While Qin Fengyi was livestreaming, the chatroom was flooded with messages.
“What happened to that douchebag who was shouting earlier on, why hasn’t he said anything yet?”
“Hurry up!”
“Hurry up and divide the cash.”
“WillowBaby, you are so full of sh*t! I will remember you. Weren’t you just spewing all sorts of crap, where are you now?”
Fengyi looked at the messages on the screen at the corner of her eyes. “You’re going to make a fortune today. In just moments, we’ve stacked up a few hundred ingots!” Fengyi smiled.
“Those ingots are yours.” Li Yao sat on top of the dome catching his breath. They had killed thirty Elites and Li Yao’s Exp bar had reached 88%. He would level up once they clear out the second platform.
Even Li Yao felt that leveling up this way was awesome. This was the result of killing Elite mobs that were five levels higher than them.
“Levelling up this way is awesome! But I feel like we’ve dragged you down.” Tong was both thrilled and distraught.
Li Yao patted her on the head, “It is impossible for me to level up this way alone, I can’t do it without your help. Besides, all of you play an important role at later stages, we’re just in the first platform.”
“Really?”
“Of course, trust me.” Li Yao replied in a serious tone.
“Boss, why don’t you call up another person into the squad, I want to go up there too. I can’t see much from below and I can’t learn much of your techniques.” ShadowDancer looked pitiful as he stood on the hilltop.
Before Li Yao could say anything, Tong waved her hand impatiently. “You can open up Summer’s livestream and watch it there. Cut the nonsense, if you are not willing, I will replace you with someone else.”
“No, please don’t! My mistress, I thought that you promised to carry me until I become an expert player.”
“Then be prepared to take orders from Big Bro, or I’ll really replace you.” Tong said, she acted like a big lady boss that was full of herself.
“Yes, yes.” ShadowDancer tried to appease Tong.
Countless fans and viewers were instantly drawn by them and burst into laughter. The little gnome was too funny, she acted just like a child. What they did not know was that Tong was in fact a child.
Li Yao looked at them with a blank mind. The scenario was not right, ShadowDancer did not look like he had the slightest bit of dominance and ruthlessness like an Apotheosized Bandit, instead he was completely someone else’s punching bag.
“My fans told me that KB said unless you’re really a master, you will not be able to reach the second platform and it’s impossible to stay at the platform and kill mobs this way.” Summer laughed. “My fans asked if you agree with that statement?”
“There is one thing that KB said that was right, which is the method we used for the first platform that is not suitable for the second platform. But he said I won’t be able to reach the second platform, and I’m going to prove him wrong.” Li Yao looked at Tong and Fengyi, “It’s time to play your parts now, I wonder if you can meet my requirements.”
“Whatever requirement you have, I’m up for it. I’m very capable!” Tong shook her little fist.
“It won’t be a problem for me, too.” Of course, Fengyi was not willing to fall behind.
“Alright then, let’s test this out. ShadowDancer, stand on the hilltop and walk slowly, keep your tempo similar to that Elite mob. Can you do that?” Li Yao asked ShadowDancer.
ShadowDancer observed the strides of the Elite that was currently patrolling on the spiral corridor. He nodded. “Their pacing and tempo are fixed, they are easy to learn and imitate.”
Without waiting for Li Yao to say anything, he began to learn the Elite’s steps and began pacing back and forth on the hillside.
“Why do you need him to learn the Elite’s pace?” Tong was curious to the point where she was going mad, but deep down she was extremely excited. Following Li Yao was so much fun.
“My request is simple, I need Tong to use Lava Burst and Feng… er, Summer to use Bone Spear to attack ShadowDancer at the same time. Doesn’t matter if your attacks do not land at the same time, but the timing must not be more than half a second apart. Both of you can practice your timings, if you can’t do it, we have no way to get to the second platform.”
Tong and Fengyi exchanged glances. “Witch Sis, how long will it take for you to release a Bone Spear?” Tong asked.
“My Bone Spear requires 1.25 seconds of incantation time.” Summer replied.
“My Lava Burst takes 1.75 seconds to fire out.”
Summer nodded. “Your Lava Burst is a throwing skill, just like my Bone Spear. From what I know, the general throwing skill has the same projectile velocity. How about this, you still start your incantation first, I will follow next and try to synchronize our attacks.”
“Okay,” Tong agreed. Li Yao gave them a countdown and both players began to recite incantations and unleash their skills one after the other.
At the TV station…
After ten attempts, KB looked at them both as they were basically able to hit ShadowDancer that was mimicking the Elite Patrol’s stride. “Awesome.”
Tina, who was just an anchor and did not have a deep understanding of the game had some questions. “That doesn’t seem that hard to me.”
“It’s way harder than you think.” KB replied. “You think that once AdorkableTong recites her incantation first, Summer will recite right after her and they will be able to meet Liao Yuan’s requirements, right?”
“Isn’t that so?” Tina’s doubts were the same as what other players were thinking. They thought that it was not difficult to pull it off.
“You’re wrong, it’s beyond difficult for their attacks to hit at the same time. Don’t forget, they’re in Free Mode now, and for this to occur they have to be in Free Mode. They can only trigger their hidden attributes in Free Mode. You see, when hit by two skills, ShadowDancer was pushed two steps back, which means each skill will push him one step back. If this happens in Locked Mode, they won’t be able to push him back although their attacks will surely hit its target. Truthfully speaking, I still have no idea what Liao Yuan is trying to do, but it looks like he got the effect he wanted.”
