On the Road · The First Clash of Sword and Halberd (Part One)

Morning light spilled across the valley once more, and the party regrouped after a night's rest. Beside the riverbank, clear water murmured past, reflecting the sun rising on the horizon.

After their long conversation around the campfire the night before, the atmosphere between the two families' younger members had changed completely. Now, during their stop to rest, greetings and laughter came far more naturally. They gathered in small groups, stretching their limbs or picking up conversations left unfinished the previous night.

Dongyue Ling stretched and wandered over to Li Xiaochen, who was tinkering with a Soul Tool. "Brother Xiaochen, how far can that Buzzing Reconnaissance Ball from yesterday scout once you put Soul Power into it?"

"A thousand meters in theory, but the image gets blurry past five hundred." Li Xiaochen did not look up. The delicate metal sphere in his hands gave off a faint buzz. "I'm improving the receiving runes, though. If I can combine them with your Dongyue Family's principles of astral positioning, maybe I can..."

Elsewhere, Dongyue Huaixin had indeed pulled Dongyue Chuxuan and Dongyue Huaiyu aside to discuss the "link between foresight and assault" that Li Xuansheng had mentioned. Dongyue Chuxuan stood with his sword in his arms, his stern face thoughtful. Dongyue Huaiyu crouched on the ground, using the sheath of his Stargod Sword to sketch attack routes in the sand.

"Huaixin's Star God Staff has a third Soul Skill, Astral Trajectory Foresight. It can predict an enemy's attack path 0.3 seconds before they strike." Dongyue Huaiyu tapped several points in the sand with his sheath. "If I follow up here with Meteor Thrust while Chuxuan uses Heavenly Sword · Mountain-Severing from the side, we could theoretically catch the enemy in a crossfire with nowhere to dodge."

"But 0.3 seconds is too short." Dongyue