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Chapter 1453: Opening

Translator: Nomyummi Editor: Nomyummi

“Chance!” Pan Lin shouted. But as soon as he called it out, he wondered… was this really an opportunity?

The experienced players, who were familiar with Huang Shaotian, like Ye Xiu saw through it immediately.

The cake was a lie! It was a cake filled with poison. If Tang Rou tried to seize this opportunity, Huang Shaotian would most likely retaliate fiercely after just one move. If you saw through it and didn’t take the opportunity, what then? This opening would give Huang Shaotian an opportunity to make adjustments. His previous assault had reached a certain point and then stopped. He left this opening at the perfect time. Whether the opponent attacked or not, Huang Shaotian could re-establish his attack tempo. The advantages were all his.

Amazing!

Everyone sighed inwardly.

Opportunists couldn’t only be good at finding opportunities, creating opportunities was just as important. Huang Shaotian had given away this opening at the perfect time. If he had given away this opening a bit earlier or a bit later, the outcome would not have been as perfect.

If I saw this opening, what would I have done?

The pro players who saw the opening asked themselves this question. As for Tang Rou? She didn’t have time to think so much. Combat was all about timing, and opportunities didn’t last forever.

Counterattack!

For Tang Rou, this bait was too enticing. The moment the opening appeared, she instinctively took action.

Soft Mist turned her wrists. Her actions immediately caught Huang Shaotian’s attention. Tang Rou moved exactly how he predicted she would. This girl’s style was always so intense. Everyone had a clear understanding of it.

Come!

Huang Shaotian had been ready. Troubling Rain also turned his wrists slightly.

But Soft Mist’s turn of the wrist became more and more rapid. It was as if she were squeezing out all the energy she could muster. The spear in her hands seemed to want to fly out of her hands.

This is…

Huang Shaotian suddenly frowned.

He had predicted that Tang Rou would immediately seize the opening and attack, but he didn’t expect her to counterattack so fiercely!

“Beautiful!” Ye Xiu praised from below the stage. Huang Shaotian giving away the opening and Tang Rou seizing it took only an instant. When Ye Xiu said these words, it was hard to tell if he was praising Huang Shaotian or Soft Mist.

Soft Mist rushed out.

Dragon Breaks the Ranks!

An opening suddenly appeared at such a close distance. A Dragon Tooth would perhaps be the fastest way to seize it. A Falling Flower Palm would give her more momentum. A Tyrant’s Destruction wouldn’t have been a bad choice either.

But… Dragon Breaks the Ranks!

Tang Rou unexpectedly used such a high-level skill. No matter how much she liked this move, it didn’t seem logical. High-level skills required more inputs than low-level skills. As a result, high-level skills were almost always preceded by low-level skills as set-ups to ensure the high-level skill would hit. But Tang Rou used a high-level skill to seize such a tiny opening. This was a form of confidence. She wasn’t worried that her hand speed wouldn’t be enough to complete all the inputs in this short window.

And in the end, she completed it.

Dragon Breaks the Ranks!

Dancing Fire Flowing Flame flew out along with Soft Mist, its surging momentum stirring up the surrounding fog.

Dodge!

Huang Shaotian was in a fluster facing this attack.

The hitbox of Dragon Breaks the Ranks wasn’t just the tip of the spear. The powerful force of the strike tore through the air like whirlwinds. These whirling air currents brought along the destructiveness of the strike, turning the attack into an AoE skill.

And in this map, the whirling air currents could clearly be seen because of the fog. The fog was pierced through and blown away.

Shua!

A sword light flashed out, not towards Soft Mist, but to the side.

Triple Slash.

To dodge this Dragon Breaks the Ranks, Huang Shaotian immediately used a skill. Triple Slash was his fastest movement skill. However, the powerful air currents from Dragon Breaks the Ranks made Troubling Rain lose his balance. Huang Shaotian’s control over his character was valiant though. He stabilized himself with the second attack of Triple Slash, but with the second part burned, it was too late to chase after Soft Mist with the third. The movement from Dragon Breaks the Ranks was fast and powerful!

“Ah!” Ye Xiu felt that it was a pity.

“What’s wrong?” Chen Guo asked.

“So close! She almost had him. If she had adjusted it according to the Triple Slash, it would have hit,” Ye Xiu said.

Chen Guo stared blankly.

Could a human even do that? Ye Xiu’s criticism was too nitpicky.

