Chapter 1226: A Loss, But A Spectacular One
Translator: Nomyummi Editor: Nomyummi
he power of the Ghost God brought by the Flame-Bitten Full Moon battered against Boundless Sea's Qi Guard, but it could not suppress the radiance of the shield. The Qi Guard's defensive capabilities could hold against this attack.
Who would have thought that at this moment, a circle would appear below Carved Ghost? A wave of Ghost God energy suddenly rose and condensed onto the tip of his blade, supplementing the power of Flame-Bitten Full Moon.
Sword Boundary?
Everyone was stunned. No one had noticed Wu Yuce summoning this Sword Boundary.
Sword Boundary might be a low-leveled skill, but its supportive effects were top tier. Let alone a Phantom Sword Demon hybrid like Carved Ghost, even a pure Sword Demon would max this skill. This low-level skill had a very fast cast time. It could be used in between two attacks for a sudden damage buff.
Wu Yuce used it in this way. No one knew when he had cast the Ghost Boundary, but it had been set down after Flame-Bitten Full Moon. The buffs from Ghost Boundaries were immediate, and Flame-Bitten Full Moon dealt both physical and magic damage. Under the Strength and Intelligence buffs from the Sword Boundary, the power of the attack instantly shot up.
The radiance shining from Qi Guard dimmed.
Break!
The qi from the Qi Guard was consumed, and the remaining energy of Flame-Bitten Full Moon slashed towards Boundless Sea. Fang Rui immediately had Boundless Sea dodge, but Wu Yuce's follow up attack came soon afterwards.
Full Moonlight Slash!
This slash had finally come out. What Ghost God would be attached to it this time?
No ice. No fire. This Full Moonlight Slash was pitch black.
Dark Moonlight Slash. This time, Wu Yuce summoned the dark ghost. It stripped the light from the world, temporarily filling the area with darkness.
I can't dodge it!
Fang Rui instantly made this judgment. Wu Yuce's Carved Ghost had attacked one slash after the other. With even his Qi Guard forcefully broken, he had no way of dodging this attack.
If I can't avoid it, then we'll trade!
Just when the Dark Moonlight Slash was about to strike Boundless Sea, Boundless Sea raised his hands and used Sand Toss.
The damage from Sand Toss was insignificant compared to the damage from a Sword Boundary buffed Dark Moonlight Slash, but it would at least induce a blind effect similar to the Dark Ghost.
Pu!
Boundless Sea was the first to be hit. Darkness surrounded him, and Fang Rui's screen turned black as if his monitor was dead. However, the sound in his ears was still as clear as ever, so he knew that the fight had yet to stop. Soon after Boundless Sea threw sand at Carved Ghost, he could hear the tiny pattering of the sand colliding.
Did it hit? Did it blind him?
Fang Rui didn't know. He could no longer see anything, so he had Boundless Sea run for his life, while also shooting a Qi Bullet at a target he couldn't see. He just instinctively did something.
But soon, Fang Rui realized that his Boundless Sea was in the air.
He wasn't Blinded? Boundless Sea was hit by another attack. Such a tightly linked combo clearly could not be done by someone who was blind. From this, Fang Rui inferred that Carved Ghost had not been blinded by the Sand Toss.
The viewers could see everything clearly. Not only did the Blind fail, Carved Ghost didn't even eat the miniscule amount of damage from the Sand Toss. After Dark Moonlight Slash, a shadow circled around Carved Ghost, blocking the tiny particles of sand.
Ghostblade skill: Shadow Image.
The unaffected Carved Ghost continued his assault. Shadow Claw threw Boundless Sea into the air, and starting from the ghost slash up until the Blind effect wore off, Boundless Sea never fell from the air.
"I say, don't be too savage!" As soon as the darkness disappeared, Fang Rui's spirits rose. Even though he had taken quite a bit of damage from the combo, it was far from enough to extinguish his morale.
Boundless Sea's back faced the ground, welcoming Carved Ghost's sword. His two hands formed a ball of qi in front of his chest.
He's sneakily charging his attack again!
Quite a few people had gotten a grasp of Fang Rui's battle style now, and they were starting to discuss it.
Wu Yuce wasn't careless either. He knew exactly how long the Blind from Dark Moonlight Slash lasted, and once the effects wore off, if Boundless Sea's arms were suddenly raised to his chest, then...
Carved Ghost immediately slid to the side, adjusting his position first. He swung his sword, blocking off the angle at which Boundless Sea could attack with by twisting his body.
Who would have thought that Boundless Sea wouldn't twist his body. The ball of qi contained in his hands was let out just like that.
Sky Piercing Strike!
It really was Sky Piercing Strike. An intense wave of energy flew out towards the sky, leaving traces of spinning qi.
There was nothing in the air, so this Sky Piercing Strike obviously didn't hit anything. However, through its momentum, Boundless Sea suddenly accelerated towards the ground. The sealing attack from Carved Ghost missed.
Landmine Quake!
Right before Boundless Sea landed on the ground, his two palms once again charged up qi. He didn't even turn his view, and his two hands hit the ground before his body did.
