Chapter 1189: Ghost Chaining
Translator: Nomyummi Editor: Nomyummi
Behind?!
Zhou Yebai went pale with shock upon seeing this message, hurriedly having Rangoon Creeper turn around.
Unfortunately, Qiao Yifan was focused on the match, and not here to joke around. He had tactically managed to swerve around and get behind Rangoon Creeper. When he sent the message, One Inch Ash's sword was already on its way down.
Moonlight Slash!
Phantom Demons usually wouldn't put too many skill points into slash attacks, and Qiao Yifan didn't intend for damage to be the purpose of this strike. It was just a simple opening attack. Unless the other was under a Super Armor status, any attack would be enough to disrupt the target a little. Combos were built upon such a foundation.
It was definitely far too late for Zhou Yebai to dodge after seeing Qiao Yifan's message. Considering Qiao Yifan's caution, he naturally wouldn't expose himself without having an absolute grasp on the situation. Zhou Yebai's Rangoon Creeper had happily and brainlessly charged forward, while speaking with Qiao Yifan like a senior to his junior in the chat. Meanwhile, Qiao Yifan's One Inch Ash had successfully and precisely gotten behind the other. The audience could see all of this with clarity. Zhou Yebai had become a joke at the very start of the match, one that didn't seem to understand his own place at all.
Now, moonlight arced downwards, not doing much damage, but still stunning Rangoon Creeper for a split second. One Inch Ash followed up with a Ghost Claw. A sliver of the Phantom Ghost's power drifted through the air, throwing Rangoon Creeper up. This was the Ghostblade's knockup skill.
Knockups were usually a good time to follow up with a combo, but for a Phantom Demon, they shouldn't hurry and deal as much damage with slashes as possible, but quickly set down as many Ghost Boundaries as possible.
Ice Boundary!
Plague Boundary!
Ghost Boundaries had cast times, so you couldn't instantly set a boundary. It was a struggle to finish casting these two Ghost Boundaries during Rangoon Creeper's knockup. However, Qiao Yifan very smoothly transitioned between the two Ghost Boundaries. After setting down an Ice Boundary first, he began chanting a Plague Boundary, carefully keeping an eye on Rangoon Creeper. Upon seeing the other land, Qiao Yifan was prepared to cancel the chant already, but the effects of Ice Boundary activated!
Rangoon Creeper, slowed by the Ice Boundary, definitely wouldn't be able to get to One Inch Ash's side in time. His blade trembled, and instead he sent forward a Spellblade skill: Earthquake Sword.
He could make it!
Qiao Yifan made an accurate judgement. Even as the Earthquake Sword came over, he continued his cast. The Plague Boundary was set before the Earthquake Sword swept at him, as expected. He wasn't interrupted. After that, he had One Inch Ash roll to the side and Earthquake Sword was dodged cleanly. Qiao Yifan was very familiar with the characteristics of these skills.
Plague Boundary lowered the defense of the characters inside the boundary. If he didn't attack, then there was no point to the Plague Boundary. Zhou Yebai was a Phantom Demon player, so how would he not understand this? Now, in two overlapping boundaries, he didn't ignore everything and try to run out of the two boundaries, but instead carefully observed One Inch Ash's movements. He couldn't predict what Qiao Yifan would do next. That was when he realized, despite living together for a year, seeing each other everyday for a year, he didn't understand Qiao Yifan at all. Perhaps, as a team member that he often had to train with, he knew a little of Qiao Yifan's style in Glory, but now, Qiao Yifan had switched classes to the class he was most familiar with: Phantom Demon.
What was Qiao Yifan's Phantom Demon like? Zhou Yebai didn't have a clue. However, he believed that he had more experience as a Phantom Demon than Qiao Yifan. He might've been caught off guard in the beginning, but, so long as he didn't panic, and kept a clear view of the situation, dealing with each action as it came, there was nothing to fear.
Ice Boundary, Plague Boundary, one focused on control, another focused on weakening. These two boundaries wouldn't deal any significant damage, he could slow down his pace and observe slowly. Bring it, Qiao Yifan!
Wait!
What was this?
On the screen, the blade in One Inch Ash's hand was spinning. It was less like an attack and more like some sort of spell being cast. As a Phantom Demon player, how could Zhou Yebai not know what this was?
