1321 Together on the Battlefield for the First Time

1-0!

26 consecutive victories.

Ye Xiu's record, still yet to be broken, reached a new high. Pan Lin and Li Yibo relished in the feeling as they discussed. To the side, Ruan Cheng chuckled along once or twice, in a sour mood.

The second battle of the individual round.

Happy, Qiao Yifan, One Inch Ash.

Tiny Herb, Gao Yingjie, Kind Tree.

When the screen displayed the names of the next two players, these players preparing to go onstage were both stunned, and each instinctively turned to look toward the opposing team's player area.

In Team Tiny Herb, they had been the closest of partners. But one was in the sky, and one remained on the ground.

Qiao Yifan had always looked up to Gao Yingjie, admiring his talent, envying the attention and hope he received from the team. In comparison, Qiao Yifan had never been clear what kind of player he himself would turn out to be.

Gao Yingjie had always known Qiao Yifan's situation, and he very much wanted to help him, but he didn't know how. When the team announced that the team was letting go of Qiao Yifan, Gao Yingjie mustered his courage to find Captain Wang Jiexi, but the answer he received was "the team doesn't need him."

The answer was somewhat cold, but very honest. Gao Yingjie understood that this wasn't a game of house. The team didn't need him: there was no reason better than this. In Tiny Herb, the team was everything. If the team didn't have the need, then even someone with hundreds of talents and thousands of skills wouldn't have any reason to remain. Even Wang Jiexi, with all his strength, had to change his own style for the sake of his team. What player had the right to place themself above the team?

And so, this pair of good friends went their separate ways, each taking their own road to Glory.

In the next season, Gao Yingjie became part of Tiny Herb's main force and was voted into the All-Stars. His stardom was immeasurable.

Qiao Yifan, meanwhile, joined Happy, this Internet cafe team and charged through the obstacles of the Challenger League.

They both paid attention to the other's performance, noticed the other's growth, and felt joy when the other achieved results.

In the end, Happy won the the Challenger League and made it to the Professional Alliance. They once again met. But this time, they were no longer teammates, but opponents.

In Round 8, Happy played their home game against Tiny Herb. Qiao Yifan had played in the individual competition against Tiny Herb's Ghostblade player Zhou Yebai. He'd won that match and proved himself, and with his new technique, he'd earned a lot of attention.

Gao Yingjie's feelings were complicated. On one hand, he was extremely happy to see Qiao Yifan's current strength, but on the other, Qiao Yifan was now an opponent, and his success had brought failure to Tiny Herb.

And now, they themselves were about to decide who would win and who would lose.

After they shared a glance, the two of them turned away, each taking firm steps onto the stage.

Pan Lin and Li Yibo were also introducing these two with great interest.

"Qiao Yifan is a former player of Tiny Herb, entering the team at the same time as Gao Yingjie. I heard their relationship at the time was very good," Pan Lin said.

"Compared to Gao Yingjie's, Qiao Yifan's professional career has been much bumpier. In only three years, he's probably tasted warmth and coldness that many people haven't. A benchwarmer, eventually let go, joining the Internet cafe team Happy when he had nowhere else to go, taking on the Challenger League, then returning to the Pro Alliance, and it looks like he might even make it into the playoffs. Who knows, maybe he'll even play in the finals!" Li Yibo said.

"Haha, I agree with everything else, but maybe his luck was joining the internet cafe team Happy when he had nowhere else to go!" Pan Lin said.

"Ha, who would have thought that this Internet cafe team could get results like this?" Li Yibo laughed.

"Ahaha…" Ruan Cheng continued to laugh dryly to the side. Happy's current 1-0 lead prevented him from expressing his opinions. He was looking forward to Happy losing a match quickly, so that he could talk about the reasons why Happy wasn't a good team.

Qiao Yifan, Gao Yingjie, Ruan Cheng felt that his chance was here. Gao Yingjie had always been called a prodigy, and now he was already an All-Star-level player. And Qiao Yifan? A player that had been let go by Tiny Herb, he'd found a position for himself with his own strength, but the natural difference between him and Gao Yingjie perhaps couldn't be closed by just hard work. After all, the prodigy Gao Yingjie had also been working hard all this time.

The match began, and the two characters loaded in on opposite corners of the map.

"We finally have the chance to stand on stage together." A message soon appeared in the match chat. The first to speak was Gao Yingjie.

"Yes," Qiao Yifan answered. The last time their teams had fought, both of them had appeared in the individual competition, but they'd missed each other. In the team competition after, Qiao Yifan hadn't been on the roster. This was indeed the first time the two of them had met onstage.

"But it's a shame, we're standing as opponents now," Gao Yingjie said. Before, when Qiao Yifan had still been part of Tiny Herb, these two friends often talked about how they'd coordinate if they were ever onstage together, and they'd even done quite a bit of practice for it. But because Qiao Yifan never had the chance to appear onstage, the two had never been able to partner during an official match. And today, the two finally stood together onstage, but unfortunately people changed, and the combinations they'd practiced could no longer be used. The two were now opponents. Only one would be allowed to remain standing here.

"Good luck, go all out," Qiao Yifan said.

