translator: Oyen editor: Ciel
After the opening ceremony, the entire Mojue team returned to Changsha. The individual event of the first professional league tournament would start only in February. According to the official announcement, folk experts who were not registered as professional players also had the opportunity to participate in these small events, but had to meet the entry threshold of an arena score above 3,000 points.
At 10:00am on February 1st, the registration channel was officially opened. The registration period would last for three days.
Three days later, the officials announced the registration results as well as the schedule of the individual event. Professional players didn’t need to take part in auditions and could directly proceed to the preliminary round, while registered folk experts needed to go through a week-long audition. Only the top 16 folk experts from this audition round could enter the preliminary rounds. In the preliminary stage, both the folk experts and professional players would be randomly matched up to play 10 games. Those with a victory rate of more than 50% would advance to the next round, until the top 32 players were selected.
Since it wasn’t necessary for professional players to take part in the auditions, all of Mojue’s players stayed at the club for training in the first week.
Shen He carefully studied the video given by his grandmasters. Having learnt many new ways to play, he almost couldn’t wait to participate in the competition. Pei Yu and He Beiguang were also very eager to join in. Previously, all-sect challenge arena only permitted players to compete with those from the same sect, which was quite boring. This time, however, they could meet experts from all major sects. No matter whether they could get points or not, they could at least gain experience from playing against experts.
The audition phase ended smoothly a week later. Over 50 professional players who also signed up for the competition were to compete with the sixteen folk experts in the formal preliminary competition.
The preliminaries were still an online competition, they had to play a total of ten games with randomly matched opponents.
Qin Mo and Xiao Han had maintained their 100% winning streak. Liu Hong entered the top 32 with nine wins in ten games. As for the newcomers, Shen He had won an impressive eight games, successfully qualifying for the top 32. Pei Yu and He Beiguang unfortunately failed to enter, but this was already expected by Qin Mo. In the end, all outputs from the ten professional league teams had also signed up for the individual competition. For Mojue to occupy four seats in the top 32 was already better than the results of most teams.
For the matches between the top 32, all players were required to go to Beijing for a formal offline competition.
Liu Xiang had booked airplane tickets for the four players who qualified for the top 32 in advance. They set off for Beijing together, while Zhu Qingyue remained at the Dragon Song club to train Pei Yu, He Beiguang, and Li Muran in team battles.
On the day of their departure, Shen He excitedly packed his luggage in the dormitory, bringing along several sets of clothes to change into.
“Why are you bringing so many?” Li Muran asked.
“Because I think that I will be able to stay in Beijing for a few more days!” Shen He replied confidently. “Maybe I can make it to the top 16, or even the top 8!”
Li Muran was a rational person, and felt that it would be very difficult for Shen He to reach the top 16. Still, looking at Shen He’s confident and energetic appearance, he didn’t have the heart to rain on his parade. Perhaps Shen He would be lucky again, and would meet the weaker players in battle? Thinking of this, Li Muran went over, patting his shoulder and offering encouragement. “Good luck.”
Shen He laughed. “I got it, hahaha.”
Looking at his sunny smile, Li Muran knew that Shen He wouldn’t be too depressed even if he lost the match. This guy was an optimist with a super good mentality. This mentality was actually very helpful in a competition. Sometimes people with equal strength and good mentality would be able to seize the opportunity. Li Muran had a premonition that perhaps Shen He’s trip to Beijing would allow him to achieve much greater results then captain Qin and the team expected.
***
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
After Qin Mo, Xiao Han, Liu Hong and Shen He arirved in Beijing together, they checked in at the officially designated hotel.
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Qin Mo was in group A, Xiao Han was in group B, Shen He was in group G, while Liu Hong was in group H.
The players who were in group A with Qin Mo included Qiu Zongping, Sky team’s captain, Lin Yao, Dynasty team’s member, and Xu Sizhe, Graceful Beauty’s captain. In this group, Xiao Qiu and Lin Yao were players brought out by Qin Mo from the Wind Colour club. Xu Sizhe, once a player in Dragon Song training camp, had been dissatisfied with Qin Mo, and later left the club to set up his own team. All three of them had some history with Qin Mo. The showdown between three newcomers and a senior also promised to be very interesting.
Xiao Han’s group B also had many experts, namely, Song Changdong of Sword Song, Su Cheng of Interlude and Zhou Yanbing of Without Fire. All of them had good personal strength.
Unexpectedly, National Grace’s captain, Li Junru, happened to be in Liu Hong’s group, which made National Grace’s fans very excited.
