The Final Rankings Set, The First Battle Concludes

After the draft round, the match entered its second half.

In the thirteenth round, the random player with only 18 health remaining could not hold on. His opponent was Dugu Yan. With the five-Spirit Hall bond activated, she summoned two Spirit Hall elites onto the field, and combined with the crowd-control chain from Hu Liena and Huo Wu, they melted his frontline instantly.

When the battle ended, his health dropped to zero, and his chessboard turned gray, transforming into the second dark-gold tombstone.

Six players remained.

In the fourteenth round, another random player was eliminated. His opponent was Ye Lingling. The 20% team-wide damage reduction provided by the seven-Commoner bond, coupled with the effect of restoring 10% of the team's maximum health upon a Commoner's death, made Ye Lingling's lineup as solid as an iron wall. Her opponent's damage couldn't break through, and while her own pieces didn't deal high damage, they slowly whittled the opponent down until he died. The third tombstone lit up.

Five players remained.

In the fifteenth round, Xiao Wu's Shrek bond finally stacked to seven. Every five seconds, she gained 5% omni-vamp, which could stack—meaning the longer the battle dragged on, the harder her pieces were to kill.

Her opponent was a random player running a heavy-attack build. He had accumulated a lot of gold from a win streak early on, but his lineup transition hadn't gone smoothly, and he had failed to secure his four-cost core pieces.

Supported by the vamp effect, Xiao Wu's Dai Mubai and Ma Hongjun withstood the opponent's first burst of damage before counter-attacking to finish him off. The fourth tombstone lit up.

Four players remained: Ning Rongrong, Xiao Wu, Dugu Yan, and Ye Lingling. They had secured all the top four spots. According to the rules of the eight-player elimination format, the top four had already locked in their match point bonuses, though their final rankings were yet to be determined.

In the sixteenth round, Dugu Yan faced off against Ye Lingling.

This was a duel between a crowd-control chain and an iron wall. Dugu Yan's five-Spirit Hall bond summoned two elites, and combined with Hu Liena's control skills, she attempted to pierce through Ye Lingling's frontline early in the battle.

However, Ye Lingling's seven-Commoner bond was simply too tanky. With 20% team-wide damage reduction and doubled mana regeneration for Commoner pieces, Ye Lingling's healing cycle was almost uninterrupted. Although Dugu Yan's control chain was precise, her damage wasn't enough to secure kills within the duration of the crowd control.

The battle dragged into the second half. Ye Lingling's Commoner pieces began to fall one by one, but each death restored 10% of the team's maximum health. Dugu Yan's pieces were slowly whittled down until her formation finally collapsed.

Dugu Yan's health hit zero, placing her fourth.

In the seventeenth round, Xiao Wu faced off against Rongrong.

This was a civil war between Shrek and the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect. Xiao Wu's seven-Shrek bond had fully stacked its vamp effect, and she had successfully chased the three-star quality for Dai Mubai, Ma Hongjun, and Zhu Zhuqing.

On Rongrong's side, the five-Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect bond was active, providing a 25% attribute bonus to the whole team, with the effects doubled for Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect pieces.

Sword Douluo and Bone Douluo stood on the frontline, while Ning Fengzhi provided continuous buffs from the back, making the quality of her entire lineup terrifyingly high.

The pieces engaged. Xiao Wu's Dai Mubai held the front, relying on the vamp effect to tank Sword Douluo's output, while Ma Hongjun flanked from the side, attempting to snipe Rongrong's backline.

But Rongrong's positioning was meticulous; Ning Fengzhi was protected by both Sword Douluo and Bone Douluo, making it impossible for Ma Hongjun to break through.

Meanwhile, Sword Douluo's sweeping sword qi, combined with the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's attribute bonuses, dealt absurd damage, and Xiao Wu's frontline began to fall one by one.

When the battle ended, Xiao Wu's health hit zero, placing her third.

In the eighteenth round, the finals—Rongrong versus Ye Lingling.

This was the ultimate showdown between spear and shield. Rongrong's five-Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect bond provided a 25% team-wide attribute bonus, and the output of Sword Douluo and Bone Douluo was maxed out. Ye Lingling's seven-Commoner bond provided 20% team-wide damage reduction and death-healing effects, making her the tankiest player on the field.

The pieces engaged. Rongrong's Sword Douluo launched the first attack, slashing at Ye Lingling's frontline piece, Jing Ling, and cutting his health bar by nearly half. But Ye Lingling's healing followed immediately, pulling Jing Ling's health back up with a few bursts of recovery. The two sides fell into a long, drawn-out stalemate—Rongrong could hit Ye Lingling's frontline, but couldn't kill them; Ye Lingling's healing was sufficient, but she lacked the damage to threaten Rongrong's backline.

The battle dragged into overtime. According to the rules, overtime significantly increases the output efficiency of all pieces to prevent matches from dragging on indefinitely. Once overtime triggered, Rongrong's Sword Douluo and Bone Douluo released their skills simultaneously, two streaks of sword qi crossing the board and clearing out Ye Lingling's entire frontline.

Ye Lingling's health hit zero, placing her second.

On Rongrong's board, her final piece stood tall.

First place.

Above the screen, the rankings locked in:

First Place: Ning Rongrong

Second Place: Ye Lingling

Third Place: Xiao Wu

Fourth Place: Dugu Yan

The main control hall was silent for a moment, then Ning Rongrong was the first to jump up, nearly hitting the chandelier on the ceiling: "I won! I'm actually first place!"

Xiao Wu stood up from her seat and stretched. Despite placing third, there was no sign of frustration on her face: "The Shrek bond is indeed fierce once it stacks up. It's a pity I lost too much health early on, otherwise, the finals might not have been a guaranteed win for you."

Ye Lingling didn't speak, merely saving a copy of her panel data. Although her Commoner system only took second place, her economic management and positioning adjustments in this match were textbook-level. Losing to Rongrong was purely a matter of lineup counter-play; the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's attribute bonuses perfectly countered the Commoners' damage reduction system, and the doubled output during overtime rendered her healing advantage useless.

Dugu Yan leaned back in her chair, arms crossed. Her expression was neither happy nor disappointed. She had accumulated a massive advantage from her early win streak, but her transition in the late game hadn't been decisive enough, causing her damage to fall behind the tankiness of the frontline. She was already reviewing the key decision points of the match in her mind, finding at least two areas that could have been optimized.

Yi Chen stood up from the main seat, walked to the screen, and raised his hand to add a line below the rankings:

Data for this match has been recorded in the S1 Season master table. Rank settlement will be conducted uniformly after all matches are completed.

He turned around and looked at the four women: "This was your first formal eight-player match. You swept the top four, which makes the training over this period worth it."

He paused, his gaze sweeping across each of their faces: "But you should also have felt it—this match was just a demonstration. The random players you were matched with varied in skill level. Once the S1 Season fully rolls out, Spirit Masters from across the entire continent will flood the ranked pool. By then, your opponents won't be at this level."

Ning Rongrong clenched her fists, fighting spirit burning in her eyes: "That's even better! What's the point of beating weaklings? If I'm going to win, I want to beat the experts!"

Xiao Wu nodded in agreement: "Once I practice a few more lineups, I'll definitely take first place next time!"

Dugu Yan didn't speak, but she had already begun planning her lineup route for the next match in her mind. Ye Lingling quietly put away her data records, preparing to go back and review the match.

Above the screen, the information for this match glowed quietly:

S1-DEMO-001 | Rank: Unranked | Status: Concluded | Data Archived

The first demonstration match had come to an end.

But the S1 Season had only just begun.