Chapter 216: Unpredictable Ending, Second Equipment Trade! (3/3)

"Where has Sister Lanyan gone today?" Jiang Xiaoyue sat beside Nalan Mingxue, glancing left and right.

"She plans to give Diablo a try and went to participate in the tournament," replied Nalan Mingxue, who was sitting on the sofa watching the matches.

Although many players were competing today, causing a large portion of the crowd in front of the big screen to disperse, there were still quite a few people sitting downstairs watching the tournament.

Even professional players dedicated to Legend of Sword and Fairy like the Silver Dragon Elder sat on the sofa with several of his disciples to watch the matches, to say nothing of major factions like Lan Mo and Jun Yangzi, who cast covetous eyes upon the equipment in Diablo.

What gave them a headache, however, was that in the entire Blue Flame Sect, the only one capable of taking the stage was Li Haoran; though they had also sent disciples to form a team for the Counter-Strike tournament, they held almost no hope for it.

For now, the only one they could count on was likely Li Haoran's wizard.

On the big screen, as the matches progressed, the score records on one side of the screen shifted slowly.

"The top sixteen rankings are open!"

At this moment, everyone saw that Nalan Hongwu had not yet rushed to first place; the one currently ranking first was An Cheng. Although both had a clean record of five straight wins, An Cheng's total combat time was significantly less than Nalan Hongwu's.

After all...

An Cheng looked at the female barbarian before his eyes, who wore a set of cloth armor, a pair of cloth shoes, and had just reached level nine: "..."

This was already the second time An Cheng had encountered such an opponent.

"Hmm? Isn't that Luo Yun from Xiyi Academy?" The Second Prince pointed at the level-nine female barbarian on the big screen.

"It seems to be..." Nalan Mingxue also looked over.

An Cheng tentatively summoned a Hydra.

Xiao Yulv once again introduced the details as if enumerating his family treasures: "The strength of a fire wizard lies in the fact that the Hydra is a creature akin to a flame elemental. Summoning one is equivalent to gaining an additional, equally powerful assistant capable of fire spells. Without needing to lift a finger, it will clear out all enemies!"

As they watched the screen, a serpentine creature composed entirely of flames—standing a head taller than An Cheng—opened its large maw and spat out fiercely scalding fire.

Xiao Yulv expounded grandly, "Brother An's luck is quite good this time. I reckon Brother An's rank in the top sixteen might even surpass Old Master Nalan's. As for dealing with a level-nine barbarian like this, he could win with his eyes closed."

"Young Master Xiao." Ji Yu, who was nearby, pointed at the big screen. "Young City Master An has surrendered."

Xiao Yulv stared at the big screen, completely dumbstruck: "..."

"The An family and the northern Luo family are long-time family friends," Mr. Mu, who stood to the side, explained. "With the points Young City Master An possesses, conceding a single match doesn't really matter..."

Xiao Yulv picked up his jaw from the floor: "..."

His face twitched for a moment: "As everyone can see, this was just an accident!"

Fortunately, after experiencing these two matches, Xiao Yulv's commentary grew increasingly cautious; though he still offered opinions on various skills from time to time, he became very prudent regarding the outcomes of wins and losses, and no such accidents occurred again afterward.

As time drifted forward, the battles of the first day could be considered lukewarm. Since players only needed to maintain a spot in the top sixteen, most of those ranking near the top played quite conventionally.

Yet even so, quite a few dark horses and unfamiliar faces emerged.

For instance, Fu Jianghe and Bai Lang's group from before; a few wizards among them managed to barely squeeze into the top sixteen.

Lanyan also narrowly secured a spot in the top sixteen by the skin of her teeth.

However, what astonished them slightly was a name that had climbed up near the end, one they hadn't noticed at all previously: Wang Tai?

"Isn't that the fat friend of Boss Fang?" Nalan Mingxue murmured in bewilderment.

"Do you know him?" Ji Yu asked.

"I watched that fat guy play before," Xiao Yulv analyzed as he looked at this lone Necromancer—the only one of his class to appear in the top several dozen ranks. "This wizard constantly follows behind Song Qingfeng and the others to cast spells, terrified of death! It's pure luck. After all, very few people play this class, and no one understands its skills very well."

"After this match, once everyone thoroughly studies the skills of each class in the top sixteen, it will be easy to fight them," Xiao Yulv said logically. "This wizard class lacks Teleport; it's fine if they have teammates cooperating, but in a solo duel, the shortcoming is far too obvious."

"Old Master Nalan has encountered Bai Lang as well!"

Seeing this scene, almost everyone's eyes locked onto the screen!

"This must be the final match, right?!" Nalan Mingxue said.

Ji Yu nodded. "Mm, if he wins this match, it will be a twenty-match winning streak!"

Xiao Yulv was very cautious this time: "Although Old Master Nalan's Paladin is formidable, he struggled significantly when fighting the wizards of City Master An and the others earlier. We must still treat this round with caution."

Mu Donglai remarked, "This time, the Old Master will likely secure first place smoothly."

Everyone glanced at him, remaining silent as they continued to watch the big screen.

"Bai Lang seems to be playing very steadily this round..." Xiao Yulv smacked his lips. "He would rather not attack just to open up some distance first!"

In truth, throughout nineteen consecutive rounds, though he hadn't lost a single one, Nalan Hongwu had come to deeply understand the Paladin's shortcoming when facing a Wizard—he simply could not catch up.

He practiced Blessed Hammer; though this was a ranged skill, its trajectory was not straight, but rather formed arcs or expanding circles due to the hammer's spinning motion.

As the Wizard continuously used Teleport to widen the gap, there was almost no need to aim; he simply released Frozen Orb and Blizzard directly behind him. If Nalan Hongwu caught even a fraction of it, he would fall into a severe slow state from the intense cold!

By this time, wizards who were veterans like Bai Lang had almost all become thoroughly familiar with the Paladin's skills, making it naturally difficult for them to repeat the mistakes made at the very beginning!

Before long, everyone witnessed Nalan Hongwu collapsing helplessly on the path of chasing the wizard...

At this moment, everyone turned their heads in stunned silence, casting a collective glance at Mu Donglai.

"..."

Mu Donglai: "..."

In the final results, among the several Paladins, only Nalan Hongwu managed to enter the top three; instead, the top positions were entirely occupied by Wizards.

Take An Huwei for instance; though he had lost a round, because Nalan Hongwu's final match had dragged on for too long, An Huwei placed first directly.

By this time, Nalan Hongwu seemed to have understood something...

Taking off his virtual headset, he shouted with a dark face, "Who has a weapon with a Teleport skill attached?! This old man will buy it with spirit crystals!"

"And any equipment with the 'Cannot Be Frozen' attribute! I will likewise buy it with spirit crystals!" Borrowing equipment from others was forbidden in the tournament; since he couldn't borrow it, surely he could buy it!

At this moment, on the second floor where the qualifiers had just concluded...

It was dead silent; no one spoke.

Just then, Song Qingfeng also began to shout, "Equipment that prevents freezing, who has it? I'll offer fifty spirit crystals!"

"This old man will offer a hundred!" Nalan Hongwu instantly erupted.