Yun Ying, Zhu Bajie, Sun Quan, and Zhong Kui charged menacingly toward the enemy's mid-lane high-ground tower. They had only one goal now: raze the crystal!
Citong's Lady Sun had an enhanced basic attack prepared in advance. He stepped out from under the tower and used a second-skill, first-skill combo to whittle them down. With five items boosting him, his explosive damage was more than even the tanky Zhu Bajie and Zhong Kui could comfortably take.
"Trash belongs in the trash can!"
Before his team's minion wave entered the tower's range, Zhong Kui, at half health, led the charge with his second skill and Flash, aiming his hook straight at Citong's Lady Sun.
Citong deftly changed direction to dodge the hook, then rolled into a second-skill, first-skill, ultimate combo. Combined with the tower's damage, it killed Zhong Kui!
But the danger was far from over.
Zhu Bajie, Yun Ying, and Sun Quan dove under the tower. Zhu Bajie used his ultimate to raise a wall, cutting off Citong's Lady Sun's retreat. Yun Ying ignited the tip of the Fireplume Spear and followed up with her ultimate, Star Chaser, dashing in to keep him controlled.
Sun Quan unleashed an area-of-effect rain of swords with his first skill, drew his bow with his second, and unlocked his ultimate. Waving his battle flag, he slashed at Citong's Lady Sun.
Under the three players' chain of crowd control and damage, Citong's Lady Sun lasted less than two seconds before his health fell to a sliver.
At the very last moment, Citong sold Daybreaker and instantly swapped in a resurrection armor. His health bar emptied and he fell, only to rise again 1.5 seconds later!
At lightning speed, he used his first skill to roll backward with his cannon on his shoulder. The passive speed boost allowed Citong's Lady Sun to put distance between himself and Yun Ying's group.
"This spectacular doomsday blockbuster stars yours truly!"
Citong's Lady Sun locked onto the squishy Sun Quan. With a second-skill, first-skill combo followed by an enhanced basic attack, he instantly killed Sun Quan despite his large chunk of health!
But it wasn't over yet!
Zhu Bajie, who had been tanking the tower, had only a sliver of health left. Citong's Lady Sun fired his ultimate, sending a shell across an immense distance to finish Zhu Bajie!
"Fireplume Spear's ultimate form-Hundred Scorching Strikes!"
At half health, Yun Ying built up three stacks of spear intent and leaped into the air with the Fireplume Spear, smashing down with a Hundred Scorching Strikes that scorched and split the earth.
"I am the only faith you'll find among the ruins!"
Citong quickly sold his resurrection armor and Infinity Edge, instantly swapping in Destiny. The moment the flames swallowed him, Destiny shattered, granting him 0.5 seconds of invincibility.
He used his first skill to turn back toward her, then tossed a red lotus bomb with his second. Normally, the combo could have instantly killed Yun Ying, but Shadow Battle Axe was the only damage item left in his equipment slots, and the damage simply wasn't enough!
Yun Ying, left at low health, was startled. She hurriedly used a first-skill, second-skill combo to build two stacks of spear intent, then thrust the Fireplume Spear at Citong's Lady Sun.
Driven to the brink, Citong unleashed a burst of hand speed, clearing the rest of his equipment slots in a second and buying the mage's golden-body item!
Ding!
He narrowly avoided the damage from Yun Ying's thrust.
"Full firepower!" As soon as the golden-body effect ended, Citong's Lady Sun, down to a sliver of health, rolled and fired an enhanced basic attack to finish Yun Ying.
The rift's electrifying announcement rang out.
"Double kill!"
"Triple kill!"
"Quadra kill!"
The battle-damaged Doomsday Mecha Lady Sun stood firm against the howling wind, corpses piled around his feet.
Shocked comments swept across Citong's livestream!
"Holy crap! Quadra kill! God Tong pulled off another legendary base defense, took on four at the absolute limit, and bagged four kills!"
"Oh my god, God Tong's teammates had all given up and said there was no saving the game, but Citong actually turned the whole situation around! That's the strongest Farm Lane King, Citong!"
