Stealing the Spotlight

Xie Xie planted both feet firmly on the arena's icy alloy floor, back straight, gripping the Light Dragon Dagger and Shadow Dragon Dagger in reverse. Their tips dragged behind him, cold light glinting along the blades.

He turned his head, ready to tell Tang Wulin, "Keep up with the rhythm. Don't embarrass me"—only for his gaze to sweep over empty space on his left and empty space on his right.

He froze.

When he looked back, Yun Ying stood leisurely at the very rear of the arena with her dark-red spear, its butt planted on the ground as she leaned against the shaft. Anyone who did not know better would have thought she had come to watch the match. And Tang Wulin... was wedged between the front and back like some bystander caught in the middle of a ticket line, standing there dumbly with neither his hands raised nor his soul rings released, his face plainly saying, "Huh? It started?"

Xie Xie nearly spat blood.

What kind of immortal teammates were these?!

He, Xie Xie, Lord Xie himself, a renowned figure with twin daggers and an agility-attack build, self-proclaimed "the peerless young master, graceful as jade"—and in his first team match, one teammate was crouching in the back with a spear like a decorative mascot, while the other stood in the middle like a utility pole? If the opposing team did not burst out laughing at this lineup, pigs would fly!

Sure enough, the three people across the arena were already close to laughing themselves breathless. The leader was a male student with an Eagle martial soul. Clutching his stomach, shoulders shaking, he said, "Oh, come on... this is Group Three? That guy in the middle hasn't even lit up his soul rings, and that girl in the back... she's carrying a spear in the last row. Is she here to wreck the place? She does look pretty fierce, though."

The short female support-type student beside him covered her smile with pursed lips. "Fierce? Not really. Her position just looks like she's about to desert. The handsome guy up front looks energetic enough, but what a shame—he's a lone hero."

Xie Xie's face turned green, then white. With a sharp ring, the Light Dragon Dagger flipped into a forward grip, and his knuckles whitened around it. He whipped around and hissed through gritted teeth, "Yun Ying! Get up front! Boss, get your Soul Power going! Who are you posing for?!"

Tang Wulin finally came to his senses a beat late and scratched his head. "Uh... are we required to stand in front, middle, and back? You left in such a hurry after the draw that the two of us just followed."

Yun Ying gave an "oh" from the rear. Twirling her spear, she carried it one-handed and strolled two steps forward, tilting her head at him. "What are you rushing for? I never said I wasn't fighting. Did you call the start? The referee hasn't even blown the whistle yet. Can't I warm up?"

The veins at Xie Xie's temples throbbed. "You're warming up by carrying a spear and squatting in the back?! What is this, a picnic barbecue?!"

At that moment, light flashed from the head referee's platform, and a steady electronic voice rang out. "First round of the group stage—begin."

"Beeep—!"

The instant the whistle exploded, the three opponents moved at once. The Eagle martial soul student spread his wings and took to the air, Feather Blades ripping through the wind. The short support-type girl's fingertips shimmered as enhancement halos precisely settled over her teammates. The third, a heavily armored defense-type, roared as he charged, cracks spreading across the ground beneath his feet.

Before Xie Xie could think, the Light Dragon Dagger flashed out like a rainbow, and he blurred forward to meet them—but the moment he started moving, a dark-red afterimage shot past his side with a whoosh. The gust it kicked up even flipped his bangs into the air.

Yun Ying moved.

She did not take any conventional route. Kicking off the arena railing with her left foot, she shot out like a stone from a slingshot. Before her spearhead even struck, she swept the shaft sideways, forcing back the airborne Eagle martial soul student. Her landing point was just ahead and to the left of Xie Xie and Tang Wulin, perfectly cutting off the armored student's charging path. Using the spear planted on the ground for leverage, she spun half a circle, dark-red spear light bursting forth as she forcibly halted the armored student's momentum for half a second.

Xie Xie had already extended his daggers, only for Yun Ying to overtake him right in front of his eyes. Unable to stop in time, he nearly crashed into her spear shaft. He skidded awkwardly two steps sideways and nearly cursed aloud. "You—! Who told you to charge in like that?! Where's the coordination?! Where's the formation?!"

Yun Ying flicked away a Feather Blade with her spear tip without even turning around. "Formation? You didn't say anything about formations when you were standing in front striking a pose. Can't I find my own angle?" Her tone was casual, as though scolding Xie Xie for being inflexible. "Who cares whether I come from the front or back? As long as I hit them, that's enough."

Xie Xie nearly had a heart attack.

Taking the chance, the Eagle martial soul student pulled away and unleashed three waves of Feather Blade storms from the air. He sneered, "Already fighting among yourselves? Is this all the teamwork Group Three has?"

