Chapter 312 – You’re Still Too Green
The originally orderly round of applause gradually turned into chaos, until the noise completely faded into nothing.
The audience members that had been applauding for Sun Xiang had already stopped in embarra.s.sment. And those who were feeling sorry for Han Wenqing suddenly flew from h.e.l.l to heaven and didn’t know how to react for a moment.
Even the host was secretly celebrating after a moment of shock. He had almost announced the incorrect result. He had thought that Han Wenqing had certainly died and was just about to congratulate Sun Xiang on his victory.
The dead silence continued for a few seconds, until the audience finally regained their composure and erupted in applause. The broadcast used this moment of shock to quickly show the camera shot of that final instant. Every screen switched to the frame of that cut and repeatedly transmitted it.
Only then was the audience able to understand.
The moment the black dragon roared forward from One Autumn Leaf’s Rising Dragon Soars Through the Sky, the still in mid-air Desert Dust repeatedly stamped down.
Those who were familiar with Glory recognized that he was using Eagle Stamp.
Eagle Stamp didn’t consist of only a single stamp. As the skill level increased, the number of stamps could reach five. Desert Dust had clearly leveled the skill to this point. When his stamp collided with Sky Strike, even though his character was. .h.i.t away, Eagle Stamp’s skill hadn’t been interrupted. The next four stamps allowed Desert Dust to drop down diagonally.
By relying on this diagonal drop, Desert Dust was able to dodge the black dragon’s roar. After landing on the ground, he immediately used a Das.h.i.+ng Jab. At this moment, One Autumn Leaf’s Rising Dragon Soars Through the Sky hadn’t completely finished yet, so how he could dodge this attack? With only a sliver of health remaining, he fell under this Level 10 skill.
This short instant played repeatedly. The broadcast hurried with their work and cut out all of the exchanges after the red blood and then showed them on the screen from different points of view. The replay at normal speed looked like it was playing at high-speed and the slow-motion replay looked like the proper speed.
The applause continued to resound.
Han Wenqing stood up from his platform. In the same manner that he had appeared on stage, he walked down to the center.
As for Sun Xiang? He couldn’t believe what had happened. He couldn’t believe that he’d lost on that final strike.
As a pro player, losing was a very common occurrence. It was just that he had been so confident in this match. He had already said that he would end the grudge between Excellent Era and Tyranny. But he was the one who had actually lost. It truly made him feel ashamed.
Sun Xiang really wished that he could hide behind the platform and wait until the All-Star Weekend’s first day ended before slipping out. But he knew that this wasn’t possible. Hiding wasn’t an option. The longer he hid, the more embarra.s.sed he’d be.
Sun Xiang sucked in a deep breath and finally stood up. He had to face what was to come.
He walked down from his platform and saw that Han Wenqing was already standing at the center of the stage. Han Wenqing didn’t say anything and didn’t leave. He just stood there.
Sun Xiang’s eyes twitched.
Han Wenqing was waiting for him and certainly wanted to say something. Unfortunately, he definitely wasn’t a friendly senior.
He finally walked to the center of the stage and saw that Han Wenqing’s cold glare was fixated on him.
Sun Xiang walked in front of him and was still able to force a smile.
Tyranny and Excellent Era were originally rivals in the Alliance. And before the match, Sun Xiang had even said such arrogant words. It was obvious just how unfriendly this match was. Despite the host’s abundant experience, at this moment, even he didn’t know what to say. He looked to the left and then looked to the right. Suddenly, he noticed that Han Wenqing’s cold stare was aimed at him. The host s.h.i.+vered. He didn’t say anything and handed the mic over to Han Wenqing.
“Ha ha.” Han Wenqing laughed, “The children want a change in dynasties, but they’re still too green.”
The entire stadium went into an uproar, especially the media. Everyone was excited.
No one had thought that this year’s Rookie Challenge would turn out like this.
Han Wenqing! He deserved to be called the Tyrant. His taunt wasn’t aimed solely at Sun Xiang, but also at the earlier Tang Hao, who had said “the junior succeeds the senior”. And perhaps he was also including Gao Yingjie, who had beaten w.a.n.g Jiexi earlier, as well.
This year’s Rookie Challenge kept having actual challenges to seniors. The previous two had been successful, but when it got to Han Wenqing, he finally helped the veterans restore their reputation. His “still too green” represented a powerful reply to all of those rookies who were impatiently hoping to beat the veterans.
Sun Xiang’s face was filled with bitterness, but what could he do? Han Wenqing’s counterattack had been made after winning the match. He had proof to show, magnifying the strength by a hundred times.
