The Path the Captain Carved Out Himself

Just as the Thunder Dragon Body illuminated the right side of the Holy Radiance, the Control System had just pulled his foot back from the edge of the poisonous mist.

Yu Tianheng has arrived.

Captain Holy Radiance saw this, but his shield remained in the center line. He was currently facing the Shi Brothers, Dong Jian, and Ye Lingling. Removing the shield to rescue them would leave the entire backline of Imperial Fighting Team exposed. At this point in the match, whichever side opened up first, the other side could follow up.

"Hold on!" he shouted to the Control System.

With a wave of his hand, the Control System caused two white-gold patterns to rise from the ground. One pattern blocked Yu Tianheng's right foot, while the other extended towards his knee. Yu Tianheng could see clearly that he raised his first foot over the first pattern, but deliberately placed his second foot on the edge.

A tremor ran under my feet.

He used the resistance to stop his forward momentum, turned his arm, and used his Second Soul Skill to strike down the opponent's shoulder.

Bang!

The Control System fighter was forced to retreat, a piece of his clothing scorched. Yu Tianheng's right leg went numb for a moment, preventing him from immediately launching a second punch. Just as he was preparing to wait for his opponent to switch positions, a white flash of light from Holy Radiance -type attacker appeared from his side.

Yu Tianheng blocked the light with his arm, leaving a burn mark on his sleeve.

"Just half a step away," he whispered.

Captain Holy Radiance heard that someone on the right was at a disadvantage, and finally turned his shield around slightly. The pressure in the middle was reduced a little, Shi Mo immediately noticed. He pressed the tortoise shell forward firmly, not giving the opponent a chance to straighten the shield again.

"It'll be ready soon at Tian Heng," Shi Mo said.

Dong Jian glanced at the distance to his right. "You don't need to go over there."

I'm not planning to go.

Shi Mo saw things more clearly than anyone else. He was responsible for protecting Ye Lingling, and chasing after Yu Tianheng would only send the healing class away. Dong Jian didn't use Mountain Domain to check the whole scene either, he only checked the two landing points in front of him.

Holy Radiance's close-combat opponent had already forced Dong Jian to the outer edge of the tortoise shell. He noticed that Dong Jian's left waist was slightly stiff, and he made contact from that direction three times in a row. Dong Jian only managed to dodge the first time, was grazed on the side by the opponent's elbow the second time, and only found an angle to parry the third time.

He pressed his Black Stance against his legs, without making a large turn in his waist. Using the momentum of the opponent's fist hitting his wrist guard, he slid half a step to the outside of the Shi Mo, forcing the other person to change his position.

The opponent's fist was still there, and Dong Jian's sleeve was torn in half, at least preventing the opponent from passing between the tortoise shell and his body.

"You're slower than before," Holy Radiance grinned as he launched a powerful attack.

"You noticed?" Dong Jian replied.

The other party continued, saying that the Shi Mo tortoise shell had been moved sideways, separating him from Dong Jian.

Dong Jian took the opportunity to loosen his left shoulder. The two previous impacts weren't fatal, but if he took the third one in the same spot, his muscles would lose their reaction speed first. He moved a step forward, letting Shi Mo bear the outermost pressure, while he retreated to a position where he could observe the landing points of the two melee fighters. By saving that bit of weight, he would be qualified to take another hit from his teammates later.

"Talk less," Shi Mo said.

Dugu Yan carefully stored the poison belt at the back. She didn't spread the poison towards the brightest part of the light pattern, as that would disperse the poison mist and harm her own people instead. She chose a small patch of shadow to the right of the Holy Radiance and sent out a narrow wisp of Jade Phosphorous Serpent Poison.

This poison doesn't need to hit anyone; it only prevents the light-type attacker from relentlessly supporting the Control System.

Upon seeing this, Li Man immediately moved the two array points to either side of the poisonous area. One was for Yu Tianheng to retreat, and the other was for Dugu Yan to collect. She did not arrange a punch for Yu Tianheng, but only left space for him when he needed to leave.

"You can retreat from the second position on the right," Li Man said.

Yu Tianheng heard this but did not turn around.

With his next attack, the Control System deliberately exposed his left shoulder, trying to lure him into a trap. However, Yu Tianheng directly punched the ground next to the opponent's waist, and the Thunderclap exploded, shattering the newly formed control patterns.

The pupil of the Control System contracted.

He was waiting for Yu Tianheng to catch up with his body, but Yu Tianheng attacked the spot where he landed. This wasn't something Dong Jian had helped him see, nor was it a bamboo formation forcibly placed under his feet. The captain himself noticed that the boundary between the two patterns was the thinnest and was willing to expend an attack to break it.

The next instant, the Shi Mo caught up from behind.

His tortoise shell pressed down on the other side of the Control System, blocking the opponent's retreat, instead of launching a fierce attack together with Yu Tianheng. Yu Tianheng took this opportunity to rush to the right, forcing the Control System to leave its original safe position for the first time.

"Captain!" the Holy Radiance system attacker shouted urgently.

The Holy Radiance Shieldbearer immediately raised his shield and moved to the side towards Yu Tianheng.

The midline resistance suddenly disappeared.

Dong Jian saw that Shi Mo's shoulders finally relaxed a little. He didn't rush out to show off, but first turned to look at Ye Lingling to confirm that she was still in the passage left by Dugu Yan, before saying to Li Man, "Their shields are about to move."

