Chapter 172 - Xiao Han VS Chen Jiang (part I)

Read more BL at chrysanthemumgarden (dot) com

“Looking at the online poll, 60% of netizens are rooting for Xiao Han, while the other 40% think that Chen Jiang will win,” Ye Chao mused. “What does god Ye think?”

“Such a ratio is very reasonable,” Qin Ye commented. “After all, Xiao Han has more fans from his participation in the world competition, and he has an additional halo bonus for being mixed-race.” uIn4hA

“What about their individual strengths?” Ye Chao continued to question.

“Looking solely at their individual strength, Chen Jiang isn’t necessarily weaker,” Qin Ye asserted. “Whether they can win will depend on their understanding of this new game.”

If they were in the Miracle league, Xiao Han would undoubtedly win against Chen Jiang, just as Chen Jiang would win if this were the Wulin league. Since they were players from different projects, their glorious records from the past could not be used as the only criterion for judging the victor. In fact, the keys were how well both people understood and had adapted to the game.

In fact, Qin Ye was more optimistic about Xiao Han for one single reason—— not only was Xiao Han strong on a personal level, and had a rich experience in competitions, he also had a strong partner in Qin Mo. 5iUe8H

Qin Mo was attentive, and particularly fond of research. His tactical ideas and gameplay methods discovered in the new project would definitely be shared with Xiao Han. On the other hand, Chen Jiang was researching the new game alone, and would definitely not be as efficient as the teamwork between Xiao Han and Qin Mo. However, Chen Jiang was Xue Ke’s favourite apprentice. Although he was young, his foundations were solid, and even if his project was changed, there would be no chance of him meeting his Waterloo.

Previously, Qin Ye had worked as a coach for Dragon Song for two years, and was familiar with the rising stars of the Wulin league. Among all the apprentices from the major clubs, Chen Jiang was not as strong as ‘Old Zhuge’ Nie Yuzhu in terms of tactical ability, but in terms of resilience and speed of response, Chen Jiang was far superior. All in all, Chen Jiang ought to be an opponent comparable to Nie Yuzhu.

In previous games, Chen Jiang’s win-loss ratio against Nie Yuzhu was exactly 5:5.

*** SrOHd2

By the time Qin Ye thought things through, both players had finished their preparations. As the referee called for the start of the game, the two rolled a dice in the game room. Having rolled a larger number than Chen Jiang, Xiao Han was to select the first map.

Xiao Han immediately entered his selection—— Northern Regions Labyrinth.

The map was introduced to the audience, the display allowing them to intuitively understand the complexity of the map.

This map was a labyrinth in the northern ice fields, withs walls carved out of ice and snow. Entering the labyrinth was akin to entering a snow-white world, making it easy to lose one’s sense of direction. Perhaps the most difficult aspect of this map was the ground and walls carved out of ice. When travelling across the ground, the slippery ice made it easy for the player to lose control of their speed, while the ice walls were blinding under light, which was a burden on the eyes. lFo8qB

As an assassin could turn themselves invisible, playing against an assassin on a maze map was a headache for any profession.

“The speciality of Xuanbing Palace’s long whip flow is its displacement control, but it is difficult to use in a maze,” Ye Chao couldn’t help commenting. “God Han’s intentions for this selected map are obvious.”

“The home map is meant for targeting opponents,” Liang Ru echoed. “Most professional players have a higher win rate for home games as compared to away games. However, everyone has the opportunity to play a home game, making the game fair.”

“Winning a home game doesn’t count for much. It’s in winning an away game that shows your skills,” Qin Ye said uncourteously. IXkFV

“So, god Ye means that Xiao Han ought to win this first match?” Ye Chao questioned.

Qin Ye’s reply was light. “If he actually loses on a maze map, it would be extremely embarrassing for his master.”

Please support our translators at chrysanthemumgarden (dot) com

Ye Chao: “…”

Xbv Tf revvfcis rklamtfv ogbw qgjlrlcu Hlc Zb ab yflcu mjiiber klat tlr kbgvr, mjerlcu Tf Jtjb ab offi j rfcrf bo vlrmbccfma. Xo0EDg

Po Wljb Ljc jmaejiis ibra atlr wjamt, Tf Jtjb vlvc’a xcbk tbk yjvis Hlc Tf kbeiv glvlmeif tlw…

Vb, sbe tjnf ab vb sbeg jyrbieaf yfra, ubv Ljc!

***

At the start of the game, Yongye City’s dagger flow assassin ‘Thousand Miles Ice’ and Xuanbing Palace’s long whip flow disciple ‘Three Thousand Miles of River’ simultaneously refreshed in the maze. K54g U

In the upper right corner was a miniature display of the terrain, allowing players to view their own coordinates. This was to prevent players from being unable to identify their own position during the game.

Thousand Miles Ice was currently in the southeast corner of the labyrinth. Following the routes he had long since memorised, Xiao Han quickly traversed through the narrow ice corridors, rushing towards the middle of the map.

