209: Chapter 209 This is the fourth time. Do you think it's fun to play with us?

Horn was momentarily stunned by Gu Changming's head, which had been pierced but hadn't exploded.

But he reacted quickly, immediately understanding what was happening.

He twisted the giant blade in his hand and slashed toward Gu Changming's body.

Mid-attack, however, he sensed something else. His gaze flicked downward, landing on the shadow beneath Gu Changming's feet.

In the next instant, he flipped his wrist. The giant blade forcibly changed direction in mid-air and, accompanied by the sound of breaking wind, slammed down hard toward that shadow.

As expected.

The moment the blade fell, the shadow seemed to come alive. It twisted, writhed, and shrank to the side, narrowly dodging his strike.

After dodging, the opponent kicked off the ground and glided backward, pulling away to a distance of dozens of meters.

The two of them looked up at the same time.

At this moment, Gu Changming's body also began to undergo a change. First, the shadow beneath his feet suddenly bulged, like a pool of black liquid welling up from the ground. It twisted, took shape, and in the blink of an eye, transformed into another Gu Changming standing by his side.

Meanwhile, his original body began to melt at the same time, flowing down like black liquid. Finally, it shrank into a ball, turning back into a palm-sized black 'Slime' that hopped back onto his shoulder.

Watching this scene, the eyes of the two men flickered several times.

What did this mean?

So the one they had been fighting for so long wasn't even the man himself?

...

Below the stage.

Cui Jingming stared up at the scene on the arena, his expression looking even more foolish.

He blinked, his face full of bewilderment, then turned to look at the person next to him.

“What's going on?”

He really couldn't understand it anymore.

First, their people were being suppressed by those two families working together, then those two families teamed up against the Beast-Eared Clan, and now those two were turning around to deal with them again.

What exactly was the plan?

The team member he grabbed was also stunned, spreading his hands. “How should I know?”

...

“Four times,” Noel spoke, his flat tone carrying an irrepressible anger.

The same trick had been used for the fourth time. What did he take them for?

Was this the attitude one should have toward a real opponent?

“Is toying with us that much fun?” Noel gritted his teeth, truly starting to get annoyed.

If it hadn't been for the memory chip in his body sensing it, the guy would have succeeded again.

Gu Changming gripped the black-and-white interwoven Tang sword in his hand, looked up at Noel, and the corner of his mouth twitched slightly.

“All warfare is based on deception. Are there no similar proverbs where you come from?”

Noel was stunned for a moment upon hearing this.

Then he laughed out of sheer anger.

This guy actually had the nerve to talk to him about military strategy?

He let out a cold laugh and didn't respond. Instead, he turned his head to look at Horn nearby.

At this moment, the two of them were less than three meters apart, but neither had any intention of continuing their fight.

Seeing Noel look over, Horn nodded almost without hesitation.

It was as if Noel's betrayal just moments ago had never happened.

At this stage, teaming up or not, or who stabbed whom in the back before, no longer mattered.

What mattered was taking down this human first; otherwise, the fruit would be stolen by him.

After a brief exchange of glances, the two moved simultaneously.

Nearly twenty energy arms manifested around Noel, each hand clutching a long spear, their tips flashing with a cold light.

Then, those arms pulled back sharply and exerted force together, hurling the spears condensed from energy toward their target.

More than twenty spears poured down from mid-air like a golden rainstorm, dense and numerous, sealing off every possible angle Gu Changming could use to dodge.

However.

Gu Changming's footwork shifted, and his body twisted as if he had no bones, weaving through the web of death formed by those spears.

Those spearheads practically grazed his skin, missing by a hair's breadth every time, yet every single one failed to hit.

Watching this, Noel's eyes darkened.

This dodging was even more effortless than before.

Fortunately, just as Gu Changming dodged the last spear and his figure steadied, Horn's attack arrived.

He charged in from the side, his timing perfect—striking at the exact moment Gu Changming's old momentum had faded and his new strength had yet to rise.

He swung the giant blade, which was as wide as a door, in a full arc. Carrying a violent airflow, it hacked down toward Gu Changming like a small mountain.

He put all his strength into this strike.

But in the next second.

“Clang!”

A deafening, crisp sound exploded on the arena.

Horn's eyes widened.

Unlike before, when the opponent would be sent flying by one of his blows.

This time, Gu Changming used only one hand to hold the black-and-white night erosion, using the tip of the blade to block this full-power strike.

Blade tip against blade edge—such a small contact surface, yet it forcibly withstood a force capable of splitting a small mountain.

Horn was stunned for a moment.

And in that very instant, Gu Changming moved.

His waist twisted violently, and his knee surged upward, aiming straight for Horn's chin.

Horn's pupils shrank, and he hurriedly twisted his body to dodge.

But just as he turned sideways, he caught a glimpse of a cold light in his peripheral vision.

Before him, a silver needle the size of a toothpick, condensed from the Thousand Silk Shuttle, shot directly toward the center of his forehead.

It was as if his dodge had been predicted in advance.

Horn's eyes bulged; he simply didn't have time to dodge.

But at that moment, a golden light flashed from the side.

Noel's spear arrived just in time, its tip sweeping across to knock the silver needle away.

Horn took the opportunity to leap backward, creating distance.

After just a few seconds of engagement, the two stood firm again and looked at each other.

Both saw extreme shock in the other's eyes.

It was different from the previous round. Against their combined efforts, the opponent showed none of his previous weakness. Instead, he could even counterattack and hold the upper hand...

This was completely unlike the person they had been fighting before.

After catching their breath for a few moments, the two exchanged a look and, without a word, charged toward Gu Changming again.

This time, their coordination was clearly much more seamless than before.

Noel stopped using the large-scale rain of spears. Instead, he reduced the twenty energy arms to four, each hand holding a spear as he joined Horn in a high-pressure close-quarters offensive.

Horn still served as the primary attacker, his giant blade whistling through the air as he continuously smashed it toward Gu Changming.

The attacks of the two were continuous, wave after wave, leaving no room for breath.

However.

No matter how they attacked, Gu Changming steadily parried their blows.

It was a strange feeling.

Like throwing stones into a lake.

No matter how large the stone, how loud the splash, or how high the water flew, it would eventually return to tranquility.

Their attacks were the same.

Like a clay ox entering the sea.

Every move and every style was perfectly received by the opponent and neutralized into nothingness.

Fighting like this gave them a sense of absurd despair.

It was like knowing the outcome, yet struggling nonetheless, unwilling to admit it.