Chapter 135 – Canglan"s Advance (2)
In room 1701, Bai Xuan came out of the bathroom and saw Xie Shurong lying on his bed watching a cartoon on his iPad. He smiled and wondered, "You are so big yet you"re still watching cartoons. Aren"t you afraid of people making fun of you?"
Xie Shurong put his iPad down and looked up at Bai Xuan, raising his eyebrows and pretending to be serious. "I might but an adult but I still maintain a childlike heart. Don"t you know this is very rare?"
Bai Xuan laughed. "The meaning is that you aren"t young but you"re still childish."
Xie Shurong looked at Bai Xuan with a wronged expression. "Why are you always. .h.i.tting me?"
Bai Xuan ignored him and starting drying his hair.
Xie Shurong put away his iPad and asked, "Do you really think that Ling Xuefeng came to Guangzhou for a business trip? Why do I feel like it isn"t quite right? He came to Guangzhou for business just as Cat G.o.d is sick?"
Bai Xuan smiled slightly and said, "Don"t meddle. Take care of yourself first."
Xie Shurong made an innocent expression. "How am I not taking care of myself? Today I played so well that Old Zhang praised me. You never praise me. You only complimented Xiao Li and Xiao Zhuo…"
There were some grievances in his voice when he complained.
Bai Xuan put down the hairdryer and looked helplessly back at him. "How old are you? You"re not a 17 or 18 year old newcomer. Do I need to praise you?"
Xie Shurong got up from the bed and cheekily walked behind him, reaching out to hug Bai Xuan from behind. He placed his chin on Bai Xuan"s shoulder and wondered, "Haven"t you heard? No matter how good a person is, they are actually looking forward to be praised and acknowledged by others. Can"t you praise me with a few words? I want to hear you complimenting me."
Bai Xuan had to reach out and pat his head. "Yes, you are very reliable when playing the game. You are especially smart, tall, handsome and you have an impeccable personality. You even wash dishes better than other people. You are the most perfect person in the world… is this enough?"
Xie Shurong listened to the perfunctory praise and didn"t let go, holding Bai Xuan tighter instead.
"It isn"t enough?" Bai Xuan looked at Ah Shu shamelessly wrapped around him and couldn"t help laughing. "Did you intelligence regress to a kindergarten student? Xiao Shu?"
Xie Shurong saw this man"s soft eyes and suddenly found it difficult to breathe.
Bai Xuan had just showered. His skin was as white as flawless jade, his rosy lips were covered with a hint of water vapor, his body was fresh with the smell of shower gel and his voice was so gently that it made people"s hearts…
Bai Xuan saw Xie Shurong staring at him in a daze and couldn"t help reaching out to hit him on the back of the head. "Hey, I am asking you something!"
Xie Shurong, "…"
He wouldn"t admit that he was watching a man like this!
He was the handsome Tree G.o.d!
He wasn"t the Xiao Shu whose intelligence had regressed to a kindergarten student!
Xie Shurong touched his nose and said, "You just praised me in an exaggerated manner and there is no sincerity at all. Do it again."
Bai Xuan exclaimed, "There are too many problems!"
He still looked good despite his anger. His round eyes staring…
The two of them were too close. As long as Xie Shurong slightly leaned forward, he could kiss Bai Xuan on the lips.
Would his lips be soft when kissed?
Shouldn"t it be soft? After all… Bai Xuan was such a gentle person. Holding him was so comfortable that kissing him must also be soft.
Xie Shurong put away the strange thoughts that suddenly popped into his mind and pulled back to reality. Then he realized that his body had reacted and he immediately let go of Bai Xuan in an embarra.s.sed manner.
Bai Xuan didn"t notice anything was wrong.
He was used to being held by Xie Shurong in a petulant manner. When they were in the United States, Xie Shurong would always try to curry favour in order to not wash the dishes. After returning to China, he would still shamelessly demand ribs from Bai Xuan. This guy was more childish than Zhuo Hang and Li Xiaojiang.
Bai Xuan had long been accustomed to being hugged by Ah Shu and thought it was just a joke. Therefore, he didn"t care and turned back to the mirror to finish blow drying his hair. "We don"t need to know why Ling Xuefeng came to Guangzhou this time. You just have to know that he and Cat G.o.d are equally responsible captains and won"t affect the team due to personal matters."
“Do you believe in Cat G.o.d?" Xie Shurong couldn"t help asking, "Do you believe him in any circ.u.mstances?"
“Of course. I have been friends with him for many years." Bai Xuan replied.
Xie Shurong"s heart inexplicably felt uncomfortable and he frowned. "Is Cat G.o.d very important to you?"
Bai Xuan nodded without hesitation. "Yes, he is like family."
A question popped into Xie Shurong"s head. "If he is family to you, what about me? Am I just a teammate? Is he much more important in your heart than me?"
Once this question popped out, Xie Shurong was startled. Why was he comparing himself to Cat G.o.d? Cat G.o.d was the captain. Wasn"t it normal for Bai Xuan to care more about the captain. Besides, they had been partners for many years and faced a lot of bitterness and setbacks together. There was nothing wrong with them being very close.
