Xiang Boqing looked across at that figure resembling a divine general, as well as the long saber Chen Chuan pointed in his direction. A surge of surprise rose in his heart—not because Chen Chuan had manifested a spiritual visage whose outward appearance was capable of rivaling his own; after their earlier exchanges, he had already unconsciously placed Chen Chuan on equal footing with himself.
What truly caught his attention was Chen Chuan's full set of realm-fused armaments.
One had to consider that, as the chief security consultant of Origin Corporation, he had managed to obtain only an old-style West Continent realm-fused armor that barely covered his upper torso. His helmet had been traded for using a relic, never part of an original matching suit to begin with.
As for the spear in his spiritual visage's grip, it had taken all of the corporation's connections and cost an immense amount of resources and effort to acquire, barely cobbling together this present ensemble.
Even though it was pieced together from bits and pieces, other martial artists of the same tier might not have been able to assemble something half as complete as what he possessed.
Yet Chen Chuan's panoply and weapons were not merely the finest of the fine; one could tell at a single glance that they formed a complete, unified set. The dazzling brilliance radiating from them made Xiang Boqing's eyes prickle with a faint sting.
He fixed his gaze ahead. In an instant, rich blue-white spiritual fire welled up from beneath the spiritual visage's feet, rapidly spreading across its entire form until it formed a thick coating over its surface.
Upon seeing this, Chen Chuan let light flicker at his glabella. A platinum spiritual fire similarly surged over the spiritual visage behind him, rippling out around the colossal manifestation in a breath.
This spectacle caused the spectators on the island to tilt their heads back, their eyes wide as they stared at the figures standing dozens of meters tall upon the earth. For a time, they seemed to forget to breathe. Such a scene—almost like myth stepping directly into reality—shook their souls beyond measure.
After confronting each other for a brief moment, both spiritual visages moved simultaneously. Xiang Boqing's spiritual visage swung its spear, charging from the sea onto the beach.
Chen Chuan's spiritual visage rattled its suit of plates, drew the sabers at both sides, and strode forward with massive steps. The thundering footfalls from both sides sent tremors through the island's ground.
Chen Chuan and Xiang Boqing remained floating motionless in midair. When the spiritual visages passed straight through their bodies, only wisps of ethereal light drifted past, as though the titans were mere phantoms.
Once they closed the distance, Xiang Boqing's spiritual visage was the first to strike, thrusting forward with the spear gripped in its hands. Chen Chuan's spiritual visage immediately swept a forward saber across to parry the shaft away. Yet that spear moved with extraordinary agility in his opponent's hands; seeing the defensive sweep begin, the spear first drew back in retreat before darting forward again like a serpent.
Chen Chuan's spiritual visage did not attempt to parry again. Instead, waiting until the spearhead arrived and made contact, it twisted sideways, letting the spear tip slide across the polished mirror plate. A shower of spiritual fire sprayed outward. Only then did it sweep its long saber upward, attempting to knock the weapon aside.
However, the opponent's spear techniques were exceptionally refined, and this thrust had been primarily exploratory. Sensing that the contact felt wrong, the opponent withheld his follow-through and pulled the spearhead back, causing the upward slash of the saber to miss cleanly.
After withdrawing the spear, Xiang Boqing feinted once before driving forward again in a flash. This time, the thrust was aimed straight at the belly of Chen Chuan's spiritual visage. Because of its blinding speed and long reach, the spiritual fire atop the spearhead instantly erupted into a massive, conical blaze.
Seeing the ferocity of the assault, Chen Chuan's spiritual visage hurriedly brought its forward saber down to strike. But the opposing spear was like a venomous viper; before the blade could connect, the spear retreated once more. Pulling back halfway, it thrust forward again, this time darting straight for the face visor.
Having swung into empty air several times in succession, Chen Chuan's spiritual visage had failed to channel its power smoothly, causing its posture to loosen slightly. This time, it stood resolutely still. Just as the spearhead poked right against the face visor, both weapons seized the split second to cross and sweep upward together. With a resounding boom, the spear shaft was hurled aside, and the visage took a step, leaning forward to lunge aggressively.
Xiang Boqing possessed extensive combat experience and was seasoned to the bone. The moment the spear was parried, he had already directed his spiritual visage to step backward, instantly opening up distance. At the same time, the spiritual visage drew its spear back to its waist with the momentum of the retreat, coiling power for another strike. Because Chen Chuan's spiritual visage was charging straight at him, this retaliatory thrust would undoubtedly carry overwhelming force, making it entirely possible to impale Chen Chuan's spiritual visage in a single blow.
Chen Chuan could see through the opponent's technique. This series of probing thrusts had appeared to be an offense, but in reality, it had been designed to bait him into lunging forward, thereby setting up the opening for a lethal strike. Seeing the spear tip about to thrust out, seemingly leaving him nowhere to evade, Chen Chuan directed his thought, and his spiritual visage suddenly hurled the saber in its hand!
The projectile came without warning, radiance gathering upon the blade with clearly amassed power—far from a rushed attempt. Even though Xiang Boqing was prepared, he could no longer maintain his offensive momentum. The spear shaft that had already begun extending was forced to deflect to the side to bat the weapon away. The force within the hurled saber was immensely heavy; the flare of light and sparks erupted almost like a clash of spiritual impacts, inevitably causing the spiritual visage's frame to stumble and stall.
At this moment, unaffected by the clash, Chen Chuan's spiritual visage used the momentum of that throw to carry its colossal body forward, swinging the long saber in its other hand in a full, sweeping arc!