The Ice and Plague Boundaries under Rangoon Creeper's feet seemed to be responding to come sort of summons, the Phantom Ghost's power pulsing, resonating! Zhou Yebai wanted to get his Rangoon Creeper out of the boundaries, but it was already too late.
Ghost Feast!
With only two Ghost Boundaries on the field, Qiao Yifan already had One Inch Ash use Ghost Feast.
The two pools of the Phantom Ghost's power, representing ice and plague erupted. Compared to a Ghost Feast with multiple overlaid boundaries, the power of the explosion of two boundaries had been reduced, but was also much clearer. Everyone could even see Rangoon Creeper struggling under the corrosive power of the Phantom Ghost's power.
The match had just started and Zhou Yebai had taken an ultimate to the face, but now his nervousness after being ambushed had disappeared along with it.
A Ghost Feast with just two Ghost Boundaries?
Zhou Yebai wanted to laugh. From his point of view, this was a display of Qiao Yifan's lack of experience and his stress from facing him. He couldn't figure out what to do next, so he just hurriedly made the Ghost Boundaries erupt. Every little bit of damage counted, after all.
How pitiful!
Zhou Yebai lamented to himself. Did the other really think that he'd become something great just by switching classes? How naive!
"Grow up already!" Zhou Yebai sent into the chat, admonishingly, as Rangoon Creeper charged out of the smoke and lights made by the opposing Phantom Ghost's power.
Moonlight Slash, then Full Moonlight Slash!
The two strikes were formed as one, arcing beautifully through the air, but, if there was nothing to hit, then the two arcs of light merely looked awkward!
Where was he?
Zhou Yebai was shocked.
He had seen One Inch Ash at this very spot just now. He was fast enough, so how could this happen? How was this possible?
What on earth happened?
Zhou Yebai was shocked, the audience was shocked and Pan Lin, in the middle of his commentary, was also shocked.
"What is Zhou Yebai doing?" Pan Lin wondered aloud. The audience, with their omniscient view, clearly saw Qiao Yifan's One Inch Ash standing just off to the side behind Rangoon Creeper, but Zhou Yebai had Rangoon Creeper strike the air with a beautiful two hit combo while yelling something like that. Was this some sort of… tactical trap?
"Er…" Li Yibo was very awkward. As a special guest and commentator, as Adviser Li, he had to give an answer in this sort of situation. However… what the hell was this guy doing? Li Yibo was very confused as well.
"Let's watch the match first!" Coach Li's commentary IQ was expert level. Knowing that the players on the field wouldn't give them time to analyze this one detail, he quickly suggested they watch first, analyze later.
One Inch Ash, stood behind Rangoon Creeper, had already struck. By the time Rangoon Creeper's two slashes were soaring through nothing, another Ghost Boundary had been placed. Dark Boundary! Another boundary that focused on inflicting a status effect. This time, Qiao Yifan wanted to take Zhou Yebai's sight.
The screen went dark...
Dark Boundary!
Zhou Yebai immediately realized what this meant.
Where was this guy? Where did this Ghost Boundary come from?
A chill ran through Zhou Yebai's heart as he stared at the dark screen that looked like it had shut down. He was finally feeling pressured. Qiao Yifan was no longer someone he could defeat with ease. Definitely not.
Zhou Yebai was so shocked that he forgot to move. One of the characteristics of Ghost Boundaries was that while inside, you'd definitely feel the effects, but as soon as you stepped out, then it'd all disappear. Characters in a Dark Boundary would be blinded, so no character would give up trying to make their character move out of it. They'd usually even use movement skills to help them move a large distance at once, just to escape this annoying effect.
However, Zhou Yebai, too lost in the shock over the trouble Qiao Yifan was giving him, forgot such a crucial thing as to move.
He was stunned, but Qiao Yifan wasn't. One Inch Ash closed in, sending out slash attacks and setting down ghost boundaries whenever given an opening.
One boundary...
Two boundaries...
Three boundaries...
