"Spread out, don't let him deal large-scale damage again. We'll look for a chance to heal up first. Chaos Mage, disrupt Total Darkness, don't let him cast Wave Sword!" Chu Yunxiu shouted in a panic.
Chu Yunxiu controlled Windy Rain and started running. Her position was terrible, and she had to find a better spot to deal damage.
Liu Hao, however, didn't want to let Chu Yunxiu go. After all, it was a rare opportunity. Total Darkness made a sword-raising motion, and upon seeing this, the Exorcist immediately threw out a Fire Talisman, with flames surging towards Total Darkness.
Liu Hao instantly activated Block, which could originally only mitigate 70% of physical damage. But with the Silver Weapon [Mirror Reflection] attribute, it could also block 70% of magic damage, and at the moment of blocking, it instantly reflected a Wave Sword!
Casting Wave Sword typically was slow, making it easy for Windy Rain to escape, but an instant-cast Wave Sword was much more challenging to react to. Moreover, Liu Hao's Evil King's True Eye could foresee all movements!
The Wave Sword hit! Windy Rain was paralysed! Total Darkness immediately followed up with a three-stage slash for the chase.
Sun Liang, seeing this, hurriedly shouted, "Quick, save the captain!"
The martial artist and Exorcist rushed towards Windy Rain, but Chu Yunxiu, seeing this, hurriedly shouted, "Wait, don't save me; spread out first!"
But it was too late. Total Darkness's three-stage slash abruptly stopped—it was just a feint to make the opponents panic and rush back to save Windy Rain. Liu Hao's real goal was to force the three of them to regroup.
Ground Crack Wave Sword!
Released! All three were airborne!
Chu Yunxiu's face turned ashen. "It's over…"
In the next second, a Satellite Beam descended. It turned out that Dancing Rain's support had arrived, delivering another full AoE damage blow.
"Liu Hao, you screwed Ye Qiu over again! And this time, Ye Qiu even followed your orders!" Su Mucheng pouted. She felt sorry for Ye Qiu. When he didn't follow Liu Hao's commands, he was screwed over, and now, even after following Liu Hao's instructions, he still got screwed over...
Liu Hao just smiled and explained, "But we won in the end, didn't we? Why fuss over so much? Besides, Ye Qiu won't blame me. After all, he showed off his Tier 7 Fighter's Will. Tao Xuan will have to think hard if he wants to kick him out."
Upon hearing this, Su Mucheng, unusually, didn't argue back. Although Liu Hao's approach was questionable, this time, he helped Ye Qiu.
Ye Qiu, standing beside them, remained silent, lost in thought.
Finally, the match ended, and Team Excellent Era wiped out Misty Rain. Liu Hao also claimed MVP with a terrifying record of six kills and the highest team damage.
As the match ended, Liu Hao blew a farewell kiss to the camera. The audience didn't understand why Liu Hao made this gesture, but Liu Hao knew that Tao Xuan probably wouldn't allow him to play again.
In the fourth round of the regular season, Excellent Era defeated Windy Rain, achieving a four-match winning streak and ranking first in points. Just as the audience thought the Excellent Era was finally going to rise this year, Tao Xuan suddenly held a press conference.
The press conference announced that player Liu Hao will not be able to participate in the upcoming matches due to illness. He Ming will temporarily replace him in the starting position.
Who is He Ming? He's the one who constantly alternates between being a starter and a substitute. Excellent Era fans immediately panicked. How could He Ming compare to Liu Hao? Why did Liu Hao get sick at such a critical moment?
Fans hurriedly inquired on Excellent Era's official website about what exactly happened. What kind of illness did Liu Hao have that prevented him from playing in the matches?
In response, Excellent Era Club's answer was "no comment."
Liu Hao felt helpless as well. He had signed a contract with Tao Xuan, prohibiting any actions harmful to Excellent Era's interests. As a player, he had to obey the club's arrangements. If the club didn't let him play, he couldn't play. Even Ye Qiu's persuasion was useless.
But Liu Hao wasn't going to sit idly by. Since they claimed he was sick, he would deliberately not cooperate! Liu Hao secretly hired internet trolls to comment on his Weibo post, explaining that he wasn't actually sick and that it was the club's owner, Tao Xuan, who deliberately banned him from playing, trying to shift the fans' anger onto Tao Xuan.