Still, Xie Shurong couldn"t help feeling a bit uncomfortable and sour, like he was jealous.
Bai Xuan saw that Xie Shurong was suddenly silent and looked back in a confused manner, "What"s wrong with you?"
Why did Ah Shu seem weird today?
Bai Xuan placed a hand against Xie Shurong"s forehead in a natural manner. He wanted to see if this guy had a fever. Perhaps he caught it from Cat G.o.d? Otherwise, why would he ask such strange questions?
However, his hand had just touched the forehead when it was suddenly grabbed. Xie Shurong"s fingers were particularly tight and Bai Xuan"s hand was almost crushed. Extremely complex emotions flashed in Xie Shurong"s eyes.
Bai Xuan looked at him in a bewildered manner. "What is it? Are you in a bad mood?"
Xie Shurong, "…"
He quickly released the hand like he got an electric shock. Xie Shurong"s heartbeat was extremely fast as he quickly turned his eyes away. He awkwardly cried out, "It"s nothing! I"m going to sleep."
Then he fell down on his bed and buried himself in his quilt.
Bai Xuan looked at this person wrapped up in the blanket and smiled slightly before ignoring him.
Ah Shu"s sleeping posture was quite interesting. This guy was 21 years old but his personality was like a big boy. Sometimes he would act in a really childish manner. Bai Xuan didn"t find it strange.
Bai Xuan finished drying his hair and went to sleep.
In the next bed, Xie Shurong was rolling around in his blanket and finding it hard to sleep.
He has seen many beautiful people before but Bai Xuan was special. His gently temperament entered deeply into his bone marrow. Bai Xuan"s movements, voice, smile and eyes were all gentle. People couldn"t help wanting to be close to him. Even if nothing happened, just listening to him speak was a special type of enjoyment.
How could Xie Shurong watch a man in a daze? It was just unbelievable…
Xie Shurong slammed his head against the pillows. He close his eyes and slept.
In his dreams, Bai Xuan once again appeared. He was smiling and looking at his picture, making Xie Shurong"s heart feel unbearably itchy. He wanted to pounce and bit Bai Xuan a few times.
***
Once he woke up the next morning, Xie Shurong found that his underwear was wet and ran to the bathroom to wash it.
Bai Xuan saw him running to the bathroom and couldn"t help caring. "Do you have diarrhea?"
Xie Shurong sighed as he looked at the white liquid. He felt a bit dazed and distressed.
At noon, the team gathered in one place. The match was still being commanded by Zhang Jueming. Old Zhang carefully arranged the tactics and lineup before taking everyone to the venue.
The opponent wasn"t strong but there were some minor problems in the team battles. The final score was determined to be 14:7, requiring three rounds in the arena and three rounds for the team battles.
Li Cangyu"s cold wasn"t completely better but his mental state was good. Thus, he also went to the venue.
After the match, he had dinner with Ling Xuefeng while Bai Xuan took the other players to a group dinner.
The captain was absent from dinner again, making the teenagers very confused. However, they didn"t dare ask and could only return to the hotel after eating with the vice-captain.
Xiao Han was chatting with Qin Mo every day to learn Chinese. Today was no exception. On the way back to the hotel, he sent a message to Qin Mo: [My master didn"t have dinner with us is it because he is having dinner with your teacher.]
Qin Mo replied: [It is polite to type with punctuation.]
Xiao Han: [Oh.]
Then he added the punctuation and carefully resent the message.
Qin Mo was pleased. He always felt that his position at the bottom of the food chain had changed. At least in the matter of learning Chinese, Xiao Han always listened to him!
[My master went to Guangzhou to sign a contract with the BTA live broadcast platform. Wind Colour promised to cooperate with them. Later, professional players will broadcast a first perspective video and teach netizens how to play the arena.] Qin Mo patiently explained.
Xiao Han said: [But his room is next door to my master"s room.]
Qin Mo: [What"s wrong with that?]
Xiao Han: [He came to see Master and has dinner with Master every day.]
Qin Mo was surprised: [Is that right?]
Xiao Han: [What do you think they are talking about all day? Will there be any plans? Is it like when they had me practice with you?]
Qin Mo: [Get lost! I don"t have time to be your sparring partner! And don"t always use question marks! It is annoying to see!]
Xiao Han: [Then why do you always use exclamation marks?]
Qin Mo: […]
Xiao Han: [What does the ellipsis mean?]
[Your friend Shepherd is offline.]
Xiao Han looked at Qin Mo"s dark symbol and was still confused. He felt that Chinese was really profound and didn"t understand the meaning of many symbols, especially the ellipsis. The meaning was too rich.
***
Ling Xuefeng stayed in Guangzhou for half a month before returning to Shanghai. During this two week period, the youngsters of the Canglan team grew rapidly. The cooperation between Zhuo Li became smoother while Xiao Gu and Xiao Han"s play stabilized. Zhang Jueming and Li Cangyu"s command styles were different but the teammates cooperated well. Canglan won more games than they lost and stayed in the top three of the rankings.
