After the four of them returned to the Nirvana Club, Xie Mingzhe acted as if nothing had happened. Chen Xiao finally couldn't help but laugh and scolded him, "You are such a good actor. You even pretended to be looking for Uncle Fatty in the crowd?"

Xie Mingzhe gave an irrefutable reason: "There were too many people and I was afraid of being beaten."

Among the 32 finalists who went to collect their registration certificates today, the most famous one is "Fat Uncle". Several of them are fans of Fat Uncle. If they knew that the gentle, tolerant and kind "Fat Uncle" in their minds is a teenager who just turned 18, they would definitely be disillusioned and might even do something impulsive in anger.

Xie Mingzhe changed the subject and said, "Brother Chen, aren't you afraid of being exposed? It is said that some of the top 32 are reserve players from major clubs. Maybe someone knows you?"

Chen Xiao said in a very sad tone: "Me? I am just a nobody who has long been out of date. No one must know me."

Xie Mingzhe comforted him, "It's okay. When you return to the alliance, you will no longer be a nobody. You will definitely surprise all those who have looked down on you and laughed at you. Especially Shao Bo, he will probably be so angry that he will vomit blood."

Chen Xiao smiled faintly, found a cigarette, lit it, and took a few puffs. The handsome man's face was hidden in the smoke, and his expression could not be seen clearly. He said in a low and slightly hoarse voice: "I used to think that one day I would be able to return to the league. I must win the championship and make that Shao regret everything he did to me and my brother... But now, I don't care what Shao thinks."

Chen Xiao turned around, looked at Xie Mingzhe seriously and said, "Going into the game with a revenge mentality is actually meaningless. I want to win the game and get the prize, not for my enemies, but for myself and you teammates."

Xie Mingzhe felt warm in his heart when he heard him say this. He smiled and patted his shoulder, saying, "Brother Chen, you are so open-minded. I admire you! You are right. We don't need to bother with those villains. Just treat them as floating clouds in the sky. We will definitely get better and better in the future, and Shao Bo will definitely get worse and worse. With this in mind, why waste time on him, right!"

Chen Xiao smiled, "That's right. So I'm not afraid of being exposed. Anyway, we have to show our faces in the offline competition at the quarterfinal stage. The experienced players in the league will recognize me at a glance. It's only a matter of time."

Just at this moment, Chen Qianlin came out of the coach's office. Chen Xiao heard the familiar footsteps and immediately put out his cigarette and threw it into the trash can beside him. He then sat upright on the sofa and pretended that he had never smoked. Xie Mingzhe was also speechless - what a bunch of drama queens!

Sure enough, the next moment Chen Qianlin came around the corner and saw Chen Xiao and Xie Mingzhe sitting on the sofa chatting. He walked up and said, "The group list for the top 32 has been announced. Xiao Xie is in Group A, Chen Xiao is in Group B, Yu Ke and Qin Xuan are in Group F and Group G respectively. What are your plans? Do you want to try your best to win a prize, or just play casually?"

Both of them have obtained the registration qualification for professional players, and the ranking in the Masters Tournament is not very important to them. However, Xie Mingzhe still said seriously: "We should try our best to win a prize. If we can win a prize, Nirvana Club will also be more prestigious!"

Chen Xiao nodded in agreement: "That's right. Anyway, Xiao Xie and I have enough decks. Just don't use mainstream decks. We don't have to worry about revealing our tactics in advance. We will do our best in the final round."

Xie Mingzhe looked expectant: "It would be best if Brother Chen and I could meet in the finals. In this way, our Nirvana team can take home the first and second place. If Xiao Ke is more powerful and takes third place, we can take home all the trophies of the Masters Tournament. Not only will we get a large prize money, but it will also be a kind of publicity for our Nirvana team."

Chen Qianlin said calmly: "Your idea is wonderful, but it will be difficult to realize it."

He turned on the computer and pulled up the detailed information of the two players, introducing them: "I watched the top 100 battle in the semi-finals. The strongest one is Zhou Xingchen from the Temple of the Gods, whose ID is Xingguang. Judging from his style, he should be trained by Ling Jingtang himself. He uses a cold weapon critical strike style and is very decisive and fierce. The other one is Ye Binbin from the Dark Night City Club, whose ID is Binbin Youli. He is a talented player with originality and uses a curse deck."

All this information was found out by Chen Qianlin. As Nirvana's coach, he has not been idle during this period. He watches every game carefully and gives a score to the participating players. Among them, Zhou Xingchen and Ye Binbin are the players he thinks are the strongest.

Seeing his brother's serious expression, Chen Xiao put away his smile and asked seriously, "These two should be the seed players of the Temple of the Gods and Dark Night City training camp, right? Why didn't they even make it to the top 32 in the Masters Tournament last year?"

"One of them was ill and played poorly, and the other one had family matters and gave up. It's quite a coincidence." Chen Qianlin said, "There are four reserve players who are also strong, but slightly weaker than these two."

"Let me check out the detailed grouping information," Xie Mingzhe opened the official website, glanced at it, and said, "Zhou Xingchen is in Group E, Ye Binbin is in Group F. According to the schedule, the top two teams in each group will advance to the round of 16, and then it will be A vs. H, and B vs. G. We never meet!"

