Chapter 148 – Summit Showdown (Part 1)

Hearts are separated by layers of flesh—such were the tangled thoughts running through the minds of MadB Squad’s three members as the current PvP map gradually came into view.

Strangely enough, the three teammates had spawned together, with no one else in sight for miles around. They quickly found a secluded corner to huddle up and whisper.

[Local] Mad Lad: He hasn’t said a word since the match list came out.

[Local] 2B Fighter Jet: Even if they’re not close, they’re from the same server. Normally, he’d be yapping nonstop by now.

[Local] Everything Breaks: Probably whispering privately.

[Local] Mad Lad: If he suddenly comes over and says he wants to throw this match, what do we do?

[Local] Everything Breaks: Slap him.

[Local] 2B Fighter Jet: …Hell yeah!

As the saying goes, secrets breed suspicion, and honesty needs no secrecy. As the team leader and the one who brought this up, Mad Lad was feeling a little guilty. So when Passing Master suddenly sent him a whisper, he nearly jumped—

[Whisper] Passing Master: Leader, why did you guys suddenly stop talking?

After much deliberation, Mad Lad carefully replied—

[Whisper] Mad Lad: Kid, it’s a sensitive time right now.

[Whisper] Passing Master: What do you mean?

[Whisper] Mad Lad: Figure it out yourself.

[Whisper] Passing Master: Because the opponents are No Birds Over a Thousand Mountains’ friends?

[Whisper] Mad Lad: Could you not figure it out so quickly? =_=

[Whisper] Passing Master: Well, I spawned near them and saw them chatting.

[Whisper] Mad Lad: Spawned near them? They didn’t attack you?

[Whisper] Passing Master: I spawned inside a tree hollow. They didn’t see me. I didn’t even notice them at first, but they started talking in local chat, so I saw them.

[Whisper] Mad Lad: They didn’t PvP? What were they saying?

[Whisper] Passing Master: No PvP. Just stuff like “How have you been?” “I’ve been good.” “Take care of yourself playing solo.” “I’ll visit you when I have time.” That kind of thing.

Mad Lad fell into deep thought.

Judging by the conversation, No Birds Over a Thousand Mountains and the other guy weren’t just ordinary friends… This was definitely an ex-boyfriend!!!

After relaying Passing Master’s words to Everything Breaks and Fighter Jet, the two teammates were equally speechless. 2B even let out a despairing cry: “Then what’s the point of fighting?!” In the end, Everything Breaks, ever unflappable, insisted on seeing the full conversation between No Birds Over a Thousand Mountains and the other guy—if they were going to die, they’d die with clarity.

As a top-tier healer, Passing Master had the typing speed to match his healing prowess. In the blink of an eye, the conversation was copied word-for-word into the team’s private chat, shared equally among the three. And thus, the three teammates finally witnessed the legendary reunion between No Birds Over a Thousand Mountains and his ex in its full glory—

[Local] Meteor Butterfly Bastard: How’ve you been lately?

[Local] No Birds Over a Thousand Mountains: Pretty good.

[Local] Meteor Butterfly Bastard: If you’re so good, why aren’t you at the Flagship?

[Local] No Birds Over a Thousand Mountains: I’m not high-level enough.

[Local] Meteor Butterfly Bastard: Come on, Holy Light Sanctuary’s top DPS Healer. If you really wanted to go, Boss Yao would make you a Commander or Deputy in seconds. That’s nothing. I’m the one who’s not high-level enough—can’t even touch the hem of leadership’s robes. [Sigh]

[Local] No Birds Over a Thousand Mountains: I’ll let you touch mine.

[Local] Meteor Butterfly Bastard: Piss off. =_=

[Local] No Birds Over a Thousand Mountains: Fine, I’m just being considerate of leadership. If I really went, I’d steal Yao Yao’s spotlight, and he’d be pissed, right?

[Local] Meteor Butterfly Bastard: So you’re just taking a temporary break?

[Local] No Birds Over a Thousand Mountains: You got it backwards—I was temporarily returning to the team~

[Local] Meteor Butterfly Bastard: Well, take care of yourself playing solo. Don’t come back missing limbs or something and get rejected by our Boss Yao.

[Local] No Birds Over a Thousand Mountains: Even if I’m just a head, he’d still love me the same ╮(╯_╰)╭

[Local] Meteor Butterfly Bastard: He loves your ability to cut through iron like butter.

