“No!”
Si Lian firmly rejected Jiang Ke’er’s request.
“Your ability is just like A Miao’s. Once the enemy figures out your secret, and holds back to guard against it, your own skill could easily become a trap that backfires on you.” Si Lian shook her head seriously.
“Even though your ability is harder to detect, as long as they manage to set you up once, you’ll be dead for sure.”
“Sooner or later, it’ll be exposed,” Jiang Ke’er said in a low voice.
“The best way to keep my ability from being targeted is to make the most perfect use of it, to carry it out thoroughly—so the enemy’s schemes actually trigger my power instead.”
“But you can’t account for every situation. Even the wise make mistakes.”
“The wise do, but I don’t.”
Jiang Ke’er looked at Si Lian with a determined gaze, calm and full of confidence.
Si Lian was stunned. For a moment, she seemed to see another figure overlapping with Jiang Ke’er.
Back then, she herself had been confident and strong, looking down on the world with pride and the strength to back it up.
But she had lost.
Because the Shenzhou Cup Grand Tournament wasn’t a one-person battle.
“No, absolutely not—at least, not now. Even if you can do it, the team still needs opportunities to practice and build chemistry,” Si Lian rejected her, cutting off all room for discussion.
“Stick to the 2-2-1 lineup.”
“Alright,” Jiang Ke’er replied, a bit disappointed.
“I’ll give you a chance,” Si Lian said with a wry smile, patting Jiang Ke’er on the shoulder.
“But now isn’t the time.”
“I understand.” Jiang Ke’er nodded.
“Alright, let’s continue reviewing the last match.”
Si Lian gave comments and analysis on everyone’s tactics, positions, and the sudden incidents that had happened during the last match.
“Lin Gang fell into the enemy’s trap and was lured way too far away. Next time, don’t go off alone for such a long distance.”
Lin Gang looked embarrassed. “I’ll be more careful next time.”
Si Lian nodded and continued, “Jie Shui’s support was good, but you caused the team’s positions to get mixed up, and it almost led to our collapse. Next time, you need to think things through before you act.”
Jie Shui sounded a bit aggrieved.
“Given the situation back then, what else could I have done? It was urgent—nobody could think that far ahead!”
“That just means your brain doesn’t work right,” Gan RuÇŽnruÇŽn said mercilessly.
“If you can’t do it, why could Qing Yi?”
“She’s cheating…” Jie Shui muttered.
Si Lian went on with her analysis.
“RuÇŽnruÇŽn’s weaknesses were really obvious in this battle. Your strength lies in your balanced power and speed, but that’s also your flaw. In duels or fighting multiple enemies alone, you have the advantage, but when it comes to team fights, your utility is poor.”
Gan RuÇŽnruÇŽn nodded.
“So you need to try your best to pull the enemy away and find a way to create a one-on-one scenario,” said Si Lian.
“The enemy isn’t stupid.” Gan RuÇŽnruÇŽn frowned.
“They won’t just follow me off into the distance like idiots.”
Si Lian smiled faintly. “There are plenty of ways to draw them out—like, but not limited to, insulting their direct relatives.”
“…”
All the little monsters stared at Si Lian, dumbstruck and in disbelief.
“What? Why are you all looking at me like that?” Si Lian raised her eyebrows.
“As long as it helps us win, no tactic is disgraceful. The enemy would even send an Honored One onto the stage, but we’re just tossing out a few taunts.”
“It’s not that we doubt the tactic, it’s just, you always act so, um… upright… It’s hard to picture you using a method like that,” Jie Shui said quietly.
Si Lian just smiled and didn’t respond, but turned back to Gan RuÇŽnruÇŽn.
“So, RuÇŽnruÇŽn, for the team, besides cultivating, you should really study your side profession—think about what kind of trash talk truly gets under their skin, so it’s like devilish sounds echoing in their ears, driving them to attack without being able to help themselves.”
But Gan RuÇŽnruÇŽn just sneered.
“Side profession?”
“Sorry, cultivation is my side profession.”
The self-assured tone, as if she ruled the world, made even Jiang Ke’er feel the urge to kneel.
She’d grown up in bars and all kinds of street corners, practically raised on trash talk.
When it came to the art of communication in the style of Zuan, she was more than familiar.
