After Nie Guanshan and Yang Shen took up their stances, they weren’t in a hurry to attack.

Once a Third Limit martial artist reached their level, the difference in strength was no longer great. The perfection of the mind and body simply showed that they had reached the limit of what they could train on their own. It didn’t represent their combat prowess.

If they fought, their adaptability would decide who would win.

Due to the difference in refined forces, everyone had different strengths and weaknesses, but if the two of them worked together, they could cover for each other’s weaknesses and make the other’s strengths shine.

They believed that if the plan went smoothly, they could take down their target.

Chen Bitong stood still. He was observing them and thinking of a strategy. Yang Shen had the strongest presence. As he continued chanting, he created a false impression that the cords trailing down his fingers were slowly coming to life.

He was using the sutra to activate his mental energy and merge his refined force with the ritual of the former national religion to gain even stronger power.

Chen Bitong should put a stop to this, and it wasn’t hard. He simply had to stop Yang Shen from chanting. In other words, all he needed to do was drag him into a fierce fight.

But he couldn’t ignore Nie Guanshan. In the Deity Worshipping Stance, Nie Guanshan could intercept him no matter where he went and use his stance to negate Chen Bitong’s refined force.

Even if he entered the rift to avoid him, Chen Chuan might be able to react quickly enough to stop him, and that slight lag in his movements would be enough for Nie Guanshan to catch up to him.

With these two blocking his way, Chen Bitong had no way of reaching Yang Shen. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

Hence, if he wanted to shake off Nie Guanshan and attack Yang Shen, the first person he had to get rid of was Chen Chuan. On the surface, Chen Chuan appeared to be the weakest link.

He wasn’t referring to Chen Chuan’s abilities, but on how well he cooperated with the other two. Chen Chuan seemed to be on his own. His mental energy was also not as sturdy as the other two’s.

Then...

He turned to Chen Chuan and took a step toward him.

Yang Shen and Nie Guanshan were paying close attention to Chen Bitong. When they saw his movements, they smirked, because they knew this would happen.

Chen Chuan was the opening they left behind. Even though he looked like a trap, Chen Bitong would improve his chances of winning by attacking him. If he didn’t, his defeat was guaranteed. Anyone with a brain could tell what to do in this situation.

But the next moment, their expressions changed.

When Chen Bitong took his second step, he suddenly turned to Yang Shen.

He didn’t intend to attack Chen Chuan first. It was not because he had taught him before or that he might be a trap. It was simply because he had a feeling that Chen Chuan was going to be the toughest to take down.

And Chen Bitong was used to believing in his instincts.

Upon noticing the change, Yang Shen continued chanting, but he jumped further back without hesitation.

Nie Guanshan’s biofield encased Chen Bitong. He let out a shout and pushed off the ground with the tips of his toes. He lunged forward like a rocket with his fists thrust forward. He was moving so fast it looked like he had teleported.

Everyone in the area saw a straight line rush forth, and a sonic boom exploded in the air.

The Deity Worshipping Stance required the practitioner to be in a stance of worship, but also allowed them to send their targets to meet the deities in heaven.

Chen Bitong’s body was pierced by the punch, but it was simply an afterimage. He had already ducked into the rift. Without a single doubt, he was going to appear near Yang Shen and attack him.

Chen Chuan had been getting a feel for what was going on. His mind wasn’t as strong as that of the others, but thanks to Awakening Clarity, his sensitivity was not any lower than theirs.

Once he sensed a ripple in his mind, a flash appeared in his eyes, and he suddenly moved dozens of meters to swing his saber down at an empty spot.

Clang!

Chen Bitong showed up from the emptiness with the light from the rift around him. He used a knife to block the slash, and his arm only trembled minutely before he negated the refined force charging into him.

Chen Chuan’s refined force wasn’t weak, but Chen Bitong had used some kind of technique to combine his mental energy and refined force to easily block the attack.

But Chen Chuan didn’t need to defeat Chen Bitong. All he needed to do was stall him for a moment. Chen Bitong couldn’t continue his attack on Yang Shen while blocking, and Nie Guanshan rushed over again.

Chen Bitong cast Chen Chuan a deep, meaningful look, and Chen Chuan sensed his mental energy swiftly dissolving.

Boom!

Nie Guanshan came charging over like a cannon ball, and the afterimage Chen Bitong left behind started wavering and flickering.

When Chen Chuan looked over, he found that Chen Bitong had returned to where he originally was, as if he had never moved.

Meanwhile, Yang Shen was chanting faster and louder. He, too, had returned to his original position.