Sun Xiang had originally been someone who was put shoulder to shoulder with G.o.ds like Han Wenqing. But his evaluation of “still too green” mercilessly killed off Sun Xiang’s status as a G.o.d. At this moment, he had been degraded into a true rookie, impatient to seize the top. But in truth, he had already reached there……. There is a story where someone tries to steal a chicken, but ends up losing a handful of rice. It was just like this.
And Han Wenqing wasn’t done yet.
His previous words had been directed at all of the rookies, but his next few words were especially for Sun Xiang.
“Not bad. You played quite well.” Han Wenqing also said these courteous words, but his ice-cold tone made it feel awkward.
“Being able to accurately hit out a Sky Strike from behind is something that few people can do. Amazing.” Han Wenqing said.
Sun Xiang was astonished. That truly was a G.o.d-like display of his mechanics and decision-making. It was exceptionally brilliant. He didn’t think that Han Wenqing would especially highlight it.
The broadcasts also followed along. When they heard Han Wenqing’s words, they immediately showed the clip of Sun Xiang’s brilliant Sky Strike. For a short while, the atmosphere turned friendlier. The host’s eyes brightened and he wanted to say something too, but Han Wenqing spoke first: “But if that was Ye Qiu, then at the very least, he wouldn’t have missed that Rising Dragon.”
After saying this, he turned around and walked out.
The situation suddenly turned stiff. Han Wenqing had went in a circle with Sun Xiang, but with this, everyone was able to understand what he was saying.
“You’re quite good, but compared to us veterans, you’re still too green.”
And even worse, he had brought Ye Qiu into it.
The Excellent Era fans who were ready to jump up and shout for Sun Xiang all silently sat back down after hearing this.
Although Ye Qiu had retired, his glorious silhouette still wouldn’t leave their hearts. If Han Wenqing had said that Sun Xiang wasn’t as good as he himself was, everyone would definitely jump up and argue. But by using Ye Qiu as a comparison, Excellent Era’s fans could only accept this. Chen Guo was one of these fans.
After Han Wenqing won and began to ridicule Sun Xiang, she flew into a rage. But after he mentioned Ye Qiu, she suddenly quieted down and silently sat back down like a lady.
The stadium once again turned silent and watched as Han Wenqing walked off stage. The screens were still playing Sun Xiang’s brilliant Sky Strike, but the scene was quickly changed. It was clear that the broadcasters felt like showing it didn’t fit the situation.
Sun Xiang was left alone on stage. The host stood to one side and truly didn’t know what to say.
In the end, Sun Xiang took the initiative and grabbed the microphone.
“I lost today and there’s nothing I can say about it. But tomorrow, that might not be the case!” After saying this, he handed the mic back to the host and walked off the stage without looking back.
The audience silently watched. This time’s Rookie Challenge brought about a lot of different feelings. At this moment, no one knew if this was a good or bad thing.
The atmosphere in the stadium was stiff, which was something the host or broadcast company definitely did not hope to see. They immediately cleared the stage and moved to the next match.
The next match would be today’s final challenge. It had originally been a show the hosts had meticulously planned out. However, they didn’t expect that the Rookie Challenge would be so eye-catching. It was likely that the show they had planned wouldn’t bring out the desired results.
The hosts were from Team Samsara and their final match would be a rookie from their own team against their ace player, Zhou Zekai.
Samsara obviously couldn’t sacrifice Zhou Zekai to a new rookie. They had planned on using the Rookie Challenge to put a spotlight on Zhou Zekai. With a player from the same team, Zhou Zekai could make the show much more dazzling than anyone else’s with greater ease. But Samsara hadn’t expected that the rookies this time would all be so strong and create such a strong wave.
For the Rookie Challenge, the hosts only got to know the partic.i.p.ants beforehand. They had expected it to be the usual, where the rookie and the senior would have a friendly match. But this time, none of the rookies thought of the match as a show and played for real. The veterans refused to fall behind and, in the end, the Rookie Challenge turned into a huge compet.i.tion where the new and old fought to win. This was something that completely surpa.s.sed Samsara’s planned performance. At this moment, it seemed like they should just have things turn out like the first match. That way, everyone could appreciate the new projection technology. The dazzling colors would attract a few eyes and perhaps leave more of an impression.
And right now? When the challenger’s name came out, the audience’s reactions were clearly mediocre. After seeing the huge climax between Sun Xiang and Han Wenqing, the audience members were no longer expecting anything.
Samsara members were depressed, but there was nothing they could do and could only continue as planned. The rookie and Zhou Zekai went up on stage, said a few words to each other, and then fought. The two fought beautifully and splendidly. Since it was Samsara’s home grounds, the audience’s reactions were still relatively warm, but they were only warm and far from excited.
Samsara was helpless. Their meticulously planned performance really did become sipmly a performance in the eyes of the audience.