The parents of 20-year-old Li Daheng did not support him when he first decided to become a professional esports player a few years ago. Their opposition didn't work.

"There are many choices," Li mused from an esports club in Chongqing. "Each choice is the best — or at least the one you are most willing to make at the moment."

Li became a member of China's King Pro League Dream Team, which in early August emerged victorious with a decisive 3-0 finals victory in the Honor of Kings Invitational Midseason at the Esports World Cup in Saudi Arabia.

"I needed to prove myself with good results. And in the end I succeeded," he said of his performance in Honor of Kings, a multiplayer mobile battle arena game that's played online. It was developed by TiMi Studio Group under Tencent Games.

Li uses the game ID "Pang".