This slash was originally aimed at the opposing visage's head, but at the final moment, the enemy visage tilted its torso, letting the blade strike the mantle draped over its shoulder. Yet beneath the cloth lay another layer of sturdy armor. Once the spiritual fire was ground away, the blade met the armor's surface, leaving only a shallow dent without breaching it; nonetheless, the sheer force caused the figure to sink downward.
Having been closed in upon, the long spear was difficult to deploy, so Xiang Boqing retreated once more.
Having secured an advantage at the cost of one weapon, Chen Chuan's spiritual visage was hardly going to let the opening slip by, raising its saber to strike again.
As Xiang Boqing retreated, his visage raised the butt of the spear upward to block, weathering two slashes with brute force. Knowing this was disadvantageous, he ceased backing away and instead stepped forward under the cover of the parry. This forced the two sides into close quarters, where neither could fully extend, leaving their two weapons pressed tightly against one another.
Inevitably, the two locked in a contest of raw strength. The colossal spiritual fires on both visages pressed inward against the center, momentarily looking like two fallen suns rolling and smashing into one another upon the earth.
Seeing this situation and knowing the clash had stalled, Xiang Boqing charged forward in person, intending to strike at Chen Chuan's spiritual visage.
Chen Chuan had long been vigilant. Sensing his movement, he also surged forward. In the blink of an eye, he traversed a fissure and appeared directly in front of Xiang Boqing, raising his saber to deliver a diagonal slash.
Xiang Boqing had kept watch as well, shifting his body to evade. A flying blade shot out from behind him with a hiss, streaking toward Chen Chuan at point-blank range.
Chen Chuan angled his blade to deflect the flying blade, vanishing from sight in that very instant. Just as Xiang Boqing turned sideways to dodge outward, he thrust his spear single-handedly toward Chen Chuan's ribs.
Chen Chuan brought one arm down to block, his external implant's elbow colliding with the spear tip. The spiritual fire coating it was abraded away in an instant, and a crack formed on the surface, but he successfully deflected the spear's momentum. Flipping his body, he vanished from the spot, retreating into a fissure once more.
Xiang Boqing could not help but raise his guard. Just then, he suddenly detected a ripple of fissure disturbance near his own spiritual visage, instantly realizing that Chen Chuan intended to attack his spiritual visage first.
Because both men were currently situated behind his spiritual visage, Chen Chuan would definitely reach it a step ahead of him in terms of distance. Xiang Boqing immediately flicked his hand, directing the flying blade to shoot after him.
When Chen Chuan reappeared, he had already arrived behind Xiang Boqing's spiritual visage. Ignoring the incoming flying blade entirely, he raised his saber with both hands and slashed viciously at the back of the spiritual visage's head!
With a resounding boom, the blade cleaved down directly from the top of the helmet. Although it could not penetrate deeply due to the titan's massive scale, the spiritual fire on the blade surged inside like a concussive shock wave, detonating a flare of radiant flame within the visor of the helm and causing the entire spiritual visage to shudder.
The flying blade struck Chen Chuan at that moment, detonating a spray of spiritual fire against his external implant. The armor plates over his shoulder and back shattered outward, revealing a rupture. Yet thanks to that protective layer, he suffered little actual injury, merely being flung backward by the tremendous impact.
Taking advantage of the enemy's disorientation, Chen Chuan's spiritual visage exerted its strength to shove the opposing visage back, then raised its saber to deliver a massive downward chop.
Xiang Boqing narrowed his eyes at this sight. He had already noticed earlier that although Chen Chuan's spiritual visage rivaled his own in terms of raw scale, it was noticeably inferior in agility and fluidity.
This was not hard to understand. The young man belonged to the Longevity View, after all; no matter how deeply he cultivated, he had no way of fully fathoming the subtle mysteries of the spiritual visage. This could be considered the very first shortcoming he had discovered in Chen Chuan thus far.
Strictly speaking, however, this weakness was not yet fatal; only by applying greater pressure could the flaw be magnified.
He had originally intended to wait for a better moment to play his hand, but under the current circumstances, he had no choice but to unleash it ahead of schedule. A flash of brilliance flared across his glabella. In an instant, a surging, tempestuous torrent of radiant fire erupted from the spiritual visage, its fury so vast it nearly soared straight into the heavens.
"This is—"
Chen Chuan immediately sensed the difference. A certain restriction within the opposing spiritual visage seemed to have been undone, and mutated tissue rapidly proliferated, allowing it to absorb and release far greater power. As a result, the scale of its spiritual fire expanded explosively.
In a duel between spiritual visages, aside from skill and strength, another vital element was the clash of spiritual fires. Because spiritual visages were colossal in stature, they mostly engaged in frontal collisions, making spiritual fire utterly indispensable.
If one side's spiritual fire proved too thin, a mere handful of clashes would leave them falling into a disadvantage.
Yet despite the looming threat, Chen Chuan did not halt his offensive. His spiritual visage chopped down upon the opposing titan. The spiritual fire there burst into a ball of blazing flame, remarkably dense and resilient. Though it cleaved through the thick surface plating and sank inward, the blade failed to break through to the inner layer in a single breath.
Xiang Boqing's spiritual visage swayed slightly, then forcefully weathered the slash of the long saber. Driving its shoulder forward with tremendous force, it rammed Chen Chuan's visage back several paces. Then, lifting its spear with both hands, it thrust straight toward the chest of Chen Chuan's spiritual visage!
Yet the Great Awe Radiant Armor was exceptionally resilient. Even though the thrust caused spiritual flame to scatter in all directions, it failed to pierce through the plate in one go, merely forcing the visage steadily backward under the relentless pressure of the spearhead.
Chapter 1255