Chapter 1: The Expelled Master

  "Ka ka ka, da da..."

  A pair of agile hands danced across the keyboard and mouse, the rhythmic tapping sounds like a lively melody. The screen flashed with a burst of light, the opponent's blood splattered as they fell to the ground.

  "Heh." Ye Qiu smiled, taking the cigarette butt out of his mouth. The silver-gray ash had already formed a long string, but in the process of Ye Qiu's swift mouse movements and keyboard typing, not a single speck fell off. The removed cigarette was quickly extinguished in an oddly-shaped ashtray on the table, and Ye Qiu's hand flew back to the keyboard, just as he was about to say something to his opponent, when the door suddenly creaked open.

  Ye Qiu didn't turn around, as if he had been waiting for this moment all along, and only asked: "Is that so?"

  "Here." Su Mu's answer was equally simple.

  "Let's go!" Ye Qiu refused his opponent's invitation to another match, lightly removed a card from the Glory professional gaming login device, stood up and walked to the door, and casually took his jacket from the coat rack.

  The night was already quite deep, but the Jia Shi Club was still brightly lit. Ye Qiu and Su Mucheng walked out of the room and all the way to the end of the corridor. This was a very spacious conference room, and as soon as they entered, they could see an electronic display screen that almost filled the entire wall, displaying the rankings and some technical statistics of the "Glory Professional Alliance".

  Ranking: The Jia Shi team is ranked nineteenth overall, second to last.

  For a team that once created three consecutive league championships, this achievement is particularly glaring, and now it's hanging brightly on the wall, as if mocking everyone mercilessly.

  However, the atmosphere in the house was not dull at all, but rather warm. The members of Jia Shi's team were now surrounding a person like stars and moons, and when Ye Qiu entered the conference room, they didn't even notice him, and those who could glance at him had coldness and ridicule in their eyes.

  "Ye Qiu, the club has decided that Sun Xiang, who just transferred in, will be taking over your position as captain. From now on, Ye Qiu's affairs will also be handled by Sun Xiang." The club manager said this as soon as he saw Ye Qiu enter, without any prior communication or gentle expression, a cold and unfeeling notification that was like carelessly discarding a used tissue.

  Su Mu was about to speak, but Ye Qiu gently pulled him back and smiled at him, shaking his head to indicate that he didn't mind.

  "Sorry, Ye Ge, I've taken your seat as soon as I arrived." The first seat on the left side of the conference table was supposed to be Ye Qiu's exclusive seat as the captain of Jia Shi team. Sun Xiang casually sat down and said this, without even glancing at Ye Qiu, which was no longer indifference but a kind of disregard. His gaze fell more on Su Mucheng, who had entered with Ye Qiu.

  To be fair, Su Muyu is indeed more eye-catching than Ye Qiu. She is known as the number one beauty of Glory Professional Alliance. Even if she were to leave this circle and enter the entertainment industry where beauties are everywhere, she would still be a rare pretty girl.

  Even if Jia Shi and his teammates could see Su Moxiang every day, they couldn't help but feel a little dazed when they saw him coming in. However, they quickly came back to their senses, because at this time they felt that there was a more important focus figure worth their attention.

  "Haha, Brother Xiang said it well. This seat suits you perfectly." The crowd came back to their senses and hurriedly continued the conversation, vying for speaking time.

  "Not bad, some people have already grown old and outdated!"

  "It's only fitting that you, Brother Chong, take control of this autumn leaf, for only then can the true power of the Dou Shen be unleashed."

  This is the focus of attention for everyone at this time. Sun Xiang, a genius player in the new generation of the Glory Professional Alliance. Last year, he won the Rookie King title as soon as he entered the alliance, and his personal data was not much inferior to that of the MVP of the same year. This season, Sun Xiang led the mediocre team, Yueyun, to eighth place in the league, with a chance to advance to the playoffs, but was transferred mid-season to Jia Shi Club, which had poor results. All because Jia Shi, despite its poor record, owns an account character known as the "Fighting God" in the online game Glory: the Battle Mage, Yi Ye Zhi Qiu.

  This young man, who has been in the league for less than two years, is not very old, but these players from Jia Shi call him "brother" with a thick face, obviously they have already seen that Sun Xiang will be their future captain. Sun Xiang comfortably accepted these flatteries and finally spared a glance at Ye Qiu, his eyes full of disdain.

