The Back Armor Did Not Appear

The Shi Mo struck the heavy golden shield, the sound of the tortoise shell rubbing against the edge of the shield almost drowning out the cheers from the sidelines.

He didn't push the shield back, but only raised its surface by half an inch. The force that Captain Holy Radiance was originally going to use to hit Yu Tianheng's back was thus pushed upwards, and Yu Tianheng missed the shield and finally arrived at the newly formed control pattern.

The lightning bolt struck his right arm, leaving a ring of cracks in the ground.

The control line is disconnected.

Shi Mo was forced to kneel on one knee by the heavy shield, his arm twitching backward. Ye Lingling sent him a healing spell from about ten steps away. Just as the green light landed on Shi Mo's shoulder, another powerful attacker from Holy Radiance raised his foot and charged towards her.

"Shi Mo!" Dugu Yan shouted.

Shi Mo was already to Ye Lingling's left, and with a turn of its tortoise shell, it blocked her path. Both sides were already quite exhausted, and any subsequent reinforcement would require sacrificing another position.

Dong Jian realized this and stopped chasing Yu Tianheng. He stayed close to Shi Mo's right side, choosing an angle that would allow his teammate to retreat one less step. When the opponent's powerful punch came, he shifted his shoulder, moved his foot, and spun around, transferring the momentum to his next landing point.

The first catch was fairly steady.

The second time, another strong attacker came from the side, forcing Dong Jian to consider two impacts simultaneously: his left elbow and his right leg. Instead of trying to connect the two forces into a circle, he first withdrew from the first one, then used the Shi Mo tortoise shell as an obstacle to trap the second person on the outside.

My lower back was already sore and tight, but my body kept trying to put pressure on the nine bone fragments.

The Dark Gold Spine Armor did not unfold.

The bone fragments were hidden deep within his spine, connected to his increasingly familiar body movements. Dong Jian knew that if he released the Dark Gold Vein Suppression now, it would make things much easier for the multiple burdens in just a few breaths. But there were recorders from the Spirit Hall here, as well as a large group of high-level Soul Master whose eyes were constantly following him.

Once a card is revealed, it's difficult to take it back.

More importantly, he doesn't only have the options of showing his hand or going all in.

"Shi Mo, move it to the next position," Dong Jian said.

Shi Mo took a half step back, Ye Lingling followed suit, shifting her position. Dong Jian, taking advantage of this small change, proactively withdrew from the center of the battle, allowing his arm muscles to relax slightly.

The Holy Radiance Shieldbearer had just retrieved his heavy shield from the Shi Mo when he turned around and saw an empty space in the middle of the Imperial Fighting Team.

"Enter!"

The two attackers immediately charged in side by side. The Control System attackers followed closely behind, sealing off the ground, and the light patterns spread forward. If Imperial Fighting Team retreated any further, the two tortoise shells would be cut in two.

Li Man placed the fifth jade array eye behind Shi Mo's feet, and gave the other one to Dugu Yan. Her mental energy had been greatly depleted due to the continuous disruptions in the previous paths, so she dared not lay down too many nodes at this point, and only kept the retreat direction of the four people clear.

Seeing that the two powerful attackers from Holy Radiance were rushing in almost simultaneously, Dong Jian had a thought: if he released all nine load-bearing points on his back and used the Dark Gold Spine Armor to absorb the two impacts, he could probably push through the gap between the two.

The thought only lingered for a moment.

Li Man had already shouted, "Don't answer!"

She saw Dong Jian's heels sink back to the center and immediately judged that he was trying to catch the combined momentum of the two of them.

Dong Jian stopped his movements. "I'm backing down."

"Bring the Shi Mo over," Li Man said.

Shi Mo had just regained his footing under the heavy shield, his right arm still aching, but he didn't hesitate. He and Shi Mo stood on either side, effectively splitting the two attacks into two. Dong Jian only blocked a body impact that passed through the gap in the armor, then used his retreat momentum to step to the side.

Neither of the two pressures fell on his shoulders.

The two powerful attackers from Holy Radiance were blocked by the two tortoise shells, but they still pushed forward. The heavy shield pressed down from behind, and the shield's light shone brightly once again.

This was their true, prepared combined attack. The first two attackers were merely preventing the Imperial Fighting Team from providing reinforcements on both flanks; it was the Heavy Shield's final strike that would completely break through the center line.

Dong Jian saw that the Shi Brothers ' knees were already bent.

The black ring beneath his feet flashed for a moment, and Mountain Domain revealed the actual landing point of the shield and the bearing direction of the two tortoise shells. Knowing this was still not enough to stop the shield; someone had to change the contact time.

"Li Man, cut the middle!"

Li Man didn't ask him if he was going to tough it out; she simply cut the short path between the Shi Mo and the Shi Mo. The two brothers, who had originally intended to share the pressure using the path, instead shifted to the side, and the heavy shield fell through the center of the armor gap, only hitting the ground.

With a loud crash, the stone bricks shattered.

Dong Jian stood nearby, his calves aching from the debris. The real shockwave from the heavy shield landing still knocked him back two steps. He walked away to cover the distance, without trying to absorb the opponent's Soul Power from the rubble.

