You've only been playing for half a year, and you've already reached the finals?

Chapter 328 Rock Sparrow's Third Lift is Released Again!
After completing the FMVP interview with Ming Jing, the awards ceremony came to an end.

LPL's official photographer, Yicun, had been waiting for a long time. The moment the ceremony ended, he rushed onto the stage to take photos of each of the EDG players.

"Take a pat on the back with the FMVP first." Ichimura called to Akira and led him to the Silver Dragon Cup. "Smile, Flying God! Why don't you have any expression after winning the championship?"

Only then did Ming Jing finally grin and complete the filming of the village.

Perhaps it's because I've won too many championships that my threshold is a bit too high. Winning an LPL championship now feels rather uninteresting.

The S-series champions are the most exciting, that's the thrill!

After the filming was over, Ming Jing handed the trophy to his teammates for a group photo, while he retreated to a corner of the stage, casually surveying the audience.

Offstage, countless spectators felt Ming Jing's gaze sweep over them and reacted in various ways. Some shouted Ming Jing's name, some showed the colorful text on their tablets with Ming Jing's ID printed on them, and others raised their cameras and pressed the shutter repeatedly.

With a light laugh, Mingjing continued his search and finally spotted a familiar figure.

At just over 170cm tall, Song Xuan was perfectly adequate in the predominantly female front-row audience, even standing out.

The girl held an EDG cheering stick, with the EDG team logo on one cheek and a chibi version of Mingjing's face on the other.

After noticing Mingjing's gaze, a bright smile appeared on her face. She held the two light sticks in her left arm and waved them vigorously with her right hand.

Ming Jing didn't try to hide it and waved with a smile.

The filming session ended quickly, and Mingjing returned to the backstage dressing room, took out his phone from his bag, and nestled into the sofa to connect to the internet.

At this point, the anti-racism forum was already incredibly popular, with countless discussion posts.

[EDG will have won eight championships after this one. That's pretty amazing, isn't it?]

【Our LPL also has its own G2 and T1】

[That still won't work. The other two teams have won ten regional championships or more, while EDG is still a bit lacking.]

What's terrifying is that every championship EDG has won is related to the Ming family.

[Haha, it's true! My older cousin won the first five titles, and my younger cousin won the last three, right?]

EDG still desperately needs Ming's family.

Of course, this only represents a portion of the fun; there's also no shortage of hostility.

Mingjing clicked into the rating post, which already had over 10,000 replies, and scrolled down according to the automatic time sorting. He saw countless haters still taking advantage of EDG's championship victory to relentlessly attack Top Esports.

[After all this hype about JackeyLove, the one and only chosen one, how come he was just kicked to death by the true chosen god, Flying God?]

[Are there really people who think PeePee is the only chosen one? Is he even comparable to Flying God? Have they all forgotten the story of how a young Flying God used his signature champion Draven to teach PeePee a lesson during his prime?]

Nobody was hyping it up last year, but with Fei Shen taking a six-month break this year, all sorts of weirdos have come out.

[Those skewers that flew off the water a while ago weren't just any ordinary skewers? If you can't even tell the difference, you're really something else.]

Indeed, true fans wouldn't criticize Fei Shen, since there's no real conflict between them.

Yes, yes, it was all done by that bastard; the water ghost is pure and innocent.

[This has little to do with Ah Shui, isn't today's difference purely in the mid lane?]

Ming Jing didn't look at it for long, quickly returned to the homepage, and clicked on the sorting by popularity.

The content of the rating post finally came into view.

Amidst the immense buzz surrounding the finals, Mingjing's post alone garnered nearly a thousand replies!
[This form is truly amazing! If he hadn't missed any games in the Spring Split, wouldn't he have won both the Spring and Summer Splits?]

[Spring and Summer Double Crown? The Road to Gold!]

There was no other way; Fei Shen indeed had more important things to do.

Who says an Olympic gold medal plus a World Series title doesn't constitute a Grand Slam?

It doesn't matter how many championships he wins before; Fei Shen only needs his third S-rank title.

[Let's charge forward again, Flying God and the brothers!]

Don't rush, all I can say is don't rush.

Ming Jing smiled and continued scrolling down, where he saw the headshot on his left hand.

It seems that more people are clearing out the left hand.

The team with the biggest gap today was as innocent as a child in front of Fei Shen.

[Isn't that normal? The "Fei Shou" (a nickname for a player) is notorious for bullying the weak and fearing the strong. He was like a god of war against Zeka in the regular season, but he automatically cowered when facing Fei Shen (another player).]

[There's nothing I can do. Sister Li's attack caused the ghost baby to float above the fetal hand, interfering with his movements.]

