Interception

After taking their stances, Nie Guanshan and Yang Shen did not take the initiative to attack. Having cultivated the third limit to their level, the gap between them was not actually very large. The harmonious integration of spirit and body merely demonstrated the boundary of one's personal cultivation; it did not equate to absolute combat prowess. When it came down to a real fight, everything still depended on practical execution in battle. In that regard, because their jin differed, each person was bound to have strengths and weaknesses. Yet the coordination between the two of them was enough to cover each other's shortcomings and amplify their respective advantages. They believed that if the plan was carried out smoothly, it would be enough to capture Chen Bitong. Chen Bitong also stood motionless at this moment, seemingly observing and contemplating a countermeasure. On the field right now, however, Yang Shen possessed the strongest presence. As he muttered his incantations, one had the illusion that the fine, thread-like cords between his fingers were slowly coming alive. He was evidently stirring his spiritual power by chanting some scripture, bringing the jin at his command into harmony with the rites of the Old State Religion to unleash even greater might. Such a development had to be stopped. The method was simple: leave him no time to chant. Put bluntly, drag him into fierce combat. Yet Nie Guanshan could not be ignored here. With the Immortal-Worshiping Stance laid out, no matter which direction Chen Bitong moved, the man would step ahead to block his path and neutralize his jin with stance jin. Even if he could slip into the fissure to evade the obstruction, once he reappeared, if Chen Chuan on the other side reacted quickly enough to delay him for even a fraction of an instant, it would be enough for Nie Guanshan to catch up again. The interception of the two would be enough to keep him on the periphery. Therefore, to break free of Nie Guanshan and strike Yang Shen, the first one to deal with was actually Chen Chuan. On the surface, Chen Chuan appeared to be the weak link. This did not refer to capability, but coordination. He seemed faintly excluded from the two's teamwork, and his spiritual power was not as dense and solid as theirs. In that case... Chen Bitong turned his gaze toward Chen Chuan and took a step in his direction. Both Yang Shen and Nie Guanshan watched his movements without blinking. Seeing this action, their eyes held a look of "as expected." Chen Chuan was the opening they had intentionally left behind. Although this opening carried the flavor of a trap, attacking this point still offered a glimmer of a chance, whereas not attacking offered almost none. Everyone knew what choice to make. Yet in the very next instant, both of their expressions shifted slightly. When Chen Bitong took his second step, he suddenly pivoted toward Yang Shen. He had no intention of striking at Chen Chuan's side. It was not because he had once taught Chen Chuan, nor because this point might be bait, but because he sensed, contrary to expectations, that Chen Chuan's flank was actually the hardest to break through among the three. He chose to trust his instincts. The moment Yang Shen realized it, while keeping up his chanting, he leaped backward without hesitation, retreating further away. Nie Guanshan's spirit had been locked onto Chen Bitong all along. At this moment, he suddenly barked a shout, tapped the tips of his feet, and shot forward in a flash, thrusting both fists ahead. Because his speed was far too fast, it seemed almost like instant teleportation. Even in the eyes of everyone present, it was a straight trajectory so fast it could scarcely be discerned, accompanied by a tremendous sonic boom that thundered through the air. The Immortal-Worshiping Stance was not merely about paying homage to immortals oneself—it also meant sending others to meet them! Chen Bitong's figure was pierced through by the pair of fists in an instant, but it was merely an afterimage left in place. He had already slipped into the fissure a step ahead, and without a doubt, the next moment he appeared near Yang Shen and launched an attack. Chen Chuan had been feeling out the battlefield all along. His spirit might not yet possess the raw intensity of these men, but thanks to the elevation from the Lingming Reflection, his acuity was not low in the slightest. At this moment, upon sensing a ripple in the spirit, his eyes flashed. He suddenly crossed tens of meters of distance and brought his blade slashing down toward an empty space. With a loud clang, Chen Bitong's figure materialized from the void, shimmering fissure light swirling around him. He blocked the slash with a dagger he carried on him; with only an imperceptible tremor of his arm, he neutralized the jin driving through the blade. Chen Chuan could feel that his own jin was not weak, but the man seemed to have used some method combining spirit and jin to make parrying it relatively effortless. Yet right now, he did not need to cut his opponent down with a single strike; he only needed to delay him slightly. And because of his strike, Chen Bitong was already unable to press his attack, for Nie Guanshan was charging forward once again. He saw Chen Bitong cast a deep look at him. In his perception, the man's spirit rapidly dissolved. With a boom, Nie Guanshan's fierce power swept across from the front, causing the afterimage left in place to flicker and blur. When Chen Chuan looked up again, Chen Bitong was already standing back in his original spot, as if he had never moved at all. The chanting of scripture to the side grew faster and louder. Yang Shen had likewise returned to his previous position. Chen Chuan glanced over and saw the long cords swaying ceaselessly around Yang Shen's body. He could sense that