Chen Chuan quickly checked his condition. Before completely breaking through to the upper realm, his power could only go this far.
It was still not enough to suppress Xiang Boqing. After all, they were separated by an entire realm limit. Certain things simply could not be acquired out of nowhere, especially in the application of esoteric transmissions and combat techniques, where a gap still remained.
In that case—
He watched Xiang Boqing closing in on him and reached out a hand; in an instant, a spiritual impact erupted forth.
This eruption was extraordinarily fierce, overshadowing even the sunlight in the sky, unleashing several blasts in a single salvo.
Xiang Boqing immediately dodged and fell back, though he thought nothing of the move. Such impacts could not hit him at all; at best, they could only delay the battle and buy a little time to build up strength.
He could sense that this growth was nearing its end, which meant it was approaching or had already hit its upper limit. Such a level of power was far from enough to defeat him—it could not even withstand his continuous assault.
Meanwhile, the containment of the fissures across the island was progressing unabated. Even if it could not entirely sever the connection between the fissures and the man, sensing them would inevitably grow harder and harder. The moment a hesitation occurred, it would be the end.
He was patient enough for that.
After dodging the consecutive spiritual impacts, when the final one came, the distance was great enough that he simply did not bother dodging. Gathering the momentum of his spear, he thrust upward, directly piercing and dispersing the last burst of spiritual fire midair.
The distant burst of light reflected in Chen Chuan's eyes. At that moment, with a thought, his Second Self instantly merged with him, and the light in his eyes grew noticeably sharper.
At the same time, with another thought, his external implant split open with a fissure in an instant. He detached himself and stepped out, allowing the implant to drop toward the beach below.
Alone, he slowly rose into the air, radiant light coalescing around him, the red sash on his saber fluttering as if ready to take flight.
Seeing him emerge from the external implant, Xiang Boqing felt a twinge of surprise, coupled with a shred of caution. An external implant not only provided defense but also tactical data and recommendations. Discarding it now—was he about to unleash some special technique?
Yet no matter what trick he used, it would only be some method of overdrawing vitality or unleashing a burst of power. Fundamentally, it could never bridge the chasm in realm and raw strength.
Even so, as this thought crossed his mind, looking up at Chen Chuan's silhouette outlined against the vast sky, an inexplicable faint unease stirred within him.
With a thought, the flying blade circling outside shot swiftly toward Chen Chuan.
Chen Chuan floated placidly in the air above, showing no reaction whatsoever to the incoming short blade. Yet just as the weapon burst before him, he raised a hand as if casually, catching it with a sharp clap.
The moment he seized it, the spiritual fire swirling over it vanished instantly, and its mental connection to Xiang Boqing was severed immediately.
Then his fingers squeezed. The flying blade let out a crisp snap as it fractured; when he opened his hand, shards rained down below.
Even an alienated weapon capable of self-repair could not possibly be used again in this fight.
Xiang Boqing's expression changed slightly. Though the flying blade's attack could not compare to a full spiritual impact, its offensive power was still formidable—otherwise, it would not have forced Chen Chuan to evade it again and again earlier.
Yet what was he seeing now? It had been intercepted barehanded?
This... Hm?
He suddenly noticed the sky above was empty; Chen Chuan had vanished from that spot.
Just as alarm bells rang in his mind, his pupils contracted—Chen Chuan had appeared right in front of him, long saber cleaving down toward him.
The moment his consciousness registered it, his spiritual visage reacted first, bringing its spear up to parry. But with a deafening boom, that slash sliced cleanly through the spiritual fire, shattered the realm-merged weapon in passing, carved through the spiritual visage, and cleaved straight toward his head!
What?!
Xiang Boqing's pupils shrank sharply. Spinning his spear up to block, he surged with all his spiritual fire and barely stopped the blade's edge. But the colossal impact that followed was impossible to brace against. With a tremendous crash, his body slammed directly into the ground, and in an instant, a massive cloud of dust exploded from the earth, followed only then by a rolling rumble.
Chen Chuan hovered in the air above, saber held in one hand, looking down.
Radiance flared as Xiang Boqing burst from the dust. Looking up at Chen Chuan above, his eyes were filled with disbelief.
Just what kind of secret technique was this? Or could it be that during their battle earlier, the man had not even used his true strength?
Chen Chuan met his bewildered gaze, and his figure vanished once more. This time, concentrating his senses, Xiang Boqing barely caught the trajectory of Chen Chuan's movement, but an instinctive alarm told him not to face it head-on, so he scrambled frantically to the side.
He was not far from the ground; under his high-speed movement, it was as if an invisible giant blade plowed through the earth, shockwaves carrying heat and dust churning outward.
Yet even though he moved with all his might, he saw that after the silhouette descended, it followed him like a shadow. Those calm, steady eyes watched him quietly from nearby. A surge of terror and fury flared in his heart. Xiang Boqing swung his spear out in a violent sweep—
—only for the spear to pass through empty air as the figure vanished.
Chen Chuan appeared behind him. Raising his free hand, he slapped down against the nape of Xiang Boqing's neck. With an earth-shaking thud, Xiang Boqing was slammed straight into the ground, raising a churning, towering cloud of dust.
The next instant, Xiang Boqing, gleaming with light, sprang up from the crater, leveling his spear toward the silhouette standing with saber in hand amidst the drifting dust.