Because the ice was slippery, the movement speed of players on this map was about 20% faster than on regular flat ground, and Xiao Han soon arrived at his intended destination.

Chen Jiang was also very familiar with this map. In order to prevent Xiao Han from sneaking around to attack him, he did not choose to take the nearest route, but instead detoured around the back. be5cxU

The two walked around the maze for nearly a minute. After rounding a corner, Chen Jiang finally caught sight of Thousand Miles Ice——

The assassin in black was a particularly eye-catching sight in a snow-white maze built of ice.

The poisonous green whip in Chen Jiang’s hands immediately shot out—— Gale Whip! Shadowless Whip!

The verdant whip darted towards the assassin’s back. Turning invisible, it wound itself around Thousand Miles Ice’s neck like a snake! bCwvzD

This set of combos inflicted a considerable amount of damage, causing Thousand Miles Ice’s blood volume to fall to 70% immediately. The assassin was also poisoned by the whip, causing him to lose 2% of his blood per second, for the next five seconds.

Chen Jiang did not play the poison master flow, but his weapon ‘Verdant Snake’ was built with the additional attribute of ‘30% probability to trigger a poisoned effect’. With this, he could deal additional damage from the poisoning effect while controlling the field. When cooperating with his junior sister He Yue, his poisoning and her deceleration double whip control was capable of breaking up any team formation.

When fighting alone, this weapon was equally powerful, and the poisoning effect could be used to widen the blood volume gap!

However, Xiao Han’s response was very quick. The moment he was about to take the wave of damage, he immediately used his sect qinggong skill—— Darkness Valley! z1EDqm

The first time ‘Darkness Valley’ was used, the assassin could turn invisible, and Thousand Miles Ice immediately vanished without a trace.

Chen Jiang opened a large scale group attack—— Wind Dragon Dance!

Story translated by Chrysanthemum Garden.

The long green whip in his hands quickly cut across the surrounding 15 metres. The whip was as sharp as a sword, seemingly about to cut the surrounding space into countless pieces!

Wherever the whip passed, the walls were split open. Countless shards of ice fell to the ground, almost as if an earthquake had just occurred. 8dIb2R

Ye Chao sighed. “This big move of captain Chen’s is really fierce!”

“Xiao Han will definitely be beaten out of invisibility,” Qin Ye frowned. “If he doesn’t think of a way to solve this, Chen Jiang will land another wave of combos on him.”

Sure enough, as Qin Ye had said, Chen Jiang’s group attack skill had a very long range. Not only did his long whip tear up the surrounding walls, it also made contact with the invisible Thousand Miles Ice, forcing the assassin back into the visible spectrum.

It was not a good sign for the assassin’s whereabouts to be made known, but Xiao Han was not worried in the slightest. 6Q lt3

In fact, he had already expected to be beaten out of invisibility. So what? This was a labyrinth map, and they just so happened to be in a long and narrow corridor. Chen Jiang had no way to throw him off using his whip, because they were surrounded by walls. He took the opportunity to approach Chen Jiang while in stealth, and if he could force out the opponent’s big move along the way, why not?

Thousand Miles Ice had been beaten out of his stealth state. Currently, the assassin stood before Three Thousand Miles of River, and the distance between the two was less than a single meter.

Seeing the black-clothed assassin so close, Chen Jiang was startled, and immediately retreated with qinggong——

However, it was already too late. The dagger in Thousand Miles Ice’s hands did not hesitate, piercing into Three Thousand Miles of River! KS ARj

The combo of a two-hit Meteor and Deadly Ice Silkworm triggered a critical, instantly levelling the blood volume of the two players!

Thousand Miles Ice and Three Thousand Miles of River were both left with 60% of their health.

“Beautiful!” Ye Chao praised. “Xiao Han’s counter was simple but effective!”

Xiao Han did not drag things through mud and water. So what if he had been knocked out of stealth? He dared to fight head-on with his opponent, carrying enough momentum to even rush towards his opponent’s face with a dagger in hand. 18JuBQ

Chen Jiang resolutely retreated into the maze, turning round a corner and disappearing into the endless corridors—— avoiding the fight was the cool-headed decision.

Once Xiao Han began to unleash his combos, the consequences were unimaginable. Xiao Han couldn’t be allowed to get too comfortable, and his rhythm had to be interrupted.

Chen Jiang had considered many things. After dashing past several corridors to avoid Xiao Han’s pursuit, he immediately ducked into a corner, planning to launch a sneak attack.

Discovering Chen Jiang’s intentions to ambush him, Xiao Han immediately changed his route, walking down another road—— yu7EVO

The god’s perspective allowed the audience to see the entire corner of the maze. Chen Jiang was like a dormant hunter, quietly waiting for his prey as he leant against the wall; however, in the fork behind him, the assassin in black was silently making his approach.

Just who was the hunter, and who was the hunted?

Story translated by Chrysanthemum Garden.

The moment of confrontation was right now!

The black-clothed assassin suddenly appeared before the blue-clothed knight like a ghost, and the sharp dagger in his hands sliced across his opponent’s neck. piYOcG

Chen Jiang’s response was also very quick. The long whip in his hands unfurled, curling around his opponent’s waist like a long, aggressive snake!