The effects of Ghost Boundaries were stackable, but Qiao Yifan didn't let all the Ghost Boundaries he send out overlap completely. The boundaries overlapped, chained together across a larger area. The very center had several overlapping Ghost Boundaries, but as you got further away from the center, some areas only had one or two boundaries presiding over them. However, with this arrangement, the area under One Inch Ash's control had greatly increased. The Dark Boundary had disappeared by then and Zhou Yebai's sight returned, but he couldn't escape the control of the chained Ghost Boundaries at all.
This was...
Ghost Chaining!
Zhou Yebai recognized this playstyle and was once again filled with shock. Ghost Chaining required a player to have a very good awareness of the situation at large. Each boundary was set down individually, but needed to be placed so that it formed a whole with the other Ghost Boundaries. As a player did this, they also had to use slash attacks to fill in the gaps left by the Ghost Boundaries. The timing of these slashes, of these boundaries, what boundaries to place, where to place them, they all needed to be planned out. It wasn't something a person could achieve by mechanics alone.
This guy… can use Ghost Chaining, and so well… As for me...
Zhou Yebai didn't want to admit it, but had no choice. He was incapable of performing such a beautifully done Ghost Chaining.
How is this possible?
Zhou Yebai felt like he was going crazy. This was Qiao Yifan? That little nobody? Had he really already mastered something as high end as Ghost Chaining? Was his skill already above mine?
No! Impossible!
Zhou Yebai didn't believe it, or rather, he didn't want to believe it. How could that Qiao Yifan be so strong? How could he defeat me?
Of course he could!
Glory!
When the word flashed on the screen, Zhou Yebai's Rangoon Creeper had fallen with his denial and disbelief. When he walked out of the competition booth, his face was still set in an expression of disbelief. He returned to Tiny Herb's player stands, head down as he stood to the side.
He had lost to Qiao Yifan, that Qiao Yifan...
"Someone you never bothered to take notice of has grown to such an extent… Is it scary?" Wang Jiexi suddenly asked.
Zhou Yebai opened his mouth, but didn't know what to say. He suddenly realized, if Qiao Yifan hadn't left, if Qiao Yifan was still in Tiny Herb, both of them as Phantom Demons, would he still have a place in Tiny Herb?
Zhou Yebai suddenly felt a creeping sense of terror. He knew that Qiao Yifan was no longer in Tiny Herb and he wouldn't have to compete with the other for this place, but he still felt a formless pressure on his shoulders, trying to tell him something.
"You can't stagnate! In this Alliance, survival is swimming against the tide," Wang Jiexi said.
Chapter 1190: New Ghostblade Technique
Translator: Nomyummi Editor: Nomyummi
With the three individual rounds over, Happy was in the lead 2 to 1. There would be a short break before the group arena, but the commentator and special guest still had much to do. Due to Qiao Yifan's beautiful Ghost Chaining, they still had a mystery to uncover! Li Yibo wanted to just leave this be, but Pan Lin, at a time like this, just simply refused to sync to his rhythm. After hurriedly going over the current progression and situation of the round, he immediately returned to the match that had just occurred, and immediately returned to the mystery they had left unsolved.
"Zhou Yebai's mistake really shouldn't have occurred. Isn't his judgment way off?" The broadcast cooperated with Pan Lin's commentary and was currently giving a playback of Rangoon Creeper's beautiful two strike combo. It was aimed at nothing, completely ignoring One Inch Ash behind him.
"Such a weird mistake wouldn't be without reason, right?" With Li Yibo refusing to cooperate, Pan Lin could only keep talking to himself, asking the program director to switch to Zhou Yebai's point of view at the same time.
"Wait!" The scene flashed by and Li Yibo suddenly yelled, seeming to have noticed something.
"What?" The scene paused.
"Go back, slow motion!" Li Yibo's voice had twisted a little.
Pan Lin didn't understand, but still had the broadcast director cooperate, rewinding the recording and replaying it.
"Stop!" Li Yibo suddenly cried out.
The prepared broadcast director stopped the scene. Li Yibo pointed at a point on the screen: look here!
In Zhou Yebai's point of view, there was the lighting effect of the explosion after the Ice and Plague Boundaries had been blown up by Ghost Feast, and right in front of him, there was the clear cut silhouette of a person.
"One Inch Ash!" Pan Lin yelled, "One Inch Ash really did appear there. There was nothing wrong with Zhou Yebai's judgment, but…"
"Keep this scene, switch the view," Li Yibo directly interrupted him.
