Another head was severed, and Su Kuo instantly lost the aberrant power to devour and absorb energy.
Yet he was fierce and valiant. The moment the saber slashed upward earlier, he had known this head could not be saved, so he had ignored it entirely, half-turning his torso to whip the shaft of his spear toward the head of the spirit visage.
With a loud crash, the blow struck with an explosion of golden light, but the latter possessed an immense fire of spirituality and formidable physical might; taking the strike head-on, it merely swayed slightly.
The spirit visage flicked its long saber, deflecting the bladed ring he brought hacking down next, while its other hand reached out to grasp the long mace stuck into the ground. Taking a step back, it dodged the incoming spear thrust, parried outward with the mace, and then stepped forward, simultaneously sweeping its saber upward in a reverse slash.
Seeing this, Su Kuo hastily raised his ring to block, but this motion opened up a gap above. Chen Chuan's spirit visage pressed forward in sync, whipping the mace upward in a fluid follow-through. With a thunderous boom, the strike shattered his shoulder into pieces as flares of light exploded and another arm fractured cleanly at the root, while Su Kuo himself was whipped several paces to the side.
Chen Chuan's fighting style simply relied on sheer, overpowering might. If you failed to parry with all your strength, a single move could shatter your form and leave you riddled with openings; if you did parry with everything you had, he would seize the opening to strike where you were weakest.
In truth, during spirit visage combat, given their colossal proportions, this interplay of light and heavy, fast and slow, false and real required immense coordination and pinpoint control. Had it not been for his fusion with his second self, pulling this off would not have been so easy.
And at this moment, the more he fought, the smoother it became. Saber and mace struck in tandem, hacking and smashing into Su Kuo multiple times in rapid succession, every blow unfailingly blasting armor apart and sending flesh and blood flying.
Su Kuo's stance had long since fallen into disarray, and now he was parrying purely on instinct. As he retreated, his final head was clipped by the long mace, blurring his consciousness. He could only thrust out his spear by feel. The spirit visage swung its mace down against the spear, pinning the spearhead to the earth, then brought its foot down with a snap, snapping the shaft in two.
Just then, Su Kuo struck again with his bladed ring. Chen Chuan released the hilt of his mace and caught the ring in an iron grip. Amid the clash of light, his five fingers clamped firmly around it, while his other hand brought the saber slicing upward with a crisp rasp, severing the armor-clad arm and sending a shower of scalding blood raining down onto the earth.
Now Su Kuo stumbled backward, swaying on his feet, half-conscious and stripped of all his weapons. He had essentially lost all capacity to resist, sustained only by sheer willpower.
The spirit visage tossed the ring, still attached to the severed half of the arm, to the ground, strode forward two quick paces, gripped the saber's hilt with both hands, and lunged forcefully forward, plunging the blade straight into Su Kuo's chest. Riding the momentum of the charge and exerting strength through its arms, it hoisted his entire body into the air!
Any discerning eye could tell that Su Kuo was on the losing end of this fight. Furthermore, Su Kuo had already given orders that if the situation turned dire, the various commanders were free to choose their moment to withdraw. Thus, as he had been driven back step by step, the bulk of the troops had already begun pulling back like an ebbing tide. Even so, they kept glancing back at the battlefield—and when they turned and saw this scene, they froze in disbelief.
Chen Chuan looked up at Su Kuo, hoisted in midair and rendered utterly powerless. With a thought, a surge of spiritual radiance flowed along the long saber and instantly flooded into the body. The next moment, platinum flames erupted from every wound and stump, sending Su Kuo into violent convulsions.
A moment later, Chen Chuan yanked the saber free, letting the colossal figure, still shrouded in platinum flames, crash thunderously to the ground.
Su Kuo fell onto his knees, slumped there. The scarlet fire of spirituality upon him had completely vanished, leaving only a lingering thread of consciousness keeping his body upright.
The entire plain suddenly fell deathly quiet.
Chen Chuan's spirit visage took two paces back, retrieved the dropped mace, turned back to stand before Su Kuo, and raised the weapon high with both hands, aiming straight at his head.
An instant later, it smashed down with brutal force. With a tremendous boom, Su Kuo's entire body shattered into countless fragments that tumbled through the air before scattering in all directions, dissolving into roiling mist that drifted upward toward the sky in wisps.
Many commanders and soldiers who witnessed this scene looked dazed and devastated, dropping weakly to their knees. Su Kuo was not merely their commanding general; for many of them, he was also their spiritual pillar.
This General Subduing the East had followed the imperial house in retreat since the end of the old dynasty and had rendered great service during the reestablishment of the imperial court. The fathers and grandfathers of many among them had served under his command, yet now they had witnessed his death in battle with their own eyes.
At that moment, with a thought from Chen Chuan, the spirit visage surrounding him likewise dissolved into billowing white mist, dissipating into the air.
He stepped forward. Su Kuo was lying there, having reverted to his original size, platinum flames sputtering across his entire body.
Looking at Chen Chuan as he approached, he said with feeble breath, "Generals die in a hundred battles. To die upon the battlefield is what I wished for. Mr. Chen, if you take my head, could you send my body back?"
