Might as well block a bridge while you're at it

The game begins.

The star cultivators for this match are: Terrestrial Master Lu Ze, Mò Rǎn, Dusk.

"What the hell... What's going on? How is the rank in this match so high???"

Zhong Yi was stunned when he saw the list of star cultivators.

His assets were at the second-tier level, but Li Mò Rǎn and that rogue cultivator called Dusk were solidly top-tier!

“Not good. I'm stuck with Old Zhong as a teammate? Looks like I’m unlucky today!”

Zhou Yue covered his eyes, pretending to be distressed.

“You son of a...”

Zhong Yi gritted his teeth in anger.

“Let’s not worry about us two for now. Junior Brother Lu is also in this match... Be careful he doesn’t shoot your feet off!”

“Are you two Senior Brothers talking about me?”

Lu Ze popped up cheerfully from behind them without warning.

Zhong Yi and Zhou Yue both turned around and finally saw the name above Luna’s head: [Terrestrial Master Lu Ze].

“Holy shit!??”

“Junior Brother Lu???”

...

The three of them spawned at the Ascension Platform, chatting casually as they ran.

Zhong Yi’s assets were around 50 million, all painstakingly earned through hard work.

He had no ambition for a higher ranking.

He just wanted to prove, by advancing to the second stage, that the run-and-gun strategy could still work even in high-pressure matches.

Originally, he figured 50 million would be enough to advance to the second stage, which was why he had commentated for four days straight.

But as various “Initial Saint” playstyles became rampant, the asset threshold for promotion started to rise higher than he expected—probably around 55 million to secure advancement.

To ensure he qualified, he gave up commentating today and tried to push for the promotion line.

What he didn’t expect was that, after not playing for so long, he forgot to turn off teammate matching, accidentally queuing into a match with Lu Ze and Zhou Yue.

Zhou Yue’s assets were even lower than Zhong Yi’s, only 46 million.

His K/D ratio was decent, but for some bizarre reason, he often failed to extract, which dragged his ranking down.

At this point, he was nearly 10 million short of the promotion threshold.

For the past few days, he’d been watching Lu Ze’s matches in the first half of the night and secretly grinding ranks in the second half...

Of course, the result was that his assets kept shrinking, because camper spots were everywhere and impossible to avoid.

“Junior Brother Lu, why have you matched with teammates? You usually fight solo, don’t you?”

Zhou Yue looked at Lu Ze suspiciously.

“You’re not going to pull some ‘Initial Saint’ trick to ambush us, are you...”

After “Initial Saint” was given a new meaning by Lu Ze, it became increasingly popular in the cultivation world, so Zhou Yue blurted it out without any discomfort.

“You can’t be planning to ambush me and Zhong Yi, right? Haha... Junior Brother Lu, why aren’t you laughing??”

Just as he laughed, Zhong Yi suddenly became alert and instinctively curled his feet back.

“How could that be? You two are my fine senior brothers!”

Lu Ze quickly forced a smile.

Pfft!

To be honest, he really did initially think about ambushing his teammates...

But running into Zhou Yue and Zhong Yi, he couldn’t bring himself to do it.

After all, their bond as fellow disciples was strong.

It was definitely not because he knew he’d lose to these two in a fight outside the game.

“Junior Brother Lu, what do you think we should do this round? We’ll follow your lead!”

Zhou Yue said with a grin toward Lu Ze.

No matter what, if Lu Ze wasn’t an opponent, that was a huge stroke of luck for him.

At least he wouldn’t have to sweep the central bridge a hundred times before crossing.

“Follow my lead?”

Lu Ze raised an eyebrow.

He glanced at Zhong Yi.

Like himself, Zhong Yi had switched characters when he realized he was matched with familiar faces.

Originally a run-and-gun Stinger medic, now he was Uluru.

“In my opinion, we spawned at the Ascension Platform and it’s a broken bridge start. Plus, Senior Brother Zhong just so happens to have chosen Uluru...”

“How about...”

“We stage a bridge ambush?”

...

...

The Heavenly Dao livestream channel.

The moment the list of star cultivators appeared, the crowd erupted.

Holy crap, this match is a quality match!

18 people, 10 are in the top fifty... This match is worth watching!

Betting is open!

Fairy Li, hurry up and slay Old Demon Lu!!

If Old Demon Lu can still shoot their feet off, that’s insane!

There’s no way Old Demon Lu is surviving this, right?

Holy crap! Old Demon Lu is matched with a prodigy cultivator!!

And that unlucky guy 'Unbroken Not Down' is also there?

Aren’t these the three true disciples of Lingxiao Sect? This match is hilarious.

What three true disciples? It’s obviously Patriarch Initial Saint + Cursing Crow with bad luck + The Ultimate Jinx...

This combo winning in the core zone is already a victory!

Wait, they didn’t even enter the core zone...

What’s this? They’re already taking positions on the bridge??

Damn, a bridge ambush in this match? So Initial Saint!!!

...

...

Ascension Base, Immortal Bridge.

“Old Zhong, do we really have to do this...”

Zhou Yue paced nervously back and forth on the Immortal Bridge.

He felt his conscience was a bit uneasy.

Looking back, the very first team to stage a bridge ambush in this world was Zhong Yi and Zhou Yue themselves, but that was back when they were young and inexperienced.

Now that he was more mature, he couldn’t bring himself to do something like that.

“Senior Brother Zhou, you don’t want to fail to advance to the second stage and get laughed at by your little sister, do you?”

Lu Ze raised his voice a little, taking his time.

Zhou Yue’s fists immediately clenched.

Zhou Qiaoling, relying on her ridiculously good luck, would fill her safe and extract, and her assets had even made it into the top hundred...

As for himself, he was still 10 million short of advancing!

Based on his recent extraction rates, that was no small amount...

Seeing Zhou Yue’s resolve wavering, Lu Ze was pleased inside.

With the three of them utterly unprepared, a bridge ambush was the only tactic that could earn him some “Initial Saint” value.

Besides, after a month of changes, Zhong Yi and Zhou Yue’s reputations had long since moved beyond the bridge ambush image.

One was the ancestor of the runners, the other a sharpshooter with few words. Their public reputation had always been decent.

From another angle, dragging them into a bridge ambush would actually make the audience rate his “Initial Saint” behavior even higher.

With that in mind, he added:

“Senior Brother Zhou, if you don’t agree, I’ll just go on my own to camp at the artifact extraction point and ambush the runners...”

“I agree! I agree!! Just don’t do something so Initial Saint!!”

Zhou Yue quickly said yes.

In a high-pressure match like this, a bridge ambush wasn’t that Initial Saint.

Because the opponents were all aggressive two-weapon teams, a bridge ambush was just using favorable terrain.

But going to ambush the green-panted players at the extraction point...

That was way too Initial Saint!

Zhou Yue glanced at Lu Ze’s weapon.

It was another foot-shooting gun, but due to higher equipment requirements, it had evolved from the [Zishu·Eighteen] into the large drum magazine [Pear Blossom Needle].

With a poorly-geared Lu Ze and a somewhat clumsy Zhong Yi...

Balanced out like this, blocking the bridge once wasn’t too much to ask, right?

Zhou Yue’s inner conflict gradually faded.

At that moment, Zhong Yi, who was gathering intel from the Uluru position, suddenly shouted:

“Old Zhou!! Someone’s coming from the Garden!!!”