  "Ye Qiu, hand over the account card of One Autumn Leaf to Sun Xiang!" said the club manager.

  Although Ye Qiu was calm and composed, he couldn't help but feel a pang of sadness in his heart. Ye Qiu, One Autumn Leaf, the name itself revealed the connection between this account and Ye Qiu. This was the very account he created when he first entered the Glory game world. Ten years had passed, and this account had accompanied Ye Qiu for ten whole years. The once novice player had become a renowned master, hailed as a textbook-level expert in Glory. The small-time Battle Mage had also become the legendary "Duke of Fighting" in Glory. However, seven years ago, when he entered the professional circle and signed a contract with the club, the ownership of One Autumn Leaf was transferred to the club. Ye Qiu had long known that there would be a day of separation, and now, that day had finally come.

  Ye Qiu's fingers were slightly trembling. For a professional player, stable hands are essential, but now, the tremble happened to Ye Qiu, this old-timer with psychological quality that couldn't be harder. Su Mucheng turned her head away, she didn't want to see this scene, yet was powerless to do anything about it.

  In the midst of onlookers' schadenfreude, a silver-white bank card was handed over to Sun Xiang.

  Son Xiang's eyes flashed with excitement and greed, he was willing to transfer and join the Jia Shi Club, which had been in decline for nearly two years, just to get his hands on the top-notch account Yi Ye Zhi Qiu. The original controller of Yi Ye Zhi Qiu, Ye Qiu, had poor results in recent years and constantly clashed with the club, Son Xiang was 100% confident that he could replace him.

  "Got it!" As soon as Sun Xiang caught the account card, he felt a thrill of excitement, but then sensed a hint of resistance from the card.

  Xun Xiang felt Ye Qiu's reluctance and smiled proudly: "Let go, Ye. Look at your hands, they're shaking like this. How can such a pair of hands bring out the strength of the God of Fighting? Let me do it! I'll make the name of the God of Fighting resound throughout the Glory once again. You? Retire!"

  As soon as the words were spoken, Sun Xiang saw that Ye Qiu's eyes, which had always been calm and collected, flashed with a sharp light for an instant when he handed over One Autumn Leaf. He was shocked to discover that Ye Qiu's hands, which had been trembling slightly, suddenly stopped shaking.

  "Do you like this game?" Ye Qiu suddenly asked Sun Xiang, staring at him directly.

  "What?" Sun Xiang was shocked.

  "If you like it, take all this as glory, not show-off."

  "What are you talking about? What does this have to do with you?" Sun Xiang suddenly became somewhat flustered, and in that instant, for some reason he felt as if he had been overshadowed by Ye Qiu. He didn't want to lose the upper hand like this. He had come to replace Ye Qiu, he had come to obtain the title of God of Fighting, Ye Qiu's One Autumn Leaf.

  "Take good care of it." Just as Sun Xiang was about to regain his composure, Ye Qiu had already let go of the account card and said indifferently, turning around to leave.

  "Ye Qiu!" Just then, the manager suddenly called out and stopped him.

  Ye Qiu stopped in his tracks, slightly tilting his head to the side, and heard the manager say from behind him: "For now, the club doesn't have a suitable competition account for you, so just be an accompanying coach on the team for now!"

  Accompanying practice...... A master who has created a dynasty in the league and won all personal honors, but now has fallen to become an accompanying practitioner.

  Sun Xiang was very interested in this arrangement, and immediately took over the voice, laughing: "With your level, Ye brother, accompanying practice is definitely no problem, the first accompaniment of the Glory Professional League is yours!"

  "Haha." Insulted like this, Ye Qiu still managed to laugh and turned around to face the manager: "Accompanying practice? I don't think it's necessary, let's cancel the contract!"

  "Termination? Are you going to initiate termination?" The manager's expression looked quite interesting.

  "Not bad, I request a divorce."

  "Don't be impulsive!" Su Mochen hurried over to stop her. The alliance has its own rules, during the contract period, except for special reasons, any party that actively proposes to cancel the contract will have to pay a penalty, Ye Qiu still has one and a half years of contract with Jia Shi, if she insists on cancelling the contract, the loss will be huge. But for Su Mochen, what she fears more is Ye Qiu's departure.

