Blue Silver Grass, Green Jade Dragon Bamboo
After Li Man finished her attack, Tang San did not chase after the bamboo joint to entangle it.
He laid two strands of Blue Silver Grass on the path Yu Tianheng was retreating, and sent another one into the outer edge of Dugu Yan's poison zone. Blue Silver Grass is flexible and can bypass many obstacles on the track, and can also withstand some ordinary pulling; Green Jade Dragon Bamboo takes root in a formation, making the line more stable, but it cannot change direction at every turn like grass vines.
Both Martial Soul can control the field, but they do different things.
Li Man knows this best.
"Don't fight him for every inch of ground," she told her teammates first. "Let's protect the areas we can move around in."
Dugu Yan nodded and narrowed the poisonous fog again. Tang San saw that she was unwilling to spread the poison over a large area, so he was in no hurry to force her. He knew that if the poison spread over a large area, it would make it difficult for Xiao Wu and Zhu Zhuqing to get close, and Shrek had no need to create such an exchange for the Imperial Fighting Team.
Yu Tianheng is currently engaged in a series of battles with Dai Mubai.
Dai Mubai's punch came crashing down, and Yu Tianheng used his Thunder Dragon Body to absorb the head-on impact. The two retreated to the side at the same time, and collided again in the next round. Dai Mubai's physical strength was not weak, and his defensive Soul Skill made it even more difficult to break through. Yu Tianheng himself could not possibly punch through without a suitable angle.
Dong Jian watched from behind, without calling "left" or "right" for the captain. During that close-quarters combat, Yu Tianheng knew better than any of the spectators what the next move should be.
Taking advantage of the collision, Tang San released Blue Silver Grass, which pulled out two short vines from under their feet. Yu Tianheng pulled back his leg in time, Dai Mubai used the momentum to retreat. The grass vines then turned the originally open center of the arena into several narrow paths.
"He's clearing a path for Zhu Zhuqing," Dong Jian said.
Osler had already seen Zhu Zhuqing switch positions and took the initiative to meet her. Both of them were very fast, and their shadows crossed twice in the backcourt, neither of them able to get around the other immediately.
Li Man placed the sixth key point of the formation.
She connected the two main roads at the foot of the Shi Mo and Dugu Yan respectively, and the third road led to Ye Lingling. Not putting all her hopes on one point was a method she learned after suffering losses in the Battle of Blazing Fire.
Tang San saw the location of the bamboo joint and his fingertips twitched slightly. Two Blue Silver Grass suddenly rose from the ground, not to entangle Li Man herself, but to dart behind Shi Mo's shoulder.
"Move to the right," Li Man reminded him.
Just as the Shi Mo was about to turn, Ning Rongrong's amplification had already landed on Xiao Wu. She suddenly approached from the side, faster than before. The Shi Mo could only watch out for the grass and vines, and might not have time to see her footsteps, so it had to unfold its tortoise shell in advance.
Xiao Wu didn't directly collide with the tortoise shell. Instead, she circled around to the side, using his defensive movement to spring up and land closer to Ye Lingling.
Dong Jian then intervened. Mountain-Shifting Step steadily, his Black Stance blocking Xiao Wu's kick. He didn't take the opportunity to throw her away forcefully, knowing that her Soft Skills preferred obvious grabs and spins from her opponent. Dong Jian released the contact and took a half step back in the direction he had retreated.
Xiao Wu turned her body, still trying to get closer to him along his wrist.
Dong Jian let go in time, and she grabbed nothing.
"You've learned your lesson," Xiao Wu said.
"You didn't use the same old tricks either," Dong Jian replied.
The two stopped talking. Zhu Zhuqing had already moved away from Osler, Shi Mo immediately sent the tortoise shell to Ye Lingling. On the other side, a strand of Blue Silver Grass had already wrapped around Li Man's right-side array eye.
Li Man could have let the backup path of Ten Thousand Bamboos Return to the Veins take over automatically, but she saw Ma Hongjun raise his hand.
The battle has begun.
Instead of letting the fire continue along the array path, she temporarily sealed the bamboo section that might be burned, and then cut off the section closest to the Blue Silver Grass. The bamboo section was charred by the flames, but it did not damage the array eyes behind it.
Seeing how quickly she was cutting, Ma Hongjun frowned and said, "This person broke off before the fire was even finished burning."
Tang San wasn't surprised. "She can distinguish the points of injury. Keep forcing her to choose; don't expect to destroy everything in one burn."
He immediately changed the direction of the Blue Silver Grass's Entanglement, withdrawing some of the vines that were originally attacking the Shi Mo, and instead weaving an arc-shaped barrier outside the Dugu Yan poisonous mist.
Li Man's expression darkened slightly upon seeing this.
She thought Tang San was really going to destroy the array's core, but he took advantage of the moment she deliberately withdrew the array to seize an empty space. Li Man won, the node was safe, but Tang San took the ground route.
"Ignore the open space," Yu Tianheng said from the front.