The schedule for the second division was very tight, allowing the intense compet.i.tion to hone the players" pressure resistance. After a few ups and downs,the four teenagers matured a lot. Even if they occasionally lost, they wouldn"t be frustrated as they were in the beginning.
Next, Li Cangyu started to hone the other combinations in Canglan.
For example, letting Ah Shu and Zhuo Hang fight together in a fast and fast combination or letting Gu Siming resist the opponents while Xiao Han used this opportunity to a.s.sa.s.sinate the enemies. There was also Ah Shu and Bai Xuan or Li Cangyu bringing Old Zhang to a.s.sist him…
In more than 10 games, it was difficult for the audience to see a repeated lineup. The commentators Chen Weiwei and Shao Yu were very happy to see this because it was refreshing every time they explained a game.
The audience also noticed that Cat G.o.d was using the second division as a training ground.
The giant teams in the first division were much stronger than the second division. It was impossible to train the newcomers in the first division or Canglan would be in danger of not entering the playoffs.
On the other hand, the overall strength of the second division was weak. After the Yaohua game that they lost due to Cat G.o.d"s mistakes, Canglan never suffered when in came to scores and their ranking was stably in the top three. It was reasonable for Cat G.o.d to use this opportunity to train the four newcomers. After all, he was aiming for the first division.
Time pa.s.sed quickly and it was the end of April.
After experiencing more than 10 games, the Canglan team finally entered the playoffs stage of the second division with a rank of third.
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Chapter 136 – Playoffs
The Canglan team was third in the rankings and their first opponent in the semi-finals of the playoffs was the second ranked Glory team.
The rules of the playoffs of the second division were different from the regular season. It was no longer a two victory per stage model. Instead, it used the last one remaining elimination system. This meant that each team would send three sets of partners. If they could last to the end, they would win one point.
The rules of the team battle were similar to the regular season but winning also only counted as one point.
The schedule was: Team A selected a map to play the arena and team battle. Then it would be exchanged with Team B selecting a map for the arena and team battle. If they tied in these four games, there would be a random map selection for a team battle.
It could be seen that one point in the playoffs was more precious than five points in the regular season.
The playoffs used the five games, three wins system. Regardless of arena or team battle, whoever took three games would win.
This rule change was similar to the playoffs of the first division and the World Compet.i.tion, making the arena as important as the team battle. Moreover, the three rounds partner system paid attention to the cooperation cooperation between partners.
If the playoffs, anyone who lost would immediately be eliminated.
The strength of the Canglan team wasn"t weak and the youngsters had matured after the regular season"s training, but Li Cangyu didn"t dare act carelessly. If he made a mistake and they lost a match in the playoffs, everything they did would be in vain. Don"t even talk about the World Compet.i.tion, even the promotion qualification to the first division would be lost.
They must win the championship of the second division!
This was the goal that Li Cangyu emphasized in the pre-match meeting.
The lineup of the Glory team was based on a melee output. Li Cangyu studied the configuration of their members with Old Zhang, Ah Shu and Bai Xuan before finalizing the arena combinations.
The Canglan team chose a forest map to let Xiao Zhuo and Xiao Li take the lead. Xiao Han and Ah Shu would be the middle team and the Li Cangyu and Zhang Jueming combination would finish it off.
This arrangement could be regarded as a double insurance. Even if the opening pair of Zhuo Li fell into a disadvantage, there was Ah Shu in the middle to stabilize the situation. Finally, Li Cangyu would personally end it to ensure they wouldn"t lose the arena.
During the team battle, Li Cangyu also had all four old players partic.i.p.ate in order to minimize the error rate.
***
Since all four veterans of Canglan played, there was no suspense in this semi-final game. They won three games in a row with a big score of 3:0!
Two days later, the Canglan team would play in the finals of the second division and the opponent was the Yaohua team.
In the regular season, Li Cangyu"s state was affected by his cold and there was a big loss to Yaohua. This team was the strongest team in the second division and the captain and vice-captain were experienced veterans who had played for several years.
Li Cangyu still wasn"t worried.
In the first arena round, he directly had Zhuo Li and Xiao Gu go out to compete. It was a rare opportunity in the finals to train their psychological tolerance. Of course, he would be the final guard pair with Old Zhang.
The match was much harder than the last one because it was for the championship of the second division and to gain the ticket for the first division.
In the first round, the four young players were probably too nervous. The disadvantages in the early stages were too great so that even Li Cangyu couldn"t gain back the situation despite his personal strength. The team unexpectedly lost and the score was 0:1.
In the team battle, the four old players joined forces. Bai Xuan and Xie Shurong were people who had experienced various compet.i.tions and were stable. Old Zhang"s psychological state was relatively strong, not to mention Li Cangyu who wasn"t even afraid of the World Compet.i.tion.
The four of them joined hands to pressure the opponents and quickly pushed to the crystal, gaining one point and making it a 1:1 draw.
