Quadruple split.

Chapter 2635 As Before
at the same time
Game time AM03:01
Violet Empire, Southern Fireclaw Territory, Whirlwind City [Fire Scorpion] Compound

"Thank you all for your hard work during the training camp!"

With a gentle greeting, Jiuzhong, who has served as the coach of the [Red Constellation] for many years and is widely loved, jogged into the courtyard and smiled at the group of people lying on the ground: "Although it is the final stage, everyone should not relax too much."

"Sister Jiu Jiu..."

Lying flat on the ground like a starfish, even its ears, which were twitching from exhaustion, struggled to lift its head, its little face contorted in a mournful expression, and complained, "Do we look like we're slacking off, meow?!"

"Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha--"

The only person in the courtyard who remained standing, seemingly unharmed and still a gentleman of impeccable manners, let out a series of wild laughs before his legs gave way and he collapsed to the ground with a thud: "Seconded."

Pioneer, who was clutching his stomach and struggling on the spot, sighed and said with a livid face, "Sister Jiu, you might as well let the captain relax a little. Otherwise, if this continues, I'm really afraid he might accidentally kill one or two of them."

"Not really."

Han Guang, who had been knocked away by a powerful blow not long ago and was still hanging on the tree head down, said in a serious tone: "The captain is very careful in his attacks. For example, although I was beaten badly, my health never dropped below 20%."

"Han Guang is right."

Silver Moon, who was sitting cross-legged under the crooked tree in the yard, nodded, then added, "But I still think the captain went a bit too far..."

"Xiaojiu!"

Hanmei, who had finally rolled to Jiuchong's feet, struggled to raise her right hand and said breathlessly, "Give me a hand!"

So, Jiuzhong pulled Hanmei up and briefly inquired about the specific details of the training camp.

It's worth mentioning that it wasn't easy for this training camp to be held smoothly. After all, the [Limited-Time Great Dungeon] was exactly the time when they needed to exert their strength. At this crucial moment, both Xinglong, who was in charge of hosting the training camp, and the main force of the Crimson Constellation who participated in the training camp actually had a lot of free time to get together for a few days.

Even so, everyone still managed to start this training camp with the aim of 'improving everyone's individual strength'.

The reason is simple: although the club management, led by Luo Ou, gave everyone high praise and said that they had achieved satisfactory results, no one except Xinglong, the captain, could accept the praise with a clear conscience.

The reason is simple: in that match where they were almost completely defeated by [Windbreaker Bird], almost everyone on the [Red Constellation] side except for Xinglong was suppressed by the opponent. In the end, they even created an absurd situation where Xinglong was completely outmaneuvered by the entire opposing team.

No one can forgive themselves for that defeat.

Whether they were on the field or on the bench, everyone knew that no matter what lineup they used, they would eventually be forced into a desperate situation by the [Windbreaker Bird].

The problem has never been about the lineups of either side, but rather that [Windbreaker Bird] has taken full advantage of [Red Constellation]'s dependence on Awakening Dragon, which has deviated somewhat from the norm.

Whether tactically or strategically, the Crimson Constellation, after settling in the Realm of Innocence, seems to be increasingly reliant on their captain. Moreover, unlike their past preference for building a 'star tactic' centered around the Awakening Dragon, the current Crimson Constellation members often subconsciously reduce their own importance and value, and even have the illusion that 'as long as the captain takes action, everything will be fine'.

However, in the final team battle of the [Red Constellation], the [Windbreaker Bird] team, having lost Lucel, had the last laugh, while the former team, with only Awakening Dragon surviving and all the other members wiped out, suffered a crushing defeat.

Compared to the Windbreaker Bird, who relied on everyone's efforts to win the game and everyone was fighting desperately, Hanmei and the others could not forgive themselves for their 'ugly behavior' and 'inaction' in that game.

Admittedly, they did not slack off, hold back, or underestimate their opponents; they were fully committed to the battle. However, compared to their opponents who were willing to burn themselves out at any cost, none of them could proudly say that they had no regrets.

On the contrary, after realizing that they had unknowingly fallen into some kind of unforgivable 'laziness' and subconsciously shifted the responsibility of winning the game onto the captain, almost all of them went crazy.