“Well, you’re right, but I still can’t see where the difficulty lies.” Tina was still clueless.
KB smiled. “In Free Mode, it isn’t over by just reciting your spell’s incantation, you still have to control the skill’s angle and aim. ShadowDancer is constantly moving, and the two have to predict when to fire off the skill so that it will accurately hit him. Pay attention, it doesn’t matter if it is Lava Burst or Bone Spear, the projectiles have a certain trajectory pattern. Hence, when they are in a different distance, they have to predict their timing and distance differently. This is basically the same as shooting at a still target and a moving target with a gun. Although you can shoot a still target accurately, that doesn’t mean you can hit a moving target. They are both very skilled and they are at least the level of a class-expert player.”
“So that’s how it is.” Tina and the audience were suddenly enlightened. “I know Summer is very skilled, but who is this AdorkableTong? Looking at them now, all of their hits are accurate. KB, do you know this little gnome?”
“In Free Mode, the biggest challenge that all class players face is that there are too many unknown expert players popping up everywhere.”
“So now you do acknowledge that the great Liao Yuan will be able to reach the second platform?” Tina smirked.
“Don’t even think of setting me up, I’m not acknowledging that. I only said that they are both very skilled players, I didn’t acknowledge that they will reach the second platform. This is simply too hard for any of them. They cannot be hit by the mobs even once, otherwise it will be an instant death.”
“Then, will they attack the mobs from the top of the dome?” Tina asked a question that everyone had been wanting to ask.
KB impatiently gestured at the screen. “As you can see, there are also spiralling stairs on the platform. They can go up to the dome through the stairs, but based on their attack damage, if they lure an Elite up to the dome, they won’t be able to clear out one tenth of its Health. Once the Elite reaches the dome, it will mean death for them. It’s simply too dangerous.”
On top of the dome, Li Yao said, “That’s it, I didn’t except you two to synchronize and coordinate so well. Now, we’re going into combat to clear out the second platform.”
On the tall dome, Li Yao and his squad were basically on the same level as the second platform and they could see the mobs eye-to-eye. The second platform was much wider with more mobs, there were at least fifty Wretcheds.
“So, which one do we fight first?” Tong frowned. “After we have successfully hit one of them, they will react and give out a signal. Then, they will walk along the corridor that links the first and second platform. With so many mobs, we will definitely be dead.”
“And it seems that these mobs don’t have a certain patrolling pattern, it’s too messy.” Summer frowned too.
“Relax, I will not let them have the chance to give out a signal or screech. Another thing is that patrolling mobs may not have a regular system, but in fact, the biggest system they have is they will change into a more defensive, complicated route. From my observation on top of the dome, I realized that the mobs will pass by eight intersections. If you look from where we stand, there is a mob beside the second pillar on the right of the platform. It is five yards away from us, that is our target.”
AdorkableTong and ShadowDancer typed out a bunch of ellipses in the group chat, then they looked at Li Yao the same way they looked at the mobs.
Fengyi’s eyelids twitched, “One of my fans said that your ability to calculate and reason are insane, you’re able to remember so many mobs’ routes and come out with a simulation in your mind. Any average person that does that will have a higher brain wave and will be forced out of the game.”
“Great Master, teach me, you have to teach me!” ShadowDancer pleaded.
“Me too, me too!” Tong raised her hand.
“This isn’t that complicated. I’ll teach you guys when I have time.” Li Yao took out his Heavy Crossbow and loaded it with steel arrows. “Now pay attention, just like earlier on, listen to my signal and remember the position I mentioned just now.”
Li Yao raised the Heavy Crossbow and observed the Elite Patrol’s route. Moments later, a mob appeared at the side of the second pillar. His eyes were locked on the Level 10 Elite. “Begin.”
Tong and Witch synchronized their attacks. Moments later, a lava ball with a flaming tail and a Bone Spear approached the target rapidly from different positions.
Everyone that was watching Li Yao and his squad clearing the stage was sweating profusely. If Li Yao did not have any special tactics, his squad would have died by now. At this moment, they were more nervous than when clearing stages by themselves. The audience had mixed feelings, some were hoping that his legend would go on, but some were hoping that he would fail.
Boom…
The Lava Burst and Bone Spear hit the Level 10 Elite Wretched on the left and right chest. The Wretched was pushed two steps back from the tremendous blasts. He was only three small steps away from the edge of the platform.
Right at this moment, the Elite’s eyes lit up as it began to look for the enemy.
Pew…
A steel arrow pierced into the Wretched’s knee joint. It was pushed back by the earlier attacks and before it could steady itself, a steel arrow with the thickness of a finger hit his knee.
Everyone could not believe it. In their eyes, the Level 10 Elite fell backward, but there was nothing behind it. The audience saw the Level 10 Elite roll down from the second platform.
Moments later, a crash was heard. Falling from two hundred yards above, even a Level 10 Elite could not survive the fall. Its Health was emptied to zero.
Everyone that was watching Li Yao’s squad stage clearance froze. On the TV, even the messages on the chat have disappeared.
“What the f*ck, how is that even possible?!” KB got up from his chair in shock. He had unconsciously used profanity on a live TV show.
The broadcast spectators came back to their senses and the chat box exploded with messages. The entire screen was piled with ‘6’ figures. What followed next was gold ingots that had turned the entire screen into gold.
“There is nothing else I can say, let me use this gold ingot to represent my feelings.”
“The great Liao Yuan Master, I’m impressed. I’m your fan from now on.”
Players that were enlightened began to bombard messages to express the thrilling sensation they felt from spectating the feat…