With the announcement—"Congratulations to Blue Rain for defeating Tiny Herb and winning the Season Six championship! This is their first title in team history, and they've shattered Tiny Herb's dream of back-to-back championships!"—
Season Six came to a perfect close. Blue Rain completed its rebirth that season. "Sword and Curse" became famous across the league, along with Huang Shaotian's nonstop mouth.
A grand celebration was held at Blue Rain's home ground in G City, but none of it had anything to do with Samsara.
Like Blue Rain, Samsara was an old team in the league. However, during the first four seasons, they had always been a lower- to mid-tier team in the Glory Pro League.
It wasn't until the end of Season Four that Fang Minghua strongly recommended Zhou Zekai to Samsara, pushing out the original captain Zhang Yiwei. Zhou Zekai lived up to expectations.
In Season Five, Zhou Zekai took over One Shot One Kill and burst onto the scene like Wang Jiexi had before him. He won Rookie of the Year and led this weak team into the playoffs for the first time in their history.
Unfortunately, they fell in the quarterfinals.
Still, for a team that had long struggled in the lower ranks, that result was more than enough to be proud of. Their problem was also clear: although captain Zhou Zekai was extremely strong, he was quiet and introverted. In team fights, his teammates couldn't fully understand his intentions, nor could they keep up with his pace.
That was why Samsara broke into the playoffs in Season Five but couldn't go any further. They only had Zhou Zekai. His overwhelming strength, combined with weak support, even earned Samsara a nickname from outsiders—"the one-man team."
In Season Six, once again on Fang Minghua's recommendation, Samsara brought in rookie player Jiang Botao from He Wu. After he joined, the team slowly began to improve.
Jiang Botao formed strong chemistry with Zhou Zekai. He could understand Zhou Zekai's intentions, and as a result, Samsara began a lively and effective adjustment phase in Season Six.
After a full season of polishing, Samsara gradually found its rhythm.
But one problem remained. Because the team lacked firepower, countering Samsara was simple—just suppress Zhou Zekai. This weakness was clearly exposed in Season Six. Once Zhou Zekai was heavily restricted, the rest of the team couldn't hold the front line.
So for Samsara, the urgent issue was clear: insufficient firepower made it hard for them to stand their ground head-on.
They desperately needed someone who could share the pressure and attention with Zhou Zekai's One Shot One Kill on the front line.
And that person was in their own training camp.
Season Seven.
Inside Samsara's training camp, a young boy was in the middle of an intense fight.
"You have too many openings," he said.
On the screen, two Battle Mages were fighting, but it wasn't even close. It was completely one-sided.
"Boring."
"Vice-captain Jiang, what do you think about this kid from our training camp?" the team manager asked.
Watching from outside were Samsara's team manager and vice-captain Jiang Botao.
Jiang Botao had joined Samsara in Season Six after being picked up from He Wu. Since joining, he had shown strong chemistry with star player Zhou Zekai and earned nicknames like "glue," "all-rounder," "fix-it man," and "timely rain."
"Not bad. His understanding of the Battle Mage and his awareness are already at a pro level," Jiang Botao said. "He's just a bit raw."
"I want to promote him to the main roster as soon as possible. Only real matches can temper him. The training camp can't challenge him anymore. This will also help our future plans," Jiang Botao said with a smile as he looked at the boy.
"He'll be the final piece for Samsara's championship run."
So who was this boy?
His name was Zhou Yichen. He joined Samsara's training camp just last year and was a rookie Battle Mage. But when he first entered the camp, he wasn't playing a Battle Mage at all.
His connection with the Battle Mage class was interesting.
At a friend's strong urging, he watched the Season Three finals online, where One Autumn Leaf used a single spear, Evil Annihilator, to break Double Flowers. That match shocked Zhou Yichen deeply. From that moment on, he fell in love with the Battle Mage and even asked the training coach to let him switch classes, abandoning his previous role.
After repeated attempts to talk him out of it failed, the coach finally agreed to let him try. That single attempt opened a whole new world.
"Xiao Zhou, come here for a moment," the team manager called.
"This is our vice-captain, Jiang Botao. Vice-captain, this is Zhou Yichen, a genius Battle Mage who joined our training camp at the end of last year," the manager introduced.
"Hello, Vice-captain. I'm Zhou Yichen. My idol is One Autumn Leaf, and my goal is to become the number one Battle Mage in the league," Zhou Yichen said as he shook Jiang Botao's hand, confidence shining in his eyes.
"Nice to meet you, Xiao Zhou—can I call you that? I'm Jiang Botao. I play a Magic Swordsman," Jiang Botao said with a smile.
"You like Battle Mages and Ye Qiu so much. Why didn't you go to Excellent Era's training camp instead of Samsara?" Jiang Botao asked, puzzled.
"Because Excellent Era didn't invite me… uh, no—"
"It's true that I like Ye Qiu and One Autumn Leaf, but isn't it more interesting to defeat your idol than to follow him? I'm going to become the strongest Battle Mage in the league!" Xiao Zhou said, patting his chest.
"Interested in a match with me?" Jiang Botao asked.
"Let's do it, Vice-captain. Don't underestimate me—I'm strong!"
The two of them headed into the match room.
"Ready?"
"Always. I've been looking forward to fighting a main roster player for a long time."
"I've fought the training camp for so long that I don't think anyone here can beat me. My style is aggressive. I usually pin my opponent to the ground and crush them."