742 Left Path, Right Path

"Expert?" Zhang Xinjie was surprised. The enemy troops did have a few fairly skilled elite players, but Zhang Xinjie had factored them into his calculations when he arranged his troops. His progressively decreasing defensive formation shouldn’t be so easily routed by just a few elite players.

The right path was being led by Ye Qiu. Having a difficult time holding off the enemy troops on that side would be understandable, but what expert on the left side could instantly break through their defenses?

Zhang Xinjie had originally planned on going to the right side to personally confront Ye Qiu. After a short moment of hesitation, he led his Misty Mountains to the left path.

The defenses on the left path had already fallen apart. Zhang Xinjie took in everything within his line of sight and then quickly looked around. His gaze moved in a certain direction.

Zhang Xinjie felt a bit dazed.

Was this the game or the Alliance?

Was he dreaming? What was today’s date?

Zhang Xinjie actually checked the date: the year, the month, and the day. He ascertained that his eyes hadn’t gone astray. Today wasn’t the date of a professional match. Even if it were, the scene in front of him shouldn’t feel so familiar.

The two characters in front of him had unfamiliar names and different equipment, but their two figures matched up with the image in Zhang Xinjie’s mind.

One Autumn Leaf.

Dancing Rain.

Glory’s Best Pair. Despite not winning the Glory Championships, these two always won this award without any competition. Other teams also had their own duos. These duos might be outstanding, but they were all completely outclassed in front of this duo. Every time the selection for the Best Pair came up, a few might be able to obtain a few votes, but it was never even a contest. The closest competitor was Team Void’s Ghostblade Duo, Li Xuan and Wu Yuce, but their total votes never exceeded half of the votes that Ye Qiu and Su Mucheng received. And they were already the "closest".

Zhang Xinjie’s impression of this duo might be deeper than any other player.

Because Team Excellent Era was Team Tyranny’s rival. In the first three years of the Glory Alliance, the two teams faced each other in the finals all three times. The season two finals had been the most competitive.

Unfortunately, Team Tyranny lost all three times and Team Excellent Era had the last laugh for three years in a row.

Team Excellent Era’s three consecutive championship victories was the darkest part of Team Tyranny’s history.

Zhang Xinjie came to Team Tyranny in season four. He quickly accepted Team Tyranny’s motto: Advance bravely. Beat Excellent Era and defeat Ye Qiu.

That year, they finally did it. In the season four finals, Team Tyranny beat Excellent Era. Zhang Xinjie had definitely been one of the main reasons for their victory. That year, a new player also came to Excellent Era. She and Zhang Xinjie both became a part of the so-called golden generation. Her name was Su Mucheng. A girl, and very beautiful one too. In the male dominated Glory scene, she was certainly a welcome sight.

What made everyone’s eyes light up even more was that this beautiful girl wasn’t just a flower vase. The synergy between her and Excellent Era’s God Ye Qiu was as if the two shared the same mind. Team Tyranny may have won the championships, but the Best Pair was awarded indisputably to these two.

As for Team Tyranny, although Zhang Xinjie and their ace player, Han Wenqing, coordinated well with each other, Clerics played a support role on the team, limiting their scenes shown together. As a result, it appeared as if they had fewer moments of brilliance.

For the next three years, Zhang Xinjie saw these two win the Best Pair award again and again. Team Excellent Era was Team Tyranny’s rival. Even though neither of them appeared in the finals again since that season, the sparks between them never lessened.

Who could have a deeper impression of this Excellent Era duo than Zhang Xinjie? Not even Han Wenqing did. After all, Han Wenqing had fought against Ye Qiu alone during the first three finals. Even after Ye Qiu and Su Mucheng paired together, Han Wenqing still attached more importance on Ye Qiu.

Ever since Zhang Xinjie had entered the Alliance, the foe he worked hardest to defeat was these two. Losing to them was even worse than losing ten other matches for Team Tyranny.

He had an extremely deep impression of them. Zhang Xinjie didn’t know how long he had spent studying these two. As a result, although it may have just been a glance, he felt a sense of familiarity. In the blink of an eye, One Autumn Leaf and Dancing Rain appeared in his mind. He soon cleared his mind and saw that this Battle Mage was called Let There Be Light, while the Launcher was called Chasing Haze.

Chasing Haze.

As Ye Qiu had begun to receive all sorts of attention, this name came up frequently from the big guilds. There had been a lot of debate over who actually played this Launcher. However, her relationship with Ye Qiu wasn’t shallow. This was the one point everyone agreed on.

Who was she?

Zhang Xinjie had always suspected.

