Chapter 214 – Strongest Opponent
In the Ghost Spirits" soundproof room, Lou Wushuang left his seat. Before he could talk to the players, Zhang Shaohui hugged him and smiled to comfort him. "Brother, you played really well. It doesn"t matter. We"ll come back next year."
The smile on his face was bright and clear, without any pretenses. Lou Wushuang was in a bad mood but at this smile, his emotions quickly calm down. He patted his brother on the shoulder and said, "Yes, we"ll work harder next year."
Zhang Shaohui was an optimist. Regardless of winning or losing, he could accept it quickly. He still had a bright smile on his face despite not being able to continue in the playoffs. In fact, Lou Wushuang had a cold personality so the Ghost Spirits team wouldn"t be so harmonious without Vice-Captain Zhang"s active atmosphere.
In the past few years, Lou Wushuang"s desire to win was very light. He was happy as long as he had this stupid bother playing the game with him. It was just that he was really depressed today. He didn"t think the large stage would actually by the snail Li Xiaojiang…
He could only say that Li Cangyu"s arrangements were really wonderful. Lou Wushuang was convinced.
Soon, the members of Canglan were led by Li Cangyu to the Ghost Spirits team. Lou Wushuang stood up and shook hands with Li Cangyu. "Congratulations to Cat G.o.d."
Li Cangyu smiled and nodded. "Thank you."
They weren"t familiar with each other and the handshake was just a courtesy. Then the players from both teams came to the big stage and thanked the audience.
Li Cangyu saw all members of Wind Colour sitting in the VIP stands. The eight people dressed in black-red uniforms were really eye-catching. The handsome and cold-looking man in the middle was the captain of Wind Colour, Ling Xuefeng.
Canglan had successfully advanced. Then in the finals of the seventh season, Wind Colour would become the last opponent!
Li Cangyu smiled towards Ling Xuefeng. The other side also smiled and gave up a thumbs up.
***
In the post-match interview, the Ghost Spirits team lost and attended it first. The reporters were satisfied with Ghost Spirits" performance today. Unfortunately, the unexpected defeat in the first game made it very hard for Ghost Spirits in the later stages…
In response to this, some reporters questioned, "Ghost Spirits almost created the myth of being unbeaten at home during the regular season. Why did you unexpectedly lose to Canglan today?"
Lou Wushuang quietly replied, "I didn"t expect Canglan to send Zhuo Hang in the team battle since he rarely appeared in the regular season. A hunter"s restrictions on the a.s.sa.s.sins were too great. Our a.s.sa.s.sination flow tactics couldn"t be played at all. Moreover, the hunter Zhuo Hang grew very quickly, which we didn"t expect."
"Then Captain Lou, do you think Zhuo Hang has a chance of being the best newcomer in the seventh season?"
Lou Wushuang nodded. "Zhuo Hang isn"t much worse than Chen Anran who won the rookie award last season. I think he should be shortlisted for this year"s award."
This sentence made Gu Siming, who was watching the interview, jump up and run to Zhuo Hang. "Hey hey, did you hear? Lou Wushuang says you have a chance of winning a newcomer award!"
Zhuo Hang pretended to dig out his ears and said, "I hear you." He played cool on the surface but the smile couldn"t hide the joy in his inner heart.
Li Xiaojiang also smiled happily. "If you can, can get the new, newcomer award…"
Zhuo Hang reached out and touched his head. "If this is true then I will give you half the award, good?"
Li Xiaojiang was shocked. "Eh? Why do you want to split it in half with me?"
Zhuo Hang smiled. "You are my partner. It isn"t right if I don"t split it in half with you!"
In fact, Zhuo Hang wanted to say more, "It is because you let me grow up."
In fact, Zhuo Hang always understood Cat G.o.d"s purpose in placing him with Li Xiaojiang. His personality was too proud and his hand speed didn"t contain any calm. This was precisely Li Xiaojiang"s advantage.
Li Cangyu picked someone who was the exact opposite of Li Xiaojiang and combined them together. The Zhuo Li combination wasn"t that strong but the two teenagers influenced each other. Zhuo Hang calmed down and could quietly handle situations while Li Xiaojiang gained more confidence and improved his movements.
