Chi Shuo was also looking forward to duo-queuing with Xiao Bai to continue probing his true capabilities.

If Xiao Bai was the type of exceptionally talented player with the strength to play professionally, Chi Shuo could act first and get Team Tianhuan to sign this newcomer before other clubs could snatch him away.

If Xiao Bai just happened to play a few heroes well, but his APM (hand speed) and awareness in various aspects made him unsuitable for the professional league, Chi Shuo could still use duo-queuing with him to familiarize himself with the hero [Abyssal Lord] as quickly as possible.

Making friends with a streamer wasn’t a loss anyway; whenever he was free in the future, they could queue up and play together.

The 100,000-yuan gift in the stream chat was just a greeting gift to secure a friend request slot, after which he could gradually get to know him better.

The match loading screen quickly finished loading.

Ye Shaoyang asked in the voice channel, “Blue start or Red start?”

Chi Shuo typed: “Invade Blue.”

In the game, the allied and enemy forces were divided evenly into top and bottom halves.

In the lower river region, the Blue BUFF was on the left, and the Red BUFF was on the right. The two BUFFs were situated at the exact center of the jungle. Killing a BUFF granted a bonus: the Blue BUFF provided “continuous mana regeneration,” while the Red BUFF provided “attacks with a slowing effect.”

The enemy jungle was mirrored, completely opposite to theirs.

In other words, their allied Blue BUFF area corresponded to the enemy’s Red BUFF area, separated by the river channel in the middle—which was precisely why the river channel was so important. Supports had to go check vision in the river at the start of the game to prevent enemies from invading and stealing their BUFFs.

Most junglers liked to start the game by killing their own BUFFs first, commonly known as a Blue start or a Red start.

Invading Blue or invading Red, however, was a far more aggressive playstyle.

It ignored one’s own jungle at the start, invading the enemy’s jungle instead to steal the opponent’s BUFF!

Chi Shuo liked counter-jungling, a fact known to many players in the professional league.

His jungle style had always been sharp and aggressive—”the enemy jungle is my back garden.” As long as he caught an opportunity, he would sweep the opponent’s jungle clean of resources, not leaving behind a single small creep for you!

Looking at an empty jungle, many junglers who played against Chi Shuo would mentally collapse.

Chi Shuo was also the player with the highest aggro and hatred in the professional league. During matches, there had even been grand occasions where all 5 enemy players grouped up together just to hunt down Chi Shuo!

In this game, Ye Shaoyang took it seriously, and Chi Shuo took it seriously as well.

Invading Blue at the start was a tactic of “taking the enemy by surprise.”

Because the jungler Chi Shuo chose for this game—[Bloodstained Assassin]—didn’t have a mana bar!

A hero without a mana bar naturally had no need to snatch the Blue BUFF that “restores mana.”

Even if he were to counter-jungle, opponents would assume he was going to steal the Red BUFF.

And yet…

He did the exact opposite of what everyone expected.

Chi Shuo and Ye Shaoyang went together, sneakily running to the enemy’s Blue BUFF area. They rapidly beat the Blue BUFF down to low health, whereupon Chi Shuo suddenly stopped attacking and said: “You take it.”

Ye Shaoyang was stunned for a moment: “Giving it to me?”

Chi Shuo: “Mm. I want to see if [Abyssal Lord] can suppress the opposing mid laner after getting an early Blue.”

Ye Shaoyang smiled: “Then I won’t stand on ceremony.”

Mid-lane mages needed Blue the most, as it allowed them to continuously recover mana and cast more skills.

Ye Shaoyang quickly finished off the low-health Blue BUFF.

When the minion wave arrived in the mid lane, Ye Shaoyang went to clear the wave, while Chi Shuo detoured around through the river channel, sneaking over to the enemy’s Red BUFF area. Seeing the enemy jungler beat the Red BUFF down to low health, he used his [Smite] spell to steal the Red BUFF. Then, taking advantage of the level gap—he was level 2 while the enemy was only level 1—he decisively killed the enemy jungler—

First Blood!

Chi Shuo secured First Blood.

Ye Shaoyang: “666.”

Chi Shuo returned to his own jungle, quickly taking both the allied Red BUFF and Blue BUFF for himself.

The bullet screen in Xiao Bai’s stream chat blew up instantly—

【Holy shit, holy shit! 4 BUFFs, a dream start!】

【The enemy jungle has already collapsed. Boss is incredible, does someone with this level of skill even need a streamer to carry him?】

【This wave of invasion was played so beautifully!】

【As a newbie jungler who only dares to take his own BUFFs, I offer my knees to the Boss~~】

A 4-BUFF opening was an extremely rare “dream start” in a match.

There were only 4 BUFFs on the entire match map. Whether defending or invading, junglers at the start would usually take 2 for themselves and leave 2 for the opponent.

