Chapter 1664: It Ends Here
Translator: Nomyummi Editor: Nomyummi
Roll, jump, crawl…
Fang Rui was like a fish in the water, moving around freely no matter how shameful it looked. Lu Boyuan’s Chaotic Cloudy Mountain stepped forward with Reinforced Iron Bones active, but in the end, Fang Rui was able to escape. And after seeing that Chaotic Cloudy Mountain had activated Reinforced Iron Bones, he took advantage of it to throw out two skills without any concealment.
Reinforced Iron Bones was valuable for its Super Armor buff, and Super Armor was valuable for allowing the user to ignore incoming enemy attacks. If you dodged and hid yourself while using Reinforced Iron Bones, then you were wasting the Super Armor.
5.
6.
More numbers appeared in the public chat from Fang Rui.
No one had thought anything of the previous “3”, but after seeing this “5” and “6”, people were finally beginning to catch on.
“Is he counting how much damage he’s dealing?”
“How dirty!”
Everyone sighed. This time, even the pro players thought that Fang Rui was using his dirtiness to engage in a psychological battle: listing out every damage he dealt to increase the mental pressure on his opponent.
It obviously wasn’t wrong to think this, and it was indeed something Fang Rui would do. But today, it wasn’t actually his intention. He was simply using it as a way to remind himself, to keep himself focused.
Soon afterwards, two more attacks landed on Chaotic Cloudy Mountain. The number jumped to 9. His attacks weren’t anything special. He was taking advantage of the fact that Lu Boyuan wouldn’t give up on trying to take the initiative with Reinforced Iron Bones activated.
If you want to give up, I’ll help you give up. But if you don’t, then sorry, I won’t keep you company.
Five attacks had dealt 9%. But Lu Boyuan’s Chaotic Cloudy Mountain had closed the distance considerably. Fang Rui wasn’t greedy. He immediately stopped attacking and focused on running away.
Suddenly, Chaotic Cloudy Mountain flickered, closing the distance at an extraordinary speed.
Cloud Body!
Many of the viewers immediately thought of this movement skill. It was the Striker’s movement skill, Cloud Body, and the skill that Lu Boyuan had placed on his weapon.
The skill placed on a pro player’s weapon wasn’t easy to predict. Since there was no way to guard against it, its first usage in a match would always be extremely effective.
Relying on this surprise move, the bit of distance between them was instantly closed. Chaotic Cloudy Mountain’s two hands reached out to grab Boundless Sea.
In the previous moment, Boundless Sea had been focused on escaping. In the next moment, he suddenly turned around and threw out a palm.
The attack was too fast, too close. It couldn’t be dodged, but Lu Boyuan didn’t care too much. Chaotic Cloudy Mountain still had Reinforced Iron Bones active. That sort of instinctive attack wouldn’t be able to stop him.
Chaotic Cloudy Mountain’s two hands went for the grab, when his body suddenly lifted into the air.
Qigong Blast!
It had just seemed to be an instinctive counterattack, but it turned out to be the Qi Master’s Level 70 skill, Qigong Blast. The qi surged through Chaotic Cloudy Mountain’s body and wreaked havoc inside. The leather armor on him seemed like it was about to split apart from the outward pressure.
A Level 70 skill couldn’t be used so easily. Fang Rui had planned this ahead of time. He had pretended to run away, but in actuality, he had been waiting for Chaotic Cloudy Mountain to come. He didn’t care if Chaotic Cloudy Mountain used a movement skill like Cloud Body. No matter what happened, Lu Boyuan would want to get close to him as fast as possible. This point would never be wrong.
Chaotic Cloudy Mountain was. .h.i.t.
However, even Qigong Blast couldn’t break through Super Armor. Chaotic Cloudy Mountain was able to get a hold of Boundless Sea in the end.
Chaotic Cloudy Mountain lifted Boundless Sea up and tossed him into the air, the low-level skill Fling. The grabs had begun. However, at the same time, his Chaotic Cloudy Mountain’s health slid down by a large chunk. Reinforced Iron Bones only increased the user’s physical defense. However, Qi Master attacks dealt magic damage. The defense buff from Reinforced Iron Bones was useless.
18.
Boundless Sea had been tossed into the air, but Fang Rui was still counting. The damage from this Level 70 skill dealt more damage than the previous five attacks combined.
However, the one with the initiative was Lu Boyuan.