[Local] No Birds Over a Thousand Mountains: Personally, I think you can be less subtle when complimenting me. Go ahead and use plain language! Come on, praise my Combat Power! Praise my sharpness!

[Local] Meteor Butterfly Bastard: After you die in battle, I’ll make time to visit you at the Mass Grave.

After reading the chat log, the three teammates silently closed the transcript, deeply shaken.

Everything Breaks let go of his mouse, picked up the grip trainer beside him, and started squeezing—once, twice, thrice…

2B looked up at the pitch-black sky outside his window, searching for the brightest star in the night sky…

Mad Lad tried to light a cigarette, but his trembling hands couldn’t steady the flame. Giving up, he started typing with shaky fingers—

[Whisper] Mad Lad: I read the chat log. Seems like there was a little more to it than your summary.

[Whisper] Passing Master: Yeah, they said a lot of nonsense, so I just summarized the important parts.

[Whisper] Mad Lad: …

[Whisper] Passing Master: Uh, was my summary inaccurate? >_<

[Whisper] Mad Lad: No, it was accurate.

It’s just that all the key points and highlights of this conversation came at you like a storm of Pear Blossom Rain needles—and you somehow dodged every single one!

Before the ten thousand alpacas galloping across the Gobi Desert in his heart could finish their stampede, Passing Master sent a new battlefield update—

[Whisper] Passing Master: Ah! No Birds just flew down!!

Jiang Yang was stunned and quickly asked—

[Whisper] Mad Lad: Flew down? Did they start fighting? Weren’t they just chatting?

[Whisper] Passing Master: No Birds only seems close to one of them. The other four kept trying to attack, but No Birds spawned in a tree, and they couldn’t reach him from the ground. Then suddenly, he glided down!

[Whisper] Passing Master: One versus five! I should go help!

[Whisper] Mad Lad: DON’T MOVE!!!!!!!!!

[Whisper] Mad Lad: HEALER, STAY PUT!!!!!!!

[Whisper] Passing Master: Huh? Why? He’s gonna die!!

[Whisper] Mad Lad: Trust your leader.

[Whisper] Passing Master: …

If Passing Master rushed out now, No Birds would definitely wonder how long he’d been there, what he’d been observing. Given Passing Master’s IQ, Mad Lad doubted he could come up with a convincing explanation—and given No Birds’ IQ, Mad Lad had every reason to believe he’d piece things together. Though they were only temporarily teamed up with No Birds—barely even friends—they were at least acquaintances, and they’d probably have to team up for a few more matches. A falling-out wouldn’t be pretty. Besides, Mad Lad sighed—he had a feeling No Birds wouldn’t appreciate interference, or even just someone witnessing the whole thing…

No Birds’ HP and MP bars in the party interface plummeted like a treadmill, soon bottoming out as his name turned gray. At the same time, the long-silent YY finally heard its first words—grand, righteous, and earth-shaking:

“I’ve fallen, but I’ve taken their healer with me! Follow the path I’ve stained with my blood, and march toward the gates of a new life!”

Mad Lad massaged his temples, silently repeating to himself Jiang Yang, you have to act natural a hundred times: “Did you run into their healer in a narrow alley?”

No Birds: “No, I ran into their entire team in a narrow alley. After a fierce three-hundred-round battle, I finally took out their soul—the healer—in my dying moments.”

Mad Lad: “So all that time you weren’t talking, you were fighting?”

No Birds: “Yes, the battle was intense. I used precise positioning and godly mechanics to hold them off for a long time. Sadly, I only managed to take out the healer. I feel a little ashamed.”

Mad Lad: “Holding off five people for over ten minutes—truly worthy of the title ‘God of War.'”

No Birds: “These are just empty titles… But if you happen to pass by my corpse later, do me a favor and take a screenshot before reviving me—to commemorate this brutal battle and my youth, gone with the wind~~ This angle looking up isn’t flattering for screenshots.”

[Whisper] Passing Master: Leader, he spent ten of those minutes in a tree.

[Whisper] Mad Lad: I know.

[Whisper] Mad Lad: Stay hidden where you are. Send me your coords—we’ll come regroup with you.

[Whisper] Passing Master: Not reviving him?

[Whisper] Mad Lad: Let him keep gazing upward at the melancholy sunlight at a 90-degree angle.

