translator: Ciel
The next morning, Qin Mo was collecting laundry from the balcony when he saw a familiar car park downstairs. A moment later, Zhu Qingyue exited the car, waving to the man in the driver’s seat. Although the driver never showed his face, Qin Mo was very clear about his identity—— it was Chu Yan.
Since he returned early in the morning by car, it was obvious that Zhu Qingyue hadn’t stayed in the club, but instead went to Chu Yan’s place for the night.
This was the third time Qin Mo had witnessed Chu Yan sending Zhu Qingyue back. Every time he stood on the balcony or by the window, he would see gossip-worthy news, which was really quite magical.
The first time he saw Chu Yan kissing Zhu Qingyue in the car, Qin Mo had been indescribably shocked, but after seeing it a few more times, Qin Mo had become numb to the sight.
Returning to his room, Qin Mo calmly pretended to see nothing.
***
When he arrived after breakfast, all the team members had already gathered in the training room. The partner competition would officially start in a week’s time, so everyone consciously paid extra attention to their training.
Zhu Qingyue and He Beiguang went to the online game arena to practice their cooperation. Out of ten games, they lost four.
Ashamed, He Beiguang sent a private chat message. “God Qingyue, I’m sorry for dragging you down. My output is too weak, and I can’t kill people at all.”
Xiao He had been under a lot of pressure the past few days, because their results in the pair arena weren’t ideal, and they often lost to the small accounts who came from god knows where.
However, Xiao He couldn’t entirely be blamed for their loss. He was built into a ‘team blood cow’ by Qin Mo, and took a defensive style of play. In addition, Kuangdao Gate’s broadsword flow had very few output skills, making it normal for He Beiguang to be unable to kill others. Zhu Qingyue was also an auxiliary with no output skills, causing their combined output to rank last among the whole of Mojue.
Seeing the private chat sent by He Beiguang, Zhu Qingyue immediately replied: “You don’t have to blame yourself. Come to my dormitory during the lunch break, and we’ll have a good chat.”
He Beiguang agreed: “Alright!”
After the training in the morning, He Beiguang looked through the compiled statistics of their battles today—— the both of them had played hundreds of games in total, and had a win rate of about 65%. Although the opponent’s identities were unknown, most of the people who played doubles during this period were small accounts operated by the professional players of the other major teams. Except for the characteristic combinations of the double summoners or the guqin and flute ensemble, it was difficult to distinguish the others.
As there were many other players among these hundreds of battles, a win rate of 65% really wasn’t high.
After lunch, He Beiguang wore an expression of shame as he went to Zhu Qingyue’s room, lowering his head and preparing himself to be put through training.
However, he was fated to be surprised. Great god Qingyue had no intentions of teaching him, and instead welcomed him with a warm smile. “Take a seat,” Zhu Qingyue gestured at the sofa. “We’ll be having a chat. I’ll pour you a cup of tea; what sort do you prefer?”
Flattered, He Beiguang immediately waved his hands. “No no no, I don’t drink tea!”
Zhu Qingyue poured him a cup of water instead. “Then, have a glass of water.”
Because the other person was so polite, He Beiguang felt even more embarrassed, and scratched the back of his head awkwardly. “Great god Qingyue, how about… making a suggestion to captain Qin, to switch me for Pei Yu?”
Zhu Qingyue smiled. “No need. Qin Mo naturally has his own intentions for pairing the both of us together.”
He Beiguang was startled. “What are his intentions?”
Zhu Qingyue sat next to him, and took a sip of water. “In fact, Qin Mo originally planned to send you and Liu Hong as a team, while I would be paired with Pei Yu for the partners competition. In that situation, you could protect Liu Hong and allow her to output, while I could assist Pei Yu to remotely control the field. Both of these combinations have a chance of winning. However, after the individual competition, Qin Mo changed his plans, switching both Pei Yu and yourself. He did so with good intentions,” Zhu Qingyue explained warmly.
