Gu Yanshu was focusing on the first blacker, so the third blacker placed his bat into the ground.
But before placing it, he swung it several times at high speed.
The air twisted.
It almost formed a tornado.
Then he grabbed a lighter and a cigarette.
He started smoking.
Hoooo.
Gu Yanshu saw the third blacker smoking and placing the bat down.
He took that chance and sliced toward the third blacker's head.
But even without the bat, the third blacker regenerated.
He took the bat again and swung it several times.
One strike made Gu Yanshu bleed hard.
Then another.
Then another.
The bat became so fast it formed a tornado.
Gu Yanshu was knocked out by just a few swings of that bat.
It was too fast.
His body was injured everywhere.
He was bleeding heavily.
Qu Yaoyang saw this.
He called for Lan Wege.
Lan Wege rushed in and said, "What happened?"
When Lan Wege saw Gu Yanshu knocked out and bleeding heavily, he quickly stopped healing him.
Then the first blacker came behind them.
Qu Yaoyang kicked him away and made the first blacker fall.
Then multiple kicks landed on his face.
The third blacker kept smoking again.
He needed the rest.
He needed another cigarette.
The third blacker could breathe and eat anything, and if he smoked, he got energy.
He already knew that.
Energy made him stronger, and he could fight longer with it.
And even without needing to smoke, he could still be the actual strongest if he tried his best.
Right now, not even the second blacker, not even the first blacker, and not even the third blacker were trying their hardest.
The third blacker, if he trained harder, could easily defeat the first blacker in a fight.
And he could already beat the second blacker.
This did not mean he was the strongest right now.
He had the potential to be the strongest.
But he was not the strongest yet.
While the second blacker was defeating every disciple because they did not have the strongest one helping them, Lan Wege was the only one who could support the battlefield properly.
He was the second strongest disciple.
Without him, the battlefield kept getting injured.
Lan Wege was still treating Gu Yanshu.
He said, "It has been a while, but he is a little too injured. This will take at least four or five minutes."
He said that to Qu Yaoyang.
Qu Yaoyang replied, "Do not worry. I am handling the first blacker right now. I threw him far away. He will come back soon. We should be more careful with the third blacker. The second blacker turned out to be the weakest of them all."
Lan Wege looked at Gu Yanshu's injuries.
"Not bad. He is healing quickly. Most of the time will go to the head. I can already see that because his head is badly injured. Right now I am healing his legs, hands, and stomach. He will be healed soon. But there is a problem. My energy will run out before I can heal him enough to wake him up. If I stop now, his brain will relax too much, and that could damage him."
Qu Yaoyang said, "Okay. I will try to help with fighting."
He turned back toward the second blacker and went out again.
With just his kicks and punches, Qu Yaoyang was carrying the whole side of the battlefield.
Lan Wege's energy was slowly running out.
He did not want to stop.
If he stopped, it would cause more damage.
His hands were already healed.
It would take two or three minutes to heal the legs and stomach.
The head would take five more minutes.
Maybe eleven minutes total.
And that would already make him run out of energy.
So this was a lot of work.
Qu Yaoyang kept fighting the second blacker while the first blacker slowly came back to the same place.
Gu Yanshu's eyes opened.
He felt pain all over his body.
His head was heavy.
His limbs were weak.
But the first thing he heard was the sound of the bat.
The third blacker was still smoking.
Gu Yanshu forced himself up from the ground just enough to see the battlefield.
Qu Yaoyang was still fighting.
Lan Wege was still healing.
The second blacker was still pressing the others back.
And the first blacker was already returning.
Gu Yanshu's breathing was rough.
He looked at the third blacker again.
The smoke.
The bat.
The speed.
That was the real problem.
He knew now that the third blacker was not just fighting with strength.
He was building rhythm.
He was stacking speed until the body could not keep up.
Gu Yanshu pressed one hand against the ground and stood up fully.
The third blacker saw him and smiled.
"You woke up."
Gu Yanshu did not answer.
He looked at the battlefield first.
Qu Yaoyang was holding the front line.
