The competition map of "World Martial Arts Tournament" is called "Solitary Moon Isle," not because the terrain resembles a crescent moon, but because the respawn platforms at the northeast and southwest corners of the map are shaped like curved half-moons.
Jiang Yuan followed the crowd as they rushed out of the red team's spawn point. After advancing only a few dozen meters, he spotted a square flag pit in an open area ahead, where a red battle flag fluttered in the wind.
"Look, that's our red team's flag!"
A red team player had just finished speaking when a small squad of blue enemy players—only six or seven in number—charged out from the opposite side.
"Kill!"
As soon as the red team players spotted the enemy, they roared and surged forward!
In an instant, countless skills exploded around the red team's flag. The blue team players desperately tried to push in and capture the red flag, while the red team fought tooth and nail to keep them at bay.
Killing an enemy player earned 30 points. Soon, the few blue team players were beaten to death by the twenty red team players. On the scoreboard to the left of the minimap, the red team's score turned into 210 points.
Just as the red team reveled in their victory after taking down those blue opponents, the blue team's score, which had been zero, suddenly jumped to 600 points!
"What the hell! How did their score spike like that?"
"Yeah, that's weird. All our people are here, no one's feeding them kills—why the sudden 600 points?"
For a moment, all twenty red team players froze, chattering in confusion.
But Jiang Yuan noticed on the minimap that two flag positions to the west and north, originally red, had turned blue, meaning the blue team had already captured them.
"Not good! They've taken two of our flags. A few of you, come with me to take them back!"
Spotting the issue, Jiang Yuan pointed toward the captured flags and called out to the group.
"I'm in!"
"Me too!"
After Jiang Yuan spoke, several red team players raised their hands to volunteer.
"You, you, you, and you—come with me."
Jiang Yuan picked a warrior, a sharpshooter, an assassin, and a healer, forming a five-man squad. Just as they were about to set out, Aoshi Longhuang blocked their way!
"No, I don't agree!"
Aoshi Longhuang stood in front of Jiang Yuan and said.
"If you split off from the main group and get surrounded by the enemy, you'll just be feeding them points like those idiots earlier!"
He gave his reasoning, citing the example of the blue team players the red team had just killed.
The other red team players nodded in agreement, finding Aoshi Longhuang's logic sound.
Just as Jiang Yuan and Aoshi Longhuang were at odds, another red flag was captured by the enemy. The blue team's score on the scoreboard had now climbed to 900 points!
Current score: 900:210!
"Fine! Then let's all move together. Let's go!"
Seeing the gap widening, Jiang Yuan didn't bother arguing further. He led the charge toward the nearest flag.
Arriving at the second-closest flag to the red team's respawn point, Jiang Yuan and the others found the red flag in the pit had already turned into the enemy's color.
A red team player stepped forward, stood in the flag pit, and began using the interaction key to pull the flag. But just then, the previously empty surroundings erupted with shouts!
The blue team hadn't left after capturing the flag; they'd ambushed nearby, waiting to wipe out the red team when they arrived.
Thus, all forty players from both sides clashed, hurling skills at each other.
"Smack!"
From a distant corner, a blue sharpshooter drew his bow and fired an arrow that struck Jiang Yuan, dealing 5,641 critical damage. Startled, Jiang Yuan quickly summoned a Dragon Beard Tiger and used "Soul Sacrifice" to bolster his health.
In just a few dozen seconds, both sides suffered casualties. The scoreboard shifted from 900:210 to 1050:450. In terms of kills, the red team was slightly ahead by a few heads.
"We can't keep fighting like this—the gap will only grow. Capturing the flags is what matters most."
Jiang Yuan glanced at the scoreboard, then dashed into the flag pit. A key marked "F" appeared, and he pressed it hard, starting a progress bar.
Just as the bar reached 90%, and he was about to swap the blue flag for a red one, a skill landed on him, interrupting his action.
"Summon Dragon Beard Tiger!"
With a thought, a thousand Dragon Beard Tigers appeared around him, lunging at the blue team players. Jiang Yuan pressed the interaction key again, and the progress bar reappeared.
With the tigers joining the fray, the blue team players were overwhelmed, struggling to fend off both the red team's charge and Jiang Yuan's summons. No one could spare the effort to interrupt Jiang Yuan in the pit.
After about ten seconds, undisturbed, Jiang Yuan finally swapped the blue flag for a red one, earning the red team 300 points.
Seeing the flag recaptured, the blue team players didn't linger. They called a retreat and pulled back toward their own territory.
"Chase them! Don't let them escape!"
Aoshi Longhuang waved his hand, ignoring whether Jiang Yuan could keep up, and led the main force in pursuit of the retreating blue team.
As the red team counterattacked, the score gap began to shrink. After another round of fighting, the blue team suffered heavy losses and scattered in defeat. The score now stood at 1200:950, with the red team trailing by 300 points.
Halfway through the "World Martial Arts Tournament," under Aoshi Longhuang's leadership, the red team fully reclaimed their lost ground, recapturing both flags the enemy had taken and flipping the score to 1300:1550—their first lead!
"Follow me, and just go all out!"
Aoshi Longhuang shot a smug glance at Jiang Yuan, raised his arm, and bellowed like a leader to the red team players. A chorus of voices echoed back.
"Go all out!"
"Go all out!"