When the Red Fog Rises, Don't Believe What You See
On the day of the championship match, new guardrails were installed at the four corners of the arena. All the broken stone slabs were replaced, and the referees walked around the arena before the start of the match to ensure that every boundary was clearly identifiable.
As Imperial Fighting Team entered the passage, Qin Ming touched the shoulders of the seven players in turn. When it was Yu Tianheng's turn, he avoided Yu's still slightly swollen right arm and simply said, "You're the captain today. When it's time to stop, I'll wait for your nod on the sidelines."
Yu Tianheng tightened his grip on the wrist guard. "I know."
In the opposite passage, the Spirit Hall Academy was also preparing. Hu Liena glanced at Imperial Fighting Team's position, then whispered a few words to Xie Yue. Yan stepped on the edge of the arena, as if checking if the stone bricks were sturdy enough. The remaining four team members did not stand in a row, leaving gaps between each other to exchange positions.
Dong Jian didn't try to guess what they talked about based on the Divine Dragon Secret Realm. The opponent's Soul Power was higher than that of Imperial Fighting Team, and most of their Soul Skill lacked reliable close-range samples. Today, the only thing he could trust was the force he actually received.
The referee announced the list. The seven members of the Imperial Fighting Team: Yu Tianheng, Dong Jian, Li Man, Dugu Yan, Ye Lingling, Shi Mo, and Osler. The lineup of the Spirit Hall Academy is consistent with the pre-match information, with Hu Liena, Xie Yue, and Yan all present.
As both teams released their Martial Soul, Soul Ring of various colors, including yellow and purple, rose one after another. The pressure from the five core Soul Ring of the three members of the Spirit Hall was real. Yu Feng gripped the railing tightly below the stage and stopped joking about Dong Jian's black ring.
The whistle blew.
Yan moved first. He didn't rush to Yu Tianheng. Instead, his palm landed on the ground, and a fiery force of earth and stone spread along the cracks in the arena. The tortoise shell of the Shi Mo blocked the first rising rock edge, but the stones at his feet were scorching hot from the heat, so he could only retreat half a step towards the inside.
"The ground will change," Dong Jian said.
Li Man then cancelled the two array nodes that were originally intended to be placed in that area. The Green Jade Dragon Bamboo fell along the relatively cold stone surface, leaving only five nodes, with the sixth position being right near Ye Lingling's retreat route.
Hu Liena stepped forward from the side, her gaze not lingering on Dong Jian for long. She looked at Yu Tianheng and smiled faintly. Yu Tianheng, sitting in the front row, suddenly felt that the commands coming from beside him were a step further away, and the thunder seemed to be coming from across water.
He immediately bit his tongue and took a step back. "Don't stare at her."
Osler was about to cut in from the left when he heard the warning and turned his gaze to the other's feet. Hu Liena didn't chase, Xie Yue had already gripped his twin blades, approaching Shi Mo from the open space in front of him.
The Spirit Hall's attack didn't even allow Imperial Fighting Team to finish his probing. Yan Shi's unstable ground caused Hu Liena to pause briefly in her judgment, while Xie Yue forced everyone to make a choice by using his real blade.
Yu Tianheng's Thunder Dragon Body only extended to his shoulders and chest, blocking the aftershocks of Xie Yue's first slash. Immediately, a pulling pain shot through his right arm near the wound. He didn't press his right fist, but shouted, "Left, pull back! Shi Mo, hold on!"
The Shi Mo tortoise shell was turned sideways. Xie Yue smoothly sheathed his blade, changed to another angle, and the tip of the blade grazed the tortoise shell as it swept towards Dong Jian. Dong Jian took half a step back to avoid the blade, but his shoulder was still numb from the pressure of the air it created. He dared to take the impact with his body, but he would not use his palm to catch two sharp soul blades.
"I knew you wouldn't touch the knife," Xie Yue said.
"Then why are you still shooting here?"
Xie Yue didn't answer. His second strike was swift, forcing Dong Jian to yield and losing the half-breath he had to take over for Shi Mo. Hu Liena, watching from afar, gently raised her hand towards Xie Yue.
The two approached at the same time.
Li Man immediately called for a halt to the expansion of the outer perimeter, "Shi Mo, don't go into the light. Ye Lingling, stay closer to me."
The two Martial Soul overlapped at the point of contact, and their figures quickly merged into a double-bladed form. A layer of red mist then expanded, first engulfing the center of the arena, and then spreading to the edges. It was no ordinary dust. As soon as Dong Jian inhaled a little, he felt his sense of distance being distorted. Yu Tianheng was clearly to his left front, but his voice sounded like it was coming from behind.
Martial Soul Fusion Skill: Demon Charm.
Dong Jian could still feel the heavy footsteps of the Shi Mo beneath his feet, and he could also sense Yan's footsteps from a distance. However, he couldn't tell whether the swaying figure in front of him was two or five steps away. The vibrations reflected by the Yin-Yang Mountain Domain and what he saw began to distort.