Therefore, despite Xinglong's repeated insistence that it was not everyone's fault, Hanmei and the others spontaneously organized an unplanned training session with only one goal: to ensure that everyone could truly keep up with Xinglong's pace and avoid repeating the mistakes of that team battle.

It's not that you can't lose a match, but the previous loss to [Windbreaker Bird] was a disgrace to the entire [Crimson Constellation] main team, except for Awakening Dragon.

As an excellent captain and spiritual leader, Xinglong naturally wouldn't dampen his companions' enthusiasm when they were working hard, or say things like, "I'll work harder so you can rely on me." Instead, he asked Jiuzhong to help coordinate the schedule for the [Limited-Time Dungeon]. After defeating that super-abnormal toad bro, he and his companions teleported to the Fire Scorpion stronghold through the Mage Guild and began their several days of special training.

And then... the nightmares for Hanmei, Hanguang, Gentleman, Xueran, Pioneer, and Yinyue began.

Knowing exactly what his partners were thinking, and wanting to do more for them, Xinglong didn't hesitate at all and directly chose the method that could greatly improve everyone's strength in the shortest amount of time—practical exercises.

Just as the Cold War and arms race could lead to an explosive increase in the technological capabilities of various countries; just as heroes often push their limits in times of crisis, Xinglong's way of training his friends is also very simple.

First, raise the level of crisis awareness.

Then maximize the sense of oppression.

Then it's all about fighting, with the core idea being to fight as hard as possible without killing the enemy.

It's simple to say, since everyone knows that Xinglong is a super strong guy. Although he can't compare to the terrifyingly powerful Córdoba, he can easily crush three, four, five, six or seven teammates.

But beating them half to death is one thing; enabling them to gain something or even make rapid progress in the process is another.

Therefore, this kind of insanely difficult training battle can only be used when there is a huge gap in strength between the two sides, and the stronger side is very familiar with the trainee's strength and is willing to spend a lot of energy to be a sparring partner.

So far, the one who has benefited the most from the 'Teaching Battle' in the game [Innocent Realm] is Ji Xiaoge, whose potential has been fully activated by her younger sister and who has entered the 'Ascending the Heavenly Ladder' state in a short period of time.

While Xinglong doesn't understand his teammates as well as Ji Xiaodao understands his sister, he can do something that Ji Xiaodao could never do—

That is, to beat them to death.

The above is a summary of the recent experiences of the members of the [Crimson Constellation]. In short, they were beaten half to death by the Awakening Dragon, then recovered, then beaten half to death again, then recovered again, then beaten half to death once more, and so on.

Over the course of a few days, everyone was actually beaten several levels stronger by Xinglong. Among them, the strongest, Han Guang and Yin Yue, had already climbed to the second page of the individual combat power ranking, which is the level of 21-40. Xue Ran, Xian Jian, Shen Shi, and Han Mei were also firmly in the top 100 of the ranking. However, Jiu Chong, who returned to the rear after the competition and no longer trained with everyone, dropped out of the top 200.

"Have a rest?"

Just as everyone was happily chatting around Jiuzhong, Xinglong, who had been standing with his hands behind his back on the roof, suddenly appeared in front of them, revealing a harmless, refreshing, and bright smile, and said cheerfully, "Then let's continue."

The crowd looked at each other in bewilderment, and then, without anyone knowing who started it, the acquaintances who had been chatting animatedly around Jiu Chong suddenly collapsed to the ground, their faces looking like they were about to be packed into a box.

"Don't rush to continue." Jiuzhong raised his hand to stop Xinglong from 'forcing' the team members to start up, and said seriously, "I have something to tell you. Although it's not impossible to say it in the message, I decided to go there in person because I want to see how everyone is doing in the training camp."

Upon hearing that Jiuchong had important business to attend to, Xinglong let everyone rest a little longer and asked the person in front of him, "So what is it?"

"Just ten minutes ago, Futaba, who was originally ranked eighth in individual combat power, has replaced [Anonymous] and risen to third place on the list. All those ranked third to seventh, including you, have moved down one place."

Jiuzhong stared intently at Xinglong and said seriously, "The operations department asked me to ask if you are confident in maintaining your position in the top five. If you are, everything is fine. If not, we will lay some groundwork here to prepare for the subsequent packaging and operations."