[Harbin People]

Mingjing's internet speed is fast; he knows that "Fetus Hand" is a new title Knight acquired just two months ago, which is basically about abortions and such.

After seeing all this, Ming Jing could only sigh and say that the entertainment industry is truly chaotic.

Mingjing also heard that other clubs would take their players out to play pickup games or Texas Hold'em whenever they had free time.

It's fortunate that EDG doesn't do this kind of thing, otherwise Mingjing might have really transferred to JDG.

Ming Jing continued scrolling down, and the subsequent floors of other contestants did not disappoint him either.

When people are happy, they tend to speak well. Countless fans praised the stable performance of the other EDG players, and even Zeka, who had been criticized during the regular season, was praised and thought to have a promising future.

In contrast, the TES players were full of hostility.

Below JackeyLove is the classic battle between the water ghost and the black water.

Of course, there were plenty of sarcastic remarks from Doinb's faction below Xiaotian's floor.

There's not much to say about 369's performance; many people just feel it's a pity that if 369 had really transferred to JD.com as rumored, his performance might have been even better.

Staying at Top Esports is destined to lead to failure.

Just as I was happily scrolling through my phone, a message suddenly popped up on WeChat.

The message came from Song Xuan; she was about to leave.

Due to epidemic prevention and control requirements, it will take a considerable amount of time for thousands of spectators to leave in batches.

Mingjing looked at the message, then stood up and asked his cousin to let him leave the team temporarily.

"Going out to dinner with friends again?" My cousin smiled meaningfully. "Go ahead, be careful, and come back early."

In the parking lot of Wukesong Arena.

Song Xuan knew that there was a series of procedures after the Mingjing competition, so she deliberately waited until the last batch to leave.

By this time, most of the spectators had left, and there weren't many people around the stadium.

Early September in Beijing still carried a hint of summer. Song Xuan wore a light gray-blue linen shirt, the fabric exuding a cool feel, paired with off-white tapered casual pants, creating a clean and refreshing silhouette. A thin silk jacket was casually draped over her arm, a preparation for watching the game indoors.

The girl tidied her hair, which was sticking to her forehead with sweat, and looked around. Soon she saw a familiar figure.

Ming Jing also took off his EDG team uniform, changed into an ordinary black T-shirt, and put on a baseball cap. If it weren't for the Breitling watch on his wrist, it would be hard to recognize that this was the FMVP who was running rampant on the field just an hour ago.

Song Xuan waved and guided Ming Jing over. The two then got into a car next to them.

"What do you mean?" Mingjing took the girl's hand and placed it on his lap. "Where are we going to eat?"

"You don't need to worry about that," Song Xuan patted his chest. "Just get ready to eat!"

Song Xuan is indeed an expert when it comes to food. She always treats the two of them to meals, and she is always quite generous.

This time it was indeed unusual.

The two soon sat down at a famous Beijing cuisine restaurant, and judging from the decor and service, it was not cheap.

After Song Xuan skillfully ordered the dishes, he finally started talking after the waiter had walked away.

The two had a lot in common and could talk about anything, from today's match to the future World Championship, and then to Song Xuan's life at Peking University.

"Huh? Are Peking University's dorms really that bad?" Ming Jing stuffed a piece of roast duck into his mouth. "And they're bunk beds?"

“Yeah, right.” Song Xuan couldn’t help but complain, “Because the School of Mathematics is an old campus, the dorms can’t be that nice.”

Ming Jing smiled and said, "It's alright. I'll come and keep you company after I win the championship this time."

The girl's eyes widened: "Are you really willing to retire?"

“What’s there to be reluctant about?” Mingjing laughed. “I went through so much trouble to get into Peking University, I can’t just give up, can I?”

"The main thing is that you make a lot of money playing for a year," Song Xuan said. "You must make tens of millions a year, right?"

"It doesn't matter." Ming Jing shook his head with a smile. "You can never earn enough money, as long as you have enough."

Since Mingjing debuted and won the S10 championship, money has become just a number to him. He doesn't have high desires. Without spending too much, the revenue from the S10 championship skin alone is enough for him to live on for a lifetime, not to mention that his contract fees for the following two years have been increasing.

Upon hearing this, Song Xuan's smile grew even brighter.

After dinner, since it was still early, Ming Jing drove Song Xuan back to Peking University, and the two of them walked around the campus twice more.

Ming Jing waited until the school gates were about to close before he quickly slipped out of the school and took a taxi back to the hotel.

The training room in the hotel was still brightly lit.

For students, 11 or 12 at night is considered very late, but for internet-addicted teenagers, it's just the beginning.

