Chapter 19 – Ling Xuefeng

Qin Mo didn’t dare tell his master that he actually lost to an unnamed elf summoner in the online game.

He felt that this was particularly embarrassing. As a rookie who just debuted this season, his level wasn’t as high as his master’s but he could face the average player and have a large chance of winning. Even in the face of the other team’s great gods, he could fight against them in a war situation.

He had never experienced being completely crushed by the opponent like today.

Qin Mo was still in a confused state, like he was caught in a strange nightmare. He was afraid that his master would scold him and didn’t dare explain this matter. However, his feelings of grievances hadn’t dissipated and he felt like he was going to die!

Ling Xuefeng saw that his apprentice wasn’t talking, his face still a bit green, and couldn’t help frowning. “What’s the matter?”

Qin Mo’s spirit returned and he shook his head. “No, it is nothing. I just ate something bad this morning and my stomach…”

How could such a poor excuse work on Ling Xuefeng?

The youth in front of him had a high self-esteem and was very stubborn. When Ling Xuefeng first accepted him as an apprentice, it was because he took a fancy to Qin Mo’s talent in the game but his personality still needed to be honed. Ling Xuefeng knew the temper of his apprentice and didn’t ask anything else. He went back to watching the league’s team standings and said lightly, “The game with the Time team tomorrow is very important. I hope you can adjust your status as soon as possible.”

Qin Mo was stunned and couldn’t help being moved by his master’s trust. “I… I will, Master.”

“Yes.” Ling Xuefeng nodded and then continued, “In the arena stage, Vice-Captain Yan and Guo Xuan will play first and second. You will appear last as the guard. If I’m not mistaken, you should face Vice-Captain Cheng Wei or Captain Tan Shitian. These two people aren’t easy to deal with so you should go back and prepare.”

Qin Mo’s eyes widened with surprise. “I… I am going to be the guard?”

“Why? Do you have no confidence?”

“…” As a rookie, this was the first time the captain actually put him in such an important position.

Qin Mo was young and arrogant so his fighting spirit was soon up. He shook his fist and vowed, “I will prepare well.”

“Go.” Ling Xuefeng said, “Don’t let me down.”

“Yes!” Qin Mo nodded vigorously and turned away.

***

The vice-captain, Yan Ruiwen went out to get a cup of coffee and soon returned. He headed to Ling Xuefeng and sat down next to him. He drank the coffee before saying, “Ah, I just met Qin Mo at the door. His face didn’t seem right. Did something happen?”

“He seems to have something on his mind.” Ling Xuefeng explained. “But he didn’t want to tell me so I didn’t ask.”

Yan Ruiwen looked for Qin Mo and found that the young boy had already turned on a computer and was in the arena. He couldn’t help worrying, “Xiao Qin’s state doesn’t seem very good. It is appropriate to send him as the guard tomorrow?”

“I just want to give him a chance to play against masters.” Ling Xuefeng calmly explained. “As a professional player, the greater the stress, the more you need to adjust your mentality. If he can’t even do this, he will sit on the cold bench for the second round robin and reflect on it.”

Yan Ruiwen, “…”

Captain Ling’s personality had always been like this. If a person performed well and worked hard, he would naturally give them more opportunities. If a person wandered off the chain, they could sit on the cold bench and reflect on it.

The overall strength of the Wind Colour team was very high and there were many high-level players. The captain needed to be like this to tame so many masters.

Ling Xuefeng wasn’t strange to anyone or biased against anyone. He never scolded a player in public. Instead, he changed the lineup so that the players themselves would realize their mistakes and adjust their status.

This was decisive but didn’t hurt people’s self-esteem. Therefore, Ling Xuefeng had a very high prestige in the Wind Colour team. He didn’t erase anyone’s personality and all players felt admiration and respect towards him.

Ling Xuefeng always felt that cursing didn’t have much use and would just cause some players to have a rebellious mentality. The captain only needed to carry people forward in the general direction. Many things still depended on the players themselves to understand.

His style of leadership caused the Wind Colour to be the freest team in the league and each player’s personal qualities were very strong.

During training, Ling Xuefeng would also develop different training programs according to the characteristics of each player. In the training room, everyone played against each other and it might not seem harmonious. But once in the stadium and under the command of Ling Xuefeng, the cohesiveness of the Wind Colour team was extremely strong, like an unstoppable beast just unleashed.

The more frightening thing was that the players rarely made mistakes and Wind Colour was the team with the lowest error rate in the league’s official statistics.

Qin Mo’s level wasn’t bad but his psychological problem was very big. This young boy had been aggressive since the beginning of his debut and his eyes were higher than himself. Self-confidence was a good thing but being too conceited made it easy to go down the wrong path. He was already so arrogant at 16 years old. It was hard to say what he would be like in the future.

The reason why Ling Xuefeng placed pressure on him as the guard tomorrow was to grind this little boy’s mind.

Yan Ruiwen was the vice-captain and had been working with Ling Xuefeng for many years. He quickly understood his thoughts and asked, “How is the arrangement of the group battle stage?”

“It is according to the most stable lineup.” Ling Xuefeng replied. “This time we can’t be careless. Tan Shitian will certainly come out with the strongest lineup.”

“I understand.” Yan Ruiwen said. “Guo Xuan hasn’t returned yet. Shall we wait for him to come back in the afternoon before training again?”

“Okay, you can arrange it.” Ling Xuefeng kept looking at his computer and clicked on Weibo.

***

On Weibo’s homepage, a message with a high forwarding rate suddenly flashed. It had been forwarded by Cheng Wei and was an official announcement obviously written by the general manager of the Canglan team.

-The Canglan team will officially announce its disbandment today. Thank you for your support of Canglan for the past two years. The team’s disbandment is undoubtedly distressing. Fortunately, the players have found a better home and I wish the team members luck in the future.

