translator: Oyen editor: Ciel
After the group match, Qin Mo brought his teammates to a restaurant near the hotel for a big meal—— Shen He managing to qualify for the top 16 was indeed an unexpected surprise, and one worth celebrating about.
Shen He was excited throughout the entire dinner, constantly adding food to Qin Mo’s plate. “Master, eat more, the reason why I managed to qualify was because you taught me well, hehe.”
Instead of being complacent, the little apprentice kept his master’s kindness in mind. Qin Mo was very fond of this good apprentice, and his cold expression eased a lot.
The group stage and the next knockout stage were arranged in succession, and there was little time to rest in between. After dinner, everyone went back to the hotel to rest, and Qin Mo accessed the official website with his laptop to check the match schedule once more—— the battle between Group A and Group E would be held at 9:00am tomorrow morning. The first match was Lin Yao VS Chu Jianxin, while Qin Mo’s match against Jing Yang would be second.
His opponent, Jing Yang, was the vice captain of the Without Fire team. According to the rumours, Jing Yang was a talented youth from the club, and was brought along by Nie Yuzhu to develop in Peerless Jianghu’s project.
Without Fire team’s captain and vice-captain was rather strange. Captain Nie Yuzhu was 23 a steady veteran, and at 23 years old, he was the oldest professional player in Peerless Jianghu. Meanwhile, his vice-captain Jing Yang was only 16 years old, the youngest professional player in Peerless Jianghu. Strangely enough, there seemed to be no generation gap between the oldest and the youngest players?
Jing Yang was different from the lively and talkative Shen He, being gentle and not speaking much most of the time. He quietly followed captain Nie around all day, much like a good student following his teacher to participate in a competition. Every time a reporter tried to interview him, he would hand the microphone to captain Nie, who would help him to answer, after which Jing Yang would return the microphone to the reporter. In the end, the reporters all nicknamed him the ‘Microphone Passer’.
However, even if he looked docile, much like a simple and shy teenager who was unfamiliar with the world, his playing style on the field was extremely hot-blooded and radical.
Having watched all the group matches before, Qin Mo was in particular very impressed by Jing Yang. The teenager was very good at seizing opportunities, and had a pair of fast hands which were simply made to play esports.
He needed to carefully prepare for tomorrow’s showdown with Jing Yang. Taking advantage of the fact that it was still early, Qin Mo replayed the video of the group matches, analysing Jing Yang’s playstyle and habits once again. Seeing him review the footage, Xiao Han came over to join him. The two people occasionally shared their ideas with each other, and didn’t fall sleep until late at night.
***
The next day, everyone arrived at the competition venue on time.
Today just happened to be a Saturday, and the knockout matches to determine the top 8 players would be held today. As such, the live audience was double compared to that of the group stage battles a few days ago, with an attendance of 10,000 people, making up about 80%. Many fans were still carrying all sorts of items to show off their support for their idols.
Players preparing backstage could naturally look at the live broadcast on the screen. Just as the camera turned around the corner, Qin Mo caught sight of a group of females students in the back rows, each holding a cute Q version cutout which read ‘god Mo will win’!
The camera moved a few meters to the left, showing the group of girls seated next to Qin Mo’s fans. This group of girls were also holding Q version cutouts, but these instead read “god Han will win!”
Seeing this, Xiao Han couldn’t help laughing, leaning over to whisper in Qin Mo’s ear. “These two groups look like a pair at first glance. As it turns out, the relationship between our fans seems to be quite harmonious.”
“En,” Qin Mo agreed. “It wasn’t like this before. Your fans used to scold me for being overly sensitive.”
“Your fans still scold me for being dumb and stupid,” Xiao Han replied.
Back then, they were the little princes of Canglan and Wind Colour respectively. Thus, there were countless fights on the fan forums between their supporters, who trampled on each other in order to determine just whose little prince was stronger. The tougher fans even fought all night to prove a point. Now that they had formed a team together, however, the relationship between their fans immediately became harmonious enough for them to sit together, holding up signs to cheer the both of them on.