He Beiguang was confused. “I’m not sure I understand…”
“Qin Mo is our captain,” Zhu Qingyue explained. “He considers things not from the perspective of a single person’s victory or winning a single game, and instead considers our overall situation and the team’s long-term interests. This individual competition has allowed him to realise that the hidden strength of the other teams will definitely exceed our expectations. In addition, Twin Stars will be targeted by the other teams, and in the second half of the year, during the team battles, the pressure on Mojue will be very great. Therefore, he wants to send everyone to the field in advance, and start training for the team battles.”
Seeing He Beiguang listening attentively, Zhu Qingyue paused for a few moments. “Do you still remember Qin Mo and Xiao Han’s match in the finals? They switched four secret books in four games.”
He Beiguang nodded. “Of course I remember!”
“In fact, the secret book skills are the most worth studying, and we have only just brushed the tip of the iceberg,” Zhu Qingyue explained. “In a team battle, the secret book system will be even more complex and changeable. The reason he switched you and Pei Yu, allowing you and I to participate in the partner competition together, is not because he hopes for us to qualify and win points. Instead, he wants to hone our cooperation in advance, to prepare for the team battles.”
He Beiguang suddenly understood. “So it was like this!”
Because of their 24 points from the individual competition, Mojue was currently far ahead of the other teams. In the partners competition, if Qin Mo sent the combinations of Liu Hong + He Beiguang, as well as Zhu Qingyue + Pei Yu, perhaps the possibility of qualifying would be greater. Still, it was only an increase, and wasn’t a guarantee. Thus, Qin Mo made the decision to set aside qualifying, and instead placed Zhu Qingyue and He Beiguang together to train their cooperation and tactics.
With the blood cow’s strong defense, as well as the auxiliary’s assistance, the two could form an ‘invincible blood cow’ formation to ensure maximum survivability while testing out various secret books.
Finally seeing the light, He Beiguang patted his own head to show his understanding. “The captain is really far-sighted; we’re only at the partners competition, but he’s already considered the team battles in the later half of the year?!”
Zhu Qingyue smiled. “Qin Mo does have his own plans. His goal has always been the team championship at the end of the year, and not an individual event.”
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.
“Did captain Qin tell you this?” He Beiguang wondered.
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“I understand, I’ll listen to great god Qingyue!” He Beiguang nodded vigorously.
***
After being reassured by Qingyue, He Beiguang felt much better, and was more energetic during that afternoon’s training session.
Realising that Xiao He was in good spirits today, Qin Mo inferred that Qingyue had explained matters to him. Still, he said nothing, continuing to fight against the team members in the arena with Xiao Han.
In the Mojue team, the combination of Qin Mo and Xiao Han were invincible. Regardless of whether it was Li Muran and Shen He, Liu Hong and Pei Yu, or Qingyue and Xiao He, all were soundly trounced in the arena. If they played five games, they would lose five games, causing everyone to joke: “Our daily routine is to attack the BOSS, Twin Stars, in the afternoon”—— although the BOSS hadn’t been killed, everyone’s levels had improved by leaps and bounds.
In the blink of an eye, Mojue was once again brought to Beijing by Liu Xiang.
The partner competition would be held at the venue previously used to host the individual competition, and the hotel was also unchanged. Everyone was already familiar with the hotel. As Mojue had nine members, Liu Hong would definitely be living with her sister, Liu Xiang, and He Beiguang would live with Pei Yu. Thus, Zhu Qingyue was once again living in a single room, just like the team’s dormitory arrangements.
Zhu Qingyue liked peace and quiet, and was thus very agreeable to Liu Xiang’s proposal. After returning to his hotel room, he turned on his laptop to look up information online.
While browsing the web, the doorbell suddenly rang. Opening the door, Zhu Qingyue was greeted by a familiar yet unfamiliar face—— the man looked very young; while his appearance wasn’t especially handsome, he had a tough temperament, and his dark-coloured eyes were bright. The short-sleeved shirt that he wore was tucked into the belt around his waist, outlining a slender and symmetrical figure. At the moment, those dark eyes were fixed on Zhu Qingyue, and had a complicated look.
