“The mood sure changed fast. Wasn’t the Divine Strategy Hall just chasing Shushan? How did their roles suddenly swap?”
“That player called ‘A Curtain of Dreams’ is really kind of timid, turned Divine Strategy Hall into glass cannon?”
“Maybe Shushan ran too fast, so the Divine Strategy Hall players just didn’t want to chase anymore?”
“Could be. I can even smell a whiff of conspiracy.”
On the plaza.
The Divine Strategy Hall puppet’s Dominance duration for ‘A Curtain of Dreams’ ended.
But Output-Healer didn’t dare step forward.
She realized her opponent seemed to know what they were doing.
And ever since the start, Canglong Strike had only been used once.
Since then, she hadn’t seen the Divine Strategy Hall puppet use it again.
It was obvious—the opponent was holding onto their knock-up skill, wary of her getting close.
Since Output-Healer wouldn’t step up, ‘A Curtain of Dreams’ did instead.
She racked her brains to lure Shushan into attacking her.
Output-Healer wasn’t stupid either and quickly ran off.
The scene shifted right back to how things were at the start.
The audience found this match deeply frustrating.
What, are these two playing a turn-based game?
You chase me, I chase you?
A few seconds passed in the blink of an eye.
The puppet’s Dominance cooldown was over, but ‘A Curtain of Dreams’ still refused to activate it, chasing Shushan’s puppet like mad.
Not using Dominance, but still chasing Shushan?
Such a move instantly made Output-Healer sure of ‘A Curtain of Dreams’s’ intentions.
However, Output-Healer didn’t notice—
The Divine Strategy Hall puppet was subtly herding Shushan’s puppet in Output-Healer’s own direction.
This was the Sect Tournament.
There was no rule stating you couldn’t attack the healer herself.
If the puppet couldn’t win, could she not just go after the healer directly?
As long as Divine Strategy Hall got within the range of Canglong Strike, Zhatianxiang players always hit their mark.
Back when they fought at Ping’an Town, Chen Xiaoyan had already noticed this trait.
[Chen Xiaoyan: Don’t act too anxious. Don’t let the other side see your intentions.]
With that reminder, ‘A Curtain of Dreams’ took a deep breath, suppressing her impatience.
Step by step, she forced Shushan closer and closer to Output-Healer.
To avoid arousing suspicion, the Divine Strategy Hall puppet acted especially fierce, relentlessly poking at Shushan.
It gave off the feeling that she wouldn’t rest until Shushan was stabbed to death.
Output-Healer tried the same old trick, using a dash skill to bait out the puppet’s Canglong Strike.
But after Chen Xiaoyan’s advice, ‘A Curtain of Dreams’ wasn’t falling for it—she held onto Canglong Strike and refused to use it.
Output-Healer was furious.
Without caring anymore, as soon as her dash skill cooled down, she rushed in and began attacking.
The Divine Strategy Hall puppet countered with Sweep Across Eight Directions.
Both sides traded blows.
Just then, the puppet gave ‘A Curtain of Dreams’ a nod.
She immediately understood and shouted, “Go!”
Output-Healer perked up—was the opponent finally going to use Canglong Strike?
The Divine Strategy Hall puppet leapt into the air.
“Shunpo!”
Output-Healer instantly ordered Shushan’s puppet to use its dash skill, pulling open the distance.
However, the spear of Divine Strategy Hall didn’t stab toward Shushan.
Instead, Output-Healer herself was knocked into the air.
Her dumbfounded little eyes still hadn’t caught up to what happened.
The spectators around them erupted.
“Huh? You can attack the player directly? Isn’t that against the rules?”
“Definitely against the rules. Using a puppet to hit the healer—who comes up with this kind of trick?”
“But didn’t Sister Shen say nothing about not attacking the healer?”
“Uh…”
“Damn, that’s actually true.”
“Pfft, so what if she didn’t say? Just because she didn’t say it, you can do it? This is obviously exploiting a loophole!”
As the Zhatianxiang players buzzed with discussion,
The trio of masters on stage didn’t react at all.
Liu Fufeng even took a liking to ‘A Curtain of Dreams,’ growing interested in everything this new disciple did.
Honestly—
That’s how a duel should be.
In the real world, an enemy won’t be polite, so as long as you can win, by whatever means, that’s enough.
“Qingqing-jie, Qifang-jie, let this new disciple learn boxing from me, yeah?”
Shen Qingqing and Yue Qifang’s faces were deadpan.
They were completely speechless at their junior sister.
Not only did she walk her own crooked path, but she wanted to drag the new disciple in too.
Such a disgrace for a model disciple.
“Sit quietly. Just because you lack talent, you think the disciple is just like you?”
“And to think you’re a Zhatianxiang Elder! You won’t cultivate the Fragrant Will Art properly and insist on learning boxing. Tell me, how many years has your Fragrant Will Art been stuck at the fifth level?”
Liu Fufeng, besieged by both of them, simply covered her ears.
Seeing her act so childish, the two couldn’t help but smile.
Think covering your ears will save you?
Don’t forget, there’s still Thousand Mile Voice Transmission.
But Shen Qingqing and Yue Qifang weren’t so idle, and shifted their attention back to the stage.
Liu Fufeng was like an old fried dough stick—nothing could get through to her.
After years of nagging, nothing ever changed.
Nothing to be done—they could only let her be.
