“So, it’s true that it’s more advantageous to climb the leaderboard by killing larger ‘prey,’ right?”
Jiang Shi had no idea how much attention he was receiving at this moment. While he was in the Undersea Continent, his entire focus was still on how to climb the leaderboard rapidly.
It was evident that Grave and Dry Bones had indeed accumulated a considerable number of points before clearing the map. Naturally, these points had found their way to Jiang Shi and Han Yuze, resulting in a significant leap in their rankings.
However, this was just a single instance of gains. If they encountered two or three more waves like this…
The more Jiang Shi thought about it, the more he looked forward to conducting such lucrative business.
Observing the current standings, Han Yuze also seemed to have his own thoughts. “Looking at it this way, if we can come across a Return to Spring’s Skillful Hands, can’t we directly climb to first place?”
Jiang Shi nodded in agreement. “Let’s look for one, just in case.”
“Atchoo!”
Simultaneously, on the other side of the map, Return to Spring’s Skillful Hands inexplicably felt a chill down their spine and subconsciously sneezed.
Curious, Mad Stomp asked, “What’s wrong, Old Spring? Someone thinking about you?”
“Perhaps,” Return to Spring’s Skillful Hands quietly rubbed their nose, “I just hope it’s not those two old…”
Before they could say the word “Yu,” and considering the recent turn of events, they wisely closed their mouth.
The sudden rise in the rankings of Yu Weize and Materials Main Account, combined with the disappearance of Grave and Dry Bones from the leaderboard, needed no explanation.
Though a bit superstitious, Return to Spring’s Skillful Hands preferred not to apply this ‘curse‘ debuff on themselves. Otherwise, if what they feared actually occurred, their seasoned heart might not handle such a significant blow.
Blaming the other two for being eliminated too straightforwardly, even the prestigious Spring God couldn’t help but develop a sense of superstition.
Finally, Return to Spring’s Skillful Hands cleared their throat and decisively changed the subject, “Alright, let’s continue with the tasks.”
As for the specific rules of this large-scale elimination event and when and under what circumstances the winner would be determined, no hints had been provided yet. Therefore, seizing maximum advantage before the event’s official conclusion was crucial.
Mad Stomp had no objections to being urged to engage in fights. He spotted a group of unfortunate players passing by from a distance.
Without waiting for Return to Spring’s Skillful Hands to catch up, he promptly went to meet them. He cleared the scene single-handedly, waiting in place for his teammate to restore his health.
One of the main reasons Return to Spring’s Skillful Hands liked partnering with Mad Stomp was that as a damage dealer, Mad Stomp was always willing to efficiently complete his job, never causing any worries.
With the Blood Rose pair’s latest elimination, the top-ranking pair continued to climb in total points, extending their lead over the second-ranking Snake Scorpion Curse pair.
However, this top-notch duo from the Rattlesnake guild seemed to have found new players. In just a short moment, the lead they had gained was once again under threat.
The points across the entire leaderboard were changing rapidly, except for the significant elimination of players, resulting in an intense and close contest between every two positions.
At this point, the barrier that surrounded the Undersea Continent had shrunk twice consecutively, expelling all players towards the central area. Naturally, this increased the chances of encountering enemies, making the scene extremely intense.
In this tense competition, the duo of Yu Weize and Materials Main Account was a classic example of skyrocketing in points. After eliminating Grave and Dry Bones, they continued a spree of merciless massacres, and in the blink of an eye, they were about to enter the top 20.
Players who were monitoring their progress in front of the water curtain could see that during this period, the duo had eliminated many high-tier players. It could be said that they had almost eliminated all the top ten guilds’ players.
Apart from the recent spotlight on Yu Weize and the unexpected appearance of Materials Main Account as a dark horse, they had stirred up a lot of discussion in the player forums.
Meanwhile, another post with two different game IDs caught everyone’s attention — “Any veterans from the first season here? Those two IDs on the leaderboard, could they be the ones I’m thinking of?”
Upon clicking into the post, one could see screenshots displaying the names of Gentleman Fan and Deep Well Ice Player, currently ranking in the 60s.
Compared to Jiang Shi’s group, their ranking was significantly lower. Many curious bystanders entered the post and then left with puzzled expressions. Only some old players from the first season couldn’t conceal their surprise and began discussing fervently.
[22L: OP, maybe those two people you’re thinking of?]
[45L: What the heck, these few comments. Have the ancient troublemakers returned?]
[67L: Not from the first season. Sorry for asking, but are these two people really that powerful?]
[88L: Can’t say for sure, but they definitely drove quite a few people crazy back then.]
[121L: Just came from the Yu Weize’s post. Looking at the rankings alone, this achievement is quite average.]
[134L: Is the ranking the main issue here? The real issue is these two individuals themselves!]
[166L: …Help, I hope my guild doesn’t provoke these guys. Can’t afford to provoke them.]
[182L: Newbie from the third season chiming in, what’s the story here?]
[185L: Hehe, story? More like an incident!]
[222L: We’re already on the second version, let’s hope they’ve turned over a new leaf.]
At this point, Jiang Shi had also noticed the ranking situation. Watching Gentleman Fan and Deep Well Ice Playerr’s positions fluctuate around the 40s, his first reaction was to express some sympathy. “Gentleman and the old player must be having a hard time. No healers in their team, relying solely on the health-regenerating fruits that drop. Their condition might not be too easy to maintain, right? I wonder which one of them is the unlucky one. We’ve practically covered more than half of the Undersea Map. How come we haven’t even encountered their shadows? Otherwise, even though my healing ability is small, hanging a recovery spell on them would still be better than nothing.”