This PvP battle had a rocky start but a clean finish. Setting aside No Birds’ theatrics, his determination to drag the enemy healer down with him was indeed the key to the squad’s victory. Without their healer, the Butterfly team was like an army cut off from reinforcements—no matter how hard they fought, it was a lost cause.

After steamrolling Fairy Dreamland to reach 560 points, they cleanly dispatched Holy Light Sanctuary’s team to hit 590! The MadB Squad themselves didn’t feel it, but the spectators were losing their minds.

[Spectator] Bellensaire: Eight wins in a row! Eight!

[Spectator] Watchtower: Where did this crazy team come from?!

[Spectator] NanaLovesBeauty: Don’t you know No Birds Over a Thousand Mountains? The guy who’s been topping every server lately!

[Spectator] Blink of an Eye: I know No Birds, but who are the others? And they’re not all from Holy Light Sanctuary.

[Spectator] Monk of Mount Huang: You must be new. The Assassin and Blood Warrior are from Ghost Server, and Everything Breaks is the new Legion Commander of Huaxia Dominion!

[Spectator] Blink of an Eye: Ohhh, I know Huaxia Dominion. Which server is Ghost Server?

[Spectator] Monk of Mount Huang: It’s not a server—it’s a legion. Ghost Server Legion, also from Huaxia Summit.

[Spectator] Love and Hate: A legion you can never forget once you’ve seen them in action…

Unbeknownst to Mad Lad and his team, Ghost Server’s fearsome reputation was undergoing a second wave of fermentation thanks to their efforts—just as they were unaware that during the break after this PvP match, No Birds had a cozy chat in YY with the boss of the Dutch Chamber of Commerce, the “Boss Yao” mentioned by Butterfly—

Don’t Stop the Meds: Heard you’ve been having fun in the Arena.

No Birds Over a Thousand Mountains: I knew I couldn’t trust that bastard Butterfly. Said he couldn’t even touch the hem of your robes, yet look at him, whispering sweet nothings in your ear.

Don’t Stop the Meds: Dutch Souvenir’s here too. Why didn’t you team up with him?

No Birds Over a Thousand Mountains: His skills aren’t quite up to my level yet.

Don’t Stop the Meds: Want the truth? He just doesn’t bother with you. If he got serious, he could wipe the floor with you twice over and still have time for a detour.

No Birds Over a Thousand Mountains: Yao Yao, didn’t your Chinese teacher tell you to leave a proper pause after a question to give the other person time to answer?

No Birds Over a Thousand Mountains: I don’t want the truth!

Don’t Stop the Meds: …

No Birds Over a Thousand Mountains: Fine, I just like PUGs. I like new teammates, new thrills, new scenarios, new poses every day! ~\(^o^)/~

No Birds Over a Thousand Mountains: And you have no idea how hilarious these guys are. Other teams crush their enemies’ bodies—these guys annihilate their souls! HAHAHA!

Don’t Stop the Meds: Whatever, do what you want in this bracket. But when we get to Lover’s Constellation, you better get serious.

No Birds Over a Thousand Mountains: Yao Yao, I don’t care if you want to unify the six kingdoms, but I really don’t want to be a Terracotta Warrior.

Don’t Stop the Meds: Those are for burials!

No Birds Over a Thousand Mountains: ╮(╯_╰)╭

Don’t Stop the Meds: You don’t think I can do it?

No Birds Over a Thousand Mountains: It’s not about whether you can. It’s about whether it’s meaningful. If all the other players quit, and the entire Huaxia is just your lackeys, what’s the point?

Don’t Stop the Meds: Then we’ll just switch games.

No Birds Over a Thousand Mountains: Pfft.

Don’t Stop the Meds: You really don’t think I can unify them, do you?

In the past, No Birds would never have dared say such a thing. He knew Don’t Stop the Meds’ personal skill all too well—they’d leveled alts together. More importantly, the man had ambition and determination that surpassed even his in-game prowess. Holy Light Sanctuary had gone from obscurity to prominence step by step, every move following his plan without a single misstep.

But now, after encountering all sorts of oddballs from various servers through the tunnel, No Birds truly understood the vastness and unpredictability of Huaxia’s world. It was true that historical turning points were often pushed by a few key individuals—but if Don’t Stop the Meds could be one of them, so could others. And where things would end up? Who the hell knew.

