Chapter 1 The Climax Arrives, the Whole Venue Erupts

The climax had finally arrived, and the entire venue was in an uproar.

To be honest, the draw of who was fighting whom wasn't that great. After all, there were so many rounds in the league, and teams played against each other in turn, so these matchups could be seen in the league itself.

The All-Stars was all about teamwork! These players, usually on opposing teams, only had this one chance a year to fight alongside each other. These impromptu pairings were what everyone loved to see.

Who would be teamed up this time at the All-Stars? The audience members raised their heads, not even blinking as they stared at the electronic screen. The groupings would only be revealed at the very last moment. Even the All-Star players themselves wouldn't know beforehand.

First, Team A.

Zhou Zekai, Sun Xiang, Jiang Botao, Lü Boyuan – four names popped up on the screen, followed by their characters.

It was Team Samsara. The groupings never broke up teammates from the same team.

Samsara had four All-Stars, the only team in the league with that many. No other team could match them in numbers. Blue Rain and Tiny Herb each had three All-Stars. Which team would be sent out to face Samsara?

Everyone's gaze shifted to the right half of the electronic screen, the Team B roster, which was still blank.

The screen started flashing!

Rows of player names and character names rolled across the screen before everyone's eyes, and then, everyone was stunned.

Han Wenqing, Zhang Xinjie, Ye Xiu, Su Mucheng.

!!!!

????

The two from Tyranny and the two from Happy made up a team of four, matching Samsara. But the number wasn't the key. The key was, how could Tyranny and Happy be put on the same team?

No one expected the reveal to be so climactic right from the start, not gradually building up the tension at all. The audience was first stunned, then erupted into an uproar.

Han Wenqing, Ye Xiu?

Those two were going to fight side-by-side?

Countless people felt their brains short-circuiting. Something they thought could never happen was finally happening at this All-Star event. In the past, to maintain the competitive balance of the All-Stars, rivals like Han Wenqing and Ye Xiu, Tyranny and Excellent Era, would definitely be split into different teams. But this time, the All-Stars hosted by Tyranny had actually brought Ye Xiu into their camp, making him a teammate of Han Wenqing.

This... this was a very bold gimmick!

But for many die-hard Tyranny fans, this setup was unacceptable. Some boos even rang out in the venue. This arrangement definitely had the approval of the organizers, Tyranny, but the fans didn't want to blindly follow the team's wishes. Ye Xiu was their mortal enemy, their eternal mortal enemy. How could that be changed?

Those who insisted on this view were the hardcore fans, but most people thought the arrangement was interesting. What kind of awkward match would these two rivals, who had fought for ten years, put on when they stood side-by-side? Many people were already looking forward to it, and all sorts of emotions filled the venue. Then, Blue Rain's Yu Wenzhou, Huang Shaotian, and Gao Yingjie were assigned to Team A, and Tiny Herb's Wang Jiexi, Xu Bin, and Gao Yingjie were assigned to Team B. No one cared much anymore. This division was normal. These two teams were always split up at the All-Stars for several years in a row. These two teams had history, and also to balance the strength of Teams A and B. If Blue Rain and Tiny Herb were packed together in either Team A or Team B, the balance of power would be severely skewed. One had to ensure that Teams A and B were evenly matched.

After Blue Rain and Tiny Herb, Howling Heights' Tang Hao and Liu Hao joined Team A, and Hundred Blossoms' Yu Feng and Zou Yuan joined Team B. This arrangement was for antagonism. Tang Hao came from Hundred Blossoms, and Liu Hao was a former member of Ye Xiu's old team. Their pasts were now standing on Team B. And on Hundred Blossoms' side, Yu Feng was formerly with Blue Rain, so he was assigned to Team B. Seeing this arrangement, many people regretted that Happy's Fang Rui, Tyranny's Zhang Jiale, and Void's Lin Jingyan hadn't been selected. Otherwise, this grouping would have been an even more complicated mess.

Zhang Jiale would stand alongside the reconstructed Blossoming Brilliance duo from Hundred Blossoms. Fang Rui, who had transitioned to a Qi Master, would meet his former partner in the Criminal Duo, Lin Jingyan. Together, they would seek revenge on Howling Heights, the team that had abandoned them...

There were so many exciting storylines, but because these three players weren't selected for the All-Stars, the audience could only feel regret.

After these two teams were filled, Void's Twin Ghosts, Li Xuan and Wu Yuce, were assigned to Team A, and Misty Rain's Chu Yunxiu and Li Hua went to Team B. After that, there were only two people left. In the end, Xiao Shiqin joined Team A, and Yang Cong entered Team B.

Looking at the two rows of names on the electronic screen, the most exciting part was still the very beginning. Ye Xiu and Han Wenqing were going to fight together? The entire venue was still discussing this topic, and no one cared about the other arrangements anymore.

