Time flies by quickly, and players from both teams are preparing intensively for this playoff game.

In a blink of an eye, a week passed.

On October 17, the first round of the playoffs officially kicked off.

Saturday night was the match between Fenghua and Shadow, and Fenghua won the victory with a score of 3:0.

Xie Mingzhe lay in bed, tossing and turning. He kept thinking whether the strategy against Xu Xingtu would work. He finally fell asleep in a daze. In his dream, he suddenly returned to the All-Star Game. He saw from a God's perspective that in the desert island survival mode, Ling Jingtang was dealing with Zheng, Gui, Nie, and Lan alone, causing the two groups of masters and apprentices to fight each other, and reaped the benefits. It was really smart.

If Xie Mingzhe and his senior brothers had not joined forces, Ling Jingtang would have been the ultimate winner of that match.

Later in the character design, Lao Zheng designed the skill for Ling Jingtang as "being sad because of not having a disciple"... It seems that Ling Jingtang is the only one among the five senior masters who has never accepted a disciple?

Xie Mingzhe was dreaming in a daze. When he woke up the next morning, he thought about this strange dream and felt uneasy.

Ling Jingtang's weapon card made the league change the review rules of gold cards for him, and his playing style was extremely cold and violent. His performance in the All-Star Game impressed Xie Mingzhe. Ling Shen never put on airs, looked very friendly, and often grabbed red envelopes in the group and joked with young players... However, this person is actually very rational and can find the best solution in difficult situations.

Nirvana wants to use Xu Xingtu as a breakthrough point. Could it be that Ling Shen is completely unprepared?

Xie Mingzhe met Chen Xiao and Chen Qianlin in the restaurant. He couldn't help asking, "Master, Ling Shen doesn't have any disciples, right? I remember that Lao Zheng always teased him about this. Do you know why he doesn't accept any disciples?"

Chen Qianlin was stunned: "Why are you asking this all of a sudden?"

Xie Mingzhe said, "I am just a little confused. There are so many talented newcomers in the Temple of the Gods. Has Ling Jingtang ever thought about taking in an apprentice and passing the weapon card to his apprentice? If he wanted to take in an apprentice, there would be many people vying to become his apprentice."

Chen Qianlin shook his head and said, "I don't know why he doesn't accept disciples. I'm not very familiar with Ling Jingtang."

Among the five veteran players, Chen Qianlin has the best relationship with Su Yang, an average relationship with Zheng Feng and Nie Yuandao, and the least communication with Ling Jingtang, so he is indeed not very clear about the affairs of the Temple of the Gods.

Xie Mingzhe had no choice but to stop asking. It seemed that not many people knew what the master didn't know. However, Ling Jingtang seemed to have many secrets that were hard to see through.

In the afternoon, everyone practiced the tactics again. At 6:30 in the evening, everyone finished their meal early and rushed to the competition site.

By this time the venue was already packed with fans of the two clubs, and everywhere were posters saying "Go Nirvana" and "Temple of the Gods Must Win".

The actual competition will start at seven o'clock.

Xie Mingzhe saw many familiar faces in the backstage. When Bai Xu saw him, he ran over and asked, "Who does Diao Chan like? Is it the young and handsome Lu Bu? He can't have strange tastes and like that old man Dong Zhuo, right?"

Xie Mingzhe laughed and teased him: "Why should I tell you? You and Ye Zhu teamed up to be my anti-fans."

Bai Xu was stunned for a moment, then he clarified seriously: "No, it's not true. I'm not familiar with Ye Zhu."

"..." What a guy without any principles. Xie Mingzhe reached out and rubbed Brother Bai's head, saying, "Diao Chan and Lu Bu ended up together. The specific story will be added in the card encyclopedia, so you can pay attention to it."

Bai Xu, who guessed correctly, asked excitedly: "What about Bai Suzhen and Xu Xian..."

