Chapter 986: Crucial Point
Translator: Nomyummi Editor: Nomyummi
On screen, Steamed Bun Invasion looked like he had just gone on stage. He was filled with energy as he continued to clash with Lin Yi's Ten Thousand Swords. From time to time, he would make a weird move that would be calmly received by Lin Yi. However, that was all. The situation stayed the same as before. Lin Yi firmly grasped the pace of the match. If not, how could even the normal audience members already be certain of who the winner of this fight would be?
Xiao Jie saw this scene and smiled.
"He's quite tenacious." He said.
"Tenacious? You're mistaken. That's not tenacity. He hasn't even started considering giving up or persevering. He's just continuing to keep his own pace. I won't deny that Lin Yi has the fight under control at the moment, but it's still too early to say who will win and who will lose."
"Haha." Xiao Jie laughed. He found it beneath him to argue. In his eyes, Ye Xiu was just believing in his own lies. Just look at the situation. You're saying it's still too early?
Xiao Jie's gaze turned back to the stage. Steamed Bun Invasion had once again done an incomprehensible move. When his Powerful Knee Strike smashed towards Ten Thousand Swords, Lin Yi had his Ten Thousand Swords calmly step to the side and prepare to counter attack. Who would have thought that Steamed Bun Invasion, who had whistled past him, would suddenly turn his head and shout at Ten Thousand Swords.
Brawler skill: Threaten.
Threaten didn't deal direct damage. It was classified as a spirit attack, and it reduced the target's attack power. Spirit attacks could not be avoided. It could only be defended by the appropriate resistance skills, or lowered or canceled by the Spirit stat.
Looking at it from the effects from this skill, Steamed Bun's abrupt Threaten didn't make much sense. Maybe he planned on trading blows with his opponent. He had caught his opponent off guard and lowered the opponent's attack power. His Powerful Knee Strike may have been dodged, but his target had been successfully Threatened. However, because of the momentum from his Powerful Knee Strike, he continued to fly past his opponent. Ten Thousand Sword's attack power might be reduced, but it wasn't like he was rooted or stunned. He continued to ready a counter attack and chased after Steamed Bun Invasion with a Downwind Sword Slash.
Steamed Bun's reaction speed was fast, but this Downwind Sword Slash had been timed perfectly and struck him.
Steamed Bun Invasion was hit and slid to the side. Lin Yi's Ten Thousand Swords immediately followed up with a Triple Slash, pursuing while also attacking at the same time, but who would have that thought as soon as Steamed Bun Invasion steadied himself, he would ricochet towards Ten Thousand Swords. Lin Yi was caught by surprise. He saw a sword light flash towards him. It was actually another Downwind Sword Slash that had come from Steamed Bun Invasion's Brawler this time. The priority on Triple Slash couldn't contest Downwind Sword Slash's priority. Not only was Ten Thousand Sword's momentum halted, he had been struck stumbling.
The stadium exploded into an uproar. Those who were a little slower might even be confused about Steamed Bun Invasion's class. How did he use Downwind Sword Slash too? Those who were faster had already recognized that this was the newly added Brawler skill: Tooth for Tooth.
Tooth for Tooth was an active ability. When attacked, the character would still take damage, but the character would remember which skill was used. That skill would appear on the character's skill list. The number of uses and the skill effects was determined by Tooth for Tooth's skill level. In addition, the amount of mana used for the skill would be double what it originally was.
Clearly, Steamed Bun Invasion had activated Tooth for Tooth earlier. When he was hit by Downwind Sword Slash, he remembered the skill and returned it back to its owner. From this point of view, another issue came up. He had used Tooth for Tooth, but he had also used Threaten beforehand, so the damage from the opponent's skill had been reduced when it struck. Thus, Steamed Bun Invasion's Downwind Sword Slash had also been reduced. Returning the strike had been a good move, but that previous Threaten still didn't make any sense.
But even so, the Downwind Sword Slash had caught Lin Yi off guard. Steamed Bun took this opportunity to strike back and begin his fierce assault.
Happy's fanclub's spirit revived at once . They shouted "Steamed Bun!" loudly and cheered for him, but at Happy's player seats, Sun Zheping had his brows furrowed. He was thinking back to that previous scene. It just so happened that the screen did a replay of Steamed Bun's counterattack. After looking at it again, Sun Zheping moved closer to Ye Xiu: "If that Threaten hadn't debuffed, then Downwind Sword Slash…...."
"Would have been faster and the knockback would be stronger. It would have sent Steamed Bun Invasion flying into the air after his Powerful Knee Strike missed. He would have been knocked back farther away, and he would have needed to Quick Recover. If he had used Downwind Sword Slash like that, he might not have gotten the same results." Ye Xiu said.
"So that guy..."
"Don't ask me if he did it on purpose. I have no idea either." Ye Xiu said. And this was why Steamed Bun's derailment playstyle was so terrifying. His completely unexpected move could be utter trash, but it could also be a brilliant turning point. When it was utter trash, you could laugh at it all you want, but when it became a turning point, it would be a deciding factor. And this deciding factor was impossible to defend against. Even someone as skilled as Sun Zheping needed to think about it after the event took place. When playing in a match, there was no time for so much thinking. How many people could instantly recognize the subtle involvement this move had?