However, Chi Shuo’s recent invasion helped mid-lane Ye Shaoyang snatch the first Blue, solo-killed the enemy jungler to steal their Red, and then used the time while the enemy jungler was dead and respawning to rapidly clear both allied Blue and Red…

In other words, all four starting BUFFs in the jungle had been stolen by Chi Shuo!

At this moment, Chi Shuo’s level was a full 2 levels higher than the opposing jungler.

A true dream start!

When the opposing jungler respawned, he rushed to his jungle at maximum speed, only to look at the completely empty jungle and mentally crumble on the spot.

Then, a kill notification came from the mid lane.

—[Xiao Bai (Abyssal Lord) killed Always Playing Ranked (Illusionist)]

Ye Shaoyang, having secured the Blue BUFF, kept his mana full and cast skills willfully, solo-killing the opposing mage at level 4!

The viewers in the stream chat flooded the screen with “666.”

The enemy mid laner was suppressed so hard by Ye Shaoyang that he didn’t dare step out from under his tower.

Not daring to leave the tower was useless, though; with an allied mid-jungle duo coordination, tower-diving to kill you was child’s play!

Seeing the boss jungler waiting in ambush in the side brush and pinging an in-game “Initiate Attack” signal, Ye Shaoyang didn’t hesitate for a second. He used [Flash] directly to engage, instantly knocking the opposing mage to low health. Chi Shuo immediately went invisible, backstabbing with a blade to claim the kill, and the two walked away in tandem.

【The jungle economy gap is way too huge. The enemy jungler is only level 4 while the Boss is already level 6, how the hell do they even play this?】

【So cool, a two-man tower dive to kill the enemy mage!】

【The enemy jungle and mid lane have both completely collapsed! Xiao Bai and the Boss’s synergy is amazing!】

5 minutes into the game, the mid outer tower was destroyed.

The enemy mid laner was blown apart, lagging behind Ye Shaoyang by a full core completed item.

The opponent’s jungle was thoroughly lost; the enemy jungler couldn’t steal a single creep, let alone a Blue or Red BUFF!

The two shifted their battleground to the bottom lane, collaborating on another offensive push.

This time Chi Shuo made the first move, beating the enemy marksman down to low health. Ye Shaoyang controlled the dark shadow of [Abyssal Lord] to dash over, detonating marks to kill the enemy marksman, refreshing his skills, and continuing on to kill the enemy support—securing a Double Kill!

The two pushed down the bottom outer tower and went together to steal resources in the lower enemy jungle.

Then they rotated to the top lane.

Wherever they went, slaughter followed. Even the tanky, thick-skinned tank in the top lane couldn’t withstand the combined burst damage of the mid laner and jungler, dying with deep regret. The two rapidly pushed down the top outer tower, invading the jungle once more to sweep resources and killing the enemy jungler yet again.

Their three other teammates simply watched the show, doing nothing but spamming “666” on the chat screen.

At 7 minutes into the game.

The opposing team surrendered.

The stream viewers: “…”

【The enemy’s gaming experience was extremely terrible, they’re probably doubting their life choices right now.】

【Is the Low-Star Supreme King tier this scary?】

【I thought this was a smurfing fish-bombing game! The enemy jungler is trembling in fear, unable to take a single step in his own jungle!】

【This is straight-up bandit play. Non-stop invading—the enemy jungler didn’t get a single BUFF the entire game!】

【Xiao Bai and the Boss actually have such great chemistry. Their mid-jungle synergy made the enemy surrender directly.】

【Are these two devils?】

【Letting you experience the fear of being dominated by two devils!】

Looking at the word “VICTORY,” Ye Shaoyang praised in a pleasant mood: “Boss’s skills are pretty good!”

Chi Shuo typed modestly: “It’s alright.”

Ye Shaoyang said: “I noticed that after [Abyssal Lord] gets an early Blue BUFF, his power spike can be brought forward. As long as all 3 Q skills land on the opponent alongside the W skill, you can generally solo-kill the enemy.”

Chi Shuo took a glance at the post-game match stats and typed a question: “You build Cooldown Reduction items?”

Ye Shaoyang said: “Building CDR items on Abyssal Lord gives him stronger roaming capability and mobility control.”

Speaking of which, Ye Shaoyang took the opportunity to explain to the viewers: “For those who came to learn [Abyssal Lord], let me share a few tips with everyone. This hero’s output main source is his Q skill, so pay attention to the timing of releasing the dark shadow. Normally, you can catch the enemy mid laner while they clear waves, sending a shadow over to clear minions while poking the opponent’s health at the same time.”

“Note that if you aren’t particularly confident you can blow up the opponent, keep one shadow saved in hand for escaping.” Ye Shaoyang opened up the match stats panel from earlier and pointed his mouse at his equipment bar, saying: “The first item to build is Boots of CDR, and the second is Nebula Staff to cap out Cooldown Reduction so the Q skill can be cast rapidly and controlled more flexibly.”