Finally, Li Cangyu"s goal had been achieved. Under the influence of the complete opposites, Zhuo Hang"s awareness improved by leaps and bounds while Li Xiaojiang became more cheerful. They were slowly improving and growing up but they didn"t realize it.
Today"s match let Zhuo Hang realize how much progress he had made. The strange thing was that he made so much progress but didn"t feel arrogant. He knew this was just the beginning and he still had a long way to go.
Looking back on himself in the beginning, he thought the arrogant and conceited teenager was very ridiculous. That Zhuo Hang was a frog in a well, not knowing how broad the outside world was.
Now he jumped out of that narrow world and knew his weaknesses. He would no longer think he was better than everyone else. He started to appreciate his teammates and respect his opponents. Even if Zhuo Hang won the newcomer award this season, the gap with the great G.o.ds was still huge. He needed to work tirelessly to keep up with the speed of the Miracle League!
Zhuo Hang thought this and felt that his eyes were suddenly open. He sincerely thanked Li Cangyu. If Li Cangyu hadn"t seen his defects and adopted a targeted training method then perhaps he would just be a mediocre, invisible player, not the key hunter in the playoffs who shone against Ghost Spirits at home!
Li Cangyu seemed to notice the teenager"s gaze and turned to smile at Zhuo Hang. "Are you very happy to be praised by Captain Lou?"
Zhuo Hang slightly blushed and replied, "It is good to be taught by Captain."
Li Cangyu patted him on the shoulder and whispered, "In fact, you have a good understanding and your hand speed isn"t bad. However, you need to keep working to catch up with your relatives."
Zhuo Hang nodded. "I will."
Su Guangmo and Tan s.h.i.tian, Zhuo Hang hadn"t experienced how strong these two people were but this season"s many encounters let him know that the great G.o.ds weren"t weak. He surely had a gap with them and must continue to work hard. Otherwise, he would be thrown into the Pacific Ocean if the reporters discovered his ident.i.ty!
***
Ghost Spirits" post-match interview was quite harmonious. After all, there were few reporters who could withstand Lou Wushuang"s cold atmosphere. None of them asked too sharp questions while the vice-captain enthusiastically replied. The reporters asked questions like "their plans for the next season" and then ended it quietly.
Once it was Canglan"s turn, Li Cangyu took Bai Xuan with him and won warm applause from the reporters.
One reporter immediately stood up and asked, "Cat G.o.d, why didn"t you bring the other players with you today?"
“The newcomers aren"t used to answering questions and they are excited about entering the finals. They are afraid that they will say the wrong thing because of nerves." Li Cangyu explained with a smile. In fact, he didn"t want the newcomers to be disturbed by the outside world at this time. They didn"t need to listen to people praising them. Relaxing was the most important thing before the finals.
It was also common for him to attend the interviews with the vice-captain. The reporters stopped focusing on this matter and changed the topic. "Cat G.o.d has been playing Miracle for many years and this is the first time you"ve made it into the finals of the playoffs. What is your biggest feeling at the moment?"
Li Cangyu thought about it before seriously replying, "I feel like I"ve finally seen the light."
The reporters heard this answer and felt very sad. This man really had a hard time for many years. Two teams had disbanded and he could only now reach the finals. He was simply an inspirational player who got back up after repeated defeats!
A female reporter stood up, her voice a bit choked. "Cat G.o.d, Vice-Captain Bai, you might not remember me but I interviewed you in the year that the Miracle League was established. I am particularly moved to see you come back. Congratulations on making it to the finals. You must refuel!"
Bai Xuan smiled. "It is hard to get to the finals. We will definitely do so."
“What do you think of Wind Colour as your opponent in the final? Cat G.o.d, are you confident about winning?"
Li Cangyu said, "Wind Colour"s strength is very high. As for the finals, I can"t guarantee that I will win. To be honest, Canglan will do our best to win the championship. As for winning or losing, it depends on our performance and luck."
Li Cangyu was truly an honest person. If Li Cangyu said that "I am confident about winning against Wind Colour," it would seem like he was bragging. His honest answer gave the reporters a good impression of him.
"I still have a question to ask Cat G.o.d. Today you sent Zhuo Hang to the team battle and paired up with Xiaojiang. These are lineups that didn"t appear in the regular season. Did Cat G.o.d arrange this to surprise everyone?"