The short support-type girl cheerfully twisted the knife. "The handsome guy up front got his spotlight stolen by his own girl~"

Xie Xie's ears turned red, half from anger and half from humiliation. When had he ever looked this pathetic in an arena? Yet Yun Ying's spear flowed as smoothly as clouds and water. She was clearly not following his envisioned setup of "agility attacker as main assault, power attacker as side support, support in the rear," but she alone held down two and a half opponents. Tang Wulin was still slowly raising a hand in the middle, faint golden scales glimmering as Bloodline Power flowed deep and still like a silent sea—when the armored student slammed into Tang Wulin's casually extended palm, he was actually knocked back three steps with a thud, his face turning pale.

Xie Xie stared blankly.

These two... one fighting wildly, one barely moving, and they had actually pinned down the other side?

He clenched his teeth, crossing the Light Dragon Dagger and Shadow Dragon Dagger as he finally recovered his own rhythm. No longer caring where Yun Ying ran off to, he cut into the opening at the Eagle martial soul student's flank. But the uncomfortable knot in his heart would not go away. When Yun Ying had shot out just now, her eyes had not looked at him, nor had she looked at the tactics. Her gaze had passed over his shoulder and landed on Tang Wulin, who was standing foolishly in the middle, as if she were saying, "I'll clear the trouble for you first. You keep going."

Clearing the field for Tang Wulin?

Xie Xie's lungs were about to explode. He was the vanguard! He was the one supposed to show off his moves! Yet now Yun Ying had stolen his thunder, Tang Wulin had reaped the benefits, and he was like some supporting character forcibly shoved into the script—the furious kind, at that.

With an angry shout, Xie Xie's daggers formed a dense curtain of afterimages, forcibly dragging the Eagle martial soul student down from the air. But he pushed too hard, landing half a foot off target. Yun Ying's spear happened to sweep over his head, the spear wind making his scalp tingle. She withdrew her weapon and glanced back at him. "Why did you turn toward me? I'm not covering for you."

"Who needs you to cover for me?! I can fight on my own!" Xie Xie's voice nearly cracked.

On the arena, the battle had already veered in a direction beyond Xie Xie's control.

Yun Ying drove the armored student back with one spear strike, then spun with the momentum, slammed the spear butt into the ground, and used the rebound to leap straight over Tang Wulin's head—yes, she jumped right over Tang Wulin's head. Tang Wulin instinctively ducked, not even having time to retract his Blue Silver Grass, and Yun Ying's shoe nearly brushed his hair. Twisting at the waist in midair, she brought down an arc of dark-red spear light like a crescent moon, forcing the Eagle martial soul student to retreat again and again as several feathers were sliced from his wings.

"Tang Wulin!" Yun Ying shouted from the air. "Three steps forward-left! Take that support girl and don't let her keep putting up shields!"

Tang Wulin answered, "Okay," then really did take three steps forward-left. Raising his hand, he threw a punch. Bloodline Power formed a dragon-shaped phantom, and the enhancement staff the support girl had just lifted was blown away by the shockwave with a crack. She fell onto the ground, her eyes filled with terror.

Xie Xie: "..."

He stood frozen in place, his daggers still held in their recovery stance. The wind snapped his clothes around him, making him look like a figure nailed into a painting. Yun Ying's spear soared like a dragon ahead of him, while Tang Wulin's single punch settled the fight behind her. And he, Xie Xie... what was he doing in the middle? Serving as a carved backdrop?

"Xie Xie!" Yun Ying landed, holding her spear shaft horizontally to block the armored student's shield strike. She turned and shouted at him, "Stop spacing out! Lock down his lower body! I'm going to lift his shield!"

Xie Xie's teeth ground audibly, but instinct still moved him—Light Dragon Dagger tapping the ground, Shadow Dragon Dagger slashing toward the armored student's ankle. Yet the moment he moved, Yun Ying's spear tip had already struck first. The armored student's center of gravity tilted backward under the spear's pressure, and Xie Xie's dagger stabbed into empty air. He nearly fell in. Yun Ying clicked her tongue. "Too slow. Half a breath earlier would've done it."

"Would it kill you to say something before you lift your spear?!" Xie Xie finally exploded.

"Who waits for you to call ready on a battlefield—oh, your dagger went crooked." Yun Ying blasted the armored student toward the edge of the arena with a spear strike, then turned and pointed her dark-red spear at the Eagle martial soul student. "Tang Wulin, block his retreat."