The expression on Xiao Jie's face turned ugly when he saw Steamed Bun's counterattack. However, Lin Yi was a steady player. He quickly got out of Steamed Bun's assault and once again regained control of the situation. Steamed Bun's counterattack looked like one final desperate struggle. Xiao Jie let out a sigh of relief and glanced at Happy's side with delight. He saw Ye Xiu turn his head and look at him too. He immediately smiled: "He really knows how to surprise people!"
"And isn't that why he's so interesting?" Ye Xiu smiled.
"Yeah." Xiao Jie nodded his head. Suddenly, he heard a cry of surprise from the venue. Xiao Jie turned his head and saw that Lin Yi's Ten Thousand Swords was being slapped into the ground and beaten black and blue by Steamed Bun Invasion's Tyrannical Chain Punch.
What happened?
Xiao Jie was shocked. The situation had been stabilized just moments before. How did it flip all of a sudden?
It just so happened that the screen showed an instant replay.
Powerful Knee Strike. Another Powerful Knee Strike. This time, the distance between the two sides had been very close. Lin Yi's Ten Thousand Swords had been in the middle of a combo. He had used Headwind Strike, when Steamed Bun Invasion suddenly burst forth with a Powerful Knee Strike. Blood flew out from Steamed Bun Invasion as he slammed into the Headwind Strike head on. However, Steamed Bun Invasion forcefully broke through the sword prison just like that and followed up with a Tyrannical Chain Punch. The airborne Ten Thousand Swords crashed to the ground, following which was the current scene.
Xiao Jie was astonished.
For a final desperate struggle, it should be one last struggle. How could someone facing death do a final struggle again and again? If he kept on struggling, that only meant one thing. This person couldn't die.
Maybe claiming victory already really had been too early? Xiao Jie thought to himself, but he refused to accept it. In terms of equipment, they were stronger. In terms of players, they were more consistent. In terms of the situation on stage, they had always been winning. Just looking at their health bars, even though Steamed Bun Invasion had done two desperate struggles, he hadn't pulled it that much closer. He had taken Downwind Sword Slash full force. He had completely eaten a Headwind Strike too. The damage from Headwind Strike was quite high. In addition, Lin Yi had control of the situation for most of the battle. Ten Thousand Swords had 50% more health than Steamed Bun Invasion. Could Steamed Bun Invasion actually make a come back?
Impossible! Absolutely impossible!
Xiai Jie couldn't bother with going over to Happy and letting out a smile showing his superiority. He stared closely at the screen and saw their lead, yet he couldn't help but feel nervous.
Xiao Jie's nervousness was deserved. Steamed Bun started to slowly make a comeback. The steady Lin Yi was already having trouble controlling the fight. Whenever Steamed Bun went off the rails, he would always deal significant damage towards Ten Thousand Swords. Although Lin Yi was sometimes able to strike back, it wasn't as effective as Steamed Bun's attacks.
Xiao Jie became more and more uneasy. He was even somewhat angry. It looked like he wasn't happy with Lin Yi's performance. Unfortunately, his anger couldn't be transmitted into the fight. The health bars of the two characters grew closer and closer, bit by bit, all the way until both sides only had 8% health left.
Happy's fanclub had gone crazy. They took whatever they had that could make noise and started making as much noise as possible. Under Seven Field's lead, they cheered in unison "Steamed Bun!"
Steamed Bun didn't let them down. On the other hand, Lin Yi's performance was disappointing compared to the start of the fight. Jade Dyansty's fanclub was cheering on their team captain, but when Steamed Bun Invasion led with 5% health compared to Ten Thousand Sword's 3% health, they had trouble bearing it. He had such a huge lead, and he actually lost it?
But no matter if it was 5% health or 3% health, a single wave of attacks could end it for either sides. The match had reached this point. It just depended on who would grasp the final opportunity.
The fans on both sides and the players on both sides were standing up, staring closely at the match screen.
Steamed Bun Invasion!
In the final moment, Steamed Bun Invasion once again made another strange, unconventional move, helping him grasp the final opportunity. Ten Thousand Swords only had 3% health left. He was unable to grasp the final opportunity. Steamed Bun Invasion had won the first round of the group arena.
"Oh oh oh oh oh!!!" Happy's fanclub cheered. The team also clapped in celebration. Jade Dynasty's side was rather quiet. However, this was a group arena, so with the other side only having 5% health remaining, from an overall perspective, it wasn't too bad. Even so, when Jade Dynasty's team captain, Lin Yi, came down from the stage, he was met with harsh rebuke from his boss, Xiao Jie.
"What was that? You had such a big lead, and your opponent actually turned it around? With that type of performance, what type of example are you setting for your teammates?"
"Sorry..." Lin Yi's face carried a trace of exhaustion, but he could only quietly accept the boss's fury.