On the evening of September 26, the other two quarter-final matches were held as scheduled at the officially designated venue.

Xie Mingzhe and his teammates from Nirvana all came to the scene to watch the game.

The first match was between Tang Muzhou and Pei Jingshan. The two of them were good friends who grew up together and knew each other's style and rhythm very well. Therefore, this match was particularly fierce. Every round was a close battle. The audience's hearts were always in suspense. No one could confirm the final winner until the last second.

In fact, when the competition reached the quarterfinals, most of the players were equally strong, and the outcome depended on their performance. Today, Tang Muzhou played more steadily. After the first two rounds were tied at 1:1, in the crucial final round, he used a large number of plants to "feint" and deceive Pei Jingshan's key defensive move, killing Pei Jingshan's Gu ace Spider Queen, and finally won by 1 card difference!

Pei Jingshan shook his hand helplessly to express his congratulations and joked, "Why is your style of playing games becoming more and more annoying? You deliberately tricked me with your ultimate move. Was it influenced by your boyfriend?"

Tang Muzhou smiled and said: "I was full of bad water. It's hard to say whether I influenced him or he influenced me."

Pei Jingshan didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Two evil-minded people were together, bringing disaster to the entire alliance. Was there anyone who could stop them?

The second match was between Xu Changfeng and Ling Jingtang, and it was also very exciting. Xu Changfeng is best at the "cooldown style", with double acceleration cards, all cards' skill cooldowns are reduced, and the frequency of releasing skills is increased, which can produce a large amount of output in a short period of time. But Ling Jingtang's weapon card has a strong critical hit, and before Xu Changfeng's acceleration flow starts, his key acceleration card is killed in seconds!

Ling Jingtang's speed in killing the key cards was extremely fast, and Xu Changfeng found it difficult to defend. In addition, he did not bring many defensive cards in this game. Ling Jingtang used a violent suppression style to win two games in a row and won the game cleanly with a score of 2:0.

So far, the top four of the 11th season individual competition have been officially confirmed -

Tang Muzhou, Ling Jingtang, Shan Lan and Chen Xiao.

This list is difficult for many fans to accept.

In the Ghost Hell Club, none of Lao Zheng, Gui Sirui, and Liu Jingxu made it to the semi-finals, and the water players from Liushuang City were also wiped out. On the refereeing side, fans thought that Nie Shen would make it to the semi-finals, but in the master-disciple civil war in the quarter-finals, Nie Shen lost to Xiao Lan?

Chen Xiao looks out of place among the top four.

Among this year's top four, Tang Muzhou has won two individual championships, Shan Lan was last year's individual champion, and Ling Jingtang, as the originator of the gold system, won the championship as early as the second season. He just didn't participate in individual competitions in recent years, but his strength is still widely recognized by fans.

Only Chen Xiao had never won any awards in the professional league. Although he was not a rookie and had played in the fifth season, Chen Xiao's performance that year was simply terrible - he lost fifty games in a row and left the league in disgrace!

How did such a person make it to the semi-finals?

There were many questioning voices online, saying that Chen Xiao was not qualified to advance to the semi-finals and that it was just a matter of luck due to the schedule arrangement.

After careful analysis, this statement is indeed reasonable. Chen Xiao's schedule was indeed very lucky. The most difficult part was the group stage. He defeated Zhen Man and Qiao Xi in succession, lost to Liu Jingxu, and qualified as the second in the group. If he ran into Ling Jingtang, Nie Yuandao, Tang Muzhou and other top players in the round of 16 or the round of 8, he might not win.

However, in the round of 16, he encountered Lao Zheng. Zheng Feng's earth cards were good at defense, but his output ability was not strong, so Chen Xiao took advantage of the loopholes by using the map. In the round of 8, he encountered Xu Xingtu. Although he was a player with strong single combat ability, this player had problems with his mentality. He underestimated the enemy and was conceited. Chen Xiao studied his routines thoroughly and seized the opportunity to counterattack.

Chen Xiao himself knew that he had luck along the way, but luck is also a part of strength. When God favors you with good luck, whether you can seize this opportunity is the key. For Xu Xingtu, meeting Chen Xiao in the quarterfinals was also a kind of good luck. He lost the game that was a sure win. Isn't this not seizing the opportunity?

There was a lot of doubt from the outside world, but Chen Xiao didn't mind.

He is already very satisfied with reaching the semi-finals. At least he has tried his best in every game and he has a clear conscience.

***

After the game ended that night, the official event manager came backstage with a box and gathered the final four players together. He said, "Starting from the semi-finals, the format is best-of-five. Opponents will also be selected by drawing lots to ensure fairness. Please draw lots to decide your next opponent."