The Divine Dragon Secret Realm's cooldown log popped up. "Visual and ground movement samples are inconsistent. The degree of mental impact cannot be determined."
Dong Jian didn't zoom out on Mountain Domain any further. The red area in front of him couldn't be solved by looking at another layer of ground. He narrowed his focus back to his feet, keeping only his actual position relative to Li Man.
Li Man tapped the bamboo joint twice, then added a long tap. She then withdrew.
Shi Mo lightly touched Ye Lingling's arm guard with the side of his tortoise shell to confirm she was behind him before moving his foot. Dugu Yan didn't pour the poison mist directly into the center of the red mist, but instead left a narrow band of poison around the healing position to prevent her own poison from blocking her teammates.
As the crimson mist continued to expand, another member of the Spirit Hall launched an attack along the outer edge. Instead of squeezing into the center of the Demon Charm crimson mist, he ran around the back of the Shi Mo Tortoise Shell, throwing a short burst of Soul Power every few steps. Each impact landed on the same section of the arena, making the Shi Mo think that someone was always preparing to rush in from there.
The Shi Mo blocked it twice, but on the third attempt, it managed to stop the tortoise shell.
"I can't keep turning my back on Ye Lingling," he said to Dugu Yan.
Dugu Yan pulled the poisonous mist inward by half a foot. The Spirit Hall member saw the poisonous mist narrow and immediately tried to squeeze through the open space, but was stopped by a Green Jade Bamboo pole that Li Man had already secured, forcing him to go around to the other side. The bamboo joints were cracked by the impact of the Soul Power, and Li Man deliberately severed the connection, preventing this part of the impact from entering the main formation.
"One spot can last twice," she said. "The third time, just treat it as broken."
Shi Mo remembered this sentence and simply stopped chasing every outline of the red mist. He moved his body together with Ye Lingling, separated by a piece of tortoise shell, and even if a figure that seemed to be right next to him appeared on the outside, he would wait until the object made contact before making a move.
The Spirit Hall's melee fighters immediately pressed inward, and Yan changed his footing accordingly. Yan raised another spot on the ground, forcing the Imperial Fighting Team's front row to lose their synchronized footing from training. The new stone ridge was burning hot, Dong Jian didn't even touch it, his steps as he went around it were a little slower.
"You have so many methods, why don't you try to interrupt the red mist?" Yu Tianheng asked in a low voice.
Dong Jian shook his head. "I can find where people have stepped on the ground, but I don't know how to determine the distance from this fog. If we force our way in, we'll leave empty spaces around you."
Yu Tianheng didn't urge him any further. He adjusted his facing direction and launched a short attack with his uninjured left arm, forcing the Demon Charm Moon Blade to turn towards him. Li Man took this opportunity to retreat the two unstable array points back to her feet, leaving Ye Lingling a short path that she could take three steps with her eyes closed.
Osler had already overshot his target. He intended to cut into the enemy's rear before the red mist completely sealed off his flanks, but a stone brick that Yan had just lifted suddenly tilted, and he leaped into the air, landing deep inside the red mist.
"Number Two, collect!" Yu Tianheng's voice came through.
What Osler heard, however, was a female voice from his right. "Take one more step forward."
He stopped in his tracks. The voice was very close, very much like Li Man's, but it lacked that familiar short pause. Osler immediately stopped his jump and instead touched the ground with his toes to test his way.
But behind him came the soft sound of Moon Blade slicing through the stone.
He blocked with a backhand motion, the tip of the Ghost Leopard's claw colliding with the back of the blade, a spark flashing, and his wrist went numb from the shock. Osler retreated towards the entrance he remembered, when suddenly a familiar Black Tortoise appeared before him.
"Shi Mo?" he called out.
The tortoise shell shadow didn't answer; instead, it moved aside, revealing a seemingly safe path. Osler gritted his teeth and stopped, protecting his chest with his left hand. The real Shi Mo was still half a zhang away, and the tortoise shell made a dull rubbing sound when it hit the stone bricks, completely different from the shadow in front of him.
The audience could only see a few Soul Ring flashing at the edge of the red mist. Some thought Osler had already circled around to the back of the Spirit Hall, and even Yu Feng couldn't tell where he had gone.
The Green Jade Bamboo in Li Man's hand suddenly vibrated slightly, and the Mobile Formation Eye hanging on Osler's wristband went off-rhythm. She didn't immediately pour her Soul Power into it to find him, because the location transmitted back now could no longer prove that he was really still there.
"Osler is missing." Li Man looked up. "Don't chase that key point."
Yu Tianheng clenched his left fist, but his right arm was still numb. From the depths of the red mist, a real impact sound suddenly rang out.
Dong Jian took half a step forward, and simultaneously felt two mixed vibrations beneath his feet. One came from the direction Osler might land, and the other was from the rock ridge that Yan had raised.
Both are real.
He remained where he was, refusing to risk stepping into that unseen red expanse.