The moment Su Kuo saw Chen Chuan's movement, his heart gave a jolt. Tugging the reins, he bounded sideways at breakneck speed, horse and rider instantly leaping to the flank.
In the very next instant, a vast expanse of platinum light grazed past their side.
Before that had even ended, a second sphere of brilliance arrived, forcing him to leap once more; yet immediately after, a third cluster surged toward them. Reason dictated that an ordinary xuanji martial artist should never be able to execute consecutive spiritual impacts, yet he dared not gamble on whether it was real. A spiritual impact contained highly concentrated energy; if struck, the destructive force would be completely beyond anything that previous palm strike could match, and the slightest mishap could leave him gravely wounded.
Even while leaping to evade, however, each bound brought him closer to Chen Chuan, and every leap added to his momentum. After three bounds, his speed had surged once again.
Still, he could feel Xunchilong trembling faintly beneath him, its limb movements carrying a trace of sluggish stiffness. Watching the platinum light-mist that still drifted over the horse's skull, he knew this was the lingering effect of Chen Chuan's previous saber slash.
Being of a different species, Xunchilong's physical toughness far surpassed that of an ordinary xuanji martial artist, yet even so, it had been cleaved through by Chen Chuan's saber. This forced him to be doubly cautious in the battle ahead.
He helped Xunchilong adjust its breathing and bore down toward Chen Chuan. Treading through empty air, he charged straight for his foe, sparks of light trailing behind the horse's massive frame in a display of peerless majesty.
The surrounding ranks of the former imperial house immediately erupted into waves of roaring cheers. Tens of thousands raised their voices together, their shouts shaking heaven and earth.
Though each individual soldier was minuscule compared to the martial artists before them, the officers great and small were all composed of warriors of varying tiers; united as one, they possessed an aura capable of shifting mountains and cleaving rivers.
Spurred by these thundering cheers, Xunchilong grew exceptionally excited, the mutated tissue within its body seeming to stir with renewed vigor.
Seeing him charge, Chen Chuan showed no intention of dodging. Raising the saber with both hands, he held it horizontal before him, his sharp, focused gaze reflected along the snow-bright blade.
By now, Su Kuo had reached him. Pressing down into the saddle, mount and rider plunged downward with tremendous power, striking out with the long hammer. This time, descending from above with ample preparation, his plunge came like a star falling from the heavens.
Stationed firmly on the ground, Chen Chuan swept his saber upward with a reverse slash, cutting dead-center onto the hammer's face. In that instant, dense platinum fire of spirituality surged upward like a raging countercurrent, clashing violently against the deep-crimson radiant flame, each devouring and eroding the other.
Yet upon colliding, the two sides surprisingly locked in a brief stalemate. Horse and rider appeared frozen midair, the long hammer pointed downward; below, Chen Chuan held the saber overhead in a two-handed block. Across the plains, radiant spiritual flames of two colors expanded and flickered around them.
Moments later, Su Kuo felt an immense force from below heaving his entire form upward. His heart jolted in astonishment, his face betraying his shock as he experienced once again that unyieldingly unreasonable strength.
Back before the old dynasty had fallen, he was already a General of State Subjugation, and seventy years ago he had been promoted to General of Eastern Subjugation. The mutated tissue throughout his body had long been cultivated to the limit of the Longevity View, and the next boundary was practically within reach. Strength was supposed to be his forte; bolstered further by Xunchilong's might, it was always he who crushed his adversaries in raw power. Yet here he was, forced onto the back foot—a sensation profoundly unfamiliar to him.
Having brought his opponent to a standstill with his saber, Chen Chuan flexed his arms, shucking off the giant hammer. Stamping his foot, he shot instantly into the sky toward Su Kuo above, his clothes and hair streaming backward in the fierce slipstream.
Su Kuo was unwilling to brawl in close quarters. He needed distance to build up speed and generate sufficient momentum, so he immediately veered aside, seeking to open up space between them.
Right at that moment, an enormous phantom palm materialized in the air once more, clutching toward him.
Su Kuo had no choice but to dodge again. Caught off guard before he could reset his stance, Chen Chuan closed the gap in a flash, cleaving downward with brutal force. Forced to bring his hammer across to parry, Su Kuo shuddered violently at the collision of weapons, and Xunchilong's footing below instantly staggered.
Chen Chuan was already above him. Seeing the opening, he raised the long saber high with both hands and slashed down with ferocious power once more!
Accompanied by a thunderous boom, Su Kuo and Xunchilong plummeted like a falling meteor. Yet despite such immense mass combined with the momentum of Chen Chuan's downward strike, the anticipated violent impact never came as they approached the ground. Instead, they landed as light as a feather. With several nimble taps of its hooves, Xunchilong bounded gracefully away.
For martial artists of the Visage of the Aberrant, unlike those of the Visage of Man, the external visage was fundamentally integrated with the physical body rather than existing separate from the human form. On the surface, this seemed to put them at a disadvantage when fighting someone of the Visage of Man.
Yet anyone who walked the path of the Visage of the Aberrant visualized various divine fiends and spirits; as their cultivation reached the depths, they would gain abilities akin to supernatural wonders.
Su Kuo, having reached the Longevity View, possessed the power to dissipate his own weight in an instant; when invoked, even Xunchilong beneath him shared the benefit.