In the third game, Li Cangyu changed his mind and replaced the Zhuo Li and Gu Xiao duos. He had Ah Shu with Xiao Zhuo, Xiao Han with Old Zhang and he personally took Li Xiaojiang to end it.
There was a great G.o.d with them and the youngster"s mental state was robust. The rounds were played very smoothly. Once Li Cangyu appeared, the two people opposite him were already in residual blood from Xiao Han. Li Cangyu successfully completed the harvest and a big 2:1 filled the screen.
As long as they won another game, the finals would be won!
Li Cangyu had been close to the trophy many times since becoming a professional player but missed it due to a variety of reasons…
This time, he wouldn"t let the opportunity go!
Li Cangyu took a deep breath and gathered his teammates together. He said simply, "This is our match point. If we win this game, we won"t have to play the fifth game. Everyone, go all out and make it quick!"
The people who won two games were encouraged and became excited.
In the crucial second team battle, Li Cangyu sent the most stable lineup of himself, Xiao Gu, Xiao Han, Bai Xuan, Xie Shurong and Old Zhang.
The Gu Xiao Shu were in the front row for a rapid impact and Li Cangyu used violent suppression from behind. There was also Bai Xuan"s stable healing and Old Zhang"s flexible a.s.sistance. The Canglan team was really quick and finished the battle in just 20 minutes.
It was a big score of 3:1! The Canglan team won!
Once the golden "victory" popped on the screen, Li Cangyu"s performance was calmer than many reporters expected. He just smiled slightly before getting up to gently hug his teammates. The four teenagers jumped with joy while Li Cangyu was calm, as if winning was already expected.
In the seventh season of the Miracle League, the champion of the second division was the Canglan team.
This could be counted as the first trophy in Li Cangyu"s career.
He led the FTD team from the first season of the Miracle League and then later transferred to Wulin. For the three years in Miracle and the three years in Wulin, he never won any team trophies.
Now that he obtained one, the expression on his face was unusually calm.
It was because his goal was far beyond this! The champion of the second division, this was just a staged victory and it was only halfway along his path. He wasn"t satisfied and had to move on.
***
Once Li Cangyu led his team members over to shake hands, Captain Wei Hua of the Yaohua team took his hand and seriously told, "Cat G.o.d, I hope that you can win the championship of the first division, so that Yaohua losing to you won"t be an injustice."
Li Cangyu patted him on the shoulder and smiled. "I will try my best."
The players in the second division weren"t as strong as the G.o.ds in the first division. However, Li Cangyu knew that they worked hard for the same goal and they deserved respect.
The second division ended and the awards ceremony was held directly at the venue. The president of the Miracle League"s Organizing Committee personally handed him the trophy for the second division. He patted Li Cangyu"s shoulder emotionally and said, "Old Cat, you did well."
Li Cangyu took the trophy and raised the first trophy in his career to the cheers of the audience.
The host excitedly asked Li Cangyu, "Cat G.o.d, this is the first time you have received a trophy. Do you have any thoughts?"
Li Cangyu smiled. "This is indeed the first trophy since I became a professional player but there is still the promotion match and more compet.i.tive league waiting for us. I won"t be complacent because there are more challenges waiting for me."
There were more challenges waiting for him. This obviously meant he was coming back to challenge the giants in the first division!
The Wind Colour team"s dormitory.
Ling Xuefeng saw the bright and firm eyes on the computer screen and couldn"t help smiling. He thought inwardly, "I have been waiting for you to come back. The first division is the real venue to prove your strength."
In the second division of the seventh season, the Canglan team won the championship, a result expected by many reporters.
The rapid growth of the several newcomers in the Canglan team showed that the overall strength of the team had improved one step from the beginning.
Now the Canglan team wouldn"t necessarily lose to some teams in the first division.
Cat G.o.d"s ambition wasn"t small and he was looking long-term.
Now that he returned, it was naturally impossible for him to be satisfied with being the champion of the small second division.
This trophy was too small to prove his true strength. He repeatedly sent out the young players in the middle and late stages to prepare for the first division. He was obviously determined that he would be the champion of the second division.
Of course, he must win the next promotion match!
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Chapter 137 – Promotion Match
The opening ceremony of the first division of the seventh season would take place on May 10th in Beijing. The promotion match was scheduled for May 1st and the Canglan team had a week to prepare.
After winning the championship of the second division, Li Cangyu took the team back to the Changsha club. Liu Chuan personally sent a car to the high-speed rail station to pick them up for a lively celebration party.
At the celebration party, Liu Chuan patted Li Cangyu on the shoulder and cried out, "Excellent Cat G.o.d!"
Li Cangyu smiled. "Everyone worked hard. The championship is a good start for us but there are more games. We can"t relax. I plan to rest in Changsha for three days before going to Beijing to prepare for the promotion match."