After standing still for a moment, that figure began walking toward him.
Xiang Boqing could clearly see the silhouette approaching as if at a leisurely stroll, every step distinct and vivid. Yet his body felt terribly sluggish, unable to make a corresponding reaction.
He knew full well that this was because the opponent was simply too fast; his mind perceived it, but his body could not keep up.
Right before his eyes, Chen Chuan slowly raised his saber. Refusing to yield, Xiang Boqing roared, flames blazing across his body as he thrust forward with all his strength. But in the next breath, the saber light fell. The spear tip was cleaved cleanly in two; following the momentum, an upward slash sliced through the dense outer spiritual fire, tore apart the outer phantom of the spiritual visage, and bit inward. Xiang Boqing finally managed to react, throwing his body backward, but half an arm was caught in the saber's path and flew into the air with a crisp swish.
Xiang Boqing leaped backward, retreating several kilometers in an instant, staring at Chen Chuan's position. The severed arm still tumbled through the air before slapping onto the ground.
One could see that this severed portion was virtually identical to the one he had lost when ambushing Chen Chuan before, only now it was wrapped in azure and platinum light, wisps of smoke curling from it.
Chen Chuan turned his blade, thrust the Xuejun Saber into the ground, and walked forward.
Tossing aside the remaining stump of his spear, Xiang Boqing took several deep breaths. Not only did his spiritual visage fully regenerate, but his severed arm also grew back rapidly.
Once recomposed, without waiting for Chen Chuan to strike first, he stamped down and darted forward like a shooting star toward Chen Chuan. Yet only halfway through, Chen Chuan was already standing right in front of him, driving an uppercut punch violently into his abdomen. Xiang Boqing's body bent backward in an arc. His spiritual fire stubbornly tried to resist, frantically pooling at the impact point, but after only a fraction of a second, he was blasted backward with an explosive roar.
Chen Chuan tapped his toes and pursued. Seeing a flash of light ahead as a spiritual impact shot toward him, he shifted slightly and dodged it, then flickered again to evade another.
Having evaded three blasts, he was already right up against Xiang Boqing. Confronting a spiritual impact fired point-blank, he did not bother defending at all; he crashed straight into it with his body, smashing the burst of impact to pieces with a boom, and without even using his fists, slammed his entire body directly into Xiang Boqing!
In the instant the two flares collided, Xiang Boqing—body and outer spiritual visage alike—was torn to pieces by the force of the collision, blasting outward as wisps of luminous streams scattered in all directions.
Chen Chuan came to a halt, sinking slightly before straightening up. Churning dust billowed outward, revealing a massive crater blown open at the point of impact.
At that moment, he glanced around to see countless severed limbs, fragments of flesh and bone, and droplets of blood floating in the air. These remains began to writhe and rapidly regenerate.
They quickly grew into separate Xiang Boqings, numbering more than a dozen. Distributed across the surrounding airspace, they looked down at him in an encircling formation.
He raised his head to see them staring at him. A moment later, they moved; one abruptly dove toward him, and the others followed close behind.
With a casual punch, he blew the first one into a bloody mist. But as the next one descended, he felt a sudden weight against his hand—this one seemed to possess all of Xiang Boqing's full strength. Even so, it failed to budge his body by half an inch. This one seemed about to continue attacking, but before it could do anything, Chen Chuan's casually sweeping hand batted it into fine mush.
Yet the Xiang Boqings leaped down one after another in relentless waves, while the pulverized bloody froth clustered back together to reform into him and rejoin the fray below.
Chen Chuan stood rooted in place, casually batting away the attacking Xiang Boqings with one hand left and right. It seemed as though every Xiang Boqing striking him possessed the strength of his peak state, but that was obviously impossible.
His gaze flickered, having already discerned the secret behind it.
"A field, is it—"
When a Dongxuan View martial artist reached high depths of cultivation, even a bit of tissue or a drop of blood could regenerate into their original body. However, the amount of matter and spirit determined how much strength it could carry; just like the severed arm before, it could only hold a fraction of power.
Being able to achieve this now was actually due to the connection of his field. The field was an extension of his body, allowing his power to shift back and forth among these vessels. Though appearing scattered into distinct individuals, he remained a single entity.
Realizing this, Chen Chuan had no intention of letting him drag this out. His figure blurred, and in that instant, Chen Chuan's image appeared in the vision of every single Xiang Boqing.
Utilizing sheer speed, Chen Chuan had thrown a punch at every single one of those bodies simultaneously!
Boom!
Amidst a roar that shook the entire island, every Xiang Boqing in the field shattered all at once.
Yet even so, countless bits of flesh and blood drifted in midair—some close by, others carried off goodness knows where by air currents. This meant that given a little time, the man could still regenerate.
Chen Chuan was not about to give him that chance. He reached out both hands, aiming forward. Accompanying his movement, the phantom form of the spiritual visage slowly coalesced behind him, raising both hands just like him, palms facing outward, radiant light blazing to life upon them.
In the air, the blood and gore reconnected, swelling rapidly as Xiang Boqing's body reformed. Soon, half a torso and a head took shape. The moment his newly grown eyes took in this scene, his pupils contracted sharply.
In the next instant, a beam of light that seemed capable of tearing the ocean apart erupted from the island with a tremendous roar, completely engulfing every existence in its path!
Chapter 1258