After Holy Light Sanctuary, MadB Squad faced three more opponents in quick succession—first Return of the King, then two PUGs. They cut through them like a hot knife through butter. Some were simply outmatched, having somehow stumbled into this score bracket by accident. Others had terrible luck—four teammates spawned together, but their healer spawned right in MadB’s crosshairs. Then there were the genuine PvP battles where they simply weren’t MadB’s match. In short, the five teammates fought so quickly and their win streak so unstoppable that it left spectators in awe. Not only did they shoot into the top three of the Win Streak Leaderboard, but their audience grew from a trickling stream to a roaring ocean—and showed signs of swelling into a tsunami!

At 7:00 AM Beijing time, the MadB Squad, now averaging 680 points, faced the crucial match that would determine whether they breached the 700-point threshold—Illusory Peach Blossom Spring!

If they could borrow the Deputy’s Spectator Mode right now, they’d see that even the audience for Alps and the First Legion’s battlefield paled in comparison! After all, the First Legion had been the undisputed top of the Sky Arena leaderboard since its inception. But MadB Squad was the dark horse that had stormed onto the scene in the dead of night! In just a few hours, they’d won eleven straight matches and rocketed to third place! This near-impossible feat ignited the passion of players grinding in the Arena, all clamoring to catch a glimpse of this miraculous squad!

Mad Lad: “Anyone else notice the audience keeps getting bigger…”

No Birds: “The fastest-rising dark horse on the Win Streak Leaderboard. Hard to stay low-key.”

2B: “Some fan just whispered me! HAHAHA!”

Passing Master: “I’ve never been watched like this before! So nervous, what do I do?!”

Everything Breaks: “Wash your face. Cold water.”

Passing Master: “Thanks, Brother Breaks. I’m calm now…”

Illusory Peach Blossom Spring hadn’t expected such a massive audience for this match. When they saw their opponents, their hearts sank—they’d run into the dark horse. With an average score of 680, Illusory Peach Blossom Spring was no pushover, but perhaps luck truly was a factor. Against opponents riding a tidal wave of momentum, their healer disconnected just two minutes into the battle. No one knew why—their phone was off, QQ was grayed out, completely unreachable.

Illusory Peach Blossom Spring was devastated, and the audience erupted.

[Spectator] Ice Porcelain: Are they throwing the match?

[Spectator] Savage Wanderer: Doubt it. Probably a real disconnect.

[Spectator] Durian Noodles: No wonder they’re the dark horse—even their luck is insane. Damn, did the whole team eat a bag of “Wang Wang” snacks before this?!

Players couldn’t see the audience’s chatter, but the audience could see player messages—especially when a certain squad used a Megaphone for maximum visibility—

[Megaphone] Mad Lad: Reliable intel confirms the opposing healer won’t be back anytime soon. In the spirit of “friendship first, competition second,” and to uphold the principles of sportsmanship, our squad will voluntarily bench one healer. We are confident we can achieve true victory in a fair 4v4 battle!

The announcement silenced the crowd.

But their hearts were racing.

This was competitive spirit! This was the magnanimity of champions! A true team of kings, men of passion!

Of course, a few skeptics remained. Sure, Passing Master was benched, but No Birds Over a Thousand Mountains was still there. A team with two healers dropping one wasn’t exactly a grand sacrifice. But half a minute later, as No Birds unleashed a dazzling array of attacks, even the doubters underwent a spiritual transformation.

The battle lasted fifteen minutes, ending with No Birds Over a Thousand Mountains standing triumphant, hammer in hand, against the wind.

The audience erupted. Not just because they’d witnessed a fair, intense, and thrilling battle—but because they’d seen the dark horse make history, leaping from third to second place! Twelve consecutive wins! Team average: 710 points!

Forget the Win Streak Leaderboard—even on the Total Score Leaderboard, only six teams had crossed the 700-point threshold. Aside from the First Legion, which had already broken 900, the other five were all between 710 and 770. The 800-point mark was like a chasm, sharply dividing the First Legion from the rest. Though all were on the first page of the leaderboard, it felt like only second place was realistically within reach.

MadB Squad wasn’t fixated on rankings. They were just riding an unbelievable winning streak and wanted to see how far it could go. So even after battling all night, no one complained of exhaustion.

[Ghost Server YY—MadB’s Private Shack]

Passing Master: “Leader, I’m back!”

Mad Lad: “Done with your business? Stomach better?”

Passing Master: “Don’t worry, I guarantee I’ll be in top form next match!”

Mad Lad: “Good. Not every match will have an opponent’s healer disconnecting.”