Had Lord Anshi possessed sufficient energy, he could have dispersed into countless phantoms at this moment. But under the constraint of his limited reserves, he had no choice but to take another route.
Far from where the two fought, a ring of brilliant radiance manifested, and another Lord Anshi appeared within it.
He made no attempt to conceal this split phantom. Now, it all depended on what Chen Chuan chose to do.
If Chen Chuan rushed over to eliminate it now, the sheer distance meant that traveling back and forth would inevitably cost some time, allowing even more split phantoms to be created here.
Chen Chuan would be unable to purge them all in one fell swoop, which would grant him temporary safety to execute his next move.
Yet if Chen Chuan chose not to rush over, that distant incarnation would remain safe. In short, playing this card would basically buy him a moment to catch his breath.
Chen Chuan immediately took note of the change in the distant sky. But if Lord Anshi was capable of doing this, he could just as easily have made every avatar phantom appear far off. That he had not done so earlier was not because he was unwilling, but because doing so had to involve severe constraints.
However, this still underestimated Chen Chuan's capabilities. With a single thought, he instantly engaged the Heaven and Earth Furnace breathing method, and his speed accelerated by a further degree.
In that very split second, another figure of Chen Chuan materialized before that distant ring of light, slashing down with his saber. And even then, not a single one of his silhouettes before the other phantoms vanished; they maintained their relentless tempo of slaughter without missing a beat.
This sudden turn of events caught not only Lord Anshi completely off guard, but also left Long Xian and Gao Xu within the fissure utterly dumbfounded.
Such an extreme display of speed completely shattered their previous understanding of the Visage of Man.
Lord Anshi was thrown into dire peril, nearly obliterated by Chen Chuan simply because his splitting speed could not keep pace.
In this critical juncture, he had no choice but to activate the same secret technique once more. Burning far more energy than before, he split into two phantoms in the distance all at once, nearly draining his reserves dry.
Seeing this, Chen Chuan's eyes flashed. Driven by the Grand Azure Void Forms, two more figures instantly manifested on both flanks—an almost exact replay of the previous moment, yet infinitely more demanding and awe-inspiring.
Lord Anshi's remaining energy to sustain himself was dwindling fast. Reaching this point, his original calculations could no longer be sustained.
His only recourse was to adopt a method of self-preservation to prolong his existence.
Seizing the solitary gap he had managed to wrest, he cast the art of "Bizarre Sealing True Reversal."
In an instant, as even more halos of light burst forth, the Lord Anshi standing within them underwent a subtle transformation. He seemed to shift back toward Ming's appearance, yet not entirely.
What stood out most was that bones, flesh, and mutated tissue seemed to be sprouting from deep inside his body.
This secret art could reshape Ming's physical form, granting him temporary close-quarters combat and evasive abilities.
Chen Chuan saw this and grasped roughly what was happening, though he could not fathom every nuance. However, Gao Xu and Long Xian immediately sent a transmission through the Tianji fish, informing him of the secret art's exact function.
Upon learning this, Chen Chuan felt it was entirely superfluous. The greatest advantage of the Visage of the Divine lay in its ability to divide into myriad forms; adopting a physical form only created flaws.
Yet Lord Anshi saw it differently. It was precisely because the Visage of the Divine alone could not withstand Chen Chuan that he was forced to resort to this measure.
Furthermore, possessing a body did not mean he could no longer use the secret arts of the Visage of the Divine; in fact, he possessed both. Moreover, had he not done so, he would have been unable to sustain a pure Visage of the Divine any longer. Thus, it was both an unavoidable and necessary choice.
The physical transformation was completed in the blink of an eye, reverting to Ming's face and even shifting his consciousness fully back. Yet the moment he raised his head, he faced Chen Chuan's incoming saber strike.
At that moment, a rainbow aura suddenly surfaced across his body. The saber cleaved down, instantly shattering the iridescent glow.
Yet what looked like an ethereal rainbow was deceptively rigid. The Xuejun Saber encountered a faint resistance upon striking it. Furthermore, when it detonated, the blast slammed against Chen Chuan's spiritual fire with tremendous concussive force, stripping away a fraction of his spiritual fire with every impact.
Even so, the razor-sharp brilliance of the Xuejun Saber still cleaved Ming's body open. A deep fissure split across his brow, revealing clearly the parted flesh and the bone beneath.
Breaking free from the rainbow light's obstruction in an instant, Chen Chuan surged forward, closing in with another horizontal slash.
Ming's body blurred slightly, allowing the blade's light to pass right through him. But Chen Chuan immediately struck at the seemingly empty air beside him. With a sharp clang, he shattered another rainbow aura, exposing Ming's form from within as a bone-deep slash appeared across Ming's chest.