Han Yuze obviously didn’t think so, pointing to his health bar that hadn’t fully recovered. “King of Support, my health isn’t full yet. Can’t we not rush to save the world?”
Jiang Shi glanced at him. “You rushed into the crowd alone just now, nearly getting beaten to death. Who’s to blame for that?”
Although his tone seemed indifferent, just as Han Yuze’s recovery spell cooldown was about to end, Jiang Shi promptly cast another one on him.
“Wasn’t I putting full trust in you to watch my back?” Han Yuze floated the words lightly, but then suddenly changed the subject, “Oh, here comes the big duo!”
Jiang Shi looked up at the mention and saw the game IDs of the two opposite players: Twilight and Military Blade.
They were the powerhouse and guild leader of the Rattlesnake Guild.
Even Return to Spring’s Skillful Hands could guess the reason for Grave and Dry Bones’ elimination, so Military Blade, who always kept an eye on the rankings of the Rattlesnake Guild, naturally couldn’t be unaware of it.
At this moment, seeing Jiang Shi and Han Yuze, his first reaction was to caution Twilight, “Be careful.”
However, even without this reminder, given Twilight’ cautious nature, they would never underestimate their opponents, especially unlike Grave’s group. When they first killed the Wilderness Boss, they were charging right at the forefront. They had first-hand experience of Jiang Shi’s brilliant Rune Territory.
It was particularly exhilarating.
In front of the water curtain in the central square, the atmosphere started boiling.
The spectators couldn’t help but feel astonished and speculated if Yu Weize’s team had directly clashed with the Rattlesnake Guild.
But this wasn’t the time for excitement.
As if by fate’s design, at the same time, in several other areas in front of their water curtains, a new round of eruptions occurred simultaneously.
Blood Rose Guild’s Return to Spring’s Skillful Hands, Mad Stomp vs. Night Raid Guild’s Daylight, Extinguish.
Rattlesnake Guild’s Snake Scorpion Curse, No One vs. Love and Peace Guild’s Fourth Season, Unchanged;
Firepower Guild’s Medieval Decoration, Automation vs. Steel Heart Flow Guild’s Twenty-Two Miles, Wind Moon;
…
Amidst these matchups, there were also confrontations between various small groups within the top 100 rankings.
In just a short span, within this increasingly compressed activity area, intense battles erupted.
Players watching the event found it hard to keep up with the gods’ flashy moves. The constantly fluctuating points on the leaderboard probably reflected the roller-coaster emotions at this moment more accurately.
Conflicts erupted, skirmishes settled, and players were eliminated in a state of depleted health.
Whenever the game ID of a god-level player disappeared from the leaderboard, it inevitably drew a sigh from the onlookers.
“Too bad, the Night Raid’ pair of shadow users really couldn’t handle the Spring God, huh?”
“I’ve been thinking lately that the Love and Peace Guild isn’t doing too well. In comparison, the Rattlesnake Guild seems much stronger.”
“Twenty-Two Miles doesn’t seem to be in good shape lately, right? The Century Cup performance was average, and now it seems they’re struggling a bit even in this event.”
“I think Automation should be stripped of their divine status. The whole time, it feels like Medieval is carrying them!”
…
Unconsciously, what was originally an ordinary official event, once it involved rankings, inevitably became a channel for players to indirectly assess numerous gods.
It was precisely in this environment that a group of players in front of a certain water curtain witnessed the entire process of Twilight and Military Blade being eliminated.
The Rattlesnake Guild’s top-tier combination was eliminated again!
Although Military Blade didn’t participate in the Century Cup league, it was widely known that even among those top-tier guilds, the Rattlesnake Guild’s leader was absolutely at the pinnacle in terms of strength. In other guilds, it was highly likely that he was a force to be reckoned with, not inferior to professional gods. Thus, in a certain sense, his combination with Twilight was probably slightly stronger than Grave and Dry Bones.
However, they were still decisively defeated by the combination of Yu Weize and Materials Main Account.
Moreover, just the process of their elimination could be almost described as “toying” with them.
It was well known that Yu Weize’s fame relied on his capricious mechanical maneuvers. Back in the Crusades, he often single-handedly turned the tide. On the other hand, he often acted independently, being criticized by the Crusade’s haters for his lack of teamwork. Phrases like “not suitable for teamwork” or “no one can coordinate with him” had even become tags attached to him.
However, in today’s official event, which was more for entertainment than competitiveness, the Rune Master who was thought to have been brought in just to fill the numbers demonstrated to everyone through actual actions what a perfect match and an outstanding partner meant.
Who Materials Main Account truly was no longer mattered.
The players who had watched the entire process of these two 2v2 matches had an implicit feeling—this was perhaps the most exhilarating display of Yu Weize’s output they’d seen in their memory, all because of the unpredictable and dazzling Rune world.
If this segment of the video could be made public, it would undoubtedly slap the faces of those haters.
Does Yu Weize lack cooperation? Is there a possibility that those currently in the Crusades are fundamentally undeserving?
At this moment on the field, with the elimination of Twilight and Military Blade, the points shifted again.
Ranking update—
Rattlesnake Guild, Snake Scorpion Curse, No One, seized a new wave of substantial points to overtake first place;
Blood Rose Guild’s Return to Spring’s Skillful Hands, Mad Stomp, with a slight disadvantage, dropped to second place;
Firepower Guild’s Medieval Decoration, Automation, climbed to third place;
…
Yu Weize and Materials Main Account, with seven silver coins, rose to sixth place!
Among the well-known list of gods, the unfamiliar ID of Materials Main Account was undeniably conspicuous.
If previously only a few people took notice, at this moment, it inevitably attracted the attention of the entire server.
And it was at this moment that the final round officially began.
The ultimate battle was about to begin!