Before he could finish his words, Tang Muzhou grabbed his brother by the collar and dragged him to the side like a chicken: "Ask about these messy questions about the impact on the competition. I'll let your brother Azhe tell you the story in the future when there's a chance."

Bai Xu's ears slightly blushed: "Who wants to listen to his story! I asked for Ye Zhu."

After saying that, he ran away, as if he had forgotten what he had just said, "He and Ye Zhu are not familiar with each other"?

Xie Mingzhe didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He looked at Tang Muzhou and said, "Come to watch the game in person?"

Tang Muzhou smiled and said, "Yes. Fenghua finished the first round, and the next match will be in half a month. Anyway, I am free, so I will come to the scene to cheer for you in person."

Xie Mingzhe shook his hand and said, "Then borrow your good luck from winning the first game and give me some good luck."

As the two were chatting, the players from the Temple of the Gods arrived.

Xie Mingzhe looked back and saw Ling Jingtang pushing a wheelchair in front of him. A handsome young man was sitting in the wheelchair. Behind him were three players, Xu Hang, Xu Xingtu, and Zhou Xingchen, as well as the manager sister of the Temple of the Gods.

The atmosphere in the backstage suddenly became strange. Old Zheng was the first to come to his senses, walked over and said with a smile: "What a rare opportunity! Is Ye Suqian, the legendary card maker of the Temple of the Gods, coming to watch the game in person today?"

Ye Suqian smiled slightly and nodded politely: "Senior, long time no see."

Xie Mingzhe was very surprised and asked Tang Muzhou in a low voice: "Why is he here?"

"This match is of great significance. People on the Internet are saying that this is a 'fight between gods'. It is the first open confrontation between gods and immortals. It is normal for him to come to the scene to watch the match in person." Tang Muzhou explained, "Don't think too much, just play well later."

"Yeah." Xie Mingzhe agreed, and when he turned around, he met Ye Suqian's eyes.

The man's eyes were clear and bright, as if they could see into people's hearts. He didn't seem to have any hostility towards Xie Mingzhe. Instead, he smiled when their eyes met, just like an old friend who hadn't seen each other for a long time.

Xie Mingzhe walked over and said hello: "Hello, Ye Suqian, this is the first time we meet in real life."

Xie Mingzhe had met him in the game a long time ago. He told Xie Mingzhe the origin of the God Card and said to Xie Mingzhe, "I hope you can come up with more interesting original cards when we meet next time. When you become a professional player, we can compete again."

Now that they meet again, Xie Mingzhe not only took out the original cards, but also established a new race that can compete with the divine cards - the Immortal Race.

Ye Suqian raised his head and looked at him: "This is indeed the first time we meet in real life. Hello, Xie Mingzhe."

Xie Mingzhe looked at him carefully. His face was paler than that of an average person, probably because he had been ill since childhood, but he did not look weak. His legs were covered with a blanket, and the thin blanket covered his ankles. Although he could only look up at others in a wheelchair, his eyes were calm, without any feeling of being "inferior", and there was a hint of pride in his eyes.

Xie Mingzhe smiled, leaned over to Ye Suqian's ear and whispered, "Don't worry about the comments on the Internet. I made the immortal tablets not to replace your divine tablets. I also approve of the divine tablets you made."

"I know." Ye Suqian looked at Xie Mingzhe and said in a voice that they could both hear: "Cards of any race have their reasons for existence. Those who discuss whether to replace or not don't understand the meaning of making cards at all."

"So you came here in person today, not to call for justice?" Xie Mingzhe said jokingly. Then, he heard Ye Suqian's gentle voice: "I came here just to fulfill a promise I made to you."

"...Agreement?" Xie Mingzhe looked confused.

"What are you two whispering about?" Ling Jingtang interrupted them with a smile. Ye Suqian nodded to Xie Mingzhe, then said to Ling Jingtang, "It's time to get ready."

"Okay, see you at the stadium." Ling Jingtang said goodbye to everyone and left in his wheelchair.

Looking at their backs, Xie Mingzhe still didn't understand what Ye Suqian meant. What was the agreement?

