This disadvantage in quality, when bined with the disadvantage in total lifespan, also meant that the monkeys were poised to lose. If the black monkey didn’t return soon, they might very well lose.
In order to make up for the absence of their best fighter, the white monkey took the stage. This monkey was the Enslavement Avatar. Its core ability was the Master-Slave Relationship Ability. With this ability, he can suppress anyone weaker than him and also force them to do his bidding.
The Master-Slave Relationship Ability works by designating a target as the slave. Any person who has been designated a slave will have to destroy the mark of slavery placed on them by the Enslavement Supreme Metac or have their strength suppressed whenever they attack their master.
In the worst-case scenario, the mark of slavery can brand the mind of the target and make them obey the master unconditionally. As it turned out, these four avatars are weaker than the enslavement avatar. So even if the worst-case scenario doesn’t happen, the four avatars will surely be suppressed.
With this move, the four monkeys were barely able to maintain a stalemate with the four avatars. But it is too early to determine who will win the fight. After all, the Enslavement Pathway is only a Grand Dao.
The other avatars are wielding Grand Daos too, so anything can happen. Any of the four avatars could use a move that could make the monkeys lose.
To lose in battle like this is to run the risk of losing one or more pathways. This is the sacrifice that Black Chains is willing to make.
If he were doing all of these just to save Sword Maestro, he would need to have lost his mind to put so much at stake just to save someone else. But he is not doing this for Sword Maestro at all.
His current goal is to let his four avatars hold back the three Dao Lords while he kills the dragon and Sword Maestro. If this plan succeeds, he would gain the Luck Pathway, the Devouring Pathway, and the Killing Pathway.
So he was doing this for himself, and he had one Cosmic Dao and two Grand Daos to gain. This is why his gamble seems to be worth the risk.
As for the oath he had Sword Maestro make, that was all a feint. It is to deceive Sword Maestro and the others.
He never intended to save Sword Maestro. If he will eventually save Sword Maestro, it will be in case his plan with the dragon doesn’t work out.
He will save Sword Maestro if he needs to take the Transformation Supreme Metac so as not to e out of all of these empty-handed. So it is both a backup plan and a plan to misdirect his enemies about his true intentions.
If there is any hiccup in his plan, it is that his intentions couldn’t really be hidden from the other Dao Lords. They might not know exactly what he planned to do, but they knew what he was capable of doing and knew him too much to be able to guess what he would do.
When the black monkey left, Heavenly Eye said to Tepid Scholar, "Should we let him go like that? Sword Maestro just told me that he was made to swear to kill Martial Will, and I am sure that Sword Maestro was telling the truth."
"If we let him go like that, he will kill that dragon and gain two Supreme Metacs. If he is feeling greedy, he might also take Sword Maestro’s Killing Pathway along the way.
Tepid Scholar thought about the situation for a long while before shaking his head and saying, "We are already tied up here. It would be a waste of our time to dilute our power to interfere in that battlefield too."
"I meant what I said earlier about how it is smarter to fight something we know and can handle than to fight something unknown. At least, let’s see how he fares against the dragon before we think about interfering."
Martial Will also said, "As much as I hate to admit it, the wimpy Scholar is right. The truth is that with our current strength, we can’t win this battle on both fronts. We have to concentrate all of our power and take down these four avatars of his as soon as possible."
Tepid Scholar sighed and said, "One of these days, I will beat you up. It seems I have to do so before you learn to respect me."
In response, Martial Will grinned and said, "You can give it a shot any time. I am at the ready to give you the battle of your life."
Hearing this boast, Heavenly Eyes rolled her eyes and said, "If you’re so great, why haven’t we won yet? Why are you holding back?"
Martial Will replied without batting an eye, "I’m holding back because I don’t trust you lot. The more I invest, the more I stand to lose. Knowing you people, I’m sure that you will take advantage of me as soon as I show weakness."
Tepid Scholar nodded and said, "Trust, huh? We are really at a disadvantage without trust."
"We couldn’t kill Black Chains last time because we didn’t trust each other and couldn’t mit. If we don’t want to lose this time around, maybe we should swear oaths to secure our trust in this cooperation."
"We should swear not to attack each other. That way, we won’t have to worry about backstabbing."
Martial Will said thoughtfully, "Maybe that’s not a bad idea."
His words made Tepid Scholar scoff and say, "Of course, it is a good idea. I won’t say that I always produce good ideas, even though it is true, but I’ll maintain that I rarely produce bad ideas."
Martial Will responded, saying, "Anyway, your idea is not good enough. If we really want to take full advantage of the oath of cooperation, we need to take things further."
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