translator: Ciel
Watching from the backstage lounge, Li Muran felt that he had gained a lot from this match. Only with Qin Mo’s suggestion had he thought about using the secret book ‘Tall Mountains Flowing Waters’ along with the terrain to disturb the opponent, but Zhu Qingyue’s suicide play was completely beyond his expecations. His current level was still far from that of the great tactical gods.
Seeing Li Muran paying close attention to the live broadcast, Qin Mo voiced another question. “The third game will be a randomly-selected map. Analyse the pros and cons of various maps for both teams.”
Seeing that teacher Qin was about to teach Li Muran, Xiao Han and Shen He, who were seated next to them, were wise enough not to interrupt.
Li Muran thought about it for a few moments. “If it’s a flat or ring map, the double whip can forcefully suppress the opponent, which is unfavourable for us; on an air combat map, the opponent has the ability to control the field, which is still not to our favour. A water map will slow the rhythm, but He Beiguang’s output is not enough, and it is still difficult to win; a maze map is similar to a water map, and can only slow down the rhythm…”
“Summarise it in one sentence,” Qin Mo interrupted him.
Startled, Li Muran realised. “If it’s a random map, we have no advantage.”
“And the reason is?” Qin Mo queried.
“Because there is a gap between their professions and output?” Li Muran answered slowly.
“En,” Qin Mo nodded. “Watch the game to verify your conjunctures.”
Li Muran’s mind worked very quickly. The key to Zhu Qingyue’s victory in the second game was the home court advantage, allowing him to select maps and secret books to pit the opponents. However, the random map of the tiebreaker abolished the home court advantage of both sides, greatly reducing the effect of tactical layouts. Because the randomly-selected map was unpredictable, it was likely to come down to the raw power of both sides.
It was really hard to beat a combination of two outputs with just a meat shield and an auxiliary.
***
As Qin Mo expected, in this decisive third game, the system once again chose ‘Mingzhou Arena’.
Without the influence of aerial combat or a swamp terrain, the two sides could only fight head-on on the flat arena.
As soon as the match started, Chen Jiang and He Yue flanked them from both sides. Although Zhu Qingyue’s invincibility barrier stopped this particular wave of damage, it could not solve the fundamental problem—— with only defense and no offense, even if the battle was delayed, winning was impossible.
He Beiguang’s anti-injury skills had a longer cooldown time, while Chen Jiang and He Yue’s offensive skills could be used one after another.
He Beiguang was unable to completely defend against the opponent’s fierce offensive, and his blood volume gradually began to drop. Very quickly, he fell into a residual blood state. Although his secret book reflected He Yue’s big move at a critical moment, Chen He retreated extremely quickly, waiting out the 3-second immunity before flanking He Beiguang once again——
The martial siblings joined hands to attack. With extremely high amounts of damage being dealt, He Beiguang died helplessly.
The moment He Beiguang fell, Zhu Qingyue was not able to resist the opponent’s pincer attack. With his arrays rapidly interrupted, the crispy auxiliary soon fell.
The pace of the third game was extremely quick, and everything was over in just five minutes.
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.
Zhu Qingyue was very calm. Smiling, he took the initiative to walk over to Chen Jiang and He Yue for a handshake.
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Hearing this, Zhu Qingyue smiled modestly. “Captain Chen is too polite. Your combination with your junior sister is extremely powerful in offense, and I still lost in the end.”
Chen Jiang shook his head. “The loss isn’t on you.”
These four simple words were very meaningful. Chen Jiang obviously realised the purpose of Zhu Qingyue and He Beiguang teaming up, as well as saw Qin Mo’s intentions of training his troops for the team battles. Exchanging a glance, both people reached an agreement to say no more. After offering each other polite goodbyes, they walked off the stage.
***
Before the start of the game, everyone expected Zhu Qingyue and He Beiguang to lose 2:0 to Chen and He. After all, Chen Jiang was someone who had reached the top four in the individual competition, and He Yue was by no means weak. Including the tacit cooperation between the martial siblings, they were a pair capable of going head-to-head against the Twin Stars. In the second game, Zhu Qingyue used a sophisticated tactical layout to snatch back a single point, which had already exceeded the audience’s expectations.