The skill was released, and qi spread along the ground, striking everything within its range. Carved Ghost was no exception. The force coming from the earth shot up, flinging him to the side.
Quick Recover!
Wu Yuce had Carved Ghost roll on the ground, but Boundless Sea, whose hands hit the ground, rolled faster! For this sort of rolling and crawling on the ground movement, who could be more skilled at it then this master of playing dirty?
Carved Ghost was still flying in the air, when Boundless Sea reached his side.
Pulse Break: Break Intelligence!
One finger stabbed into Carved Ghost, lowering his Intelligence significantly.
Then, Flash Burst and Qigong Blast!
Two high-level skills landed on Carved Ghost one after the other. Qi whirled crazily around Carved Ghost, creating a cyclone of qi lifting the earth along with it. Carved Ghost didn't look like he had just been hit by an attack. It was like he was exploding forth with some sort of small Cosmo (Saint Seiya).
Fang Rui wanted to continue following up, but Wu Yuce quickly recovered. Being hit all of a sudden by such heavy attacks didn't seem to shake his willpower.
What a spectacular and evenly-matched fight!
Quite a few members of the crowd stood up, clapping for this fight. The fans wanted their own team to win, but that didn't mean they wouldn't show respect. High-level matches were a joy to watch. For this type of fight, even if their own side lost, they would leave the field with the least amount of regret.
In the end, Fang Rui walked down from the stage with this attitude from the crowd. He had lost, but the applause he won was as if he had been the winner. Even though he didn't win, facing a strong opponent like Wu Yuce brought Fang Rui's brilliant performance to new heights.
When people discussed Fang Rui's Qi Master playstyle, people wondered whether this new playstyle would be able to stand the test of time.
New playstyles would always have surprising results when they first appeared because everyone was still new to them. The best way to test whether or not a playstyle could become mainstream was through time. In the ten years of Glory, countless playstyles had come and gone. In the current state of Glory, the meta had matured and steadied. New playstyles were usually short-lived. The number of new playstyles that could last was becoming less and less.
Fang Rui's Qi Master playtsyle had only been around for ten rounds. Could it truly become mainstream? The more conservative people weren't too optimistic about it. But in the fight that just ended, in the 1v1 against a skilled opponent like Wu Yuce, Fang Rui's playstyle shone as brilliant as ever. It could be considered to have passed a difficult test.
"Yay, I'm so happy!" Fang Rui clearly knew about the value of this fight. He had lost, but the implications for the future were huge. What's more, it couldn't really be said that he lost! He had taken out half the health of Wu Yuce's Carved Ghost. Fang Rui had achieved a 1v1.5, quite a good result. This was the group arena, which couldn't be judged from the outcome of a single battle.
"Mmhm, nice job," Ye Xiu said.
"I really want to go up and play another round!" Fang Rui gripped his account card, with his desire to continue written all over his face.
"You can go ask him if he wants to play all night with you after the match," Ye Xiu said.
"Okay okay, that's a good suggestion. I'll text him." Fang Rui took out his cellphone in a hurry. As for Happy, their second player was Su Mucheng, who walked onto the stage with a smile.
Dancing Rain started at full health, while Carved Ghost started at half health. Launchers, with their extremely long-ranged attacks, could be considered as Ghostblade counters to an extent, as Ghostblades had very few movement skills. In the end, in another spectacular fight, Dancing Rain won with 67% of her health left.
Team Void's anchor for the group arena was unfortunately another Ghostblade. The Launcher's suppression over Ghostblades was still there. Su Mucheng usually played in the individual competition. Being moved to the group arena specifically for this match clearly showed Happy's intentions of countering Team Void's two Ghostblades.
A third of her health to take away Wu Yuce. Two thirds of her health to welcome Li Xuan.
Li Xuan was a Phantom Demon. He didn't have long-ranged attacks, and his opponent wasn't going to fight him at melee range. The boundaries that Phantom Demons could set down weren't really useful. He needed to take the initiative and find a way to close the distance between his opponent, but how could it be that easy...
The Ghostblade duo had been crushed in all sorts of ways by the Ye Xiu and Su Mucheng duo in the competition for Best Partners over many seasons. Ye Xiu? Even if he wasn't there, just Su Mucheng alone left them in pitiful states again and again. Su Mucheng was even nicknamed the Nemesis of the Ghost Duo.
This Ghost Duo wasn't in a general sense; it was specifically pointing towards these two from Team Void. Su Mucheng had much experience in dealing with Ghostblades, and was the source of much misery for these two.
From the looks of it, even after a season of absence, their nemesis was still a nemesis. She took out Carved Ghost's half health with a third of her health, and Li Xuan wasn't able to finish her off. Team Happy won the group arena with just two players.
"Ah…" Fang Rui would glance at his cellphone from time to time. Happy had won the group arena, but he looked depressed. "He hasn't replied back yet. It seems like he's not in a very good mood!"
With a lagging score of 0 to 5, who would be in a good mood?