Seeing the man opposite take his stance, Chen Chuan planted the Xuejun Saber's scabbard into the ground, gripped the hilt, and drew the blade slowly from its sheath.
Wisps of platinum light rose from his body as well. Unlike the searing heat across from him, however, they clung tamely to the surface of his skin—a clear sign of his deepening mastery over his mutated tissue.
Once the Xuejun Saber was fully drawn, he held it level before him. As the blade turned, a dazzling, snow-white gleam flashed across the other man's brow and eyes, stinging them into a squint.
The man said, "Good blade. Young man, what is your name?"
"Chen Chuan."
The man nodded. "Luo Xiao."
With that, he slowly raised his ring-pommel saber, gripped it with both hands, turned his body slightly sideways, and suddenly slashed forward!
With that slash, a burst of spiritual fire flared violently—he had opened the fight directly with a spiritual impact!
Chen Chuan raised one hand and swept it aside. With a booming crash, he swatted the mass of spiritual fire apart. But right behind that flare of light, a deep cyan silhouette seemingly formed of condensed luminous vapor charged forward. In its grasp was a long saber wreathed in spiritual flames, cleaving downward toward him with ferocious momentum!
This move was exceptionally vicious and insidious. Coming right alongside the spiritual impact, it arrived with blinding speed. An ordinary martial artist, even if they managed to dodge the spiritual impact in haste, would find it nearly impossible to parry the follow-up strike in time and would likely be wounded right from the start.
Chen Chuan's reactions far exceeded those of most martial artists at his level, and he had felt no pressure whatsoever fending off the spiritual impact. He had no intention of dodging.
Raising the Xuejun Saber, he met the slash head-on. The moment their blades collided, he immediately felt the immense, heavy force driving through it—vastly superior to the likes of Cui Xuanhui. His body fell back, the fire of spirituality around him flaring outward as he drifted backward dozens of meters through the air before coming to a stop, whipping up a great cloud of dust and debris.
He glanced at the cyan silhouette. It looked somewhat similar to Luo Xiao, except it had a cyan face, protruding fangs, and wore a suit of savage, crude armor. It appeared to be formed purely of radiant fire rather than physical substance, yet the saber it held was undeniably real.
The moment that slash ended, the cyan silhouette flickered and instantly retreated into Luo Xiao's body.
Chen Chuan gave it an inquiring look. On the surface, this thing resembled a Visage of the Divine, but he had reviewed the man's dossier before coming and knew he ought to be a Longevity View martial artist walking the path of the Visage of the Aberrant.
What he had just displayed was likely his aberrant power—no wonder the force unleashed through the blade was so overwhelming. Still, Chen Chuan preferred facing straightforward aberrant powers like this over insidious abilities that were impossible to guard against.
As for that saber, it was probably a realm-melded weapon similar to his hidden blades and maces, capable of melding into the field, which was why it had been completely invisible before being brought into play.
Although such items were exceedingly rare, Luo Xiao had been a pirate in the past and plundered many treasures from the Eastern Continent, the Outer Ocean, and beyond; possessing such things was not particularly surprising. Cui Xuanhui had likely catered to his tastes by gifting him the fragment of the Jiuhe Gui.
Judging by this, the man probably possessed quite a few good treasures.
Seeing Chen Chuan parry his assault so calmly, Luo Xiao seemed slightly surprised, yet his movements did not falter. Twisting his waist, he was just about to swing his saber when a figure flashed before him. Chen Chuan abruptly appeared right in front of him, an arc of blade-light descending over his head.
Startled, Luo Xiao instinctively swung his blade upward to parry. Yet upon contact, there was no solid force to meet his blade—only a yielding jin. He immediately knew something was amiss. Sure enough, the blade-light curved around and slashed toward his waist.
His pupils constricted. He had already seen that his opponent wielded an extraordinarily sharp masterwork saber; the fire of spirituality around his body wouldn't be enough to withstand it. But with his force already spent, he couldn't pull his blade back in time. In that critical split second, the deep cyan silhouette emerged from his body once more, interposing itself before the Xuejun Saber. As they clashed, spiritual fire exploded and sprayed outward around them.
Chen Chuan's eyes flickered. *Another use of aberrant power?* Generally, aberrant powers could not be used in continuous succession, but judging from Luo Xiao's condition, he might very well be an exception.
Having used his aberrant power to block the slash, Luo Xiao regained his balance and momentum. Shifting his body, he brought his saber upward in an upward slash straight at Chen Chuan. At this moment, because of his collision with the spectral aberrant silhouette, Chen Chuan likewise couldn't pull his blade back in time. Backing away seemed the only viable option, which would allow Luo Xiao to unleash his full saber momentum.
Yet he saw that Chen Chuan had no intention of retreating at all. Instead, he reached forward with an empty hand and clamped it straight down onto the blade! As their spiritual fires furiously eroded each other upon contact, Chen Chuan actually halted the saber dead in its tracks!
Through their earlier clashes, Chen Chuan had already gauged the rough extent of Luo Xiao's physical strength. Thus, while this move seemed reckless, he had acted with complete confidence.
Believing he had found an opening, Luo Xiao had put all his strength into this upward slash. This matched his character—the moment he saw a chance, he would stake everything on one throw, leaving himself no retreat. Having been stopped cold, he was instantly trapped in a deadlock, unable to advance or retreat.