Shen He’s group included a front-line player, Nie Yuzhu. The other two were He Yue, Frost Moon’s vice captain, and Cheng Yuqing, National Grace team’s player.
After the group lists were revealed, everyone gathered in Qin Mo and Xiao Han’s room to discuss. “Do you think I have a good chance of qualifying for the next round?” asked Shen He.
“In your group, the strongest player is definitely Nie Yuzhu, Without Fire’s captain. The remaining three people have similar strength, and all of them can compete for next round’s quota.” Qin Mo replied calmly.
“I will try my best to qualify for the top 16!” Shen He replied excitedly.
***
At 9:00am on February 10th, the top 32 group matches officially started.
For this round of competition, the officials would broadcast all the matches live, so the fights were arranged in stages.
It was very cold in Beijing today. Qin Mo and Xiao Han arrived at the venue early in the morning. Because it was Wednesday, many people were at work and at class, so there wasn’t a large audience at the scene. The venue of the individual competition was not very large, and the venue was about 60% filled, which could already be considered very good. The number of viewers watching the live broadcast online had exceeded six figures, making it obvious that many people who could not come to watch the competition personally were watching the live broadcast on the web.
The on-site commentary platform had two emcees, a capable and experienced girl with short hair, and the man sitting next to her. Both of them were also familiar with Qin Mo. The girl’s name was Liang Ru, whose commentary style was mild and friendly. The man’s name was Ye Chao, and he was known for his extremely poisonous commentary among the esports circle. They had worked together in the past to comment on the heavyweight world competition and had rich experience. Qin Mo had met them before while he was Wind Colour’s vice-captain. Unexpectedly, the Peerless Jianghu alliance had invited them to host today.
The group stage officially started at 9:00am, and used the two wins in the three games competition system.
Group A began with a Qiu Zongping VS Xu Sizhe match, and would be followed by a Qin Mo VS Lin Yao match.
The first match was fought between two summoners. Qiu Zongping rolled 99 points after throwing the dice, and was given the priority to choose the map first.
After pondering for a moment, Qiu Zongping chose the Stone Forest map—— this map was particularly significant to Xu Sizhe, as he defeated Shen He in this map back in Dragon Song club. In the all-sect challenge arena later, he continued to choose this map in an attempt to beat Shen He. Unexpectedly, Shen He used the negative state of fear to kill him at a critical moment. Now, Qiu Zongping, the legendary Qin Mo’s successor, actually chose this same map again.
This was simply a barefaced attempt at mocking him.
Staring at the computer screen, Xu Sizhe gripped his mouse tightly, gnashing his teeth.
In fact, Qiu Zongping wasn’t aware of the grudge between Xu Sizhe and Qin Mo at all. Qiu Zongping chose the Stone Forest map because he was good at using the terrain to control the field. In the end, it was Xu Sizhe who thought too much, angering himself to death for no reason.
Looking at Xu Sizhe’s expression made Qin Mo feel like laughing. Xu Sizhe seemed to be delusional, constantly victimising himself and suspecting others of wanting to harm him. In fact, many people in the league didn’t take him seriously at all.
Xu Sizhe fought very hard in this match, but Qiu Zongping was the most stable player in the Wind Colour club. As an aggressive player, perhaps Xu Sizhe’s speed and talent could give him a head start, but a steady player like Qiu Zongping would not give him too many opportunities to make use of.
It was like punching out as hard as possible, only to hit a bed of cotton.
Xu Sizhe became increasingly irritated, while Qiu Zongping calmly controlled the match. Below the stage, Qin Mo couldn’t bear to watch the fight any longer… This Xiao Xu, didn’t he bring his brain to the match?
Shen He already defeated him in the all-sect challenge arena, but for him to still not understand, this Xu Sizhe was really beyond help.
Qiu Zongping was a player who had participated in a world competition before. What kind of style had he not seen? Would fighting him head-on bring any benefits? Xu Sizhe was simply too stupid.
The stupid Xu Sizhe was taught a well-deserved lesson by Qiu Zongping. Qiu Zongping, who had inherited Qin Mo’s style of play, was much stronger than both Yuan Xi and Shen He. His calm and steady mind during the competition, as well as his extremely quick responses, completely disrupted the tactical thinking of his opponents, and prevented them from looking for opportunities to attack. He released his pets methodically to control his opponent. Once his opponent had fallen into his pace, Qiu Zongping’s trap would be complete, and escape was basically impossible.
