Chapter 35: Mock Competition
The live stream room exploded when Fang Zhen logged off to rest.
“Why did he log off so early today? I haven’t watched enough yet!”
“Hey, you damn streamer, open the door! I still want to watch the goddess cultivating with that trembling posture. I’ll give you money, you can just lie there like a corpse!”
“This is killing me. They’ve already started proper cultivation and are even preparing to open wilderness dungeons, yet we’re still stuck in the test assessment. The key thing is I still can’t last three seconds. I’ll pay. Whoever can carry me through, as long as I pass, I’ll transfer one hundred thousand directly.”
“One hundred thousand? Brother, you don’t know? Some time ago a pro expert got invited by a super rich player to play on their behalf. Guess what happened?”
“He passed it?”
“Mm, that pro expert got beaten instead, and beaten so hard he was screaming. The money spent on death and resurrection that day alone exceeded one hundred thousand. That super rich player refused to accept it and directly offered a one million bounty in the game boosting circle, swearing to clear the test assessment. Now many boosting experts are crazily researching how to beat it.”
“Not just that. I heard that some time ago, Su Wuming, the Blade Saint who made a pilgrimage, took Heavenly Might’s entry test, which was exactly the High Martial Arts Descend assessment. His final result stopped at eleven seconds, he didn’t pass. Even though he eventually joined Heavenly Might, it became a joke inside Pilgrimage.”
“I heard that too. A dignified Saint of Pilgrimage actually couldn’t clear a test assessment for a new game. Many people suspect this Blade Saint Su Wuming is overrated. So Su Wuming put down harsh words: if that Saint can do much better than him, he will retire from Pilgrimage, even leave Heavenly Might.”
“Yeah, because of that, some Saints seem interested in giving it a try. After all, Saints inside Pilgrimage rarely get to fight each other. This is a chance. Especially for the other four giant guilds, this is a great opportunity to hit Heavenly Might. I bet many Saints will want to try.”
“Damn! This is big. Pilgrimage has so many Saints. If they really come to take the assessment, someone is bound to pass. Once we study that person’s clear strategy, won’t that mean we might have hope too?”
As the viewers in the live stream room chattered back and forth, none of them cared anymore whether the streamer Fang Zhen had ended the stream. Instead, they were full of anticipation for the High Martial Arts Descend test assessment.
As a wuxia masterpiece, Pilgrimage’s Saints are all peak-level experts. For a group like that to attack the High Martial Arts Descend test assessment, it should be a matter of minutes.
Ku Rong City, Storm Shadow Club.
The morning sunlight had just shone onto the club’s small building when over a hundred people had already gathered in the first floor lobby. Each wore a uniform blue-and-white high-collar jacket with the three-headed shadow wolf emblem of Storm Shadow printed on their sleeves.
“Captain, all six main members and one hundred and twenty reserve players are present.”
A buzz-cut young man under twenty stepped forward, loudly reporting to Storm Shadow Team’s captain, Li Ranxing, while glancing at the time on his phone.
“The coaches have already gone to receive Blue Enchantress Team. They should arrive in about five minutes.”
“Good, fall back to formation.”
Li Ranxing swept his gaze over the six starting members present. Aside from veteran Fang Zhen, whose mental state seemed a bit off, everyone else looked to be in good condition.
“Everyone, although today is only a simulation match, it is also a very valuable competition for our Storm Shadow.”
“Because our opponents today are Blue Enchantress, a regular in the national competition’s final four. Unless we can reach the top eight of the national competition, we will hardly get to face such an opponent again.”
“So I hope you perform well today. Based on how you play in this simulation match, the coaches will probably readjust the roster. This is also the final confirmation of the lineup for the national competition. Think carefully about that yourselves.”
After Li Ranxing’s words, both the main members and the reserve players all became solemn. Their mindset toward this simulation match clearly changed completely.
If before they had thought of just playing casually, now they were ready to fight with everything they had.
This exchange between the two teams was split into two parts. The first part was the formal simulation match between the two teams. The second part was to let Blue Enchantress take a look at Storm Shadow’s reserve players in group matches.
Originally, for the reserve players, this exchange match did not matter much; it was mainly for the starting members. But now, after hearing what captain Li Ranxing said, they understood that the roster for the national competition had not been fully determined.
