On the day of the semifinals,
the five major sects coincidentally eased their cultivation intensity.
Countless elders and disciples flooded into the livestream to witness this grand esports spectacle.
In the barrage of comments, debates occasionally erupted over who was truly the strongest.
[Go, Team Slaying Immortals! The honor of rogue cultivators rests on your shoulders!!!]
[These rogue cultivators are strong individually, but I still think Lingxiao Sect is better… Their tactics and execution are unmatched.]
[With both the strongest combat power and the sharpest strategist, how can Lingxiao Sect lose?]
[Go, rogue cultivators!! Defeat Lingxiao Sect!!!]
[Bro, your username says "Infinite Sword Sect"… Are you just stirring the pot here?]
[It’s a shame Bai Mu isn’t competing… That guy is seriously OP.]
[Not as good as Lu Ze.]
[Lu Ze? More like Lu the Demon!]
...
"Junior Brother Lu? If he competed, it’d be unfair to everyone else… Hahaha."
Zhong Yi, the event commentator, chuckled while engaging with the chat.
Of course, many disagreed with this take.
After all, Immortal vs. Demon was a game where mechanics and teamwork mattered—everyone’s cultivation level was capped equally, and the illusion designers might not even be as skilled as the players.
"But as for this 'sharpest strategist' thing… Let me break it down for you."
Zhong Yi’s eyes lit up at the lone comment about the "sharpest strategist," and he instantly became a chatterbox.
He was the coach of Lingxiao Sect’s team, as well as the official commentator for the tournament.
But the audience didn’t mind.
After all, Zhong Yi’s commentary was undeniably hype, and his analysis during critical moments was razor-sharp.
Aside from his occasional jinxes, he was practically a gold-tier commentator.
"My prediction? Lingxiao Sect sweeps 3-0! No contest!"
Faced with the barrage’s questions, Zhong Yi answered with absolute confidence.
"Of course, I’m not underestimating our opponents… We’ve just prepared more and better! You’ll see soon enough!"
He dropped a cryptic hint before stepping away from the commentator’s booth to enter the illusion as the coach, walking among the altars.
"Let’s go, everyone!!"
Zhong Yi grinned, pumping his fist before stopping behind Liu Mo and patting his shoulder.
"Junior Brother Liu, your performance in the last few matches was stellar. We owe a lot to you!"
"Uh… yeah."
Liu Mo nodded nervously.
"By the way, why’d you skip training these past few days?"
With the match yet to start, the group chatted casually.
"Had to go back home for something urgent. But I can still log into the illusion from anywhere."
"No worries, no worries… Everything alright with your family?"
"...Yeah, all good…"
"Glad to hear it. If you need anything, just let your seniors know."
Zhong Yi sighed in relief and gave his shoulder another pat.
The drafting phase had begun.
This was a test of the team’s strategic mind—how to counter the enemy’s hero pool, dismantle their plans, and secure a favorable lineup.
Zhong Yi was a master at this.
"So? Should we just go with that plan? Team Slaying Immortals is probably our toughest opponent."
Zhong Yi grinned as he made the suggestion.
"You mean that annoying long-range poke comp?"
Zhou Qiaoling’s eyes sparkled with excitement.
"Exactly."
Zhong Yi nodded.
He had spent a lot of time researching strategies—from basic hero synergies like ultimate combos to full-fledged tactics like split-pushing and poke comps.
He even wrote academic reports on timing, power spikes, and optimal plays.
The poke comp was an idea he got after suffering in Howling Abyss, where five long-range enemies made his life miserable.
The core of the strategy was simple: whittle the enemy down until they couldn’t fight back!
"Hahaha, they’d never expect us to run a team with Nidalee, Kha’Zix, and Varus…"
The moment Zhong Yi finished speaking,
Varus—a hero no one ever banned—was slapped onto the first ban list.
"No big deal, just Varus. As long as we get two key heroes, we’ll be fine—"
Thud.
Nidalee joined the ban list.
Zhou Qiaoling: "..."
Zhou Yue: "Old Zhong, maybe stop talking?"
...
At first, they thought Zhong Yi’s infamous "jinx" had struck again.
But soon, it became clear something was off.
Team Slaying Immortals’ bans were exactly targeting their pre-planned strategy.
The problem?
The poke comp had never been used in competitive play.
How did the enemy know?
"Don’t panic, everyone…"
As the coach, Zhong Yi quickly steadied the team.
"Even without this strat, we outclass them in raw skill!"
"Relax, I’ve studied their hero pool—their most troublesome picks are all banned. Let’s crush them!"
...
...
Twenty short minutes later.
As their Nexus stood on the brink of destruction, Lingxiao Sect’s team felt suffocated.
"Why do they always know where I am?!"
Zhou Yue’s frustration boiled over.
This wasn’t like getting outplayed by Bai Mu in the jungle.
