Five Rounds of Twists, Someone Starts Bleeding

(Note: The pacing of this Douluo Golden Spatula is faster; I will return to the main plot quickly later.)

The moment the countdown for the fifth round hit zero, the shop refreshed and the pool flipped.

Ning Rongrong's fingertips moved faster than her brain. She saw a Sword Douluo (4-cost), priced at 4 gold, sitting quietly in the second slot of the shop with a pale golden border.

Sword Douluo, Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, All-Rounder class.

Her population had just reached 5, and the drop rate for 4-cost units was only 2%. Theoretically, this piece shouldn't have appeared before her, but it had refreshed nonetheless.

Without hesitation, she snapped it up.

On the bench, the phantom of Sword Douluo settled firmly into place. A silver-white sword intent shimmered around the projected skeleton for a moment before fading into silence.

The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect synergy count jumped from 1 to 2, just one piece away from the 3-tier threshold. As long as she obtained either Bone Douluo or Ning Fengzhi, the team-wide 10% attack, magic power, and dual resistance bonus would be activated.

Yi Chen didn't speak, but his gaze lingered on her bench for half a second.

Xiao Wu's luck in the fifth round wasn't nearly as good.

She refreshed three times, spending 3 gold, but the shop kept cycling through cards she didn't want: Jing Ling, Jiang Zhu, Xue Beng, and the occasional Dai Mubai. She already had a Dai Mubai, so taking another would be a waste of population.

The remaining pool for Ma Hongjun had dropped to 21 and was still slowly decreasing; clearly, she wasn't the only one chasing that card.

She gritted her teeth and stopped refreshing. She sold an extra Jing Ling to recover 1 gold, upgraded her Dai Mubai to 2-star, and braced herself for the next round.

Dugu Yan entered her first power spike in the fifth round.

Her population rose to 5, and she managed to assemble the prototype of a three-Spirit Hall plus dual-control lineup. Hu Liena, Xie Yue, and Yan stood in the front row, while Huo Wu and Dugu Yan herself occupied the back-row high ground.

The 3-tier Spirit Hall synergy was activated, summoning a 1-star Spirit Hall elite at the start of battle. It inherited 30% of the equipment stats and stood at the very front as cannon fodder.

Although this elite unit was only 1-star, its advantage was that it was free. She didn't feel the loss if it died, and it could absorb at least two rounds of damage for her main pieces.

Her health remained at 100; she hadn't lost a single point.

Ye Lingling's rhythm remained as steady as ever. She didn't rush to increase her population, instead pausing for one round at 5 population to spend all her excess gold on refreshing, pushing her Commoner synergy forward.

She already had Ye Lingling, Jing Ling, Jiang Zhu, and Bai Chenxiang on the board—four Commoner pieces. Her Commoner count reached 4, just one away from the 5-tier threshold.

A 5-tier Commoner synergy provided 15% team-wide damage reduction and doubled mana regeneration for Commoner pieces; it was the threshold for a qualitative change.

The matchmaking results for the fifth round were announced: Rongrong faced a random player, Xiao Wu faced Dugu Yan, and Ye Lingling faced another random player.

The battle animations played automatically.

Although Rongrong's Sword Douluo was only 1-star, the all-attribute bonus provided by the All-Rounder class allowed him to hold his ground. Combined with the mana regeneration from the 1-tier Commoner effect, Sword Douluo unleashed a Sword Qi Sweep in the latter half of the battle, cleaning up the remaining health of the opponent's front line. Rongrong's health stayed at 96, and her win streak bonus added +2 gold.

Xiao Wu versus Dugu Yan was a one-sided crush.

Dugu Yan's 3-tier Spirit Hall synergy was almost dominant in the early game. That 1-star elite stood in the front row, soaking up most of the damage from Xiao Wu's Ma Hongjun and Dai Mubai, while Huo Wu and Hu Liena in the back row seized the opportunity to unleash full control and damage.

Xiao Wu's Shrek synergy hadn't stacked up yet; the common flaw of growth-type synergies was their early-game weakness. By the end of the battle, Xiao Wu's health dropped from 100 to 74—a loss of 26 points.

She stared at the number, remained silent for two seconds, then moved Dai Mubai one square forward without a word.

Ye Lingling secured a steady victory. Her opponent was a player running a high-attack route, but they lacked sustainability and were dragged down by Ye Lingling's Commoner damage-reduction system. Ye Lingling's health stayed at 94, and her economy reached over 30 gold, earning +3 interest per round.

In the sixth-round draft, the player with the lowest health picked first.

Xiao Wu's health was 74, ranking third from the bottom among the eight players, granting her an earlier pick.

Four sets of base units were displayed on the stage: a Dai Mubai with a Storm Greatsword, a Zhu Zhuqing with a Recurve Bow, a Hu Liena with a Useless Large Rod, and a Ning Rongrong with Chain Mail.