Zhu Qingyue was stunned for a little while, but smiled. “Senior brother, is there a reason you came looking for me?”
Luo Yuan’s gaze flicked to the room’s interior. “You live alone?”
“I have always liked quiet, and live alone even at the team’s dormitory,” Zhu Qingyue replied. “Would you like to come in?”
Nodding, Luo Yuan entered the room and took a seat.
Zhu Qingyue automatically poured him a glass of water, yet Luo Yuan made no moves to pick it up. Instead, his dark eyes were constantly fixed on Zhu Qingyue, who felt his skin crawl. Coughing, he pushed the conversation forward. “Does senior brother have something to say?”
After a long time, Luo Yuan finally spoke. “When I left Pure Cleaning back then, I didn’t think I’d be able to meet you again, and didn’t expect that… our next meeting, would actually be like this.”
His voice carried clear tones of loss. Knowing what his senior brother was trying to say, Zhu Qingyue could only stay silent.
“Pure Cleansing has been disbanded, master has retired, and the two of us martial brothers—— one is the captain of Whisper, and the other is an assistant in Mojue, and have to meet on the battlefield,” Luo Yuan whispered lowly. “Qingyue, don’t you feel uncomfortable?”
Sighing, Zhu Qingyue put up a smile. “Regarding the matters of Pure Cleaning, it was because I was incapable as its captain. But those are matters of the past, and we cannot live in the past forever. Don’t you agree, senior brother?”
Luo Yuan frowned. “Is there no room for recovery? If you are willing to join Whisper, I can give you the same conditions as Mojue currently does.”
“Senior brother, I will not leave Mojue.” Zhu Qingyue interrupted him.
Luo Yuan’s frown tightened. Realising his failure, he was silent for a few moments, before abruptly changing the topic. “Pretend I never said that. Still, you should understand group A’s situation very well. As long as the pair of Chen Jiang and He Yue don’t make any large mistakes, they will surely qualify for the next round. Thus, the remaining spot will either be mine or yours.”
“I understand,” Zhu Qingyue nodded.
Luo Yuan stood. “I won’t show you any mercy,” he stated calmly.
Zhu Qingyue’s reply was firm. “Me neither.”
The two people looked at each other. Zhu Qingyue’s gaze was as gentle as always, carrying the slightest hint of a smile. Staring at his junior brother with a complicated expression, Luo Yuan turned and left the room sullenly.
Seeing him off, Zhu Qingyue couldn’t help sighing in his heart—— he knew the reason why Luo Yuan was angry. In fact, Luo Yuan did not understand why his junior brother would refuse to join his team. The Whisper team was established under Chu Yan’s guidance, and according to reason, Zhu Qingyue ought to return to his master. However, Zhu Qingyue had his own difficulties that he couldn’t speak aloud; thus, the rift between the two was bound to grow deeper.
Luo Yuan came to him before the competition to declare war in person.
When it came to Luo Yuan, Zhu Qingyue could offer no guarantees, because until now, he was still unaware of what sort of person his senior brother’s partner, Wei Guanghua, was.
He had a particularly bad feeling about this——
Perhaps, the Whisper team did not only have the black umbrella twins. Wei Guanghua, who had not participated in the individual competition, might be the ace up Luo Yuan’s sleeve.
At around 7:00pm, the league sent everyone the schedule for tomorrow’s games.
Group A would be the first ones on stage. Zhu Qingyue and He Beiguang would face ‘Gusu Trip’ and ‘Swaying Moon Shadow’ from Graceful Beauty. They would meet the weaker pair instead of his senior brother on the first day of the competition, which gave Zhu Qingyue a little bit of comfort. Still, he was very clear that even if these two people were not of a high level, he could not get complacent, and still needed to properly prepare for the match.
Zhu Qingyue called He Beiguang to his room. Only after careful discussion about their tactics for tomorrow could he relax, and have a peaceful rest.