Liu Chuan agreed. "It is good to get there early to familiarize yourself with the situation. The tickets and hotel has already been arranged. You can prepare for the match without worrying about anything." He spoke while pulling out a USB and handing it to Li Cangyu. "This is the data that Zewen gathered on the opponent of the promotion match, the Terminator team. Go back and study it well."
Li Cangyu received it gratefully. "Thank Captain Wu for me!"
Liu Chuan laughed. "There is no need to be polite. Zewen likes organizing data so he enjoyed helping you."
In the previous sixth season, the last ranked team in the first division was the Terminator team. According to the rules of the Miracle League, they would have a promotion match with the champion team of the second division to earn a ticket to the first division.
The opponent of the promotion match had long been identified as the Terminator team.
***
Li Cangyu headed back that night and called the team to his dorm room to carefully study the information on the Terminator team.
The style of this team wasn"t particularly distinct compared to the other teams in the first division. Their main lineup was the remote magic control style with their black magician and white magician.
Captain Liao Zhendong was a famous white magician in the MIracle League. However, his reactions were much slower and his style more stable compared to Cheng Wei.
He was matched with the vice-captain Lin Ziping, a black magician with a relatively fast hand speed. It was just that compared to Yan Ruiwen, vice-captain of the Wind Colour team, he was slightly weaker.
Liao Zhendong and Lin Ziping"s personal abilities were inferior to Cheng Wei and Yan Ruiwen but their tacit understanding could be compared with any pair in the Miracle League. The two of them had been old partners for many years and the understanding between them was high.
The combination of the white magician and black magician had an unexpected effect. The black and white magician originally meant to restrain each other could fill in the gaps of their teammate and maximize the power of the combination.
To be honest, it wasn"t good to fight the Terminator team in the team battles.
Instead, the best stage was the arena.
The arena stage in the playoffs used the elimination system. Three sets of partners continuously fought in the arena. If the old partners Liao Zhendong and Lin Ziping were in the arena, the combinations of Zhou Li and Gu Xiao couldn"t beat them. However, Xie Shurong and Xie Shurong would be enough to break their combination.
This way, the Terminator team would be at a disadvantage in the arena.
Li Cangyu focused on tactical research. "According to the rules of the promotion match, the Canglan team will choose a map for the arena first, then the Terminator team will choose for the arena. This will be repeated with the team battles. If the four games end up in a 2:2 result, a fifth team battle round will be played."
"The Canglan team has an advantage in the arena stage and we should try to win the home and away rounds of the arena as much as possible. As long as we win the two arena games and take another game, we can win with a score of 3:1."
The playoffs used the final score to judge the victory. It counted as one point whether the team won in the arena or the team battles.
This way, a team with superiority in the team battles or superiority in the arena could arrange their lineup according to their strengths and selectively win points.
In fact, the changes to the arena stage of the seventh season was equivalent to continuous team battles, but the six person team battle was more focused on overall cooperation while the pairs arena was focused on the connection between a duo.
Li Canglan was full of confidence that Canglan could make a smooth transition in the arena.
***
The Canglan team headed to Beijing on April 28th. Li Cangyu had many friends in Beijing but he didn"t take the time to visit them. Instead, he closed himself off in the Internet cafe that Liu Chuan secretly rented.
There couldn"t be the slightest mistake in this game or everything would be wasted!
On the afternoon of May 1st, the e-sports venue in Beijing was crowded with people. The commentators for this match, Shao Yu and Chen Weiwei also came from Guangzhou to Beijing.
The two of them had been explaining the second division and the promotion match was the one with the highest requirements. Thus, the two of them dressed up in clothes that were more formal than usual.
Chen Weiwei said with a smile, "I believe that many people are concerned with the promotion match today. Apart from the fans of the Terminator and Canglan teams, there are many fans of the teams in the first division worried about this match. It is because the winner of this match will gain a ticket for the first division and compete with the teams there for the championship of the seventh season!"
Shao Yu added, "At present, the online predictions show that 60% expect Canglan to win and 40% expect Terminator to win. This ratio shows that many viewers acknowledge the strength of the Canglan team. After all, there is Cat G.o.d!"
Chen Weiwei said, "Of course, there are four newcomers who just debuted. Their experience with the league is lacking and they are unreliable. The Terminator team has played in the league for several years and the players are experienced. It isn"t certain who will win yet. The key is how they play on the field."
Shao Yu agreed. "In particular, the ability of the four teenagers in the Canglan to resist the pressure will be the key to winning or losing this match."
The audience thought so as well. People like Li Cangyu who experienced many ups and downs would have a strong mental state. No one doubted this. The fact that he could make a comeback after three years in Miracle and three years in Wulin showed that this man"s heart was as strong as iron.
Bai Xuan was his old partner who walked with him for many years. He naturally wouldn"t be afraid in this match. Xie Shurong and Zhang Jueming were old players and their faces were quite calm.
The key was still the four teenagers. The youngsters who just debuted were all 17 or 18 years old. If they couldn"t bear the pressure and made mistakes… these mistakes were likely to ruin the team"s advantage.