"I see it." Li Man had already deactivated the front array nodes. "Leave a short circuit, don't push too far."

Dong Jian nodded. The Holy Radiance Shieldbearer's return speed was very fast. If Imperial Fighting Team blindly followed, he would be able to turn around and knock them back. The path left by Li Man was only enough for the two of them to retreat first and then regroup, so as not to give anyone the illusion that the entire net had been rebuilt.

Yu Tianheng's third punch finally struck the chest armor of the Holy Radiance Control System.

The man staggered back several steps, colliding with another attacker. A large section of the control runes beneath his feet broke off. Yu Tianheng didn't chase the man out of the safe zone; instead, he turned and attacked the shield bearer.

"Shi Mo, follow me."

"They've arrived."

Two figures, one large and one small, merged together. The tortoise shell blocked the side impact of the shield for Thunderclap, while Yu Tianheng took advantage of the moment the shield turned to deliver a finishing blow to Captain Holy Radiance's right rib from the other side.

Captain Holy Radiance grunted, and the shield's center of gravity finally shifted slightly.

Yu Feng stood up from below the stage. "It's broken?"

Qin Ming shook his head. "He only made them move."

A shield that has been moved once can still be firmly defended.

Sure enough, Captain Holy Radiance took a half step back, lowered his knees, and pressed his shield back down in front of him. He didn't panic; instead, he ordered his teammates, "Stop fighting on the right flank! All beams to heal the backline!"

After that sound, the two team members behind Holy Radiance simultaneously shifted their target.

A beam of scorching light pierced through the Shi Mo tortoise shell, heading straight for Ye Lingling's head; another beam veered out from the patterns on the ground, rushing towards the passage between Dugu Yan and Li Man.

Holy Radiance has already admitted that continuing to defend on the right side is not worthwhile.

They began to pressure Imperial Fighting Team to turn back.

Dong Jian felt a real sense of freedom beneath his feet for the first time, but he wasn't happy. Holy Radiance's front row had sent him out so that he and the Shi Brothers could rescue Ye Lingling and cause Yu Tianheng to lose the offensive route he had just created.

"Lingling, let's retreat first," Dugu Yan said.

Ye Lingling moved behind the Shi Mo, temporarily retracting the healing light to avoid revealing her position while releasing it. Li Man's third array eye landed, and the short jade line sent her into the other side of the safe zone.

The first ray of scorching light caught up.

The Shi Mo armor blocked the attack, and smoke rose from the surface of the tortoise shell. The intense heat of the light attribute was not completely blocked by the armor plates, and his arm muscles twitched. He could only grit his teeth and switch to the other side to endure the heat.

Dong Jian wanted to step forward, but he saw a second beam of scorching light circling the ground.

Mountain Domain could sense the ground shaking, but he couldn't directly predict how the light-attribute Soul Power would be refracted. Li Man only managed to avoid the heat light rushing towards Ye Lingling by relying on the whitening reaction of the bamboo leaves beside the array path and promptly abandoning the nearby nodes.

"One node is missing," Li Man said.

How many more are there?

"Enough to guarantee two short ones."

Don't leave any for me.

Li Man glanced at him, but still did as he was told and moved both bamboo poles to the back row. Dong Jian didn't need to stand in the middle of the bamboo formation to prove himself; he had a path under his feet and close-quarters combat to deal with, so he just needed to stay in this area.

In the distance, Yu Tianheng once again forced the shield bearers back with a punch. He noticed that the back row was being suppressed by the scorching light, and his expression changed visibly, but he did not immediately abandon the advantage he had gained.

"Yanzi, take Lingling towards the Shi Mo."

"They're already on their way."

"Dong Jian, is there any space on the left side?"

Dong Jian glanced at the landing points of the two most recent Holy Radiance melee fighters. "Half a step."

That's enough.

Yu Tianheng pressed forward again, forcefully pushing the shield bearer off course by half a step. At this moment, the Holy Radiance Control System finally recovered from its previous injury, and a new ground pattern quickly lit up.

He did not hit Yu Tianheng again.

The lines followed the shield all the way forward, reaching Ye Lingling's feet.

"They changed their route," Li Man said.

Once this control line is raised, the back row of the Imperial Fighting Team will be divided into two sides. At that time, Li Man will have to redeploy his formation in the area burned by the scorching light, and Dong Jian will have to go back to fill the gap. All the initiative will be regained by the opponent.

Yu Tianheng lowered his right shoulder, and the power of the Thunder Dragon Body gathered again along his shoulder and arm.

This time, he finally chose to take a step back.

But it doesn't mean giving up the front.

"Shi Mo, hold the shield."

After he finished speaking, he turned around and rushed straight towards the control pattern that had just appeared.

For the first time, Captain Holy Radiance's face darkened. He decided to go back himself to interrupt the crisis in the back row, rather than ordering Dong Jian to run from midfield to the end. With Yu Tianheng retreating, the shield in front had another chance to chase after him from behind.

Captain Holy Radiance suddenly raised his shield.

The edge of the heavy shield was aimed directly at Yu Tianheng's back, and a fully charged ramming attack was about to land. Dong Jian was still more than ten steps away from there, and his back was still aching.

He could see the direction the heavy shield would land, but he didn't have the ability to teleport ten steps at once.

"Shi Mo!"

This time, no further explanation was needed. The Shi Mo had already rammed into the heavy shield.