The Final Four Are Decided (2-in-1)

"You know about all the mess in my family... Zhao Yannian has four wives, and my mother is the least favored one. As a result, I'm also disliked, just like a son born out of wedlock in ancient times..."

Zhao Zhilin said softly, "I'm a year older than Zhao Zhixiong, and I've always been better than him since childhood. I'm better than him in archery, combat, fencing, and academics! If it weren't for Zhao Yannian's favoritism, I should be the one who Class Change the Hero Class."

"According to the family's plan, I was supposed to be Zhao Zhixiong's shadow, paving the way for him. Last semester, Zhao Yannian approached me, hoping I could help Zhao Zhixiong get the captain's armband on the University Team..."

Jing Chengwen's expression turned somewhat unpleasant. "Is this what your family plans?"

Zhao Zhixiong is Hero Class, but his level is only 5. If Jing Chengwen were to compete for the captain's position, he wouldn't have much of an advantage. Although he's a level 7 Elite Tier, his strength might not be comparable to a level 5 Hero Tier. If Zhao Zhilin were to support his younger brother, Jing Chengwen would truly have no chance of winning.

"I made an excuse to turn it down," Zhao Zhilin shook his head, "Because when I was looking for a contract partner, I insisted on choosing you. My family already had a lot of opinions about me, and this only made things worse. Zhao Yannian became even more hostile towards me."

The Zhao Family and Jing Family have a good relationship; they are both allies and competitors. Zhao Zhilin and Jing Chengwen are childhood playmates who grew up together.

When Zhao Zhilin Class Change, he wanted to obtain that precious Hero Class Change item. However, he did not have a high status in the family and was not favored, so he was ruthlessly rejected.

Zhao Yannian had long ago planned out Zhao Zhilin's future, making him the shadow of his younger brother Zhao Zhixiong, assisting Zhao Zhixiong throughout his life. The Hero Class Change items, as well as the complete set of support methods prepared afterward, were all left for Zhao Zhixiong.

Zhao Yannian then gave Zhao Zhilin a "Light and Shadow Contract Book," requiring him to sign a contract with another member of the Zhao Family family (Quasi-Awakened) and Class Change the Twin Class, becoming Zhao Zhixiong's right-hand man in the future.

However, Zhao Zhilin was quite rebellious at the time. After obtaining the contract, he went straight to Jing Chengwen, who was not very favored in the Jing Family. Therefore, the two "illegitimate sons" had a very close relationship.

The two "illegitimate sons" secretly signed Light and Shadow Pact and entered the Spirit Realm. Zhao Yannian was furious when he learned of this. According to insiders, during the time when the two were struggling to complete their Class Change mission in the Spirit Realm, Zhao Yannian even threatened to expel these rebellious sons from the family.

However, Zhao Zhilin and Jing Chengwen lived up to expectations. With a strong determination, they chose the A+ difficulty level, which is the highest difficulty among the three Class Change tasks, and successfully Class Change the Rare Elite jobs - Holy Light Archer and Demonshadow Warrior.

Upon returning to the family, a disagreement arose regarding how to deal with Zhao Zhilin. After all, Zhao Zhilin was a member of the Zhao Family and Rare Elite; expelling him from the family was out of the question.

Moreover, after negotiating with the Jing Family, both families had no choice but to accept this fait accompli. From an optimistic perspective, the fact that the Twin Class come from both families can serve as a bond similar to a marriage alliance, or even more stable, and is not entirely meaningless.

In the end, Zhao Yannian had no choice but to accept it, but his attitude towards Zhao Zhilin was even colder. This indifference and disregard were ingrained in his bones, and were fully reflected in the allocation of resources—to put it bluntly, the two were only maintaining a superficial father-son harmony. In front of Jing Chengwen, Zhao Zhilin would always address Zhao Yannian by his full name, and one can imagine the resentment in his heart.

For the past few years, Zhao Zhilin has had a tough time. If it weren't for Jing Chengwen's improved treatment in the Jing Family and his frequent use of Psionic Points to help his brothers, it would be hard to say whether Zhao Zhilin would have been able to reach level 7 or have such a set of equipment.

Zhao Zhixiong is dead.

Upon hearing the news and confirming its truth, Zhao Zhilin felt inexplicably relieved. The enormous shadow had finally dissipated.

However, Zhao Zhilin did not show any joy or pride. The cold treatment and dangerous adventures in the Spirit Realm over the years had transformed him from a rebellious teenager into a shrewd young man.

At Zhao Zhixiong's funeral, Zhao Zhilin wept bitterly, tears streaming down his face, a testament to the profound brotherly love that moved many. Afterwards, in front of the entire family, Zhao Zhilin vowed that one day he would Avenge and Take Revenge his brother Zhao Zhixiong...