The Canglan fans were very worried about this and desperately wrote: [Four youngsters, come on! Don"t let Cat G.o.d down!] [The four kittens of Canglan, I believe in you!]
At this time, the team members in uniforms were gathered in the soundproof room. It could be seen that Li Cangyu looked very relaxed but the four teenagers seemed a bit nervous. This was also normal. After all, it was an important event that determined the fate of the team. The young players couldn"t be as calm as the old players.
***
The promotion match, the Canglan team"s map selection.
For the first arena game, Li Cangyu selected the Demon Forest map. This was the most familiar map for several teenagers and ensured that they could play well.
The first combination he sent was Zhuo Hang and Li Xiaojiang.
The Zhuo Li combination wasn"t strange to people. The two players teamed up many times in the second division"s regular season. After such a long training period, the two of them had formed a good understanding. Zhuo Hang was responsible for protection while Li Xiaojiang was responsible for the output.
The Terminator team saw this and immediately sent a combination of archer and healer.
Ling Xuefeng frowned from where he was watching under the stage. It was estimated that Canglan would lose this round.
Zhuo Hang"s traps were effective against melee cla.s.ses but it was hardest for a hunter to deal with a ranged archer. He couldn"t place traps next to the archer while the arrows could hit him from a distance.
Sure enough, the archer took advantage of the long attack distance and suppressed Zhuo Hang. The enemies still had more than half blood left when the Zhuo Li combination were sent off.
The first round of the elimination arena was a serious disadvantage. Both Zhuo Hang and Li Xiaojiang were afraid to speak because they knew that if this game was lost, Cat G.o.d"s early preparations would be in vain!
Li Cangyu didn"t say anything. He just calmly patted their heads before sending the second pair—Xie Shurong and Xiao Han!
This combination made the Canglan fans cheer with excitement.
Tree G.o.d and the mixed-race teenager were the representatives of the fast actions and quick responses in the Canglan team. They were quick to play and could definitely make the Terminator team"s two remote cla.s.ses cry!
The quick combination of Xiao Han and Xie Shurong was really powerful.
Xiao Han entered stealth and targeted the opposite archer while Xie Shurong… he played the role "special healer killer" from the Flying Feathers team, chasing the healer and making them unable to cast a spell.
Bai Xuan was really distressed while watching. He might be teammates with Ah Shu but when he saw Xie Shurong chasing the healer, he was reminded of the match where he was killed 10 times…
Shu Xiao successfully killed the Terminator team"s remote combination and faced the second combination—a berserker and swordsman.
This combination didn"t have much advantage against Xie Shurong and Xiao Han but there was no other way. There was no one else they could send from Terminator since the captain and vice-captain were required to be the guard.
Xie Shurong and Xiao Han died with the other team"s combination, completely wiping out the disadvantage of the earlier round.
For the third round, the two teams would send their guard combination. There were no accidents with the Terminator team and they sent their ace combination of Liao Zhendong and Lin Ziping. Meanwhile, the Canglan team"s combination made the fans shout with excitement.
—Old Cat, White Fox.
It was the Li Cangyu and Bai Xuan combination.
The two men had been partners since the first season six years ago. They experienced so many years of ups and downs yet Bai Xuan never left Li Cangyu.
They created the FTD team together, transferred to another game together, faced two team disbandments together and teamed up again.
They were no longer just teammates but were family.
The tacit understanding between them didn"t lose to any partners in the Miracle League. Even the Ghost Spirits Lou and Zhang combination didn"t dare say that their understanding was higher than that of Cat and Fox.
This was a full six years partnership!
Li Cangyu just needed to give a look or position himself in a certain way and Bai Xuan could tell what he wanted to do.
Cat and Fox appearing in the third round of the arena was sure to make the audience enjoy themselves! Thanks to the healing, Li Cangyu personally told them what it meant by an old cat who wouldn"t die!
Thanks to Bai Xuan adding blood to him, he could move with his pets and smash the combination from the Terminator team.
The Canglan team won the first arena game without any suspense. They temporarily took the lead with a score of 1:0.
***
Under the stage, audience member Cheng Wei couldn"t help exclaiming, "Cat G.o.d with a healer, how can we fight this? It is a bug! We should talk to the chairman of the league about not letting healers play in the arena!"
Tan s.h.i.tian smiled. "In any case, there are the team battles. Cat G.o.d doesn"t have enough energy to play four games in a row. I think he will only play once in the arena."
"That isn"t necessarily the case." Su Guangmo"s voice was suddenly heard from next to him.
Cheng Wei looked back with surprise. "Eh? Captain Su is here as well!"
Su Guangmo said with a smile, "It is the opening ceremony of the first division in a few days. I just came to Beijing early to prepare. It isn"t just me. Many people came to the venue today. Captain Ling is over on that side."
Cheng Wei followed his directions and saw Ling Xuefeng watching the screen with a blank expression, the side profile looking like a perfect statue.
***
There was a short break and Canglan"s home team battle began.