Pan Lin was stunned, but still had the broadcast switch to an full view.
"Hey!" After switching, Pan Lin cried out, unable to control his surprise. In the full view, One Inch Ash wasn't there at all. He had already arrived behind Rangoon Creeper by then, about to get to the position he had launched his offense from.
"What on earth is happening?" Pan Lin was shocked, switching the shot back and seeing the silhouette of One Inch Ash once more.
"This…" Pan Lin stared, and stared some more, and suddenly gave a "ah!"
"Do you see it now?" Li Yibo asked.
"This… This…" Pan Lin grabbed the mouse, tracing the cursor over the image, over the edge of the silhouette of "One Inch Ash".
"This isn't One Inch Ash at all, but a silhouette formed by the lighting from the explosion of the two Ghost Boundaries," Li Yibo explained.
"This… Is this something created by the system?" Pan Lin suspected.
"Probably not." Li Yibo shook his head. He had never heard of anything like it.
"A coincidence?"
"We probably won't know until Qiao Yifan is interviewed," Li Yibo guessed.
The audience at the venue all saw the scene and commentary in the TV broadcast through the big screen, seeing the silhouette made in that moment by the two boundaries of Ghost Feast.
It wasn't just the crowd that was surprised. Even the pro players at their respective benches, including Gods like Ye Xiu and Wang Jiexi, were all dumbstruck.
This was something unique that they had never seen during their pro careers, such a lifelike silhouette… It was a coincidence, right?
Tiny Herb's members could only guess, but Happy's members could be more direct. They all turned their heads as one to face Qiao Yifan, using their gazes to prompt him to explain.
"Ah… This, is something I discovered by accident," Qiao Yifan said.
"You created it purposefully!" Ye Xiu's surprise didn't fade because he knew that, for something like this, noticing was one thing, but replication was something else entirely.
"Yeah… I tried to practice it, I'm just lucky that Luo Ji helped me with the calculations involved," Qiao Yifan said, pulling out Luo Ji to give him credit. Luo Ji was usually at school, but when it came to matchday Saturday, he would swiftly rush to the stadium to regroup with everyone else. It was tiring, but if he couldn't even make it to the matches, then there really was no point in being a pro player at all.
"Just a little," Luo Ji hurriedly added, having been pushed into the spotlight.
"Amazing!" Ye Xiu complimented. Setting aside the practicality of this technique for now, for such a young player to have such creativity and spirit to research a new technique was something praiseworthy. Ye Xiu dared to be certain that this was an unprecedented new technique, something that even the All-Star level Ghostblades of Void hadn't even discovered.
"Ah… It's alright! I just felt like it might be of some use." Qiao Yifan was at a loss in the face of such a compliment.
"When we get back, let's all discuss together," Ye Xiu decided with a smile.
"Yes!" Qiao Yifan was very happy too. This acknowledgement was something he'd never get tired of.
The break after the individual competition soon ended. The following group arena would be the focus of this match, of all the matches this round. The reason the TV broadcast would choose this match was also mainly because of this group arena.
The venue suddenly fell silent. The Happy fans at their home stadium felt way too conflicted about this match that would decide the the result of the 1v3 promise.
Tang Rou stood from her seat. Five rounds… She had already failed four rounds, but her gaze was as determined as ever. Even though her opponent was Tiny Herb, even though no one had ever achieved a 1v3 against this team, Tang Rou didn't feel a trace of hesitation or fear.
"I'm going."
She gave her teammates a simple goodbye and went onstage. Seeing her, the Happy fans continued to be at a loss, uncertain how to respond. Instead, it was Tiny Herb that erupted into cheering and support when their first player Liu Xiaobie stood up. Happy's home turf once again become useless. Tang Rou, who could once create an uproar, had become someone who brought a chill to the stadium atmosphere.
The match begun amidst this strange situation.
"I'm very honored to become your first opponent for your 1v3," Liu Xiaobie typed. As a Hand Speed Expert, Liu Xiaobie enjoyed warming up by typing as he moved into position. Liu Xiaobie wasn't trying to mock the other by choosing the topic of the 1v3. He truly admired this young woman for her 1v3 promise. Who didn't have this sort of ambition? However, someone who dared say it, and make such a promise, that really was powerful, fierce.