In truth, he had been forced into making such a choice. From their brief exchange, he had already realized he fell short of Chen Chuan in both power and speed, so he had to seize whatever opportunity presented itself.
Even though his sudden strike had failed, he had no thought of giving up. A vicious, cunning gleam flashed in his eyes. At that very moment, before the first cyan silhouette had even dissipated, a second cyan silhouette leaped out from his body, brandishing a short spear and thrusting it straight at Chen Chuan at point-blank range!
Seeing this, Chen Chuan released his saber with his right hand, reached out, and grabbed the spearhead. Another surge of immense force blasted through, shoving him backward.
He assessed the impact. His own force had increased by several degrees compared to the first clash, yet the force from the spear had scaled up accordingly. Most likely, this aberrant power was capable of scaling with the strength of its opponent.
However, in both instances, the force displayed was strictly linear and direct, indicating that the aberrant power operated on a singular jin, incapable of variation.
As he fell back, he spread the fingers of his other hand, and the Xuejun Saber flew back into his grip. Before he could counterattack, the cyan silhouette darted back with a swish, sinking back into Luo Xiao's body alongside the first silhouette.
Having managed to force Chen Chuan back, Luo Xiao threw his head back and yanked open the clothes covering his upper body. "Do you see this?!"
Chen Chuan's gaze narrowed. He could see that half of Luo Xiao's body was covered in cyan fish scales—the appearance of the Visage of the Aberrant—while the other half still retained a human form.
Yet threadlike, dark-cyan meridians were visibly creeping and corroding their way into the intact half of his body.
It was clear at a glance that he had been severely tainted by energy from the other side.
Once the taint became severe, a martial artist would be forced to maintain the Visage of the Aberrant continuously, during which their combat prowess would receive a certain boost.
Yet this was hardly a blessing. Once that process of erosion began, it would not stop; instead, it would only worsen over time. When the erosion ran its course, he would undergo total mutation and turn into a yaogui.
This was precisely why this realm was called "Preserve the True Form, Gather the Spiritual Visage." The True Form had to be preserved at all costs, and the prerequisite for gathering a spiritual visage was the ability to disperse it. If the spiritual visage could not be dispersed, it meant that an unending stream of foul taint would seep in and corrupt the practitioner.
But what the other man wanted him to see was evidently more than just that.
He noticed that at the location of Luo Xiao's heart—the half of the chest that remained human—there was a pulse of invisible energy warding off the invasion of that corruptive power. The dark-cyan meridians were stopped in their tracks right there.
Luo Xiao knew he had noticed. He gave a low, throaty laugh. "The thing is right here. If you have the guts, come take it!"
Chen Chuan looked at him with calm, profound eyes. He raised his saber once more. Moments later, as if a breeze had drifted past, rustling the bamboo grove, Chen Chuan seemed to vanish from where he stood right before Luo Xiao's eyes, carried away with the wind.
*This is...*
Horror seized Luo Xiao. Acting purely on instinct, he raised his saber to block. Instantly, an overwhelming force surged from his arm into his body. As his spiritual fire exploded outward with a roar, the sheer force of the slash shook him to his core, sending him stumbling back in violent retreat. At the same time, his cyan silhouette materialized once more, attempting to intercept the follow-up strike.
This time, however, Chen Chuan flashed to the side, brushing past the cyan silhouette.
He had already observed that while the cyan silhouette possessed great speed and brute power, its maneuvering was rigid. With Chen Chuan's speed, dodging it was child's play. He threw it behind him in an instant, accelerating once more toward Luo Xiao.
Although Luo Xiao had blocked that previous slash, the mutated tissue throughout his body had nearly ruptured under the tremendous pressure. Seeing the second strike coming even faster, he had no other recourse in his haste: another cyan figure burst from his body, brandishing a short spear to intercept Chen Chuan.
Chen Chuan swung his blade against the spear shaft. He felt the force coursing through the spear once again overpower his own. Such was the unreasonable nature of aberrant power—yet it was also the fundamental means by which the Visage of the Aberrant contested the Visage of Man and the Visage of the Divine.
At that exact moment, the other cyan silhouette caught up behind him, swinging its saber down toward his back. Turning around, Chen Chuan clashed his blade against the weapon. This time, however, because he had exerted little force, the power returned by the strike was proportionally mild. Borrowing the momentum, he slid to one side, catching sight of the two cyan figures retreating swiftly into Luo Xiao's body after their clashes with him.
Chen Chuan retreated a certain distance and hovered in midair with his saber. After these two probing attacks, he had gotten a firm grasp on the properties of this aberrant power: unless it struck an enemy or met an obstruction, it would not stop; yet the instant it clashed with or made contact with an opponent, it would promptly retreat into the host's body.
Whether returning was to replenish its power or part of some necessary cycle remained unknown, but it certainly could not sustain continuous attacks prior to that.
*In that case...*
He drew a breath and slowly raised his blade. A dazzling radiance gathered along the spine of the saber. As Luo Xiao's pupils contracted in shock across from him, Chen Chuan swung his blade violently forward—and in an instant, an intense burst of platinum light roared forth!
……
……
Chapter 1111