Chapter Fifty-One: Masters Display Their Skills

Xinran’s first skill failed to pull, so she could only use her second skill to slow down the Elder Master a little, then chased after him with a few basic attacks. But this damage was negligible for the Elder Master; in the end, the three of them could only watch as he swaggered back into the safety of his tower.

“This Haoran’s positioning is truly impressive,” Xinran shook her head and said helplessly.

In this exchange, Liu Chan had already signaled her that his flash was ready. The moment Liu Chan flashed in, Xinran thought he would land the stun and instinctively followed up with her first skill. Who would have guessed the Elder Master would time his movement so perfectly? Had she known, she would have waited a bit longer. If she’d held off until the Elder Master was actually controlled by Liu Chan, her first skill would have chained the crowd control just as effectively, especially since the Elder Master hadn’t built his resistance boots yet.

“Xinran got outplayed again, sigh.”
“Why not invade the jungle after that? I bet their jungler started blue.”
“But that was Haoran! Did you see his trademark recall taunt? If you don’t teach people like that a lesson, how will they ever learn?”
“Next time, wait a bit before using your first skill.”

Xinran’s stream chat was buzzing with discussion. Old viewers remembered Haoran well—there was that one match where Xinran played Guan Yu on her main account, and Haoran had completely crushed and toyed with her.

“It’s fine, I’m going to gank him next time. This match, I’m definitely going to stomp him!” Xinran declared confidently.

If Haoran were playing Ma Chao, she might not have been so sure, given Ma Chao’s mobility and speed. But the Elder Master… Hmph! As long as she paid a bit more attention to the details, pulling him would be all too easy.

The laning phase continued.

Right now, Lin Hao was wondering whether Xi Shi and Liu Chan would double back for a surprise attack. After all, Xi Shi didn’t need to clear mid, and she didn’t prioritize hitting level four as much as utility mages like Zhang Liang. Maybe they wanted him to let his guard down, then show up again as he moved forward to contest Yuan Ge’s lane.

So Lin Hao chose to wait under his tower for the health pack and the minion wave, all the while keeping a close eye on the left side of mid for vision.

When Shangguan Wan’er spotted Liu Chan and Xi Shi appearing top, she immediately took control of mid-left’s vision. Once Liu Chan and Xi Shi finally ambled over, Shangguan Wan’er yielded the vision without engaging, and returned to mid as usual.

Lin Hao breathed a sigh of relief, stepped out from under the tower, and resumed laning against Yuan Ge.

The second wave of minions was about to arrive. Lin Hao took the opportunity to clear the river crab. Yuan Ge came over and auto-attacked the Elder Master as well.

“Oh? Bold, aren’t you?” Lin Hao snorted coldly, pulling back a bit. Yuan Ge’s auto-attack tracking made him step forward two paces. Yuan Ge attacked again, tossing a shuriken.

Lin Hao, timing Yuan Ge’s advance and attack animation, activated his second skill, turned back, and then pulled with his first skill!

Yuan Ge, who had maintained a safe distance, was suddenly caught off guard and pulled close! But Lin Hao didn’t chase relentlessly—he just landed a basic attack, then started circling Yuan Ge in a counterclockwise motion.

“Go, my other self!”

Yuan Ge’s puppet was released, but Lin Hao’s circular movement evaded it completely! If Lin Hao had attacked once more, he might have been knocked up by the puppet.

“Please, you think I don’t know Yuan Ge’s tricks?”

A level two Yuan Ge daring to fight the Elder Master head-on could only be seeking a counter-attack combo: knock-up with the first skill, chain control with the third, then after the control, recall the puppet for a knock-up and cross-slash.

Lin Hao hadn’t forgotten Yuan Ge had learned his third skill at level one. If, instead, Yuan Ge had taken his second and third at level two, he’d only be aiming for a quick burst on the river crab—and even then, the cone-shaped area of the second skill could be dodged by Lin Hao’s close positioning.

Now, Lin Hao was weaving around Yuan Ge as he attacked. After the puppet appeared, it immediately started chasing Lin Hao, but Yuan Ge’s main body was rapidly losing health.

At last, the puppet moved in a straight line toward the Elder Master. Basic attack, third skill, another basic attack. Lin Hao showed no fear—Yuan Ge’s main body was already in critical condition.

Finally, the puppet spread its arms to bind Lin Hao—the second activation of the third skill! This control had a slight wind-up, unlike Guan Yu’s skills that were nearly instant and hard to react to. As soon as the puppet spread its arms, Lin Hao pressed his second skill.

While immobilized by the puppet, Lin Hao kept steering himself outward; under the puppet’s bind, the Elder Master was inching toward the edge.

Three seconds passed. The puppet’s control ended, and Xiao Nan immediately triggered the third skill—Arcane Cross-Slash!

But a subtle detail had changed—Lin Hao’s small struggle and movement had shifted him to the very edge of the puppet’s range. The knock-up effect missed him entirely.

For Xiao Nan, it didn’t matter—whether he landed the knock-up or not, he needed to use Arcane Cross-Slash to create distance, since his health was still good.

Just then, Lin Hao flashed forward! Bang! A quick forward flash dodged Yuan Ge’s cross-slash, and he landed right in front of Yuan Ge!

Yuan Ge reacted just as quickly, flashing backward the instant the Elder Master arrived!

Next, the Elder Master swung his ruler, but unfortunately missed Yuan Ge.

“Quick reflexes,” Lin Hao raised an eyebrow and typed “Sorry.”

Sadly, he hadn’t managed to collect Xiao Nan’s rage points in this exchange.

“High-level duel!”
“So many little details in that fight!”
“That was beautiful!”
“Yuan Ge’s health is low now, but he still has the tower’s health pack. The Elder Master is at about half health, but doesn’t have a pack. Once Yuan Ge hits level three, he’ll have the edge.”
“True, with both flashes down, the Elder Master might get tower dived soon.”

Lin Hao temporarily gained lane control. Yuan Ge’s cooldowns were so long early on that after trading combos, he had to back off, so Lin Hao seized the wave advantage. But he only cleared one of the backline minions.

The next moment, Lin Hao muttered with exasperation, “Damn, this Xi Shi is persistent as a ghost.”

His keen awareness told him: Xi Shi was coming back.