It was a very common announcement and Cheng Wei forwarded it with a row of tearful expressions.

Fans saw him do this and couldn’t help commenting.

-What is the Canglan team? Why haven’t I heard of them before?

-They aren’t in the Miracle League. They seem to be from the Wulin side.

-What is Vice-Captain Cheng doing? Why is he forwarding this?

-It is just a team disbanding but Great God Cheng Wei is too shocked!

-God should be preparing for the game. Come on, kill Ling Xuefeng of Wind Colour tomorrow. I will be watching you!

Cheng Wei was the vice-captain of the Time team and was sunny, cheerful and very funny. His popularity in the league was high and comments on his Weibo messages easily instantly broke through one million. Most fans were wondering why he was free enough to forward news about the Wulin League. It was obvious that not many people knew the inside story.

However, Ling Xuefeng’s brow slightly wrinkled.

His mouse clicked onto the Canglan team’s official Weibo. Many comments were filled with regret, ridicule and swearing. However, the captain of Canglan, Li Cangyu never appeared.

Yan Ruiwen looked at the captain’s computer and saw the news. He was stunned as he asked, “Canglan? If I remember correctly… this is the team led by Li Cangyu?”

“Yes.” Ling Xuefeng nodded.

“Why is it disbanded again?” Yan Ruiwen’s tone was filled with a hint of regret. “The team is gone so where will Cat God go?”

“He will go back to Miracle.” Ling Xuefeng was very certain.

“What? He will return to Miracle?” Yan Ruiwen was surprised. “Maybe he will transfer to another team in Wulin?”

“No.” Ling Xuefeng looked at the computer screen, a complex look flashing in his eyes despite his calm tone. “His burden was too heavy and he had too much restrains on him. He only joined Wulin for his good friends but had to take up responsibility as the captain. Now Canglan has scattered and he has a chance to start again. He will once again control his elf summoner.”

“…It makes sense.” Vice-Captain Yan couldn’t help sighing. “You still know him best.”

Yan Ruiwen’s sentence was true.

Ling Xuefeng knew Li Cangyu very deeply. Not only were they excellent friends, they were the strongest rivals!

In fact, Captain Ling’s level was one of the best in the Miracle League. For several years, he occupied the first place on the domestic demon players list and even appeared on the world masters list. He was a demon player famous globally.

Ling Xuefeng’s style of play was calm until it changed and then his explosive power was terrible. It was easy for the opponent to be suppressed to the point of psychological collapse. In addition, he was handsome and had a cold personality. The fans kept watching him while watching the game, causing his popularity to naturally soar higher and higher.

He was one of the oldest players in the league and even the captains of other teams were very respectful towards him.

However, Yan Ruiwen knew very clearly that Ling Xuefeng’s heart actually had a powerful opponent that no one could replace.

It was Li Cangyu, who played the elf summoner.

The question of who was the strongest summoner between Li Cangyu and Ling Xuefeng had always been an unsolved mystery of Miracle.

When Li Cangyu was the captain of the FTD team, he was almost never defeated in the arena stage. However, there were three players who participated in the arena and the order of the players was decided before the game. The FTD and Wind Colour team fought a few times and the two captains always missed each other in the competition.

If Li Cangyu appeared first, Ling Xuefeng would appear in third or vice versa. Ling Xuefeng would be first while Li Cangyu played in third. In short, Li Cangyu and Ling Xuefeng never really fought each other despite being two master summoners.

This was one of Ling Xuefeng’s biggest regrets.

The pressure on Li Cangyu’s shoulders was too big and every time he fought, he couldn’t play to his true level. Ling Xuefeng always felt it was a pity that Li Cangyu stayed in the FTD team but didn’t say these words out of respect for the captain.

Later, the FTD team disbanded and Li Cangyu refused the high-paying invitations from many teams in the Miracle League. He led his team to transfer to Wulin instead. This man’s decisiveness and determination was truly admirable.

In the blink of an eye, almost three years passed in the Miracle League and the name of Cat God was gradually forgotten by many people.

But in Ling Xuefeng’s heart, this name was a special existence and impossible to forget.

***

Yan Ruiwen saw the complicated look in his captain’s eyes and suddenly had a thought. His eyes lit up as he said, “Right, if Cat God is returning to Miracle, shouldn’t we act first and invite him to join Wind Colour?”

“No.” Ling Xuefeng immediately rejected Vice-Captain Yan’s idea of pulling Li Cangyu into the team. “With his pride, it is impossible for him to join the Wind Colour team. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have rejected our invitation and transferred his team to Wulin.”

Vice-Captain Yan recalled Li Cangyu’s decision when leaving Miracle and was forced to get rid of this idea.

There might be repeated frustrations but some people’s pride couldn’t be reduced by one or two failures. Li Cangyu was such a person. The team he raised never won a trophy but he wouldn’t go to other teams and listen to other people’s commands.

Yan Ruiwen couldn’t help sighing when he thought about this. “If he really comes back, won’t there be a big shuffle in the players’ winning percentage?”

“Of course.” Ling Xuefeng nodded and looked thoughtfully at the personal rankings of the Miracle Professional League.

In the past few years, the players in the league had changed a lot. These days, the players at the forefront of the individual rankings were mostly newcomers who debuted after the third season. Many of these newcomers were currently around 20 years ago and it was the best time to be an e-sports player. The 23 year old Cat God was already at a age where e-sports players retired.

But Ling Xuefeng knew that in the near future, there would be a name in the rankings that would shock everyone.

—Li Cangyu.

Ling Xuefeng believed in Li Cangyu’s ability, just as he believed in himself.

This unquestioning confidence was precisely due to his greatest respect for a rival.