Li Man nodded. She didn't rush to take it back, but instead reduced the number of array eyes to five. She knew that both sides were calculating the cost of their mental and Soul Power, and whoever repeatedly used skills to fight for a deserted spot would suffer more later.
When Tang San released the grass again, Li Man took the initiative to remove a bamboo path that was perfect for detouring.
Osler was taken aback when he saw the road suddenly disappear. "I still need to go that way."
"Change to left."
He didn't have time to ask why, and immediately turned around following Li Man's other short array eye. The next moment, a Blue Silver Grass suddenly shot up from the position that had just been abandoned. Tang San had originally planned to use that seemingly fixed array path to entangle Osler, but the grass vine missed its target.
Tang San, look over here.
Li Man didn't look at him; she first escorted Osler to the outside of the Shi Mo. She used up one path, saving time for another teammate to escape.
This battle lasted for several rounds.
Li Man sometimes left a path open, sometimes she temporarily blocked it; Tang San sometimes entangled people, sometimes he only blocked a single brick. Ning Rongrong's buff to melee combat made each attack after the grass vines blocked the way even more difficult to defend, and Oscar was also constantly replenishing supplies, so that Shrek would not have a problem with insufficient Soul Power as soon as they entered the middle stage.
Imperial Fighting Team managed to keep the backcourt at an acceptable level thanks to Ye Lingling's continued treatment and Shi Mo and Osler taking turns adjusting their positions.
On the sidelines, Grandmaster watched Tang San continuously alter the grass path and said softly, "Li Man will cut down the paths contaminated by fire, and she will also leave some temporarily blocked. Tang San already knows that she can't just send any of them back."
Flender asked, "Can he break it?"
"He's testing it out. Li Man is also watching how he can mislead people."
On the field, Tang San indeed left a blade of grass in place. Just when Li Man thought it was an ineffective obstacle, he suddenly used it to pull half of the Shi Mo's leg backward. The Shi Mo's tortoise shell remained steady, but its steps were forced to stop.
At that moment, Zhu Zhuqing cut towards the edge of Ye Lingling's treatment area.
Osler wanted to give chase, Ning Rongrong's increased speed made him a half-step slower. Li Man placed another array eye, and was about to clear the way for him, but she found that Ma Hongjun's second line of fire had already blocked the direction of the bamboo joint.
She could use the Ten Thousand Bamboos Return to the Veins, but the fire was waiting for her backup line.
Li Man retrieved the new array eye, allowing Osler to relentlessly follow in his footsteps.
Dong Jian was about to intervene when a stalk of Blue Silver Grass wrapped around his ankle from the side. This time, he didn't rush to break it off. He first steadied himself before moving, lest he pull himself into the next layer of Entanglement.
Tang San continued to exert force backward.
"Lingling, move a little closer to the Shi Mo," Li Man said.
Ye Lingling took a small half-step forward. Her treatment range hadn't truly ended yet, but it had already been pushed to the edge by two grass vines and a section of fire.
Li Man stared at her only remaining safe path and finally took the initiative to retract the outermost bamboo section. The light of the Green Jade Dragon Bamboo dimmed briefly on the ground.
Tang San did not take the opportunity to launch a strong attack on Li Man.
He pushed the vine into the empty space, and Zhu Zhuqing's figure passed through the spot where the Shi Mo could have blocked the way.
As soon as Osler caught up behind her, Zhu Zhuqing had already closed in on Ye Lingling.
"She's in!"
Li Man retracted her fingers, and the remaining two short circuits simultaneously changed direction. Dong Jian also ended his struggle and looked up.
This time, he had to truly deal with the close-range threat from the back row. Tang San, however, had already placed another Blue Silver Grass on the path he was about to take, waiting to see how he would choose.
Ye Lingling didn't wait for anyone. She withdrew the healing light she had prepared for Shi Mo and moved to Dugu Yan's side, forcing Zhu Zhuqing to change her attack angle. Healers are naturally not good at fighting against agile attackers, so knowing where to hide is still very important.
In the last two steps, Zhu Zhuqing suddenly lowered her body, changing her target from Ye Lingling's shoulder to her calves. Dugu Yan's Jade Phosphor Poison Fog pressed down, and if she continued to get closer, she would have to step over the poisonous belt first.
Zhu Zhuqing didn't charge in head-on; she immediately withdrew her attack and dodged to the side. Her retreat was so decisive that even when Osler caught up, he couldn't stop her.
Dong Jian finally arrived near Ye Lingling, only to find that the moment he needed to deal with had already passed.
As Li Man shut down the remaining array paths that had been burned, she said, "You're late, but it's okay. Next round, watch Tang San's blade of grass, and I'll watch this side."
Dong Jian did not object. Li Man was deciding for herself how to hold the back row, and he didn't have to rush to stand at the front every time.
On Shrek's side, Tang San parted the two vines with his fingers again, his gaze settling on the spot where Li Man had just given up. Both sides had remembered the other's successful choice once, and next time on the same path, it was unlikely that either of them would follow the same route again.