Li Cangyu answered, "It isn"t to deliberately create a surprise. I just made lineup adjustments when facing Ghost Spirits. I will certainly do more adjustments against Wind Colour in the finals."
"What type of adjustments will it be?" Someone asked curiously.
Li Cangyu joked, "You will know at the time. I certainly can"t reveal it before the match."
A reporter made a teasing remark. "In today"s game, Kou Hongyi said that 99% of people can"t guess Cat G.o.d"s thoughts and the remaining 1% is called Ling Xuefeng. We also found that Ling Xuefeng often guesses your tactical layout. Are you nervous about meeting someone who knows you so well in the finals?"
Li Cangyu gave a refreshing smile. "Ling Xuefeng often guesses my layout but that is against other teams. Every time we face Wind Colour, he will become part of the 99% and his guessing isn"t stable."
He unceremoniously blackened Ling Xuefeng and the reporters were amused. They felt that Cat G.o.d and Captain Ling truly had a good relationship, or who would dare joke about Captain Ling like this? Don"t look at Wind Colour!
In response, some people privately interviewed Ling Xuefeng. "Cat G.o.d said that your guessing level isn"t stable. You will guess wrong every time you encounter Canglan. What does Captain Ling think?"
Ling Xuefeng calmly responded, "If I guess wrong then he will also guess wrong."
The reporters, "…"
Then they were really fated enemies? Then what was this strange feeling?
***
After the interview, Li Cangyu and Bai Xuan returned to the backstage lounge. In the corridor, they encountered Ling Xuefeng. He seemed to be waiting here for a long time. He saw Li Cangyu and quickly approached.
The very smart Bai Xuan left with the excuse of going to the bathroom and the two people were alone in the corridor.
Li Cangyu couldn"t help smiling at the deep gaze. "Were you waiting for me?"
Ling Xuefeng nodded and stretched out his arms, firmly hugging the other person. "Congratulations."
Li Cangyu hugged him back. There was a moment of silence before he whispered, "Xuefeng, I won"t show you mercy."
Ling Xuefeng smiled. "I won"t either."
The two of them looked at each other in the empty corridor, seeing their image in the other person"s eyes. At this moment, time seemed to stand still. The moment they met to the past seven years quickly slid through their minds, every scene exceptionally clear.
At a young age, Ling Xuefeng came to invite him to join Wind Colour. Li Cangyu reluctantly said he was making his own team… the FTD team wasn"t good enough and disbanded. Ling Xuefeng personally went to the US to discourage Li Cangyu from leaving but could only watch the person walk away. After Canglan was disbanded, Li Cangyu returned with his team. He met Ling Xuefeng in the online game and was told: [I have been waiting for you to come back. This is your home.]
Over the years, there was one person who had been waiting for him. This person might be his opponent but it felt very warm.
In the past, the 17 year old Li Cangyu smiled and said to the 18 year old Ling Xuefeng, "It seems that we can"t be teammates." Ling Xuefeng firmly replied, "Then I hope you will become my strongest opponent."
Many things happened over the years and time flowed. Many players left the Miracle League and these two innocent teenagers became revered predecessors that countless people admired.
However, the promise made at a young age was always remembered.
Finally, Li Cangyu took the new Canglan team and reached the finals with much difficulty.
Finally, Ling Xuefeng was in the finals, waiting for his king to return!
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Chapter 215 – Finals (1)
The schedule for the playoffs was relatively tight. After the semi-finals, the Canglan team only had three days of rest. Li Cangyu didn"t intend to return to Changsha. Instead, he found an Internet cafe near the hotel where everyone could focus on training.
In the regular season, Canglan won against Wind Colour 2:1 in an away match while Wind Colour won 2:1 at the home. The two sides were tied but Li Cangyu was well aware that Wind Colour didn"t do their best in the regular season. In particular, Ling Xuefeng didn"t appear in two games and sent the newcomers to train.
Ling Xuefeng wouldn"t be so relaxed in the finals and it would be more difficult to play.
The major teams of the Miracle League had distinctive features. Wind Colour might be dominated by the dark style but the overall configuration of players was very reasonable. Their tactics weren"t too singular. The black magicians would give negative states while the summoners controlled the opponents. This lineup had a strong overall force. They could move forward and retreat, attack and defend. Ling Xuefeng"s stable command also made Wind Colour an extremely difficult enemy.
