Chapter 781 - Hidden Strength

Hua Qiushui waved off Exemplary Willow’s question and said, “It’s nothing. Watch your Aunty Hua avenge your losses.”

“Thank you, Aunty Hua.” Exemplary Willow smiled sweetly, her mood brightening.

Following which, Hua Qiushui contacted Everlasting War and asked in a low tone, “Everlasting, what is your opinion on the Asura Battle Team’s strength?”

“My opinion?” Everlasting War wondered why Hua Qiushui asked such a question. “The Asura Battle Team is very strong. A few of its members feel like intense threats. As for the team leader, Ye Feng, he is a Refinement Realm expert. However, based on our team’s strength, winning should not be a problem.”

There were a total of five matches in this competition. Two were one-on-ones, one was a two-on-two, and two were three-on-threes. To secure victory, a battle team only needed to win three matches.

Even if a battle team had an invincible expert, at most, the team would win one match, not the competition. Furthermore, Ye Feng was not invincible. Everlasting War was 60% certain of defeating Ye Feng.

“There should not be a problem?” Hua Qiushui’s expression was stern. Even for her, this was a very large wager. If the Asura Battle Team’s employer wasn’t a fool, then they must be absolutely confident of their team.

Although Hua Qiushui trusted Everlasting War’s estimation, she did not think that the Asura Battle Team’s employer would bet on luck. A fool like that would never make it to a place like this.

“Everlasting, do what you need to. We’re sending in Team Two.” After giving it some thought, Hua Qiushui made up her mind.

“Are we really going to mobilize Team Two?” Everlasting War was shocked. “Currently, we still have quite a few matches to win before we can challenge the organizer. Is mobilizing Team Two necessary? If we reveal our strength too soon, it would only make it easier for our future opponents to learn our weaknesses.”

Nine people had been chosen during the Glorious Lions’ audition. Including Everlasting War, they formed a full battle team.

Afterward, however, Everlasting War learned that those nine members were only reserves. The battle team’s official members had long since been decided. Only, Hua Qiushui had never mentioned that before the audition. This had been the Glorious Lions Battle Team’s secret. So far, he had only been introduced to two of the other nine official members. However, both of these people were strong enough to frighten Everlasting War.

When the audition members learned that they were merely reserve members, they were not pleased. As a result, the nine of them had fought the two official members in a team battle. In the end, victory had belonged to the two official members. Neither had even lost any HP throughout the battle.

The nine audition members had no choice but to admit their defeat. The difference in their strengths was too massive.

Hence, the Glorious Lions Battle Team’s reserve members formed Team One, while Team Two consisted of the battle team’s official members. Even Everlasting War had no idea where Hua Qiushui had found these experts.

Meanwhile, Everlasting War was only Team Two’s Vice-Leader. As for the mysterious official leader, even now, Everlasting War had yet to him. However, whenever he saw Hua Qiushui converse with that person, the woman would show respect. Her voice carried none of the commanding tone it usually had when she spoke to him.

“The wager is too big to risk. Notify the organizer. The competition has not begun yet, so there should be no issues in making a last minute change to our roster,” Hua Qiushui demanded.

In truth, aside from worrying that the Asura Battle Team hid its strength, Hua Qiushui wanted to show Ye Feng that the audition members were merely part of a reserve team. They were minor characters she used to deceive her enemies.

“I understand.” Everlasting War sighed helplessly. He had looked forward to an intense match against the Asura Battle Team. Now, however, that was no longer possible. The members of Team One were capable of defeating the Asura Battle Team. However, there was a massive gap between Team One and Team Two. The Asura Battle Team had no hopes of winning against Team Two.

---

After the Glorious Lions Battle Team and the Asura Battle Team confirmed their bets and registered their participating members, a commotion ripped through the Main Venue.

“What the... What is this?”

“Why did the Glorious Lions swap out their members?”

“Wait, the team’s leader, Everlasting War, is still on the team. Only the other members have been replaced.”

“Don’t tell me they’re complaining that the Asura Battle Team is too weak and are trying to up the risk of the competition.”

...

The audience fell into a heated discussion.

Although last-minute replacements frequently occurred in the Dark Arena, there had never been a full team replacement, excluding the leader.

“Something’s not right!” Gentle Snow’s expression suddenly turned grim.

“Snow, what’s going on?” Zhao Yueru asked curiously.

“The Glorious Lions aren’t replacing their stronger members with weaker ones! They’re replacing their weaker members with stronger ones!” Gentle Snow said seriously. “I had never imagined that the Glorious Lions would have hidden their strength so deeply. They kept their true strength hidden all this time. The Asura Battle Team is in danger.”

“Snow, how do you know that the Glorious Lions have replaced their weaker team with a stronger one? Their levels are mostly the same.” Zhao Yueru looked at the levels of the new members. The highest among them was Level 36, while the lowest was Level 35. They were not much stronger than the previous team. Moreover, she had never seen any of the new members before. They were not particularly famous in the virtual gaming world.

“It’s not surprising that you don’t know them. I have only encountered a few of these people by chance,” Gentle Snow said, smiling bitterly. “That tanned, skinny Level 36 Assassin named Long Rainbow defeated four of Underworld’s Seven Ghosts by himself in the Divine Battlefield. He is slightly stronger than Great Ghost, the Seven Ghosts’ number one expert. That Level 36 blue-armored Swordsman named Blood Sun defeated War Wolf and Soaring Snake by himself in the Divine Battlefield as well.”

She had only discovered this information from her spies in Underworld.

Currently, Underworld sided with Cao Chenghua. Naturally, she had been forced to take her own countermeasures.

These incidents had flabbergasted Underworld’s upper echelons. Nobody could have imagined that their top experts, who had gone into the Divine Battlefield to grind, would have been hunted for points.

Gentle Snow had been quite pleased when she heard the news. She never imagined that someone other than Black Flame would cause so much trouble for Underworld. Now, however, she felt no joy at all.

“That can’t be true, right? Since when have the Glorious Lions been so strong?” Zhao Yueru knew plenty about Underworld’s Seven Ghosts. She also remembered War Wolf’s strength. The man had played with Fierce Snake, one of Ouroboros’s Twelve Apostles, like a toy. Even Zhao Yueru feared the man’s strength. Yet, someone had defeated such a powerful expert despite him combining his strength with Soaring Snake’s, the Twelve Apostles’ number one expert.

---

Like Gentle Snow, Phoenix Rain, who sat comfortably in a VIP room, frowned deeply.

“Damn it! Why is he here?!” Phoenix Rain glared at the Glorious Lions’ new leader, complaining indignantly, “Do the Battle Wolves not care about their reputation?!”