In the Mecha Continent national competition, there are usually seven main competitors and three reserves. Each match is a five-versus-five team battle, and the playing lineup is adjusted each time according to the map and the opposing team.
Now that the roster is not confirmed, it means everyone has a chance to compete for a main slot today.
“Xiao Zhen, are you okay? Why have you been shaking this whole time?”
Li Ranxing frowned as he looked at Fang Zhen, who stood in the front starting position and was trembling.
Today’s simulation match could be said to be the one he valued the most. It was not only to see the overall gap between Storm Shadow Team and Blue Enchantress Team, but also to settle a score with Blood Flame Spear Princess Chen Ya.
After all, the main reason Blue Enchantress Team agreed to a simulation match with Storm Shadow Team this time was because Chen Ya wanted revenge. Otherwise, the two teams would never have had the chance to scrim.
If this simulation match were to be affected by Fang Zhen, it would be quite a blow to the confidence of the whole team.
“Me? I’m fine.” Fang Zhen hurriedly stopped his limbs from shaking.
“Fang Zhen, you’ll play backline support later. If I notice any problem with you, I’ll sub you out immediately.” Li Ranxing looked at Fang Zhen with an unhappy expression. He had originally thought this would be Fang Zhen’s last match, but seeing him like this, it was clear he did not treat this simulation match seriously.
“Yes!” Fang Zhen responded quickly.
As Li Ranxing shifted his gaze toward the seven members of Blue Enchantress walking through the main entrance, Fang Zhen also let out a breath of relief.
“What is wrong with me?”
Fang Zhen stared at his own hands and legs in confusion.
Ever since logging off from High Martial Arts Descend, Fang Zhen had felt strange in his body, with a faint sense that his body was not his own.
It was not that his body was out of control. On the contrary, his control over his body had become too delicate. He could casually curl each of his ten toes independently, and it felt like every muscle in his body could move exactly as he wished, any specific part at will.
Because he tried it out a little, Li Ranxing had seen him shaking, and shaking quite a lot.
On the other side, Li Ranxing had already taken the initiative to greet the seven members of Blue Enchantress.
“Captain Chen, I didn’t expect we would meet again so soon.” Li Ranxing looked at the woman in front of him, about one meter eighty tall, with a single ponytail swinging at her waist. Even with sunglasses on, she was stunning.
“Captain Li, it really has been a while.” Chen Ya took off her sunglasses, her gaze slightly teasing. “Three months have passed. I wonder if Captain Li’s skills have improved. If not by much, I’ll be disappointed.”
“I’ve definitely improved.” Li Ranxing said with great confidence. “Since my debut, anyone I surpass never catches up again. I won’t let you down this time either, Captain Chen.”
“We’ll see.” Chen Ya stopped looking at Li Ranxing and directly glanced at the game pods already prepared in the lobby. “We’re in a hurry on our end. In an hour we still have to scrim with other final four teams. Let’s start quickly.”
The other six members of Blue Enchantress also had no intention of following Storm Shadow’s arrangements. They all headed straight for the virtual game pods.
This scene made the club members who had wanted to show off Storm Shadow’s strength look grim, especially the coaches, whose faces were so dark they almost dripped water, but they could only signal everyone to start the simulation match directly.
Although this exchange simulation was initiated by Blue Enchantress, everyone knew they were here for Li Ranxing. The rest did not matter to them at all.
Soon, both sides selected five players each, all lying down into the virtual game pods.
“Quickly mop up those small fry. As for Li Ranxing, leave him to me,” Chen Ya instructed, then directly clicked the Mecha Continent icon to enter the game.
The other four members of Blue Enchantress did not object. A team that was only top 32 in the nation was not worth their serious effort. They promptly entered Mecha Continent.
“I don’t know what’s going on today, but my mental state is unusually good.”
“Mecha Continent, start!”
Lying in the virtual game pod, Fang Zhen stopped overthinking his condition and directly tapped the icon to enter Mecha Continent.
A new week has arrived. Asking for monthly tickets, follow-up reading, and recommendations!
This week, Old Cat plans to charge the rankings. After all, we are close to one hundred thousand words already. For follow-up reading, you only need to click into the latest chapter within 24 hours. Old Cat thanks you all!