However, another unexpected event occurred. Lord Qiao issued a decree, launching a special operation that resulted in Zhao Yannian being imprisoned. The Zhao Family suffered a major blow and found themselves in the eye of the storm, so the topic of revenge was naturally dropped.

Zhao Zhilin really, really wanted to win this match against Jinghai University, or more precisely, against Bai Xiaowen. It had nothing to do with revenge; it was simply to gain the attention of his family—the elders in his family would certainly be happy to see him defeat Bai Xiaowen on the field and vent his anger.

Therefore, Zhao Zhilin and Jing Chengwen conspired with team leader Chen Baola to stage a scene on the day of the competition where the entire audience was cursing Bai Xiaowen, hoping to cause Jinghai University's team to underperform—whether the opponent was afraid to play or angry and lost their mind, it would benefit Taiwan University.

This combination of tactics would leave most people bewildered, and even if they wanted to explain, they would be powerless to do so. However, Zhao Zhilin did not expect Bai Xiaowen's "crisis management ability" to be so strong. Almost in the shortest amount of time, she came up with a way to clarify the truth and implemented it, causing the Taiwan University Team to suffer a "backlash" and their morale to plummet.

Was Bai Xiaowen furious? Most likely he was. However, Zhao Zhilin hadn't expected that Bai Xiaowen, despite his anger, wouldn't let it cloud his judgment. He still managed to capitalize on his strengths and avoid his weaknesses, calmly shattering the Twin Stars's prized teamwork...

Overall, Bai Xiaowen caused Zhao Zhixiong's death and Zhao Yannian's imprisonment, greatly damaging the Zhao Family's interests. Did Zhao Zhilin harbor any hostility towards Bai Xiaowen? Certainly, but in terms of overall character, he was probably the least hostile person towards Bai Xiaowen within the entire Zhao Family. It's even hard to say whether gratitude or hostility outweighed his feelings.

Jing Chengwen was aware of Zhao Zhilin's situation within the Zhao Family and naturally understood his friend's feelings.

"Having failed to defeat Bai Xiaowen this time, your situation in the Zhao Family..."

Zhao Zhilin shook his head and said, "It can't get any worse than before, right?"

"That's true."

"Chengwen, this is a rare opportunity... Zhao Zhixiong, the benchmark of the new generation of the Zhao Family, has fallen. None of the other Zhao Family members of my generation can compare to me! I need to obtain the maximum amount of resources from within the Zhao Family Zhao Family so that I may be able to seize power in the future! I need your help."

Jing Chengwen laughed and said, "Isn't that obvious? If I don't help you, who else can I help... Sigh, I still think it's a pity. If you could defeat Bai Xiaowen, your plan to become the head of the family would go much more smoothly."

Zhao Zhilin shook his head again. "Bai Xiaowen... is a very terrifying guy. If I had a choice, I wouldn't want to be his enemy. Unfortunately, to gain the Zhao Family's support, I have to put on an act of being irreconcilably opposed to him... at least on the surface."

After a pause, Zhao Zhilin said softly, "Although the Zhao Family family has a large business, if they are determined to go head-to-head with Bai Xiaowen, their future is rather worrying."

"That's a bit of an exaggeration. Both our families have investigated Bai Xiaowen's background, and he has nothing to do with Lord Qiao. He has no background, and no matter how strong he is, he's just an individual. The Super God Guild he belongs to isn't very powerful either; it's impossible for them to shake the Zhao Family's position," Jing Chengwen said.

"No, he's too young, two years younger than us, yet he's already achieved so much..." Zhao Zhilin sighed. "When I argued with Zhao Yannian back then, I said the saying, 'Never underestimate a young man's potential.' Actually, Bai Xiaowen would have been more suited to saying that to the Zhao Family ..."

Achoo!

Bai Xiaowen sneezed.

"What's wrong?" Li Shuyi, who was sitting opposite, asked.

"I don't know, I just feel like someone's cursing me, saying something terrible..." Bai Xiaowen rubbed her face, looked around, "Let's continue... Three eights with a pair of threes! Can't win, right? Three tens with a pair of fives! One King to finish, Shu Yi welcomes you!"

"I'm not playing anymore, it's no fun if you always win." Xiang Hui threw down his straight and the Xiao Wang, saying boredly.

"Does he have X-ray vision? I have a feeling the captain knows exactly what cards we have in our hands," Feng Zi'ang said dejectedly, throwing away his pair of cards.

"Old Bai, you didn't Psychic Sensing on playing cards, did you...?" Xiang Hui asked.

"Don't be ridiculous. Psychic Sensing isn't like having eyes in the air; it doesn't mean I can't see your cards. I'm relying entirely on skill, okay?" Bai Xiaowen said, pursing her lips.

