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If one side was attacking, then the other side would naturally be defending. At the moment, it was too early to say who held the initiative. However, if Samsara adopted the mindset of “if it’s too hard to deal with, then just avoid it,” they would definitely be the ones on the backfoot. The competitive stage was ruthless. If you gave an inch, the enemies would take a mile. A chain of ghost boundaries coordinated with other attacks might just be enough for Happy to win with a single play.

Team Samsara didn’t plan on running away.

With Sword Boundary in effect, Happy’s overall combat strength soared, but no matter how powerful the buff was, it wouldn’t be enough to overwhelm Samsara. Strength and Intelligence mainly affected their DPS. It had no effect on the tempo. In fact, Samsara had no need to make any adjustments to their original plans.

Continue!

Samsara didn’t cower. The team stepped into the Sword Boundary to battle against Happy.

This decision was quite wise. In the end, the Sword Boundary wasn’t able to win Happy an opening. Samsara had started actively pursuing One Inch Ash. Jiang Botao’s Empty Waves suddenly threw aside Dancing Rain, cutting straight towards One Inch Ash.

Waltzing Wave Slash!

A wave slash flew towards One Inch Ash. After Qiao Yifan placed down the Sword Boundary, he didn’t immediately start casting the next. He reckoned that Samsara wouldn’t give him an opportunity to. Sure enough, a Waltzing Wave Slash came flying at him. He couldn’t completely depend on Lord Grim to protect him. Although the Myriad Manifestations Umbrella covered a wide area, it didn’t cover every part of him. Jiang Botao had specifically chosen Waltzing Wave Slash so that his attack could curve around the umbrella shield. If Lord Grim went to block it, an opening would appear for Cloud Piercer.

He couldn’t always rely on his teammates. Oftentimes, he needed to find opportunities to place down ghost boundaries on his own. If he could just stand still, setting up ghost boundary after ghost boundaries, the battle would be too easy.

Roll!

One Inch Ash dodged the Waltzing Wave Slash, while taking a look at his surroundings. Qiao Yifan was observing his opponents, his teammates, and the terrain. Where could he find an opening?

One Inch Ash rushed out.

Zhou Zekai’s Cloud Piercer was the most troublesome opponent for him. Finding cover wouldn’t be a bad idea.

Zhou Zekai immediately saw through Qiao Yifan’s intentions. He fired both his guns at One Inch Ash to stop him.

Su Mucheng’s Dancing Rain immediately turned on Cloud Piercer. This time, Ye Xiu’s Lord Grim didn’t chase after One Inch Ash to provide cover for him. He used a Charge, straight towards Cloud Piercer.

If Happy focused solely on defense, then Happy would be the ones on the backfoot, not Samsara. Ye Xiu understood what he needed to do. He had protected One Inch Ash when he was placing down a Sword Boundary. Now, he had to attack Cloud Piercer, and rid Qiao Yifan of his biggest obstacle.

Zhou Zekai couldn’t let Lord Grim get close to Cloud Piercer. Perhaps his only choice was to back away. Seizing this opportunity to get close to One Inch Ash would undoubtedly be the best case scenario. Unfortunately, Ye Xiu had guessed his thoughts. When Lord Grim rushed over, Zhou Zekai had no choice but to give up on the idea.

He moved laterally with Aerial Gun. Zhou Zekai was trying to get to a different angle so that he could get past Lord Grim. But Ye Xiu was cunning and experienced. He immediately saw through his intentions. Lord Grim stopped and changed directions.

Attack while defending. Defend while attacking.

Ye Xiu had mastered this intricate art. He had once again become teaching material for the seniors of the various teams. Zhou Zekai had to face against this both offensive and defensive rush. For a moment, he had no way to break past him. He couldn’t focus his attention on One Inch Ash either. Qiao Yifan was able to immediately find an opening.

One Inch Ash had found cover. Cloud Piercer’s long range couldn’t be counted on anymore. Jiang Botao reacted quickly. Empty Waves suddenly sent an Earth Wave Slash towards Steamed Bun Invasion.

The distance was a bit far, so the chances that it would hit were rather low. But even so, Steamed Bun had to go out of the way to dodge it.

With this, an opening appeared for Du Ming. He quickly acted. Moon Luring Frost activated Shadow Steps and used Triple Slash to instantly close the distance on Tang Rou’s Soft Mist.

