More importantly, the fact that Liling's faction convienently happened to have a ridiculously overpowered one-shot super dispel talisman on hand, and were kitted out for green hunting, basically screams that they knew the match-ups with enough warning to actually commission something that would be gross overkill on anyone but the one Third Realm in the year who makes heavy use of spiritual attacks on a wide area.
Which, in itself, makes GG's loss less of a slight on him and more "Well, of fucking course a general separated from his army, fighting a goon squad of facepunchers who know his abilities and what he'll have to play, and have had plenty of time and resources to kit accordingly because they knew they'd be fighting him and with what units they'd do so with--is going to have a hard time." That we won despite that is because our build is extremely self-sufficient. We're better in a burly brawl with friends to buff--or at least exempt from our wide ranging debuffs--but we're perfectly functional solo too.
If anything, the fact that Ling Qi made a mockery of that kind of prep and made them literally just a resource for her to nearly overwhelm an ostensibly stronger opponent is an absolutely hilarious statement on her own abilities, and Cai's judgement in picking her up.
Simply through this display alone, anyone worth half a damn is looking at Gan Guangli under ideal circumstances with Ling Qi backing him and his forces up, and I can bet that the Cai's more aggressive vassal representatives are very happy with what the Young Miss has chosen in terms of retainers.
By comparison, Sun Liling had to very blatantly turn the battlefield to her advantage and sic two of her own retainers just to take down Gan Guangli while also losing one to ambush in a battle royale.
People arent going to compare Gan Guangli to Ji Rong anymore, they're going to compare him to
Lu Feng.
And simply by that shift of perspective, Ji Rong suddenly becomes
so much less impressive when compared to Ling Qi.
Combined with satisfying the Sect by showing that Shen Hu was an unaffiliated Green who stood up to Ling Qi on equal grounds and even managed to avoid a loss, it reconfirms that the Argent Sect creates
powerhouses.
The face game is still on a tightrope bar the results of the rest of the tournament, but for today at least Sun Liling's intended alpha strike was reduced from a serious wound to merely a bruising one, and reminds them that Sun Liling lost to Cai Renxiang
for a reason.
Rather than a reversal of fortunes, the face game between the two heirs is even now. If Ling Qi remains in the tournament a round later than Ji Rong does, if Sun Liling fails to get first place, then Sun Liling loses. By contrast, all Ling Qi needs to do is outlast Ji Rong and Kang Zihao, and Cai Renxiang wins. It's a very precarious position for the both of them.
