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Chapter 1551: An Unexpected Counter

I will win!

This declaration could not be anymore sincere. It was what all pro players seeked. These three plain and simple words didn't give rise to much of a reaction though.　

Fang Rui laughed indifferently: "Haha, you'll win? You haven't asked me yet!"

No answer.

Sure enough, Song Qiying acted the same way as he did in the fourth round of the regular season. He ignored any meaningless words.

But just because he ignored them didn't mean that he didn't see them. Last time, Fang Rui didn't stop talking just because he was ignored, and it was the same this time. His trash talk wasn't as dense as Huang Shaotian's, but his ability to provoke people was no worse.

Would Song Qiying be affected by his trash talk?

No one knew. They could only see that Song Qiying's River Sunset continued with the decision that he had made in the beginning and kept moving forward. Soon, the two characters met in the center. Fang Rui had also chosen to cut straight to the center.

Strikers could only fight at a close range, but Qi Masters had decent mid-ranged options.

Thus, the first to act was Fang Rui.

Qi Bullet!

The damage dealt by this skill wasn't high, and it didn't have any crowd control effects. It was mostly used as a harassment skill to probe how the opponent would react. Fang Rui often aimed this skill directly at the opponent's face. Then, by taking advantage of the Qi Bullet blocking the opponent's vision, he would follow with another attack.

This time was no exception.

The Qi Bullet flew directly towards River Sunset's face. Fang Rui quickly predicted where his Song Qiying's dead angles would be located as well as what he might do in response.

Move!

Boundless Sea immediately moved into a different position and followed with another attack.　　

Then, he saw River Sunset swing his fists.

Pa!

The Qi Bullet suddenly exploded into a hazy mist. The dead angle that Fang Rui had originally anticipated was now no longer a dead angle.　

Song Qiying's River Sunset had unexpectedly used a Qi Bullet too. He fired it at Boundless Sea's Qi Bullet, blocking it.

"You'll even bicker with your senior over something like this?" Fang Rui had lost his opportunity to seize the initiative, but he wasn't going to miss an opportunity to talk trash. His plan had clearly been disrupted, but he sounded like everything was going as expected. Just when he found a new angle to attack from, he saw a fist quickly pierce through the haze.

Pa!

The punch hadn't landed yet, but the impact between the fist and the air let out a crisp ring. River Sunset had stepped forward and used a Collapsing Fist right in front of Boundless Sea.

Fang Rui was startled and immediately had Boundless Sea stop. The Collapsing Fist had been on point. The timing and placement had predicted Fang Rui's actions perfectly. Boundless Sea had nearly walked right into the punch.

A coincidence?

As soon as Fang Rui had this thought, he immediately knew that it wasn't a coincidence.

Because River Sunset had followed with another punch. Such fluid and decisive movements didn't seem like something he had come up with on the spot. This was a well-practiced sequence of movements.

The other side had specifically practiced for his Qi Bullet!　　

Fang Rui realized this point and felt even more surprised. To put it simply, the Qi Master technique that he had created was difficult to execute with meager results. Up until now, apart from him, no other Qi Master had bothered to learn it. It wasn't because Qi Masters looked down on Fang Rui's dirty methods, but rather that it wasn't anything incredible. It was just a small trick. Spending so much time to study and practice a small trick wasn't worth it.

However, the Tyranny player in front of him had specifically practiced to counter this small trick.

This wasn't a situation that Fang Rui had anticipated.

It was a very difficult but not very effective trick that other players didn't bother to learn. However, Fang Rui was happy to do so. This was where his cunning lay.

It was precisely because this small trick was troublesome to learn that Fang Rui was certain that no one would study and analyze it too deeply. Because of this reason, the effectiveness of the trick became much greater.

But right now, this young Tyranny player had unexpectedly analyzed it and come up with a counter. Fang Rui was surprised. The thoughts of the new generation... was he not able to see through them?

Cloud Body, Straight Punch, Stomach Kick...

River Sunset completed all of these attacks in one breath. Fang Rui hadn't expected anyone to study and come up with a counter to his trick. This time, it backfired on him. After his trick failed him, he was now in a very disadvantageous position. Under River Sunset's fierce assault, he had no choice but to retreat.

Trash talk? Right now, Fang Rui really wanted to, but he didn't have the time!　

Four classes comprised the Fighter superclass. Qi Masters were the weakest out of them in close combat capabilities. Now that River Sunset had completely closed the distance between them, Boundless Sea was in a precarious situation. Many Qi Master skills required cast times to gather up qi. With a Striker punching and kicking him, how could he have any time to prep any skills?

Fang Rui could only have Boundless Sea swing his fists as well, dodging, blocking, and waiting for an opening.

But River Sunset's attacks were tight-knit and thought-out. His rhythm was on point. There was no opening to be seen. Song Qiying didn't look like a rookie. Of the Strikers in the pro circle, even Strikers who had played the class for three years might not be able to do this.

This is bad!

This is very bad!　

I'm not going to lose like this, am I?