Lan Wege was still pouring energy into him from behind.
The second blacker was still being forced back by the other disciples.
The first blacker was coming in again, slower this time, but still dangerous.
Gu Yanshu narrowed his eyes.
He had to change the shape of the fight again.
Not by fighting harder.
By breaking the rhythm that the blackers were using.
He looked at the third blacker's bat.
Then at the cigarette.
Then at the smoke around his mouth.
That was the opening.
The third blacker's speed was tied to his rhythm.
His rhythm was tied to his breath.
His breath was tied to the smoke.
Gu Yanshu wiped the blood from his face and stepped forward.
The third blacker lifted the bat again.
Gu Yanshu did not rush him.
He moved to the side instead.
The first blacker arrived at the edge of the field again, and Qu Yaoyang immediately went to intercept him.
That gave Gu Yanshu one clean second.
He pointed once at the ground near the third blacker's feet.
Then the dragon understood.
A small fire beam shot low across the dirt.
The fire did not hit the third blacker.
It hit the smoke trail.
The smoke line broke.
The third blacker's eyes shifted slightly.
That was enough.
Gu Yanshu moved in at once and cut across the hand holding the cigarette.
The cigarette dropped.
The third blacker's face changed.
Not much.
Just enough.
He stepped back, then swung the bat in a wide arc.
Gu Yanshu twisted under it, cut the side of the bat arm, and pulled back before the next swing could land.
Now the first blacker had entered the field again.
Qu Yaoyang was fighting him off with hard kicks and punches.
The second blacker was still forcing the other disciples back.
Lan Wege was still healing, but his face was getting paler.
The battlefield was still split.
But it had not broken yet.
Gu Yanshu looked at the third blacker again.
"Your smoke is gone."
The third blacker's eyes narrowed.
He laughed once.
Then raised the bat again.
Gu Yanshu tightened his grip.
Now he knew the fight had shifted again.
And this time, the next opening would decide whether the battlefield stayed standing or collapsed entirely.Qu Yaoyang looked behind.
He saw Gu Yanshu.
Then he saw Lan Wege on the ground, not moving.
Qu Yaoyang thought, he must have run out of energy.
He still had to fight the second blacker.
But what if the first blacker came back?
He could not let Gu Yanshu get knocked out again.
There would be no one to heal him.
According to Lan Wege, it had already become dangerous.
If Qu Yaoyang left him there, things would get worse.
And he had been fighting this guy for twenty-three minutes.
Yes, of course.
Who could heal for straight up twenty-three minutes?
That was impossible.
While he was thinking, the second blacker hit him with a powerful blow.
But it did not make Qu Yaoyang bleed.
Instead, he countered at once.
His next strike landed hard on the second blacker's face.
Then another.
Then another.
The attacks kept coming.
Fast.
Repeated.
The second blacker's face started getting torn apart by the pressure.
The second blacker tried to scream.
He still got punched again.
And again.
At even higher speed.
Then the first blacker came back onto the battlefield.
The third blacker saw him and said, "You are here?"
The first blacker smiled.
"Yes. I am here. And I will be here for a long time."
Then the first blacker punched Qu Yaoyang.
That made Qu Yaoyang turn his attention to the first blacker.
So Qu Yaoyang stopped handling the second blacker for a moment.
Gu Yanshu looked at the third blacker.
The third blacker laughed.
"Ha ha ha. This time, you will get defeated by me again."
Gu Yanshu nodded.
"We will see."
Both of them laughed again.
Gu Yanshu wiped the blood from his hair.
It made his black hair look red.
He thought that attack had actually been strong.
Usually, while fighting, he did not think something was that strong.
But this time, he really felt it.
The third blacker's speed had changed.
The bat was still dangerous.
The pressure was still real.
And now the first blacker had returned to the field too.
That meant the whole battle had shifted again.
The first blacker stepped closer to Qu Yaoyang, smiling as if the whole fight belonged to him.
Qu Yaoyang kept his guard up and moved back half a step.
His body was still holding.
His breathing was still rough.
But his eyes were clear again.