Xiao Han would never understand the creatures known as ‘fans’. They had previously built a towering skyscraper of black in the forums over trivial matters… in the end, they had magically become a kind and benevolent family?
Still, Xiao Han was very happy to see these girls who had come to cheer them on today, especially because the two Q-version avatars matched very well at first glance.
***
The hosts on-scene were playing lottery games and giving away souvenirs. Although it was early in the morning, the audience’s mood was very lively.
At 9:00am in the morning, the director finally switched the broadcast to the commentary platform.
“Good morning everyone,” Liang Ru smiled. “Welcome to the individual competition of Peerless Jianghu’s first professional league. Today will be the knockout stage to determine which players will qualify for the top 8. The battle between group A and group E will begin shortly!”
“We are very honored to have a great god as our guest commentator for this morning’s competition!” Ye Chao added.
The audience soon discovered another person seated beside Ye Chao and Liang Ru on the commentary platform—— the man had a bright smile on his face, and was wearing a shirt and bow tie, almost as if he were about to attend a wedding. Unfortunately, because his appearance wasn’t particularly suited for the handsome style, he looked very cute instead.
“…” Seeing this familiar face, Chu Jianxin directly spit out a mouthful of tea.
All of Dynasty’s players looked awkward. Yuan Xi, who was seated next to them, spoke up. “Captain Chu, your master is here.”
Chu Jianxin glanced at the innocent Yuan Xi. “I can see that!”
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.
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“Let me introduce this great god to everyone,” Ye Chao took the initiative to announce. “The person seated next to me is god Wei of the Huaxia club, and is also the master of Dynasty team’s captain, Chu Jianxin!”
“Hello everyone! Long time no see!” Cheng Wei, who sat between the two, waved kindly at everyone.
“God Wei, the first match between Lin Yao and Chu Jianxin is widely regarded as a civil war in the Dynasty team. Since you know the both of them very well, who do you think has a better chance of winning?” Liang Ru once again changed the topic.
“I am a good master, so I would say that my apprentice has a better chance of winning.” Cheng Wei smiled. “Do you hear that, apprentice?”
“……” Chu Jianxin really wanted to smack his own head and die. I’m begging you, please don’t give me poisoned milk before the match! Just from your words alone, I feel like I’m going to lose!
“Why does god Wei feel that captain Chu will win? Is it because captain Chu has a stronger awareness?” Ye Chao asked.
“Because he is my apprentice.” Cheng Wei’s reason was extremely simple and crude, to the point where it couldn’t be refuted, causing Ye Chao to choke.
In the end, Ye Chao coughed and changed the topic. “The match is about to start, let’s focus on the stage!”
Chu Jianxin and Lin Yao stepped onto the stage, offering each other a friendly hug—— this was indeed the Dynasty team’s civil war. Most of the team’s fans came to watch the match with an attitude of ‘whomever won didn’t matter’, and many were not cheering for any specific player in particular.
Both players entered the soundproof booth and put on their VR glasses, before debugging their equipment. Once the preparations were complete, they quickly got ready to confirm.
The match officially began. Having rolled a higher score, Chu Jianxin was given the priority to select the first map.
He chose a square map to prevent Lin Yao from using obstacles to kite him.
“This map is very good, it is well chosen,” Cheng Wei praised. “Lin Yao is best at using obstacles to widen the distance, then stacking layers of poison on his opponent. It is indeed better to fight a close-combat battle on a square map.”
“That’s right,” Ye Chao agreed. “Captain Chu’s selection is specifically targeting Lin Yao. For now, let’s watch their performance.”
Chu Jianxin played very actively from the start of the game. The broadsword flow of Kuangdao Gate was the most defensive profession, allowing the player to provide both his teammates and himself with many protection buffs. Players of the broadsword flow also had the most health in game. Chu Jianxin’s equipment was also very luxurious; his weapon ‘Daybreaker’ had the additional attribute of increasing his defence by 30%, making him one of the most defensive players in the league.
