Chapter 442: Chapter 427: Curtain Call and Forced Business (2nd Update)

Not long ago in the training room of the Leap Nuclear Club.

“I… holy, holy, holy, holy, holy! What the heck is this?!” Mom Has a Dog grabbed a bucket of ice cream and sat on the sofa watching the final battle between Juan Canyun and Zhao Mingwei.

He had intended to enjoy a match between the highest-level players in Holy Spirit City at the current stage, but the level displayed by Zhao Mingwei and Juan Canyun… had surpassed Mom Has a Dog’s understanding.

Or rather, it had surpassed human understanding. What kind of monsters were these two?

In the beginning, the battle between Juan Canyun and Zhao Mingwei was manageable, and Mom Has a Dog could make out their movements. Zhao Mingwei’s series of punching moves and various feints were a delight to watch.

But as he continued watching, things started to feel off. Juan Canyun’s spear swinging speed had surpassed what the naked eye could capture, with his Flowing Cloud Illusion nearly occupying the entire cramped battlefield.

At one moment, he even had the illusion of ten Juan Canyuns ganging up on a single Zhao Mingwei.

“Coach Song, is this… reasonable? The game’s default auto-attack system?” Mom Has a Dog asked Mo Shigui next to him, whose face bore a serious expression.

“I have studied the Final Fighter class too. According to the skill description, Cloud Formation should only split into one clone, and the clone should mimic the movements of the original body, not attack together like this…”

“And attack together with the original body.”

Black Pot Cooking Meat voiced what Mo Shigui had intended to say. Mom Has a Dog was only a second-team player, but the expressions of the first-team players in the training room were just as grave as Mo Shigui’s.

Because they had all played Holy Spirit, they knew that what Juan Canyun used was definitely not something as simple as a system-generated auto-attack that was this… unimaginably fast.

“The Holy Spirit feuding group has already exploded. A bunch of people are asking if this is even possible, questioning if it’s a cheat,” Black Pot Cooking Meat said, shaking his phone.

“It’s not a cheat, he really did it,” Mo Shigui said.

“He actually did it… How many strikes did this little Qi swing in one second? Ten? Twenty? Even with system assistance, that would be hard to achieve,” a teammate said incredulously.

“Stop being amazed. In the eyes of ordinary players, you all are monsters too. Anyway, I have been feeling a kind of uncomfortable restraint while playing disputing matches recently,” said Black Pot Cooking Meat to those teammates who were still in disbelief.

VR gaming isn’t like playing with a keyboard and mouse. This group of professional players in disputing matches ensures that every swing effectively hits without exposing any weaknesses, never setting auto-attack as a button press.

Therefore, a host of VR professional players also possessed excellent real-life skills. Some players who came from unconventional paths even underwent specialized training in swordsmanship or marksmanship after joining the club.

To put it bluntly, each of the first-line players sitting in Leap Nuclear excelled with their weapons to such an extent that they could be described as ‘masters’ even in real life.

Juan Canyun was also proficient in using a long spear in real life, but no matter how skilled or masterful, it was still within the limits of human capabilities.

Swinging twenty or more strikes in one second, even having his Cloud Formation illusion catch up with the speed of his spear swings, was indeed an extraordinary ability for these professional players.

“That is true, but the group isn’t asking whether Little Qi cheated. They are asking about Xaio Ye,” a player remarked.

“That… Xiao Ye is indeed the most unreasonable one,” Black Pot Cooking Meat admitted, agreeing with the group’s view. Juan Canyun’s stunning performance had indeed shocked every major club in China and even the international viewers watching the live broadcast online to the point of jaw-dropping.

But many players who have never played Holy Spirit City, even some who do have accounts, all believe that Juan Canyun’s ability to produce such spectacular effects comes from using skills.

The Final Fighter had many skills that could deliver multiple attacks in an instant, therefore, the focus of foreign netizens was on… how could the Mind Energy Master dodge and block so effectively?

“Using this tactic against a newcomer is somewhat unreasonable,” Mo Shigui, as an insider, certainly also spotted Zhao Mingwei’s method, which was to trade blood for blood.

Juan Canyun seemed to be attacking Zhao Mingwei fiercely, but in reality, most of the damage was avoided by Zhao Mingwei, who even managed to seize opportunities to inflict high damage occasionally.