Lan Wege was still down for the moment, but not dead.
That was enough.
Gu Yanshu looked at the third blacker's bat.
Then at his stance.
Then at the way he was standing too comfortably, as if he still believed the fight would fall apart in his favor.
That was the weakness.
Confidence too early.
Gu Yanshu moved first.
He did not rush the front.
He stepped sideways, then in.
The third blacker swung.
Gu Yanshu ducked under it and cut across the lower arm.
The third blacker's smile thinned.
The first blacker came in from the side and tried to break Qu Yaoyang's rhythm again.
Qu Yaoyang turned and blocked him with a hard kick to the chest, then followed with a punch to the jaw.
The first blacker moved back one step, still smiling.
He liked pressure.
That was obvious.
Gu Yanshu saw that the battlefield had now become a direct three-way pressure line again.
The third blacker wanted him.
The first blacker wanted Qu Yaoyang.
The second blacker was still trying to recover his advantage in the middle.
That meant the fight was not over.
Not even close.
Gu Yanshu lifted his blade again.
His voice was calm.
"Qu Yaoyang, keep the first blacker busy."
Qu Yaoyang nodded once.
Gu Yanshu turned back toward the third blacker.
The third blacker smiled wider.
"Good."
He lifted the bat.
Gu Yanshu narrowed his eyes and stepped in again.
The battle continued.Qu Yaoyang smiled. He said, "Such pathetic."
The first blacker stood up and said, "Oh, you are such idiots."
Then he hit Qu Yaoyang directly in the face.
Qu Yaoyang was sent flying.
He fell into a tree.
Then another punch was about to come, then another, then another.
It all hit at once.
While they were doing this, Kuou Shen Yin was watching the fight from outside the earth, but he could still see the explosions.
Even nuclear bombs could not be seen from outside the earth like that.
He already knew that.
But these explosions were so big that they could be seen anyway.
And Kuou Shen Yin was not only watching from outside the earth.
He was also in Area 917.
The reason he could watch this was because of his cultivation abilities, his special abilities, and many more.
Then one guy came in and said, "The Emperor of the West, do you need anything?"
He said, "Yes. I need a cup of tea."
The servant left without any question.
Kuou Shen Yin was human-sized, but he did not have human nails.
He had beast nails.
He was half human and half beast.
He was not an animal.
He was the beast.
The actual beast Kuou Shen Yin.
Kuou Shen Yin ruled the entire east.
And if he wanted, he could rule the entire west.
But he had to leave the east first.
No one in the west ruled the entire thing.
But in the east, Kuou Shen Yin ruled everything.
Across the entire east, there was a family called the Yin family.
They were only smart and strong people there.
In the Yin family, no one weak was allowed.
If they were weak, they had to be intelligent and offer themselves to become the permanent pawn of Kuou Shen Yin.
Even if they were not in the sect or the Yin family, they could still be controlled by Kuou Shen Yin.
But only if they were in the east.
If they were not in the east, they could not be controlled.
But if Kuou Shen Yin switched to the west, he would start controlling you there too.
He could switch this infinitely.
And if he wanted, he could make himself the emperor.
He could even make a homeless poor guy the emperor.
No one would decide otherwise.
Kuou Shen Yin was truly immortal.
He could regenerate anything.
But the five blackers of power could not regenerate everything.
They could die.
There were many weaknesses.
Kuou Shen Yin already knew them.
And he could use that advantage any time he wanted.
If he wanted the five blackers of power dead, he could kill them.
Not just by himself, but by using others too.
Then his door opened.
It was the servant.
He gave him tea.
Kuou Shen Yin took it.
At the same time, Gu Yanshu and the third blacker looked at each other.
Then Gu Yanshu jumped in.
He punched the third blacker.
But the third blacker took the attack at first, then swung his bat, making Gu Yanshu fall into a building and bleed.
But Gu Yanshu was not going to stop there.
He tried his best to be faster and tried to come behind the third blacker instantly.
But the third blacker was much faster.
He swung his bat once again.
This time, Gu Yanshu was not sent flying.