Tang Wulin raised his hand. The Eagle martial soul student crashed into an invisible wall, and his wings stalled. Yun Ying flashed forward, her spear shaft striking his lower back and sending him cleanly off the arena.

All three were defeated.

Less than forty seconds had passed from the whistle to the finish.

The arena fell silent for a moment. The opposing trio climbed back up, their expressions caught somewhere between "How did we lose?" and "That girl was terrifying." The audience erupted—most of them laughing at Xie Xie's dazed expression, as if he had stepped into a fake arena.

The referee announced Group Three's victory.

Xie Xie stood at the center of the arena with his daggers hanging at his sides, his breathing slightly uneven. He watched Yun Ying carry her spear back. As she passed him, she casually tossed out, "Your positioning is too rigid. Don't stand at the very front next time. You'll get focused too easily." Then her gaze passed over him and landed on Tang Wulin, her eyes bright. "That punch earlier was good. How did you train it? Teach me sometime?"

Tang Wulin smiled. "We can learn from each other."

Xie Xie: "..."

He took a deep breath, then another, and looked up at the lights overhead. They seemed to be laughing at him.

Forty seconds. He, Xie Xie, the main attacker with twin daggers, had contributed less than thirty percent of the actual effective damage. Yun Ying alone had taken up seventy percent of the action, while Tang Wulin had used one punch and one push. He was like a host who had wandered into the wrong show.

Even more terrifying, before Yun Ying stepped off the arena, she patted his shoulder and said in the most natural tone, "Xie Xie, your speed is pretty good. You're just too fixated on formation. Next time, run wherever you want. I'll fill the gaps."

That pat on Xie Xie's shoulder felt like a stamp of approval. He abruptly strode off the arena, his back screaming, "My heart is dead."

Tang Wulin followed and asked softly, "Are you really angry?"

Without looking back, Xie Xie said, "I'm not angry. I, Xie Xie, am broad-minded. I just suddenly realized that even being a third wheel requires professional ethics—at least a third wheel doesn't steal the protagonist's scenes."

Tang Wulin said helplessly, "That's just how she fights. Don't compete with her over who gets more attention."

"Who's competing with her for attention?!" Xie Xie stopped short and turned around, his eyes a little red—not from crying, but from anger. "Boss, do you understand? From start to finish—she only had eyes for you! She told you to block them, told you to cover positions, told you to teach her! What about me? All she said to me was, 'You were slow,' 'You went crooked,' and 'Your positioning is too rigid'! In her eyes, I, Xie Xie, am just... just some auto-follow dagger accessory!"

Tang Wulin wanted to laugh but did not dare. He rubbed his nose. "Well, she definitely hasn't forgotten about you spraying water all over her earlier."

"She ignored me first!" Xie Xie practically shouted, his voice echoing through the corridor. He paused, suddenly remembering something, and his face darkened further. "Also, we got put in the same group in the first round. What if we're in the same group again for rounds two and three... am I going to spend my entire life in arenas as her background?"

Yun Ying's cool voice drifted over from behind them. "You're overthinking it. We might not be in the same group next round. But if you want to team up with me and learn coordination, you can ask me privately."

Xie Xie's foot slipped, and he nearly dropped to his knees on the corridor steps.

Tang Wulin reached out to steady him, unable to hide the amusement in his eyes. "Come on, let's review the match. You didn't fight badly today. You just got pulled into someone else's rhythm."

Xie Xie sprawled in a lounge chair and slapped his daggers onto the table. "Review my ass. Right now, I just want to know how much her spear weighs. Next time, I'll tie it to her hands and make her carry it without moving while I do the fighting."

Yun Ying sat across from him with a cup of water, legs crossed and spear propped against the wall. "It's light. Thirty-seven pounds. If you can't carry it, just say so."

Xie Xie: "... Who can't carry it?! My Light Dragon Dagger and Shadow Dragon Dagger together are worth more than your spear!"

"Being expensive is useless. That expensive thing nearly stabbed me just now." Yun Ying blew on the steam above her cup and looked toward Tang Wulin. "Tang Wulin, if we're still grouped together next match, stand in the middle and don't move. I'll charge ahead. As for Xie Xie... Xie Xie, stand wherever you want. Just don't block my spear line."

Xie Xie clutched his chest and solemnly declared, "From today onward, I, Xie Xie, and 'Group Three' are sworn enemies."

Tang Wulin sat beside him, lowering his head as his shoulders shook with laughter.

Meanwhile, the group-stage rankings had updated on the giant screen. Group Three had claimed its first victory, and Yun Ying's individual performance score had soared to the highest of the round. Xie Xie stared at that line, the sourness rising in his heart even more violently than the water he had sprayed out earlier.