Chapter 148 The Future of Team Tiny Herb

"Wang Jiexi has already done his best. Whether or not Gao Yingjie can seize this opportunity depends on the kid himself," Yu Wenzhou said, turning back after greeting the players from Excellent Era.

Huang Shaotian certainly understood what he meant. Wang Jiexi was yielding, but he couldn't yield too much. He could only use skills a level or two lower, and then rely on that slight difference in output to accumulate a disadvantage during the intense confrontation. If Gao Yingjie made any mistakes himself, Wang Jiexi would obviously not create further openings to guarantee his victory. Although it was a handicap match, Gao Yingjie had to perform flawlessly if he wanted to win.

Would Gao Yingjie make a mistake?

Knowing the truth, the two of them were now watching with this mindset. However, among all the spectators, they weren't the only ones with such thoughts.

Ye Xiu!

It wasn't without reason that Yu Wenzhou suddenly asked about him. It was because he was certain that Ye Xiu would also be able to perceive this.

The layman watches the spectacle; the expert watches the details.

However, there were very few experts who could discern the subtleties of this match.

*Bang!* Another sound of a Molotov cocktail shattering rang out during the match. A section of the ground was corroded by this magical item, instantly turning into a patch of rolling, burning lava.

"Oh..." At the same time, two different locations in the stadium let out similar sighs of realization. One came from somewhere in the audience, and the other came from among the pro players' seats. Among the pro players, more people had already quietly come to the conclusion: Wang Jiexi was going to lose.

At this moment, Wang Jiexi's Magician was already forced into a corner at the edge of the map, with no room to retreat. This Molotov cocktail was thrown out by Gao Yingjie's Magician. The scorching lava burned Wang Jiexi's character, leaving him with nowhere to go. The Magician's wide-range magic damage skills were very effective at sealing off areas in this situation.

Wang Jiexi's Magician suddenly flew up, attempting to break free from the corner. However, Gao Yingjie, whom he had personally trained, had long foreseen his intentions. He flew up to intercept him, throwing out an Acid Rain Ice and then engaging Wang Jiexi's character in a fierce battle with his broom.

Successive damage and constant fighting left Wang Jiexi's Magician with no space to cast skills. From this point on, the stalemate had been broken, and Wang Jiexi was completely at a disadvantage. Furthermore, his character's health was dwindling rapidly, and there was clearly no time for him to use any tricks to escape this predicament.

Wang Jiexi didn't give up on his final attempt, but ultimately, he couldn't turn the tide. His Magician was swept off his feet by Gao Yingjie's character and never managed to stand up again.

The entire stadium erupted in gasps, followed by a deathly silence. After a while, scattered sounds of applause began to ring out. Driven by this applause, the sound grew louder and louder. Although the result of the match wasn't what many spectators had hoped for, no one could deny that it was a spectacular match.

Among those applauding, there were even two figures who stood up.

Yu Wenzhou in the player seats.

Ye Xiu in the audience.

The spectacle in their eyes wasn't just the match itself, but Wang Jiexi's efforts during the match.

Using incomplete skills, he wrote the script for this match. The flow of the battle was completely under his orchestration. Wang Jiexi had already considered the mistakes that Yu Wenzhou and Huang Shaotian were worried Gao Yingjie might make.

When was Gao Yingjie most likely to make a mistake? Of course, at the very end of the battle. When he realized that he was about to defeat a god-like figure in the alliance, who was also the captain he respected the most, this timid and shy kid's mood would definitely be greatly shaken. This was a hurdle that was truly difficult for him to overcome.

However, Wang Jiexi had long anticipated this. At the end of the battle, his character was ultimately forced into a corner. Forcing an opponent into a corner was a very basic attack technique for the Magician. Not to mention Gao Yingjie, any professional Magician player in the pro scene would probably not make any mistakes in that situation. Even if Gao Yingjie's mood was shaken, such a simple and familiar situation was enough to help him get through this difficult moment. Thus, he ultimately won the victory.

Yu Wenzhou still hadn't seen through everything.

Wang Jiexi had done more than he saw. He even paved the way to minimize the chances of Gao Yingjie making a mistake. This point wasn't realized until Gao Yingjie threw out that Molotov cocktail at the very end, when Yu Wenzhou and Ye Xiu, who had long perceived Wang Jiexi's intentions, simultaneously noticed this arrangement.

This captain of Tiny Herb was truly sparing no effort to ensure Gao Yingjie's victory in this match. He finally did it, and his brilliant efforts earned him sincere applause from two great gods.

"A very exciting match!" Ye Xiu said loudly to Chen Guo beside him.

