Aboard the airships, the martial artists present from both cults stepped forward, spreading their spirit strength and domains outward to counter the surrounding esoteric ritual domain.
The esoteric ritual domain excelled in aggregate strength, but it could not overcome martial artists on a localized scale. Consequently, they swiftly forced open a "cleared zone."
Seizing this opportunity, the cultists aboard the airships carried out jar after jar of esoteric cult materials and poured them down toward the ground.
Some of it drifted away with the air currents, yet it did not disperse; instead, bound by an invisible power, it lingered, swirling within a specific height and radius.
This served to reinforce and shield against the surrounding domain, carving out room for them to set up their arrangements.
With the ritual items on the ground acting in concert amidst the continuous chanting of cultists from both factions, a new domain soon began generating field power under the combined effects of the ritual and materials.
Although the ritual methods of the New Light Cult and the Primordial Sect differed in the details, they were broadly similar. Even so, the mid-to-high-ranking members of both sects had not anticipated that the ritual would respond so quickly. This indicated that this place was exceptionally suited for setting up esoteric rituals and conducting religious activities.
Many sect higher-ups looked around. Never had they imagined that within the Federation, there could still exist a land so conducive to esoteric cults.
Presumably, this was why the Tianji Sect had originally chosen to establish their foundation here, though it was equally possible that generations of Tianji Sect practitioners had groomed and ordered the environment to this state.
And at the thought that this land might soon belong to them—or at least that they would be entitled to a share—a fervent hunger flared in their eyes.
This was the promise the Federation had made to ensure their utmost effort: as long as they toppled the Tianji Sect, a tract of land in Weishu State would be carved out for them, along with permission to proselytize here.
Thus, when it came to eradicating the Tianji Sect, they were driven by considerable motivation.
As time drifted past amidst unceasing chanting, the ritual materials poured from the airships accumulated, gradually sketching fine, luminous traces in the air.
The layout of the two cults' airships was deliberately calculated, functioning as nodes paired with the ritual items below. Furthermore, the site they had chosen was the former location of the zhisuo, precisely where the domain was most densely concentrated.
After a long while, a glimmering fissure gradually opened in the center. They were tearing open a fissure.
Only when a fissure appeared could everyone from the martial artists down to the ordinary cultists unleash their full might, making it far easier to counter the suppression of the Tianji Sect's esoteric ritual.
In the past, opening a fissure was forbidden by the Federation, at least on the surface. But this time, authorized by the Federation itself, they could do so openly and without restraint.
Under the influence of their ritual, the fissure began to widen. Yet once it reached merely the size of a fist, it seemed suppressed by an opposing force and failed to expand any further; no matter how much ritual material they poured down, it produced no effect.
What distressed them even more was that if they stopped, this freshly opened fissure could snap shut at any moment.
Realizing something was amiss, the higher-ups of both sects immediately reported the situation separately to Irose and Merton. After conferring, the two concluded that the initial smooth progress had likely been an intentional vulnerability left by the Tianji Sect, designed specifically to exhaust their ritual materials.
After deliberating, both sides recognized that having reached this stage, halting was out of the question, and others were still waiting on them. They had no choice but to play their respective trump cards ahead of schedule.
***
In Wanakopa State, near the coastline, Guang Yong and Chen Chuan stood facing each other.
Chen Chuan could sense that the outer bounds of "Penetrating Ground" were contracting inward. This was not something that could be gauged precisely through domains alone, so he had sent his prismatic object soaring outside, allowing him to clearly register the shifts.
He had also tested the waters just moments ago: whether it was a spiritual impact or other methods, none had any effect on Guang Yong standing there. The man seemed like a phantom. Thus, Chen Chuan found himself in a predicament where he could neither leave nor make an attack land.
Yet his expression remained calm, for he was not truly without options.
Although an entire state separated this place from Weishu State, he could already clearly perceive faint traces unique to the vicinity of a fissure. From the intelligence gathered earlier, Celestial Master Lu had channeled the structural flaw running through the Ring of the World toward the vicinity of Weishu State, luring the demons from the opposite side before exterminating or driving them away.
This meant that so long as the fissure on the Tianji Sect's end remained open, that point was the weakest in the entire Ring of the World. With his spirit strength, even before arriving there, he could distinctly sense it.
Therefore, he could simply tear open a fissure directly using Flying Dragon Fist Jin, find a way to slip into the fissure, and emerge from another one.
Even if he could not accomplish that, he could cleave open a fissure with his Xuejun Saber to reach the other side.
Yet unless pushed to the absolute brink, he had no wish to expose the Xuejun Saber's capabilities, preferring to rely on his own power. Moreover, even if he broke this aberrant power, as long as the man remained intact, he could pursue him; in the end, they would still have to fight.
The best solution was to resolve things once and for all by eliminating this combat asset right here. To do that, he had to find an opportune moment—after all, he had experienced firsthand just how formidable a Throne martial artist's survival capabilities were.
He kept his gaze fixed on Guang Yong, who stood with palms pressed together. The prismatic object flashed to and fro around him, but the radius of its flight grew progressively shorter, indicating that the bounds of Penetrating Ground were shrinking ever smaller. Yet Chen Chuan simply stood in place, seemingly waiting for something.
Guang Yong kept his gaze lowered and remained motionless. He knew Chen Chuan would never surrender and likely possessed a countermeasure. But Guang Yong's method was an open hand: he told you explicitly what he was going to do and even the exact sequence in which he would do it. Regardless of what his opponent chose, whether the technique could be broken or not, he would not change his course.