This competition match embarrassed both commentators. Those who could make it to the top 32 shouldn’t be chopped vegetables! In particular, wasn’t Xu Sizhe still Graceful Beauty’s captain?! How could he be controlled to death by Qiu Zongping?
After Qiu Zongping won the match 2-0 cleanly, commentator Liang Ru coughed awkwardly. “Xu Sizhe seems to be in a bad condition today. In the first round, captain Qiu chose Stone Forest, which is known to have a complex terrain. Captain Qiu is especially good at controlling a large number of pets, and it makes sense for Xu Sizhe to be thrown off his rhythm. But in the second round, Xu Sizhe chose his own map, which was the Bamboo Forest Trail. How could he fight like… Well, it’s a little hard to explain in a few words.”
“He is probably still sleepwalking.” Ye Chao did not hold back his poisonous words.
Audience: “…”
“There is no need to discuss this match,” Ye Chao continued. “Let us watch the second match to cleanse our eyes.”
Smiling, Liang Ru relaxed the atmosphere with her charm. “The next match will be between god Mo and Lin Yao.”
“Lin Yao used to be a player from Wind Colour club.” Ye Chao added. “As Wind Colour’s former vice captain, Qin Mo promoted five players from the training camp. Zhao Xingchen became the team’s captain of Wind Colour’s Miracle team. The remaining four -Qiu Zongping, Yuan Xi, Zhou Xuewei and Lin Yao- all moved to Peerless Jianghu. Lin Yao had previously moved from Wind Colour to Huaxia. However, his performance after moving to Huaxia club was not very obvious. This time he came to the Peerless Jianghu project with Huaxia Dynasty team, which is a new opportunity for him.”
Liang Ru sighed. “In the end, god Mo was the person who trained him back then. Lin Yao should be under a lot of psychological pressure having to face off against god Mo, right?”
“That’s not necessarily true,” Ye Chao replied. “If he is prepared to lose, he may put his all into the fight, and will play more brilliantly. I hope Lin Yao can play at his own level.”
Liang Ru smiled. “God Mo used to be a summoner, but now his play style is different as a swordsman. Lin Yao, on the other hand, plays a poison master from Fangcao Hall. The long-ranged poison attack has a chance to win against the melee swordsman.”
“That’s right,” Ye Chao agreed. “Both players have already taken their seats, and the competition will start soon. For now, let’s watch a brief advertisement first.”
***
The advertisement playing happened to be the LCD lightscreen advertisement from Qingyang Electronic Technology Company that was shot by Zhu Qingyue. Dressed in a sweater and a slim coat, Zhu Qingyue sat by the street, carefully tracing the LCD lightscreen with his hand. The sunlight projected on his face made his facial features look elegant and soft, and his faint smile could melt people’s hearts.
The viewers who watched the live broadcast immediately flooded the screen with their comments: “Little crying bag is smiling so gently!”
“Little crying bag is so classy! This sweater looks so good on him!”
“Qingyue is my husband, don’t snatch him from me!”
“Qingyue isn’t taking part in the individual competition. Will he stay at Dragon Song’s headquarters? All of a sudden, I am worried that he will be blackened by Dragon Song.”
“Qingyue should insist on remaining a blank piece of paper, and not be blackened by Dragon Song!”
During the short advertisement, Qin Mo and Lin Yao had already completed their preparations and logged in to their accounts. Once the few seconds were over, the live broadcast returned to the commentators.
“Good morning, everyone.” Liang Ru smiled. “You are now watching the individual challenge of the first official professional league in Peerless Jianghu. Today’s match is from group A, between Mojue’s Qin Mo and Dynasty’s Lin Yao. Qin Mo operates a Hanhua Sword sect’s longsword swordsman, account ‘Ink Mark’, while Lin Yao operates a Fang Cao Hall’s poison master, account ‘Flower Blooming Like Red Clouds’. The match is about to start. Let’s watch from god’s perspective in the competition field!”
Ye Chao followed. “Both players have already finished rolling the dice. Qin Mo has rolled 88 points, while Lin Yao has 73 points. With this, Qin Mo has won the right to choose the map first.”
After switching the live broadcast image, the scene of the competition room appeared on screen. Qin Mo quickly chose a map from the map library—— Mingzhou Arena.
This was the most commonly used map for rookie PK matches in the online game, causing the audience to be stunned. It was totally unexpected that Qin Mo would use such a simple map in the league competition.
