invitation to join Happy?

No, he didn't.

If it were still the Zhang Jiale of two years past, after directly falling to Happy, he would probably be extremely upset about his decision. But the Zhang Jiale of today was not. He had walked together with Tyranny for two seasons now, had fought and killed together with these teammates for two years now. He still prioritized results, but he now deeply appreciated the process. These two years, he had experienced much, and his mentality had changed a lot as well.

Last season they'd had the chance to obtain a championship. This season, Happy had only taken the chance that they'd had last season. Even if Happy did ultimately manage to win the championship, Zhang Jiale would not have any regrets because of that. This Happy was this kind of Happy, and if he were there, it would be a different Happy.

Even if this kind of Happy could win the championship, that didn't mean that a Happy with him could also win. There were no absolutes when it came to victory and defeat on the professional stage, and these kinds of regrets were completely unnecessary. This was what Zhang Jiale had learned over these past two years.

There were many roads to the championship.

Ye Xiu had chosen one, he had chosen another.

The road that Ye Xiu had chosen was filled with difficulties, so he hadn't thought it would end well. And his own choice? He might have thought before that his choice was a shortcut, but now he understood that this absolutely wasn't the case. There were no shortcuts to the championship. Those who thought that obtaining top-level players and top-level characters was enough to easily take the championship were far underestimating Glory and underestimating the nature of competition.

Zhang Jiale didn't dare underestimate that, and so he would not regret his own choice. Refusing Ye Xiu's invitation, joining Tyranny instead of returning to Hundred Blossoms, he regretted none of it.

Now, he gave his congratulations to the victor. He still needed to rely on himself to walk his own road.

Just like this, the four generals completed their post-match greetings. Simple, without any unnecessary words, just exchanging those plain, almost boring phrases.

But everyone who watched this scene already felt their hearts tightening.

Even if it was so simple, even if it was just these boring phrases, would they have the chance to ever hear this again?

The four of them were already at the final stages of their careers. Would they ever have this kind of chance again, to stand onstage and exchange congratulations and thanks?

Good luck, thank you.

To these people now, just these kinds of phrases were already such a luxury. Did they still have a tomorrow? How many more tomorrows did they have? Everyone was left with only restlessness in their hearts.

"An extremely interesting performance." After the three old generals, Tyranny's vice-captain finally arrived before Ye Xiu.

"You too," said Ye Xiu.

"This team is very strong." Zhang Xinjie's gaze slid toward the other members of Happy standing behind Ye Xiu. "Everyone has an area where they can't be overlooked."

Ye Xiu smiled. He knew that Zhang Xinjie could see much more than most other people. Happy was able to defeat Tyranny not because of one person or one thrilling moment. Their team's operation was thorough and outstanding. In that thrilling battle to reverse the disadvantage, Happy hadn't communicated in the chat at all – this was the greatest proof. This showed that their teamwork was well-trained, this showed that they had a shared awareness in that kind of situation, that they could cooperate, pushing themselves and the team in the direction of victory.

"Keep working hard," Zhang Xinjie said.

"You too," Ye Xiu said.

Zhang Xinjie nodded. He wasn't someone who would say insincere polite words. Happy still had areas to improve, and their Tyranny did as well. Even though he had brought Ye Xiu to a downfall as soon as he joined the Alliance, he had never underestimated him. When it came to the strategic system of Happy, the team that Ye Xiu had pulled together, there was just too much to learn from and analyze.

The contents of the Glory Textbook were constantly updating, constantly evolving.