***

At 7:30, the competition officially began.

The two contestants came onto the big stage amid warm applause.

Nirvana was the first to appear on stage - Chen Xiao, Xie Mingzhe, Yu Ke and Qin Xuan took the stage one after another.

Since Hsieh Ming-che gave up the individual competition, he has not appeared in public for a month and a half. His fans missed him very much. When they saw him come out, the whole audience immediately burst into screams. Posters with Hsieh Ming-che's Q-version portrait and Nirvana cheering posters were all held high. The fans at the scene even excitedly played human waves: "Nirvana, come on!"

The shouting was deafening.

Su Yang exclaimed: "Nirvana is really popular!"

Wu Yue said: "Although Nirvana won the fourth place in Group B in the first half of the regular season and surprisingly qualified for the playoffs, the current Nirvana is no longer the team that had a hard time qualifying. After six months of training, all members of Nirvana have greatly increased their strength, and Chen Xiao even won the third place in the individual competition!"

Liu Chen said: "In addition, Xie Mingzhe gave up his rights in the individual competition to prepare a deck and created an original type of fairy cards. The card pool that Nirvana announced this time really opened my eyes. I still can't remember the names of the Ten Kings of Hell, the Eight Immortals, and the Seven Star Lords..."

Su Yang smiled and said, "I can't remember clearly either, so I am looking forward to Nirvana's performance in the playoffs."

Wu Yue said: "Let us welcome the four contestants of Nirvana with warm applause!"

The big screen showed the profiles of the four players and their commonly used cards, and the audience's applause was almost enough to lift the roof off the house.

Liu Chen said: "Next, four players from the Temple of Sentient Beings will take the stage."

Wu Yuejin followed up with the introduction: "The Temple of the Gods team is a veteran team that was established in the second season. I believe everyone is very familiar with the representative player Ling Jingtang. Today, he will lead his teammates..."

On the big stage, as the spotlight found Ling Jingtang's figure, the audience discovered a strange scene -

Ling Jingtang was seen pushing a wheelchair onto the big stage. Sitting on the wheelchair was a pale and handsome young man. He had a calm expression, his hands lightly placed on his knees, and he was wearing the uniform of the Temple of the Gods. The white uniform made him look very thin, and his legs were covered with a thin blanket that hung down to his ankles.

Xie Mingzhe: “………………”

Audience: “????”

The barrage in the live broadcast room was almost going crazy: "What the hell, what's going on?" "Where did the man in the wheelchair come from? Does the Temple of the Gods have a player with disabled legs?" "Could it be the legendary chief card designer of the Temple of the Gods?"

"What does it mean to push a designer onto the stage? Ling Shen is kidding!" "Am I dreaming? Is this Ye Suqian? The original creator of the magic card?" "Bringing spectators onto the stage during a match? What the hell is this Ye Suqian doing?"

The audience was completely confused and didn't understand what the Temple of the Gods was doing.

Chen Qianlin, who was watching the game from the backstage, saw this and his expression changed slightly: "I didn't expect it to be like this... I underestimated Ling Jingtang."

Tang Muzhou had a complicated expression: "Replacing people on the battlefield, Ling Jingtang's move was really cruel."

Xie Mingzhe really wanted to throw his helmet off at this moment!

Nirvana's recent tactics preparations were all based on the strategy of "targeting Xu Xingtu" and "first defeating Xu Xingtu". He never expected that Xu Xingtu would not play, but was replaced by Ye Suqian who had never played in a professional league!

Ling Jing Tang was really unexpected.

No wonder he had been feeling restless these past few days; it turned out that his recent dreams were warning him not to underestimate Ling Jingtang.

Ling Jingtang was able to survive to the finals alone in the All-Star Desert Island Survival Mode, and let Zheng Gui and his apprentice fight against Nie Lan and his apprentice, reaping the benefits. His calmness and wisdom are not comparable to that of ordinary people - he obviously saw that Xu Xingtu would become the broken ribbon of the Temple of the Gods, so he replaced this broken ribbon neatly!