He still stood there, heavily bleeding again.
Gu Yanshu thought of one thing.
Why was the third blacker much stronger than before?
And it looked like he had more energy.
Maybe his cigarette gave him energy.
That could be one outcome.
But there were many more.
Right now, Gu Yanshu focused on the battle, not thinking.
The third blacker smiled through the smoke.
"You are still alive."
Gu Yanshu wiped the blood from his mouth.
"Yes."
The third blacker lifted his bat again.
The air shifted slightly.
Gu Yanshu watched carefully.
The bat.
The shoulder.
The breath.
The smoke.
Qu Yaoyang was still recovering from the hits but had not fallen out of the fight.
Lan Wege was still down from using too much energy.
He Mulin and the others were still holding the second blacker.
The battlefield was still unstable.
Gu Yanshu stepped sideways instead of forward.
The third blacker's eyes narrowed.
"You noticed."
Gu Yanshu did not answer.
The third blacker swung.
Gu Yanshu ducked under it and cut across the arm.
The third blacker stepped back half a step.
That was enough.
Gu Yanshu saw the lighter on the ground.
The third blacker saw him look.
That was the opening.
Gu Yanshu moved instantly.
He kicked the lighter away and crushed it.
The third blacker's expression changed.
Now the field shifted again.
Qu Yaoyang moved again and re-entered the fight against the first blacker.
Lan Wege was still not fully recovered.
He Mulin and the others were still struggling with the second blacker.
Gu Yanshu tightened his grip.
Then he stepped forward again.
The battle continued.Gu Yanshu stepped forward again.
The battle continued.
The third blacker lifted his bat and smiled through the smoke.
This time, he did not rush forward immediately.
He watched Gu Yanshu's feet.
He watched the shoulders.
He watched the breathing.
He had started doing that more now, like he was trying to learn the exact shape of Gu Yanshu's movement before striking again.
Gu Yanshu saw it too.
That was fine.
Watching meant waiting.
Waiting meant time.
And time could be used.
Qu Yaoyang was still tangled in the first blacker's pressure.
He had been hit hard before, but he was standing again.
The first blacker had not fully broken him.
That was still useful.
As long as Qu Yaoyang stayed in the field, the first blacker would keep pulling attention away from the center.
Lan Wege was still off to the side, pale and breathing hard.
He had not recovered enough to move fully, but he was not unconscious anymore.
That meant he could still stabilize when needed.
The second blacker was still fighting He Mulin, Yu Chang, and the others.
The line was unstable, but not dead.
Gu Yanshu let that information settle in his mind.
Three fronts.
Still there.
Still moving.
Still not collapsed.
The third blacker finally moved.
He came forward with the bat low, then snapped it up fast, cutting through the air toward Gu Yanshu's throat.
Gu Yanshu leaned back and let the blow pass.
The wind from the swing still cut across his neck.
Then he stepped in immediately.
Not away.
In.
The third blacker's eyes narrowed.
That was not the response he expected.
Gu Yanshu cut at the wrist.
The third blacker turned the bat just enough to block it.
The impact rang once.
Metal against wood.
Or something harder than wood.
Then Gu Yanshu's black hand came in from the side and struck the third blacker's ribs.
The third blacker grunted and slid half a step back.
Good.
That sound meant something.
Not enough to stop him.
But enough to disturb the rhythm.
The third blacker clicked his tongue and smiled again.
"You are still trying to break my timing."
Gu Yanshu said, "Yes."
The third blacker laughed softly.
"Then keep trying."
He swung again.
This time the bat came from below, then crossed upward in a sharp arc.
Gu Yanshu blocked with his blade, but the force still drove his arm sideways.
The third blacker stepped in close while the blade was still off line.
His shoulder collided into Gu Yanshu's chest.
The next blow landed directly into his side.
Gu Yanshu was pushed back.
He planted one foot, stopped the slide, and immediately looked over the field.
Qu Yaoyang had already moved again and was keeping the first blacker from crossing the center line.
The first blacker was smiling too much.
That was always dangerous.
