Chapter 1630: Grab That Healer
Cloud Wind Body was a skill that buffed the user's senses. It gave the user greater control over qi and allowed the user to sense their targets with qi. Boundless Sea's sudden acceleration wasn't a result of Cloud Wind Body, but rather a different skill: Qi Flowing Cloud.
Qi Flowing Cloud increased the Qi Master's speed in every way: movement speed, attack speed, cast time, and so on. Fang Rui's Boundless Sea had two buffs stacked on top of each other, Cloud Wind Body and Qi Flowing Cloud. As a result, he sped up and had greater control over his increased speed. He just barely brushed past Chaotic Cloudy Mountain's fingertips, narrowly escaping from the danger. However, with this dodge, Chaotic Cloudy Mountain was instantly left behind him.
Lu Boyuan knew that this spelled trouble. By the time Chaotic Cloudy Mountain turned around, Boundless Sea was already two body lengths away from him.
Two body lengths...
This distance was painful to Lu Boyuan. Of the 24 classes, not including the two healers and the solely long-ranged attackers like Launchers, every other class posed a threat at this distance, including Strikers and Brawlers. All of them had skills that could cover this distance. The only exceptions were Grappler.
And now, Boundless Sea just had to be two body lengths away from him. With his currently buffed movements, Fang Rui had done this on purpose. He was putting himself on the edge of danger in order to be as efficient as possible. From start to finish, he had never regarded Lu Boyuan's Chaotic Cloudy Mountain as his opponent, but rather as an obstacle. Everything he had done was to get past this obstacle in the most efficient way possible. His true target was Laughing Song.
It was as if Fang Rui had simply sprinted in a straight line. Fang Minghua hadn't expected that Fang Rui would be able to get past his protector, Lu Boyuan, so easily as if he were a ghost. Just like this, Boundless Sea made his way behind him.
It was too late for Fang Minghua to think of a way to block him. Boundless Sea raised his hand and grabbed towards him, Fling!
Laughing Song was thrown backwards. Lu Boyuan's Chaotic Cloudy Mountain rushed back, but Boundless Sea rolled away, avoiding Chaotic Cloudy Mountain's clutches. Boundless Sea got up and sprinted towards Laughing Song.
Cloud Grasping Fist!
Lu Boyuan knew that in terms of speed, he couldn't match the buffed Boundless Sea. Step by step, he fell behind. He might as well use the skill that he added to his weapon today in an attempt to pull Boundless Sea towards him.
But Fang Rui was truly cunning. He had clearly been running towards Laughing Song, but midway through, he suddenly rolled. As he rolled, there would be an instant, where he would be able to see behind him. In that instant, Lu Boyuan noticed the flow of qi in the air.
Qi Blade!
It was too late for regrets. Lu Boyuan should have activated Reinforced Iron Bones before using Cloud Grasping Fist. He hadn't thought about it meticulously enough, and had been fooled by Fang Rui.
The Qi Blade flew towards him. Cloud Grasping Fist would definitely be interrupted. Lu Boyuan could only cancel the skill and then dodge it. With no other options, he could only chase after Fang Rui.
In just a few steps, Boundless Sea would reach Laughing Song, who had rolled and was getting up. Fang Minghua wasn't some nobody. Previously, he had been caught off guard because he didn't think Fang Rui would be able to get past Lu Boyuan so quickly. This time, he was prepared. When Laughing Song got up, a bright light shone from his cross, Angel's Protection. The light spread out in a circle.
Angel's Might, a 360 degree halo of light that forced the target back, ignoring Super Armor. This Paladin skill was the skill that Fang Minghua had chosen to put on his weapon.
Once the skill animation came out, there was no chance of dodging or resisting it. Shields could counteract numerous skill effects, but the knockback from Angel's Might was an exception.
Boundless Sea could do nothing against it. With how close of a distance they were at, everyone didn't even think Fang Rui could react to it. However, the moment the Angel's Might touched him, he quickly pushed forward with his palms.
Cloud Pushing Palm!
It was a low-level skill that dealt little damage, but it could pass through space to strike the target and had a knockback effect. The knockback effect was inversely proportional to the distance. The closer you were, the stronger the knockback.
When Boundless Sea used Cloud Pushing Palm, Angel's Might swept over him, forcing him back. The Cloud Pushing Palm had worked. As the light spread out from Laughing Song's Angel's Might, his body slid back.
The knockback from Angel's Might was far stronger than that of Cloud Pushing Palm. However, Laughing Song's Angel's Might was only level one, so it didn't push him too far. The bigger problem was that behind Boundless Sea was Chaotic Cloudy Mountain. If he was grabbed, even if it was just once, then there was no hope in him pinning down Laughing Song any longer.
Even the average viewer knew it, let alone the players on stage.