"I will," Gao Yingjie said solemnly. He was no longer that timid youth from before. His two hands controlled the keyboard and mouse without hesitation, and Kind Tree rushed forward.

Qiao Yifan's One Inch Ash had already advanced as well. This map choice leaned toward Ye Xiu's preferences - it didn't have too many complex features.

Soon, the two sides appeared in each other's views. In this situation where there was no cover and they were meeting directly, a Phantom Demon couldn't let the opponent get too close. Setting Ghost Boundaries required casting, and if someone was fighting them at close range there would be no time to cast. The power of the Ghostblade would shrink at least 70%.

Of course Gao Yingjie would know this piece of Glory common sense. As soon as he spotted One Inch Ash, he was already preparing to attack. A Phantom Demon prevented the opponent from closing in by using Ghost Boundaries, but a Witch had mid-range attacks, and to a certain extent could disrupt the opponent's casting.

But…

"So early?" Commentator Pan Lin shouted.

At this moment, although both sides had appeared in each other's view, they were still far from from being within attack range. But Qiao Yifan's One Inch Ash had already stopped moving forward and begun the casting for Ghost Boundaries.

"Isn't he being a bit too careful?" Pan Lin said.

By now, the casting was complete. Kind Tree was still relatively far away, so of course he wasn't affected. One Inch Ash had cast a Dark Boundary, which would put a Blind effect with 100% probability on anyone who entered it. This boundary wasn't placed at the limit of One Inch Ash's range, but slightly closer to himself. Once he set this boundary, One Inch Ash continued to charge forward.

In the blink of an eye, he had taken a few more steps, but then he stopped again and once again began to summon a Ghost Boundary.

"Whoa!" When Li Yibo saw how Gao Yingjie's Kind Tree had to circle around the Dark Boundary, he suddenly understood the meaning behind Qiao Yifan's placing the Ghost Boundary early.

Even though a Witch could ride a broom to fly, a Ghost Boundary's effects extended to the air above it. The area covered by this Dark Boundary instantly became a forbidden zone. By setting one here, Kind Tree was forced to go around, which increased the distance he needed to travel. And at this moment, One Inch Ash set his second Ghost Boundary.

Ice Boundary!

Another Ghost Boundary blocked Kind Tree's way. This new boundary bordered the edge of the Dark Boundary. There was no overlap, so the total area that these two boundaries could restrict was maximized.

Was the third Ghost Boundary on its way as well?

Seeing One Inch Ash's begin the movements of another cast, Kind Tree swept his sleeve and sent stars flying out.

Star Ray!

The stars became a ray of light shooting toward One Inch Ash, who dodged to the side. At last, his third Ghost Boundary summon was interrupted. 

Lightning Chain!

Kind Tree once again waved his hand in the air, and a chain of flashing lightning fell towards One Inch Ash. Many of a Witch's skills used all sorts of strange magic items, and so most skills didn't have cast times. This was a big advantage for this class, and it was for this reason that Wang Jiexi could have his fast-paced, volatile, illusory Magician style. Gao Yingjie hadn't copied Wang Jiexi's style, but he took advantage of this speciality of the Witch class.

Two magic items in a row, both mid-range attacks, prevented One Inch Ash from finding the time to cast boundaries. Kind Tree, attacking and running at the same time, was already almost past the boundaries. But One Inch Ash wasn't just waiting where he stood, either. As he dodged these attacks, he was also changing position, and as Kind Tree circled around counterclockwise, One Inch Ash headed counterclockwise as well. The Ghost Boundary between them prevented Kind Tree from rushing toward him directly.

But a Ghost Boundary had a set duration, it couldn't last forever. Gao Yingjie paid close attention to One Inch Ash's movements - he couldn't let him have another chance to cast. But the issue was, even though Witches had the great advantage of not having to cast, they were also limited in range with their attacks from magic items.

One Inch Ash suddenly jumped back a few steps. As soon as Gao Yingjie saw this, he knew that he had retreated out of Kind Tree's attack range. And then, he calmly began another cast.

Yet another Ghost Boundary appeared in front of Kind Tree. Helpless, Gao Yingjie could only control his character to stop in his tracks.

Silence Boundary.

A character within this boundary would have all of their skills sealed. This effect was undoubtedly deadly in a high-level professional match. Kind Tree was again forced to go around the boundary.

"Qiao Yifan's control is excellent, but if he's playing like this, he's putting himself on the defensive side from the start!" Ruan Cheng finally found the opportunity to give some critique, and of course as soon as he opened his mouth he pointed out Happy's shortcomings.

"Hm, he might first want to establish the balance of the match, and then find an opportunity? Otherwise, how would he fight? If Gao Yingjie's Kind Tree directly got into close range, then he'd lose this match immediately! The current situation is pretty good. Given the characteristics of these two classes, it's not a surprise that the Phantom Demon is more on the defensive, no?" 

"So that's to say, the plan of putting the Phantom Demon in the individual round is a bit hard to understand!" Ruan Cheng said.

Li Yibo was speechless. At this point, he was just using whatever he could find to criticize Happy! Everyone in Glory knew that Ruan Cheng was a stubborn Happy hater.