——  After the national team’s lineup was announced, the happiest ones were Cheng Wei and Zhang Shaohui. They had previously been worried they wouldn’t be selected and now their classes had been given two places. Zhang Shaohui was confident that he could enter the national team with his brother and show the Lou Zhang combination to the world-class players. Cheng Wei also didn’t have to worry about Red Fox’s Yang Muzi being selected over him.

  The Miracle fans also selected 80% of the national team’s players. For example, Tan Shitian must have one of the bard places, the black magicians were definitely the Yan Guo combination and the assassins had to be the Lou Zhang brothers.

  There were many famous gods in the league and the national team lineup set by Li Cangyu and Ling Xuefeng could be said to have taken care of all aspects, basically including all the famous gods.

  However, unexpected situations couldn’t be ruled out. For example, some players making a mistake in the selection trials. Most netizens had a wait and see attitude towards the final list for the national team.

  The national team’s selection trials would officially start the following morning. All players who wanted to participate used the remaining day to register and prepare.

  ***

  That night, Xiao Han went online and saw a message pop up in the lower right corner. The person with a profile picture of a blood kin spider was Qin Mo.

  [The summoner only has two places. My master and your master each have one place. I have no chance.]

  Didn’t he seem somewhat lost?

  Xiao Han wondered: [Are you telling me this so I will comfort you?]

  Qin Mo: [……]

  [Then I will comfort you.] Xiao Han finished the sentence with a ‘patting a dog’s head’ emoji.

  Qin Mo wanted to cough up blood. What was this animation? When did Xiao Han learn to download emojis from the Internet?

  He was wondering this when Xiao Han sent another message: [I feel that I have no hope myself. An assassin only has two places and they will certainly go to the Lou Zhang brothers.]

  Qin Mo ignored the strange words and sent the same emoji back to Xiao Han. [I touched your head to comfort you.]

  [It is hard to differentiate between an elder brother and younger brother.] Xiao Han sent a ‘hug and cry’ expression.

  Qin Mo copied it and correct him: [The saying is: It is hard to differentiate between an elder brother and younger brother.] (TL: Xiao Han uses a different character for ‘elder brother’ and Qin Mo corrects him about the right one)

  Xiao Han had a question mark: [Isn’t it the same?]

  Qin Mo explained: [Fixed idioms can’t be changed.]

  The two people filled the screen with emojis. Suddenly, Qin Mo sent a message: [You should first try for the assassin quota. If you can’t beat Lou Wushuang and Zhang Shaohui, you can participate in the free quota. That quota isn’t limited by class.]

  Xiao Han inexplicably felt this person’s tone was different from Qin Mo and asked: [Are you Qin Mo?]

  The other party replied: [I am his master.]

  Xiao Han suddenly realized. [Oh, Master is well.]

  Then he found he was wrong and immediately corrected: [Captain Ling is well!]

  Qin Mo was standing behind his master at the time and was really scared. He was just exchanging emojis with Xiao Han when his master came and told him to participate in the selection of the free quota. Then he sat down and told Xiao Han the same thing.

  \r \r \r

  Qin Mo didn’t expect Xiao Han to realize the person had changed. Was it because the two of them often chatted together? Xiao Han seemed to understand the way that Qin Mo spoke. Qin Mo couldn’t help feeling a bit happy when he thought this.

  A moment later, the opposite person sent a ‘Cat God stunned’ expression. [Xiao Han actually collected my expression pack…]

  This was obviously Li Cangyu. Ling Xuefeng’s lips curved as he asked: [Did you also come looking for your apprentice?]

  [Yes, I guess that he is unlikely to win a place in the assassin group. I wanted him to go to the free group to try.]

  [I thought so as well.]

  [My guess is that 90% of the great gods will be selected for their class group. The free group is last and there shouldn’t be many gods, but the competition will still be intense. Xiao Qin should be prepared to do his best.]

  Ling Xuefeng looked back at Qin Mo. “Cat God is telling you to be mentally prepared. The competition for the free group will be very intense. Don’t be careless, understood?”

  QIn Mo immediately nodded. “Yes, I understand!”

  Li Cangyu asked: [Are you busy tonight?]

  Ling Xuefeng: [No.]

  Li Cangyu: [Then come play a few rounds with Xiao Han. I will play with Xiao Qin and this will let them exchange ideas with different styles of players.]

  [Okay.]

  The two apprentices stood behind and watched their masters chat, not daring to come forward. Li Cangyu and Ling Xuefeng chatted for a while on the Q number of Qin Mo and Xiao Han and decided the training for the two apprentices tonight.

  After their masters left, Qin Mo immediately typed: [The free group only has two places. It would be best if we both make it.]

  Xiao Han said: [Don’t draw my name or you will be eliminated.]

  Qin Mo: […Shouldn’t I be the one saying this? You should be careful not to be eliminated by me!]

  Xiao Han was puzzled. [It is the same sentence. Why does it matter who says it?]

  Qin Mo: […I’m going offline. See you later!]

  Qin Mo went offline and Xiao Han scratched his head, still not understanding what he said wrong.

  He turned off Q and immediately logged into his side account. Li Cangyu pulled him into a room and then Ling Xuefeng and Qin Mo appeared. The two masters exchanged apprentices and abused them. Qin Mo and Xiao Han were mercilessly abused for one night and really wanted to cry!