"However, can you get past me?"
Windy Pavilion was a simple map without much decor. The two characters approached one another, closing the distance between them rapidly, as they adjusted their positions to prepare to attack. Liu Xiaobie's Flying Sword leaned further and further forwards, his right hand creeping to his sword hilt with the cover from his body.
The two were only fifteen steps apart.
Fourteen steps...
Thirteen steps...
Liu Xiaobie was on guard for any attacks. The female Battle Mage in front of him often used Dragon Breaks the Ranks to increase speed and charge into an offense. With a mere ten something steps, it was just a blink of an eye for a Dragon Breaks the Ranks.
Twelve steps...
Eleven steps...
The closer they got, the clearer of a view Liu Xiaobie had. He carefully observed Soft Mist's form. Soft Mist kept her spear held backwards. A Dragon Breaks the Ranks start didn't look like that.
Was she not going to use Dragon Breaks the Ranks?
Then, take this!
Sword Draw!
At six steps away, Sword Draw had already been sent out.
Not close enough?
No, when the attack flew forwards, the two characters were still moving. Six steps was a short distance, so this attack was timed just right!
As expected, the flash of the sword created a shining line, linking the two characters together immediately. Soft Mist suddenly bent her knees in front of him.
That wasn't enough!
There were very few Hand Speed Experts who had slow reactions. Creating variations in their attacks were their best weapon and the sword's slash was immediately adjusted. Just bending down wasn't enough.
However, Soft Mist didn't just get down.
Sky Strike! Soft Mist's spear was launched upwards. Bending down had given her a miniscule chance to maneuver, letting her parry this attack perfectly with her Sky Strike.
Clang!
Their weapons clashed. Sky Strike didn't seem to be enough to completely parry Sword Draw, but Soft Mist had fully adjusted her form by then and used the momentum from that attack to increase her movement speed and the speed of her counterattack.
Dragon Tooth!
The attack sped towards his chest.
As fierce as expected! Liu Xiaobie exclaimed. Wanting to take the initiative to strike with just this attack, she really hasn't changed a bit!
Liu Xiaobie couldn't help but think to back in the beginning, when their captain had them go to the tenth server to train with Ye Xiu. This girl had been been quite a pain to deal with. The her who couldn't even last a minute was already clearly showing her style. Never back down, attack whenever possible, from the first attack to when she fell, she was always on the offense. Though her abilities were unpolished back then and every member of Tiny Herb could defeat her, her burning spirit had left a deep impression on them.
And now, she was finally on the same stage as they were and shouldering a promise of 1v3 in five rounds.
You really have character, but we Tiny Herb aren't willing to be a background to that character!
Liu Xiaobie wasn't Huang Shaotian, and he didn't have the habit of chatting as he fought. Determined and resolute, Flying Sword darted out.
Triple Slash!
Liu Xiaobie didn't back down from Soft Mist's advance, but instead used this movement skill to meet her.
This sort of exchange was exactly what Tang Rou wanted.
Dragon Tooth stabbed forth, but hit air as Flying Sword slashed, his form swerving, and then swerving again.
Triangle Triple Slash!
With Liu Xiaobie's extremely fast hand speed, his direction changes with Triple Slash were dizzying. Flying Sword seemed to teleport, instantly dodging the Dragon Tooth and getting to Soft Mist's flank, the edge of his sword plummeting down!
Chapter 1191: Swift Hand Speed
Translator: Nomyummi Editor: Nomyummi
The tip of the sword dropped down, but… it was a miss.
Afterwards, Flying Sword was already flying out.
Tyrant's Destruction!
Liu Xiaobie's triangle Triple Slash had been extremely fast, but what about Tang Rou? Her speed was no slower. Her Dragon Tooth turned into a Tyrant's Destruction, keeping up with the dizzying Triple Slash. Before the sword could strike her, her spear thrust into Flying Sword's body, throwing him to the side.
Whoa!
Liu Xiaobie was shocked. In the Happy versus Excellent Era Challenger League finals, he had a very deep impression of Tang Rou's hand speed. Xu Bin had asked how he would compare, but Liu Xiaobie hadn't replied.