Xiao Wu didn't hesitate; she chose the Zhu Zhuqing base with the Recurve Bow. She needed to supplement attack speed to pave the way for her late-game Shrek synergy.

Furthermore, Zhu Zhuqing was a Shrek and Agility-Attack unit, which perfectly activated the 3-tier Shrek synergy. With Ma Hongjun, Oscar, and Dai Mubai already on the board, adding Zhu Zhuqing brought her to 4-tier Shrek, just one step away from 5-tier.

Returning from the draft, Xiao Wu was noticeably more focused than before. She placed Zhu Zhuqing on the bench and began planning her equipment synthesis route for the next round.

Dugu Yan's health remained at 100, the highest in the lobby, so she picked last.

The option left for her was the Ning Rongrong base with the Chain Mail. She didn't pick an offensive item; instead, she took the Chain Mail and equipped it on her front-line Xie Yue to increase his tankiness.

When Yi Chen saw this choice, the corner of his mouth twitched slightly, but he offered no comment.

In the sixth round, Xiao Wu faced a random player with 82 health.

This was her first truly advantageous matchup of the game. The opponent's lineup was also a hodgepodge of early-game fillers without a formed synergy system.

Although Xiao Wu's 4-tier Shrek synergy hadn't reached the 5-tier threshold for a qualitative change, the 12% attack and magic power bonus, combined with the 1% growth stack per round, meant her pieces were starting to outclass the opponent's.

By the end of the battle, the opponent lost 15 health.

Dugu Yan continued her win streak in the sixth round. Her opponent was a player running a defensive route; their front line was tanky but lacked output, and they were slowly worn down by Dugu Yan's control chain.

Her health remained at 100, not a single point lost, and her win streak bonus added +3 gold, pushing her economy over 40 gold.

Rongrong encountered a bit of trouble in the sixth round. Her opponent refreshed a Tang Hao (4-cost) at 5 population, activating the 3-tier Clear Sky Sect synergy. Tailong's basic attacks following his first skill dealt massive true damage, instantly deleting her front-line Ye Lingling. Rongrong's health dropped from 96 to 78—a loss of 18 points.

Frowning, she adjusted her formation, moving Sword Douluo one square forward to let him soak up more damage in the front line, while pulling the Ning Rongrong base back a row to prevent it from being sniped.

Ye Lingling also won in the sixth round. Her Commoner synergy successfully reached 5-tier at 5 population, providing 15% team-wide damage reduction and doubled mana regeneration for Commoner pieces. Although her lineup didn't have high output, it was disgustingly tanky; the opponent would hit her with a full rotation, and she would heal back to full with a few pulses. Her health stayed at 94, and her economy stabilized at around 35 gold.

In the seventh round, the situation began to diverge.

Dugu Yan remained the only player at full health with 100 points and an economy of 51 gold. With 6 population on the board, her system of three Spirit Hall units plus dual control had begun to take shape.

Rongrong had 78 health and 44 gold. With 6 population on the board, she was still one piece away from the 3-tier Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect synergy, but the presence of Sword Douluo ensured her lineup quality remained high.

Ye Lingling had 94 HP, 38 gold, and 6 units on the board. Her 5-stack Commoner synergy was already active, giving her the highest durability in the lobby. Xiao Wu had 74 HP, 31 gold, and 5 units on the board; her 4-stack Shrek synergy was growing, but her overall unit quality remained weak.

Among the other four random players, one had already dropped below 20 HP, entering the danger zone.

According to the rules of the eight-player elimination format, players were knocked out once their HP hit zero. As the number of players dwindled, the frequency of matches between the remaining players would increase, and the pace of the game would accelerate.

Yi Chen leaned back in his chair, watching the real-time status of the eight-grid board on the screen, and finally spoke: "The seventh round is over, it's the creep round. After clearing these monsters, you should all be able to obtain your first set of complete item components."

He paused, his gaze lingering on Xiao Wu's HP bar: "Someone should consider cutting their losses."

Xiao Wu did not retort; she simply sold an extra unit from her bench to bring her economy to 40 gold, beginning to collect the +4 interest per round.

She knew her team composition had yet to take shape. Forcing a fight now would not be a wise move; it was better to stabilize her economy and wait until she secured her key units before exerting pressure.

The animation for the creep round finished playing on the screen. On each of the four women's benches, several item components appeared: a Storm Greatsword, a Recurve Bow, a Chain Mail, a Negatron Cloak, a Giant's Belt, a Useless Large Rod, and a Tear of the Goddess. Each of the seven basic items had its own utility, and the synthesis paths began to rapidly arrange and combine in their minds.

The countdown for the eighth round lit up quietly.