The King's Avatar

Xiao Shiqin was puzzled. Qiao Yifan was someone even his boss, Tao Xuan, worried about. Right now, he was walking over. What... could he be up to?

Xiao Shiqin didn’t look anywhere else. He fixed his gaze on Qiao Yifan, who walked over to a water dispenser and poured out a cup of water. Afterwards, he returned and placed the cup in front of Xiao Shiqin on the small coffee table: ”Senior, have a cup of water...” Then, he went back to his seat.

Uh….. Xiao Shiqin pondered over what just happened for the next five minutes. He didn’t think Qiao Yifan had any hidden motives behind his action. There shouldn’t be any issues?

After he snapped out of his daze, he was about to say something, when he suddenly realized that the entire room had fallen eerily silent. The small bit of noise that could be heard came from a single direction: Ye Xiu’s seat.

Was he working on his Silver weapon?

Xiao Shiqin subconsciously wanted to take a look. His butt left the seat before he realized that getting up wasn’t right, so he quietly sat back down. He followed everyone else and didn’t utter a word, maintaining the silence.

The Myriad Manifestations Umbrella was currently in the process of being upgraded…..

First, let’s not talk about the complexity of the parts. Just the amount of rare materials needed exceeded that of a normal Silver weapon. These excess materials weren’t used to increase the weapon’s stats, but rather the various transformations. In order for these transformations to function smoothly, the complexity of each part was naturally higher. Normal weapons needed to only maintain a single form. No other weapon was like the Myriad Manifestations Umbrella, which required numerous moveable parts. Even moveable parts such as those inside guns weren’t as troublesome as those in the Myriad Manifestations Umbrella.

Once everyone knew that Ye Xiu was upgrading the umbrella, the practice room became even more quiet than when Wei Chen had upgraded his Death’s Hand.

Xiao Shiqin couldn’t just run over to Ye Xiu’s side to watch, so he sat on the sofa, but there wasn’t much he could see. Tang Rou, Steamed Bun, and Qiao Yifan had their backs facing him, covering their screens up. Wei Chen, Ye Xiu, and Chen Guo had their computers covered even more. He couldn’t even see their faces. The only thing he could see was Su Mucheng’s expression.

But Su Mucheng? She was just focused on Ye Xiu’s screen. He couldn’t discern any information from her face.

Xiao Shiqin felt a bit impatient.

If he said anything, he was afraid that he might mess up the upgrade process. They had let him in and didn’t obstruct him in any way. It was very polite of them. If he intentionally made a ruckus, Xiao Shiqin felt it would be too wrong of him. He wasn’t the type of person who could do that.

But just sitting here doing nothing! He wasn’t friends with any of them and couldn’t experience their anxiousness or hopes, so he stayed careful and cautious. He really felt somewhat uncomfortable.

However, Xiao Shiqin was still a kind and honest person. Even though he felt uncomfortable, he endured it. Happy’s practice room was silent for an entire hour. When he saw Su Mucheng suddenly relax her eyebrows and then stand up, Xiao Shiqin felt like they should be done…..

Xiao Shiqin only said it in his heart. On the other hand, Chen Guo directly spoke: ”Done?”

”Mm...” Ye Xiu replied. It was done. The parts had been assembled together, but was it a success? Ye Xiu excited the equipment editor and returned to the game.

Lord Grim. The Myriad Manifestations Umbrella sat in his inventory.

The mouse hovered over it and the Myriad Manifestation Umbrella’s stats could be seen.

Myriad Manifestations Umbrella. Level 55.

Attack Speed: 5

Weight: 2.3 kg

Durability: 23

Physical Attack: 592

Magic Attack: 592

Vitality + 13

Strength +13

Intelligence +13

Spirit +13

The stats ended there. Wei Chen and Chen Guo had stretched their necks to look. After looking at the stats for a good while, Chen Guo carefully asked: ”Is it a success?”

From the base physical attack, magic attack, and four stat increases, the umbrella had clearly been upgraded. But Chen Guo knew that when the Myriad Manifestations Umbrella upgraded from level 45 to level 50, there was a significant increase. The original blank weapon with just attack numbers, suddenly increased the other four stats at level 50. Who knew if there might be other bonuses for the level 55 upgrade? However, only the original stat lines increased. Was that a success?

”It’s not bad for now.” Ye Xiu replied.

The check-up on the Myriad Manifestations Umbrella didn’t stop here though.

Lord Grim exited the Arena to a place, where he could freely move around. He equipped the umbrella and transformed it to its spear form.

Ye Xiu quickly looked over it and then changed the umbrella’s form again.

Change change change change change.

Ye Xiu changed the umbrella to each of its six forms. When it transformed one last time, Ye Xiu’s tense expression finally relaxed.

”It’s a success.” Ye Xiu said.

”Sweet!” Chen Guo slammed the table.

”It’s just a level 55 upgrade, so there’s not much to it.” Ye Xiu smiled.