And now, Tang Rou had been able to catch his triangle Triple Slash, hitting him first before he could hit her...
Although his triangle Triple Slash required more inputs, the difference in attack speed between Soft Mist's spear and Liu Xiaobie's sword could not be ignored.
Spears usually had low attack speed; most had an attack speed of 2. On the other hand, the Blade Master's lightsabers were the fastest weapons; most had an attack speed of 10.
In Glory, the attack speed on weapons were rated from 1 to 10. However, the difference between a 1 and a 10 wasn't by a magnitude of ten. In reality, the difference between a 1 and a 10 was around 20%.
Glory was an input-heavy game. What truly decided an attack's speed was the player's hand speed. But the difference between having a weapon with an attack speed of 1 versus a weapon with an attack speed of 10 indicated that if you wanted to match the speed of a 10 attack speed weapon with a 1 attack speed weapon, your hand speed would need to be 20% faster.
Thus, a faster weapon attack speed was never a bad thing. However, the game was set up such that weapons with lower attack speed had higher physical attack. Finding the right balance was an issue every player had to consider. Blade Masters tended to use lightsabers and tachis, but there was no shortage of greatsword and broadsword users.
The weapons used by Soft Mist and Flying Sword:
Soft Mist's spear, Dancing Fire Flowing Flame, had an attack speed of 4. Among spears, it was already a very fast one. Along with the bonus stat of attack speed +1, it's total attack speed was 5.
Flying Sword's Lightsaber, Chasing Spirit, had an attack speed of 10. It had a bonus attack speed of +2.
In total, Chasing Spirit had an attack speed of 12, 7 points higher than Dancing FIre Flowing Flame, a 14% difference.
With this difference, for Soft Mist to match Flying Sword, Tang Rou's hand speed had to be above Liu Xiaobie's. However, in a fight, the two sides wouldn't be starting their attacks at the same time and checking to see who reached the other side first. Because of the inputs required for skills, variations between skills, and differences in attack speed, it wasn't easy to make a simple comparison. Most players used their intuition to make a judgement.
Liu Xiaobie's intuition surprised him. In this match against Tang Rou, he had actually been quite mentally prepared for it. Because of the 1v3 bet, Tang Rou was always first to go in the group arena. Because of this order never changed, it was easier for opponents to prepare for. For example, Liu Xiaobie knew that he would be playing against Tang Rou, so he focused his preparations towards her.
She really is fast. She can completely keep up with me.
But if you think this is the fastest I can go, then you're very very wrong!
As Flying Sword was thrown aside by Tyrant's Destruction, Flying Sword also made his move. A sword light flew out, leaving a sword mark on Soft Mist.
What a fast sword! Tang Rou saw the attack. She wanted to dodge, but her hand speed couldn't keep up.
Wow!
Tang Rou couldn't help but be astonished. Flying Sword had been thrown aside by Tyrant's Destruction, but in that split second, Liu Xiaobie had been able to leave an attack behind.
Although… the attack was more for show? I still have the initiative!
Dancing Fire Flowing Flame moved, drawing afterimages one after the other in the air.
Dragon Tooth, Double Stab, attacks that couldn't be more normal, thrust fiercely towards Flying Sword.
Clang clang clang!
Clang clang clang clang!
The weapons of both players collided with each other repeatedly. The two competed speed against speed. Sword light and spear shadows collided and separated. Blood blossomed in the air.
Everyone stared in awe. The commentator and guest in charge of commentating the match were speechless too.
What was there to say?
With how fast the two were fighting, by the time they finished talking about a point, victory might have already been decided. There was no chance for them to say anything.
This was where the difficulty in commentating a Glory match lay. When the two sides started fighting, there were too many small details and mix-ups involved. And if the pace was also fast, there was no room for commentators to give a detailed analysis anywhere. And with how fast Tang Rou and Liu Xiaobie were playing, the commentators couldn't even use the "list the skill names" strategy.
By the time he finished calling out the name of a skill, both sides had used another three skills.
"Too fast…" Pan Lin was able to squeeze in two words. It was truly somewhat embarrassing to not be able to point out anything.
"Overly fast." Li Yibo was an experienced person with a professional experience. There might not be time to talk about the details, but he could talk about the overall picture. He didn't look at the interactions between the two, just their skill trees.