With this ability, despite his colossal frame, he could evade and maneuver far more swiftly and nimbly. However, activating it consumed massive amounts of energy in an instant; even he dared not deploy it lightly, reserving it solely for crucial moments.
Just now, falling toward the ground, the situation had been perilous, leaving him no choice but to use it.
Chen Chuan had originally intended to dive straight down the moment they hit the ground, but seeing this spectacle, his eyes stirred slightly. This was not something mere technique could accomplish; it had to be some special ability.
Just like back when he fought the yaogui—his opponent had also possessed such abilities. Had that creature not already lost two of its three heads, ostensibly stripping it of several methods, the fight would have been nearly unwinnable.
Yet being able to wield these powers without unleashing his full Visage of the Aberrant—did that mean certain abilities had to be triggered in his baseline state?
His thoughts shifted; he decided there was no need to dwell on that. He would fight however he needed to fight. To subdue this man right now, the primary goal was to shatter the unity between horse and rider. Before, he had been uncertain, but now that he understood his opponent's capabilities, he knew exactly how to counter him.
Looking toward where Su Kuo stood, a flash of platinum brilliance erupted around Chen Chuan, and he transformed into a streak of flowing light, surging forward. Seeing him approach, Su Kuo pulled the reins to veer aside. With a deafening boom, a huge crater blasted into the earth; in the next instant, Chen Chuan smashed through the dust and glowing haze, lunging straight after him.
Seeing that Chen Chuan was moving too fast—such that mere evasion would see him run down in short order, making flight an unwise choice—Su Kuo swung his hammer in a bid to stall his momentum.
In the next moment, saber and hammer collided. Su Kuo had intended to borrow the rebound force to disengage, but right then, a force field abruptly expanded from Chen Chuan's body. Instantly, Chen Chuan's speed accelerated another notch, while Su Kuo, similarly affected, stalled for a brief moment.
This sudden shift was entirely unexpected, though even had he anticipated it, he possessed no counter. His long hammer could no longer be drawn back in time, but Xunchilong moved at that critical juncture. Instead of carrying its master away, it planted its hind legs and reared its forehooves, spiraling radiant spiritual flames around them as it aimed directly at Chen Chuan. If those hooves stomped down, the weight would rival a mountain.
Gazing at the massive hooves almost eclipsing his body, Chen Chuan thrust his free hand forward. The glorious, resplendent force of the Grand Firmament Forms pushed outward, instantly checking the downward plunge of the hooves. The horse's colossal frame was suspended in place, unable to fall. Yet right then, taking advantage of Chen Chuan dealing with the steed, Su Kuo swept the giant hammer around in a wide arc, smashing it toward him.
Su Kuo locked his eyes onto Chen Chuan. He was highly confident in this blow: Chen Chuan was currently holding his saber with only one hand. Even if he could block the strike, he could not exert full leverage and could never gain the upper hand this time. And as long as Su Kuo pinned him down for even a fraction of a second, the horse's downward momentum would immediately drive him into a disadvantage.
Facing the incoming hammer, Chen Chuan sank his center of gravity, raising the saber and bracing his elbow beneath it. With a loud bang, spiritual radiance spilled in all directions. He had actually stopped the giant hammer purely with one arm! Meanwhile, the hand he had extended earlier remained poised steadily in place, brilliance shimmering within its palm.
Su Kuo's expression shifted drastically. Without hesitation, he tapped into his supernatural ability at any cost and lunged to the side. With a deafening roar, a flared, trumpet-shaped shockwave blasted forth, instantly tearing up the terrain. Its farthest edge plowed into the army formations, instantly vaporizing every soldier and supply of the former imperial house in its path.
Yet it did not end there. Brilliance flashed once more, followed immediately by two successive spiritual impacts erupting in abnormally rapid succession. Su Kuo was forced to bound repeatedly outward to evade. But because they had been so close, even invoking his supernatural ability could not grant him a clean escape. After the three spiritual blasts, one of his arms was completely gone, along with a good portion of his shoulder, while half of Xunchilong's body was charred black, with exposed bone nearly visible beneath the scorched flesh.
Su Kuo paid no heed to his wounds. The moment the horse's hooves struck ground, he yanked the reins into a sharp half-turn, accelerating over that brief distance and raising his long hammer high.
For he knew that after unleashing such spiritual impacts, there had to be a momentary pause—something no one could avoid. That exact interval was his window to counterattack.
Yet right then, an enormous palm shimmering with radiant flames suddenly manifested at his side, swatting straight toward him.
Su Kuo glanced out of the corner of his eye. His position lay squarely between Chen Chuan and the hand of the external visage. Dodging was the worst possible choice; his only option was to stake everything on one strike.
Leaning forward, as hot vapor blasted from Xunchilong's nostrils, their speed surged to its absolute limit in an instant. Low against the horse's back, his eyes glued to the figure ahead, he violently swung the hammer upward.
Chen Chuan calmly watched him charge. This time, uncharacteristically, he did not step forward to meet the clash. Instead, shifting his footwork and propelled at blistering speed by his force field, he slipped to the opposite side. In the very instant they crossed paths with Xunchilong, his saber cleaved down onto its neck. As the fire of spirituality burst and scattered, it sliced more than half of the head clean through. The magnificent steed let out a wretched neigh and, after hurtling forward a short distance, crashed heavily onto the earth.
Chapter 1029