The next day dawned bright and early; Mojue’s entire team went to the competition venue together. Group A’s first match would begin at 9:30am, so for now, Ye Chao and Liang Ru were introducing both sides on the live broadcast.
“The first match from group A will be between Mojue and Graceful Beauty,” Ye Chao introduced. “Mojue’s ‘Bright Moon Clear Sky’ is played by Zhu Qingyue, nicknamed ‘little crying bag’. He is the successor of the world-class support Chu Yan, and was Pure Cleansing’s captain for many years.”
“Many people were greatly upset at Zhu Qingyue’s retirement. Today, he has joined Mojue for a fresh start,” Liang Ru smiled. “It is indeed a joyous occasion for his fans.”
“Today will also be his first official game in this professional league,” Ye Chao nodded. “We look forward to his performance.”
Pulling out the profiles of the four players, Liang Ru remarked, “What’s interesting is that in today’s first match, both sides are from the same sects, Tingyu Tower and Kuangdao Gate.”
“However, Graceful Beauty’s player from Kuangdao Gate plays the double swords flow, which is a melee assassin.” Ye Chao pointed out. “On the other hand, Mojue’s player from Kuangdao Gate is a broadsword flow tank.”
“Objectively speaking, Graceful Beauty’s choice of professions ought to dominate,” Liang Ru concluded. “The assassin’s double swords deals more damage than the meat shield.”
“But in the face of an absolute level advantage, advantages from professions can just be ignored,” Ye Chao unceremoniously added.
Liang Ru: “…”
So, what he meant was that Zhu Qingyue’s level could crush the opponent’s support, and even with an advantage in terms of professions, Graceful Beauty would still be unable to defeat the combination of Zhu Qingyue and a blood cow.
It was somewhat of an arbitrary guess, but Qin Mo, who was seated backstage, agreed with Ye Chao’s evaluation.
With Qingyue personally taking the field, this battle was as good as won.
***
The match started at 9:30am.
Both sides sat in soundproof booths. However, the team voice channels were open, allowing partners to communicate during battle.
The selection of maps was still done by a lottery. Having drawn the highest number, Zhu Qingyue received the first map pick, and quickly submitted his choice—— Ancient Desert City.
This map was of an ancient-style city in the middle of the desert, and did not have a complicated terrain.
As soon as the match began, Zhu Qingyue and He Beiguang rushed to the middle of the map. Just as they were about to meet, Zhu Qingyue marked a hint on the map. He Beiguang responded immediately, jumping on top of a nearby roof, leaving Zhu Qingyue alone on the road.
When Graceful Beauty’s two members walked over, they were greeted by the sight of the auxiliary standing alone in the middle of the road, a white umbrella in hand. The other player was nowhere in sight.
Both opposing players reacted a second late, only to see Bright Moon Clear Sky toss the umbrella in his hands, spinning around the opposing assistant, Swaying Moon Shadow!
—— Tingyu Tower’s skill, allowing the user to throw the white umbrella at a single designated target, weakening them. For every round the umbrella spins, a layer of weakness is added, up to a maximum of three layers.
Zhu Qingyue’s reflexes were just too quick. The umbrella spins were completed in an instant, and the opposing assistant was inflicted with three layers of weakness, instantly reducing their defense to a third of its original value.
Being weakened was a terrifying matter. Realising the danger, the opposing assistant turned to run away, but the moment he turned around, a fiery figure with a large broadsword came crashing down from the skies, greeting him with the big move ‘Splitting Mountains’!
This was one of Kuangdao Gate broadsword flow’s few attack skills. The broadsword smashed into the opponent’s face like Tarzan, seemingly domineering, but in fact, did not deal much damage—— with this attack by Northern Lights, the most it would do is take away 10% of the opponent’s health. After all, players of the broadsword flow did not rely on output to earn their meals.
However, with the three layers of weakness, Northern Light’s blow dealt twice the damage, taking away 20% of the opponent’s blood volume!