There seemed to be a bunch of clocks on their skill trees. More and more of the icons on their skill trees were going on cooldown.
Rhythm?
There was no rhythm. These two people were constantly playing catch up. You're faster than me, I'm faster than you, you chase, I chase. It became a competition of pure speed. If they continued to use skills at this pace and this quantity, there won't be any skills to use soon. Or perhaps only low-level skills would be left...
Li Yibo wasn't wrong.
Stab stab stab!
Slash slash slash!
Liu Xiaobie was putting in inputs like crazy, but he still wasn't able to thoroughly suppress his opponent. At this moment, he put in inputs, but the attack he had wanted to get failed to come out. Flying Sword's offensive suddenly halted.
How?
Liu Xiaobie was only astonished for a second before he immediately realized the problem.
The skill was on cooldown, so it couldn't be used.
But the skill was still on cooldown?
Not good!
Liu Xiaobie realized that his hand speed had gone out of control. His blind pursuit of speed had put him in this awkward position of being unable to connect skills because they were still on cooldown. It was because of this imbalance between hand speed and rhythm, a frequent mistake in the past, that he had been seen as a player who was wasting away his talent.
Fortunately, he noticed it and fixed it. He started learning how to effectively utilize his hand speed, going as fast as he could when he needed to, but also suppressing it when he needed to be slower. This imbalance in rhythm stopped appearing after being aware of it.
After fixing the problem, Liu Xiaobie improved immensely. Last season, he was just a bit away from making it into All-Stars. This season he hoped that he could breakthrough. But in this match, his old problem had unexpectedly returned. Without him being aware, his hand speed had sped up to such a level already.
She really is an opponent that's hard to stay calm against!
Fortunately, Tang Rou had been chasing after his hand speed, so she had also been recklessly wasting her skills too to reach that speed. Even though this should have been a huge mistake and a huge opening, it wasn't really one in this match because both sides had committed the same mistake.
"Haha, really…" Liu Xiaobie had wanted to say something in the chat, when Dancing Fire Flowing Flame flashed before him.
A normal attack?
Liu Xiaobie swiped his mouse and Flying Sword blocked this attack. Soft Mist wasn't done though. She attack again, this time with a Dragon Tooth. Since the vast majority of their mid-level and high-level skills were on cooldown, the two sides were mainly using low cooldown sub-Level 20 skills or normal attacks.
She's still attacking even in this situation. How stubborn! Liu Xiaobie sighed, while warding off Soft Mist's attacks. But he gradually realized that something wasn't right.
Normal attacks had no cooldown and could be used at any time.
Low-level skills had short cooldowns. After a few exchanges, they would be back up and could be used again.
Soft Mist was relying on this offense. It was just like before, dense and fast.
As a result, Liu Xiaobie that when he noticed his excessive speed and prepared to control his rhythm, Soft Mist continued to stubbornly commit this mistake.
She was still keeping up with her previous hand speed, or it could be said that she was still burning, still trying to think of a way to go faster.
This...
Liu Xiaobie didn't know how he should assess her. All he knew was that he was starting to have trouble warding off her attacks.
What is this girl thinking?
Liu Xiaobie was astonished, but he felt like he had discovered something.
Among these were memories of the past. When he failed to meet expectations by blindly utilizing hand speed, he made adjustments had made huge improvements. Tang Rou was like the him, who hadn't realized the issue and continued to charge through wildly.
If I had continued along this path, how would things have turned out?
Liu Xiaobie discovered that he had never thought about this question before. After not getting the results he wanted from this playstyle, he had quickly made changes.
As for Tang Rou? Did she know? Or was she just stubborn?
Liu Xiaobie didn't know. He only knew that he was having trouble defending. A feeling rose in his heart. The two used to be speeding along neck and neck, but midway through, he suddenly realized that there was perhaps a better way to win, so he stopped speeding along and went to study. The person who kept on speeding along instantly overpassed him...
Was this limited to just this match? Or… his entire professional career?
Would the one who won in the end be the one who continued to speed along or the one to study a better way?
Liu Xiaobie's Flying Sword fell with this confusion in him. He didn't fall to Soft Mist's normal attacks and low-level skills, but rather her overwhelming tempo.