Eight Breaths Written in Their Notebooks

On the night the competition ended, Qin Ming did not arrange any training. All nine people sat in the conference room. On the table were three things: Imperial Fighting Team's own competition records.

Records of opponents gathered from public areas, along with simplified intelligence already circulating outside. Yu Feng picked up the third document first, and laughed after reading a few lines.

"Eight breaths."

Qin Ming asked, "What's so funny?"

"That's very accurate."

"It was originally meant for them to see."

Yu Feng continued reading.

"Can be moved once."

"Dong Jian and Li Man were visibly fatigued after the breakup."

"I suggest seizing the ninth breath to launch a counterattack."

He looked up as he spoke.

"This one is pretty accurate too."

Dong Jian said, "We'll talk about it after we catch them." Li Man took the paper from his hand without smiling.

"First, let's see which ones are true."

Qin Ming nodded. He wrote the first rule on the tactics board: Black Fourth Ring.

"Public."

Article Two. Yin-Yang Mountain Domain.

"Ground Perception surface layer exposed."

Article 3. Self-created tactics such as Circular Rotation, Mountain Exchange, and Momentum Shift.

"It has already received a lot of attention."

Article 4. Mountain-Suppressing Dragon Bamboo.

"The public will continue for eight breaths."

"Make one public move."

"There are losses after the public version is dismantled."

Qin Ming stopped writing.

"What else?"

Shi Mo said, "They don't know about the Sealed Spine."

"Right."

"I don't know about the Dark Gold Spine Armor either."

"Right."

Li Man added, "I don't know about twelve breaths." Qin Ming put down his pen.

"These three points are not included."

They don't appear on the tactics board. They're not even in the Imperial Fighting Team's own regular tactics manual. The complete Mountain-Suppressing Dragon Bamboo still only exists in the memories of a few people.

Before the meeting ended, Ye Lingling called Dong Jian aside.

"Turn your back to me."

Dong Jian turned around.

"Checking right after the call?"

That's why we're investigating.

She placed her hands on several key points on Dong Jian's back. Her Soul Power perception was very light. The first point was normal. The second point was normal. Moving down, all the way to the vicinity of the seventh and eighth points.

Ye Lingling paused for a moment. Li Man immediately asked, "Is there a reaction?"

"The residue is minimal."

"It did indeed move upwards during the seventh breath."

Dong Jian said, "She removed the outer layer and then pressed it back in."

"Um."

Ye Lingling finished checking the last spot.

"We can hide it today."

This statement did not offer complete reassurance. Being able to hide today does not guarantee continued concealment. The Dark Gold Spine Armor was becoming increasingly integrated with the body. Under high load, the natural tendency of the nine Soul Power pathways to rise was becoming more and more obvious.

Li Man asked, "What if the seventh breath doesn't decrease?" Ye Lingling thought for a moment.

"The Soul Bone might not be immediately apparent from the outside."

"But high-level Soul Master can sense it at close range."

You might feel that your back is not bearing the weight properly.

Dong Jian nodded.

"From now on, the seventh breath in the Sealed Spine version will be the thread."

Qin Ming heard it.

Let's agree on this for now.

"If I really encounter a situation where I have to hold on for the ninth breath..."

"Let's see if the match is worth it first."

Yu Feng asked, "If it's worth it?"

"Then we'll decide whether to hide it or not."

Secrecy is never an inviolable rule. It's just that the finals haven't forced us to reveal the whole deck yet. The next morning, the Spirit Hall tournament staff delivered the skill registration form.

All teams advancing to the next round are required to provide the names and categories of their disclosed skills. Detailed descriptions of the Soul Skill are not required in the form, nor are training methods specified.

The Mountain-Suppressing Dragon Bamboo officially appeared in the competition registration for the first time. Its name, Martial Soul Fusion Skill, and users were Dong Jian and Li Man. The "Specific Effects Description" section was optional and could be added voluntarily.

Qin Ming left his form blank. The person in charge of collecting the forms glanced at it.

"Should I leave this blank?"

"The match footage has already been made public."

"For easier event recording, you can write the duration."

Qin Ming said, "It's in the public recording." The other person looked up at him. Qin Ming's expression remained calm.

"The rules don't require participating teams to voluntarily disclose tactical details, do they?"

"No."

"Then let's follow the rules."

The staff member didn't make things difficult, collected the form, and left. Yu Feng waited until the door closed before saying, "I thought the Spirit Hall would ask all sorts of questions."

"This is a competition."

Qin Ming said.

"The competition rules didn't require you to hand over the manuals for your Soul Skill."

Don't scare yourself unnecessarily.

At noon, Imperial Fighting Team went to watch the first game of Shrek's finals. Dong Jian still hadn't run the complete model beforehand. Tang San had a few more new samples.

Blue Silver Grass's first layer of control involves less emphasis on securing all kills at once. He'll let people into a certain area, then use teammates to apply pressure and narrow their escape routes. Dai Mubai and Xiao Wu are already used to this rhythm.

Ning Rongrong's amplification switching was also faster than in the qualifiers. Shrek's victory in this match was not easy. Their opponent had a Soul Master who could sever the Blue Silver Grass connection in a short time.

