Stealing the Spotlight

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

He turned his head, about to tell Tang Wulin, "Keep up with the rhythm. Don't embarrass me"—only to sweep his gaze left and find empty space, then right and find the same.

He froze.

Looking 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. And Tang Wulin... was caught between the two of them like some passerby squeezed in the middle of a ticket line, standing there dumbly without even raising his hands or releasing his soul rings, his face plainly saying, "Huh? It started?"

Xie Xie nearly spat blood.

What kind of godforsaken teammates were these?!

He, Lord Xie Xie, a renowned figure, an agility attack soul master wielding twin daggers, the self-proclaimed "Unrivaled Handsome Young Master," was in his first group match with one teammate carrying a spear in the back like a decorative mascot and another standing in the middle like a utility pole? If this lineup went out there and the opponents did not burst out laughing, something would be wrong!

Sure enough, the trio across from them was already laughing themselves breathless. Their leader was a male student with an Eagle martial soul. He clutched his stomach, his shoulders shaking. "Oh my... Is this the third group? That guy in the middle hasn't even lit up his soul rings, and that girl in the back... standing in the last row with a spear. Is she here to smash the place up? She looks pretty fierce, though."

The short female support-type student beside him covered her mouth as she snickered. "Fierce? Not really. Her positioning just looks like a deserter's. The handsome guy in front is spirited enough, but sadly, he's a lone hero."

Xie Xie's face alternated between green and white. The Light Dragon Dagger flipped into a forward grip with a sharp ring, and his knuckles turned white as he clenched it. He whipped around, lowering his voice as he gritted out, "Yun Ying! Get up front! Boss, circulate your soul power already! Who are you posing for?!"

Tang Wulin finally snapped out of it a beat late and scratched his head. "Ah... Are there rules saying we have to stand front, middle, and back? You walked off so fast after the draw that the two of us just followed."

Yun Ying gave an "oh" from the rear, spun her spear, and carried it one-handed as she walked two steps forward. Tilting her head at him, she said, "What are you in such a hurry 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 warm up by squatting in the back with a spear?! What is this, a picnic barbecue?!"

At that moment, a flash of light came from the chief referee's platform, and an electronic voice rang out steadily. "First round of the group matches, begin—now."

"Beep—!"

The instant the whistle sounded, all three opponents moved. The Eagle martial soul student spread his wings and soared into the air, feather blades tearing through the wind. The short support-type girl's fingertips glimmered as enhancement halos precisely enveloped her teammates. The third was a heavily armored defense-type student, roaring as he charged forward, his steps cracking the floor beneath him.

Without time to think, Xie Xie shot forward with the Light Dragon Dagger, his body flickering as he prepared to meet them head-on—but just as he started, a dark-red afterimage streaked past his side with a whoosh. The gust it kicked up even flipped his bangs.

Yun Ying moved.

She did not take any conventional route. With a kick off the arena railing, she shot out like a stone from a slingshot. Before her spear could thrust, she swept its shaft sideways, forcing back the airborne Eagle martial soul student. Her landing point was slightly to the left in front of Xie Xie and Tang Wulin, perfectly blocking the heavy armor student's charging path. Planting her spear for leverage, she spun half a circle, and dark-red spear light flashed as she forcibly halted the armored student's momentum for half a second.

Xie Xie had already extended his daggers, but Yun Ying had overtaken him right before his eyes. Unable to stop himself in time, he nearly crashed into her spear shaft. He slid sideways two steps in embarrassment and nearly cursed aloud. "You—! Who told you to charge in like that?! What about coordination?! What about formation?!"

Yun Ying flicked away a feather blade with her spear tip without turning her head. "Formation? You didn't mention any formation when you were standing in front posing. Can't I find my own angle?" Her tone was casual, as if she were reprimanding Xie Xie for being too rigid. "Why do you care whether I come from the front or back? As long as I can hit them, isn't that enough?"

Xie Xie nearly had a heart attack.

Taking the chance, the Eagle martial soul student pulled away and hurled out three waves of feather-blade storms from the air. He sneered, "Infighting already? Is this all the third group's teamwork amounts to?"

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

Xie Xie's ears turned red, half from anger and half from embarrassment. When had he, Xie Xie, ever been this humiliated on an arena stage? Yet Yun Ying's spear flowed as smoothly as clouds and water. She had not followed his envisioned setup of "agility attacker as primary assault, power attacker in support, support in the rear," but she was holding down two and a half opponents by herself. Tang Wulin was still slowly raising his hand in the center, faint golden scales glimmering as the power of his blood surged like a deep current beneath a calm sea—when the heavily armored student slammed into Tang Wulin's casually extended palm, he was actually sent stumbling back three steps with a thud, his face going pale.

Xie Xie stared stupidly.

These two... one fighting chaotically, the other 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 his body finally found its rhythm again. No longer caring where Yun Ying went, he cut into the Eagle martial soul student's exposed flank. Yet he could not shake the uncomfortable feeling in his chest: when Yun Ying had darted out, her eyes had not looked at him, nor had she considered any tactics. Her gaze had passed over his shoulder and settled on Tang Wulin, who was standing foolishly in the center, as though she were saying, I'll clear the trouble for you first. You take it from there.

Clearing the field for Tang Wulin?

Xie Xie felt like his lungs were about to explode. He was the vanguard! He was the one supposed to show off his skills! Yet now Yun Ying had stolen his spotlight, Tang Wulin had reaped the benefits, and he looked like a supporting character forcibly shoved into the script—an extremely exasperated one at that.