Chu Yan watched the entire game, before leaving the VIP room in a lowkey manner.
This time, he came to Beijing under the premise of a business trip to discuss follow-up matters about their cooperation with the officials, but had deliberately scheduled the meeting for the afternoon—— because Qingyue’s games would always be in the morning, and he wanted to watch it in person at the stadium.
The Xiao Qingyue in his memories who had always hid behind himself to cry, could now use sophisticated tactics against an expert like Chen Jiang to pit him to death, and was both calm and powerful.
Chu Yan was extremely relieved. He wanted to rush backstage to hug Qingyue, and tell him that he did a great job.
However, reporters were constantly staring, and there were many professional players backstage. Chu Yan didn’t want to cause trouble for Zhu Qingyue.
For the past two days, he has been very lowkey, dodging reporters and leaving the venue immediately after the competition ended.
Unexpectedly, when he left the VIP room this time, he happened to bump into Luo Yuan.
Luo Yuan had just returned from the washroom. Seeing the man standing before him, he was taken aback for a few moments, before a blinding smile appeared on his face. “Master, did you come to watch me compete?!”
Having been caught, Chu Yan felt extremely awkward, but his expression showed no change. “En,” he nodded calmly. “You did a good job.”
Luo Yuan was extremely excited. “Really? I didn’t expect that master would come to watch me compete in person!”
Chu Yan sighed in his heart: I am here to watch your junior brother compete, and just happened to watch your match in passing. Aren’t you too excited…
In order to avoid slapping this apprentice in the face, Chu Yan could only change the subject. “Wei Guanghua’s strength has exceeded my expectations, and the cooperation between you both is quite tacit. Continue working hard.”
Luo Yuan smiled. “Back then, I wasn’t too agreeable to A-Hua joining Whisper. Still, master’s vision is outstanding. A-Hua is truly exceptional.”
“You didn’t let him take on the role of vice captain?” Chu Yan questioned.
Scratching his head, Luo Yuan replied, “That… he himself doesn’t wish to take on the position. He doesn’t like being in the limelight, let alone face reporters.”
“Since he likes being mysterious, then let him be,” Chu Yan responded. “You are the captain, and should understand that everyone’s personalities are different. There’s no need to force anything.”
Luo Yuan nodded. “I understand.”
“Then, I’ll be leaving first.” Chu Yan turned to leave, only for Luo Yuan to suddenly call him. “Master…”
“What?” Chu Yan paused mid-step.
Luo Yuan was silent for a while. “Tomorrow, I will face junior brother on the field,” he whispered. “I will definitely defeat him.”
Chu Yan smiled. “And why are you telling me this? Do you want me to stand with you?”
Luo Yuan’s expression was awkward. “I know master dotes on junior brother, but he completely gave up master’s auxiliary style of play. Do you really not mind, master?”
Chu Yan was silent for a few moments, before sighing. “Is it because I pressured you both too much? The things you all care about the most are in fact, the things that I care about the least.” Here, he paused, before offering a reply. “I don’t mind at all. Does this answer surprise you?”
Luo Yuan raised his head in shock, staring at Chu Yan in disbelief.
Chu Yan stepped forward, gently patting his older apprentice on the shoulder. “As a master, I helped you form the Whisper team. Now that the team has been established… you are the captain. Think about what you should be doing.”
Leaving behind these words, Chu Yan left. Luo Yuan stood, seemingly unable to believe the phrase ‘the things I care about the least’.
Master really didn’t mind at all? How could this be?
***
Backstage, Qin Mo continued giving Li Muran an impromptu lesson.
The loss of the third game was within everyone’s expectations. Seeing Li Muran’s thoughtful expression, Qin Mo spoke. “If you have questions, you may ask me.”
“Captain Qin, when faced with this sort of situation, is there any way to salvage it?” Li Muran asked sincerely.
“No.” Qin Mo replied straightforwardly.
“Is there no chance of winning?” Li Muran asked again.
“Unless the opponent makes a huge mistake,” Qin Mo amended. “Otherwise, losing is inevitable.”
