Somewhere in the Confluence, a flash of light gleamed as Zhao Zhenye descended from a fissure, though his footing was somewhat unsteady.
The punch traded earlier seemed to have pried open a rift within him. The two forces inside his body had grown increasingly unstable, repelling one another with mounting violence.
Yet his initial choice to clash head-on with Chen Chuan had not been an impulsive act, but a tactical decision.
He knew Chen Chuan had very likely spent the past half year cultivating in the Confluence. After undergoing such a period of refinement, there was no telling how much the man's strength had grown, and previous experience certainly could not be applied. A single frontal collision had been the fastest way to gauge his opponent's power before deciding what to do next.
With Fuming Jin at his disposal, he had the least to fear from such clashes. The harder the force hammered into his flesh, the lesser its lasting impact on him would be.
He had not anticipated that the exchange would instead expose a latent danger inside his body.
Nor was that all. He raised his hand and looked down. A wisp of purple qi hovered there, faint and indistinct, seemingly entwined with his spiritual fire. It had appeared only after that single punch. He had tried expelling it just now, but to no avail. He even had the feeling that if he severed his own hand, the substance would still remain once the limb regrew.
He suspected this was a tracking technique left behind by his opponent. A subtle intuition warned him that no matter where he went, Chen Chuan might be able to find him through this mark.
If that were so, then anything he did going forward would likely be monitored, and he would not even be able to approach Center City. He had to find a way to resolve this matter.
Looking up, he saw the Chan temple standing directly ahead. Following the mountain path, he arrived before the temple gates.
The Chan monk stood in the very same spot where Zhao Zhenye had left him, as though he had never moved—or as though he had known all along that Zhao Zhenye would return. Pressing his palms together, the monk said, "The patron has returned."
Zhao Zhenye said, "Master, a foreign taint has invaded my body. May I ask if your esteemed temple can help me cleanse and purge it?"
The monk examined him closely for a moment, then shook his head with regret. "I must disappoint the patron. This qi stems from an exalted art of the Xuan Sect. While there are methods to unravel it, they are not something my humble temple can employ."
Zhao Zhenye frowned. He had not expected even this place to be unable to dispel it, meaning it was far more troublesome than he had thought. To avoid being pursued, hiding in the imperial capital seemed the best course, for no matter how formidable Chen Chuan was, he could not possibly pursue him there.
Yet Zhao Zhenye had only just declined Su Kuo and the others, making it inappropriate to go to the imperial capital now. As for turning back to fight Chen Chuan...
He shook his head. With this latent danger lurking within him, he would not be able to muster much of his strength even if he returned.
As he pondered his options, the monk spoke again: "Though my humble temple possesses no way to dissolve it, if the patron is willing to travel to the Great Vow Temple and seek the Holy Venerable's shelter, or take refuge under their school, perhaps your plight may be resolved."
"The Great Vow Temple?"
Zhao Zhenye was taken aback. He had heard of the Great Vow Temple—it was one of the six great temples of the Chan Sect. Eight hundred years ago, however, after the Xuan Sect became dominant and the Chan Sect went into exile, the temple had vanished without a trace, presumably relocating to some hidden sanctuary. He asked, "Such a place is a paramount stronghold of your sect. Can someone like me truly go there?"
The monk smiled. "Ordinary people cannot, but you may, Patron."
Zhao Zhenye regarded the monk before him with a searching look. It suddenly struck him that the monk might have known about his internal affliction all along, yet had never warned him.
And when trouble arose, his first instinct had been to come here for a solution. Had that truly been his own will, or the temple's?
Furthermore, the monk's earlier mention of an exalted art of the Xuan Sect hinted at the ancient strife between the Xuan and Chan Sects lingering behind all of this.
The monk merely stood there, smiling without a word.
Zhao Zhenye considered the matter for a moment, then said, "I am willing to go to the Great Vow Temple, but the breath within my body is unstable, and the enemy may soon follow. Does the master have any way to help me suppress it?"
The monk listened for a moment, then nodded. "There is a method that may serve. Yet the patron must understand: external support remains external after all. Borrowing strength may bring benefit today, but one day it must be repaid."
Zhao Zhenye said slowly, "I shall repay it when the day comes."
The monk nodded. "Follow me, Patron."
He led Zhao Zhenye back into the temple and guided him to sit before a statue of a great venerable. Before long, wondrous chants echoed in his ears, and the breath within him gradually turned tranquil. Soon, the turbulent force inside his body was subdued, and the sensation of competing energies tearing at one another ceased.
He knew, however, that this was only temporary. He could not be certain whether clashing with someone would trigger it again, so he had to depart as soon as possible and completely resolve the other trouble in his body before Chen Chuan tracked him down.
He sat motionless, turning things over in his mind. After a long while, seemingly having reached a firm resolution, he rose and said to the monk, "Master, I am willing to go to the Great Vow Temple. Please guide the way."
The monk turned to one side. "Look there, Patron."
Zhao Zhenye looked in that direction. Seated above was the Karma-Crossing Guiding Venerable. As his gaze met the venerable's eyes, a chord struck in his heart, awakening a spiritual impression.
The monk smiled faintly. "Follow that impression, Patron, and you shall arrive."
Zhao Zhenye hesitated briefly, then said, "Master, may I trouble you with a request?"