However, Tao Xuan seemed to have anticipated this. Before the fans could get angry, he immediately posted a message on Excellent Era's official website, explaining that after a medical examination, it was concluded that Liu Hao's left hand was injured. To protect his hand and prevent overexertion from ending his career, a hiatus was arranged for Liu Hao. He would be allowed back once his hand healed. The statement even included a forged medical certificate.
Liu Hao couldn't help but laugh at Tao Xuan's move. He then had the internet trolls post messages saying the medical certificate was fake. But to his surprise, the fans no longer believed the trolls' words; they believed Excellent Era's official statement.
Fans began comforting Liu Hao, telling him to focus on recovery and not strain his left hand by wanting to compete. They had already lost Sun Zheping and couldn't bear to lose Liu Hao, too.
Liu Hao suddenly felt touched. After only four matches, he had won the love of so many fans who didn't demand he compete but just wanted him to recover. These were true fans!
Liu Hao suddenly couldn't bear to manipulate these lovely fans' emotions to achieve his goals. He posted a message on his Weibo, thanking the fans for their concern and assuring them that his hand injury wasn't severe and that he would recover soon and return to the arena.
Facing Liu Hao's concession, Tao Xuan finally breathed a sigh of relief. He actually didn't have much conflict with Liu Hao and didn't want to break with him completely, but Excellent Era's development strategy couldn't change. Sun Xiang had to join the Excellent Era, and so Ye Qiu had to go.
Liu Hao's concession was partly due to the fans and partly because he was still part of the Excellent Era and had signed a contract with Tao Xuan. He couldn't offend the boss too much. After all, after a few rounds of rest, Tao Xuan would still let him return to the arena, and when he did, he would fight hard to win the matches.
…
In the following days, Liu Hao either trained and exercised or hung out at Xingxin with Chen Guo. When Sun Zheping received the fake news about Liu Hao's hand injury, he immediately sent a hand injury healing spray.
Liu Hao chuckled helplessly and sent the healing spray back, explaining that his hand was actually delicate and that Excellent Era's news was false.
Upon learning the truth, Sun Zheping was finally relieved. He also informed Liu Hao that in the next season, the ninth season, he and Zhang Jiale would make a comeback at Hundred Blossoms, aiming for the championship trophy.
This news shocked Liu Hao. Was he now responsible for healing Sun Zheping's hand, only to create a strong enemy for himself?
…
Soon, Excellent Era faced their fifth-round opponent, Samsara.
Liu Hao thought Ye Qiu could lead Excellent Era to victory against Samsara, especially since Shen Jian and He Ming were temporarily following Ye Qiu's orders.
But unexpectedly, Shen Jian and He Ming couldn't integrate into Ye Qiu and Su Mucheng's coordination. Excellent Era's synergy was low, and they ultimately lost to Team Samsara, which then took first place on the leaderboard.
Following this, Excellent Era began their losing streak.
Liu Hao glanced at the schedule and couldn't help but cover his face. No wonder Excellent Era's performance in the first half of the eighth season was poor. It turned out to be a devilish schedule.
They consecutively faced Samsara, Tiny Herb, Void, and Thunderclap—four strong teams—resulting in a four-match losing streak.
Then, Excellent Era's morale seemed shattered as they made coordination mistakes and lost to Huangfeng!
Then they lost to Thunderclap again and to Seaside!
Losing to Leiting was somewhat understandable since Xiao Shiqin's strategy was brilliant, successfully targeting and focusing on One Autumn Leaf, securing victory.
However, losing to Team Linhai was purely due to Excellent Era's foolishness. Shen Jian and He Ming were slow to react, allowing Seaside's captain Zhao Yang to seize the opportunity with his Qigong Master Boundless Sea, accurately capturing Excellent Era's priest, Woven Shadows, and executing a successful kill. This eventually led to Excellent Era's demise through a defensive battle.
After Liu Hao's hiatus, Excellent Era inexplicably suffered a seven-match losing streak!
Now, eleven rounds of the Glory Professional League had passed, and it was early December, with the winter transfer window opening.
…
(End of chapter)
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