After a difficult battle, Wen Xing, the new captain of the Black Chess Team, and his teammates walked out of the passage with trembling steps, each of them covered in bruises, and slowly moved towards the treatment room in the Martial Arts Arena.
Their team's healing-type Soul Master, Yu Yaya, was knocked unconscious by their opponent in this team battle and has not yet regained consciousness.
Just to be on the safe side, they had just settled the reward share for the newly recruited solo teammates and were preparing to go to the treatment room together to ask that Soul King-level healing Soul Master to use his Soul Skill to heal them and avoid any potential problems.
"Hey Wen, next time we need to be more careful when we recruit. If Xiaohe hadn't been quick to defend, Ya Ya would have been eliminated right at the start of the competition." Gray, with bruises of varying depths on his face and body, started complaining to Wen Xing.
The task they assigned to the recruited agility-type Soul Master was to primarily protect their team's support-type Soul Master, Yu Yaya, who was also their only healer, from the rear. They were to rely on opportunities to launch surprise attacks.
Who knew this newcomer would be so clueless? He was an agility-type Soul Master, and he didn't even react when the opponent attacked him right in front of him. It was Xiao Shu who roared and threw out an electric net to trip the opponent's agility-type Soul Master, and only then did the newcomer hurriedly take over the defensive position.
However, this incident had already thrown their overall rhythm into chaos, and they were constantly being pressured in the later stages. If Helan Shu hadn't broken through to level 36 during the battle, instantly replenishing her depleted soul power and catching her opponents, whose soul power was almost completely depleted, off guard, they would have lost today.
Wenxing's blood pressure spiked again as he thought about the rookie's actions in the battle. He took a deep breath and said, "Next time we recruit new players, let's set a personal performance requirement. Anyone with fewer than 20 wins will not be accepted."
Newcomers aren't scary; what's scary are complete newbies who don't know anything when they first arrive—that's terrifying.
Helan Shu bounced Yu Yaya on her back, nodded in agreement, and looked at Shen He, her teammate who had taken the most hits in this battle.
Shen He, whose Soul Master robe was tattered from the fierce battle, lowered his head, his eyes gleaming, calculating how many more matches this robe could last.
Helan Shu: "." Well, although I was beaten badly, I should be fine now.
Looking at her clueless teammates, Mu Yi said with restraint, "Stop babbling and let's go. I've had two ribs broken by the kick, and I'm going to die of pain if I don't get treatment soon."
As Qian Yuelong walked along the other passage, that was the sentence she heard.
His ribs were broken?
"How did you end up in such a miserable state?"
A surprised remark slipped out.
Upon hearing this voice, Gray abruptly looked up, almost bursting into tears as he cried out, "My dear! Moon Dragon, you've finally shown up! You have no idea how badly we were tricked while you were gone!"
"Yuelong?! You're back." A look of joy appeared on Helan Shu's delicate face.
A look of surprise flashed across Mu Yi's brow as he sized up Qian Yuelong. After sensing that Qian Yuelong's soul power was actually at the same level as his, his expression turned strange.
Wen Xing was also surprised to see Qian Yuelong suddenly appear, but he didn't stop walking. He and the other team members naturally surrounded her. Just like before, after each team battle, they would tacitly surround Qian Yuelong in the middle or at the back, blocking other people's view while complaining about the battle with her. Their attitude towards Qian Yuelong was no different from before she left, without any estrangement.
Some friends, even if you don't contact each other for years, feel like old friends again, and don't grow apart or become strangers because of the passage of time.
For the members of the Black Chess Team, Qian Yuelong is such a friend.
Qian Yuelong called out to everyone one by one, her gaze landing on Mu Yi, who was enduring the pain. She blinked and said, "Need any help, Brother Mu? Friendship price, one treatment for everyone only costs one barbecue meal~"
"Huh? Treatment?" Gray, who was rather slow to react, was stunned for a moment. After realizing what was happening, he widened his eyes and exclaimed in astonishment, "Good heavens! It's been almost two months, and Yue Long, your soul power has already reached level 34! What kind of monster are you?! Aww!"
Gray arched his back in pain, looking at Helan Shu who had ruthlessly elbowed him. He didn't know whether to complain about how Helan Shu could still hit him while carrying Yu Yaya on her back, or to question whether their teamwork was fake.
He Lanshu snorted and withdrew her hand, saying cheerfully, "Come on! It's just a barbecue. Even if you hadn't mentioned it, we were planning to have a big meal later anyway. It's just a matter of adding a pair of chopsticks. Anyway, Brother Wen is paying for it."
New captain Wenxing: "."
He twitched his lips and nodded at Qian Yuelong, who was looking at him with amusement in her eyes. "Go ahead and heal her. Let us see your third soul skill."
Their black chess team has an unwritten rule.
If the team loses the battle of wills, whoever makes the decision to bring in a new member has to treat everyone to a meal.
This time, he was blind; the newbie he picked up turned out to be a weirdo.
It's true that it's rare to have a great teammate.
"Alright~" Qian Yuelong raised her hand, and a purple-gold light, mixed with a faint blue-green light, gathered in her palm.
"Third Soul Skill, Floating Flowers and Waves."
Three purple halos rose up, and as the outermost halo hummed and flickered, dreamlike pale blue lotus petal phantoms suddenly rose from beneath everyone's feet. Cool energy spread from their aching wounds, as refreshing as drinking an ice-cold beverage on a hot summer day.
As the lotus petals began to fall, Wen Xing and his companions, whose wounds had been covered by a thin layer of frost, regained their clear vision.
Mu Yi, who had two broken ribs in her abdomen, felt the pain most acutely.
It was as if a pair of hands sculpted from ice and snow had frozen his pain, while his broken ribs seemed to be coated with a layer of adhesive, cool and refreshing, bringing a slightly tingling and itchy sensation, as if restoring his ribs.
Although its effect is not as good as the two healing-type Soul Kings stationed in the Martial Soul Arena, it is still outstanding among Soul Venerables.
"How amazing, the wound is frozen solid." Gray poked the edge of the wound on his arm that was frozen solid. It felt like touching real ice and snow. A faint coolness seeped into his skin from his fingertips, but it didn't freeze his hands at all. It was as delicate as cold jade.
Just as Helan Shu was about to speak, she felt a movement on her back.
"It's so cold. Who turned on the air conditioning?"
Yu Yaya said in a daze.
Helan Shu straightened up, letting the person slide off her back, and said, "Why don't you open your eyes and see who turned on the air conditioning?"
"Um?"
Without He Lanshu reminding her, Yu Yaya knew she had to wake up.
Upon seeing this, she immediately became fully awake.
"Moon Dragon?!"
Qian Yuelong smiled, put away the Floating World Golden Lotus and said, "Perfect timing, Sister Ya Ya is awake too, how about we go have some barbecue first? I rushed back and haven't had lunch yet."
—A side note—
My own interpretation: There is no air conditioning, but there are things like refrigeration machines that can produce cold air, such as white mist for stage effects.
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