Feng Zi'ang looked around. "Now that you mention it, I think the captain has too many cheating methods... Where's the Shadow Assassin?"

Bai Xiaowen shrugged, looking at Xiang Hui and Feng Zi'ang with disdain. "The wisdom of mortals..."

The sound of small leather shoes clicking on the ground rang out, Yan Xiaoxin walked in.

"Stop playing around, the top four are all decided... Come and take a look."

Including Han Xu, who was quietly watching the cards from the side, the five of them crowded around Yan Xiaoxin.

"Yanda University, six matches in three rounds, 6-0."

"Jinghai, six matches in three rounds, 6-0."

"Tsinghua University, three rounds, seven games, 6-1."

"Yunnan University, three rounds, seven games, 6-1."

"They're both pretty strong, they're really close," Xiang Hui commented.

"At least we won't face Yanda University in the semifinals. I wonder who we'll be drawn against next week? I hope it's Yunnan University," Feng Zi'ang said.

Compared to the long-established powerhouse Tsinghua University, Feng Zi'ang felt that Yunnan University was easier to deal with.

"The semifinals will be broadcast live nationwide and will begin in two weeks. During this time, everyone can take a short rest, but don't relax too much," Yan Xiaoxin said, looking at Bai Xiaowen. "You're the captain, so feel free to share your opinions first."

"Teacher Yan, please collect information and match videos from Yanda University, especially their qualifying match against Tsinghua University," Bai Xiaowen said. "In the finals, Yanda University is most likely to be our opponent, so be mentally prepared for that..."

Just then, a staff member walked over and said, "Hello, the teleportation array has been tested and is ready to use."

The Jinghai University Team followed the staff and stepped into the teleportation array. A feeling of weightlessness came over them, and before long, they were back in Jinghai.

Information about Yanda University is easy to collect, after all, it is a nationally renowned CUAA champion, and Ouyang Heng has a high World Fame, which means that it is very easy to collect his combat videos and combat data.

Yan Xiaoxin was highly motivated. She not only collected intelligence data on Yanda University, but also compiled data on the other two teams— Tsinghua University and Yunnan University.

On the day of his return, Bai Xiaowen had already watched all the video footage.

That evening, the University Team held a meeting.

"Yanda University is indeed very strong. Compared to Tsinghua University and Yunnan University, its main advantage lies in having an additional Hero Class support class..."

Bai Xiaowen wrote a name on the tactics board: Qiao Rui. On the big screen, several photos and brief information about this girl were displayed.

This is a pretty girl whose usual outfit is a very ordinary, oversized school uniform. She's always looking down at her book, so she'd easily blend into a crowd, barely making a ripple. She's the kind of girl with extremely low presence...

"Don't be fooled by this girl's harmless appearance," Bai Xiaowen clapped his hands to draw everyone's attention. "You've all seen her skill data. It's no exaggeration to say she's a strategic-level support, the type who gets stronger the more teammates she has. She can elevate the strength of everyone on the team to a whole new level..."

"Yanda University aside Ouyang Heng for now, the true strength of the other three Elite Class Elite Class n't much stronger than those we've encountered before. But they give off an impression of being incredibly powerful; each of them could stand alone... This is largely due to the improvement brought about by this support player."

Feng Zi'ang lowered his head deeply. Comparisons are odious; goods are worthless when compared...

"Looks like we need to focus our fire on her first," Xiang Hui said.

Bai Xiaowen shook his head again. "That's the right approach, but she's quite resilient, so it'll be difficult to take her out quickly."

"What should we do then?" Yan Xiaoxin said with some worry, "The two Hero Class at Yanda University are indeed very strong. Ouyang Heng and this Qiao Rui are both difficult to deal with... If all else fails, we can set our minimum goal at runner-up."

Bai Xiaowen laughed and said, "That's not necessarily true... Actually, from our perspective, Yanda University very strong, but Yanda University probably quite nervous after seeing our information... Besides, I still have a few trump cards up my sleeve that I haven't played yet, so I can let Senior Ouyang Heng have a good time later."

After a pause, Bai Xiaowen added, "Shu Yi and I plan to go to the Spirit Realm."

"Huh? Recently?" The group was somewhat surprised.

"Yes, we'll leave as soon as we get the tickets," Bai Xiaowen explained. "Shu Yi and I are both full of experience points and we're ready to level up to level 6."

Yan Xiaoxin understood and instantly switched to a supportive attitude. "Okay, that's great. You guys go ahead, just be careful."

It's certainly a good thing that the team's two main players are leveling up. Especially with Bai Xiaowen reaching level 6, all summoned creatures will also be upgraded to level 6, resulting in a significant increase in strength.

This chapter fills in the gaps...