translator: Oyen editor: Ciel
Sitting in the backstage lounge, Shen He watched the next match carefully. Group E’s second match was between assassin Li Dongqing and healer Zhou Xuewei of Sky team, and summoner Xu Sizhe with assassin Tan Xi of Graceful Beauty. Looking at their professions, Graceful Beauty’s assassin + field control ought to have an advantage, but to Shen He’s surprise, Zhou Xuewei and Li Dongqing actually won the match 2:0.
Li Dongqing was a newbie personally trained by Qiu Zongping, the captain of Sky team, while Zhou Xuewei won the newbie award the same year she was discovered by Qin Mo, three years ago. After years of training, Zhou Xuewei had developed the elegant demeanor of a healer, and was extremely calm during the game, capable of delivering first aid at critical moments. This completely overturned Xu Sizhe’s intention to control the field and kill the healer, gradually tipping the situation to favour her side.She was worthy of being the Sky team’s vice captain. Although she usually kept a low profile, she was the most reliable backing for her teammates on the field.
Seeing this, Qin Mo felt very pleased. Zhou Xuewei’s personality was strong and proud; since she refused to tell anyone that she was Qin Mo’s sister, Qin Mo would certainly not take the initiative to disclose their relationship. Still, Xuewei’s speed of growth was beyond his expectations. The her of today could be compared with Liu Xiang, the top milk god of that year. Looking forward, with such a god-level healer in the Sky team, team battles would definitely be quite a difficult challenge. Shen He and Li Muran would also meet them in the next match, and to win was certainly not easy.
Thinking of this, Qin Mo couldn’t help asking, “Muran, what have you gained after watching this match?”
“Zhou Xuewei deliberately held on to Xu Sizhe, letting Li Dongqing fight his opponent. From the very beginning, she gave Xu Sizhe a round.”
Qin Mo felt admiration upon hearing his answer—— it was the same in the reporter’s interview with Li Muran just now. The teenager could always explain the key points in a concise and comprehensive manner. Although this teenager was usually silent and expressionless, seemingly difficult to get along with, he had an extremely keen insight of the battle situation.
Compared with Shen He’s lively manner, Li Muran’s calmness was extraordinary. Suddenly, Qin Mo felt that it had been the wisest decision to arrange them together.
Looking back at Li Muran, Qin Mo asked again. “If it had been you, how would you resolve this situation?”
“Perhaps we could bypass the healer and forcefully kill the opposing assassin,” Li Muran replied.
“In a situation where Zhou Xuewei is adding blood, can her teammate be killed?” Qin Mo continued to question.
Li Muran paused for a few moments, collecting his thoughts. “The combined output of Xu Sizhe and Tan Xi will place a lot of pressure on the healer. Controlling the healer at a critical moment will lead to an opportunity to kill the opponent.”
The appreciation in Qin Mo’s gaze was more obvious, but he didn’t offer the teenager any praise, instead turning to face Shen He. “Shen He, what do you think?”
Scratching his head, Shen He agreed. “What brother Ran said is very reasonable!”
Qin Mo: “…”
Forget it, the little monkey wasn’t scheming by nature, and his mind was simple. Trying to teach him tactics would require too much effort.
Qin Mo wanted to train Shen He to control the field. For that, he needed Shen He to have a broad vision and make correct judgments at the critical moment. However, he couldn’t force Shen He to become a tactical god, simply because Shen He didn’t have such a talent—— but Li Muran’s comprehension ability far exceeded Qin Mo’s expectations.
How about they try a different method? Perhaps Li Muran could think about the tactical layout, while Shen He executed his ideas?
Making up his mind, Qin Mo instructed them both. “Muran, you will take command in tomorrow’s match. Shen He will listen to your arrangements.
Both teenagers were surprised to hear this, but Qin Mo didn’t give them any time to ask questions. “Xiao Han and I will play next, so watch carefully. Shen He, look for the highlights and mistakes in every player’s operations. Muran will analyse the tactical layout of both sides.”
Although Li Muran was surprised, he didn’t show it, nodding his head and offering a calm reply. “Yes, captain.”
Shen He was stunned, and responded only when met with his master’s gaze. “I understand!”
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.
The next group’s match would begin soon, Qin Mo and Xiao Han walked onto the big stage together.
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Xiao Han also admired Qin Mo’s sharp vision—— no wonder the five people he trained back in Wind Colour were now first-class players in their own right. He was really good at developing newcomers’ potentials.
Mojue does not need to switch captains for now, but that day will come sooner or later. It is a wise idea for Qin Mo to train a tactical successor in advance.