The audience was amazed. They had originally thought that the combination of the blood cow and the auxiliary was unfeasible, but many had ignored Zhu Qingyue’s key ability to inflict weakness states on his opponents, which could make up for the lack of output.
After connecting the attack, He Beiguang immediately turned around, using the skill ‘Bloody Scent’—— under the eyes of the audience, Graceful Beauty’s double sword assassin ‘Gusu Trip’ teleported towards Zhu Qingyue, wanting to dispose of this extremely threatening assistant. As a result, He Beiguang released the skill ‘Bloody Scent’, forcibly attracting all the damage within his specified range—— and the critical damage dealt by the assassin landed on the thick-skinned meat shield.
He Beiguang, a blood cow with over 100,000 points of blood volume, was hit by this critical attack that didn’t hurt in the slightest…
The protected Zhu Qingyue was completely unharmed, and stood behind him to read a skill.
—— White Umbrella Array!
The attack and defense attributes of all team members were increased.
He Beiguang was originally a super blood cow. Now, with the boost from this umbrella array, he was completely immovable.
Even if the double sword flow assassin landed critical attacks, they would be absorbed by the blood cow, and result in little to no effect. On the other hand, He Beiguang was constantly chasing the opposing assistant, hacking and slashing all the way. Although he could only rely on basic attacks while his skills were on cooldown, his constant interference prevented the opposing side from successfully casting a large array.
The key point of this game were the skills used by Zhu Qingyue at the beginning, which immediately gave them a crushing advantage, allowing them to completely control the rhythm of the game!
Swaying Moon Shadow hadn’t realised the fear of being controlled by the opposing auxiliary until this moment.
—— Cyan Rain Curtain!
An invincibility array easily resolved the assassin’s big move and critical damage!
——Silk Umbrella Array! Umbrella Spin!
Both people teleported behind their opponents, and the umbrella spun in circles, instantly weakening the opponent. At the same time, He Beiguang’s output skill ‘Splitting Mountains’ had just finished its cooldown. Coupled with a few basic attacks, the opposing auxiliary had his blood volume reduced to 30%!
At this time, Zhu Qingyue finally opened his secret book skill!
—— Bright Moon Clear Sky has killed Swaying Moon Shadow!
The moment the system prompt appeared, the audience was shocked, unable to believe their eyes. An auxiliary could also kill people?!
Ye Chao quickly offered an explanation. “The secret book skill used by Qingyue is named ‘River Sunset’, and has a rather complicated description—— mainly, it causes a lot of damage to a specific target. If the target’s blood volume is less than 30%, there is a possibility of triggering the instant death effect. However, if the target is weakened, and has a blood volume of less than 30%, the instant death effect will be triggered.
The instant death effect meant ‘immediate death’, but because there were multiple prerequisites to trigger this effect, this secret book was only powerful at certain moments.
Zhu Qingyue had dug up this secret book from the library in their training last week, and held a discussion with He Beiguang about possible tactics. He realised that this secret book was actually very useful for them—— with He Beiguang’s protection in the front row, Zhu Qingyue could stand behind him and cast his skills without worry. He Beiguang would then slowly grind their opponent’s blood volume to about 30%, after which Zhu Qingyue could inflict the weakness state, allowing them to trigger the secret book’s instant death effect to kill the opponent.
This was their tactics of consuming first, and killing the opponent later.
***
Although the opposing team only lost an auxiliary, and the assassin remained alive, it was still extremely difficult to kill Zhu Qingyue.
After finally saving up a set of big moves, the assassin wanted to close in and hit Zhu Qingyue hard, only for He Beiguang to use ‘Bloody Scent’ to take the damage, wasting the critical strikes on the blood cow. And when he saved another wave of skills for Zhu Qingyue, a simple umbrella spin from the world-class assistant stacked three layers of weakness on him, causing the opportunity to wither in an instant
The audience greatly sympathised with Graceful Beauty’s assassin. Obviously, he was a sharp output, but because he met the ultimate blood cow of Mojue, all his attacks were about as effective as punching cotton.