Of course, there was always some doting in their attitude.
Otherwise, anyone else would have been kicked out of the Elder Protector position long ago.
Always encouraging healers to learn boxing; being allowed to stay in Zhatianxiang was already merciful.
Liu Fufeng was indignant.
The duty of Zhatianxiang disciples is to protect their teammates, to shelter all living beings.
She knew that, but did it have to be through healing?
If you took out all the enemies, wouldn’t you be protecting everyone in the best way?
Sigh, why didn’t Senior Sister and the other disciples understand her?
So heartbreaking.
Back to the match.
Output-Healer was knocked into the air by Divine Strategy, then ruthlessly jabbed with the spear.
But what happened next left everyone stunned.
Output-Healer actually burst into tears from being poked by the Divine Strategy Hall puppet.
“I surrender, I surrender! Stop poking me! Wuwuwu—”
After all, Output-Healer was just a young girl.
The puppet’s frenzied attacks had no mercy for the fairer sex—anyone in her place would have crumbled.
It hurt too much.
As soon as Output-Healer conceded, the puppet stopped attacking and retreated.
Leaving behind Output-Healer herself, plopped on the ground like a duck, bawling her eyes out.
“Third match, victory goes to ‘A Curtain of Dreams.’ Fourth match: ‘Yun Yun Doesn’t Want to Heal’ and ‘Peerless Fragrant Beauty,’ step forward!”
Hearing the NPC, Chong Chong sighed in disappointment.
“Didn’t get matched against her, what a pity.”
“What, our little cutie wanted to fight ‘Yun Yun Doesn’t Want to Heal’ that badly?”
“Yeah!”
Chong Chong flashed her little tiger teeth, clenched her fists, and pumped them in the air.
“I’ve heard this ‘Yun Yun Doesn’t Want to Heal’ is getting really famous lately. I just want to beat her and let everyone know that I, Chong Chong, am the real big shot!”
Chen Xiaoyan laughed.
Truth was, this girl was actually more famous than ‘Yun Yun Doesn’t Want to Heal,’ she just didn’t realize it.
“The fifth match should be you versus ‘Youyou Can’t Heal.’ Confident?”
“That’s it?” Chong Chong looked utterly disdainful.
Her sights had been set on ‘Yun Yun Doesn’t Want to Heal’ from the start.
She didn’t care for the others.
“Don’t get too cocky. That ‘Youyou Can’t Heal’ is using a Divine Strategy Hall puppet too. Don’t end up getting poked until you cry like Output-Healer did!”
Chong Chong’s fur stood on end, like a kitten whose tail had been stepped on.
“Please, I’m not bragging—next round I’ll make ‘Youyou Can’t Heal’ cry!”
“Oh?”
“Xiaoyan-jie, you don’t believe in me?” Chong Chong looked hurt.
If ‘A Curtain of Dreams’ could make Output-Healer cry, why couldn’t she make ‘Youyou Can’t Heal’ cry?
After all, she had 1300 spiritual energy and an advanced cultivation—she was a true expert.
Chen Xiaoyan smiled dotingly, patting Chong Chong’s little head.
“I believe you, but it’s not easy for Shushan to break through Divine Strategy’s defense to attack the healer herself.”
Like in the last match, when ‘A Curtain of Dreams’ used her puppet to send Output-Healer flying—Shushan’s puppet couldn’t do anything against Divine Strategy’s puppet.
Because Divine Strategy and Output-Healer stood too close together.
Shushan didn’t have control skills, just attack and movement skills, nothing else.
Plus, ‘A Curtain of Dreams’ had kept pumping resources into her puppet, so Shushan couldn’t kill it off quickly, which is why Output-Healer surrendered.
If the roles were reversed, it’d be different.
Divine Strategy has a charge-and-launch skill like Canglong Strike—if Shushan gets close to the healer, Divine Strategy can immediately knock her into the air.
But there’s a problem.
Canglong Strike has a large shock radius, which might hit the healer herself.
After all, this game doesn’t have any friendly-fire recognition.
Even if you’re on the same team, you can’t avoid the attack—it just doesn’t do damage, but you’ll still feel pain.
“Then, Xiaoyan-jie, do you have any tricks?”
“I do.”
“Tell me!”
“It’s simple. Just separate Divine Strategy from her healer, bait out Canglong Strike, and then you can attack ‘Youyou Can’t Heal’ without worry.”
“Same as ‘A Curtain of Dreams’?”
Chen Xiaoyan shook her head.
“Taking the enemy off-guard won’t work anymore. ‘A Curtain of Dreams’ just did it, so the other side will be on alert.”
“But if my puppet rushes in and she runs, what do I do?”
“Silly, Shushan’s movement skills plus dash—what does Zhatianxiang have? If you can’t chase her down, you might as well quit.”
“Fine, I get it.”
Chong Chong made an “ok” gesture and fell silent, pondering how to effectively attack ‘Youyou Can’t Heal’ herself in the next match.
“Also, in case your opponent gets desperate and tries to drag you down with her, be ready to run.”
Speaking of running, Chong Chong snorted proudly, hands on her hips, “Heh, if there’s one thing I’m good at, it’s running away!”
Chen Xiaoyan wanted to say something but stopped, remembering how this girl used to chase her with terrifying speed.
She grew even more frustrated.
Gale Steps—her speed really is like the wind.
My Moon Shadow Steps have never beaten her.
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