Lin Yao started off by stacking a few layers of poison on him, which was a general tactic employed by the relatively crispy professions. Normally, Lin Yao’s set of outbreaks could reduce the opponent’s blood volume by 30 to 40%, but against this thick-skinned tank, Lin Yao was only able to knock out 20% of his health!
The two people exchanged a wave of skills. However, due to Chu Jianxin’s high defence, the game took nearly ten minutes for both players to enter a state of residual blood.
Just as Lin Yao distanced himself, ready to use the ‘Arsenic Frost’ explosion skill to immediately activate all five layers of poison, Chu Jianxin immediately used a reflective skill, ‘Only Me’!
As a result, Lin Yao’s big move was rebounded back, directly killing him!
——[Flower Blooming Like Red Clouds] has killed [Flower Blooming Like Red Clouds]!
Seeing this message pop up on the big screen, the audience burst into laughter. Helpless, Lin Yao could only join in.
Only when playing against captain Chu could this sort of thing happen, because his defensive counterattack style was very opportunistic. At critical moments, he would choose to reflect the opponent’s big moves back at them, maintaining his own safety all the while. This sort of play also caused his opponents to suffer a lot.
Seeing that his apprentice won the game, Cheng Wei couldn’t help but laugh. “Xiao Chu played very well. My prediction must be right! Although Xiao Lin’s output level is very high, Xiao Chu’s reaction is very fast, maintaining a good blood volume gap in the early stages before reflecting damage at the critical moment. Like this, even a meat shield can kill the opponent! Let’s all clap for captain Chu!”
Ye Chao felt that Chu Jianxin would lose the next game, especially if Cheng Wei continued boasting like this…
In the second game, Lin Yao chose the Stone Forest map with many obstacles, using guerrilla warfare tactics to detour and poison Chu Jianxin from the back. As a tank, Chu Jianxin didn’t have many attack skills, and could only watch his blood volume drop from being kited like this.
Chu Jianxin was slowly poisoned to death by Lin Yao, and the score was now 1:1. Cheng Wei stopped praising his apprentice, and began commenting seriously. “Lin Yao’s long-range technique of stacking poison is really powerful!”
“The system will randomly select a map for the third game. As his master, god Wei should know a lot about your apprentice, right?” Ye Chao asked. “Then, what kind of map is he the worst at?”
After thinking for a moment, Cheng Wei replied. “I’m not sure.”
Ye Chao: “……”
He was really the most unreliable master in history. Many members of the audience expressed their sympathy for captain Chu.
Perhaps because of his unreliable master’s boasting, the map selected for the third game was a maze map that Chu Jianxin was the worst at.
Lin Yao shuttled around the four corners of the maze, stacking layer after layer of poison on Chu Jianxin. As a result, Chu Jianxin finally lost to Lin Yao with a 15% difference in blood volume.
The score 2:1 popped up on the big screen. Lin Yao had won the game, and was the first player to enter the top 8!
Before the start of the individual competition, not many thought that Lin Yao, this unknown player on Huaxia’s Dynasty team, could reach the top 8.
It seemed like every time Lin Yao took the stage, something unexpected would happen. He defeated Qin Mo in the first match, and defeated Qiu Zongping again in the second match. Now, he even defeated his captain, Chu Jianxin!
Showing an elegant demeanour, Chu Jianxin took the initiative to walk over and give Lin Yao a hug. “Good job, A-Yao.”
Lin Yao smiled shyly. “Thank you, captain.”
On that day, Chu Jianxin had actually overheard the conversation between Lin Yao and Qin Mo. In order to let his sister study abroad, Lin Yao was under great psychological pressure after transferring from Wind Colour to Huaxia. In the past few years, he worked very hard to fulfill his duty, completely afraid to compete with other players for popularity……
The most promising newcomer selected by Qin Mo had actually spent three years of his career like this, unknown by all.
Now, he could finally show his real strength.