It meant he still thought the structure could be broken from the outside.
Gu Yanshu understood the battlefield shape again.
The third blacker was the sharp pressure.
The first blacker was the emotional pressure.
The second blacker was the slow spread.
If one side broke, the others would flood in.
That was why he had to keep moving.
Not for victory yet.
For control.
The third blacker noticed the way Gu Yanshu was looking around.
He smiled.
"You keep checking them."
Gu Yanshu turned back.
"Yes."
The third blacker tilted his head.
"That means you are losing focus."
Gu Yanshu answered, "No."
Then he moved first.
He did not aim at the bat.
He aimed at the body.
A cut low.
Then a cut high.
Then a black-hand strike to the side of the jaw.
The third blacker blocked the first two and took the third with a slight turn of the head, but the force still pushed him off line.
Gu Yanshu followed immediately with another strike.
The third blacker stepped back this time and laughed once, almost amused.
"You are getting annoying."
Gu Yanshu did not answer.
He had already seen something.
Every time the third blacker started to build the same rhythm twice in a row, he made the bat heavier with the follow-up swing.
That meant the body was converting speed into force.
The cigarette had helped before.
The rhythm had helped.
But now the rhythm was not perfect anymore.
The lighter had been crushed.
The smoke line had been broken.
The bat still moved fast, but the same shape was not returning cleanly.
Gu Yanshu understood the opening.
He moved a little more to the side and drew the bat line wider.
The third blacker's smile faded for a second.
He noticed it too.
Gu Yanshu was not trying to win head-on.
He was trying to force the bat into longer movement.
Longer movement meant more waste.
More waste meant the third blacker had to work harder to recover the same speed.
That was the point.
The third blacker rushed again, this time trying to crush the distance before Gu Yanshu could widen it further.
Gu Yanshu raised his black hand and caught the side pressure, then slid under the bat line and struck the knee.
The third blacker's leg bent slightly.
He did not fall.
But the timing changed.
That was enough for Qu Yaoyang to shout from the other side.
"The first blacker is moving again!"
Gu Yanshu looked over for a split second.
The first blacker had broken away just enough to threaten the center line.
Qu Yaoyang was trying to stop him with kicks and punches, but the first blacker was not backing off anymore.
He had finally decided to get serious.
That made the first blacker more dangerous.
And that made the whole field tighter again.
Gu Yanshu clicked his tongue.
The third blacker smiled at the sound.
"You still have to look away."
Gu Yanshu looked back at him instantly.
The third blacker swung.
This time the bat hit Gu Yanshu's shoulder hard enough to crack the air with force.
Gu Yanshu was thrown sideways into the broken ground.
He rolled once.
Stopped.
Then immediately stood again.
Blood was running from his shoulder now.
He did not look at it.
The third blacker started walking toward him.
Not rushing now.
Walking.
That was worse.
Gu Yanshu knew the reason.
The third blacker had seen the first blacker move.
He had seen Qu Yaoyang hold him.
He had seen the second blacker's pressure.
So now he was taking his time.
He wanted the battlefield to feel smaller.
Gu Yanshu lifted his blade.
Then he made a short motion with the black hand.
The dragon, still far away, looked at him for one breath.
Then the dragon understood.
It exhaled fire, not at the third blacker, but toward the ground behind him.
A sheet of flame spread low and wide, cutting the air, forcing the third blacker to shift his feet.
That movement broke the line.
Gu Yanshu was already moving before the third blacker could reset.
He came in low, blade first, black hand second.
The first cut landed on the upper arm.
The second cut hit the side of the waist.
The black hand strike followed into the ribs.
The third blacker stepped back once and finally lost the easy smile.
Now the smoke from the earlier cigarette was gone.
The lighter was broken.
The bat was still there, but the rhythm was less clean.
Gu Yanshu saw it and pressed harder.
Not because he thought he could finish him now.
Because pressure was the only thing the third blacker had not wanted to lose.
If he could not sit inside the rhythm, then the bat would turn into a burden.
And burdens slowed people down.
The third blacker grinned again, but the grin looked forced now.