The 24 players, after the rosters were announced, were already standing in two rows on the field.

The draw was lodged in the hearts of the players. For them, it was Ye Xiu's answer when asked "Who do you want to cooperate with or fight against?" "Whatever."

Each team had 12 people, using the regular season format, so everyone could play. After the rosters were confirmed, Teams A and B went to their temporary preparation areas set up on-site. At this moment, they were two separate teams.

"Alright, now both teams are in position, let them make their arrangements, and the All-Star game will begin soon!" The host shouted with passion.

"Li *zhidao*, what kind of lineup do you think the two teams will field?" The All-Star Weekend was always broadcast on television, and for the All-Star game, which seemed to be the highest level of competition, commentators Pan Lin and Li Yibo reappeared in the broadcast booth.

"Uh... actually, every year in the All-Star game, there is a crucial element, and that is... which team the healer is on," said Li Yibo.

"That's right, for several years in a row, Zhang Xinjie has been the only healer selected for the All-Stars," said Pan Lin.

"That's right, so Team A is now facing a situation without a healer. As a team, they should form a very explosive lineup to suppress Team B's healing advantage. As for Team B, as long as they build a solid team that can maximize the healer's effectiveness, their chances of winning are definitely higher than Team A's. As for the individual matches and the team arena, the other players can just play their best," Li Yibo said, talking about both explosiveness and balance. He didn't name a single name in the end, because naming names was risky! What if it didn't match his expectations and he lost face? This vague description could justify any lineup arrangement.

Li Yibo's answer was cunning, and Pan Lin wouldn't call him out on it. He repeatedly said, "You're right," and then the two watched the broadcast.

"Oh, did something happen on Team B's side?" Pan Lin suddenly called out. "Director, director."

The camera could zoom in on Team B, but there was no audio equipment set up there.

"Can someone go over and see what's going on?" Pan Lin called out.

"Did Ye Xiu and Han Wenqing have a dispute?" Li Yibo looked at the screen, and it seemed like the central figure of the dispute was Ye Xiu. He immediately thought of this possibility, but looking closer, it didn't seem like Han Wenqing was arguing with him. It seemed like... everyone was targeting Ye Xiu.

"You think you can just have an easy one-on-one match? Too naive. Step back." Tiny Herb's Wang Jiexi was saying to Ye Xiu.

"I've won 16 straight one-on-one matches, so I'll go up first and get a point, suppressing their arrogance. Such a reasonable and brilliant arrangement, how is that naive? Wang *dayan*, you explain it clearly!" Ye Xiu retorted sharply.

Tiny Herb's other two players shrank their necks. Of course, they knew their captain had that nickname, but how many people dared to call him that directly? The two stole glances at their captain, wondering how he would react.

Wang Jiexi didn't seem to react at all. He just looked at everyone and said, "Let's vote. Raise your hand if you agree to let this guy go in the one-on-one."

"Vote for what! Does Tiny Herb use voting to manage everything?" Ye Xiu said.

The others shrank their necks again. The dispute between these two was a battle of the gods! Players like Xu Bin, Yu Feng, and Zou Yuan, who were later generations of All-Stars, felt inferior to those two due to their seniority, and they didn't even have the courage to step in and mediate. Everyone shrank their necks and stole glances, but they were looking at Han Wenqing. He was definitely qualified to intervene in this divine battle.

"What are you arguing about!" Unexpectedly, it was Chu Yunxiu who spoke first.

"I'll go first in the one-on-one!" Chu Yunxiu shouted.

"There are three spots, what are you fighting for? I'll go first, and you go second!" Ye Xiu said.

"Okay, agreed!" Chu Yunxiu nodded fiercely.

"And Mucheng," Ye Xiu arranged, always picking the good deals for his own people first.

"The three of you going to the team competition would be quite good," Wang Jiexi said.

"And then leave the one-on-one spot for you?" Ye Xiu said.

"Our Tiny Herb... has a good record in the team arena," Wang Jiexi finally revealed his true colors. In the end, they were all too lazy to perform in the more strenuous team competition and wanted to be in the shorter, quicker individual matches. Ye Xiu was blatantly trying to get a good deal, while Wang Jiexi was arranging the team competition first so that his side could logically go to the individual matches.

Ye Xiu looked at him, was silent for a few seconds, and suddenly turned to look at the others. "In that case, wouldn't the lineup be set? Wouldn't the remaining people go to the team competition?"

The remaining people were naturally the two from Tyranny, the two from Hundred Blossoms, and Misty Rain's Li Hua and 301's Yang Cong.

"Let's discuss the lineup!" Tyranny's Zhang Xinjie, as if he hadn't heard the previous argument at all, opened his mouth with a calm expression.