Lin Yao’s eyes were a little red. Chu Jianxin could guess his thoughts, and patted him on the shoulder in comfort. “It’s a new beginning now that you’ve followed me to Peerless Jianghu. There is no need to focus on the past any longer.”
“En.” Lin Yao smiled gratefully. This opportunity had been given to him by Chu Jianxin; if the captain hadn’t called him to come along, he might not have had the resolution to switch projects on his own.
After hugging each other once more, the two people walked down the stage.
Watching the heartening scene of teammates hugging and encouraging each other, the audience also gave them a warm round of applause.
“You’ve guessed wrongly, god Wei,” Ye Chao remarked in amusement. “Your apprentice has lost.”
Cheng Wei immediately changed his tune. “That’s because Lin Yao is also very powerful! Let me predict the results of the next game, I think Jing Yang is very promising!
“… his opponent is god Mo,” Ye Chao deadpanned.
“Of course I know Xiao Mo!” Cheng Wei exclaimed. “Even if he is now god Mo of Mojue, which is a very impressive-sounding title, but he still lost to me back then! Once, he arrogantly provoked a great god in the online game, not expecting the other party to be Cat God’s trumpet account! Qin Xiaomo declared very fiercely that he was going to kill Cat God, only for Cat God to turn the tables. His little glass heart broke, and he ran to cry in secret, then actually lost the game against me the next day due to distress!”
Qin Mo: “…”
Xiao Han was helpless. “The reason why Peerless Jianghu’s officials invited him here as a guest commentator, is probably just for fun?”
Qin Mo’s expression was cold. “Perhaps it is because Ye Chao’s words are extremely poisonous, that they have asked Cheng Wei to lighten the mood.”
Hearing this piece of black history, Ye Chao could not help but worry that Cheng Wei would ramble on endlessly, and so immediately changed the subject. “Cough, that was something that happened many years ago. The Qin Mo of that time was a sixteen-year old newcomer, but the him of today is already a great god. Do you still feel that Jing Yang can win against him? Furthermore, Jing Yang is a player who just debuted this year.”
“I think there is hope still,” Cheng Wei stated firmly. “Jing Yang is said to be a talented young player from the Bronze Sparrow club. Even though he is only sixteen years old, I also debuted at sixteen. As the saying goes, ‘newborn calves are not afraid of tigers’, and this may allow him to defeat the great gods of the professional circle. When it comes to playing games, the great gods often have fixed mindsets, but newcomers may show many unexpected performances. It is not uncommon for newcomers to beat existing great gods in the esports circle. While Qin Mo has the ability to win the championship, this sort of great god is also very likely to overturn the boat when facing off against a newcomer!
Liang Ru laughed. “What god Wei has said makes sense.”
The audience couldn’t help but spam comments once more: “He’s obviously talking nonsense!”
“Special guest, captain Tan asks you to go home for dinner!”
“Well, thank you for your poisonous milk, god! I am now at ease; with your words, god Mo will surely win!”
“Where did this second-rate commentator come from? Can you even explain a game properly? Your apprentice was cursed and lost because of you, did you know?”
“I’m very distressed for captain Chu!”
“Feeling very distressed for Jing Xiaoyang, who was also hit by this poisonous milk!”
Qin Mo was calmly watching the live broadcast from the backstage lounge. Cheng Wei’s skill of speaking nonsense had only gotten more powerful over the years. As the most unreliable master in the league, he had never properly taught his apprentice. In fact, it had always been captain Tan who trained Chu Jianxin. Even his prediction of the match outcomes were all guessed wrongly—— whomever he guessed would win, would definitely lose for sure.
Back then, when Qin Mo had lost to him, it was indeed because Qin Mo was too young and inexperienced, and had a fragile nature. He couldn’t suffer defeats, and was devastated after losing, causing him to make mistake after mistake in the game. In the end, he was harshly scolded by his master.
But, do you still think I am the same Qin Mo of back then?
Getting up, Qin Mo walked towards the stage, his lips curved in an imperceptible smile.
