Chapter Fifty-Five: The Pull of the King

Jing was soaring through the air, thoroughly enjoying himself, when he was suddenly yanked back—a third skill, out of nowhere, shrouded him in darkness.

Damn! Was that really so precise?

Even though he was under the tower, Jing felt absolutely no sense of security. He hurriedly used his first skill, desperate to escape.

But the Elder Master had already activated his second skill again, relentlessly pursuing him with a flurry of basic attacks.

In the end, Fei once again slid down the wall, unleashing a combo that knocked Jing into the air, seamlessly following up with several attacks, finishing Jing off.

The only one left on the opposing side was Adou, whose health was already depleted and who had nowhere left to run. He was quickly dispatched by Fei and Shangguan Wan’er.

Lin Hao’s Elder Master was left with just a sliver of health. He quickly retreated from under the tower, slipping into the gap between the enemy’s first and second towers.

Lianpo, on the other hand, had died tanking the tower hits. Now, the defense tower was targeting Fei, but Lin Hao made a swift U-turn, leaving directly via the path beside the first tower.

“Holy crap! That’s a king’s pull!”

“Incredible! He caught Jing even at high speed!”

“This skill is way better than Yifan’s. Lately, Yifan’s Elder Master just keeps feeding.”

“Hey, stop comparing! Both streamers’ Elder Masters are really strong!”

This sequence of plays earned Lin Hao a surge of new followers.

The viewer count in his live stream had now soared to 1,500,000.

Such rapid growth was largely thanks to Elephant Guild’s starlight recommendation.

At this moment, Lin Hao’s stream was featured on the homepage!

Droves of viewers saw his promotional banner and, curious, clicked in to watch.

Meanwhile, on Xinran’s side, she died again, and inevitably, a wave of negativity swept through her chat.

“You could have just used your first skill to pull him, Xinran!”

“?????”

“What was that play?”

“Didn’t get it at all.”

“So far, it seems like Xi Shi hasn’t managed to pull Elder Master even once, right?”

“Game over, game over. Tomorrow’s King’s Pinnacle Tournament, Xinran is going to be a highlight reel for the wrong reasons.”

“In the white-bullet Pinnacle Tournament, even hitting 1,500 is hard, but here in the stream, you’re lecturing a top-100 pro?”

“Exactly, exactly. If you think you’re so good, get in there yourself!”

“Xinran, sweetheart, hang in there.”

Xinran pressed her lips together, and after a moment, explained, “I predicted he’d use his flash and ult to lock onto Marco Polo at that distance. That spot was basically guaranteed to hit. Even if he tried to reposition, with just a little delay, Marco Polo would escape Elder Master’s ult range.”

“How was I supposed to know he’d ult me directly?”

“It wouldn’t have been so bad if it was just the support and me left under the tower, but then Jing showed up for a free kill, and that’s where it all went wrong.”

There was one thing Xinran didn’t say: Jing could have actually pulled off a play just now.

He’d positioned his mirror field perfectly, sealing off Lin Hao’s escape route, and it was set horizontally, perfect for chaining ultimates.

But with one skill from Elder Master, Jing’s beautiful plan was shattered.

What a precise pull.

Xinran had to admit, Lin Hao’s Elder Master was truly impressive.

Still, it was only the bottom lane lost. Their lineup was still viable; with Marco Polo scaling into late game, victory was still possible.

The game continued.

It’s worth noting that the previous teamfight had lasted just over ten seconds. Yuan Ge’s rotation after clearing the wave had taken too long; by the time he arrived, all of Lin Hao’s teammates had already fled, leaving him no chance to pick up kills.

The first tower in the bottom lane collapsed, signaling that the enemy team was now in dire straits.

The top lane had already been an advantage, and now with the bottom lane pushed and Fei taking the opportunity to secure the dragon, Xinran’s team could only play defensively.

This was when Elder Master’s advantage became apparent.

Lin Hao began split-pushing the side lane, applying pressure.

His teammates maintained control of the mid lane.

A skirmish broke out mid, mainly as they tried to pressure the tower. Xi Shi managed to pull the airborne Shangguan Wan’er, and with her teammates, quickly burst her down.

Fei followed up with damage, but failed to finish off Marco Polo. Instead, he was surrounded and lost his life.

However, Li Yuanfang and Lianpo seized the chance to take down the mid turret, making it a trade of one tower for two deaths—not a bad deal.

Lin Hao ignored all this, happily split-pushing top.

By the ten-minute mark, Lin Hao had saved up enough for Sky Dome.

With the latest patch changes, Elder Master had leaped from third-to-last to first place in win rate among all solo lane heroes.

Now, Elder Master, equipped with Weakening and Sky Dome, was tankier than even Bai Qi.

Of course, the main reason was his second skill’s damage reduction, as well as Sky Dome’s active.

This match featured Xi Shi, Marco Polo, and Yuan Ge.

Lin Hao naturally couldn’t bring Weakening, or he’d get dragged to his death.

With Flash equipped, Lin Hao could see Yuan Ge trying to harass him with his second and third skills whenever he cleared waves. Lin Hao simply nudged his joystick, moving Elder Master forward a few steps, and Yuan Ge would panic and burn his ultimate early.

Such was Elder Master’s oppressive presence!

Lin Hao chuckled, “Yuan Ge is always wary of my flash-ult combo. Look at the distance he keeps—it’s just about where my flash-ult can reach, but he’s always watching my movement, trying to preempt my play, so he ends up using his ultimate first.”

“When Elder Master just tilts his head, Xiao Nan’s practically scared out of his wits.”

“This Elder Master is really fierce.”

“Way better than Yifan’s—Yifan just dives towers and feeds.”

“Come on, stop comparing them—keep it up and you’ll get muted.”

Meanwhile, in Lin Hao’s mind, his Rage meter was steadily rising.

“Rage from Xiao Nan +100.”

“Rage from Xiao Nan +200.”

Of course, Lin Hao had no intention of actually using his flash-ult; if it missed, Xiao Nan’s pleasure meter would skyrocket, erasing all the rage points he’d just collected.

So Lin Hao stuck to his usual habit: whenever the enemy watched him clear a wave, he’d land one attack and recall, smoothly connecting the two actions.

Xinran finished clearing the wave and came over from the red side, but Lin Hao had already retreated to a safe distance. With his first skill, he pulled the last minion to himself, hit it once, and immediately turned and ran.

Xinran said with a headache, “With Elder Master having built Sky Dome, the only way we can catch him is if Marco Polo brings the whole team up with him. But if we throw all our skills at Elder Master and they group up and counterattack, it’s game over.”

She thought for a moment, then typed to her teammates, “I’ll ambush for you. Or should we try to make a play in the side lane and catch Elder Master?”

If she could gank him when he didn’t have vision, Elder Master would be easy to pull.

Xiao Nan had already unmuted his mic and quickly vetoed the idea: “Even if I do full damage, I can’t kill Elder Master. He’s too fed now. Even if you pull him and I unload my entire combo, I doubt I’d take off half his health.”

“I’ll set up the ambush. Let’s triple-team him!”

Jing typed in the chat.