However, Ye Chao saw Qin Mo’s intention and explained. “This kind of map has no obstacles or detours, forcing a head-on confrontation between players. Fangcao hall’s poison master playstyle is relatively poisonous, and can rely on kiting the opponent on an obstacle map to inflict several layers of poison, waiting for the opponent to lose blood. Qin Mo’s selection of the large arena map is a simple and crude targeted selection method. With such a selection, it is very difficult for Lin Yao to use kiting methods.”
“It seems that god Mo has no intention of showing mercy to this junior,” Liang Ru smiled. “The map will be loaded soon, let’s all pay attention to this match between the junior and the senior!”
Thanks for the chapter
You’re welcome~ ❤
Tsk tsk tsk Xu Sizhe bener-bener, sigh nggak bisa ngomong apa-apa lagi. Semoga dia cepet enyah atau kurangin scene-nya biar nggak nyakitin mata. -_-
Lagi-lagi waktu liat Qingyue netizen mesti khawatir doi jadi hitem gegara Dragon Song. Www lil crying bag kami harus tetep murni OwO
Besok pasti jadi chapter epic. Ah kangen, rasanya udah lama nggak liat mereka tanding. (･´з`･)
Siapa tau dia bakal sadar ~
Lol, tapi Qingyue sudah ternoda sama master nya sendiri 😏
Pertandingan bakalan dimulaaiii~
Shen He and Li Muran suit each other very well~ I‘m looking forward when they will get together!~♡ლ(-༗‿༗-)ლ♡Xu Sizhe is really stupid! He‘s beyond help anymore!!! (＃＞＜) In fact it’s very sad since he‘s a bit strong but he always makes himself a victim and thinks to much that he becomes angry… When he becomes angry he always lose the game! Just how can he fight Qiu Zongping head-on?! I mean why should Qiu Zongping even pay attention to a rookie and mock him?! …so stupid ahh~ (＾＾＃) The advertisements that the Mojue Team did before is going to become a hit!~ But fans~ Zhu Qingyue already has a husband! He will get jealous lol
I‘m looking forward to the match between Qin Mo and Lin Yao!~ ᕙﾉ•̀ʖ•́ﾉ୨
Thank you for the chapter!🌹
Lol, Shen He and Li Muran will have progress in extra chapter~ but maybe we still can see they sweet interaction during the main chapters too 😍
That’s right, he won’t win Qiu Zongping if he can’t calm down..
RIGHT! Qingyue already has a husband lmaoo~
Qin Mo and Lin Yao, fighting!!
You’re welcome~
yes shen he, you’ve got this! prove you’re the true successor to qin mo and ling xuefeng!!!!!!!! also lmao xu sizhe you don’t know how to learn. amazing choice qin mo for showing no mercy in your first battle!!!!
Lol, Shen He is good~ he is really true successor of Qin Mo, Ling Xuefeng and also Cat God!!
Xu Sizhe is a no hope case, maybe he will learn his mistakes someday!
Hehe, Xu Sizhe, this brainless idiot. Losing to Qiu Zongping was a guarantee, in the end. How such a player ended up as the captain of a team in the professional league is really too much of a mystery.
I like this Ye Chao commenter already, no beating around the bush and very straightforward and blunt, this kind I like! Too similar to me irl ahahhahha~ Ooh I’m excited for Qin Mo’s match tho, against his ex-apprentice, how will he fare ah~
Thank you for the chapter!!
He has money, just set up the team for revenge lol 🤣
Ikr, Ye Chao as a blunt and straightforward commentator, I also love him lmao
There’re still many matchesssss 🤩
You’re welcome~
Qin mo has so many connections. He really brought out the most juniors. 5 from back in the day. Even with his own personal decline he channeled his energy to nurture the next generation and now he’s still raising shen he. He’s a part owner of Mojue too.. he’s gonna be like the dragon song club owner and still have a large influence after he retires.
Lol, Qin Mo is the Queen, has many children 🤩
He will become a legend in esports too~
Thank thou for the update!!!
Can’t wait for the next chapter! Really looking forward to SH vs QZP O^_^O
You’re welcome~
Lol, I hope they met too in this individual match~
Terima kasih untuk chapterny kakak♡♡(シ_ _)シ Semangat yaa!!!!ヽ(＾Д＾)ﾉ
Sama2 Hosi~
xu sizhe is such a joke. he’s making every single thing all about him, when literally no one really cared. he’s such a delusional jerk. i can imagine him glaring at qiu zongping after the match and captain qiu would be like, the hell’s wrong with him?