Li Cangyu took Li Xiaojiang with him in this team battle, probably to aim for the white magician on the Terminator team. However, the flaw of Li Xiaojiang"s slow casting was caught by the opponents in the first team battle. In particular, the archer kept staring at Li Xiaojiang and interrupting his casting, meaning that many of Li Xiaojiang"s skills couldn"t emerge.
The Canglan team wasn"t able to overcome the early disadvantage in the team battle and the score changed to 1:1.
Under the stage, Cheng Wei couldn"t help feeling anxious. "How is it 1:1? Ah, the next arena game must be won!"
He was only watching but he looked more excited than Cat G.o.d who was playing on the field. He was worthy of being called the first brainless fan in the Miracle League.
Tan s.h.i.tian looked at him helplessly. "Don"t worry. Canglan"s advantage in the arena is huge."
Sure enough, for the first round of the arena, Li Cangyu sent the Shu Li combination.
Xie Shurong took the lead with Li Xiaojiang. Under Ah Shu"s strong protection, Li Xiaojiang could finally use his high damage skills and successfully killed the opponent"s melee combination, giving his team the advantage.
Xiao Han and Xiao Gu appeared in the second round. They were two newcomers but Gu Siming"s impact style combined with Xiao Han"s ability to grasp opportunities made it a relatively stable combination.
The two people maintained the advantage and then Li Cangyu took Zhuo Hang to complete the harvest, winning the game.
The score was 2:1 and the Canglan team was at match point!
As long as they took the next team battle, Canglan could directly win 3:1.
To the surprise of the audience, Cat G.o.d didn"t play in this team battle. He actually let Zhang Jueming take command!
The Terminator team hadn"t expected this and had sent a lineup specifically aimed at Li Cangyu"s elf summoner. The result was that they were stunned by Old Zhang"s violent crushing tactics and fell into a disadvantage.
Liao Zhendong wanted to reverse the situation when the ice dragon refreshed but Xie Shurong obviously wouldn"t give them such an opportunity. Xie Shurong took Xiao Gu and Xiao Han to rapidly break through the front row, directly sweeping away the Terminator team!
The Canglan team grasped this match point and pushed to the crystal. The score changed to 3:1 and they directly won!
The four teenagers jumped excitedly. Li Cangyu smiled and stretched out his arms for a big hug with his teammates.
***
The sudden change in commanders at a crucial moment left many viewers confused. They thought that Cat G.o.d was using tactics. After all, Cat G.o.d was known for his "tactical unpredictability" in the league.
In fact, Ling Xuefeng watched from under the stage and knew that Li Cangyu"s status couldn"t keep up.
In the first three games, Li Cangyu exposed his highest hand speed. In particular, the Canglan team had a hard time in the second game because Li Xiaojiang was targeted. That"s why he consumed a lot of energy letting out a burst of hand speed to suppress the Terminator team.
Then he went on to play in the third game. After so many high-intensity continuous games, he probably realized that he might not be able to cope with the fourth game. Thus, in order to avoid any mistakes, he handed over the command to Old Zhang.
It could be found that he was actually very careful with the lineup arrangements for the arena and team battle stages. In the third game that was the arena mode, he didn"t bring Bai Xuan in order to give Bai Xuan some time to rest.
It was good that Zhang Jueming won the fourth game. If he lost, Li Cangyu would be in a good state for the fifth game thanks to the break.
This was the safest approach.
Ling Xuefeng proudly watched the smiling man in the soundproof room. Li Cangyu was a calm, steady and determined person. He was the most handsome person in the eyes of fans and also the most precious lover in Ling Xuefeng"s heart.
It was great to see him win this promotion match. It meant that the big cat who loved to eat fish had finally returned to Miracle.
Ling Xuefeng"s lips slightly curved amongst the deafening applause of the audience.
***
In the commentators" room, Chen Weiwei resisted the urge to cry. "Congratulations to the Canglan team for their 3:1 victory! This means that the Canglan team will get the ticket to partic.i.p.ate in the first division of the seventh season! Let"s once again congratulate the Canglan team with warm applause!"
Shao Yu also excitedly exclaimed, "Congratulations on Cat G.o.d"s return! After three years of being away, he is finally back! This time he has returned to the league with a brand new Canglan team. I believe that he will continue to bring you more wonderful scenes in the first division!"
In the soundproof room, Li Cangyu briefly celebrated with this teammates before going to the other room to shake hands.
Compared to the Canglan team"s joy, the Terminator members naturally weren"t happy. The promotion of the Canglan team meant that Terminator would be downgraded. In the future, they could only play in the second division.
…It was still better than the team disbanding.
Liao Zhendong quickly adjusted his mood and shook Li Cangyu"s hand. "Congratulations to Cat G.o.d."
Li Cangyu nodded. "I didn"t give up when the FTD team disbanded. Captain Liao, I believe that you won"t easily give up, right?"
Liao Zhendong was stunned before soon reacting. He finally smiled as he cried out, "Of course!"
It was just a downgrade to the second division. It wasn"t impossible to play the game. In the face of a tough person who didn"t give up for six years, how could he say that he wanted to give up?
