Glory!

At that moment, these two large words flashed across the arena.

Everyone was stunned. Glory only appeared when victory was declared, but wasn't this a mutual destruction? The word Glory shouldn't appear in this situation! Could it be…

Everyone's eyes frantically searched the arena. Sure enough, in the shattered radiance of Eight Notes' sprite falling with its master, Deceitful Ripples still stood tall. Life: 0.7 percent.

He wasn't dead?!

Everyone was astonished. The broadcast quickly cut to a slow-motion replay of that moment, and everyone finally understood.

Yes, Deceitful Ripples was not dead. At the last instant, he had completed the hand seals for a Shadow Clone Technique (ying fen shen shu). Summons, without the master's command, are unable to distinguish between the true body and the shadow clone. So when Eight Notes' life reached zero, what people saw was Deceitful Ripples' shadow clone.

This wasn't a mutual destruction!

The home team, Happy's supporters, instantly erupted. Although 0.7 percent of life was almost the same as mutual destruction, winning and mutual destruction were conceptually two different things. When people realized that Mo Fan had won instead of ending in mutual destruction, the morale boost was significant.

"Of course, it wasn't mutual destruction," Ye Xiu said, smiling. Not many people had noticed that Deceitful Ripples hadn't died at that moment, but Ye Xiu was undoubtedly one of them.

"He's not an assassin, he's a trash picker," Ye Xiu said.

That's right!

Mo Fan wasn't an assassin; he didn't have the resolve to sacrifice himself. He was a trash picker, always prioritizing preserving his own life to make his actions more meaningful.

"Truly a perfect stage competition player," Ye Xiu praised.

Everyone looked at the close-up of the victorious Deceitful Ripples on the big screen, the character's expressionless face magnified before everyone's eyes.

What kind of expression would the player behind this character have at this moment? Cheers, elation? Everyone was curious, but they couldn't tell for now. Because this wasn't mutual destruction, this was Mo Fan's victory. Although Deceitful Ripples had only 0.7 percent of his life left, he still had the right to start another round. Although some people thought that there was no need to continue with so little life left and that he could just stand up and forfeit early, Mo Fan didn't do so.

Over at Blue Rain's competition booth, Li Yuan had already come out.

At that moment, he had truly thought that both sides had ended in mutual destruction, and he felt a little comforted. Although he hadn't done very well, at least he had managed to take one point. But when the two words Glory flashed out, Li Yuan's mood plummeted.

He hadn't died, and the victory belonged to the other side.

This result was too demoralizing.

Li Yuan walked off the stage dejectedly. The electronic screen in the arena kept replaying Deceitful Ripples' heroic performance in this battle, making his sense of defeat even heavier.

Back at the player booth, his teammates looked at him, not knowing what to say to comfort him.

This result was a bit dramatic, but it was not the kind of drama that Blue Rain wanted to see.

"It makes no difference," Captain Yu Wenzhou said at this time. "With so little life left, he's no longer a threat. It's almost the same as being killed."

"Yes," Li Yuan nodded. He knew that the captain wanted him to look at the result rationally and not be affected by emotions.

"We can only rely on you," Yu Wenzhou said, turning to another player. Their last player in the stage competition, Blue Rain's Launcher Zheng Xuan.

"Pressure mountain," Zheng Xuan made a wiping-sweat gesture.

Before the competition, people were generally more optimistic about Blue Rain winning. No one had expected Blue Rain to suffer so much in just the stage competition.

Happy had already taken four points from Blue Rain in just two matches. If Blue Rain wanted to win, they could only hope that Zheng Xuan could defeat three opponents in a row, which was obviously unrealistic. The last player of the stage competition was actually difficult to play. For the opponent, this could be seen as a solo match, because there would be no new members after this person. So when facing the last player, you could play like a personal match, play more unrestrained, and be more bold. But the last player was in a difficult position. He couldn't afford to be unrestrained. With no one behind him, he needed to be careful and preserve his life, trying to deal with the opponent's full strength.

Yu Wenzhou would not have such unrealistic expectations of his teammates. That would really put too much pressure on them. In the current situation, Mo Fan's existence could be ignored. Next, if Zheng Xuan could kill one opponent, entering the team competition with a disadvantage of two points would be satisfactory. Of course, it would be even better if he could take down two opponents with a great performance, losing only one point. Yu Wenzhou would consider it perfect if they could reach this stage. He wouldn't even think about the result of defeating three opponents in a row.

"I'm going!" Zheng Xuan stood up and straightened his clothes.

"Good luck!" everyone said.

"If I can't take even one point, I'll die here today!" Zheng Xuan made a solemn vow.