Xie Xie shouted angrily, his daggers creating a dense curtain of afterimages as he forcibly dragged the Eagle martial soul student from the air. But he used too much force, landing half a foot off target. Yun Ying's spear swept right over his head, and the wind from it made his scalp tingle. She withdrew her spear and glanced back at him. "Why are you cutting over here? I'm not going to cover for you."

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

On the arena, the battle had already veered in a direction Xie Xie could no longer control.

Yun Ying knocked back the heavily armored student with a spear strike, then spun with the motion and slammed the butt of her spear into the ground. Using the rebound, she leaped directly over Tang Wulin's head—yes, straight over Tang Wulin's head. Tang Wulin instinctively ducked, not even having time to retract his Blue Silver Grass. Yun Ying's shoe nearly brushed his hair. Twisting her waist in midair, she brought down a crescent arc of dark-red spear light, forcing the Eagle martial soul student to retreat again and again as a section of feathers was sliced from his wings.

"Tang Wulin!" Yun Ying called from the air. "Three steps forward to your left. The support girl is yours. Don't let her keep putting up shields!"

Tang Wulin gave an "oh" and actually took three steps forward to the left. Raising his hand, he threw a punch, the power of his blood taking the shape of a dragon phantom. The enhancement staff the support girl had just raised was blasted from her hands with a crack by the shockwave, and she fell onto the ground, her eyes filled with terror.

Xie Xie: "..."

He stood there, his daggers still held in the pose of retracting his attack. The wind whipped his clothes about as he seemed nailed into a painting. Yun Ying's spear struck like a dragon ahead of him, while Tang Wulin's single punch settled everything behind her. What was he, Xie Xie, doing in the middle? Being a relief carving in the background?

"Xie Xie!" Yun Ying landed, sweeping her spear shaft across to block the heavily armored student's shield bash. 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 he moved on instinct anyway—the Light Dragon Dagger touched the ground while the Shadow Dragon Dagger slashed at the armored student's ankle. Yet the moment he moved, Yun Ying's spear tip had already struck first. The armored student was forced backward by the spear's pressure, and Xie Xie's dagger stabbed empty air. He nearly toppled forward. Yun Ying clicked her tongue. "Too slow. Half a beat 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 heavily armored student off the edge of the arena with one spear strike, then turned and pointed her dark-red spear at the Eagle martial soul student. "Tang Wulin, cut off his retreat."

Tang Wulin raised a hand. The Eagle martial soul student slammed into an invisible wall, his wings stalling. Yun Ying flashed forward, striking his lower back with the spear shaft and cleanly knocking him off the stage.

All three opponents were defeated.

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

The arena fell silent for a moment. The three opponents climbed back up, their expressions somewhere between "I have no idea how we lost" and "that girl was terrifying." The audience erupted—most of them were laughing at Xie Xie's dazed expression, as if he had stepped onto a fake arena.

The referee announced the third group's victory.

Xie Xie stood at the center of the stage 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 remarked, "Your positioning is too rigid. Don't stand all the way in front next time. You'll get focused down easily." Then her gaze went past him toward Tang Wulin, her eyes bright. "That punch just now 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, raised his head toward the ceiling lights, and felt as if they were mocking him.

Forty seconds. He, Xie Xie, main attacker with twin daggers, had contributed less than thirty percent of the actual damage. Yun Ying had taken seventy percent of the spotlight, while Tang Wulin had made one punch and one push. He had been like a host making a guest appearance.

Even more terrifying was that before Yun Ying stepped down, she patted his shoulder and said naturally, "Xie Xie, your speed is pretty good. You're just too hung up on formations. Next time, run wherever you want. I'll fill in."

That pat on Xie Xie's shoulder felt like a stamp being pressed on him. He abruptly strode off the stage, his back radiating, "My heart is dead."

Tang Wulin caught up 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 over attention?!" Xie Xie stopped abruptly and turned around. His eyes were a little red—not from crying, but from anger. "Boss, do you understand? From beginning to end—she only had eyes for you! She told you to stop people, told you to cover positions, told you to teach her! What about me? All she said to me was, 'You were too slow,' 'You went crooked,' and 'Your positioning is rigid'! In her eyes, I, Xie Xie, am just... just some dagger accessory set to follow automatically!"

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

"That was because she ignored me first!" Xie Xie practically roared, his voice echoing through the corridor. He paused, suddenly remembering something, and his face darkened further. "And we got grouped together in the first round. What if we're still together in rounds two and three... Am I going to spend my entire life on the arena as her background?"

Yun Ying's cool voice drifted from behind them. "You're overthinking it. We might not be grouped together next round. But if you want to team up with me to 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 dragged along by someone else's rhythm."

Xie Xie collapsed into a chair in the lounge and slapped his daggers onto the table. "Review my ass. Right now, I just want to know how heavy that spear of hers is. Next time, I'll tie it to her hands so she has to carry it and stay still while I fight."

Yun Ying sat across from him with a cup of water, one leg crossed over the other, her spear leaning against the wall. "It's light. Thirty-seven jin. If you can't carry it, just say so."

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

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

Xie Xie clutched his chest and solemnly declared, "From today onward, I, Xie Xie, am irreconcilable with the 'third group.'"

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

Meanwhile, on the other side of the big screen, the group match standings had already updated. The third group had taken its first win, and Yun Ying's individual performance score had soared to the highest of the round. Xie Xie stared at that line, the sourness in his heart surging up more fiercely than the water he had sprayed out earlier.