Chapter 224: Curtain Falls (2/3)

"Gentlemen!" Lan Mo suddenly received a message, his expression turning solemn as he gathered Xue Daolv, Ye Songtao, and the others.

"I just received word that those noble families have completely cut off all of our Wuwei Daoist Alliance's external sales channels for spiritual artifacts, minerals, and other resources!"

"This is simply going too far!" Ye Songtao's face turned ash-grey with anger.

"They only know how to suppress us. If they have the guts, why don't they try smashing this shop?!" Xue Daolv also appeared quite furious.

"Alliance Master Lan, what do you think we should do?"

"As I see it..." Lan Mo spoke, "holding out for a while shouldn't be a problem. For now, let's not let this news leak out."

"Then we...?"

"What else can we do?" Lan Mo said. "In this game, we've already placed our bets. If we go and kiss their boots now, they'll only think we're afraid. Do you think we'd get any good results?"

"We might as well unite our strengths and give it everything we've got!"

"..." Ye Songtao, Xue Daolv, and the others smiled bitterly in unison.

Both paths seemed to lead to a sheer abyss, and they had no idea how they had fallen into such a predicament!

What other good options did they have now?

...

"The Druid opens by teleporting right in!" Xiao Yulv stood up from the sofa. "Almost at the exact moment the staff was drawn, City Master An teleported away! It was practically simultaneous!"

Everyone stared intently at the screen. An Huwei's cultivation was extremely high, so his execution of these fine details was naturally flawless!

"Bu Che made several follow-ups, and City Master An teleported away synchronously almost every single time!" Xiao Yulv cried out in amazement. "It's countered! After the collective defeat of the Mages, City Master An seems to have found a counter-strategy!"

"City Master An seems to have changed into a few pieces of equipment that increase casting speed, forcibly relying on his own formidable reaction time to break the teleportation staff strategy!"

Seeing An Huwei's play on the screen, everyone was stunned.

"A great cultivator is indeed a great cultivator!"

"To think such a thing could actually be done..."

"The older, the wiser!" Back inside the shop, a box of spicy sticks sat before Lan Mo, Ye Songtao, and the others. They picked up a stick and stuffed it into their mouths, shouting indistinctly while chewing enthusiastically.

"Bu Che's teleportation charges are about to run out! The offense is making no progress!" Xiao Yulv stared at the screen and suddenly shouted with excitement again, "Oh! Cloak of Shadows! This time City Master An cannot see Bu Che's casting animation! He can't synchronize his teleportation!"

"Where will the attack come from?"

"Mmm! This spicy stick! It's truly a supreme delicacy of the mortal world!" Lan Mo and the others listened to Xiao Yulv shouting beside them while each picked up another spicy stick, stuffing it into their mouths to chew vigorously as they watched the screen. "Who would have thought that people could compete like this inside this illusionary realm!"

"Indeed!" Jun Yangzi held a spicy stick. "This is far more interesting than the Cultivation Domain Grand Gathering."

"The teleportation has been interrupted again!" Xiao Yulv slapped his thigh. "The Mage is too passive!"

Before long, An Huwei's health bar was completely emptied!

"So fast?!"

"Who's next?"

"I haven't watched enough yet!"

"Old Master Nalan against Fu Jianghe! The second biggest dark horse!" Xiao Yulv looked at the screen. "Huh? Where is he? Why is someone missing?"

"Due to a player's forfeiture, Nalan Hongwu wins!" An announcement quickly appeared on the screen.

"Holy crap!"

"What's going on?!"

"Because he knew he couldn't win?"

Fortunately, this was just a minor interlude and did not affect the progression of the tournament.

In this internet cafe competitive tournament, no skills were banned, because Fang Qi felt it was unnecessary.

Every class had its extremely powerful side, and similarly, it would have a side that was countered. This was inevitable, and Fang Qi had never thought about hiding this aspect. Since these spells, martial techniques, and the like could all be manifested in reality, could one ban skills against opponents encountered in the real world?

The answer was naturally no!

And for a competition where everything was benchmarked against reality, there was naturally no need for it either.

"Next match, Lan Yan against Song Qingfeng!"