The moment Angel's Might came out, Lu Boyuan immediately prepared himself, staring intently at Boundless Sea. As Boundless Sea was pushed back, he sunk down. He was planning on putting out a dirty stance, so he could dodge the moment he could move again.
Chaotic Cloudy Mountain sprinted over, lowering his center of gravity as well. But to his surprise, Boundless Sea kept sinking down. His two hands were about to touch the ground... was he planning on running on all fours?
Just when this thought flashed by Lu Boyuan's head, Boundless Sea's two hands really did hit the ground. But Boundless Sea was already within his reach. The Angel's Might was still pushing him back. It was too late to dodge, no?
Fling!
Lu Boyuan didn't use any high-level skills. He simply planned on using this low-level grab skill to throw Boundless Sea far away from Laughing Song, and the problem would be solved. Chaotic Cloudy Mountain's grabbed towards him, but the distance between him and Boundless Sea was getting farther and farther.
Boundless Sea was getting lower and lower. How could he be getting farther and farther? Fang Rui dodging downwards had been within Lu Boyuan's calculations. Right now, it wasn't just that Boundless Sea was dropping lower and lower. Chaotic Cloudy Mountain was rising higher and higher...
Chaotic Cloudy Mountain was airborne.
Boundless Sea pressed his hands on the ground, not so that he could crawl away on his four limbs, but to use the Qi Master skill: Landmine Quake!
It was an offensive skill, but the way Fang Rui did it made everyone forget that it was one. They thought he was pretending to be some sort of stupid brute. Nevertheless, in the end, he was able to get off a sneak attack.
The viewers didn't know what to say.
Those who hadn't realized that it was a Landmine Quake were angrily cursing at Fang Rui's despicableness. Those who had somehow realiazed it were cursing at Lu Boyuan for being so stupid.
In any case, Lu Boyuan had been fooled. Chaotic Cloudy Mountain shot into the air. This was the key part. Boundless Sea went into a roll, and using the knockback from Angel's Might, he rolled right under Chaotic Cloudy Mountain.
By the time he got up, Angel's Might had ended. Boundless Sea pushed out with his palms, shooting a Sky-Piercing Strike at the airborne Chaotic Cloudy Mountain.
Lu Boyuan's Chaotic Cloudy Mountain had failed to grab Fang Rui's Boundless Sea. On the contrary, his Chaotic Cloudy Mountain was blasted away by Boundless Sea.
Amazing!
Fang Rui was performing brilliantly. However, this was Samsara's home stadium. His spectacular play only received a bit of applause. Most of the viewers were anxious. If Fang Minghua and Lu Boyuan were stalled here, it would have a huge impact on the fight going on in the trash room.
Even the broadcast had given up on showing the intense fight between the championship duo and the Best Partners. The chase between Sun Xiang's One Autumn Life and An Wenyi's One Autumn Leaf wasn't given much attention either because Little Cold Hands had found a helper: Qiao Yifan and his One Inch Ash. Happy was trying to connect the two ongoing battles in the trash room to make it a 4v3. Because of this, Fang Rui's 1v2 against Fang Minghua and Lu Boyuan became the turning point.
This... was another Star Tactic?
Previously, Happy had relied on Ye Xiu's 1v3 to seize the upper hand. This time, it was through Fang Rui's 1v2.
1v2 and 1v3, it sounded like the 1v3 was more impressive, but the two situations were entirely different.
Ye Xiu had done a 1v3, but he didn't need need to control the battle. His only objective was to survive under the combined assault from Samsara's three players. A 1v3 was a large enough advantage that it was enough to attract all of his opponents' attention.
On the other hand, for Fang Rui's 1v2, he needed to be the one with the initiative. He needed to completely shut down Fang Minghua's Laughing Song and prevent him from leaving. He was facing one fewer player, but his task wasn't any easier than Ye Xiu's 1v3. When people saw this battle, they weren't thinking about whether or not Fang Rui could keep Fang Minghua here, but rather for how long.
The pro players were already placing bets from ten seconds to a minute. People were constantly yelling out their bets, and money kept being passed around.
Ten seconds, fifteen seconds, twenty seconds, twenty-five seconds, thirty seconds...
Bet after bet was lost. At first, placing down the bets was just for a bit of fun, but after thirty seconds, all the fun was lost. No one could pay attention to it anymore.
They were completely absorbed by Fang Rui's playing.
Lu Boyuan wasn't some nobody, and neither was Fang Minghua. Both of them were experienced and skilled players. They had been on the same team for many years as well, so they had built up quite the synergy. However, they weren't able to escape from Fang Rui's Boundless Sea. They weren't even able to get one of them to leave.
This...
The pro players were used to placing themselves in the shoes of the players on stage. They could only throw aside their amusement and watch in awe at Fang Rui's performance.