Shan Lan was in a low mood after defeating his master before. Today, he was dragged to the stadium by Nie Yuandao to watch the game. After watching two fierce games, he had adjusted his mentality at this time. He smiled and said, "You guys draw first, just leave one for me."

Tang Muzhou said politely, "It's up to me."

Of course Chen Xiao was embarrassed to draw first, so he said to Ling Jingtang: "How about Ling Shen come first?"

Ling Jingtang readily reached into the box and said with a smile, "Okay, I'll do it. I think it's blue!"

I stretched out my hand and drew the blue one.

Ling Jingtang signaled Chen Xiao to draw again, and Chen Xiao drew a red card.

Different colors, which means he will not face Ling Jingtang in the semi-finals. Chen Xiao breathed a sigh of relief. His style is similar to Ling Jingtang's, he likes to fight head-on. If he faces this great player, his chances of winning are actually very low.

Ling Jingtang is already 30 years old this year, but the strange thing is that this great god's condition has never shown any signs of decline. On the contrary, he has become more and more ferocious in recent years. Moreover, he has never accepted any disciples. He is really a weirdo.

Chen Xiao picked up the red sign in his hand, looked at Tang Muzhou and Shan Lan, and said with a smile: "You two, it's your turn."

Tang Muzhou asked Shanlan to draw, and Shanlan drew blue.

The last card left for Tang Muzhou was naturally the red card. He picked up the red card, looked at Chen Xiao, and said with a smile: "I'll play with you."

Chen Xiao nodded helplessly: "Yeah."

In the semi-finals, Tang Muzhou vs. Chen Xiao, Ling Jingtang vs. Shan Lan.

This result made many of the onlookers feel complicated. Tang Muzhou and Chen Xiao were in a war between wood-type plants. Tang Muzhou had won two championships in the individual competition, so it would not be easy for Chen Xiao to beat him. However, Tang Muzhou's master and junior fellow students were all on the same team with Chen Xiao, so Chen Xiao was not completely hopeless.

The draw results will be announced on the official website soon, and the semi-finals will be held three days later.

When Chen Xiao and his teammates were leaving, Tang Muzhou suddenly stopped him and whispered, "Chen Xiao, do you remember what I said to you when you left the alliance five years ago?"

Chen Xiao was stunned, and the past events that he didn't want to recall suddenly flooded into his mind - he had lost fifty games in a row in the individual competition and met Tang Muzhou who had won fifty games in a row. In order to leave the Holy Land as soon as possible, Chen Xiao did not exert his full strength in the duel with Tang Muzhou, but tried every means to calculate the timing of Tang Muzhou's skill release, and lost two games in a row due to a "just right" mistake.

At that time, many spectators were scolding him, saying that he was bringing shame to his brother Chen Qianlin and that he was not worthy of being a professional player. The scene was filled with harsh boos. Chen Xiao turned away dejectedly, but heard Tang Muzhou say behind him: "When you return to the alliance in the future, I hope that we can have a real competition."

Chen Xiao did not answer at the time. He felt guilty about his brother and hated himself for signing the wrong contract, so he could not raise his head in front of Tang Muzhou. He could only leave in disgrace to avoid all the online abuse.

But today, he finally met Tang Muzhou's gaze calmly and said with a smile: "I remember."

Tang Muzhou also smiled and patted him on the shoulder: "Come on, see you at the game."

Chen Xiao's eyes were firm: "See you at the game."

***

Three days to prepare for a competition is a very tight schedule.

My opponent is Tang Muzhou. I don’t know whether this is bad luck or good fortune.

Chen Xiao understands Tang Muzhou, and Tang Muzhou also understands Chen Xiao. Five years ago, the two of them learned card-making from Chen Qianlin together and became close friends who could talk about anything. They practiced together in the arena every day. Many of Tang Muzhou's cards were made with the help of Chen Xiao. Even Tang Muzhou's sexual orientation was a secret that Chen Xiao was one of the few people who knew, which shows Tang Muzhou's trust in him.

In the fifth season, Tang Muzhou won the individual championship with consecutive victories, while Chen Xiao left with regret after losing consecutive games. At that time, the Internet was full of comments such as "The wood system can only rely on Tang Muzhou" and "Chen Xiao should get out of the league", but Tang Muzhou knew very well that Chen Xiao's strength at that time was not inferior to his.

But that was then.

The current Tang Muzhou is no longer the boy who used to learn card making from Chen Qianlin.

Chen Xiao knew very well that Tang Muzhou had been tempered by so many years of competitions, and his on-the-spot reaction ability, speed of response, accumulation of experience and tactical qualities were far superior to him, a player who had been away from the league for five years.

It was as if they were standing at the same starting line at the beginning, with equal strength. However, in the past five years, Tang Muzhou has been running forward, while Chen Xiao has stopped where he is.

It's not so easy to catch up with him now.