”But you said that you had no reference materials for the level 55 upgrade and you needed to figure out the upgrade process completely on your own. That makes the procedure risky! Is it not sweet for it to succeed on your first try?” Chen Guo said.

”If the next upgrade processes succeeded like this one, that would be sweet.” Ye Xiu said. Of course, he was happy about the umbrella successfully being upgraded to level 55, but Ye Xiu knew well that it was just another step taken. The equipment needed to be upgraded to level 70. If it failed before then, everything would be for naught.

After all, it was still just at level 55, right now.

Wei Chen’s Death’s Hand was level 65. Compared to his other equipment, the level was enough to be useable. A level 65 Silver weapon could compare to a level 70 Orange weapon. In the Glory Alliance, many teams didn’t have complete sets of Silver equipment and used Orange equipment as placeholders.

However, it was a bit different for weapons because a character’s attack stats mainly depended on the weapon. The increase in strength brought from a better weapon was the highest compared to other pieces of equipment. It was by a lot too. As a result, good weapons were always the most expensive in the game. Pro teams always prioritized creating Silver weapons first.

Of all the equipment used, even in the pro scene, most of it was Orange. However, very very few still used Orange weapons, apart from a few exceptions, where the Silver weapons weren’t as good as a similar Orange weapon. For example, Loulan Slash’s Swordpoint wasn’t something that could survive in the pro scene.

A level 65 Silver weapon was still more valuable than an Orange weapon. After all, a Silver weapon was fit to the player’s style. But because practically everyone in the pro scene carried a level 70 Silver weapon, if you brought a level 65 Silver weapon to compete, no matter how good the stat increases were, it wouldn’t be able to compare, overall.

Other Silver equipment could be used at level 65 because many characters in the pro scene still wore inferior Orange equipment. A level 65 Silver weapon would put you at a disadvantage in the pro scene though.

The Myriad Manifestation Umbrella’s upgrade to level 55 let Ye Xiu relax. But he was mostly excited about how he didn’t need to waste any more materials or time on this step. In terms of value, a level 55 Silver weapon was far from enough. Level 60, 65, and 70 was still awaiting for him!

Ye Xiu had obviously pondered over these stages, but his plan wasn’t mature yet. He didn’t have the necessary materials either, so those weren’t as urgent. After succeeding, Ye Xiu logged out of Lord Grim and slumped into his chair to rest. The equipment editor had exhausted him. It was even more tiring than his confrontation versus Zhang Xinjie because everything needed to be done with careful precision.

On the sofa, Xiao Shiqin heard about the success. When he saw Ye Xiu relax, he stood up and smiled: ”You succeeded? Congratulations!!”

”You heard it! It’s only a level 55 upgrade. It isn’t anything worth getting excited about.” Ye Xiu said.

”Everything has to be done step by step. You don’t become fat in a single bite.” Xiao Shiqin said.

”True!” Ye Xiu thought about it. Then, he stood up and headed over to Xiao Shiqin, so he could properly receive his guest. He started off saying a bunch of rubbish, expressing his concern: ”Are you getting used to Excellent Era?”

”I just arrived. I’m still adapting.” Xiao Shiqin smiled.

”Do you need my help? Ask away!” Ye Xiu said.

”Senior, you’re too polite. Everything’s going well.” Xiao Shiqin said.

”Do you have any confidence facing us in the Challenger League?” Ye Xiu asked.

”...” Xiao Shiqin was a bit speechless. Yes, he was an All Star and a former team captain. He was still at a loss towards Ye Xiu’s question.

Because to anyone else, asking whether or not you had confidence was something the one with the higher status said to the one with the lower status. In terms of his individual status in the Alliance compared to Ye Qiu’s, Xiao Shiqin being considered the one with the lower status wasn’t an issue. But this was comparing two teams! How could Team Happy be the one with the higher status compared to Excellent Era?

However, Ye Xiu clearly asked Xiao Shiqin in this way, rendering Xiao Shiqin speechless.

”Uh….. yeah…..” Xiao Shiqin finally answered awkwardly. ”Yeah….” could be understood as ”Actually, no. But I have to say yes.” It could also be understood as ”Of course.” In any case, it was a half-hearted response.

”If you lose to use, it’ll be a tragedy for sure. What are you going to do? You didn’t plan on coming to Excellent Era to play in the Challenger League, right?” Ye Xiu asked.

Psychological warfare! Ye Qiu was trying to put him under pressure!

Xiao Shiqin understood very clearly, but he couldn’t help but feel a bit panicked at being asked this question so directly. When he finalized the contract with Excellent Era, Excellent Era had already been relegated, so the contact was only a year long. This point hadn’t been publicly announced. It was naturally a preventive measure if Excellent Era failed to return to the Alliance. Xiao Shiqin couldn’t say this though! If he replied in this way, it would appear as if he had no confidence in their victory. How troublesome!