Captain Holy Radiance's heavy shield missed its target, and his arm sank.

Yu Tianheng saw this moment from the other side and was preparing to attack again when the Control System sent another layer of platinum light patterns from afar, forcing him to raise his arm to defend again.

"Can they still put up a good fight?" Yu Feng asked from the sidelines.

Qin Ming said, "Yes, they can. But they're tired too."

Captain Holy Radiance's chest heaved noticeably faster than at the start, and his right shoulder trembled from continuously raising his shield. The brightness of the light-type attacking Soul Ring in the team also began to fluctuate, with each burst of scorching light requiring a short pause.

Imperial Fighting Team inherited too much, and Holy Radiance used too much as well.

The question is, who will first turn a mistake into an injury by stubbornly resisting?

Li Man noticed that Dong Jian had changed his posture again and immediately lowered her voice. "Is your back hot again?"

"A little."

"Then I'll refund you."

Dong Jian looked in Yu Tianheng's direction. The captain had just approached the Control System; if he retreated from the center line, the Holy Radiance Shieldbearer might rush over again.

Li Man didn't repeat herself. She directly cut one of the array paths in her palm, leaving the connection near Dong Jian empty.

"Dismantle."

This was the password they had agreed upon beforehand. Although there was no fusion entity to dissolve it at the moment, she was referring to a section of the supporting structure that was just about to be reconnected.

Upon hearing this, Yu Tianheng added without hesitation, "Retreat."

Dong Jian instinctively wanted to say he could still hold on, but then he realized that the Shi Brothers had already moved to a different position, and Ye Lingling had followed the route left by Li Man. If he continued to stand still, he would only end up taking the brunt of the entire Holy Radiance attack himself.

He didn't argue anymore and took two steps back along the path his teammates cleared for him.

The heavy shield followed again, skimming along the ground.

This time, no one caught the shield in place. Shi Mo first used the tortoise shell to block the corner of the shield, Shi Mo pressed against the other side to push the shield out of place, Dugu Yan's narrow poison belt then landed at the position of Captain Holy Radiance's front foot.

To avoid the poison, the shield bearer had to switch feet, changing the angle of his prepared charge. Dong Jian only managed to block the elbow strike from the man on the outside as the man leaned to the side before retreating to a safe distance.

Ye Lingling rushed over and gave Shi Mo's arm and Dong Jian's side some basic treatment. Looking at the three of them, she knew they could continue for a while, but if they had to compete in the same load-bearing challenge again in the next round, anyone could get injured.

"The whole team needs to change its playing style," she told Yu Tianheng.

Yu Tianheng nodded.

Captain Holy Radiance also sensed something was wrong when he raised the shield. They unleashed their strongest combined attack three times in a row, which did force back the Imperial Fighting Team, but they failed to completely penetrate any key points. Every crack on the shield could be repaired, but the soreness in the arms holding the shield would not disappear just because the Soul Ring lit up.

The two sides finally separated by a small distance.

Taking advantage of the moment, Li Man collected a burned bamboo section and, after checking the other temporarily sealed section, reconnected it. Her mental burden did not disappear, but at least she regained a short circuit.

Dong Jian stretched his stiff back while looking at Yu Tianheng.

"If I take another hit like that, my back will probably react on its own."

"Then don't answer it," Yu Tianheng said.

Dong Jian gave a wry smile. "You make it sound so easy."

"I'll make sure they don't have time to keep hitting you."

Yu Tianheng looked up at the Holy Radiance Control System behind the heavy shield. The person there was replenishing their Soul Power after the previous rounds of shockwaves, and their position was now much forward than before.

The captain stared for a moment, then looked at the narrow path between Dugu Yan and the Shi Mo, barely wide enough for one person to pass sideways.

"Li Man, how long can you stay?"

"About three breaths; if you want to stay longer, you'll have to sacrifice one of the back rows."

"Three breaths are enough."

"What are you going to do?" Dong Jian asked.

Yu Tianheng did not answer first. He raised his right arm and tried to clench his fist. The tension from the Thunder Dragon Body had already reached his shoulder, but he could still complete one last short burst of power.

"Holy Radiance kept pressuring us to accept the call."

He looked behind the shield bearer.

"Now it's their turn to choose."

Upon hearing this, Dugu Yan first checked her right arm. The amount of poison Jade Sac Poison Storage was within a stable range; she could use the short poison belt twice more, but she didn't intend to use up all that remaining amount. She held up two fingers to Yu Tianheng.

"I'll block off the route for you two more times at most."

Yu Tianheng nodded. "Once is enough."

Captain Holy Radiance saw from the opposite side that Imperial Fighting Team had regrouped into a small formation and slowly lowered their heavy shields. He assumed that Imperial Fighting Team were preparing for a fourth hard defense, so he ordered two of their attackers to move forward.

However, this time Yu Tianheng did not stand directly in front of the shield. Lightning flashed along his right leg to the side, and the first step he took was towards the control area behind the shield bearer that had not yet fully closed.