Saint Gun was watching anime when he turned around and saw Ming Jing return. He asked, "Where did you go?"

Ming Jing sat in his seat and turned on his computer: "I went for a walk around Peking University."

"..." Saint Gun Bro, who dropped out of high school, was speechless for a moment and could only say "Awesome."

The night passed quickly, and it was September 4th.

Although the Summer Split finals have concluded and the seedings for the first and second seeds have been finalized, the battle for the third and fourth seeds has only just begun.

EDG will have to wait until the last two spots are filled before they can participate in a send-off ceremony together, at which point their mission will truly be over.

But the matches these past few days have had little to do with EDG.

Ming Jing got up early again and took a taxi to meet Song Xuan once more.

Today is Sunday, so Song Xuan can still have one last day of activities. Once classes start tomorrow, Monday, the two of them won't have this chance anymore.

The two ate a bowl of noodles with soybean paste to fill their stomachs, and then casually went to see a movie, "The Big Events of Life," which was newly released this month.

The story of this movie is not particularly outstanding, but it was filmed in Wuhan, not even far from Mingjing's home, and the dialogue is all in Wuhan dialect, giving it a strong sense of everyday life. As a native of Wuhan, Mingjing certainly wouldn't miss it.

Song Xuan didn't have high expectations for the movie, but that didn't stop her from watching it with Ming Jing.

Hearing about Wuhan from Mingjing's perspective was more important than the film itself.

After watching the movie, the two were bored, so they went to an internet cafe and sat in a private room to watch the bubble match that had already started.

Over the next three days, the four teams ranked third to sixth in the standings will compete in three major matches for the final two spots in the World Championship.

The standings clearly show that, aside from EDG and TES who have already secured their spots in the next round, the four teams with the highest points are RNG, JDG, V5, and LNG.
The format is simple: the two teams with the highest points play one match, the winner advances directly as the third seed, and the loser is put on hold; then the next two teams play one match, the loser is eliminated, and the winner competes with the previously put-away team for the fourth seed.

In short, RNG and JDG only need to win one BO5 to qualify for the World Championship, while V5 and LNG need to win two BO5s.

As the RNG and JDG players took the stage, Song Xuan leaned on Ming Jing's shoulder and asked Ming Jing which side he supported.

"Of course we'll support JD.com," Ming Jing said with a smile. "But I also think their chances of winning today are slim."

Ming Jing still has a good eye for his former employer.

The mid-jungle duo of Toothpaste and Kanavi is already strong, and with Redmi's keen eye and ability to strategize, it's indeed easy to assemble a lineup with an extremely high floor.

However, the problem is also obvious. Just like in the S10 World Championship, the ceiling is not high. When faced with a truly strong team, it will lose without any resistance.

Therefore, Mingjing believes that JDG will have a very difficult time beating RNG, with a chance of winning of about 30%.

that's the truth.

When it comes to qualifying for the World Championship, RNG is really going all out, showing a very steady approach from draft picks to gameplay.

Both sides initially took a point each, bringing the match to a best-of-three (BO3) stage. RNG then won another game, putting them at match point.

In the fourth game, RNG's top laner, Breath Bro, became the game-changer, using Fiora to break through Zoom's defenses. His dominance in the side lanes and team fights helped the team successfully advance to the World Championship!

Regret inevitably showed on the faces of the JDG players.

Losing this game means they are also standing on the edge of a cliff.

The final BO5 match is one in which we absolutely cannot afford to lose.

On September 5th, the final qualifying match will be between V5 and LNG.

The winner between the two teams will compete against JDG for the fourth seed.

Today is Monday, and Mingjing didn't go out. Instead, he stayed in the training room, casually doing math problems to keep his brain active while watching the match.

There's really nothing to say about this match. Mingjing originally thought that although V5 couldn't beat the top teams, they should have no problem beating LNG.

However, the result was that even when facing LNG, V5 still had little resistance. Similar to JDG yesterday, they only managed to get one point after three games and were on the verge of elimination.

In the final fourth game, Doinb picked Taliyah and pulled off the classic Taliyah triple lift combo. In the final dragon soul fight, he hit Photic with the first lift, Rookie with the second lift, and Rich with the third lift, eliminating V5's three carries with three consecutive rock shovels and helping his team complete the comeback and push to the end of the game!
Thus, V5 ended Season 12 with a perfect record of zero wins in all five best-of-five series.

"3 to 1! Congratulations to Li Ning! They will compete against JD Gaming for the final fourth seed spot tomorrow. Let's look forward to tomorrow's match!"

(End of this chapter)