Except for the heartless Yu Ke who maintained an optimistic attitude, everyone else in Nirvana felt that this game was more dangerous than good.

Xie Mingzhe didn't dare to say anything more, for fear of affecting Brother Chen's mentality.

But Chen Qianlin said directly in the meeting: "Chen Xiao, your chances of winning against Tang Muzhou are at most 40%. He has not missed any competition from the fifth season to the eleventh season, while you have not played in a professional league for five years. He can suppress you just by relying on his rich experience in big competitions. I hope you can recognize this reality."

Xie Mingzhe: “…”

The master really didn't give me any face at all, and what he said was so discouraging.

Fortunately, Chen Xiao didn't mind at all. Hearing his brother's words, he smiled slightly, his eyes calm and calm: "Brother, I know that the five-year gap between him and me is not so easy to catch up. Winning or losing the game is not important. Tang Muzhou and I made an appointment that year. When I come back, I will have a real competition with him again. As long as I don't lose as badly as I did five years ago, as long as I can show my strength uprightly, it will be enough."

Everyone was a little surprised to hear this.

Chen Qianlin also turned around and looked at him, seemingly not believing that these were words spoken by Chen Xiao.

My younger brother has indeed grown up and is no longer the rebellious and radical teenager he used to be.

——Yes, all he wanted was a real showdown.

- Stop suppressing yourself because of the contract, and have a game with your best friend in an upright manner.

——regardless of winning or losing.

Chen Qianlin breathed a sigh of relief, his eyes softened for once: "It's best if you think this way. In five years, he has improved beyond your imagination, but he also can't predict your changes. You were very aggressive in your previous PKs with him, this time, I hope you stay calm and think carefully about the details of the battle."

Chen Xiao nodded vigorously: "I understand."

Chen Qianlin said, "I will give you some advice on the deck, but I don't know Tang Muzhou as well as I did five years ago. I can only analyze him theoretically, and I will react accordingly. It's up to you."

He picked out several decks for his brother on the spot, Xie Mingzhe also helped with ideas and map selection, Yu Ke and Qin Xuan said they would practice with Brother Chen around the clock - everyone in the Nirvana Club came out together and was fully prepared for this semi-final.

***

Three days later, the official designated competition venue.

The 11th individual competition semi-finals officially begins!

In the first match, Ling Jingtang vs. Shanlan, the battle was as intense as expected. Shanlan's aerial birds were flexible in movement and quick in attack, while Ling Jingtang's weapon cards had high critical strike and strong suppressive power. Shanlan won the next game at home, but soon after, Ling Jingtang won three games in a row and won 3:1!

The "best of five" format in the semi-finals increases the number of games and minimizes randomness.

The score of 3:1 is enough to prove the strength of the veteran player Ling Jingtang.

The second game, Tang Muzhou vs. Chen Xiao.

Pre-match predictions showed that Tang Muzhou had an absolute advantage. He is currently the strongest representative of the Wood element. The fans he has accumulated over the years are not comparable to Chen Xiao. However, Nirvana fans also voted for Brother Chen. The most conflicted were the fans of the Master School. Fans who liked Chen Qianlin, Tang Muzhou, Xie Mingzhe, and Chen Xiao at the same time could only remain neutral.

Su Yang said excitedly: "Chen Xiao and Tang Muzhou, this is a civil war of the Wood Element. One is Chen Qianlin's younger brother, and the other is Chen Qianlin's apprentice. Both of them made it to the semi-finals. So, Chen Qianlin is the ultimate winner, right?"

Wu Yue smiled and said, "Director, come and give our Master Lin a shot!"

The director cooperated and cut the camera to the backstage. In the spectator seats, Chen Qianlin had a blank expression on his face. Even when the camera was pointed at his face, he remained calm. His light-colored pupils were highly recognizable and looked clear and translucent. He acted like a nonchalant spectator, as if this game had nothing to do with him at all.

When fans saw Chen Qianlin, they screamed and flooded the screen with comments: "Master Lin is so handsome!" "Lick my master's face." "This master's looks are amazing, Chen Qianlin leads the way, Tang Muzhou, Chen Xiao, Xie Mingzhe, aren't there any ugly ones?" "Does this mean Master Lin is obsessed with looks?" "Master Lin said, if you are ugly, don't worship me as your master!"

When Chen Qianlin appeared on the big screen, he still had a blank expression on his face and sat like a statue.

The director had no choice but to cut the camera back to the big stage.

At this time, Chen Xiao and Tang Muzhou had already come on stage. They gently hugged each other in the middle of the stage, patted each other on the shoulders, and then returned to their swivel chairs.

Needless to say, today, they will all give full play to their strengths without reservation.

This was a showdown that was five years overdue, but the promise they made in their youth was finally going to be fulfilled at this moment.