Xinglong: "..."

"Don't look so disgusted."

Hanmei, who had just been pretending to be dead, immediately sat up after hearing that Shuangye had unexpectedly risen to third place. She glared at Xinglong and scolded him, "This is no longer the era where being good at games guarantees popularity. Where do you think your salary comes from? If it weren't for our operations team promoting you, you would have had to cut your endorsement fees for at least three products by half, you know?"

"I know I know..."

Although he could mercilessly beat Hanmei half to death during training camp, Xinglong, who was always willing to listen to the vice-captain's opinions on various matters, shrank back and then asked Jiuzhong, "Maintaining a top-five finish is definitely not a problem, but is that enough?"

Jiuchong paused for a moment, then asked curiously, "What do you mean?"

"What I mean is, I guess that girl Futaba must have broken through from the peak of the high-level to the half-step epic level, which is why she surpassed me and that chaotic evil [Anonymous] to rise to third place. But if we need her..."

Xinglong gently clenched his fists and said in his usual calm tone, "I can try too."

This time, not only Jiu Chong, but even Han Mei was stunned for a moment, and asked in astonishment, "What are you trying?"

"Let's see if we can break through to the half-step epic level."

Xinglong turned to Hanmei, nodding confidently, and said, "I'm actually quite confident."

Hanmei remained silent for several seconds before grabbing Xinglong's collar in a state of utter despair and screaming, "What do you mean 'still have some confidence'? If you could break through to the half-step epic realm, why didn't you do it sooner? Does this thing have any side effects or what? What's the point of waiting until others catch up before breaking through?"

"Well, it's not that there are any aftereffects, it's just that I don't think it makes much sense to do this."

Xinglong innocently raised his hands and explained with a wry smile: "In the end, the half-step epic is just a short transitional stage. But because the overall realm needs to be closer to the epic, many details, including the combat mode, need to be adjusted. Otherwise, even if the paper strength becomes stronger, we may suffer a great loss in actual combat. But this change is not compatible with our state after we truly enter the epic realm in the future."

Hanmei narrowed her eyes: "So?"

Xinglong chuckled憨厚ly: "So I've been thinking about whether I should just find an opportunity to advance directly to Epic rank."

Hanmei continued, expressionless, "And then?"

"Then I found that it was still a bit difficult to get into the Epic realm. Instead, I tried to break through the bottleneck of the Half-Step Epic realm first, which might bring some new gains."

Xinglong maintained his good-natured smile and said cheerfully, "So if you have no objections, I'll give it a try?"

Hanmei/Jiuchong: "..."

……

Game time AM03:17
Xinglong, the pillar of the Red Constellation Club and the world's most renowned professional gamer, has surpassed Shuangye to climb to third place on the individual combat power ranking.

……

five minutes later
Onic City, Central Administrative District, Prince's Residence, Courtyard

"So that's the situation."

Gavin smiled at the expressionless dark elf girl and said merrily, "Led by that little sister Shuangye, Xinglong, Guoshi Wushuang, and Lucy Ai have all seemingly achieved some kind of breakthrough. As of now, you've been pushed down to sixth place on the individual combat power ranking. Although there shouldn't be any risk of being surpassed by anyone in the short term, but..."

Glancing at Jia Wen, whose smile was growing wider, Ji Xiaodao asked in an icy tone, "But what?"

"It's nothing, I just felt I should tell you."

Today, Gavin, dressed as a stunning half-dragon woman, shrugged and added in a lighthearted tone, "Because that's fair, isn't it?"

"You're so thoughtful."

Grasping the hilt of the sword "Qing" in a reverse grip, Ji Xiaodao took a deep breath and slowly drew the not-so-sharp, cold blade: "...But I really don't have the habit of being looked down upon."

A hollow, deep, and cold aura spread out, casting a shadow over the surrounding space.

Half an epic?

Far from it...

not enough……

The girl's gaze sharpened slightly, and a familiar figure came into view.

Never realizing the so-called bottleneck, as long as one stays beside an annoying person, the unintentional person who always sees only a smooth path ahead sheathes their sword.

Thus, naturally, the third player to officially enter the [Epic] realm returned to third place.

The moon sets and crows cry.

The sound of waves is old, and frost fills the sky.

Chapter 2626: The End