As they arrived on stage, the two happened to see Lin Shuangcheng and Song Changdong walking in, one after another.
They had been very lucky in terms of the group list for this partner competition. In group F, apart from the pair of Lin Song, the other two pairs were newcomers from Interlude and National Grace. For Qin Mo and Xiao Han to qualify would not be problem; what Qin Mo was worried about was whether they could qualify as first in the group—— if they wanted to qualify as first place, they had to win against the Lin Song combination.
Walking onto the middle of the stage, Qin Mo shook hands with Lin Shuangcheng. “Have you already recovered?” he questioned casually.
“If I am still sick, will you show mercy?” Lin Shuangcheng questioned.
Qin Mo’s reply was immediate. “No.”
Lin Shuangcheng smiled. “I knew it. So, you don’t have to be courteous with me, Xiao Mo. Let me witness the might of Twin Stars joining hands. I am honoured to be your first opponent.”
“Then, wait to be abused by us,” Xiao Han replied coldly.
Lin Shuangcheng leaned, whispering in Xiao Han’s ear. “God Han, your hostility towards me seems to be filled with a hint of sourness?”
Xiao Han frowned. “Xiao Mo is not a name you can use. He’s older than you by half a year; don’t be presumptuous!”
Lin Shuangcheng’s laugh was particularly gleeful. “Alright, alright, I won’t address him by your exclusive title—— Xiao Song.”
Song Changdong, who had just been called, looked at his captain doubtfully. “Captain?”
“Prepare for the match,” Lin Shuangcheng replied.
The smile slid from his face. With a serious expression, Lin Shuangcheng brought Song Changdong to the soundproof booths.
On the live broadcast, Ye Chao had an expression of having just watched a good play. “Earlier, when the four players were shaking hands in the middle of the stage, captain Lin leaned in and whispered something in Xiao Han’s ear. I don’t know what it is, but it feels like it could be gossip.”
Liang Ru coughed. “Only they themselves know was said.”
“Alright, back to the topic,” Ye Chao sighed helplessly. “This is a match between masters. Lin Shuangcheng and Song Changdong’s combination of long and short swords are from the same sect. In particular, Lin Shuangcheng’s weapon is ‘Red Heaven’, a strikingly red short sword made of fire-attribute materials, and adds to basic attack and critical strike. Meanwhile, Song Changdong’s weapon is ‘Meteor Sword’, an icy blue longsword, and has the additional attribute of extending control time.”
“With one red and one blue weapon, it feels rather harmonious,” Liang Ru commented.
“I believe the audience is already familiar with Qin Mo’s and Xiao Han’s weapons,” Ye Chao continued. “The former has a deceleration effect, while the latter adds to critical strike. Qin Mo is in the pure white robes of Hanhua sect’s swordsman, while god Han is in the black robes of Yongye City’s assassins. When standing together, the image of one black and one white figure is also quite harmonious. Still, special attention needs to be paid to god Han’s set of equipment. All of them have a line of text that reads—— created by Ink Mark.”
“All his equipment was made by god Mo. Is this an open show of affection?” Liang Ru joked.
“Shh, don’t jump to random conclusions,” Ye Chao faux-cautioned. “Aren’t you worried about god Han using Thousand Lights Ghost Walk on you?!”
Liang Ru immediately made a zipping motion over her mouth. “The match will begin soon. Let us turn our attention to the stage!”
Both commentators were casually joking around, but didn’t expect that they would actually guess the truth—— the reason Xiao Han wore equipment made by Qin Mo everywhere was to prove that to him, Qin Mo was his one and only.
After the match started, Qin Mo and Lin Shuangcheng rolled the dice. Having rolled 88 points, a single point higher than Lin Shuangcheng, Qin Mo received priority to select the map.
Qin Mo quickly made his choice—— Mingzhou Arena.
This map was most commonly used to force a head-on confrontation between players. With no obstacles whatsoever, it was a particularly suitable map for close combat.
However, Ye Chao could not understand Qin Mo’s choice. “Both sides are melee fighters, but Xiao Han’s assassin is better at stealth and sneak attacks. If a maze map or an obstacle map was selected, Han Mo would have a stronger advantage… picking Mingzhou Arena is equivalent to throwing away god Han’s advantage as an assassin. Does he want to fight Lin Shuangcheng head-on?”
“It seems like god Mo is very confident in a direct confrontation,” Liang Ru mused.
Watching backstage, Shen He scratched his head. “Why did master select this map?”
Li Muran solved the mystery with a single word. “Teaching.”