Tang San's control was broken the first two times. The third time, he didn't continue to lay the same net. He shortened the Blue Silver Grass, leaving only a few key points. Zhu Zhuqing completed the side cut herself.

Dai Mubai back from the front. Tang San finally managed to close the control. Dong Jian, seeing this, subconsciously recalled yesterday's Imperial Fighting Team. The formation being cut off did not mean that the original formation could only be re-laid up.

Smart teams will make changes. After the match, the Divine Dragon Secret Realm updated its public sample.

"Tang San model reliability: 41%."

It's higher than before, but still less than half.

"Should we generate a recommended first-move target?"

The same option appeared again. Dong Jian still chose:

"No."

Forty-one percent could remind him more, but not enough to decide the match for him. Meanwhile, the Grandmaster was also organizing the recordings of the Imperial Fighting Team. His notebook also contained the same notes:

Mountain-Suppressing Dragon Bamboo. Eight breaths. Tang San saw it as he walked over.

"Does the teacher also write eight breaths?"

"Write down the facts."

Yu Xiaogang drew a very small question mark after "eight breaths".

But don't treat it as the limit.

"Because it was voluntarily terminated?"

"And the status after the decommissioning."

The Grandmaster said, "Dong Jian and Li Man are indeed tired."

"But it looks a little different from how it appears when it reaches its limit."

Tang San recalled the second half of the match. Dong Jian was still able to handle one physical exchange, Li Man could still retain three nodes. If the eight breaths had completely drained both of them...

This won't be the case from here on out. But this is as far as we can go. They don't know what will happen in the ninth breath, nor in the twelfth breath, and they know nothing about the Dark Gold Spine Armor.

Guessing too far ahead is meaningless. The nine people then asked a reverse question. Qin Ming didn't let them say what they were good at. He only asked:

"If you were from another academy, how would you participate in the Imperial Fighting Team?"

Shi Mo first said, "After the integration is complete, we'll pressure Dong Jian and Li Man."

"That's what it's written outside."

Yu Feng said, "A feint to deceive Mountain Domain."

"Old intelligence."

Dugu Yan thought for a moment.

"Forcing Li Man to maintain more nodes simultaneously."

Li Man nodded. "This works." She wasn't uncomfortable just because others could find her stress points. It's a fact that the more nodes in the network, the higher the mental burden.

Yu Tianheng said, "Drag my Thunder Dragon Body." Qin Ming also noted it down. Finally, he asked Dong Jian.

"And you?"

"Remote attributes."

"Mental Interference."

"Continued air combat."

"There's still the window of Returning and Receiving."

Yu Feng remarked from the side, "You've listed quite a few." Dong Jian replied, "I've lost to them all or suffered losses from them."

"Easy to remember."

Qin Ming wrote these on another board.

"This is the most troublesome part behind Spirit City."

"Your opponent will test every boundary you know, one by one."

"So don't mistake secrecy for safety as simply knowing that twelve breaths is enough."

"Public weaknesses also need to be addressed by people."

Li Man asked, "Should we deliberately change the correct information written by outsiders?"

"There's no need."

"To deceive others by forcibly transforming oneself into someone else is too costly."

Qin Ming tapped the eight-breath record.

"Our responsibility is simply not to give away things that aren't necessary."

"Let them see for themselves."

This aligns better with the current strategy of Imperial Fighting Team than deliberately fabricating false information. There's already enough real information. How others interpret it is the next level of the game. (Afternoon)

The next round of draws will be sent to Imperial Fighting Team. This time, the first page of the data is marked "Seed-level rating".

Although they haven't reached the level of the Spirit Hall Academy's core lineup yet, this team already has two Soul Ancestor of level 43 or above and a mature offensive and control combo.

Yu Feng to the last page.

"It's starting to feel more and more like the finals."

Yu Tianheng said, "That's how it is." Dong Jian didn't look at the opponent's name first. He looked at how they had broken down their formation in the last three matches. In one of the matches, after the opponent failed in a head-on collision with the Power Attack System, they immediately switched to ranged suppression in the second round, and did not continue to gamble on the same method.

This indicates that the teams that follow will make adjustments faster than those in the qualifiers. The fact that the Imperial Fighting Team can hold back twelve breaths doesn't mean that holding back eight breaths guarantees continued advantage.

The new competitor is stronger than Cloud Chain, and the data is thicker. Qin Ming flipped through a few pages and closed the notebook.

"From now on."

"They'll get better and better at how to fight us."

Yu Feng asked, "Then what do we do?" Yu Tianheng replied, "Fight as before." Li Man carefully folded up the intelligence reports circulating outside. The top line still read:

Mountain-Suppressing Dragon Bamboo, eight breaths. She put the paper back on the table. Imperial Fighting Team's own tactics book didn't have twelve breaths. Qin Ming's public board didn't have it either. Dong Jian's training book only had an unclosed circle.

Regarding the complete Mountain-Suppressing Dragon Bamboo's three steps, twelve breaths, and the Dark Gold Spine Armor, not a single line can be found. The external texts already clearly describe the eight breaths.

Let's leave the eight breaths in their notebook for now.