Chapter 194: After she left, what did you guys do?
The video of Mount Flower thrashing Shaliye quickly spread throughout Yunxia.
Mount Flower’s clear-cut victory over Shaliye gave a much-needed shot in the arm to the recently newsworthy Mount Flower. Moreover, it made more Yunxia people truly realize that winning a match could be so effortless for them.
Once, everyone viewed associations like Sanctuary and Frost Moon as insurmountable mountains. Now that they had lost, people felt uncertain, wondering: Were they ever that formidable?
An A-Level match had boosted the morale of the Yunxia people. After the match ended, Mount Flower’s official account gained a surge of new followers, even drawing the attention of international audiences.
Of course, Shaliye, having lost the match, was scolded to oblivion by Sanctuary’s fans.
All communities have their trolls. Much like when Yunxia teams lose matches, these trolls don’t care about any disparity in cards or players. To them, losing is a crime.
[As the second-ranked association of Sanctuary, to actually lose to a Yunxia team?]
[The Shaliye A-Rank Group should just disband, aren’t you ashamed of having a world record for fastest defeat set against you?]
[Oh God, the fastest loss in history, truly befitting of you, Shaliye!]
[Losing to Temple of the Gods might be forgivable, but losing to Yunxia, why don’t you just go die?]
[Trash Shaliye, everyone in the A-Rank Group should retire.]
Judging by the trolls’ comments, the situation wasn’t much better than in Yunxia.
This decisive victory over Shaliye was a prime opportunity for celebration. However, as soon as the match ended, Tang Qian hurriedly led the other four players away, while Wen Jiang was separately summoned to the hotel by Hua Zhuo.
Hua Zhuo didn’t usually pay much attention to the A-Rank Group’s matches, only watching a bit more when Wen Jiang was involved, and she could spot more issues than others.
When she saw Wen Jiang back at the hotel, her first words were, "This isn’t good for your teammates."
Wen Jiang paused, then grasped Hua Zhuo’s meaning and smiled faintly. "Isn’t winning the championship good for them?"
"Winning the championship is inevitable, but it’s not necessarily a good thing for them," Hua Zhuo sighed. "Ah Jiang, not everyone has the same mindset and strength as you. The other four are just average competitors on the world stage. If you leave the team in the future, they certainly won’t be able to continue."
This wasn’t just about the skill gap Wen Jiang bridged. To put it bluntly, Wen Jiang had elevated them to an entirely different level.
Those with a broader perspective might not see it as an issue now, but what about the future?
If Chen Runyu and the others continued to compete without significant improvement in their skills, all these problems would surface if the team faced setbacks in the future. For instance, the pressure from public opinion and their own mental stress.
Sometimes, having too smooth a journey isn’t a good thing.
Especially this match against Shaliye. Logically, it should have been a fierce battle. However, Shaliye’s all-or-nothing gamble gave Wen Jiang an opening, leading to their devastating collapse, leaving them unable to even mount a proper defense.
Such a match could give Chen Runyu and the others the wrong impression.
"Everyone’s talent is different," Hua Zhuo said earnestly. "Their innate abilities determine that they won’t be top-tier players."
If they were top-notch players, they wouldn’t have been available for Mount Flower to pick in the first place.
A team like this would inevitably suffer a major blow if they lost Wen Jiang, especially since she had already stated her intention to leave after winning this year’s championship.
She hadn’t explicitly stated where she would go. However, she knew she would inevitably advance to S Rank and would then participate in S-Rank competitions.
The A-Rank Group would naturally have to rely on themselves.
Indeed, many players never even reach the top ten, spending their careers as ordinary professionals, unnoticed and unrecognised. Having a teammate lead their team to a world championship was undoubtedly a good thing, but they also had to consider if they could withstand the subsequent pressure.
Hua Zhuo had considered raising this issue before. This time, even foreign commentators and other Card Associations had noticed that the team’s main pillar of support was Wen Jiang. This was because some had already discreetly inquired with Mount Flower about Wen Jiang’s annual salary.
Players in competitions certainly earn high salaries, so such an inquiry implied that other associations, including foreign Card Associations, were looking to poach her.
They didn’t know that Mount Flower was Wen Jiang’s own, but it also proved how much they valued her.
Wen Jiang cast her eyes down, her expression inscrutable, and uttered only, "Every gain has its loss."
Her leading the team to victory was their fortune.
If they could handle the subsequent pressure, then they deserved the glory that came with it. That was their good fortune.
If they couldn’t handle it, that was not Wen Jiang’s concern.
She wasn’t about to coddle her teammates’ fragile egos just because she was too strong.
At least for now, the other four didn’t seem to be the overly sensitive type. However, the public opinion environment they would face after the competition would be different, and it was hard to say how that might change them.
Hearing this, Hua Zhuo looked somewhat helpless as well. "You’re right, it really has nothing to do with you. It’s too late to discuss these things now anyway. I’ve already informed their coach. Whether they can be convinced is up to them."
On Tang Qian’s side, she took a deep breath. If not for Hua Zhuo’s reminder, she wouldn’t have wanted to discuss these matters with the team members so soon.
Actually, she had previously considered it: Wen Jiang was so strong; how would the other four team members cope with the subsequent pressure?
Now, witnessing Shaliye’s decisive defeat, Tang Qian realized that winning the championship was likely no longer a mere fantasy. Wen Jiang was overwhelmingly powerful, and the pressure Chen Runyu and the others would subsequently face was immense.
Even though the four were still basking in the joy of their victory, Tang Qian knew she had to bring them back to reality.
"Today was supposed to be a good day."
As soon as Tang Qian spoke, the joyful smiles on the four players’ faces turned somewhat apprehensive. Indeed, they had sensed something was amiss ever since Wen Jiang was called away.
Tang Qian took a deep breath and looked at the four young faces before her. They were still very young. After all, in combat, youth offered a significant advantage with faster reflexes.
But, being so young, they hadn’t endured much external pressure.
Especially Chen Runyu. His journey had been too smooth. Having Wen Jiang as a teammate from his very first tournament was an almost unbeatable advantage.
"I’m happy for your victory. But sometimes, being too happy can obscure potential problems. There are some things I must tell you about in advance."
Tang Qian had, in fact, alluded to Wen Jiang’s situation before, more or less, and Wen Jiang herself had also mentioned it.
But now, she needed a clear acknowledgment from them regarding this.
"Wen Jiang has confirmed she won’t participate in A-Level competitions next season. This means in the latter half of the year, I’ll be promoting another substitute to the main roster. Have you considered the implications of this?"
Hearing this, Chen Runyu and the others exchanged puzzled glances. "Huh? Wasn’t this mentioned a long time ago?"