Realising that Li Muran fell silent, Qin Mo raised an eyebrow. “Can’t figure it out?”
Li Muran frowned. “Sometimes, sophisticated tactics can defeat powerful opponents, but sometimes, losing is inevitable, and no amount of tactics are useful. This is very contradictory.”
Qin Mo smiled. “This isn’t a contradiction. No matter how strong a general, bringing a ragtag group of soldiers to win a confrontation isn’t possible. When the strength between teams are equal, you can rely on tactics to win, but when the gap in strengths is too large, tactics are useless. This is because you will have been defeated by the opponent before your tactics can be implemented.”
“The third game was lost because the opponent crushed us with force,” Li Muran responded.
Qin Mo nodded. “Just so. If Chen Jiang attacked violently, Qingyue would lose. Sometimes, absolute force can ignore tactical layouts. In the case of Xiao Han, even if he falls into his opponent’s trap, he can still rely on his own strength to turn defeat into victory—— You have to remember that tactics are only an auxiliary means to win the game, and not the only way. Those who arrange tactics must believe in tactics, but not completely.”
This sentence caused Li Muran’s admiration for Qin Mo to deepen. Qin Mo’s chinese was very profound. Was he really not from a philosophy department?
At this moment, Xiao Han suddenly spoke. “Xiao Mo, if you praise me so much, I really won’t be able to not interrupt you.”
Qin Mo turned around to stare at him. “I didn’t mute you, so you can just say whatever.”
Xiao Han smiled. “I fully agree with what you said just now. Even if an expert like me were caught in a sophisticated tactical trap, I can still use my own strength to turn defeat into victory. Furthermore, it is the existence of a master like me that will realise your tactical layouts more smoothly. I am the sharpest sword in your hands, the trump card in your hands, the greatest magic weapon in your arsenal, correct?”
Qin Mo glanced at him helplessly. “You have learnt the usage of parallel structures well, but your boasting could be reduced some more.”
“But I’m telling the truth,” Xiao Han objected.
Shen He raised his hand. “Master, if god Han is the sword in your hands, what am I?”
Xiao Han turned around to look at him. “You are a mount.”
Shen He stared blankly. “… why am I a mount?!”
“Because you can summon the mechanical horse,” Xiao Han explained.
Shen He: “…”
This joke was really too cold. Even Zhu Qingyue, who had just walked in, couldn’t help but laugh.
Shen He was stunned for a few moments before he reacted. Clearly, god Han’s brain circuits were different from normal people’s.
Since Zhu Qingyue sat down next to him, Qin Mo changed the subject. “In group A, both you and Luo Yuan have a record of one win and one loss. Tomorrow will be the deciding battle. Are you prepared?”
Zhu Qingyue nodded. “En, I will do my best.”
Hearing this, Qin Mo was relieved. Qingyue played very well in today’s game, and he would observe the pairs of Liu Hong and Pei Yu, as well as Li Muran and Shen He next.
And what he anticipated the most was Li Muran’s arrangements for this next game.
Haha how Chu Yan sneaks around~ 😂 Luo Yuan is so determined to beat Zhu Qingyue… Wouldn’t he faint if he came to know that they are actually lovers~? 🤣
Hmm… Wei Guanghua? His partner? He stays hidden on purpose? I wonder how strong he is~ I’m looking forward to their match~! Who will win~? ✨ Ahhh~ But before that it’s Li Muran‘s and Shen He‘s match~! 🤩 Looking forward to Li Muran‘s tactical arrangements~
Thank you for the chapter! ❤️❤️ ❤️
Maybe he will faint lol 😈 I want to see that scene~
so many hidden boss in this competition, i would like to see all of their wonderful match~ 💕
I think, Li Muran will be a good at commanding and arranging tactics, look forward for his future match too~
You’re welcome~ 💕
+1 I want to see that too~ 😈
Will Luo Yuan ever find out about the relationship between his master and Zhu Qingyue in this novel ?
I think he will, let’s wait and seee 😈
😈😈😈
I think Luo Yan’s heart knot might coat him the game against He Quingyue 🤔
Cost* 😂