A team battle turning into a bunch of 1v1s? Unless it was intentional such as what Team Wind Howl often did, it would never happen. A sudden switch between players due to a change in circumstances was what should happen.

Samsara had made numerous switches in this short period of time. Du Ming finally had his 1v1 against Tang Rou. Du Ming was excited to face his crush, but he wasn’t going to show any mercy. Which of the five shadows from Shadow Steps was the real one? This sudden switch in opponents caught Tang Rou off guard. She indeed couldn’t figure out which one was real.

If she couldn’t find the real one, then she could only face them all. Running away was the easiest way to handle this situation, but Tang Rou had to be mindful of the overall situation. She understood that Samsara had switched targets continuously all in order to get to Qiao Yifan’s One Inch Ash. If she chose to run away, she would leave an opening for Samsara to take advantage of. Whether it was Sun Xiang or Du Ming, one of them would break past and reach One Inch Ash.

I can’t back down!

Tang Rou had always been unyielding, and now, she even had a perfectly good reason to be that way.

Cloud Whirling Windstorm!

Soft Mist took a step back as if she were planning on running. But then, with a twist of her wrist, she flicked out a high-level skill. The wind produced from the spinning Dancing Fire Flowing Flames let out a faint red glow. Dancing Fire Flowing Flames was a Fire element spear. If an elemental skill wasn’t used, the attack would automatically be a Fire attack. An enormous cloud of fire suddenly formed and extended outwards.

One Autumn Leaf? The five Moon Luring Frosts? Don’t even think about charging through.

It didn’t matter if Sun Xiang and Du Ming was able to create an opening to break through. With this delay, Samsara’s offense had been severed. This delay gave Qiao Yifan enough time to complete another ghost boundary.

Snow Stripe rose into the air, the ghost god’s power condensing around it. Sure enough, Qiao Yifan seized this opportunity to have One Inch Ash start casting another ghost boundary. He didn’t think it was possible to actually find a completely safe area. Everyone was fighting for an opportunity, and an opportunity had come!

Zhou Zekai’s Cloud Piercer was busy fighting against Ye Xiu’s Lord Grim.

Jiang Botao’s Empty Waves was rather far away. To interrupt him, he would need to get past multiple layers of defense. Being able to guide this relay between targets for Samsara was already impressive.

But in the end, Du Ming and Sun Xiang had been delayed by Tang Rou. Was Samsara really unable to stop another ghost boundary from forming?

No…

While gazing towards the ghost god’s power being summoned, Qiao Yifan suddenly realized that there was still one other player on Samsara.

Where was he?

“Behind!”

Warnings popped up from Ye Xiu and Su Mucheng simultaneously. One Inch Ash was enveloped by a shadow. Wu Qi’s Cruel Silence had jumped right over the barrier protecting One Inch Ash. In the next moment, blood poured out from One Inch Ash’s slit throat.

Wu Qi’s Cruel Silence had been chasing after him the entire time, but in the end, he had been forced to back off. He could only take the long way and circle around the ghost boundaries.

His pursuit wasn’t able to form any sort of threat. Qiao Yifan’s One Inch Ash was able to smoothly reconvene with his team and place down a Sword Boundary. Then, Samsara rushed at him, but under the protection from his teammates, he was able to find another opening.

During this time, what had Wu Qi been doing? What had Cruel Silence been doing?

Qiao Yifan had been paying attention to the overall situation, and he had an impression of Cruel Silence. However, his impression of him was very faint. At that time, Cruel Silence just seemed to be moving, searching for an opportunity to attack, but without any clear plans in mind. Qiao Yifan didn’t see him as a threat, and dismissed him.

But in the blink of an eye.

While everyone else on Samsara was unable to act, Wu Qi’s Cruel Silence suddenly appeared beside One Inch Ash.

What was this feeling?

Qiao Yifan couldn’t describe it. Suddenly, he thought of something. It was when he had been promoted from Tiny Herb’s training camp to the main team, the words that Wang Jiexi had spoken to him when he was handed the Assassin account card.

“Assassins hide in the shadows. The most terrifying Assassins are the ones that look ordinary because of how easy it is to drop your guard against them. Appearing ordinary to the point of being invisible is a truly rare talent.”