A duel between two melee combatants was relatively more fist-to-flesh, not to mention that the two were evenly matched rivals in reality. Song Qingfeng had mastered short knives, daggers, and combat arts to perfection, consistently following the martial arts path. Lan Yan's Paladin activated Holy Shield, showing no fear in the face of close combat either!

Instantly, the entire large screen was filled with a flurry of flashing blades and swords!

On the screen, the Assassin clad in black leather armor moved like a ghost, yet the light shield in the Paladin's hand still provided an airtight defense!

"Brother Xiao, what do you think..."

"This young master doesn't know!" Xiao Yulv's face darkened.

"Song Qingfeng wins!"

"Next match, Wang Tai against Li Haoran!"

Fatty Wang was clearly much bolder in this match. Dim Vision reduced the opponent's vision and perception, coupled with Decrepify and an endless stream of Bone Spirits. Playing steadily and surely, he actually secured an advantage very quickly!

Within Li Haoran's field of vision, amidst a blanket of darkness, silent bone ghosts surged from all directions, forcing him to teleport away. By the time he teleported back to rejoin the battle, curses would surge forth once again just as he cast his spells!

This was also the second time everyone witnessed the power of this class. The homing capabilities of the Bone Spirit meant the Necromancer did not even need to aim, and there was no need to worry much even if their vision was restricted!

Although he lacked the mobility of a Mage, the various area-of-effect curses caused immense headaches for any opponent who wished to attack him!

Having built up quite a bit of confidence, everyone watched as Wang Tai claimed victory with absolute stability!

"It's all the boss's conspiracy!" Nalan Mingewei said while eating spicy sticks in front of the sofa.

The tournaments for Diablo and Counter-Strike were held in rotation. On the second day, the Counter-Strike team tournament also displayed the strategy and momentum of the major factions. Regrettably, however, the Royal Team failed to make the top eight.

The Blue Flame Team suffered the same fate. Right at the start, they were knocked out by the two powerful teams from Lingyun Academy!

In the end, only four teams advanced to the semi-finals: two teams from Lingyun Academy, the Liuyun Team led by Su Tianji, and the team formed by Liang Shi's independent warriors.

Although Song Qingfeng had barely managed to beat Lan Yan's Paladin, it was obvious that he had almost no power to fight back when facing Nalan Hongwu's Paladin!

And Wang Tai, lacking a teleportation staff, was similarly quite powerless against Bu Che's teleportation encirclement tactics. Although the Necromancer was strong, it was not invincible. Facing a Druid who was equally dominant in PVP, one side had teleportation while the other did not, and the shortcoming was instantly exposed.

Leading various summoned creatures like wolves, bears, and vines, the Druid practically ignored the curses to gang up on him, leaving no suspense.

The final rankings were revealed. First place went to Nalan Hongwu, almost entirely without suspense and universally expected. However, the second and third places caused everyone's jaws to drop!

They were Bu Che and Wang Tai respectively!

Song Qingfeng could only smile bitterly. Curses truly countered melee combatants too heavily. Wang Tai was a warrior after all; he was neither an ordinary person nor a fool. By throwing out an Iron Maiden, Song Qingfeng, an Assassin of the martial arts discipline, was basically rendered useless.

Therefore, during the fight, he had used the Traps discipline with which he was not very well-acquainted. An unpracticed class against a long-familiar class, the outcome could well be imagined.

Meanwhile, the results of the Counter-Strike team tournament were also drawing to a close.

The Lingyun Team led by Nalan Mingxue took first place with almost crushing strength. What surprised people, however, was that the Lingyun No. 2 Team, originally ranked second, was defeated in the semi-finals by Liang Shi's Shanshi Team in a desperate counter-kill, dropping to fourth.

As for the Liuyun Team, under Su Tianji's rather impressive personal skill and the gradual improvement of her teammates' strength, they ultimately secured second place.

This tournament, which had lasted for nearly three weeks, finally drew to a close at this moment!

"Boss! Where are the prizes?!" Jiang Xiaoyue looked left and right, appearing even more expectant than the winners. "The prizes haven't been handed out yet~!"