Chen Chuan cast him a glance and saw the cords swaying around him. He had a feeling that as time passed, the cords were becoming a greater threat to Chen Bitong.

While Yang Shen and Nie Guanshan hadn’t told him the details, Chen Chuan knew about rituals. After taking just one look, he figured out that this was some sort of ritual.

That wasn’t all. From the moment they came over, he felt a subtle wave of mental energy trying to influence him, and his second self started blurring.

In the beginning, he thought that something around him was hurting him, but from the exchange of blows just now, Chen Chuan became certain that this wasn’t the case. He turned to cast a glance at Nie Guanshan. The man was still in his stance.

After trying to attack Yang Shen once, Chen Bitong took a moment to think. Then, he went to a box set by the road.

Yang Shen and Nie Guanshan just watched coldly and didn’t move.

They weren’t worried about Chen Bitong stalling for time. Once the ritual was completed, it would be exceptionally easy to capture him. Chen Bitong was the one who should be panicking, not them.

After opening the box, Chen Bitong took out two blades. One of them was a tough, sharp, thin, and long rapier. The other was a flexible sword. It seemed to be the same model as Fang Zhixin’s, just Chen Bitong’s was longer. It was more than ten meters in length, so it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call it a sword whip.

As he controlled it with his refined force and a flick of his wrist, it surrounded his body.

Usually, he didn’t use weapons, because Void String Force could take down any Third Limit martial artist, but in special circumstances, weapons were incredibly useful.

He wasn’t referred to as an instructor by many simply because of his Void String Force or because he knew a certain method of attacking. Instead, it was because he could use different methods to fight against different enemies, especially when his opponents’ attacks were rather limited.

After returning to the area, he turned to Yang Shen. Clearly, he was going to attack him again.

Nie Guanshan noticed something. His eyes flew wide open, and he let out a shout before charging to an empty spot. Another Chen Bitong appeared there out of thin air. Nie Guanshan drove his fist straight through him.

A third Chen Bitong appeared behind him and thrust the rapier at his nape.

Nie Guanshan didn’t panic. There were only two moves in the Deity Worshipping Stance, but he had practiced them thousands of times, so he could block any attack coming from anywhere.

He quickly pulled his fist back, and the rapier pierced his neck. In an instant, he felt a sharp, piercing refined force enter his body and turn into fine threads to infiltrate all parts of his body. At first glance, he had no way to stop it.

The Void String Force, huh?

Nie Guanshan scoffed in his heart. He would admit that this refined force was difficult to deal with. Any other person would lose the ability to fight back after being hit with it. Even Nie Guanshan wasn’t able to negate it completely, despite being in the Deity Worshipping Stance. However, this stance was unique in the fact that its offense and defense were combined into one. The moment he threw another Deity Worshipping Punch, he could expel the refined force from his body.

There was practically no way for anyone to stop him from doing this, unless they were able to kill him in one blow. But if Chen Bitong could do that, there wouldn’t have been any need for him to waste time fighting him, would there?

His instincts made him throw a punch forward while still in thought about it.

This time, his movements were slightly slower than before. While he could expel the refined force in him, he faced some obstruction in the process.

When Chen Bitong’s afterimage was torn apart, another person appeared further back, and just as Chen Bitong expected, he saw a flash beside him.

It was Chen Chuan, and his saber was coming for him.

Chen Bitong brought up his rapier to block it and easily negated the refined force coming for him. At the same time, he swung his flexible sword at Yang Shen.

Nie Guanshan’s movements had become slightly slower, which gave Chen Bitong more room for adjustments. Hence, even when he was blocking an attack, he could attack, unlike before.

Nie Guanshan recovered and moved to stand in front of the flexible sword. By the looks of it, he wasn’t going to have a hard time blocking the attack.

However, just as the flexible sword was about to hit him, the tip suddenly vanished and appeared near Yang Shen. It was going straight for his face.

Chen Bitong had used the rift to bypass Nie Guanshan and attack Yang Shen.

Chen Bitong’s eyes were trained in front of him. He might be unable to bypass Nie Guanshan, but his sword could.

The ritual required the practitioner to continue chanting in synchronisation with his breathing. Every step also had to be executed properly, so Chen Bitong didn’t need to shut Yang Shen up. All he needed to do was to make him feel threatened and force him to use his refined force to defend himself. That alone would achieve his goal of disrupting Yang Shen’s rhythm.

But at that moment, Chen Chuan appeared beside the sword. A cold flash came swinging down at the tip of the flexible sword.

Clang!

The hit caused the sword to bend like a wave, and Chen Chuan blocked all the refined force with his attack.