“Can experience solve this? Which veteran sitting here would withstand Xiao Wen’s assaults?” Hei Guo Zhu Rou stated that even with an additional ten years of professional competition experience, he couldn’t withstand Juan Canyun’s attacks, which resembled a storm passing through.

“Zhao seems to be leading Xiao Wen,” someone remarked.

Suddenly, an unfamiliar voice rang out at the entrance of the training room, causing everyone to turn their heads to see President Yin standing at the doorway.

“What leading?” Mama You Gou Jiao asked somewhat puzzledly.

“About that…” President Yin was thinking about how to explain when Juan Canyun already unleashed all his attacks, yet still failed to kill Zhao Mingwei.

Instead, his own health was nearly depleted, and just as Zhao Mingwei was throwing him out… the moment Mo Shigui saw that Juan Canyun couldn’t stand up, he instinctively shouted an order to Mama You Gou Jiao by his side.

“Go call the team doctor!”

“The team doctor is off today, Coach Song.”

“Call 120.”

“This…”

“Hurry up!”

Mo Shigui’s shout made all the professional players in the team simultaneously pull out their phones to dial 120, but after exchanging glances, they still let Mama You Gou Jiao talk to the hospital.

In the frame, Juan Canyun was already lying on the ground, unable to move; however, the audience filling the live stream’s chat couldn’t understand why Juan Canyun was immobile.

To the viewers, it appeared Juan Canyun was merely deploying a flurry of fanciful skills in the game, completely oblivious to Juan Canyun’s exhaustion issues, with some cloud players still questioning whether he had been controlled by one of Zhao Mingwei’s skills.

“Should we pull Xiao Wen out of the VR equipment? It looks like Xiao Ye has already secured the win,” a player in the team asked.

Despite Juan Canyun’s health still being at one-tenth, his MP had been completely depleted during the recent fight.

Juan Canyun was now unable to use any skills, just as he was physically unable to muster the strength to stand up again.

“Wait a little longer.” Mo Shigui watched the live broadcast, Zhao Mingwei was waiting for Juan Canyun to stand up again, but Juan Canyun didn’t believe he had already lost.

In the professional arena, being stubborn and tenacious alone can’t defeat an opponent.

Juan Canyun looked at his skill bar, which had turned entirely gray and white, showing that all skills were unusable… At that moment, Juan Canyun probably couldn’t even move a single finger.

But…

“Get up, kid!”

The voice of Lady Catastrophe suddenly rang in Juan Canyun’s ears–not an illusion. It was not an illusion.

In his own status bar, Juan Canyun saw that an additional state had appeared, denoted by an icon of a pirate flag.

‘Lady Catastrophe’s Stronghold Blessing–Plunder Power: Strength +50, Agility +50, Vitality +50.’

This attribute provided by the stronghold’s NPC was available to Juan Canyun whenever Lady Catastrophe returned to Fureya’s room.

The buff to strength, agility, and vitality by fifty was not considered very powerful in daily gameplay.

But at that moment, Juan Canyun felt a surge of strength infuse into his body, which had been too weak to move, allowing him to slowly crawl up and, trembling, reach out to grasp the long spear embedded in the ground beside him.

In a daze, he seemed to see the translucent phantom of Lady Catastrophe grasping the long spear beside him…

The power in Juan Canyun’s grip on the spear grew increasingly stronger, and in front of him, the faint particles once again formed another phantom, it was Fureya…

“Please survive, Holy Spirit.” Fureya’s phantom extended her hand to gently caress Juan Canyun’s forehead, and eventually, her phantom turned into particles of light that infused into Juan Canyun’s body.

‘Fureya’s Stronghold Permanent Blessing–Farewell Elegy: When health and magic points are below 100, they recover by five percent.’

This blessing effect of Fureya was also available to all players, but slots for blessings were limited. Most players chose blessings that increased critical hit rate and experience gain. Special blessings like the Farewell Elegy were either very rare or unused by players.

Due to its minimal effect–Farewell Elegy did not prevent death, and recovering five percent of health and magic points when they were below 100 was not very useful.

This blessing was something Juan Canyun had requested to learn from his Fureya just before his departure.

“Senior…” Juan Canyun, somewhat staggering, rose from the ground and said to Zhao Mingwei, “This is the final strike.”

