Chapter 35 The 35th Round

The 35th round of the competition ended, but miraculously, after this round, the rankings on the leaderboard remained exactly the same, without any changes. Hundred Blossoms, Howling Wind, and 301 all secured victories, while the two leading teams, Happy and Thunderclap, drew 5-5.

With only three rounds remaining, no team's position was secure. Thunderclap, the leader among the five teams vying for the eighth spot, was only nine points ahead of 301, who was in ninth place. If they performed poorly in the next three rounds, they might very well be eliminated.

The battle for the top eight had become incredibly complex. The media wanted to analyze the matchups between the five teams, and print media outlets felt they didn't have enough space. Even at such a crucial time, they had to allocate some space to another event.

The Challenger League.

The tenth season of the Challenger League.

And the final of this year's Challenger League had some interesting talking points.

Team Excellent Era was back!

Although they were no longer a powerhouse, and although they no longer had the Battle God One Autumn Leaf, Excellent Era, the name, had not been buried. They had fought their way to the final step of the Challenger League, and with one more battle, the name would return to the Glory Pro League.

What was Excellent Era like now?

Having reached the final step, Team Excellent Era finally convinced the *Electronic Sports Weekly* to dedicate more space to them.

This Excellent Era still had a Battle Mage as its core player and character.

Qiu Fei, Battle Format.

Anyone who watched last season's Challenger League should remember this young man. When Excellent Era fell apart and the players went their separate ways, he, as a highly regarded talented young man, received many invitations. But in the end, he chose to stay, to stay with the Excellent Era that had lost its glory and seemed to be just barely surviving.

Excellent Era still had a group of fans, but the media had largely lost interest in them until now, when they saw that Excellent Era had a chance to return to the league. Then, they began to offer some more in-depth introductions and reports. People discovered that this surviving Excellent Era was not as bad as everyone had thought.

Qiu Fei's talent was already recognized, and this year, he seemed to have made significant progress. Battle Format was already a core character in the Challenger League last season. Excellent Era, with its extensive experience with Battle Mages, had created a set of impressive equipment for the character, and this year, the equipment had been upgraded to Level 75. The other main players, after further investigation, turned out to be members of Excellent Era's training camp. The new Excellent Era could no longer afford to maintain the training camp, but they retained some of the better trainees as official players.

When Excellent Era's players, characters, and many valuable materials were divided up among other clubs and teams during the dissolution, Xia Zhongtian, who took over Excellent Era, stepped in at the last moment and managed to secure two things.

First, Qiu Fei, as the core and soul player of the new Excellent Era.

Second, the Excellent Dynasty guild. Xia Zhongtian accurately grasped that Glory esports relied on an online game, and that having a well-controlled online guild was an important foundation for the development of clubs and teams.

And so, the new Excellent Era embarked on another Challenger League journey, standing once again before the finals. This Friday would determine their ultimate fate.

Excellent Era's opponent was Mysterious Wonders, a team that had been relegated with Excellent Era in the eighth season. In the ninth season, Happy had the last laugh. Both teams were relegated and, after another season of hard fighting, they finally met again in the finals.

Excellent Era was not the Excellent Era of the past, but Mysterious Wonders was still the same Mysterious Wonders. Their coach, Zhang Yiwei, remained in his position after last season, and Mysterious Wonders' key players were also retained. They fought their way through to the finals, and they eliminated both teams that had been relegated in the ninth season, which made them even more confident.

As for their final opponent, the vastly different Excellent Era, they were no longer intimidated. Mysterious Wonders, from top to bottom, was full of ambition, looking forward to the final battle.

Friday was the day before the Pro League matches, and teams usually didn't schedule any training that evening. So, in the Green Forest Estate residence, Ye Xiu was pacing around, bored.

"Watch?" Chen Guo asked at this moment.

"Watch?" Ye Xiu asked in return, not specifying what she meant, but everyone understood.

So, the TV was turned on, the esports channel, the Six Trees Arena, the place where Happy had fought last year.

Both teams had entered the arena, and they were waiting for the official start. Pan Lin and Li Yibo, the golden duo, were once again commentating on the Challenger League finals, but they didn't seem very energetic. This year's Challenger League finals were not as hyped as last year's. Once you've seen the ocean, other waters are hard to impress.

"Alright, the first player from both sides for the individual competition is about to enter the arena," Pan Lin said in a flat tone.

"Ahem," Li Yibo coughed.

Pan Lin looked at Li Yibo in confusion, but the director's roar made him realize what was happening.