"He carried so hard! Citong's back in his prime!"
Grandpa Ge was utterly astonished. Looking at Citong beside him, panting and sweating, he wore an expression of disbelief. Leaving the opponents' skill aside, that four-kill base defense was as impressive as it could possibly be.
Even if they called in Yinuo, the current number-one marksman in the KPL, he probably couldn't have pulled off a play as close to the limit as Citong had!
Maoshen was even more dumbstruck. The intricate plays behind Citong's four-kill base defense were enough to rival those of the KPL's top marksmen today. Was he about to enjoy a second spring?
Citong's heart pounded, and his hands trembled slightly around his phone. Without a doubt, he had found his old self again!
"Still, it can't change the outcome of this defeat."
In the game, a teleport beam lit up, and Exalted Emperor's Diaochan descended upon the crystal base on Citong's side. She danced with her second skill, flinging a petal projectile that killed Citong's Lady Sun, then pushed the crystal with the sole cannon minion.
At 9 minutes and 30 seconds, the crystal on Citong's side exploded, and the game screen froze.
"Defeat!"
Citong sighed deeply. After finally returning to his prime, he had ended up losing. He truly couldn't accept it.
"That kid Exalted Emperor will probably invite me just to roast me."
Citong returned to the post-game results screen, where his gaze fell on Exalted Emperor's Diaochan: 14/0/0, a 13.2 rating, and gold-medal MVP.
By contrast, even with his four-kill base defense at the end, Citong had only a measly 7.2 rating and losing-side MVP, with no medal at all.
Citong waited quietly for an invitation from Exalted Emperor, but he waited and waited, and what he got instead was-
"A worthy opponent!"
The like icon from Exalted Emperor's Diaochan lit up.
"Huh?"
Citong froze. This wasn't how the script was supposed to go. According to AG's recruitment manager [Pei Qian], Exalted Emperor was a brash, overbearing young punk.
Having completely defeated the Farm Lane King, Exalted Emperor should have seized the chance to ridicule and mock him mercilessly.
But instead of mocking him, Exalted Emperor had shown one hero's appreciation for another, giving him a like as a worthy opponent.
That inevitably left Citong with doubts.
As the saying went, hearing could be false, but seeing was believing. Had Pei Qian exaggerated, or had he made things up to deliberately smear Exalted Emperor?
Citong ended his livestream and looked at Maoshen. "Mao, there's something I need to tell you," he said seriously.
"What is it?" Maoshen asked, puzzled.
Citong said in a low voice, "During the day, your AG recruitment manager, Pei Qian, offered me a hundred-thousand-yuan contract and asked me to snipe Exalted Emperor in the Peak Tournament."
Maoshen's eyes widened. "He did that?"
"I've got the complete chat history right here." Citong opened QQ, scrolled to his conversation with Pei Qian, and handed it to Maoshen.
Maoshen hurriedly read through it, his face gradually darkening.
"That bastard!"
What Maoshen saw was truly shocking. In the chat, Pei Qian had not only hoped Citong would snipe Exalted Emperor in the Peak Tournament, but had even set his sights on the amateur team [Tiger Roars in the Mountain Forest].
He wanted Citong to use his team connections to find some of Tiger Roars in the Mountain Forest's expert solo-queue kings and have them team up to snipe Exalted Emperor in the Peak Tournament!
"Is Pei Qian trying to destroy AG?"
Maoshen flew into a rage and hurled the phone straight to the floor. Sniping Exalted Emperor was no less serious than the Wolves fixing a match. Once word reached the internet, the reputation AG had built over the years would vanish in an instant.
"Damn! That's my phone!" Citong's heart bled, but he also understood that his friend Maoshen was furious.
"So what exactly happened inside your AG team?" Citong picked up his phone and blew on it, feeling it might still be salvageable.
"I don't know the details either."
Maoshen could barely conceal the anger on his face. "Grandpa Ge, help me book a flight to Chengdu right now. The earliest one."
"Okay." Grandpa Ge began booking the ticket.
"When I get back, I'm going to skin Pei Qian alive!"