***
The match ended very quickly, surprising the audience.
In the first game, Qin Mo chose Mingzhou Arena, an obstacle-free map. Most had originally assumed that Qin Mo’s hand speed wasn’t as fast as Jing Yang, and that he had no way to compete against a younger player with sharp fighting skills. However, the results proved that Qin Mo’s field control was absurdly strong. After grabbing the first move by using a Heaven Sun combo to silence Jing Yang, Qin Mo used normal attacks to inflict deceleration, then used qinggong to pull apart the distance, repeating the cycle of using normal attacks to slow down and control the field. Jing Yang was almost driven crazy by Qin Mo’s field control skills, allowing Qin Mo to win the game neatly.
The second game gave Jing Yang the opportunity to select his home map. As a strong damage-dealing player with a very aggressive style, Jing Yang also disliked tricky maps, decisively selecting Mingzhou Square. Thus, the second game was also an unobstructed confrontation between players. Although Jing Yang grabbed the first initiative, using his double swords to continuously deal heavy damage to Qin Mo and blasting Ink Mark’s health down to 50% in one breath, Qin Mo took the opportunity to stun him with ‘Sword Rain Fragrance, before closing the blood volume gap with a series of control skills. Both sides fought each other fiercely, falling into residual blood in just a minute. In the end, Qin Mo was the first to open his big move, wiping out Jing Yang’s blood in seconds and earning another victory in the second game.
The score displayed on the big screen became 2:0. Due to the fast pace of the two melee players, the match ended neatly without much commentary from the hosts…
Looking at the 2:0 score at the big screen, Cheng Wei was somewhat stunned.
“What does god Wei think?” Ye Chao asked.
Returning to his senses, Cheng Wei scratched his head. “It finished so soon? Why does this seem different from the Qin Mo that I remember? Is this man really Qin Mo?”
“Your impression of him is of the him from three years ago. God Mo has really changed a lot since his return,” Ye Chao laughed.
“Indeed,” Cheng Wei agreed. “The fight was calm yet violent. Before I even realised it, he won two games in a row….”
This sentence was also what many members of the audience wanted to say!
Seeing this, Ye Chao felt particularly gratified. He was a veteran commentator who spent several years in the esports circle. In recent years, the esports circle had changed a lot; many experts had left, and many new players had entered. Old players had long since been replaced, and many retired players were no longer mentioned. However, Ye Chao, who had always been poisonous, was in fact biased towards Qin Mo. He always felt that the teenager who straightened his back proudly and held back tears to say ‘I’m sorry’ to the reporters was proud and fearless, and that even if he left temporarily, he would one day make his return.
Now, Qin Mo had actually returned, and the change was frightening. Ye Chao selfishly hoped that he could achieve the dream he once failed to reach, and win the championship of this individual competition.
In this match to determine the top eight players, over 80% of the audience supported Qin Mo’s victory. Obviously, many people also felt that even if the newcomer Jing Yang was very talented, it was extremely difficult to defeat a veteran player like Qin Mo, who had experience fighting in the world championship.
The results also proved that Qin Mo not only made no mistakes, but also gave Jing Yang no chance to achieve any unexpected results.
After the match ended, Qin Mo stood up and shook hands with Jing Yang. The teenager was very polite, his gaze bright and clear. “Congratulations, god Mo.”
“Thank you.” Qin Mo was quite fond of such a good seedling. After shaking hands with him, Qin Mo walked off the stage.
The reporter immediately came up to him, holding out a microphone. “God Mo, congratulations on entering the top eight! The commentator invited by the alliance today seems to know a lot about you?”
“En,” Qin Mo replied. “We met before in the Miracle League.”
“He exposed your black history to the audience, are you angry about this?” The reporter asked.
Qin Mo replied, “Many people know this black history, I have no need to be angry.”
“So, did you really lose the match to Cheng Wei because you suffered from an unprecedented blow?” The reporter laughed.
“En,” Qin Mo replied lightly.