"Oh, it's not the individual competition, it's the stage competition. Sorry, viewers, slip of the tongue," Pan Lin apologized sincerely. The Challenger League finals also used a playoff-like system, with a 5v5 stage competition plus a team competition, and then the points were tallied. Pan Lin was still in the rhythm of the Pro League regular season and hadn't realized it for a moment.

"Excellent Era's player entering the arena is..." Pan Lin paused noticeably when introducing the player, because he didn't recognize him! So, he could only look at the name on the roster and match it with the person.

"Wen Li," Pan Lin announced the player's name and then read the information dryly. This was all he knew about the player, and he had absolutely no personal interest or opinion beyond that.

"And then Mysterious Wonders' player is..." After introducing one side, he moved on to the other, but Mysterious Wonders was slightly better. Although they hadn't been in the league for two years, he still had some vague impressions of the players.

"Alright, the match is starting," Pan Lin said mechanically.

But soon, Pan Lin was drawn in by the content of the match and gradually became excited.

After all, the Challenger League finals were as important to these two teams as the grand finals. Their efforts throughout the year would be put to the test in this hour or more. There was no turning back, and both sides could only fight to the death. Although their technical and tactical level might not be as good as the teams currently fighting tooth and nail for the top eight in the regular season, they were conveying the spirit of giving their all to win through their performances on the field. Such matches could always move the audience.

When Mysterious Wonders' fourth player came on stage, and Excellent Era was already on their fifth player, Pan Lin even began to feel sorry for Excellent Era.

"Excellent Era has made a lot of mistakes! They could have played the stage competition better! What do you think, Director Li?" Pan Lin said.

"Yes," Li Yibo nodded. "Technically speaking, Excellent Era's players are not worse than Mysterious Wonders', but in terms of match experience, this Excellent Era is probably much weaker. Mysterious Wonders' players have at least had experience in the Pro League, but none of Excellent Era's current members have played in the real Pro League. They lack experience in handling situations. Especially in this kind of do-or-die match, they seem a bit nervous, which is why they are not performing at their best."

"If this point is not handled well, Excellent Era will probably be in trouble in the team competition," Pan Lin said.

"Let's see Excellent Era's last player, they need a shot in the arm right now," Li Yibo said.

"Well, Excellent Era's last player in the stage competition has entered the match. He is the captain of this Excellent Era, Qiu Fei, but he is not very old, only 17 years old according to the information," Pan Lin said.

"But he is indeed a very talented player. I heard that Tiny Herb had intended to recruit him last year, but he refused," Li Yibo said.

"It seems that he is a player who is very attached to Excellent Era. But having feelings is not enough. We all know that in the arena, strength is what ultimately speaks," Pan Lin said.

"Qiu Fei is fighting two opponents alone, let's see what he can do!" Li Yibo said.

Both teams' characters set off and met in the center of the map, and the fight began.

"Beautiful!" Not a few moves in, Pan Lin shouted in praise. Qiu Fei's Battle Format had taken the initiative and was attacking fiercely.

"Very solid basic skills!" Li Yibo exclaimed.

"The opponent seems to have no power to parry," Pan Lin said.

"This Qiu Fei, I remember in last year's Challenger League finals, he unleashed a combo that even Ye Xiu couldn't deal with," Li Yibo said.

"That's the peak that theory can achieve. If even Ye Xiu can't do anything about it," Pan Lin said.

"This Mysterious Wonders player looks doomed," Li Yibo said boldly in this kind of match. After all, he could see through the players' levels.

As expected, Qiu Fei won.

"Battle Format still has 68% of his health! He is still very capable of fighting. Qiu Fei is a really good player," Pan Lin said.

"But the next player to come on stage for Mysterious Wonders, Captain Tang Xing, is also very strong," Li Yibo said.

"If Qiu Fei manages to defeat two opponents here, it will be a big blow to Mysterious Wonders' morale. Let's see how Tang Xing performs!" Pan Lin said.

The result…

"He won, Qiu Fei won again. Excellent Era laughed last in the Challenger League finals, and they took a one-point lead. This is not easy. Excellent Era has a reliable captain! Although he is only a 17-year-old boy," Pan Lin shouted.

"Yes, although it is only a one-point advantage, reversing the situation at this time is a big blow to Mysterious Wonders' morale. Let's hope they don't get discouraged in the next team competition and can cheer up," Li Yibo said.

"No one will easily give up victory!"

"But there is only one champion."

Challenger League, final winner: Excellent Era.

"We're back!" At the post-match press conference, Qiu Fei, the new generation captain of Excellent Era, announced solemnly to the cameras.