Control

The wind howled across the training ground, whipping up clouds of yellow dust.

Tang San bent down and wrapped a strand of Blue Silver Grass around Dai Mubai's ankle. Then came Ma Hongjun, Oscar, Ning Rongrong, Zhu Zhuqing, and Xiao Wu.

Six blue vines converged in his palm.

Chen Xuan stood beneath the shade of a tree ten meters away. No one called him over.

Tang San gave the vines in his hand a squeeze, adjusting their tension. Chen Xuan's abilities were too varied to be included in the control chain. Since he insisted on being a free agent, he could stay on the outside.

Yu Xiaogang stood at the edge of the field with his hands behind his back, extremely satisfied with their formation.

"Flender, watch closely." Yu Xiaogang raised his chin slightly. "Little San's Blue Silver Grass can link these six people into a single whole. As for that one who insists on working alone, he'll taste the consequences soon enough."

Flender pushed up his black-rimmed glasses but said nothing.

Zhao Wuji rolled his broad shoulders, his bones cracking loudly.

"Ready? I'm coming."

Zhao Wuji kicked off the ground and charged into their formation like a raging gale.

Tang San flicked his fingers.

The six strands of Blue Silver Grass tightened at once.

Ning Rongrong was instantly pulled to the rear. Ma Hongjun was dragged to the left and opened his mouth, spitting out a stream of fire that landed right in Zhao Wuji's blind spot. Dai Mubai roared, activating White Tiger Vajra Transformation as he took the front. Zhu Zhuqing and Xiao Wu used the vines' pulling force to cut in from both sides.

Their coordination was smooth.

Tang San stood at the center, all ten fingers moving without pause. He had calculated every person's movement with perfect clarity.

Yu Xiaogang nodded repeatedly from the sidelines. This was the perfect team he had envisioned.

After taking two hits, Zhao Wuji's temper flared.

His third soul ring lit up.

Gravity intensified.

The air on the field instantly became incomparably viscous. Dai Mubai had barely leapt halfway when he was forcibly dragged back to the ground.

Zhao Wuji raised a palm as large as a fan and brought down a Gravity Crush. Its range nearly enveloped everyone.

Several possible solutions flashed through Tang San's mind in an instant.

There was only one optimal choice.

He violently pulled both hands back, and all six strands of Blue Silver Grass exerted force at once. He wanted to drag everyone out of the attack's range.

The problem was the direction of the pull.

Under the gravitational suppression, the eight of them were forcibly dragged toward the same central point.

Dai Mubai could originally have rolled to the left with his footwork, but the vines yanked him back, blocking Ma Hongjun's retreat. Zhu Zhuqing was fast; she had barely rushed half a step out before crashing directly into Ning Rongrong's back.

It became a complete mess.

Zhao Wuji's palm arrived.

Bang!

Dai Mubai stood at the very front and took the blow head-on. He spat out a mouthful of blood and slammed into the yellow earth, skidding several meters away.

The rhythm was completely ruined.

Tang San tried to pull the vines again and rearrange their formation.

Zhao Wuji gave him no chance at all. He stepped on the Blue Silver Grass on the ground, then swung a palm at Tang San's face.

Tang San instinctively wanted to borrow force. He was still holding the vine connected to Xiao Wu. As long as he pulled Xiao Wu over, he could use the recoil to swing away.

His fingers had barely moved when he stopped.

The spot where Xiao Wu would land if pulled over was directly in the path of Zhao Wuji's next palm. If he pulled her in, she would definitely be badly injured.

Tang San clenched his teeth, released the vine in his hand, and crossed both arms in front of his chest.

Boom!

Tang San was sent flying seven or eight meters. He hit the ground and rolled twice, his mouth filled with the taste of blood.

Zhao Wuji was on a roll. He took another step forward and reached for Xiao Wu, who was closest to him.

Broken Blue Silver Grass was still wrapped around Xiao Wu's ankle. She had no time to dodge.

A deep blue shield appeared out of thin air, blocking Zhao Wuji in front of Xiao Wu.

Water Armor Shield.

Chen Xuan held up the shield with one hand, drawing his right leg back half a step as he braced firmly against its rear.