Chen Guo was also applauding at this time, but she didn't quite understand why Ye Xiu was so excited that he stood up. At first, she suspected that her own level of appreciation wasn't high enough, and that she didn't see enough of the brilliance. But after looking around, she realized that besides Ye Xiu, there wasn't a single person in the entire audience who was so excited that they jumped up. The people around her, in front, behind, and to the sides, had already cast suspicious glances, with eyes that clearly looked at her as if she were a newbie.

"Wonderful, wonderful, it was very wonderful, quickly sit down!" Chen Guo said, pulling Ye Xiu.

But Ye Xiu stubbornly stood his ground and refused to sit down. Chen Guo pulled him a few times without budging him, and helplessly leaned to the side, imitating Tang Rou's previous behavior, pretending "I don't know him."

In the arena, Wang Jiexi and Gao Yingjie had already exited the stage.

Gao Yingjie had now returned to his timid appearance, walking towards the center of the arena with his head lowered. The applause around him made him feel like he was in a dream. What had just happened? He couldn't believe it. He seemed to have defeated the captain? And in front of so many spectators?

The All-Star Challenge was something the captain had asked him to sign up for, and challenging the captain was also the captain's intention. In a match where victory and defeat weren't important, he could experience the atmosphere of a big stage. Gao Yingjie also felt that he should try this challenge, so he followed the captain's arrangements.

After that, the captain asked him to have the mindset of playing in the finals, and to give it his all. Gao Yingjie did the same, but in the end, he actually managed to defeat the captain, which was something he had never expected before.

This victory surprised Gao Yingjie, and at the same time, made him feel a little apprehensive, but even more so, excited.

Until he reached the center of the arena and met Captain Wang Jiexi, who was coming from the opposite stage, the apprehension in Gao Yingjie's heart took over again. He had, of course, heard from his seniors about the unwritten rules of the Rookie Challenge. However, the captain had told him to go all out, so he had unhesitatingly done so, because in his heart, he always felt that even if he gave it his all, it wouldn't matter. There was not even a one in ten thousand chance that he could defeat the captain.

But he had actually done it. Now, seeing the captain in front of him, he immediately thought of the things that shouldn't have happened that his seniors had told him, and immediately felt that he had done something very sorry to the captain. In such a high-profile match, he had actually defeated the captain. This, this, this...

Gao Yingjie's head drooped lower and lower. As the victor, his heart was filled with guilt, and he didn't dare to face anyone.

Suddenly, his left wrist was grabbed. He quickly looked up and saw the captain's right hand grasping his. Then, his left hand was lifted high into the air, receiving applause from all directions in the stadium. At that moment, the applause seemed to sound even louder and more powerful.

"You played very well," Wang Jiexi said.

Gao Yingjie was a little surprised, because he seemed to see a hint of a smile on the captain's face, a genuine one.

"You have to shoulder the future of Tiny Herb, Yingjie." Gao Yingjie heard the captain say this to him, and for a moment, everything around him seemed to become very quiet. He saw the captain let go of his hand and walk slowly off the stage alone. When he suddenly woke up, he was the only one left in the arena, raising his arms and receiving applause from all directions...

"Is Wang Jiexi angry? It must be embarrassing to be defeated by a kid from his own team," Chen Guo muttered when she saw Wang Jiexi leaving Gao Yingjie to go off the stage alone. Ye Xiu, who was already sitting down, smiled noncommittally when he heard this. The fewer people who knew about Wang Jiexi's intentions, the better.

The second match of the Rookie Challenge ended, and Gao Yingjie also left the stage shortly after. However, the news that Tiny Herb's genius rookie had defeated Captain Wang Jiexi had already been edited into headlines by many media outlets. In their opinion, there couldn't be more explosive news in the Rookie Challenge than this. At this time, reporters were trying to find ways to secure interview opportunities.

But the Rookie Challenge wouldn't be paused because of such an unusual match. After Gao Yingjie left the stage, the host announced the next rookie to be challenged.

Tiny Herb's member, Qiao Yifan.

The audience was in an uproar, completely unaware of who this person was. Not to mention them, even the players in the professional scene were whispering to each other, trying to find out who this person was. "Who is this? Who is this?" Chen Guo was also constantly wondering, but Tang Rou silently glanced at Ye Xiu, seeing only a calm expression on his face.

A young man had already stood up from Tiny Herb's seat. Amidst the indifferent gazes of his teammates, he walked onto the arena alone.

The sound of whispering continued incessantly, but the host continued to announce the lineup for this match in a methodical manner.

"The player Qiao Yifan wishes to challenge is Li Xuan, the captain of Team Void, who controls the No. 1 Ghostblade, Fengshan Guiqi!" (meaning Seized Mountain, Crying Ghost)

This time, the observers and the professional players weren't too surprised. The rookies often challenged the ace characters of the teams. However, Qiao Yifan's own team, Tiny Herb, was in an uproar.

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Update is here! Happy weekend, comrades! (To be continued, if you want to know what happens next, please log in for more chapters and support the author's original work!)