Time slipped away. Penetrating Ground grew smaller and smaller until it had almost drawn flush against their bodies. At that moment, Guang Yong made the first move. Raising an upright palm, he thrust it toward Chen Chuan!
Yet though this strike appeared identical to his opening stance earlier, no colossal palm came pressing forward. Instead, intense spiritual fire flared upon his palm and fingers, unleashing a spiritual impact straight ahead!
Because of Penetrating Ground, Chen Chuan had no room to dodge. Yet he took an unexpected action: facing the spiritual bombardment, he leaped forward, unleashing his own fire of spirituality as well, forcefully pushing through the incoming spiritual flames to surge ahead.
The stream of platinum light tore through the bronze-gold brilliance almost instantaneously, bringing him before Guang Yong in a flash.
Gazing into Guang Yong's dispassionate countenance, Chen Chuan activated the altered tissue across his body, violently smashing open a fissure.
Because they stood in extreme proximity, this fissure blossomed directly around Guang Yong.
A look of astonishment crossed Guang Yong's face. Because he now stood inside the fissure, he could by no means claim to remain on his original ground.
Though he might argue that his physical body had not moved, Chen Chuan now stood outside the fissure while he was inside it—separated by two worlds, how could he be considered unmoved?
And so, in that very instant, the aberrant power broke.
Chen Chuan did not dwell on the technicalities. His maneuver had merely been an experiment; had it failed, he would have employed other methods. Now spared further trouble, he channeled the full momentum of his forward rush against the opponent within arm's reach and slammed a punch downward.
Around his fist manifested the massive phantom of an enormous fist. Though he could not overlap his spiritual visage like Xiang Boqing, he drew upon certain variations from the Non-Body style alongside his own insights, fusing a partially manifested spiritual visage with physical strikes to forge an integrated force in its own right.
With a thunderous crash, this punch smashed directly into Guang Yong's colossal external visage, instantly scattering the bronze-gold fire of spirituality coating it. The tremendous impact sent the spiritual visage rocking violently, fine fissures instantly spidering across its surface.
Before Guang Yong could raise a defense, Chen Chuan's follow-up punches were already raining down, moving at a speed far too swift for that massive frame to react. For a fleeting instant, the immense spiritual visage was actually knocked suspended in midair.
In a mere heartbeat, the entire Venerable Mane spirit visage shattered with a roar. Yet amid the fractured bronze-gold light, a human-sized spiritual form materialized, eight arms fanning out with a whoosh to block and parry the incoming barrage of fists.
Even so, it could not match the speed of Chen Chuan's punches. The tempest of blows hammered into him without pause.
The Visage of Man lacked the various aberrant powers and durable flesh of the Visage of the Aberrant, nor did it possess the Visage of the Divine's method of projecting myriad incarnations into the nameless.
What the Visage of Man possessed was the purest strength and speed.
Employing the realm and techniques of the Longevity View, Chen Chuan unleashed an explosive power rarely seen even within the Dongxuan View.
Beneath this ferocious onslaught, the arms of Venerable Mane shattered and disintegrated one by one. Mutilated clumps of tissue tore loose from the body, ripped apart and scattered by the sheer pressure of his punches. Everywhere the two passed was left adrift with bronze-gold dust.
In a single breath, Chen Chuan blasted Guang Yong over a hundred kilometers away, delivering an uncounted multitude of strikes along the way.
Finally, with a booming roar, he stomped down upon the earth and drove an all-out uppercut toward the heavens.
The ground surged and convulsed like waves, fracturing into warped tectonic slabs. Under the violent tremor, countless gravel fragments and clouds of sand floated upward.
Lifted by the invisible titan force, Guang Yong's Venerable Mane visage drifted into the upper sky alongside the swirling dust and rocks, dense webs of fine cracks covering its surface. Upon reaching the apex, it finally disintegrated with an explosive boom into a sky full of golden powder!
Chen Chuan held his posture of punching upward. As the golden powder drifted down, the moment it brushed against the boiling platinum flames around him, it was instantly annihilated.
In that ferocious onslaught just now, he had not merely blasted his foe into pieces; he had repeatedly pummeled every broken fragment, shattering them beyond all measure without sparing even the tiniest speck.
At this moment, a wisp of Guang Yong's spirit barely coalesced into half of a fragmented face. He let out a sigh: "It seems... Benefactor is indeed... the prevailing factor of celestial design... I... cannot... keep... Benefactor here..."
With each word he uttered, his spirit dissipated into the wind alongside a trail of golden powder. When the final syllable fell, he vanished entirely into the air.
Chen Chuan slowly lowered his fist, which still smoldered with brilliant light, while a layer of scorching platinum radiance continued to coil about him.
Watching the golden flecks drifting through the air, he knew that a portion of Guang Yong's body likely still remained in Little Awakening Temple. Without using the Mystic Void Fire, it would be impossible to kill him completely.
Yet using it now carried a certain risk of exposure, which might prove detrimental to the battles lying ahead.
Still, it mattered little. Having fought to this point, Guang Yong was already out of the game. With one hostile force cleared away, the Tianji Sect came next.
Taking a deep breath, his body rose slowly into the air. Looking toward the direction of Tianji Peak, he transformed in an instant into a streak of flowing light, piercing the sky as he flew toward it.
Chapter 1298