Clang!

Zhao Wuji's palm struck the shield, sending ripples through its surface. Chen Xuan slid back half a meter, plowing two deep grooves through the yellow earth beneath his feet.

The shield did not break. Xiao Wu was completely unharmed.

The training ended.

The training ground was filled with heavy panting.

Tang San pushed himself up from the ground, wiped the blood from his chin, and stared at Chen Xuan.

"What were you doing just now?" Tang San pointed at Dai Mubai, who was lying on the ground. "You stood off to the side watching the whole time! If you'd stepped in earlier to hold him back, Mubai wouldn't have been injured at all!"

Everyone turned to look at Chen Xuan.

Chen Xuan turned his wrist, and the Water Armor Shield dissolved into a ball of blue light. He brushed the dirt from his clothes and took two steps forward.

"Tang San, your control chain is very intricate." Chen Xuan pointed at the broken Blue Silver Grass scattered across the ground. "You calculated how every strand would move and where every person would stand."

"But you left one thing out." Chen Xuan looked at Tang San. "You never calculated what to do when the plan fell apart."

Tang San's expression darkened. "My calculations weren't wrong. The gravity skill disrupted the formation..."

"And once it was disrupted, you couldn't fix it." Chen Xuan cut him off without ceremony. "You put all your effort into pursuing perfect coordination. You didn't leave any room for accidents."

Chen Xuan pointed at the tangled mess of vines on the ground.

"Dai Mubai could have dodged left just now, but you forcibly pulled him back and made him a human shield. Zhu Zhuqing could have escaped with her speed, but you yanked her into Ning Rongrong."

"This isn't coordination. You're forcibly taking over their bodies."

Tang San's entire body stiffened.

Chen Xuan pointed at Xiao Wu.

"When Zhao Wuji struck at you just now, you hesitated, didn't you?"

"You could have pulled her over and used her to evade. But you realized that if you pulled her over, she wouldn't be able to avoid the next slap."

"Your perfect control chain didn't leave her a second way out."

"If I hadn't been there, she would have had no choice but to take that blow with her face."

Tang San opened his mouth, but the words of rebuttal stuck in his throat.

He truly had not left a backup plan. In his tactics, as long as everyone followed his route, nothing would go wrong. But once something did go wrong, it became a dead end.

Chen Xuan turned around, preparing to leave.

"I applied to be a free agent precisely to patch the holes."

Chen Xuan paused, then glanced back at Tang San.

"You think you're the core. But a real core isn't tying everyone's life to your grass."

"It's making sure everyone knows that even if your grass breaks, someone can still cover for them."

"If you calculate people as chess pieces, sooner or later you'll calculate your teammates into dead pieces."

Chen Xuan walked away without looking back.

The training ground was so quiet that only the wind could be heard.

Tang San was still holding that broken length of vine.

Xiao Wu walked over to Tang San's side with her head lowered.

"Brother, you hesitated just now." Xiao Wu's voice was very soft. "Did you realize that if you pulled me over, I'd take that slap?"

Tang San remained silent for a long time.

"If I pulled you over, you would've been hurt."

Xiao Wu said nothing. She looked at the broken grass on the ground, her expression complicated.

She had always believed that as long as Tang San was there, she would be absolutely safe. Today, she suddenly realized that even that strand of grass could fail to protect her.

Dai Mubai sat on the ground clutching his chest and spat out the blood foam in his mouth.

"Next time, don't calculate everything so rigidly." Dai Mubai wiped his face. "People aren't puppets."

Tang San raised his head.

Were the things he had learned over the past four years really right? If control itself had blind spots, what use was even the most precise calculation?

Yu Xiaogang hurried over from the edge of the field, his face full of urgency.

"Little San, don't listen to his nonsense! There's nothing wrong with your control. They just couldn't keep up with your rhythm..."

Flender approached with a grim face, pressed a hand onto Yu Xiaogang's shoulder, and cut him off.

"Enough." Flender swept his gaze across the battered group. "Go back and pack your things."

"Tomorrow morning, we leave for Star Dou Great Forest. Oscar has reached level thirty."

Tang San clenched his fists. Next time, he would prove that his control chain would never go wrong.