Bored, Yan Mingliang clicked a couple of buttons to shift his terminal into the form of a phone, scrolling through it as he kept the broadcast in his peripheral vision. Bugging some of his teammates in their group chat, Yan Mingliang closed his terminal as another fiery debate started over some random food opinions in the group chat.
He was such a good team leader! Keeping everyone on their toes, what better team bonding was there than finding out about a horrendous food opinion held by someone you went through life and death battles with.
Directing his attention back to the broadcast as they transitioned to talk about Han Youhong, Yan Mingliang tapped his chin. He had learned quite a few new things from the sections about Zhao Liying and Wang Taigang, but Han Youhong was quite secretive to the public...
Making a mental bet with himself, Yan Mingliang aimed to see if he would be able to count the number of new tidbits of information he learned about Han Youhong on one hand.
[Han Youhong’s fighting style is quite unique.] One expert began, leading off the discussion as he pushed his hair back, [The pure assassin is a dying breed, so it’s rare to see someone with the skill set Han Youhong has. He has stealth, he has burst damage... he has survivability. Overall, though niche and functional on its own, his skillset compliments any party he joins.]
[I have to agree with that,] another expert continued, sipping some water. [Out of everyone in his current party, the “Ghost Legion” we’ve been talking about, Han Youhong has the highest burst damage.]
[Impressive... A ghost assassin almost,] The host murmured, nodding along before motioning back to the first expert. [Wait, could you circle back to your point about Han Youhong and his party fit though? There’s been a lot of buzz around how Han Youhong will be highly recruited, coveted even, once he becomes older.]
[Well, it’s actually a combination of his personality and his skillset,] The expert explained, tapping his chin as he stared off into space before motioning to a different expert across the table. [It’s hard to explain as it's not my area of expertise, I focus purely on analyzing fighting styles of individuals. Let me hand it over to a colleague.]
[Oh? Me? Sure, I specialize in party composition, both in fighting and personality styles so this is perfect for me.] The expert nodded, pulling her shirt forward for a second. Having not talked too much during the broadcast so far, she cleared her throat. [So skillset-wise, Han Youhong, like many cultivators with a primary damage dealing role, can fight alone. This means he could work solo without much trouble. He has range, but can do short assassin-like burst attacks or sustained, normal fighting without much trouble.]
[Ahh, so that helps a party because they don’t need to pay attention to him?] The host asked, nodding as he followed the expert’s explanation.
[Exactly!] The expert agreed. [Han Youhong could be inserted into any existing party and function just fine. Everyone would just notice the fights being easier because a lot of the enemies just disappeared.]
[I see... truly just a mix-and-match type of cultivator.] The host murmured, summarizing the expert’s point before posing another question. [You mentioned personality too though, can you give a little insight as to why Han Youhong is a good personality fit?]
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[Well, I think for context, I have to first mention how Han Youhong has truly exceeded all expectations.] The expert explained, pointing to a graph being displayed about projections. [Coming from a cultivation family in the... third-ish tier. Still high up, but not as high as many others, he was projected to be closer to twenty or thirty in terms of ranking. Maybe around fifteen if he was lucky. His background didn’t suggest otherworldly talent, and his personality didn’t seem to have the drive and hunger that some of his peers exhibited.]
[And yet, he’s solidly in the top ten,] The host exclaimed, looking at the current rankings. [Amazing!]
[Mhm, he’s really been one of the surprises out of this cultivation class. But because of his background, he doesn’t have the ego that some other top recruits have. I understand no one in “Ghost Legion” really has an ego, but many of them still have a bigger risk of developing an ego than Han Youhong.] The expert analyzed, pointing to the amazing backgrounds of Yan Mingqing and Zhao Liying. [Overall, he’s low-key, unproblematic, and what anyone would hope for in the team. He’s a real glue guy who can hold a team together while being a solid contributor in any battle. That’s why he’s going to be recruited so much. That is of course, if he decides to leave his current team or they dissolve.]
Snorting to himself, Yan Mingliang couldn’t help but start to zone out and murmur “delusional” to himself as the host started asking what was the likelihood of the team dissolving and how stable they were at the moment.
Just from his... personal experience, Yan Mingliang knew most teams formed during a disciples first excursion outside of the sect stayed together. Most of the ones from his year did and his own team was still together. But the bigger aspect was, most teams broke apart because of clashes between personalities or limitations due to their combat potential.
Yan Mingliang was curious if anyone had actually looked at the team? They had so much talent. They were not going to run into problems or disagreements over feeling not powerful enough. They were going to be a team of certified curb-stompers in the future. On the other side, the fact they were close enough to have game night once or twice a week was already testament enough to their personalities meshing.
Not to brag or anything, but Yan Mingliang’s team—star of their year and practically the star of their decade—had also done game nights when they were in Westriver. Knowing Yan Mingqing, Yan Mingliang was almost sure she copied her amazing, ingenious, star-shining older brother.
Taking a second to eavesdrop on the conversation happening in the seats near the top of the theater, Yan Mingliang sighed as he heard nothing interesting.
[Alright, before we go into an ad-break and then onto the other top recruits of the year, we have to take a moment to talk about the true dark-horse of the class.] The host began as the camera centered on him. [Lin Songmei. An orphan, unheard of, but now disciple sisters with Yan Mingqing at Starlight Lake. Any thoughts, experts?]
Raising his eyebrows at the transition, Yan Mingliang couldn’t help but feel a touch disappointed. The Daoist Times really were slipping up on a good opportunity. Sure, Lin Songmei didn’t have the same high-class background, so people wouldn’t be as interested, but she still had an amazing narrative storyline they could emphasize.
Just to add, Lin Songmei was the only one who didn’t get extensive media coverage as she grew up. Therefore, pretty much all information about her was new information! Even someone like Han Youhong did interviews with reporters when he was fifteen! That’s when he was hit with the “no hunger” label!
Well, for Yan Mingliang, he was pretty sure there wasn’t any new information. He had the... inside scoop, one could say. The backdoor dealer, the primary source!