After ganging up on the half-health Knight, we officially received notification for the final match. After this match, we could advance to the Top 16. As long as we made it to the Top 16, there would definitely be rewards. The system's rewards would surely be good, and since it was the first competition's rewards, according to the system's rules, they should be even more generous.
During the break between matches, Xu Lin checked the forum and then told us, "The rewards allow everyone one draw. There are no byes, and the Champion's reward is at least a blue-tier equipment. That means if we can win the Champion, we'll have five chances to draw rewards. Perhaps..."
"Will there be Divine Artifacts? Or Spirit Artifacts? I think the worst it could be is orange-tier equipment, right?" Xin Yu started to fantasize.
Xu Lin shook her head and said, "Impossible. Orange-tier equipment requires at least level 40, and I estimate Divine Artifacts would require level 50 or above. It's impossible for these items to drop at the current stage. The best we can hope for is probably purple-tier equipment."
Lu Xuehan said contentedly, "Purple-tier equipment? That's not bad either."
Li Qing didn't speak, but her smile showed her current mood. Among our group of five, her strength was the weakest. If we could advance to the Champion, it would be strange if she wasn't overjoyed.
Xu Lin checked the time: "The next match is about to start. Everyone must do well in this final qualifying match."
...Time was up, and our opponents appeared on the other side of the arena—
It was an all-Priest combination, and all of them were level 24!
Xu Lin's voice trembled slightly: "Why are all the combinations so abnormal? How do they plan to fight with an all-Priest team?"
She was actually concerned for the other side. Xin Yu couldn't help but laugh and say, "No matter how they fight, we'll just pick them off one by one. Lin Fan, what do you think?"
"Yes, just kill them one by one. Absolutely do not give them a chance to heal each other, otherwise, if we all get hit with Curse and status spells, it will be hard to fight."
Everyone agreed, and five minutes later, the battle began!
Xin Yu's Concussion Arrow instantly stunned a Priest, while I chose a closer Priest and charged over. Lu Xuehan's control was precise; the moment I was Cursed, she cast Dispel Magic. A precious 15 seconds was enough to take down one Priest!
It was a Heavy Strike plus Combo right from the start!
"464!"
"356!"
"342!"
"355!"
...Four numbers continuously popped up above that poor Priest's head. I think he should have died on the second hit, but he still held on until after taking the fourth hit. He must have died feeling incredibly unwilling and frustrated. His teammates didn't even have a chance to save him; my Heavy Strike and Combo were completed almost instantly. If their reactions weren't quick enough, they wouldn't have had time to cast healing skills.
Xin Yu's Exploding Arrow burst in the air with scorching heat. That Priest still managed to survive with the help of his teammates, white lights flashing continuously on his body, and he didn't forget to cast Curse and other negative spells on each of us.
Three minutes later... Xin Yu angrily shouted, "How do we fight this? When will it ever end? Lin Fan, stop chasing that female player, come over and chop this one down!"
How could I not want to? But these Priests in front of me were truly too abnormal. They actually treated me, the only melee class, like a kite, kiting me back and forth. Lu Xuehan's Dispel Magic cooldown wasn't ready, so I could only be boredly worn down in the middle. No wonder these guys made it to the Top 32; it turns out they relied on this almost shameless attrition tactic to get here. It's no wonder that those with slightly weaker equipment would probably have been worn to death by now.
I quickly gave up on the opponent's only female player and instead ran horizontally towards the Priest stunned by Xin Yu's Concussion Arrow. A Combo also took his life.
Phew, only three undying little rascals left!
Another three minutes later, a white light rose amidst Xu Lin's Fireball, and the opponent's last Priest finally died!
System Message: Congratulations to the Qing Cai Ke Ke team for advancing to the Top 16. The matches will be held tomorrow at 9 AM. At that time, draws will determine the match-ups!
Xu Lin let out a sigh of relief: "Finally done. That was really troublesome..."
With the match over, everyone dispersed. By this time, Murong Shanshan had also finished her last match and sent me a text message: "Are you done? Open the Champion Challenge function in the system help. You can find all the players who qualified for the Top 16 in this city there. Remember to take me to gain reputation tonight. I'm going offline to eat first."
Opening the system help, the list of the 16 qualified groups was indeed there. Murong Shanshan's group name was right after ours. Sure enough, there was that level 26 Thief named "Stealer of Heavens," followed by the level 25 Priest Ke Ke. There were also two Mages, both level 26. This combination should be the strongest besides our group.
Besides Murong Shanshan's group, there were a few others I knew: Kuang Zhan's group, with two level 27 Warriors, two level 27 Mages, and a level 26 Thief. Surprisingly, there was no Priest; I wonder what they were thinking. Another group was Ye Qiu's combination. Besides Ye Qiu using a Chinese ID, the other four all used English names: FINE, SEVEN, SAI, and RAIN. Such familiar IDs, these guys really did come! Ye Qiu was the highest level, a level 28 Mage, and the others were all level 27: one Priest and three Swordsmen. It was an offense-focused combination, which also aligned with the TOT Team's consistent philosophy—offense as defense!
"Lin Fan, come eat!" Lu Xuehan sweetly called me from outside.
After going offline, I opened the local game forum to take a look and found that the sticky post had already turned dark red, with millions of clicks. When I opened it, it was surprisingly the video of my duel with Murong Shanshan... "Damn, this guy really uploaded it?"
I murmured, then scrolled down to look at the replies. It was spectacular. Some of the content was as follows—
Sofa: Wow, Murong Shanshan is so beautiful! If I could marry her and have her as my wife, how wonderful that would be. I'd rather not sleep every day!
2nd Floor: Big brother upstairs, please post a picture so we can see your honorable face. A toad wanting to eat swan meat?
3rd Floor (The one on the Sofa): 2nd Floor, go to hell, you're despicable, you're a b*stard!
4th Floor: Keep quiet. Murong Shanshan is indeed good. Assessment complete!
5th Floor: I really want to examine Murong Shanshan's body...
6th Floor: Upstairs, go examine your mother!
7th Floor (ID: Yibo Yuntian): For women, stab brothers twice!
8th Floor: Fallen petals are not heartless things, turning into spring mud to protect the flowers more!
9th Floor: I can't take it anymore, this post is too evil. I need to go to the WC to take care of something first...
10th Floor: Oh my, have all the people from Central Prison been released?
...I almost fainted before finishing reading. People these days, when they get perverted, it's really deadly!