There were no faults to be found in such a calm attitude. Being able to mention this black history while staying calm showed that Qin Mo had really let go of these past events.
After all, those things had only happened in the past, and the him now would never do such a stupid thing again. Today, he won two games cleanly, and the audience also realised that Qin Mo continued surprising them every game—— against Xu Sizhe, he broke out a wave of damage in seconds to set a record for the shortest match of the professional league, while using the wicked sneak attacks against Qiu Zongping. Now, when faced against a radical melee player, he dealt another wave of damage in a short period of time, but combined it with his strong field control skills, allowing the audience to witness the elegant style of this generation’s gods.
Ye Chao was right, he was no longer Qin Xiaomo; he was god Mo!
AHHAHAHHAHAH OMG WE GET TO SEE CHENG WEI AGAIN!!!!! UwU Cheng Wei was always one of my favourite characters in GLS and he gets to appear in TKA now~ hehe, he’s still as silly as a I remembered, setting up flags for everyone~ Momo and Xiao Han wondering about their fans reconciliation compared to back then is also vv cute la~ after all, no matter how much i dislike someone, as long as my favourite likes them with valid reason, who am i to hate on them still ah?
I loved this chapter with Cheng Wei and Chu Jianxin’s master-pls-stop-ur-poisonous-milk! Thank you for this chapter!
Lol, Cheng Wei is still the same as ever, it’s a pity there’s no Tan Shitian here~
+1 for fans r econciliation 😍
Poor Chu Jianxin, lost because of his master poisonous milk 😂
yeah ikr no shitian, i am sad qwqwqwq i wanna say Cheng Wei and Shitian’s dynamics again!! bickering couple so cute so cute ah!! (also my dumbass just realised why hes called Tenday in game omg i am so dumb can i even be called chinese lol) hehe thank u oyen-sama!
Thanks for the update!!!
You’re welcome~
Didn’t expect Cheng Wei to appear~ and even as a guest commentator… Poor Chu Jianxin!~ Having such an unreliable master~ Cheng Wei is still as silly as ever~ I wonder will Captain Tan (forgot his name 😳) also appear in one of the chapters? I hope so~
Qin Mo showed Cheng Wei that he can’t be underestimated anymore!~ Haha, how stunned Cheng Wei was from that~ Qin Mo changed too much in these three years!~ He seems more like an adult than Cheng Wei haha~
Thank you for the chapter! ◟(๑•͈ᴗ•͈)◞❤️
Cheng Wei needs a nanny not an apprentice lol, he is so silly 🤣 I also hope Tan Shitian appears~
Lol, it’s alright, Cheng Wei is fine as the way he is now, no need to change~
And Qin Mo, he is really fierce now 😆
You’re welcome~ ❤
Right!~ Cheng Wei is cute like that~
I suddenly reached the last chapter translated without realizing 😭
Many thanks for the chapter 💕
Ah, getting caught up to the latest chapter and then no moree, i feel you 😂
You’re welcome~ 💕
ah the cheng wei cameo ft. his crow’s mouth. Captain Tan please take him home. xD
Tan Shitian, I am waiting for you to reappear!!! And get Cheng Wei away now hahahahahaha but I miss this Cheng Wei though ❤ I wish to see Su Guangmo, Yu Pingsheng, Lou Wushuang, and Zhang Shaohui. I also even want to see the Cheetah Team, the rookie Xu Anran and his captain ❤
i can actually imagine the officials sending the invitation for being a commentator to tan shitian, but then cheng wei was the one who opened the invitation and insisted on going. because theres no way the officials would invite cheng wei as a guess commentator, unless they are insane lmao he’s just simply unreliable then and especially now. tan shitian, go fetch your silly wife now. he’s on the loose!!
I love and find it funny how author always makes them sound so old, experienced and with with long pasts when they in actuality only 20 or 21.. I know they supposed to retire early as gamers but it always makes me laugh cuz they kinda babies still lol
Or maybe im just too old now. Scary
Thanks for the chapter