On top of that, she had the innate talents passed down by her race.
Provocation? Please.
If she didn’t send the opponent’s mother to the grave, then dig her up and do eighteen sit-ups right there, she would feel she had let down the ancestors who brought her to the brink of extinction!
“Yeah, looks like I really don’t have to worry about that at all,” Si Lian’s cheek twitched.
“Next is Qing Yi,” Si Lian resumed the post-battle review.
“Qing Yi’s emergency decisions were perfect. I hope you can keep it up in future battles.”
“And last is A Miao. A Miao, you performed the worst!” Si Lian’s tone suddenly turned extremely harsh.
A Miao hung his head in shame.
“You didn’t use your spells to support your teammates in crisis, nor did you use any large-scale techniques to hinder the enemy’s advance.” Si Lian’s expression was stern.
“You completely failed in the responsibilities of a ranged spellcaster!”
“I’m sorry,” A Miao’s head was practically buried in the dirt, “they were moving too fast, I couldn’t keep up… I was afraid I’d hit my teammates.”
“The situation on the battlefield changes in an instant, but you must seize the opportunity in that split second,” Si Lian paused.
“It was my fault for sending you up on stage with no training—the schedule was too tight. But from today on, I’ll put you all into emergency training.”
“Training? If training worked, would your teammates die?”
A sudden discordant voice made all the little monsters turn around in annoyance.
“Taishu Xuan,” Si Lian glanced up at him, coldly stating his name.
Taishu Xuan’s hair was loose, giving him a bit of an artist’s air, but his triangular eyes glittered with petty calculation, which totally clashed with his appearance and revealed his true colors.
“Si Lian, you know, killing off your teammates every year has become a routine appetizer for the Shenzhou Cup Grand Tournament. The news has already spread all over the Great Sima Nation. Everyone’s thinking about who’ll be the lucky one to wipe out your team this time,” Taishu Xuan licked his lips.
“There’s already an underground bounty. Whoever kills one of your people gets a good-sized piece of seventh-grade Meteoric Iron. And what a coincidence…my team and I are both very interested in that chunk of iron.”
Si Lian stood up, shielding all the little monsters behind her.
“If you make it through the city arena preliminaries, I suppose we’ll have a chance to meet.” Murderous intent flickered in Si Lian’s eyes.
“Your Wasteland War Team Eight has been on a roll. I’m sure making it to the playoffs won’t be hard—as long as you don’t do anything stupid, of course.”
“Wasteland War Team Eight will make it easily, and they wouldn’t lower themselves to bother with you,” Taishu Xuan drawled.
“But my other team is quite interested in you.”
Si Lian’s eyelid twitched. Not good.
She hadn’t expected this guy to manage two teams at once.
“The Zhanhuang Sixteen Team—a newly formed team, all newcomers with hardly any battle experience, weak strength, and just so happen to be in the Bronze Division…Such an easy free win—aren’t you tempted?”
Taishu Xuan smiled slyly and gestured toward the five team members beside him.
The five people all grinned maliciously, shouting, “That’s right! We’re really weak! Come fight us for free points! Coward—don’t tell us you don’t even dare face us?”
Really weak?
Si Lian clenched her teeth.
She clearly recognized those faces—they’d all been on other Wasteland War Teams before.
After their old teams broke up, they’d formed a new one. Every single one of them had the strength for the playoffs!
“They sure are weak.”
Amid the commotion, a delicate voice rang out, especially jarring.
The five Zhanhuang Sixteen Team members fell silent at once, glaring coldly at Jiang Ke’er.
Unexpectedly, Gan RuÇŽnruÇŽn nodded.
“Yeah, every one of them is at the peak of the Five Elements Realm, and yet they’re still muddling around in the Bronze Division. That really is ridiculously weak.”
“For real. That’s it? That’s it, that’s it, that’s it?” Jiang Ke’er looked absolutely incredulous.
“Forget it, let’s go. Don’t bully them,” Gan RuÇŽnruÇŽn glanced at them sympathetically.
“Some people have strength but no brains—making it to Bronze is the peak of their life. Poor things…If I killed such pitiful losers, my conscience would hurt.”
Premium Chapter
Login to buy access to this Chapter.