Chapter Seventy-Nine: Putting on the Act Again

Yuan Ge's Cross Slash skill is truly all about prediction; to land it without any prior control, you must possess exceptional skill. Only after tens of thousands of casts, when muscle memory has formed, can you guarantee a high hit rate.

When Shang Jie unleashed his Cross Slash this round, he genuinely believed he'd struck Lin Hao. But, unfortunately, at that crucial moment, Lin Hao twisted away, dodging the attack once more!

With this missed Cross Slash, Shang Jie lost his last chance to duel Lin Hao head-to-head. Lin Hao easily followed up with two more basic attacks, claiming Shang Jie’s head yet again!

At that moment, the gleam of a recall shimmered around Lin Hao’s Yuan Ge, signaling another round of showing off.

"Damn, I didn’t understand that move at all!"

"What happened? I blinked, and the puppet immobilized the opponent’s puppet?"

"I’m not sure what went down, but from a visual standpoint, Haozi’s play was definitely dazzling!"

This maneuver was quite advanced; unless you specialize in Yuan Ge, it’s hard to comprehend what actually happened.

Lin Hao offered a brief taunt for two or three seconds—just enough—and then began clearing the wave and pushing the tower.

He was actually waiting for his second and third skills’ cooldowns, since clearing minions with basic attacks is slow.

Before Shang Jie could respawn, Lin Hao took down Shang Jie’s first tower. This widened the economic gap dramatically.

Now, having clicked recall, Lin Hao finally took the time to explain to his viewers what exactly happened in that team fight.

"Shang Jie’s second flash initiation was already brilliant—caught me off guard, aiming to quickly use the puppet’s swap and knock-up to kill me instantly."

"He likely timed it when our equipment gap was at its smallest."

"As for my response: I started with skill four, moving forward, then cast skill one backward to ensure my puppet knocked up Shang Jie’s puppet, buying time. The main event follows."

"When the distance between Yuan Ge’s main body and puppet exceeds the inner circle, clicking skill two to swap doesn’t simply exchange their positions. Instead, the main body moves to the puppet’s position, while the puppet travels along the thread to the edge of the inner circle."

"This is rarely used in real 5v5 matches, since no enemy would foolishly stand between Yuan Ge’s main body and puppet, waiting for him to find the right spot and swap."

"However, there are exceptions. For example, when Yuan Ge is ambushing mid, the main body hides in the left bush, the puppet in the right bush. When the enemy comes out to clear the mid wave, landing between the main body and puppet, you swap. The puppet suddenly appears at the enemy’s location in mid, then you quickly click skill three to bind, hand back control with skill four, and combo with skills two and three for an unexpected burst."

"When Yuan Ge duels another Yuan Ge, if you control the opponent’s puppet and kill it, the fight becomes much easier."

Lin Hao explained passionately.

This was the key to his maneuver.

As for the reverse-side slash that followed, it’s a niche technique, and Lin Hao didn’t plan to discuss it.

It’s a trick where you hit the enemy with the back end of Yuan Ge’s Cross Slash while shifting Yuan Ge’s position toward the enemy. Many top-tier Yuan Ge players don’t know it well or dare not use it casually.

Lin Hao’s use of the reverse-side slash was simply to instantly kill the puppet and close in on Shang Jie’s main body. At that moment, both Shang Jie’s main body and puppet were immobilized, so landing the hit was easy.

...

Shang Jie’s streaming room.

"Damn, how did that Cross Slash miss?"

Shang Jie pounded his desk in frustration.

He didn’t know when he’d fallen into Lin Hao’s rhythm.

He felt his emotions starting to surge, unable to remain calm.

After Lin Hao’s second solo kill and the preceding rounds, Shang Jie had no complaints; he genuinely hadn’t expected Lin Hao to pull off such a move!

These flashy techniques, Shang Jie mastered them early in his Yuan Ge days, but in peak matches, most are useless.

Opponents aren’t training dummies—no one just stands there for you to perform.

Thus, in peak games, Yuan Ge usually initiates with his puppet, diving to deal damage, and the combos are more straightforward.

Over time, those flashy sequences faded from Shang Jie’s memory.

It’s like a master’s graduate, deeply knowledgeable in theory, who after ten or twenty years teaching high school, can only recall what he once learned when he sees it again.

...

In Shang Jie’s streaming room, the chat was full of surprise.

"Damn, I just saw a Yuan Ge flashier than Wang Han Shang!"

"Brother Jie’s getting old! The era of our hero is over!"

"Hey, brothers, I’m heading to Hao Ran’s stream—this is completely one-sided, I can’t stand it!"

"Brother Jie, hold your ground! You’re the real national server Yuan Ge, while the opponent’s just a basic skin Yuan Ge! Look at his badge—he doesn’t even have a village mark!"

Shang Jie saw this comment and retorted immediately: "Hao Ran is definitely above national server level with Yuan Ge. Based on his laning alone, honestly, he could rank top hundred in peak games with Yuan Ge!"

Some die-hard fans in his stream tried to defend him: "Shang Jie’s Yuan Ge is all about rotating and supporting, it’s normal if he has no advantage in lane!"

"The opponent must also be a national server Yuan Ge, and his laning is strong, but in peak games, who’s better is anyone’s guess!"

Shang Jie shook his head, reinvigorated. "There’s still one life left, why rush? Watch me turn the tables two to three!"

As a streamer—and the pillar of Yuan Ge players—at this moment, even knowing the economic gap was nearly irreparable, he could not lose his spirit!

Solo duels are fundamentally about gold. Get solo killed once, and the gap widens; twice, and the match is nearly decided.

If Lin Hao wanted guaranteed victory, he could use his extra gold to build defensive items for more forgiveness, or simply stack full offense and still reliably suppress Shang Jie.

From here on, the battle would depend less on skill than on the advantage of gold and levels.