"Junior Brother Lu, what should we do now?" Hai Tang had a straightforward and obedient nature, always following her master's orders. "Let's go over there and check the situation first," Lu Ye replied. Many things can't be fully understood just by looking at the information recorded on the jade slip; you have to see it with your own eyes. Hai Tang led her team forward, and shortly after, they indeed saw a heated battlefield ahead. Before coming face to face, no one knew what the formations of the other two troops were like. Now that they had arrived, everyone's Mental Consciousness scanned the area, and their expressions became solemn. Someone exclaimed, "This is bad!" It was because each of the other two troops had a Constellation Late Stage member, and each had at least two Constellation Mid-Stage members. From the current positioning, the Western Region was slightly superior because they had three Mid-Stage members. In comparison, our side only had Hai Tang as a solitary Mid-Stage member, while the rest were all Constellation Early Stage, making us look incredibly shabby. Instantly, everyone felt bitterness in their hearts, and their morale weakened. Hai Tang noticed this and immediately shouted, "The overall situation is not yet decided; do not be discouraged. Even though on the surface our strength is inferior, we must show the spirit of the East and not let the other two look down on us!" Only then did the others settle their spirits, realizing Hai Tang was right. Lu Ye was observing the battlefield over there, or more accurately, observing that Spirit Orb. What he saw was a glowing ball around a hundred feet in diameter. It seemed like a condensation of energy, but Lu Ye couldn't determine its true nature. At this moment, eighteen Constellations from the Southern and Western factions were fighting fiercely near the Spirit Orb, with multicolored lights blooming continuously. But Lu Ye immediately noticed that these two forces were not fully committed, and everyone was holding back. Although it looked fervent on the surface, that was only an appearance. Moreover, amidst the battles, some were occasionally using techniques to alter the Spirit Orb's movement direction and speed. The Dwarf Race from the Southern Region had the advantage, as they had moved the Spirit Orb a considerable distance before the Western forces arrived, positioning it closest to the Southern Region Camp. But now, faced with interference from the Western forces, moving the Spirit Orb further was impossible unless they took down a group from the West. If only two groups were in opposition, the Southern Region would undoubtedly make that choice. They couldn't remain in a standoff forever. In such confrontations, the side closest to its camp occupies the advantage since they can return more quickly even if they fall in battle. However, everyone knew the East had not yet arrived, so they wouldn't exhaust themselves fighting, allowing a third party to reap the benefits. Thus, the standoff between the Southern and Western factions continued, with both parties tacitly aware. By this time, the East arrived near the battlefield, and while they were probing the East, the Southern and Western factions were also observing the East. The result was that the East had one Mid-Stage and eight Early Stage... Everyone retracted their Mental Consciousness. Hai Tang's words to boost morale had just fallen when the team barely regained some spirit, only to experience being underestimated again. They weren't completely ignored, as someone from the West shouted, "Hey East, why are you standing there idly? Come help!" It wasn't because the West had a good relationship with the East. Rather, in a three-way clash , alliances and betrayals were commonplace, with positions shifting according to the evolving situation. Currently, with the South holding the positional advantage, the West naturally called the East to join in. Hai Tang, undoubtedly familiar with the procedures of the Martial Arts Meet, had put significant effort into preparing for this event. So upon hearing the Western clan's call, she did not hesitate and immediately charged forward, simultaneously audio transmitting to her team, "Don't stray too far from me, and make sure to stick together." On a battlefield , while it may seem that their lives aren't in immediate danger, anyone isolated would inevitably become a target, leading to lethal outcomes. Under the current circumstances, moving as one unit was the only feasible strategy. Under Hai Tang's lead, the nine Constellations from the East burst into one side of the battlefield. Instantly, the pressure on the South increased significantly, the most noticeable change being the altered flight direction of the Spirit Orb. Previously, amidst the Southern and Western conflict, the Spirit Orb had occasionally drifted east or west, but overall, it hadn't moved too far due to the well-matched strengths of both sides. Now that the East had muddled the waters, the situation became highly unfavorable for the Southern Region. The Spirit Orb, under the combined forces of the Eastern and Western Constellations, flew toward the center of the Black Abyss, in other words, moving further away from the Southern Region Camp. This infuriated the Southern Constellations, who yelled incessantly, promising to give the Easterners a hard time later. Amid the struggle, the cultivators didn't forget to swallow elixir pills or take out spirit jade to replenish themselves. This was a half-month-long protracted battle, where maintaining one's spirit force reserves was crucial. The confrontation had just begun, the situation was