"Yes, you will not meet in the round of 16 or the quarterfinals. If you are to meet, it will most likely be in the semifinals." Chen Qianlin said, "These two have been training with the great players. Don't underestimate them. If you want to win the prize, prepare well."

Xie Mingzhe and Chen Xiao looked at each other and saw confidence and fighting spirit in each other's eyes.

The Grand Masters is not a heavyweight competition, it is just the necessary path to the league. But now that they have embarked on this road, they want to take every step well.

If you have the ability to win the award, why not go for it?

No matter who wins the championship, it cannot be given to anyone else and must be won by a player who has reached Nirvana!

***

Dark Night City Club.

Seeing the newcomer coming back from getting his registration certificate, Ye Zhu took off his helmet, ran over quickly, and asked eagerly, "Binbin, did you see Uncle Fatty today?"

Ye Binbin is the most talented of the newcomers in Dark Night City. The cards he can make are very special, called "Curse Cards". All the cards in his deck carry various negative spell states, aiming to curse the opponent to death. It's quite special.

Pei Jingshan signed him in advance to train him because of his talent. He was only a few months younger than Ye Zhu, but Ye Zhu took advantage of his age and called him "Little Binbin" every day. The two of them had a very good relationship and could talk about almost anything.

Knowing that Ye Zhu was a fan of Fat Uncle, Ye Binbin paid special attention to Fat Uncle today, but he did not see anyone who matched the ID image of "Fat Uncle" in the crowd. Facing Ye Zhu's expectant gaze, he could only smile awkwardly and said, "I didn't find out who Fat Uncle is. I carefully observed every player who went to collect the qualification certificate today. They are all young people, and none of them are over 25 years old."

Ye Zhu was stunned and scratched her hair in confusion: "Could it be that Uncle Fatty is a young man?"

Pei Jingshan came over and said, "Xiao Zhu, I think you are misled by your subjective thinking. Fat Uncle is just his ID in the game. He is not necessarily a fat uncle in real life. On the contrary, I think he is most likely a young and tall boy."

Ye Zhu: “…”

Seeing his face gradually distorted, Pei Jingshan hugged his shoulders and comforted him: "Don't be angry yet, I know you actually respect Uncle Fatty very much, and you have always regarded Uncle Fatty as a senior. It's hard for you to accept that he is a young man..."

"Who, who respects him!" Ye Zhu angrily interrupted the other party, "I am obviously his number one anti-fan!"

Pei Jingshan smiled and said, "Oh, black powder - will it turn pink naturally if it is too dark?"

Ye Zhu: “…”

After glaring at Pei Jingshan, Ye Zhu walked away with his head down, looking as sickly as an eggplant hit by frost. It was obvious that he had suffered a great blow.

Ye Binbin chased after him and tried to comfort him, but was stopped by Pei Jingshan. Pei Jingshan glanced at the boy's stiff back and said, "Don't worry about him. Xiaozhu's anger comes and goes quickly. Just go back to sleep and he'll be fine. Did you take the photos I asked you to take?"

Ye Binbin immediately opened his computer and pulled up a photo. He said, "There were a lot of people here today, and it was very chaotic. I only found the opportunity when the meeting was adjourned, so I took a short video of the scene. Captain Pei, please take a look."

This video is only half a minute long. More than 30 people walked out of the conference room. The scene was very lively. Among them, a tall and burly boy shouted loudly: "Fat Uncle, who is Fat Uncle? Can I get to know him?!"

Then, everyone looked around curiously, as if looking for the fat uncle in the crowd.

To Pei Jingshan's surprise, he actually saw a very familiar face in the crowd——

The man was tall and very handsome. Among a group of teenagers aged 17 or 18, the man in his twenties looked much more mature and stable. He was wearing slim trousers and a light grey shirt today. He looked very energetic with his hair cut short. With his hands in his trouser pockets, he leaned lazily against the wall. There was a teasing smile on his face, and his eyes swept through the crowd indifferently, as if he was watching a good show.

Seeing the man's indifferent gaze in the video, Pei Jingshan's pupils shrank slightly and he said, "...Is it Chen Xiao?"

Ye Binbin looked confused: "Captain Pei, who is Chen Xiao?"

It is normal that players who debuted late have never heard of Chen Xiao, because Chen Xiao only played a few dozen individual games in the fifth season, and kept losing, so his presence was extremely low.

However, Pei Jingshan was deeply impressed by this player.

At that time, Pei Jingshan was still in college, and his good friend Tang Muzhou went to compete in the league, so he had been paying attention to Tang Muzhou's games. Once, Tang Muzhou and Chen Xiao met on the court. In that game, Chen Xiao was defeated 0:2 and was completely beaten by Tang Muzhou. After the game, he shook hands with Tang Muzhou calmly, and when he turned around and left the court, his back was straight.

That night, Pei Jingshan and Tang Muzhou were having dinner, and Pei Jingshan asked, "Chen Xiao is your master's younger brother, right? I didn't expect his level to be so poor. I saw a lot of negative comments about him online, saying that he was bringing shame to Master Lin."