Both people made their move at the same time, but the speed of Xiao Han’s close-ranged attack was faster than Chen Jiang’s long whip. Thus, it was Xiao Han’s skill that was enforced by the system first.

—— Phantom Dreaming.

As it turned out, Xiao Han used this illusion control skill. sqNOgJ

The maze vanished before Chen Jiang’s eyes, and was replaced by a field of blooming flowers.

Although his long whip made contact with the opponent, dealing enough damage to bring Xiao Han’s blood volume down to 40%, he had no way of continuing his attack under the illusion control.

This could be fatal!

Relying on his memory of the terrain, Chen Jiang decisively turned to flee. xtqQVJ

However, Xiao Han wouldn’t give him the opportunity to run. The dagger in his hands shot out—— a three-hit combo of Rainbow Through The Sun, followed up by Thousand Lights Ghost Walk to surround Chen Jiang and strangle him!

The dense rain of bloodied daggers stabbed into Three Thousand Miles of River’s back, inflicting a critical strike. Then, the assassin in black split into five shadows, all of which surrounded Chen Jiang like starving tigers. In a short three seconds of illusion control, Xiao Han’s complete outburst dealt an explosive wave of damage, terrifying many who watched this scene.

By the time the illusion ended, Chen Jiang unexpectedly discovered that he only had 25% of his blood left!

Not good! 1drw5y

With only so little health left, if Xiao Han was allowed to open a big move, Chen Jiang would immediately be killed. Thankfully, they happened to be at a fork in the labyrinth. Chen Jiang calmed down, and immediately used the strong displacement control skill ‘Cloud-Destroying Wind’. The green whip in his hands shot out like a flexible snake, grabbing Thousand Miles Ice by the waist and violently tossing him away!

Having thrown the other party into the fork, Chen Jiang used qinggong momentarily in order to avoid Xiao Han’s big move.

Still, Xiao Han quickly caught up. Chen Jiang had retreated into a straight and narrow corridor, without any forks in the road. Unable to avoid the assassin’s pursuit, Chen Jiang simply turned back, using the combo of ‘Snowfall Whip’ and ‘Stream-breaking Whip’ to grab the initiative, wanting to dispose of his opponent with a series of outbreaks!

In an instant, Thousand Miles Ice was left with 25% of his blood volume, and had two layers of poisoning inflicted on him! 15qVkD

The situation had escalated, and things were extremely tense.

At this moment, the black-clothed assassin was suddenly surrounded by a golden glow—— Golden Cicada Shell!

Chrysanthemum Garden.

This skill had the function of resolving negative control statuses inflicted by the opponent, such as immobilisation and silencing, and could also be used to teleport.

At this moment, Xiao Han chose this skill to teleport behind his opponent. PE fvy

The dagger in his hands rose and fell, piercing Three Thousand Miles of River in the back accurately.

With the sound of metal slicing through flesh, Three Thousand Miles of River’s health bar was emptied.

—— Thousand Miles Ice has killed Three Thousand Miles of River!

A quick pursuit, a single stab to end a life, confidently looking back to face the opponent. This was the master assassin whom everyone feared. 7AHCWP

Seeing the black-clothed assassin standing in the middle of the maze, bloodied dagger in hand, Liang Ru was beside herself in excitement. “Amazing! God Han’s actions were particularly neat, and harvested his opponent’s head with one stroke, winning the first game in a simple yet elegant manner!

“Including the dice roll and the map selection, this round only took five minutes in total,” Ye Chao praised. “This speed is rather quick.”

“In fact, captain Chen’s response is not slow,” Liang Ru explained. “He forcibly interrupted god Han’s rhythm several times, and traded attacks with god Han during their exchanges. However, god Han’s explosive ability is simply too terrifying, and every swing of his dagger draws blood. Every time he draws near, he can empty a large portion of his opponent’s blood. It hurts me to watch it every time.”

“The melee assassin relies on being explosive and bursting out a wave of damage, and among them, god Han is definitely first-class,” Ye Chao agreed. “Back in the Miracle professional league, many opponents were nervously sweating at having to face him in battle. It’s extremely uncomfortable being targeted by an assassin like god Han; they’re unable to run away, yet they might not necessarily be able to fight head-on either!” CUTBS9

“Unless they are a long-ranged player, in which they can control him remotely and play a war of attrition,” Liang Ru muses. “A mid-range player like captain Jiang is actually at a disadvantage when facing god Han. Furthermore, the first game was god Han’s home map, so a loss is actually quite normal.”

The both of them were excitedly talking about the first match, yet the guest commentator was sitting there in silence.

Ye Chao could only throw a question at Qin Ye. “How does god Ye feel Xiao Han performed in this match?”

“Still okay,” Qin Ye replied. aYfuec

Ye Chao: “…”

Where did the endless praise offered to Qin Mo earlier go? When it came to Xiao Han’s turn, was there only the phrase ‘still ok’ left?