Chaotic Cloudy Mountain threw Boundless Sea around like a doll. At the same time, he also reported his damage numbers in the public chat.
3, 6, 11, 15.
Four skills, four numbers. Grappler skills were powerful. These four skills dealt nearly as much damage as a Qi Master’s five attacks plus a Level 70 skill. He wasn’t done yet either.
Spiralling Whirlwind!
Chaotic Cloudy Mountain ended his Grappler combi with a Level 70 skill. Due to the high grab priority, Fang Rui had no way to escape it. Boundless Sea spun in the air as he crashed to the ground with a boom that echoed through the canyon.
25!!
Lu Boyuan reported another number. This was the total damage dealt from a single combo, far more than the 18% that Boundless Sea had bitterly built up.
This was a Grappler.
Due to the high priority of grabs, if a Grappler could get a single attack to land, the opponent would find it nearly impossible to escape. Grapplers never had long combos, but each attack was extremely powerful. No other cla.s.s had this sort of consistency in their combos.
After the final hit, Chaotic Cloudy Mountain jumped away.
Fang Rui had seen through Lu Boyuan’s intentions and racked up damage, even getting in a Level 70 attack. But so what?
In the end, he hadn’t been able to control the situation. After the fierce Grappler combo, Lu Boyuan was the one who had the advantage. Lu Boyuan had hit back, taking out 25% of Boundless Sea’s health. If Fang Rui had been trying to put pressure on his opponent by reporting the damage that he dealt, then it had the opposite effect. With such a powerful counterattack from Lu Boyuan, the one feeling the pressure would be Fang Rui.
The dirty method backfired. For the Samsara fans, it was a joyous scene. Pan Lin and Li Yibo also praised Lu Boyuan’s counterattack. The spectating pro players all felt that compared to the 25% health lost, the pressure from this counterattack was even more terrifying.
Boundless Sea started rolling around on the ground again. He didn’t stand up. He just continued to roll.
Fang Rui had started his annoying and unsightly movements again.
Qi Bullet!
Chaotic Cloudy Mountain easily dodged it.
Cloud Pus.h.i.+ng Palm…
Cloud Splitting Palm…
Skills poured out. Fang Rui was practically playing the cooldown game, using all sorts of weak, low-level skills. These skills had low cooldowns and fast start-ups. With so many attacks being thrown out, it indeed wasn’t easy to defend against.
But so what if it was hard to defend against?
A Qi Bullet hit Chaotic Cloudy Mountain. The qi exploded, but his momentum wasn’t impacted at all. Chaotic Cloudy Mountain continued to search for an opportunity to get close to Boundless Sea.
19.
Another number in the public chat.
After a long struggle, Fang Rui was able to get in a single Qi Bullet, but it had practically zero effect on the battle, dealing only 1%.
But Fang Rui recorded it anyways.
Even with this 1%, he had only dealt a total of 19%, still not enough to catch up to Chaotic Cloudy Mountain’s 25%. However, Fang Rui didn’t seem to have noticed the 25% he took. He was still carefully keeping track of his damage.
21.
After some more back and forth, he finally got another two percent.
He didn’t feel any pressure from Lu Boyuan’s counterattack. The only thing on his mind was his own numbers. Even when Lu Boyuan had typed out 3, 6, 11, 15, 25 during the Grappler combo, Fang Rui was only looking at the 18. The number that Lu Boyuan had surpa.s.sed in one combo.
19, 21…
Fang Rui carefully and patiently increased this number. There was nothing else on his mind.
24, 28…
25 had been pa.s.sed, but the thought never crossed Fang Rui’s mind because he hadn’t even seen the 25.
31…
Another successful hit.
The stadium was silent.
In everyone’s eyes, the attacks from Fang Rui couldn’t be considered as an offensive play. One attack would just be one attack.
This sort of mindless fighting was too amateurish in the eyes of the pro players. But this amateurish fighting was actually frustrating Lu Boyuan. For Lu Boyuan, he couldn’t read Fang Rui. Lu Boyuan’s intuition and experience couldn’t be used against this sort of strategy.
Fang Rui’s playing was pure and simple.
Tactics? Schemes? Psychological warfare? All of these things had been tossed out by him because he didn’t have the energy to think about any of it.
After 31, 32.
Another 1% damage. Fang Rui counted it.