Startled, Shen He quickly realised his meaning. “Is it because we lost on Mingzhou Arena, so master chose this map for us to observe and learn?”
Li Muran nodded. “Watch seriously.”
The loss to Chu Jianxin and Sang Jun on Mingzhou Arena was an away game. In other words, Shen He hadn’t known that Chu Jianxin would select this map, and hadn’t known that he would lose so tragically. Qin Mo was even less likely to predict Chu Jianxin’s map in advance—— when everything was added together, Qin Mo’s choice of Mingzhou Arena was a decision made after Shen He lost the map.
Could it be that neither he or Xiao Han selected a special map to deal with Lin Shuangcheng before their game?
Unable to understand, Shen He turned to Li Muran helplessly. “Brother Ran, isn’t it dangerous for master to do this?”
“No,” Li Muran replied calmly.
“But he obviously could have picked a map with a greater advantage for himself?” Shen He questioned doubtfully.
“Twin Stars can cooperate on any map, and can win on any map—— that is your master’s belief,” Li Muran answered.
This one sentence instantly cleared up the fog in Shen He’s mind!
Xiao Song had only been at Sword Song for half a year. Even if Lin Shuangcheng had been training and cultivating him from the beginning, their understanding and cooperation could not compare to that of Twin Stars’!
Qin Mo and Xiao Han were friends from the age of seventeen. Back then, Xiao Han was still a newcomer, and Qin Mo was still Wind Colour’s little prince. They had trained together everyday for so long. The moment Qin Mo lifted his hand, Xiao Han would instantly understand what he wanted to do; the moment Xiao Han turned around, Qin Mo could predict his next move. With their strength, even if they selected a map without a large advantage, could they possibly lose?
He had been unreasonably worried!
Scratching his head, Shen He returned his focus to the live broadcast.
Since becoming the captain and vice-captain of Mojue, Han Mo have practiced together often. Although playing on Mingzhou Arena would greatly reduce the effect of Xiao Han’s ambush tactics, the both of them had long since familiarised themselves with tactics for this map in order to prevent a loss in the situation of a tiebreaker match, or on their opponent’s home map.
The instant the match started, Lin Shuangcheng and Song Changdong ran toward the center of the arena. Xiao Han was nowhere to be seen. In the brief moment Song Changdong hesitated, Qin Mo unexpectedly launched a big move——
Sword Rain Fragrance!
No one expected that he would once again bring the secret book he used the moment, and even use it at the start to boot!
Ever since the finals of the individual match against Xiao Han, where Qin Mo used four secret books in four games, many people gave him the nickname of ‘crazy little secret book demon’. To think that in this partner competition, he would once again return to the secret book he normally used!
‘Sword Rain Fragrance’ caused thousands of sword spirits to descend from the sky, inflicting damage on all enemies and stunning them in place.
This skill knocked off 20% of Lin Song’s blood volume, and both players were left immobilised.
At the same time, Xiao Han released the assassin’s big move—— Thousand Lights Ghost Walk!
The assassin split into eight shadows, four surrounding Lin Shuangcheng and four surrounding Song Changdong, once again suppressing their blood volume!
Following this, Qin Mo once again opened a big move—— Skyward Sword!
The resultant explosion covered the entire screen. In the blink of an eye, their opponents were only left with half their original blood volume.
Everything happened too quickly. Before the audience could react, Qin Mo and Xiao Han’s explosive wave of attacks had left their opponents half dead!
Backstage, Shen He was struck dumb—— his master’s words still rung in his ears. Obviously it was the same Mingzhou Arena, yet the moment he met Chu Jianxin and Sang Jun, he hesitated, and lost the opportunity.
And what did his master do instead?
Without hesitation, he used his secret book skill to control the opponent and grab the initiative, cooperating with god Han’s Thousand Lights Ghost Walk, then using the sect’s big group attack skill…
This was grabbing the initiative.
In the shortest amount of time possible at the beginning of the game, accumulate a huge advantage, so that your opponents can never catch up.
Song Changdong had only hesitated for half a second, just like he himself had hesitated for half a second in the first fight.
But today, Qin Mo used practical actions to tell Shen He—— in a competition, there is no room for hesitation. Sometimes, even half a second could cost you an opportunity to control the field, and give it to the opponent instead.
And once an opportunity was missed, a great price had to be paid to make up for it.
Finally get to see the twin stars playing together 😍~ Qin Mo is a good master and is good at teaching newcomers~! Just like Catgod back then~
Thank you for the chapter! 💕💕💕
and the newcomers love homeworks 🤣
They’re Qin Mo’s obedient children 😏
You’re welcome~ 💕