However, Li Cangyu wasn"t stressed about the result of the finals. He had already reached this stage and winning or losing wasn"t his obsession. Instead, he was very excited at the thought of playing in the finals and wasn"t able to sleep well these days.
The result of Cat G.o.d"s hyperactive spirit was that all team members once again entered the devil training. It was impossible to improve the level of their game in just three days. The more important thing was to consolidate their previous training results in case they drop the chain in the finals.
The intensity of the training was high but everyone"s mood was relatively relaxed.Ah Shu said very happily, “It is also good to be runner-ups. The runner-up also gets a money reward."
The eyes of the teenagers lit up and Old Zhang couldn"t help patting him on the back. “Don"t be so worldly okay? The significance of the prize isn"t money… although I also like the prize money."
Bai Xuan watched their boisterous actions with a warm smile, like he was watching his own family.
He had followed Li Cangyu for many years and the atmosphere of the former team wasn"t so harmonious. Due to their frequent losses, everyone"s mood was always low and they weren"t happy when training. Now it was different. Everyone moved shoulder to shoulder, struggling until they finally reached the finals and could aim for the championship.
Canglan had already become a first-cla.s.s team in the league.
Li Cangyu saw Bai Xuan"s thoughtful expression and joked, "Are you starting to feel it now?"
Bai Xuan looked back at him and smile. “So many years have pa.s.sed and I didn"t think that one day I could really enter the finals. Strangely, my mood is relaxed and I"m not nervous at all.
Li Cangyu nodded. "I am the same. At this step, winning or losing isn"t important. Of course, being able to take the championship is still the best outcome."
Bai Xuan reached out a hand. “Then let"s try it!"
***
The atmosphere on Canglan"s side was relaxed and the players of Wind Colour also weren"t nervous. The players seemed confident in defeating Canglan.
Ling Xuefeng called everyone to a pre-match meeting and said seriously, "Don"t underestimate the Canglan team. Their tactical layout has the most possible changes in the Miracle League and the combination of eight cla.s.ses will produce a variety of different effects. Li Cangyu has high tactical literacy and I can"t guess what type of combinations he will send in the finals."
Sure enough, Captain Ling couldn"t guess whenever he encountered Canglan…
Ling Xuefeng paused before continuing, "However, the changes doesn"t change the Canglan team. We just need to grasp their core and find out how to deal with it…"
The captain started to patiently a.n.a.lyze the characteristics and weaknesses of each combination. The players listened carefully. After the pre-match meeting, everyone consciously sat down at their computers to start the final training.
***
Time flew extremely quickly and three days pa.s.sed in an instant. The finals of the seventh season of the Miracle League finally opened on the weekend at 9 a.m. at the main venue in Beijing.
The price of the ticket for the finals was extremely high but it was sold out in less than 10 minutes. The venue was crowded with people while the VIP stands were particularly star-studded. Tan s.h.i.tian, Cheng Wei, the Su Yu brothers of the Flying Feathers team, the Lou Zhang combination of the Ghost Spirits team, Red Fox"s captain and vice-captain, the best auxiliary Chu Yan, the hunter Jiang Xu, etc. All the G.o.ds who were famous in the Miracle League came to watch the finals.
It could be seen that the great G.o.ds of other teams were very interested in this old confrontation and came to witness a wonderful moment.
The audience was in high spirits and the number of people watching the Internet live broadcast reached record highs. The front page headlines of e-sports websites were all full of guesses and prospects…
After many years, the oldest opponents were meeting for the first time in the finals. This alone was enough to detonate the audience"s attention.
In the commentators" room, Kou Hongyi"s hairs were p.r.i.c.king up with excitement and his voice was very high-pitched. "Audience members, the finals between Canglan and Wind Colour is about to begin! The players from both sides had already arrived on the big stage. Let"s first look at the players of both teams!"
On the big stage where lights were flashing, the two teams stood next to each other. Li Cangyu and Ling Xuefeng stood side by side while the other players fanned out next to them. The Wind Colour team members on the left were wearing red and black uniforms. The Canglan members on the right were wearing blue and white. The couple clothes really made it seem like a fateful match.
Information appeared on the big screen while the camera zoomed in on the corresponding player.