as time passed, the level of danger within it seemed to be steadily rising. Although Yang Shen and Nie Guanshan had not informed him of the specifics, he understood esoteric rituals, so a single glance was enough for him to roughly deduce that this should be some kind of religious rite. More than that, from the moment he stood here, he had felt a very subtle spiritual force attempting to influence him, and signs of blurring had appeared on his second self. At first, he thought it was the effect of the surrounding environment on him, but through the clash just now, he was certain it was not. He shifted his gaze and glanced toward Nie Guanshan, who was holding the Immortal-Worshiping Stance. After testing the waters once, Chen Bitong seemed to ponder in place for a moment, then surprisingly turned and walked over to the trunk placed by the roadside. Yang Shen and Nie Guanshan watched with cold eyes, unmoved. They were not afraid of Chen Bitong playing for time. As soon as the ritual was complete, capturing him would become extremely easy, so it was the latter who should be anxious now. After Chen Bitong opened the trunk, he reached inside and took out two swords. One was a slender thrusting sword that looked rigid and sharp, while the other was a soft sword. Shaken out, it appeared identical in design to the one Fang Zhixin held, but it was much longer—extending nearly ten meters or more—such that calling it a slender sword-whip would not be an exaggeration. Under the manipulation of his jin, a gentle flick of his wrist sent it spiraling around his body. Normally he did not use weapons, because his String-Void Jin was enough to deal with third limit fighters. Under special circumstances, however, certain weapons could serve a great purpose. He was addressed as "Teacher" by many people, and that was not because he knew only a single kind of jin or a single method of attack. Against different enemies, he possessed different ways to respond, particularly when the opponent's methods were relatively singular. Returning to the field, he looked toward Yang Shen, clearly preparing to break through from that point once again. As he stepped forward, Nie Guanshan seemed to catch onto something. His eyes widened, and with a roar, he crashed toward an empty space. Another Chen Bitong materialized out of thin air there, only to be pierced through by his fist. This time, however, a third Chen Bitong appeared behind him, thrusting a sword straight toward the nape of his neck. Nie Guanshan did not panic in the least. The Immortal-Worshiping Stance had only two moves—offense and defense. Yet these two simple moves had been tempered through a thousand trials; no matter which direction an attack came from, it could be blocked. He swiftly pulled back his fist and maintained the original Immortal-Worshiping Stance. The sword stabbed into his neck, and in an instant, a sharp, extraordinarily penetrating jin entered his body, immediately transforming into thread-like strands of jin that permeated every part of him, as if impossible to block. *String-Void Jin?* Nie Guanshan sneered inwardly. He admitted this jin was exceedingly troublesome; anyone else might lose all fighting capacity after taking a single hit, and even he, holding the defensive stance of Immortal-Worshiping, could not fully neutralize it. But the hallmark of the Immortal-Worshiping Stance lay in the unity of offense and defense—as long as he threw the Immortal-Worshiping Fist again, he could completely expel this jin. And this process was virtually impossible to stop, unless someone possessed the absolute power to kill him in a single blow—and anyone with that capability wouldn't need to tangle with him in the first place. Even as this thought crossed his mind, his battle instincts had already driven his body to punch forward. However, when he struck out this time, his motion was a hair slower than before. Although he could expel the residual jin, the process still created a slight impediment after all. As Chen Bitong's afterimage in place was shattered, another figure appeared even further behind. Unsurprisingly, a blade light flashed from the flank as Chen Chuan slashed forward. Chen Bitong raised his short sword to parry. While easily deflecting the jin, he whipped the ten-meter-long sword-whip in his other hand, lashing it toward Yang Shen in the distance. Because Nie Guanshan had been a fraction slower just now, it had given him more leeway to adjust, allowing him to launch an attack even while parrying, rather than being stripped of the power to follow through after being intercepted as before. By this time, however, Nie Guanshan had already recovered. His figure swayed, and he stepped across to block the front of the sword-whip; it seemed this strike would not be difficult to stop either. Yet just as he saw the long sword almost strike him, its tip suddenly vanished. It reappeared out of nowhere right in front of Yang Shen, thrusting straight toward his face! This strike had actually used the fissure to travel through space, bypassing him entirely to attack Yang Shen behind him! Chen Bitong gazed ahead. He had no way of bypassing Nie Guanshan himself, but his sword could. An incantation ritual of this kind required coordination with one's breathing, demanding that every step be executed flawlessly. He did not need to silence the man completely; he only needed to force him to sense danger and mobilize jin to defend himself, thereby disrupting his rhythm. Yet right at that moment, a figure abruptly appeared at the flank of the sword's trajectory. A snow-bright blade light slashed upward, striking the tip of the sword with pinpoint precision! With a sharp clang, struck by this blow, the front section of the long sword buckled into undulating waves of curves, and the jin upon it was entirely turned aside by this single slash.