"You keep making me move."
Gu Yanshu answered, "Yes."
The third blacker swung in anger this time.
The bat came down like a hammer.
Gu Yanshu blocked it, but the force pushed him deep into the ground this time, cracking stone under his feet.
He grit his teeth and did not retreat.
Instead, he twisted the blade upward and sliced the inside of the forearm.
The third blacker hissed.
That was the first real sound of annoyance he had made.
Good.
Qu Yaoyang was still holding the first blacker at the same time.
The first blacker and Qu Yaoyang were moving too fast now for the others to join cleanly.
The first blacker had forced the fight open again.
That meant the center was at risk.
He Mulin and Yu Chang were still trying to stop the second blacker from cutting through the line, but the second blacker was getting stronger from the constant pressure.
Not stronger in a simple way.
Stronger in the sense that he kept gaining momentum because everyone had to keep reacting to him.
Lan Wege had finally managed to stand fully now.
His face was still pale.
His energy was not recovered.
But he was upright.
He looked at the field once and immediately understood the trouble.
The strongest disciple had also started moving again.
He was not fully recovered either.
But his body had enough left now to stay in the field.
That was important.
Gu Yanshu felt the balance shift.
The group was no longer at the edge of collapse.
It was still messy.
Still dangerous.
But no longer one step from breaking completely.
The third blacker noticed that too.
His eyes narrowed.
"You are recovering your side."
Gu Yanshu did not answer.
Because answering would make it sound like a victory statement.
It was not that yet.
It was only a delay.
A better delay.
Nothing more.
The third blacker moved again, faster this time.
He had adjusted.
The bat came from the right.
Then the left.
Then the top.
Gu Yanshu moved through the gaps, taking one cut across the waist and one across the forearm before slipping out of the full line of attack.
The bat missed by a narrow margin.
That was enough to anger the third blacker even more.
He swung again.
Gu Yanshu blocked.
Then stepped in close.
Then struck the elbow.
Then the wrist.
Then the side of the knee.
The third blacker was being forced to keep changing angle.
And that was exactly what Gu Yanshu wanted.
The first blacker suddenly laughed from the other side of the field.
"You are still wasting time on him?"
Qu Yaoyang answered with a hard punch to the jaw and said nothing.
The first blacker wiped his mouth and smiled wider.
He had become more serious now.
His hands were faster.
His stance was tighter.
That meant Qu Yaoyang would have a harder time keeping him away.
Gu Yanshu's mind moved fast.
If the first blacker broke through, the third blacker would press at the same time.
If the second blacker won his side, the whole field would tilt.
That meant no part of the battlefield could be ignored now.
He looked toward Lan Wege.
Lan Wege understood at once and moved to where the strongest disciple was standing.
The strongest disciple nodded and went toward the first blacker's edge line.
That would not finish anything.
But it would keep the pressure split.
Gu Yanshu returned his eyes to the third blacker.
The bat was still swinging.
But now the third blacker was breathing harder.
The rhythm had become more visible.
The smoke was gone.
The lighter was broken.
The body was still powerful, but it was no longer hiding the strain as well.
Gu Yanshu saw one more opening and used it.
He stepped left, then forward, then cut across the shoulder again.
The third blacker rotated to protect the bat arm.
That exposed the side of the neck.
Gu Yanshu's blade flashed.
The third blacker jerked back just enough to avoid a clean cut, but the side of the neck still opened.
Blood ran.
The third blacker touched the wound and looked surprised for the first time.
Gu Yanshu stood still for one breath.
Then the third blacker laughed again.
Not because it was funny.
Because he liked that Gu Yanshu had forced him to react.
"You're getting better," he said.
Gu Yanshu answered, "You are getting slower."
The third blacker's smile vanished.
That was enough.
He came in again, bat raised high.
Gu Yanshu shifted his feet, blade ready, black hand loose at his side, while across the battlefield Qu Yaoyang and the first blacker slammed into each other again, the second blacker kept driving the other disciples back, and Lan Wege held the line just long enough for the structure to stay standing.
And the battle continued.