Li Cangyu smiled and gently patted him on the shoulder. "Refuel."
He himself had been eliminated by strong teams countless times. This feeling was very comfortable so he understood Liao Zhendong"s mood. Words of comfort might be of little use but he believed a truly determined person wouldn"t be easily defeated by setbacks.
***
In the live broadcast room, the screen suddenly showed the audience and people started cheering madly. Chen Weiwei excitedly cried out, "We just saw that there are several familiar G.o.ds in the VIP section. There is the Time team"s Captain Tan and Vice-Captain Cheng Wei, the Flying Feathers team"s Captain Su and Vice-Captain Yu as well as the handsome Captain Ling. It seems they are very concerned with this match!"
“Cat G.o.d is Captain Ling"s old rival, Xie Shurong is the younger brother of Captain Su and Vice-Captain Yu while Cheng Wei is Cat G.o.d"s most loyal fan… it isn"t surprising that these great G.o.ds would appear at the venue." Shao Yu said with a laugh. "Next week is the opening ceremony of the first division. The addition of Cat G.o.d should cause a big shuffle in the seventh season"s standings."
"Naturally." Chen Weiwei said, "Audience members, please continue to support the first division of the seventh season! Shao Yu and I will be commentating on the Champions League tournament next. Any interested audience members are welcome to watch it. The commentating for the first division will be handed over to Sister Bing and Kou Hongyi!"
The camera cut to another room where Yu Bing and Kou Hongyi were sitting and watching the game.
The handover of the commentators could be regarded as the successful handover of the second division to the first division.
Kou Hongyi smiled and said, "First of all, congratulations to Canglan for their successful promotion to the first division. Sister Bing, shall we give some short comments on the match?"
Yu Bing nodded calmly. "In this match, the lineup from beginning to end reflects Cat G.o.d"s precise tactics. There are many combinations that appeared in the arena but if you study it carefully, you can find Cat G.o.d"s care. For example, after losing the second game that was the team battle, Cat G.o.d sent Li Xiaojiang with Xie Shurong in the third game. Ah Shu"s protection of Li Xiaojiang allowed for a victory in the arena and for Li Xiaojiang to regain his confidence."
Kou Hongyi realized. "It seems that Cat G.o.d isn"t only considering victory when it comes to the lineup. He is also taking into account the psychological state of the young players."
Yu Bing said, "Yes, Cat G.o.d has always been a decisive but careful captain. I am looking forward to the Canglan team"s performance in the first division."
The screen showed all the teams in this year"s first division. Kou Hongyi immediately introduced them. "With the smooth promotion of the Canglan team, the eight teams in the seventh season have also changed. There is Wind Colour, Time, Flying Feathers, Ghost Spirits, Pure Cleansing, Red Fox, Cheetah and the just promoted Canglan!"
Yu Bing added, "The opening ceremony of the first division will be held in Beijing on May 10th. The audience is welcome to watch it on time! The seventh season"s first division will be explained by me and Kou Hongyi."
There was a rare smile on the normally indifferent looking Yu Bing.
Cat G.o.d had finally returned and the seventh season she was looking forward to has started. As a former Red Fox captain and current official commentator, she was fortunate to be able to witness the most intense season in the history of the league.
***
Once he shook hands with the other team, Li Cangyu came to the big stage with his team members and bowed to thank the audience for their support.
Applause thundered and the lights on the stage were dazzling. Li Cangyu couldn"t see the faces of the audience members but he knew there were many friends watching today. LIng Xuefeng, Cheng Wei and Su Guangmo should"ve come here. They wanted to witness the moment of his return and fortunately, he didn"t let them down.
The host came forward and handed the microphone to Li Cangyu. "Cat G.o.d, with this victory, you are going to join the top eight teams in the first division. What do you want to say to these powerful opponents?"
Li Cangyu smiled at the camera and declared, "I am coming back. Please be prepared to accept the challenge of the Canglan team."
He said this in a very calm manner but he was throwing a huge gauntlet to the other teams in the Miracle League.
Under the stage, Cheng Wei jumped up excitedly. "Great! Canglan finally advanced! Cat G.o.d is so handsome, this sentence is too handsome!"
Tan s.h.i.tian helplessly said, "Cat G.o.d"s words also includes you."
Cheng Wei was stunned. He scratched his head as he thought about this and quietly sat down.
Su Guangmo lamented, "It seems there will be a bad fight in this year"s league!"
Tan s.h.i.tian laughed. "When has it ever been a good fight?"
Su Guangmo also laughed. "Indeed, every season is hard."
Ling Xuefeng heard Li Cangyu"s declaration but he only slightly smiled. He seemed to be saying, "I am waiting for you."
***
Among the many G.o.ds in the Miracle League, the team that could win the championship depended on some luck as well as strength. Every season wasn"t easy to play but this season would be particularly fierce.
In the seventh season, the system changed completely and Cat G.o.d returned with a new team. This was also a new starting point for the Miracle League.
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