This was two or three people ambushing him at every turn, completely shutting him down as the team’s playmaker.
"NO!! Senior Sister Li’s dead too!!!"
Zhou Qiaoling wailed.
After Li Moran went down in a desperate 1v2, the match was effectively over.
"..."
Li Moran frowned but stayed silent.
Aside from Zhou Yue, the bot lane had suffered the most.
Every last-hit was contested, every trade punished—she couldn’t even think about going aggressive.
Everyone knew Li Moran (ADC) and Zhou Yue (jungle) were the team’s core.
But no one had ever managed to shut them both down at once.
Team Slaying Immortals did.
First, because they tracked Zhou Yue’s jungle pathing with terrifying precision.
Second, because Liu Mo—who had been performing well—suddenly went silent.
As the Nexus exploded, Lingxiao Sect suffered a crushing defeat.
Liu Mo hurriedly apologized, "Sorry, seniors… I played terribly."
"It’s fine. We’ll bounce back next game…"
Zhou Yue forced a smile, swallowing his frustration.
As captain, he knew better than to let his emotions affect the team.
But still…
His gaze lingered on Liu Mo, suspicion flickering in his eyes.
After changing his jungle path repeatedly, only to get caught every time…
Was it really just bad luck?
ing gift was a patch of barren land, and disciples were all picked up along the way. He spent fifty years diligently building three "ramshackle little sects," thinking he could finally live a carefree life relying on his disciples. But right at the fifty-year mark, he was suddenly swept away by a spatial rift and exiled to the Chaos Desolation, the Disorderly Ruins. There was no spiritual energy there, only slaughter. Relying on the cultivation feedback from his disciples, Gu Changyuan hacked his way through a sea of blood for eleven hundred years. When the system finally fished him back out, he discovered the ramshackle little sects he'd built back then had developed a rather... unusual style. Hold on... I vanished for a thousand years, so how did my ramshackle little sects become holy lands?!
ut it can buy an entire year of absolutely perfect training results! Su Yu stared at his empty wallet and decisively opened up various online loan platforms. “Borrow a thousand bucks! Recharge my vitality!” Boom! His vitality broke a hundred points, shattering the limits of the human body! “Borrow ten thousand bucks! Recharge my combat skills!” Boom! A basic punching technique so common it was everywhere instantly maxed out, revealing the ultimate assassination technique of Five Elements Unity—Inner Force! When a rich kid hired assassins for a midnight ambush, aiming to break both of his legs, they instead ran headfirst into a monster—a human-shaped tyrannosaur, brimming with dragon-like vitality. With just two fingers, Su Yu snapped a steel staff reinforced with alloy. Staring at the killer’s stash of stolen cash—a staggering quarter-million dollars—he showed a corporate-sincere smile: “Thanks for the pre-exam gift pack, Mr. Zhao! I’m gonna go re-invest this!” Three days later, at the National Martial Arts College Entrance Exam, while everyone else struggled just to reach the passing line, Su Yu threw a single punch—and more than a thousand vitality points literally detonated the entire arena!
ver to a world of cultivation and returned invincible. Modern medicine is child's play compared to elixirs; technological might crumbles before true cultivation. My name is Qin Ning, Earth's sole cultivator!
e bizarre and supernatural had descended. The previous emperor was a thoroughgoing tyrant; no longer satisfied with human women, he had set his sights on a stunningly beautiful supernatural entity. He met his end in his bedchamber, drained of all his vital essence. As the legitimate eldest son and crown prince, Wang Hao was thus hastily enthroned, becoming the young emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty. No sooner had he awakened the "Imperial Sign-In Intelligence System" than he was assassinated by a Son of Destiny—a classic villain's opening. The Great Zhou, ravaged by the former emperor's excesses, was in national decline. The great families within its borders harbored their own treacherous schemes, martial sects began to defy the imperial court's decrees, and border armies, their pay and provisions in arrears, grumbled incessantly against the central government. Fortunately, the central capital was still held secure by the half-million Imperial Guards and fifty thousand Imperial Forest Army who obeyed the court's orders, along with the royal family's hidden reserves of power, barely managing to suppress the realm. As the Great Zhou's finances worsened and supernatural activities grew ever more frequent, the court sat atop a volcano. Ambitious plotters everywhere dreamed of overthrowing the dynasty, and even some reclusive ancient powers emerged, attempting to sway the tides of the world. At the first grand court assembly, the civil and military officials nearly came to blows, fighting tooth and nail over the allocation of fifty million taels of silver from the summer tax revenues. The spectacle opened Wang Hao's eyes—the Great Zhou's bureaucracy was not only corrupt but also martially proficient, a cabinet of all-rounders. Some officials even had the audacity to suggest the emperor release funds from the imperial privy purse to address the emergency. Wang Hao suddenly felt weary. Let it all burn.