  "The boss hasn't arrived yet, let's talk about it when he comes!" Su Muju hoped that Ye Qiu could calm down.

  Ye Qiu had already caught the manager's sarcastic smile at the corner of his mouth. He shook his head towards Su Mu Orange with a bitter smile: "Mu Orange, don't you understand? Asking me to leave is the boss's purpose itself. My existence has no value to the club anymore, just a salary burden."

  "It won't be a burden, how could it be? Your strength is absolutely not inferior to anyone else." Su Mu Cheng said.

  "This is not just a matter of strength, it's business. And I, have never had any commercial value." Ye Qiu said.

  "You should have had it, but you chose to give up." The manager suddenly interjected coldly at this time.

  "Not bad, that's my choice." Ye Qiu said. The Glory Professional League is currently in full swing, with sponsors pouring in from all sides. The star players in the league are naturally in high demand for endorsements and commercials. But Ye Qiu, as one of the top players, has always refused any advertisements and endorsements, and even refuses to participate in interviews and press conferences. He's like an old netizen, carefully hiding his true identity in the virtual world.

  The club is very dissatisfied with this. They see a gold mine beside them, but they can't dig up any benefits from him. Fortunately, Ye Qiu's strength is strong, helping the club to make a name for itself in the league, earning full honors, and only then can they tolerate it. But with the current poor performance, everything has changed.

  "The commercialization of the league has kept us alive, but now..." Ye Qiu couldn't continue, nor did he know if this development was good or bad. The current league is filled with coppery atmosphere, and every club owner's first consideration is how to use the team to make a profit. With love for the game, striving tirelessly for honor, Ye Qiu missed the past when the league had just started developing. Now, the pursuit of honor was also just for seeking greater benefits.

  Su Mu didn't speak again, she was originally on the same path as Ye Qiu and had witnessed everything. Her eyes were filled with tears, she knew that Ye Qiu really wanted to leave, and stopping him would only make him more painful.

  "In that case, I..."

  "It's okay." Ye Qiu smiled and interrupted Su Muli, he knew what she was going to say: "Don't worry, I'm not at the point of despair yet, I'll be back."

  "Not bad, you're indeed the Ye Qiu I know, with great ambition. Now, let's talk about this breach of contract issue! Honestly, after all these years at Jia Shi, your hard work and contributions are undeniable. We won't just let you go like that. Since you want to leave, why don't we sit down and have a good talk, negotiate the cancellation of the contract?"

  "Let's get straight to the point, what are your conditions?" asked Ye Qiu.

  "It's simple, just announce your retirement." The manager said.

  "Retire. Are you still not satisfied with this condition?" Su Muju was extremely annoyed. Ye Qiu, who is 25 years old this year, is considered to be of advanced age for an e-sports professional player, and retiring at this age is not unusual. However, Ye Qiu had just expressed that he did not want to give up yet, but the manager of Jia Shi immediately proposed the condition of retirement, clearly targeting him.

  Retired players are naturally not eligible to participate in professional competitions. Although there is a comeback after retirement, the Glory Professional League stipulates that retired players must wait for one year before they can make a comeback. To avoid some people retiring today and coming back tomorrow to play with another team. Ye Qiu was already in his professional twilight years, and every day was precious, but now he had to waste a whole year. After this year, even if he made a comeback again, at an advanced age, without a year of high-level competition to maintain his state, relying solely on his past reputation, it's still questionable whether any team would be willing to accept him. It's worth noting that Ye Qiu has another fatal flaw: he refuses to engage in commercial activities.

  This looks like an unacceptable negotiating condition, but Ye Qiu nodded very simply: "I agree."

  "Are you crazy?" Su Muju was shocked.

  "After being tired for so many years, what's wrong with taking a rest for one year?" Ye Qiu smiled.

  "What... what are you thinking?" Su Mochen was puzzled.

  "It's nothing." Ye Qiu turned his head, and the manager on this side had already handed over several documents. Ye Qiu took a look, smiled, and thought to himself that the other party was indeed well-prepared! With that in mind, Ye Qiu quickly signed his name.

  It's time to leave... Ye Qiu took a last look at the place he had stayed for seven years, and without saying any polite words of farewell, he silently turned around and prepared to leave.

  "I'll send you off." Su Mu Cheng was the only one following behind him.