The monk said, "Patron, please speak."
Zhao Zhenye produced a letter and said, "I must trouble the master to deliver this letter into my student's hands."
The monk took it, stowed it away securely, and bowed to him with palms pressed together.
Zhao Zhenye stepped out of the temple gates. Looking once more at the purple qi on his hand, he clenched his fist. A fissure instantly opened in the air beside him. He stepped inside, and in the next moment, the light vanished.
***
Out upon the Dongqing Plain, before the battle lines of the former imperial army, Chen Chuan slashed forward. Before the blade even arrived, the radiant light of his spiritual fire shone through onto Su Kuo, causing the spiritual fire around the general to creak on the verge of shattering.
Seeing Chen Chuan parry his long hammer with a single stroke and immediately press inside with a follow-up slash—two movements executed with clean, continuous force in a single breath—Su Kuo was inwardly stunned.
One had to understand that his swing had been backed by the momentum of his charging mount. Even so, the weapon clash had not caused Chen Chuan to hesitate in the slightest. The sheer power and speed displayed were nearly inhuman; at least, Su Kuo had never seen another person exhibit such performance in an ordinary state.
At this moment, Su Kuo was positioned midway through a reverse spin, striking backward at his foe, while his mount, Xunchilong, was half-turned with its momentum still unresolved. Rather than retreating, he clamped his legs tight, wrenched the horse's head around to face directly forward, and charged head-on into Chen Chuan!
The deep-red spiritual fire enveloping him merged almost entirely with the radiance of Xunchilong. Thick scales surfaced across the horse's body, swiftly encasing its forequarters, and within a minuscule distance, its speed surged drastically.
Seeing this, Chen Chuan did not alter his blade's path in the least. Leaping into midair, he cleaved his saber straight down into the charging horse's head!
In that instant, it was as though two hurtling streaks of light collided. The spectators only saw a blinding flash, unable to make out anything within.
At the center of the clash, where edge met scales, platinum-gold and deep-red radiance collided violently, sending bolts of lightning dancing in all directions.
Though Xunchilong was shielded by heavy spiritual fire and thick scales, the force of the combined impact allowed the blade to shear through the blazing light and sink deep into its skull. Scalding blood and spiritual fire erupted together from the wound.
Yet even then, Xunchilong did not halt. Its four hooves pounded the earth as it shoved forward against the embedded blade.
At the same time, Su Kuo raised the long hammer with both hands, swinging it down toward Chen Chuan, who was still suspended in midair.
Chen Chuan's eyes flashed, yet he made no move to evade. In that very instant, an immense palm manifested in the sky above him, crashing down toward Su Kuo!
Su Kuo was fully committed to his strike and could no longer make any adjustments. Both attacks inevitably struck their targets.
The long hammer slammed violently against one side of Chen Chuan's body, erupting in a shower of brilliant sparks. Under the momentum of the blow, Chen Chuan was hurled sideways like a streak of light, tumbling several times through the air before striking the ground with a resounding crash. The tremendous impact cracked the earth instantly, plowing a trench over ten meters long through the sand and soil as scalding air swirled around him.
On the other side, Su Kuo took the full brunt of the descending palm. Man and mount were hammered directly into the earth. A visible ring-shaped shockwave expanded outward, sending dust and gale-force shockwaves sweeping in all directions. A colossal crater appeared on the battlefield, webbed fissures spreading outward from its rim, leaving the ground across the entire plain trembling.
An instant later, the giant palm seemed to sense something and dissolved into nothingness. Immediately afterward, a blast of deep-red spiritual impact erupted violently from the crater, the brilliance so dense it stained the entire plain in crimson.
With a shrill whinny, man and mount bounded upward together, showering scalding blood as they cleared the ground. Stamping down once more, they vaulted into the sky, leaping several times through the air until they reached a high altitude.
Reining in his mount, Su Kuo wheeled around and cast his gaze down toward Chen Chuan. Numerous cracks had spread across his armor, one shoulder guard was completely shattered, and his chest heaved slightly, showing that the exchange had cost him dearly. Yet when his eyes fell upon Chen Chuan, his pupils contracted. That hammer blow seemed to have inflicted no injury on the young man at all.
Chen Chuan slowly straightened up, swept his saber outward, and fixed his gaze on Su Kuo above. Thus far, he had relied solely on his natural physical strength.
Reason dictated that since Zhao Zhenye had left but might return, he should have merged with his second self right from the start to execute his opponent as swiftly as possible. That would eliminate all variables, and even if Zhao Zhenye reappeared, it would no longer matter.
Yet as he had prepared to do so, he had sensed an underlying incongruity.
Throughout the fight, this man had not once unleashed the power of his external visage. To withhold it and keep it in reserve was highly abnormal; there had to be something at play that Chen Chuan did not yet understand.
Even so, it mattered little. Ever since stepping into the realm of the Longevity View through the supreme method, his mutated tissue had undergone an immense transformation. Compared to martial artists of the same tier, his strength was practically crushing. Su Kuo had been forced to rely on the momentum of his warhorse just to contend with him; that alone was enough for Chen Chuan to suppress him.
Looking up toward the sky, Chen Chuan raised one hand and pointed it upward. In an instant, a brilliant light began to flicker within his palm.
Chapter 1028