It was a strategy with no thought to it, and it felt deeply oppressive. Lu Boyuan’s Chaotic Cloudy Mountain chased after Boundless Sea fiercely, but he just couldn’t grab him. All of a sudden, Boundless Sea would nick him with a tiny poke.
Everyone was staring intently at Chaotic Cloudy Mountain’ two hands, waiting for them to grab Boundless Sea, but that moment never happened. Finally, the NPCs on the two ends sp.a.w.ned and began charging towards each other!
None of the two characters were the focus of the NPCs, but it was hard not to be implicated in their battle.
Chaotic Cloudy Mountain and Boundless Sea were dodging the NPC attacks, but as they dodged, they would constantly be looking for openings to attack.
35!
Amidst the chaos, Fang Rui was able to land an attack.
The chaos also increased the number of variables being changed. In the end, Lu Boyuan was able to find an opening.
“29!!!”
He typed out the total damage dealt after this blow, but this time, because of interference from the NPCs, he wasn’t able to continue the combo.
Boundless Sea was thrown to the ground, not cras.h.i.+ng into any NPCs. Lu Boyuan had done this on purpose. The two had been entangled in the battle between the NPCs for a while. Each of them had gotten in a blow on the other, but neither of them had aggroed the NPCs.
From this perspective, Chaotic Cloudy Mountain had the advantage. Grappler attacks had to be done at point blank range. It was practically impossible for him to accidentally hit an NPC. Boundless Sea was different, though. Qi Masters had quite a few mid-ranged attacks. His situation was very similar to Zhou Zekai’s situation last round. Fang Rui wanted to attack Lu Boyuan, but he also didn’t want to hit an NPC. Fighting from a distance was harder than fighting up close, and compared to Chaotic Cloudy Mountain, Boundless Sea was fighting from a distance.
Even so, Fang Rui was still proactive. Boundless Sea weaved in and out through the NPC crowd, searching for an opportunity. Lu Boyuan thought that he had the upper hand. He had even been afraid that Fang Rui would run away, although that never happened. Fang Rui’s Boundless Sea was firmly locked onto him.
39!
Lu Boyuan made a careless mistake, and was. .h.i.t by another attack from Boundless Sea. A new number appeared.
Does he want to count up to 100?
It was still far from 100, but Lu Boyuan was certain. How could he know that 100 wasn’t Fang Rui’s goal? Fang Rui didn’t have a fixed goal. The more the better.
41.
45.
47.
50.
50! Half his health!
Not a single attack made anyone feel like Fang Rui had the upper hand, but even so, he had already taken out half of Chaotic Cloudy Mountain’s health. As for Lu Boyuan? After his powerful 25% counterattack, he was only able to get in one more 4% attack.
I’m being toyed with by Fang Rui again?
Lu Boyuan couldn’t keep himself calm. In the end, he was a rather emotional player. When he was playing well, he could make explosive plays one after the other. But when he tilted, his playing would likely falter.
In today’s match, he had strengthened his resolve. When he came on stage, he carefully sorted out this resolve, so he wouldn’t be impulsive.
He had suppressed his emotions. He needed to be rational, calm. But Fang Rui’s annoying strategy had truly made him lose his temper.
His emotions were in an awful state. He just wanted to vent, to explode with anger.
And when Fang Rui counted to 50, his base line was finally shattered.
Unable to endure it any longer, Chaotic Cloudy Mountain suddenly made a move.
Spiralling Whirlwind!
The Level 70 skill made its appearance again, but this time, Boundless Sea wasn’t in his grasp. His hands grabbed nothing but air. The centripetal force generated from this attack would suck in nearby enemies, but Boundless Sea was a bit too far. With a roll, Boundless Sea escaped.
Lu Boyuan didn’t stop, launching a group of NPCs into the air.
Boom.
Like a meteor, he crashed to the ground, spinning like a tornado. All the nearby NPCs were dragged into the whirlwind, falling down like raindrops.
Chaotic Cloudy Mountain had provoked the NPCs on both sides. Suddenly, all sorts of attacks were thrown towards him.
The attacks were aimed at Chaotic Cloudy Mountain, but they wouldn’t purposefully avoid Boundless Sea.
Chaotic Cloudy Mountain dashed towards Boundless Sea.
Previously, he had to be careful to avoid the NPCs. This time, he wasn’t going to avoid them anymore. Lu Boyuan was going to sweep aside any NPCs in his way.