Blue Rain's members were slightly taken aback but immediately reacted. Mo Fan was also worth one point, a point with only 0.7 percent of life.

Everyone rolled their eyes, ignoring his words.

"What are you doing! This is a point that Huang Shao and Li Yuan failed to get even when they gave their all!" Zheng Xuan lamented how difficult it was for him.

"Hurry up and get out there!!" Huang Shaotian said unhappily. His mood was definitely not good, as he had left the stage amidst laughter.

"Watch me!" Zheng Xuan said confidently.

No one was worried about him. Even if Mo Fan had all kinds of techniques and unexpected actions, the character's life was the foundation of everything. With only 0.7 percent of life, it wasn't enough to support any means. Perhaps he had indeed had situations where he had achieved no-damage combos against opponents, but in those situations, the opponents' responses were very different from what they would be now with him having only 0.7 percent of life.

The competition began.

Even Pan Lin and Li Yibo didn't say much. In fact, in everyone's opinion, it would have been more elegant for Mo Fan to simply forfeit. Continuing to fight with 0.7 percent of life was a bit stubborn.

Zheng Xuan's Launcher character was called Vast Gunfire. He wielded a silver weapon rifle, Wandering. He was the main character of Blue Rain, a well-known name in the circle.

Zheng Xuan was a fourth-season player, entering Blue Rain with Yu Wenzhou and Huang Shaotian to become a professional player.

That was a dazzling season that gave rise to a group of top players later known as the "Golden Generation." Zheng Xuan was from the same period as the Golden Generation. From that time on, "Pressure Mountain" became his catchphrase.

Zheng Xuan's quality was actually not low, but in that era, there was a dominant Launcher player, making it difficult for newcomers to gain too much attention.

In the Golden Generation, there was no Battle Mage, no Grappler, no Launcher, and no Berserker. Was it just because there were no players of these classes among the fourth-season rookies? Of course not. It was also because in that era, these classes were occupied by a group of people standing at the peak. It was wishful thinking for newcomers to try to shake these people's positions.

Zheng Xuan was a generation that grew up alongside the Golden Generation. Perhaps in another era, he would have attracted a lot of attention. But alongside the Golden Generation, he was dwarfed. In the same team, there were two outstanding fellows. Not only were their Glory skills outstanding, but they also had their own characteristics: one was a chatterbox, and the other was a cripple.

Zheng Xuan was speechless. Looking at his ordinary appearance, he could only sigh that geniuses needed to have something extraordinary about them.

Pressure mountain!

Amidst such complaints, he grew day after day, year after year, becoming a reliable helper to those two Golden Generation members with special qualities.

In the summer of the seventh to eighth season, Zhang Jiale, the peak Launcher for many years, suddenly retired. Hundred Blossoms urgently sought a successor to Dazzling Hundred Blossoms. The first name that came to mind was actually Zheng Xuan from Blue Rain.

The two sides had contact, but before it became substantive, Zheng Xuan declined.

The reason?

He was used to Blue Rain. Being the core would put too much pressure on him…

Zheng Xuan rejected Hundred Blossom's invitation for this reason.

Perhaps it was a bit unpromising! Zheng Xuan thought this way, but it was true, he was already used to it. Since entering the alliance in the fourth season, other players of the same period seemed small under the halo of the Golden Generation. In the Blue Rain team, he had joined with Yu Wenzhou and Huang Shaotian, but everyone only noticed those two. In fact, he had been standing beside those two for so many years, but when people thought of him, when they saw his background, they were always surprised: Ah, he's also from the fourth season, from the same batch as the Golden Generation!

At first, Zheng Xuan would smile wryly, but gradually, he really, really got used to it. Seeing that Blue Rain didn't play well and Captain Yu Wenzhou and core member Huang Shaotian were being questioned under the spotlight, he felt that his status was actually a very happy thing.

In a team like Blue Rain, he had an important but not absolutely important position. It was a realm of life that was better than mediocrity but not as good as being at the top!

Zheng Xuan was very satisfied with this realm, and he planned to continue like this until the end of his career. To be honest, there was nothing to regret, as he already had a championship title.

So inevitably, Zheng Xuan had some lack of fighting spirit, even on the stage of the playoffs. However, this wasn't enough for a guy with only 0.6 percent of his life to take advantage of. Mo Fan's Deceitful Ripples continued to sneak attack, but Zheng Xuan forcefully countered with a blood-for-blood exchange, driving him away.

He won, a victory without suspense, but Zheng Xuan still cheered a little. One point, isn't it! He was still good at finding fun for himself.

Then, Happy's third player came on stage.

Su Mucheng, Dancing Rain.

"The Golden Generation... Pressure mountain." Zheng Xuan muttered.