  ***

  The next morning, the national team’s selection schedule was officially announced.

  Apart from the summoners quota where it was decided that Cat and Ling were the players, the other classes would hold an open competition.

  In order to make the national team’s selection more transparent and fair, this selection would adopt the offline competition mode and would be divided into two sub-tournaments at Beijing’s large e-sports venue.

  The referees for these trials were Liu Chuan and Xiao Sijing from the E-Sports League. The match mode was a ‘three games, two wins’ match ‘double defeat knockout’, where random draws would determine the opponent

  In other words, each player had one chance to lose. The defeated player would enter the elimination group and if they lost again, they would be directly eliminated. This system was to avoid a situation where masters met prematurely, e.g. Lou Wushuang and Zhang Shaohui. If they met in the first game, one of them would enter the losing group and still have a chance to qualify from the losing group.

  At 8 in the morning, the first groups to be selected were the black and white magicians. Xiao Sijing and Liu Chuan were the referees for one side while Li Cangyu and Ling Xuefeng drank tea in the backstage command room. They watched the live broadcast on the big screen to see who would be selected.

  The number of magicians in the online game was very large and there were also a lot of magicians in the professional league.

  Cheng Wei’s luck wasn’t bad and the opponents he drew in the first two games weren’t strong. In the finals, he met the vice-captain of the Red Fox team, Yang Muzi. Cheng Wei relied on using God’s Seal at a key moment to quickly empty Yang Muzi’s blood, taking first place in the white magician group and entering the national team. Of course, Yang Muzi also successfully entered the national team.

  The names of the two white magicians were confirmed. In the column of national team players on the official website, the images of Cheng Wei and Yang Muzi were added.

  Cheng Wei was very excited. He signed his name on the paper submitted by the referee and immediately went backstage to report to Li Cangyu. He stood upright and bowed to Cat God. “Captain! Team member Cheng Wei has come to report!”

  Li Cangyu was amused and couldn’t help reaching out to rub Cheng Wei’s head. “Good.”

  Yang Muzi’s character was more lively. The short-haired girl shook hands with Li Cangyu and Ling Xuefeng and said, “I also came to report. Cat God, Captain Ling, please advise me in the future!”

  Ling Xuefeng nodded at her. “You can go back to the hotel first to rest.”

  Cheng Wei immediately exclaimed, “It is too boring back at the hotel. I will wait for the rest of the team members!”

  Yang Muzi was the same. “I also want to wait and see.”

  The two of them were the first to get the qualification to join the national team but their teammates weren’t the same. They naturally didn’t feel like going back to the hotel to rest and waited with Li Cangyu and Ling Xuefeng.

  ***

  Almost all the professional players had signed up for the trials, including those in the training camps. This was the decision of the captains of various teams. It was rare to have an opportunity to fight against the gods. Even if they weren’t selected, they could join in the fun and gain some experience.

  Fortunately, the trials were three games and two wins. Soon after the white magicians were confirmed, the black magicians were also decided.

  Yan Ruiwen and Guo Xuan of the Wind Colour both signed the ‘national team invitation letter’ handed to them by chief referee Xiao Sijing and then excitedly reported to the command room.

  Guo Xuan cried out, “Captain Ling, I have been selected with Vice-Captain Yan!”

  Ling Xuefeng nodded and told them, “Report to the captain.”

  He meant for them to find the captain of the national team, Li Cangyu and report. Guo Xuan looked a bit awkward but fortunately, Yan Ruiwen was relatively calm. He took Guo Xuan to Li Cangyu and smiled. “Captain is well.”

  Li Cangyu asked bluntly, “Is it strange to call me captain?”

  Yan Ruiwen replied, “You are now the captain of the national team. We will listen to your arrangements in the future.” Ling Xuefeng gazed at Yan Ruiwen with appreciative eyes and Yan Ruiwen suddenly felt that acting like this was correct!

  ***

  In the bard selection group, Tan Shitian made it all the way and came out as first in the victorious group. Lu Xiao of Time was the first to qualify from the losing group and the two of them came backstage.

  The Time fans were very happy about this outcome. Lu Xiao had always assisted Tan Shitian with output. His reputation might not be as high as Captain Tan but the low-key player wasn’t much worse.

  Cheng Wei saw his captain and immediately ran over. “Captain Tan, Captain Tan! Ah, Lu Xiao as well. Hey, I knew you would definitely enter the national team. Come over to the captain and sign!”

  Tan Shitian smiled and went to Li Cangyu. They shook hands and Tan Shitian said, “Captain Cat is well.”

  Li Cangyu wondered, “Captain Cat? This name is too strange…”

  Tan Shitian changed his words. “Should I call you Captain Li?”

  Cheng Wei laughed. “Captain Cat is good. The group of Chinese fighting cats will sweep the world!”

  Li Cangyu looked over at him. “Who is a Chinese fighting cat? Are you talking about yourself?”

  Cheng Wei blushed and Tan Shitian thought he looked particularly cute. He rubbed Cheng Wei’s head and asked, “Fighter Cat, what else should I do?”

  Li Cangyu handed him the national team’s confirmation form. “Sign this.”

  The two arrivals signed their names on the form, confirming that eight of the 22 vacancies had been filled. Tan Shitian felt great. He could see the national team gradually filling, causing his blood to heat up.