stable, and they naturally couldn't squander their spirit force. Without unforeseen events, this type of conflict wouldn't come to any conclusion since no side could annihilate the other and still retain full battle capacity while a third party coveted from the sideline. Historically, many Black Abyss Martial Arts Meets had started with such a standoff. But in a three-way competition, it's impossible not to have unforeseen events. Under the combined efforts of the East and West cultivators, the Spirit Orb finally returned to the center of Black Abyss, rendering all previous efforts of the Southern Region futile, making those nine enraged. But at this moment, the original sincere cooperation, akin to being of one mind between the East and West, began to quietly compete. Each wanted to guide the Spirit Orb towards their respective camps to gain an advantage. The tacit alliance shattered dramatically at this moment. Lu Ye could sense that the Constellation Late Stage cultivator from the West was communicating with Hai Tang via audio transmission, although the content of the conversation was inaudible, it was obvious they were persuading Hai Tang to lead the Eastern camp to not resist too strongly. Hai Tang didn't respond, only kept shaking her head, indicating her stance. She wasn't foolish; the Eastern side already had the weakest strength, how could they let the other two camps succeed at such a time? Delaying time was the most beneficial for the weakest East. This turned into a chaotic three-way battle, even more lively than before. The nine from the East always maintained a position resembling an arrow formation, seeking no accomplishment but rather no loss. As time passed, nearly half a day later, a peculiar fluctuation of powers suddenly appeared from another direction. The source of this content ɪs 𝘯𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭•𝔣𝔦𝔯𝔢•𝓷𝓮𝓽 The second Spirit Orb appeared! And the location of this Spirit Orb was surprisingly closer to the East Camp. Almost the instant the Spirit Orb appeared, the nine from the East immediately shifted direction, abandoning the previous battlefield and charging straight for the location of the Spirit Orb. Hai Tang herself naturally wouldn't have such decisiveness; rather, during previous engagements with the other two camps, she had discussed the plan with Lu Ye. This approach was actually risky because either of the other two camps, whichever pursued, would lead to a confrontation with the East, whereas the camp not pursuing would profit from the situation. This scenario was highly likely to occur since everyone believed the East was the weakest, so whichever camp pursued was confident in defeating the East, potentially resulting in the South and West each taking a Spirit Orb while the East gained nothing. But at this very moment, the East could only make such a choice because if they didn't retreat, either of the other two camps would certainly retreat, putting the East in the same situation, facing a single opponent. One was a possibility, the other was an inevitability. They could only gamble! The moment they flew away, Lu Ye and Hai Tang switched positions, allowing him to lead the flight. This too was pre-discussed because at that moment, the amount of time they could gain directly translated into the advantage they could seize. The arrow formation's speed suddenly increased, astonishing the Eastern Constellation cultivators, finding Lu Ye's leading speed surprisingly faster than Hai Tang's. No one among them knew much about Lu Ye; they only knew this time their camp had invited an external aid, who happened to be Hai Tang's Dao companion. They originally didn't care much, considering he was only at the Early Stage with cultivation comparable to theirs, but only now realized that despite similar cultivation, their foundation might differ. The speed of flight in the stellar space largely reflects a cultivator's strength because everyone keeps their speed within their own controllable range, never exceeding, otherwise there wouldn't be time to react if faced with danger. Lu Ye leading at a speed surpassing Hai Tang was undeniably indicative that the strength of this external aid wasn't as simple as it appeared. This side quickly withdrew from the battlefield, momentarily puzzling the South and West troops, who hadn't anticipated the East's swift reaction, causing them to miss the opportunity, where neither could freely retreat. Someone from the Southern Region shouted, "West, another Spirit Orb has appeared! Don't cling to this one so tightly!" The Western Dworf Race responded, "What a coincidence, I was thinking the same thing; hurry and go for the other one!" "This one was originally ours, why should we go for the other?" "Spirit Orbs in Black Abyss occur naturally, never affiliated, where is it yours?" "The East is so weak, why don't you deal with them instead of picking a fight with us? What kind of reasoning is that?" "Weak or not, the East is still my fellow Dworf Race, they deserve a basic share at least." Arguing ceaselessly, at the core, both camps viewed each other as the biggest competitor, dismissing the East entirely, which was the fundamental reason for the East troops retreating unpursued, allowing them the advantage. As for the basic share argument, it indeed existed because every result of the Black Abyss Martial Arts Meet typically resulted in two, three, or four divisions claiming orbs; rarely would any one division leave empty-handed, usually achieving at least two. This was after all an internal struggle among the Dworf Race; no division sought to completely eliminate fellow race members.