Pa!
A Qi Bullet exploded.
51.
Fang Rui counted again.
Lu Boyuan threw all caution to the wind. As Chaotic Cloudy Mountain charged forward, he tossed every nearby NPC towards Boundless Sea. Fling, Spinning Throw, Back Throw… for a moment, he had turned into a long-ranged attacker. The NPCs nearby were his ammunition.
Boundless Sea ran. The incoming NPCs were blocked by other NPCs. Lu Boyuan had made things even more chaotic.
54.
Fang Rui was still calm, using every opportunity he saw to get in a hit.
Chaotic Cloudy Mountain didn’t waver.
Reinforced Iron Bones. He had activated it again. This time, he was really planning on just barging through everything in his path.
A nearby NPC swung his sword at Chaotic Cloudy Mountain.
Chaotic Cloudy Mountain didn’t dodge. He leapt into the air.
Aerial Twist!
His two legs latched onto the NPC’s neck. With a twist, the NPC was thrown into the air. Before the NPC landed, Chaotic Cloudy Mountain let go, and then latched onto another NPC’s neck.
Circle Sweep Kick!
Chaotic Cloudy Mountain held onto the NPC with one leg, and then twisted.
Boundless Sea suddenly appeared in front of him. Chaotic Cloudy Mountain had used two NPCs as bridges to close the gap between himself and Boundless Sea.
Pa!
Chaotic Cloudy Mountain’s head was whacked. Qi burst forth, Flash Burst!
But it couldn’t break apart Chaotic Cloudy Mountain’s Super Armor.
His health dropped, but Chaotic Cloudy Mountain had grabbed onto Boundless Sea.
Super Armor. He had Super Armor, and Boundless Sea still had 22% health. Amidst this chaos, Boundless Sea wasn’t able to completely avoid any injuries.
22%!
No matter what, I have to take down that last 22%!
The qi burst out from Chaotic Cloudy Mountain’s head as Boundless Sea was flung into the air.
He quickly looked around him.
The NPCs were attacking him non-stop, but with Reinforced Iron Bones active, he only feared CC skills that could break Super Armor.
There were none!
Chaotic Cloudy Mountain jumped, his health dropping rapidly.
There was NPC damage mixed in with that Flash Burst. But he didn’t dodge any of the attacks. He reached out and grabbed the airborne Boundless Sea.
Fatal Air Drop!
Boundless Sea crashed to the ground.
But just two attacks wasn’t enough to take out 22%.
Chaotic Cloudy Mountain dropped down as Boundless Sea was thrown ruthlessly to the ground. After touching the ground, Boundless Sea bounced back into the air from the powerful impact.
At this moment, his character was no longer in a grabbed state, so Fang Rui quickly acted.
He couldn’t move while in the air. All he could do was have Boundless Sea attack his opponent.
How much health does he have left?
Because Chaotic Cloudy Mountain was still taking damage from the NPC attacks, Fang Rui wasn’t certain.
Spiral Qi Kill!
As Boundless Sea bounced into the air, he frantically sent out an attack.
A whirlwind of qi twisted towards the falling Chaotic Cloudy Mountain.
Chaotic Cloudy Mountain didn’t dodge. He couldn’t dodge because he was also in the air.
He reached out with his hands and grabbed Boundless Sea.
Overhead Toss!
Chaotic Cloudy Mountain twisted his arms and threw Boundless Sea back to the ground.
He fell, and Boundless Sea fell. But when he stood up, Boundless Sea was flat on the ground.
It wasn’t over yet. Boundless Sea still had 2% of his health left. After his first grab onto Boundless Sea, Chaotic Cloudy Mountain remained close.
Overhead Toss into Ground Toss…
Boundless Sea was lifted into the air and then thrown to the ground.
Boundless Sea’s health dropped to zero. Fang Rui was still staring at Chaotic Cloudy Mountain’s health bar.
The moment Boundless Sea’s health fell to zero, victory was decided, and Chaotic Cloudy Mountain’s health was locked into place.
Fang Rui could finally see it clearly.
84.
84%.
Keep going!
Fang Rui was still tapping his keyboard and moving his mouse, but he discovered that Boundless Sea could no longer be controlled. His screen was strange – it had turned gray.
Fang Rui stared blankly.
84%. So it ends here?