He Beiguang and Zhu Qingyue cooperated well, protecting each other. He Beiguang absorbed a wave of damage in the front row, while Zhu Qingyue stood behind him, casting arrays in peace. In this manner, the opposing assassin was… slowly grinded to death.
—— Northern Lights has killed Gusu Trip!
As the system prompt appeared, the audience couldn’t help but give the players a warm round of applause..
What was a god-level assistant?
Dragging the rhythm until the opponent collapsed, fighting back until the opponent cried, always creating the most useful array at the most appropriate time, protecting his teammates and himself, and finally, leading the team to victory.
These were the true abilities of a god-level assistant!
Zhu Qingyue showed his sharp edge at the beginning of the game, earning them a crushing victory by fully controlling the rhythm of the game from beginning to end.
Holding a white umbrella embroidered with elegant orchids, Bright Moon Clear Sky was a far cry from players of the other sects, who only know fighting and killing—— he was the perfect image of a scholar from the game. With the elegant and gentle temperament of his controller, he didn’t seem to be threatening in the slightest.
However, in this match, the opponent and the audience both experienced the crippling fear of being controlled by an auxiliary—— every step was a trap, and all attacks were easily resolved by the other side. There was no way to attack, no way to defend, and they could only be slowly grinded to death.
“Zhu Qingyue is worthy of being called a world-class assistant,” Ye Chao praised. “This game can be used as a teaching video for auxiliary players, and those who like to play this profession can study this game thoroughly. The key lay in his use of the weakness skill, ‘Umbrella Spin’, which is the most basic auxiliary skill, but also the best and the most useful.”
“The secret book he chose was also very suitable,” Liang Ru added. “The trigger conditions of ‘River Sunset’ are harsh, and it can pretty much only be used when there is an auxiliary around. Obviously, he has done his research, and understands the secret books.”
“After all, he was a captain himself,” Ye Chao summarised.
Mojue did not just have Twin Stars; they also had Zhu Qingyue, who was once the captain of his own team, and his consciousness was not worse than Qin Mo’s.
Ye Chao’s statement could be regarded as the greatest affirmation of Zhu Qingyue’s skills.
In the VIP room, Chu Yan’s lips into a smile—— it was a show worthy of his beloved apprentice. He was as gentle as water, yet before him, even the strongest killing tactics could be regarded as invisible.
Although he was no longer a captain, his elegant demeanour had not changed!
Haha, Qingyue finally gets his chance to shine!! He’s… really op la, being able to suppress the enemy so much since the very beginning and using such a niche book to go on.
Though, isn’t a win rate of 65% really talented? I mean, in MOBA games, for me, being able to maintain a win rate of 65%+ is already super good!
QwQ apparently my comment for last chapter never registered;;;;; and I was wondering why I didn’t get a reply qwq,,,, thank you for this cutie chapter!
Agreed, he can kill his enemy with secret book, so op >_<
Lol, in MOBA its even hard for me to maintain 50% win rate 😂
Q_Q, I also don’t know why the comment didn’t appear.. You’re welcome~ 💕
Zhu Qingyue gets the spotlight but I want to compliment the little guy he partnered with. Good timing with the damage absorption skill as well as making sure he’s within range to make it work. With so many tactician in mojue I suspect the younger ones will all be very accomplished by the time it’s time to pass the torch of the team to them (obviously not for a while but for the future we won’t get to read about).
+1, they also have a good tacit cooperation >_<And the team will surely go on in the future after the novel finishes ❤
Ohh forget to comment… 😅 Thank you for the chapter~! 💜💜💜
🤣🤣🤣
You’re welcome~ 💕
Ahhh so that’s why the pairs changed. Since it wasn’t addressed at first, I thought that the author had just forgotten 😂
Lol me too, i think the earlier chapter is wrong 🤣 so they really change the partener