“The detailed item build order is right here. Anyone who needs it can take a screenshot. I’ve shared it in-game as well.”

The streamer Xiao Bai’s voice was clear and bright as he earnestly explained the operations and itemization for the hero [Abyssal Lord] to everyone. Viewers recorded the screen to save it, preparing to study it carefully later.

【An instructional streamer, love it, love it! I was just wanting to learn this new hero!】

【Streamer’s build path is very professional! Stacking CDR first? That’s a bit different from my idea.】

【After all, Abyssal Lord relies on dark shadow marks to deal damage; the more marks, the higher the damage. Without enough CDR, it takes forever to release a shadow. By the time you cast it, the day is already over.】

【Item build order screenshotted, going straight into the game to put it into practice!】

【Streamer, let me ask, Abyssal Lord has mobility himself, does he use battle spells or bring Flash?】

【Yeah, exactly, I thought you’d need to bring Cleanse.】

Common battle spells included Flash, Smite, Cleanse, Stun, etc., and everyone could choose one to bring into the match at the start. Junglers all brought Smite (which dealt extra damage to jungle creeps), while marksmen and mages without mobility usually brought Flash (teleporting a short distance, able to blink through walls to escape).

Since Abyssal Lord had mobility skills himself, did he still need to bring Flash?

Ye Shaoyang smiled and explained: “Although Abyssal Lord has mobility, the distance the dark shadow travels is quite short, making it hard to hit the enemy backline. Bringing [Flash] helps to instantly blink into the backline during team fights to burst down squishies.”

“The key to a spell assassin is to burst down the enemy’s squishy carries as fast as possible to create a numerical advantage in team fights. Abyssal Lord’s skills refresh after getting a kill, so all strategic thinking revolves around ‘bursting targets down.'”

【My Flash is usually used to escape, but the streamer’s Flash is always used to kill?】

【Flashing in to engage while controlling the dark shadow, this mechanic is way too hard!】

【A slow-handed person like me is really not suited to play spell assassins; flashing over only results in feeding kills Q_Q】

【I tried it out, controlling three dark shadows simultaneously is way too overwhelming, all I can say is streamer 666!】

Listening to him explain the new hero’s playstyle to the viewers, Chi Shuo realized that this streamer Xiao Bai not only possessed strong game awareness, but his logical thinking was also exceptionally clear. For a brand-new hero that had just been released, he had only played it for two days to rush to #1 in the province and had already researched his own item build strategy.

Furthermore, Chi Shuo had checked earlier, and that set of gear was indeed the most suitable build for Abyssal Lord.

Chi Shuo grew increasingly interested in streamer Xiao Bai and typed: “Continue ranked?”

Ye Shaoyang: “Sure, let’s just play until lunchtime.”

The two continued to team up for ranked matches.

And then, the viewers witnessed the terrifying power of mid-jungle synergy!

The Boss constantly picked [Bloodstained Assassin] for jungle, while Xiao Bai constantly picked [Abyssal Lord] for mid lane. The former possessed the highest burst power among junglers, while the latter had the strongest finishing and cleanup capability among mages…

A jungler and mid laner joining forces was world-devastating damage; whoever they looked at died on the spot.

Everyone realized that Xiao Bai and the Boss had remarkably tacit coordination. It was either Xiao Bai flashing in to beat the enemy to low health for the jungler to enter and clean up kills, or the jungler lowering the enemy’s health so Xiao Bai could send dark shadows over to execute.

As long as the two struck simultaneously, almost no one could escape from their hands.

In the subsequent ranked games, they didn’t run into any professional stacks, and the two began another win streak.

Supreme King 2 Stars!

Supreme King 4 Stars!

…

Supreme King 10 Stars!

Viewers in the stream chat spammed the screen—

【The mid-jungle synergy is terrifying, even hiding under the tower gets you dive-killed by these two!】

【666, it’s so satisfying to watch!】

【The enemy jungle was completely cleaned out, it’s unplayable for them.】

【Streamer Xiao Bai is on another win streak! Abyssal Lord gets MVP every single game, hero power is over 9000 now!】

Getting MVP every game? That was because the Boss coordinated so well.

After the Boss beat the enemies to low health, he let Ye Shaoyang enter to secure the kills. Consequently, Ye Shaoyang’s KDA stats on [Abyssal Lord] across these games were exceptionally beautiful, frequently yielding Triple Kills, Quadra Kills, and even Pentakills, naturally boosting his hero power significantly.

His hero power had currently surpassed 9000, not far off from the 10,000 threshold for the national leaderboard.

In his past life, Ye Shaoyang had particularly enjoyed playing spell assassin heroes, coordinating with his jungler to crush enemy squishies.

Precisely because of this, during later professional matches, opposing coaches would frequently BAN his strong spell assassins. In official professional leagues, it was rare for him to get his hands on the spell assassin heroes he loved.

He hadn’t experienced such an exhilarating mid-jungle synergy in a very long time.