He soon got his answer ten seconds later.

Su Mucheng. The person playing was definitely Su Mucheng.

And that Let There Be Light must be Ye Qiu.

Ten seconds was more than enough to make a definite conclusion. Don’t forget that these two had won Best Pair four years in a row and that they beat their closest competitor by enormous margins. If they weren’t so unique and unmatched, how else could they have won the award year after year?

Their coordination together couldn’t be replicated.

Even though One Autumn Leaf was still a part of Excellent Era and the one behind the character, Sun Xiang, was also a top-tier God, there was zero synergy between him and Su Mucheng.

In these ten seconds, Zhang Xinjie was certain that these two were Ye Qiu and Su Mucheng. There was no mistake.

The Battle Mage charged forward while the Launcher provided support. The coordination between these two was the same as ever. No matter how bad Excellent Era’s records may be, these two had never changed. Even though Ye Qiu had left the pro scene for seven months now, when the two appeared together on the battlefield again, Zhang Xinjie felt like nothing had changed. This was why he checked the data.

"Flex team, to the left!" Zhang Xinjie decisively ordered.

If Ye Qiu was on this side with Su Mucheng assisting him, this side should be where he should emphasize all his defenses towards. What was going on with the right side though? Maybe Ye Qiu had guessed what he might set up, so he had formulated a counter for it. Did he want to use the brief advantage seized to decide the entire battle?

However, there was still time to adjust.

Zhang Xinjie was confident. He had come with Tyrannical Ambition’s elite troops this time. Their coordination and strength were better than the temporary team that he had come with last time. When he switched which side the flex teams would support, he had explained his actions to the right side. He believed that these in-game players wouldn’t make any huge mistakes.

"Pull back." Zhang Xinjie ordered.

Even though he found which side he should prioritize, he couldn’t just ignore the right side! To what extent had Ye Qiu planned ahead? Zhang Xinjie couldn’t wait to see. He decided that both sides should pull back, so he could get a better picture of the situation and command both sides at the same time.

"Clerics, focus. Knights, forward. Use Provoke and Roar to CC Let There Be Light and Chasing Haze. Troops, go between these two and attack. Try and split them up. Focus your attacks on Chasing Haze for now. Qi Masters, use Cloud Grasping Fist whenever you find an opportunity." Zhang Xinjie gave a string of orders, completely towards these two. He had to admit that this Best Pair was scary, but Zhang Xinjie was sure that he could deal with this pair, which he understood well. If it wasn’t for the enemy side having a lot of troops as well, Zhang Xinjie wouldn’t feel like this Best Pair would be a threat.

"Right side, continue pulling back a bit more. Flex team one, team two provide assistance on this side. Disrupt their attacks from the side." Zhang Xinjie paid attention to the left side, while also taking note of the right side.

Flex team one and two faithfully completed his instructions and struck from the side. The effects were outstanding. A tear instantly formed in the enemy troops. It looked as if they would break. The two team leaders were excited. They planned on penetrating deeper and completely splitting apart their troops. Zhang Xinjie saw the positions of their troops after being split apart and suddenly felt his heart leap.

"Team one, team two, retreat! Don’t go any farther!!" Zhang Xinjie hastily shouted.

But he was too late. The two team leaders impatiently charged in. When they received Zhang Xinjie’s warning, they didn’t dare to hesitate and immediately retreated, but the other side’s ruptured formation suddenly snapped back like a pair of scissors, pincering them. The players, who had been scattered, returned to attack, giving the two teams a difficult time.

Fortunately, Zhang Xinjie’s warning had put them into a retreat already. If they had gone any deeper, they would have certainly been wiped out. Even so, team two lost six players and team one was was practically destroyed.

"How did things turn out like this?" Zhang Xinjie was astonished.

His move to attack from the side had been a decision based on the current situation of the battle. No matter how great Ye Qiu might be, there was no way he could have predicted so precisely that this battle would turn out this way. The other side had clearly lured them in deep. That was a very fast and directed reaction. It wasn’t something an in-game player could easily accomplish.

A normal player might be able to react based on the current circumstances, but such a quick countermeasure and such adept awareness was something only a professional player possessed.

At this moment, Zhang Xinjie saw a Mechanic on the right side. His equipment might be poor, but he was very skilled. Anyone with some skill could instantly tell him apart from the rest of the troops. This person wasn’t only attacking. He would fight and then stop to move a few steps from time to time. The places, where he moved to, were places, where he could see the battlefield.

"Mechanic... It can’t be?" Zhang Xinjie suddenly felt his head begin to hurt.