Tang Muzhou's eyes flashed with complicated emotions, and he whispered, "You are wrong to think so. He and I studied together with Master, and his strength is not inferior to mine. Usually, we have wins and losses in PK. It's just that because of some special reasons, he wants to leave the alliance as soon as possible."

Pei Jingshan was very confused: "So, what you mean is that he deliberately lost to you today?"

"That's right." Tang Muzhou said calmly, "Only a very strong master can lose to the opponent without making a sound, and the audience can't even notice it. In fact, he predicted every skill of mine, and was always a few tenths of a second slower than me. It seemed that he was defeated by me because he was not as fast as me, but in fact it was because he knew me too well."

“…So that’s how it is.” Pei Jingshan suddenly realized.

"You and I know this." Tang Muzhou reminded.

"Don't worry, I won't tell anyone." Pei Jingshan paused, "But what he did is a blatant violation of the alliance's rules, right? Isn't he afraid of being discovered by the alliance?"

"This is indeed a passive competition. If he is discovered, he will be warned by the league and banned for a month. However, he is very careful. Only I, who was at the game in person, knew that he did it on purpose. Others generally can't see it." Tang Muzhou sighed and said, "He is determined to leave the professional league and is willing to destroy himself."

"Is there a problem with the contract with the Holy Land?" Pei Jingshan quickly figured out the reason. "If he wants to sue, I can help."

"It's useless. When Master was in court, he hired the best lawyer in the industry, but he still lost in the end. The contract trap of the Holy Land was too big, and he was not in the right at all in court." Tang Muzhou was silent for a moment, and said firmly, "Chen Xiao will definitely come back. I believe he will never give up so easily. He is so talented, it would be a pity if he gave up."

Thinking of the past, Pei Jingshan couldn't help but frown.

The Tang family and the Pei family were old friends. He and Tang Muzhou grew up together and were as close as brothers. Therefore, he did his best to help Tang Muzhou with his master's affairs and knew all the inside stories. Chen Xiao did leave the alliance, but it was said that he did not terminate the contract with the Holy Land. The stubborn boy disappeared from people's sight.

Pei Jingshan only felt pity for Chen Xiao. He was willing to destroy himself in order to leave the alliance, which showed how determined he was. Even if he risked being punished by the alliance by deliberately losing the game, he did not want to make a penny for the Holy Land. It was not easy for a teenager under 18 years old to push himself to this point.

After Pei Jingshan joined the professional league in the seventh season, he focused on developing the Dark Night City Club and no longer paid attention to Chen Xiao.

But now, seeing this familiar face, even though the temperament and appearance had changed a lot, Pei Jingshan still recognized it at a glance. After all, the initial impression was too deep!

He simply took a screenshot and sent the photo to Tang Muzhou, asking directly: "Is this Chen Xiao?"

Tang Muzhou replied with one word: "Yeah."

Seeing him so calm, Pei Jingshan couldn't help but ask, "Did you know that Chen Xiao was coming back?"

Tang Muzhou replied: "Yes, I know. I also know that his ID is Yunxiaozhishang and he joined Uncle Pang's Nirvana Team."

Pei Jingshan immediately grasped the key point: "So, you also know Uncle Fatty?"

Tang Muzhou sent a meaningful smile: "It's hard to say."

Pei Jingshan raised his eyebrows: "What do you mean it's hard to say?"

Tang Muzhou: "I'm afraid you'll hit me if I tell you."

Pei Jingshan: “…………”

Tang Muzhou: "Since we are childhood friends, if I get beaten in the future, please send me to the hospital. Thank you."

Pei Jingshan smiled: "You're welcome, I'll just help you collect the body."

Tang Muzhou: “…”

Friends are unreliable, and the junior brother is the most reliable. Tang Muzhou reminded Xie Mingzhe: "The quarterfinals will be the offline competition, so you should give your fans a heads-up in advance."

Xie Mingzhe thought it made sense, so he posted a Weibo post:

"I received my registration certificate today. I am very grateful for everyone's support and encouragement. I will be a formal professional player in the future. I will continue to work hard! However, the quarterfinals will be the offline competition. I hope you won't be too surprised when you see my true appearance. I believe you all pay attention to me because you like my cards and strength, not my face, right?"

When fans saw this news, they left messages to comfort him:

"Uncle Fat is right, we like you because of the cards you make, not because of your looks, so don't worry, no matter how fat or ugly you are, we will not stop being fans!" "Hug Uncle Fat, your appearance is given by your parents, you can't decide it yourself, we will not turn from fans to haters just because you are not good-looking!" "Don't worry, we are not the kind of superficial fans who only look at the appearance, we are all mentally prepared, we love you even if you are a 200-pound fat man!"

Xie Mingzhe: “…”

When did he say he was not good-looking anymore? The fans were making up stories, and they were so exaggerated that Hsieh Ming-che could not say narcissistically, "I was afraid that I would scare you guys if I was too handsome." So he ignored the fans' comments and focused on the next game.