Fang Rui had thought of the worst-case scenario. If River Sunset could keep this up, there was no way for him to take back the initiative.

Retreat.

Retreat, retreat. Soon, Boundless Sea had nowhere to run to. Behind him was boiling lava.　

Am I really not able to do anything?

Fang Rui was furious, but who could he blame?　

He had put himself into this predicament. He hadn't underestimated Song Qiying, but he hadn't thought of him highly enough.

After his Qi Bullet trick was broken through, he had even added in a few words to taunt him. It was because of these extra words that he had lost too much focus. If he had been paying more attention to his opponent's actions, perhaps he might have noticed River Sunset's attack.

If he had noticed it just a bit earlier, perhaps he wouldn't be in this situation.

Unfortunately, the present Fang Rui had no choice but to solve the issue of Song Qiying forcing him into the lava if he wasn't able to break out.

Left, right, front, above...

Was there really no way out?　

The options available to him seemed to be covered by River Sunset's attacks.　

Pa!

River Sunset finally landed a punch. In the end, it was because Fang Rui was unable to find an opening and had no way to dodge the punch.

He kept leaning backwards. Previously, he could step back to steady himself again.

But if he stepped back now, he would step into lava and take massive amounts of damage.

However, from the perspective of the viewers, whether or not he took the step didn't make much of a difference. There was only one possibility: Boundless Sea would fall into the lava. If Song Qiying defended the shore, he would likely win with a huge lead. If that happened, the likelihood of him beating Happy's next player increased drastically. A comeback from Tyranny didn't seem so impossible anymore.

For a moment, all of the Tyranny fans were thinking of this scenario. To them, this fight was already over.　

In the end, Boundless Sea took the step backwards. Facing this sort of attack, any pro player would instinctively retreat to try and avoid the follow-ups.

Only the lava was behind him though, and Boundless Sea slid into the lava.

"Oh oh oh oh!" The Tyranny crowd gave their victory cheer. They thought that the fight was over.

But very very few people noticed that as Boundless Sea fell, his two arms extended out in front of him. After the lower half of his body sunk into the lava, he slammed his hands down on the ground.　　

Landmine Quake!

Facing a dire situation, Fang Rui made a sudden move in response to River Sunset's attack. As he fell, he made his counterattack.

His two palms slammed into the ground, sending out a powerful shockwave. River Sunset, who was standing right in front, would take the brunt of it. Fang Rui was planning on using this opportunity to get out of the lava.

But before Boundless Sea could even jump, River Sunset was already in the air.　

Everyone had already thought that Song Qiying's victory was set in stone. Song Qiying didn't think the same though. His opponent still had 63% of his health left. How was his victory set in stone?

He continued to closely follow Boundless Sea's movements. Very few people had noticed Boundless Sea extending out his arms as he fell, but Song Qiying was one of them.

When the Landmine Quake came down, River Sunset jumped up.

Then, Thousand Ton Drop!

Landmine Quake's shockwave would damage River Sunset, it wouldn't be able to knock him away because of the Thousand Ton Drop. River Sunset was like a mountain as he pressed down, blocking Boundless Sea's escape. From this close distance, Fang Rui could see this young character clearly, while his surroundings seemed to lose their color.

The eight round of the group arena. Fang Rui lost, Song Qiying won.

It wasn't close either.

Tyranny had already been celebrating long beforehand. The victory from Song QIying instantly brought Tyranny back from the brink of death. After his fight with Fang Rui, River Sunset still had 79% of his health left. He definitely had a chance of beating Happy's final player.

With Tyranny's fans riled up, they began booing at their opponents. Because Happy's previous few players had played spectacularly, they had no way to boo them. But with Fang Rui, they had an opportunity. Even though Lin Jingyan hadn't done too well on his turn, they could at least accept his efforts. But Fang Rui? All they saw was a careless fool. Maybe that was a method of getting the opponent to become numb to his feints, but in this match, it was the reason why he had lost.

Fang Rui returned to Happy's seats amidst the boos.　

Fang Rui's expression seemed somewhat unnatural when he faced his teammates.

"You suck. You got destroyed by a rookie," Ye Xiu was merciless.

"Disgusting," Wei Chen followed.

"In these situations, the only way you'll be forgiven is if you go on your knees and beg for mercy," Steamed Bun also added. He wasn't really talking to Fang Rui though. He was talking to Qiao Yifan, Luo Ji, and An Wenyi, the other rookies. It was more like him watching a show and making a comment.

"Fuck, it wasn't that bad!" Fang Rui said, "I'll go to a corner and reflect back on what happened." After saying these words, he put his hands behind his head and crouched down at the corner, reviewing the fight.

"Hey, this..." Chen Guo felt like it wasn't quite appropriate.　　

"Let him reflect on it!" Ye Xiu didn't stop him. Instead, he looked towards Happy's final player. Their huge lead had been reduced to this extent. The side being caught up would be under great pressure.

But Happy's next player didn't seem to mind.

"It's finally my turn!" Tang Rou exclaimed.