Li Cangyu was very handsome as he smiled at the camera. He waved and greeted everyone. Vice-Captain Bai had a gentle smile while Ah Shu deliberately brushed at his bangs to look cool. Old Zhang grinned boldly. Among the teenagers, Xiao Han still showed a cold expression, Zhuo Hang behaved graciously, Gu Siming was excited and Li Xiaojiang shyly lowered her head.
The eight people with different personalities formed the Canglan team. It really wasn"t easy to get here and the audience warmly applauded them.
The players on the Wind Colour side also performed calmly. After all, Wind Colour had entered the finals last season and won the championship. This grand scene was commonplace for everyone.
The host handed the microphone to Li Cangyu and asked, "Cat G.o.d, this is your first time leading the team into the finals. What do you want to say to everyone?"
Li Cangyu took the microphone and smiled. "I am very happy to enter the finals. I am also grateful for everyone"s support, especially the friends who came to the venue from far away. Thank you!"
The spectators wearing the Canglan uniform jumped from their seats with excitement and cheers filled the venue.
The host then asked, "What do you want to say to your opponent before the start of the game?"
Li Cangyu glanced at Ling Xuefeng and smiled. "Captain Ling, refuel."
The audience, "…"
Cat G.o.d, he is your opponent. Why are you cheering him on?
The host was also surprised for a moment before recovering. Then he asked Ling Xuefeng. "Cough, what does Captain Ling want to say?"
Ling Xuefeng looked at Li Cangyu and replied calmly, "You should also refuel."
The audience, "…"
These two people were unprecedented opponents yet they were cheering for each other?
What about the fated enemies where one lived and one died? The two of them were supposed to look at each other with fiery eyes and say things like "come on", or "wait for me to abuse you." What was with the cheers?
Cheng Wei looked dazed. "I haven"t seen any opponents cheering for each other before a game."
Everyone around him nodded in agreement.
After the simple interview, the players of both sides walked into their respective soundproof rooms and connected their mouse and keyboard to perform the final debugging.
At 10 o"clock in the morning, the match officially started!
The two captains went to the referee and started to draw lots. Ling Xuefeng made a "please" gesture and said, "You first."
Li Cangyu smiled. "You first."
Ling Xuefeng didn"t argue and put his hand into the box to pull out an envelope. Li Cangyu took the other one and the two people opened it at the same time. Wind Colour was first and Canglan was second!
In the finals, the second team was actually more disadvantageous. If the first team won two games then the back team would have to win two consecutive games and the possibility of making a comeback was very small. Therefore, every game must be played cautiously. Canglan absolutely couldn"t let Wind Colour take the lead to score 2:0.
***
Li Cangyu returned to the soundproof room and waited for the plan submitted by Wind Colour. Ling Xuefeng didn"t hesitate to submit the lineup that had already been set—team battle, Wilderness Ridge!
The appearance of this map made many audience members scream, with even the great G.o.ds in the VIP stands showing admiring expressions. It was a seven star, the highest difficulty map. This was a fierce choice that was really worthy of Ling Xuefeng!
The Wind Colour lineup was then shown on the big screen. Ling Xuefeng and Qin Mo"s mentor and apprentice summoning combination, Yan Ruiwen and Guo Xuan"s double black magician combination, the beast berserker Liao Zhenyu in the front row and the blood kin sacrifice He Qun.
Li Cangyu had guessed this lineup before. After all, it was Wind Colour"s most stable and regular lineup.
This Wilderness Ridge map was really hard to fight in because it was a death map with complicated terrain. This was actually a cemetery. If players stepped on a grave then they would be directly buried in the ground and killed. More important, the tombstones in the map changed frequently, which was equivalent to a set of flowing death traps.
Li Cangyu thought for a long time while the audience members were tense. It wasn"t until the final three seconds that Canglan submitted their lineup.
—Gu Siming, Zhang Jueming, the Shu Bai combination, Li Cangyu and Xiao Han.
This was also a regular lineup for the Canglan team. The audience didn"t understand why he had to think about it for so long. Only the great G.o.ds sitting in the stands knew that Cat G.o.d had been thinking for so long because he was thinking about a tactical solution to deal with Wind Colour, not the lineup.
The other side had made a fierce move so he had to calm down and think about the context of the game.
As for what countermeasures he came up with in his head, only he would know before the game started.
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