What is Ye Suqian's playing style? No one knows, so how can we counter it?

At this moment, Xie Mingzhe felt a chill down his spine.

Ye Suqian just said that he did it to fulfill a promise and he finally figured it out.

Ye Suqian had told him in the game that he would have a real duel with him when he became a professional player. He thought the "duel" he was talking about was about making cards, but he didn't expect that he would come to the game in person!

Wu Yue was halfway through her words when she suddenly saw Ling Jingtang pushing a wheelchair onto the stage. She almost bit her tongue.

To prevent information from being leaked, the league would not release the names of the contestants to the commentator until three minutes before the game started. When Wu Yue opened the sealed list and glanced at it, she was a little bit incredulous when she saw "Ye Suqian". At this moment, seeing Ling Jingtang really pushing a wheelchair onto the field, Wu Yue felt mixed emotions and said with a trembling voice, "The person sitting in the wheelchair is Ye Suqian, the chief card designer of the Temple of the Gods, the original author of the God Cards. Today... he is not here to watch the game, but to participate!"

Liu Chen said: "The list of four contestants of the Temple of the Gods today does include Ye Suqian. Ling Jingtang submitted a substitution application a week ago. In this game, Xu Xingtu will be replaced by Ye Suqian."

Su Yang was just a guest commentator and had no idea about this. He was shocked to see Ye Suqian coming up in a wheelchair. After a moment of silence, he said, "Ye Suqian rarely appears in public. He has always been the designer behind the scenes of the Temple of the Gods. He made all the god tablets, and even participated in the design of some weapon tablets in the Ling Jing Hall. I didn't expect him to... come to compete in person?"

Backstage, Ye Zhu and Bai Xu, who were discussing the sequel to the Legend of the White Snake, immediately stopped their discussion.

Bai Xu's eyes widened: "Is this even possible? Isn't Ye Suqian a professional designer? Can he still compete?"

Tang Muzhou replied in a low voice: "He is also a professional athlete."

Bai Xu turned his head to look at his brother and found that his brother's expression was extremely complicated. He said word by word: "In the fifth season, I played against him in the Masters Tournament. His strength was not inferior to mine, and he won the runner-up of the Masters Tournament. However, he was in a wheelchair at the time, and there were too many controversies about him on the Internet. After he signed with the Temple of the Gods, he retreated to the background and never played a game as a professional player again - but he is indeed a professional player, and the league has always had his registration information."

Listening to Tang Muzhou's narration, the great players watching the game in the backstage looked at each other in bewilderment.

Having only played in the Masters and never participated in a professional league, Ye Suqian's biggest flaw is his lack of experience in major tournaments.

However, as the original author of the God Cards, he definitely knows every God Card much better than Xu Xingtu. Moreover, he also participated in the design of many cards of the Temple of the Gods, and even made the "Piranha Plant" instant death card to target Xie Mingzhe. His familiarity with teammates and opponents is no less than Xu Xingtu.

The team competition was directed by Ling Jingtang. As long as he kept up with Ling Jingtang's rhythm, he could play a perfect match.

When everyone thought of this, they all felt worried for Xie Mingzhe.

Before, when the Nirvana deck was announced, everyone felt sorry for Ling Shen - poor Ling Jingtang had to familiarize himself with so many weird cards in Nirvana in such a short period of time, his head must be exploding, right?

However, now, everyone began to sympathize with Xie Mingzhe again - Nirvana certainly did not expect Ling Jingtang to make a temporary substitution. In this case, the previous tactical arrangements would be useless, and the commander must adapt to the situation and change the strategy according to the situation on the field, which is extremely difficult.

Xie Mingzhe cheated Ling Jingtang, and Ling Jingtang cheated Xie Mingzhe again. Both sides cheated each other and ended up in a draw.

The game hasn't even started yet, but the psychological warfare is already so intense... The upcoming game will undoubtedly be a "fight between gods"!