Zhao Mingwei did not respond to Juan Canyun. Instead, the roar of the Gold Thunder Tiger substituted for Zhao Mingwei’s response, and the moment the strongest Mind Beast appeared behind Zhao Mingwei, Juan Canyun’s pupils also burst with the arc lights of thunder.

Flowing Cloud Illusion!

With the five percent of restored magic points, Juan Canyun unleashed this awakening, with the Unrivaled Gun Qi on the spear heading straight towards the roaring Gold Thunder Tiger.

Hundreds of Unrivaled Gun Qi collided with the Gold Thunder Tiger… The entire Molten Lava Sky Island was destroyed by the power released by the two awakenings.

A second after the awakenings collided, Juan Canyun used the Cloud Formation, letting the shadows of the spear release the awakening, while he himself delivered a truly lethal strike from behind.

Turn back… stab hit!

All the thunder and howling wind around them had suddenly vanished, leaving only Juan Canyun, holding a long spear, and Zhao Mingwei, pierced through the chest by the spear.

“Last time, you defeated me this way too,” Zhao Mingwei said.

Zhao Mingwei looked at his life value, which had been reset to zero, and remembered the experience from a year ago when he first faced the novice Juan Canyun in the league competition.

“That was… because the senior gave me a chance,” Juan Canyun uttered, and his voice lost all its strength, his spear slipping from his grasp to the ground.

Zhao Mingwei wanted to reach out to help him but realized he had become translucent after his life value was depleted.

Ironically, Juan Canyun, who had won in the end, was the one lying on the ground, while Zhao Mingwei, in his ghostly form, stood scratching his cheek.

“Logged off? Then there shouldn’t be any problem,” he muttered.

Zhao Mingwei watched as Juan Canyun left the game before him, roughly understanding that the Leap-Atom side must have realized that Juan Canyun’s physical condition was poor.

So, he also left the arena… Zhao Mingwei had another task to attend to, which was to trouble the Eternal, Hilze’er.

The Holy Spirit Challenge finally concluded in this dramatic manner, and Juan Canyun was taken to the hospital by a doctor brought by Mo Shigui.

However, after a series of examinations, the only diagnosis was physical exhaustion, akin to having run ten marathons, needing nothing more than ample rest and nutritional supplementation.

This diagnostic outcome relieved all Leap-Atom professional players, including Director Yin and Mo Shigui, who both breathed sighs of relief.

“The situation isn’t as bad as we thought, I always said my back pain was due to improper handling,” Black Pot Cooker knew what the two had been worried about; that Juan Canyun might suffer a permanent injury, which would hugely impact his future career.

“But I am curious about what wish Little Wen will ask the dog planner to grant,” Black Pot Cooker added.

“I don’t know what wish he’ll ask for, but what I do know is… you guys will have to unwillingly open business next month,” Director Yin told the players in the hospital corridor.

“Unwillingly open business? A fan meet or a press conference?” the players were familiar with this routine.

“No, a technical exchange meeting for a holographic projection device, taking place at Wu University… We are the invited guests, you know what I mean?”

Director Yin, who was a PVP novice, had been busy with the planning for Holy Spirit City construction while the players were occupied with the Holy Spirit Challenge.

Holy Spirit City’s construction unexpectedly formed a cooperative relationship with some tech moguls from Wu University, which was negotiated by the old lady, and this collaboration started from the holographic projection exhibition to be held at Wu University next month.

“Isn’t the home ground of River City ‘The King of All Under Heaven’? Why not invite ‘The King of All Under Heaven’ players?” someone asked, puzzled.

“We are the world champions, just make a perfunctory appearance at Wu University’s opening season, Coach Song, don’t look so glum, I heard that the tech exchange will also showcase some holographic projection butler equipment,” Director Yin observed that Mo Shigui was not very interested in these forced business opportunities.

“Let’s get the immediate tasks at hand done first,” Mo Shigui’s hometown was River City, after all, he had debuted from ‘The King of All Under Heaven’.

“Right, the issues with Little Wen’s Weibo need to be handled by the PR,” Director Yin looked at Juan Canyun, who was receiving glucose infusion in the hospital and said, “Look forward to his future performance, or rather… look forward to all of your future performances.”