Chen Chuan said, "It is not that I am heartless, but General Su should know what you people truly are."
Su Kuo looked upward, realizing with a wistful chuckle, "Ah, yes... yes. I almost forgot. I have long ceased to possess a human body."
His body was composed of countless mutated tissues; even severing a head was useless, for as long as any mutated tissue survived, he could theoretically regenerate. His current sensation of mortal helplessness was merely because the mutated tissue had been suppressed by Chen Chuan's spiritual power.
He spoke with difficulty, "I have an item... May I trouble Mr. Chen to take it out and deliver it to the Su clan of Longyou Dao?" As he spoke, an object fell from his body.
Chen Chuan glanced at it, and the object drifted over. He caught it in his hand and saw that it was a pouch of soil kept for who knew how long, tied with a child's longevity lock. The lock was engraved with numerous blessings and looked like an old antique.
He could tell there was nothing amiss with it. Looking at Su Kuo, he said, "I will see that it is delivered."
Su Kuo said, "Thank you..."
Chen Chuan said no more. He slowly raised a hand toward him, blinding brilliance glittering upon his palm. Moments later, an intense flash of radiant light blossomed there, as if dimming the very sky for an instant.
Then a massive explosion rang out. When the shockwave subsided, where Su Kuo had once lain was now only a deep crater with scorched edges; nothing remained.
Now the outward-surging currents began to curl back, sweeping up dust and debris from the ground and causing the tips of his hair to flutter, while the cloud-mist rising from his body shifted and swayed.
He stood there for a moment and glanced outward. The army of the former imperial household had completely collapsed this time, bereft of all fighting spirit, fleeing in total rout like a crashing tide.
Mr. Zhuan walked over toward him, paying no heed to the fleeing soldiers; eliminating high-level forces was their true responsibility.
His thoughts churned. Before today, he had never imagined that Chen Chuan had already achieved the realm of the Longevity View. And the opposing General Subduing the East was formidable as well; Mr. Zhuan had expected an earth-shaking clash, yet never anticipated it would be such a one-sided slaughter.
Arriving before Chen Chuan, he took a breath and asked, "Commissioner Chen, Zhao Zhenye never showed himself just now. Has he given up?"
The others had all gone to pursue the remaining two martial artists of the former imperial household, while he had stayed behind to guard against Zhao Zhenye. Should Zhao Zhenye suddenly reappear, he and Mr. Mask could move in to pin him down. After all, this time he still had the Mind-Knocking Block with him precisely to guard against that man.
Chen Chuan sensed his surroundings for a moment and found that Zhao Zhenye's presence in his perception had become faint and indistinct, indicating that the man had departed to a place extraordinarily far away, perhaps even somewhere peculiar.
After lighting the purple lamp at the highest Heavenly Pass, he had gained the ability to wield its qi, and a portion of that purple qi had even become mutated tissue existing within his body in a specialized form.
During combat, he could infuse this qi into others. Because this portion of purple qi maintained an unbreakable link with that Heavenly Pass, even if the person fled far away, Chen Chuan could still perceive their location.
He had originally intended to deal with Su Kuo before slicing open a fissure to pursue the man, but now it seemed Zhao Zhenye had gone into hiding.
He said, "Something likely went wrong with the power in his body. I expect he will not show himself before resolving that problem."
Mr. Zhuan nodded solemnly. After a moment's thought, he said, "Given that he was able to recover this time, I suspect he very likely borrowed power from the other side, and might even have merged with something from there, which led to such complications. I will report his situation to headquarters."
Mask chimed in, "Yeah, that's exactly what should be done! Old Zhuan, you shouldn't be the one shouldering this. Back then, some people acted as if they hadn't done a single thing wrong."
Mr. Zhuan said, "Let us set that aside for now. Commissioner Chen, since matters here are settled, I shall go help our colleagues mop up the remaining enemies."
Chen Chuan nodded.
Mr. Zhuan turned and departed, transforming after two strides into a streak of flowing light that vanished into the distance.
At this very moment, Xu Chan and Hu Kan were pursuing that Embroidered-Uniform Emissary.
Not only was she exceedingly fast, but her movements were unpredictable, and every so often she would exploit rituals left on the battlefield to impede their pursuit. The two watched helplessly as the gap widened.
Seeing the soldiers of the former imperial household fleeing in the distance, Hu Kan rolled his eyes thoughtfully and shouted at the top of his lungs, "Damn, that old broad runs fast! Those legs of hers are moving fast enough to be electric fans!
"Hey brother, never mind how fast she runs, her real skills are all in her hands! You asking how I know? Heh, she's an Embroidered-Uniform Emissary! Ever heard of Embroidered-Uniform Emissaries? That's right—seamstresses! Made specifically to mend clothes for that dog emperor! Her needlework is top-notch!" When saying "dog emperor," he deliberately put heavy emphasis on the words.
The Embroidered-Uniform Emissary had kept a cold, detached expression all along, focused entirely on retreating. But hearing the insult toward her sovereign in front of other soldiers nearby, her expression instantly darkened.
With a flick of her hand, needle silhouettes flew forth, slaughtering every scattered soldier in the vicinity, before she continued fleeing forward without once looking back.
Chapter 1033