Chapter 4464 — Exchanging Pieces Once More
The Blossom Guardian · Page 1 of 2
Down below the arena, the crowd was all eagerness, craning their necks to watch the contest. As yet no one could say who held the upper hand, but the shape of the fight was plain at a glance: the vast arena had somehow been split into two halves—on one side Qi Wenmo fought two alone, on the other the wedge formation held four against three, each half going its own way with nothing to do with the other.
In all the many Southland Escort Agency Gatherings over the years, they had seen every manner of agency duel, however savage—but this strange configuration was a first.
Zhao Shanying suddenly clenched his fist. Though the situation was still deadlocked, and by any reckoning he could not see how he stood to lose, for some reason a fierce unease rose in his heart and his spine went cold in waves. It was like sinking unawares into a marsh: at first no danger is felt, but the deeper one sinks, the later regret comes when the truth is finally known.
His heart gave a sudden lurch, and at once he meant to change his strategy. But in that instant the field shifted: on Qi Wenmo's side it was still one against two, yet on the other, one man from each of the opposing sides had been gravely wounded and tumbled wretchedly off the arena.
The Qingtian Escort Agency had spent one peak late-stage Gold Core expert, and in return had taken out a full Gold Core consummate expert. Every eye twitched at the sight—exchanging pieces, exchanging pieces once again!
It had happened before: a single exchange so hugely profitable that it had shattered the last of the Wuma Escort Agency's spirit and swept them to utter defeat. And now the Qingtian Escort Agency had worked the same trick twice, the same scene replayed—only this time the opponent was the Xuanying Escort Agency.
"Excellent! Young Hero Ling is truly formidable—the pains he took to create this one exchange!" Qi Mingyuan's heart settled at the sight, and his praise ran on without end.
Before, all had been shrouded in mist; but matters had come this far, and if he still could not read Wei Zhao's design, then he would not be sitting where he sat today.
The exchange strategy was simple enough, but to pull it off—and above all to profit hugely by it—that took real skill. After all, no one was a fool; no one would be so water-brained as to trade a fine Gold Core consummate expert for a peak late-stage one. The other way round, perhaps.
That the Qingtian Escort Agency could manage it was entirely thanks to Wei Zhao's direction of the formation. Had the wedge formation not deliberately and successfully engineered a position of many against few, there would have been no chance to force this exchange at all, and naturally no profit to be seized.
"Indeed. Not only is Young Hero Ling's trapping elegant, Wenhan's execution deserves equal praise—he cannot be left out of the credit," Steward Song said, nodding again and again.
The breakthrough in this exchange had come from the four-man wedge formation, but any clear-eyed observer could see that the crucial root of it all lay with Qi Wenmo. Had he not successfully tied down two Gold Core consummate experts, how could the other four of the Qingtian Escort Agency have fought many against few?
Above all, facing two Gold Core consummate experts, Qi Wenmo had been unhurried and untroubled from first to last. One could only marvel: this young master of the Qingtian Escort Agency was no ordinary man! To face two at once with such ease, at the same cultivation level—at the very least, ordinary folk could never do it.
"Yes. Setting him against two looks a little risky, but it is still within the boy's capacity. So long as the other side does not do anything wild, there should be no danger." Qi Mingyuan nodded, his former worry and tension gone, his spirits soaring—for at this rate, the odds of taking down the Xuanying Escort Agency were at least six in ten, perhaps more!