“Aren’t you asking for too much?” Wei Chen also thought the same.

“Little Tang wouldn’t care,” Ye Xiu said.

“Okay…”

Everyone could only acknowledge this point helplessly.

“Could you even do it?” Chen Guo suddenly asked.

“I’d try it,” Ye Xiu replied. Even he wasn’t 100% confident either. The window had truly been too short.

Dragon Breaks the Ranks didn’t hit Troubling Rain, but Huang Shaotian’s motive for giving away the opening was ruined by Tang Rou’s boldness.

Was it a coincidence? Or had she seen through it?

Pan Lin and Li Yibo were discussing this issue, but the answer didn’t really matter. Huang Shaotian didn’t care either and typed out a message: “How brave!”

“Doing the same thing twice? Don’t you think that’s a bit much?” Tang Rou replied.

Pan Lin and Li Yibo stopped their discussion.

Tang Rou’s reply said everything.

“Haha, was it too obvious?”

“It looks like I underestimated you.”

“I’ll take it more seriously next!”

“Watch my sword!”

Shua shua shua, four messages came out in the chat. Huang Shaotian had begun his chat spam. But when he shouted “Watch my sword!”, it was Soft Mist’s Dancing Fire Flowing Flame that flying at him.

Tang Rou was truly a representative of someone who took action. How could she stop to appreciate Huang Shaotian’s trash talk? The moment she gave her reply, Soft Mist had already turned around. When Huang Shaotian typed out his four messages, her Soft Mist had started to attack.

Tu tu tu tu.

Four consecutive strikes.

Dragon Tooth, a normal attack, and then a Double Stab. Four strikes at four different positions, all of which were dodged by Troubling Rain.

Huang Shaotian was the first God besides Ye Xiu that Tang Rou had ever met online and offline. At that time, Tang Rou didn’t have much of a concept of the pro scene, and she had still been a beginner. She only knew that the player, Flowing Tree, who she was dungeoning with, was an expert. But she didn’t really know how skilled he truly was. She only remembered that he and Steamed Bun just kept talking and talking, so her initial impression of Huang Shaotian was on the same level as Steamed Bun.

Now, Tang Rou understood clearly just how skilled Huang Shaotian was.

In this 1v1 match so far, her Soft Mist had yet to create a Chaser. Huang Shaotian had always dodged her attacks and never blocked them.

By not blocking them, he wasn’t giving her an opportunity to create Chasers. It sounded very logical. But who could actually completely avoid blocking in practice?

Tang Rou experienced it for herself.

“What’s wrong? Do you feel like you’re missing something?” Huang Shaotian wouldn’t stop talking. He kept typing as he fought.

“Something super important to Battle Mages!”

“Chasers, the answer is Chasers!.”

“You’re a Battle Mage! But where are your Magic Chasers?”

Huang Shaotian kept talking as he played. If you just looked at the actual content of his words, it was difficult to summarize them. He just said whatever came to his mind. There wasn’t any point to it. Sometimes, it sounded like he was making fun of you. Sometimes, he wasn’t. Sometimes, he just sounded like an idiot…

His cocky tone of voice was absolutely loathsome, but he was stating facts. The ridicule wasn’t small.

“So what?” Tang Rou simply replied.

So what?

Yeah! So what?

A Battle Mage without Chasers could still battle, no? Huang Shaotian’s taunting didn’t bother Tang Rou. Her attacks only became more intense.

“You’re so unwavering! How rare!” Huang Shaotian said. He was also unwavering in his trash talk. It was hard to discourage him in this area.

Tang Rou ignored him. She simply continued to attack.

Huang Shaotian continued to go at his own pace. Block? He didn’t completely avoid it. But Battle Mages could only produce Chasers with certain skills, and he always made sure to dodge these skills. He continued to use this method to restrict Soft Mist’s full combat ability. At the same time, he carefully observed Soft Mist’s offense, constantly harrassing, searching for opportunities to establish his offense.

“Coach Li, don’t you feel that Huang Shaotian is playing rather cautiously and conservatively?” Pan Lin said.

“Of course! Just winning isn’t enough. He still has another opponent to beat afterwards!” Li Yibo said.

“Happy’s Tang Rou is an aggressive player. Huang Shaotian retreating is exactly what she wants him to do,” Pan Lin said.

“This… let’s see how it turn outs…” Li Yibo seemed to have his own thoughts.