To evade Chen Chuan's relentless pursuit, Ming had no choice but to vanish once more. Yet guided by the purple qi, all such evasion was meaningless before Chen Chuan; wherever Ming fled, Chen Chuan could locate him instantly.
Ming fell into utter disarray. He was not accustomed to fighting in a tangible body at all, relying blindly on his most practiced Divine Visage secret arts. Rather than aiding him, the physical vessel became a burden.
Compared to the earlier battle, Chen Chuan found this even easier, as he now possessed a concrete, defined target to strike. He did not waste the opportunity. In just a few strokes, a flash of blade light passed through, nearly cleaving Ming's body cleanly in two.
Ming retreated in desperation. Yet the moment he moved, a hand reached out and clamped firmly around his skull.
Immediately, a beam of cyan light penetrated his body. Wherever the light touched mutated tissue, it dissolved and vanished like snow before a blazing sun. At the same time, Ming's body gradually hardened and transformed into a pitch-black statue, as solid as bronze and stone.
Chen Chuan checked it: the statue was entirely hollow within, devoid of even a trace of life or divine qi.
According to the information relayed through the Tianji fish, Ming had made a hasty sacrifice of his divine qi to avoid complete destruction in a single blow. As the wielder of the Tianji Plate, he had undoubtedly placed a portion of his divine qi within that treasure. That treasure was virtually impossible to break open; fortunately, without sufficient power, he would be unable to emerge from it either.
Understanding the situation, Chen Chuan exerted pressure with his hand. With a snap, the statue's head shattered, and the rest of the figure cracked into countless fragments, drifting away upon a gust of wind.
With a sweep of his blade, he smoothly sheathed the weapon.
Just then, a golden light flared within the fissure, and Zhenren Gao Xu stepped forth. Looking at Chen Chuan, he solemnly offered a Xuan Cult salute and said gratefully, "Honored guest, you came to our aid and helped our Tianji Sect weather this calamity. Our sect will surely remember this immense favor."
Chen Chuan shook his head. "No need for that. I didn't come here to do you a favor. I came because I heard Heavenly Master Lu departed to fight demons and couldn't bear to see anyone taking advantage of his absence to launch a sneak attack. Besides, I also came seeking the key to my own breakthrough."
He spoke candidly, with nothing to hide. He truly had no intention of extracting anything from the Tianji Sect; whatever he had wanted, he had already gained.
Gao Xu nodded. "You have fought for so long, honored guest. Why not enter our esoteric ritual to rest and recover for a while?"
Inviting an outsider into their esoteric ritual was a sign of immense trust. Yet as the one ordained by Heavenly Secrets who had also delivered them from crisis, he was naturally worthy of their confidence.
Chen Chuan did not accept immediately. Instead, he turned his gaze toward the Federation fleet.
On Fantner's side, seeing Ming eliminated as well left him feeling somewhat disappointed. Witnessing the awe-inspiring might Ming had displayed moments ago, he had genuinely thought there might be a reversal in fortune, only for Ming to fall at Chen Chuan's hands after all.
Yet looking at Ming's final state, had he colluded with some otherworldly entity?
Not that it mattered anymore—had the Federation collaborated with such entities any few times? Even if the Federation had known beforehand that Ming might be possessed by something from the other side, they would still have cooperated with him so long as it yielded profit.
He shook his head and spoke to Cassian and the others below through his cochlear worm. "Everyone, our operation has suffered too many setbacks. I am afraid we have no choice but to retreat temporarily."
Cassian felt unwilling to accept it. "Mr. Fantner, are we really just going to leave like this?"
Fantner replied, "I don't want to leave either. But if we don't go now, are we going to wait around for that Celestial Master of the Tianji Sect to return?"
Hearing this, Cassian and the others started in alarm. Indeed—if they didn't leave now, would they wait for that Celestial Master to return and settle accounts?
After all, they had waged war on Tianji Sect territory, causing astronomical destruction of property and staggering casualties. Once that Celestial Master returned, could he possibly let it slide? If they were killed then, their deaths would be entirely in vain.
In truth, they were not the only ones to realize this. Observers from various nations and megacorporations had reached the same conclusion; they had already begun their phased withdrawal without notifying the Federation in advance. In an instant, swarms of airships began pulling back.
Seeing the scene outside the porthole, Cassian said to his assistant, "Send a telegram. Inform the Consul... our operation has failed."
He paused, then added, "As for the specifics, I will report them to the Consul in person once we return."
The assistant offered a salute and departed with heavy steps.
Cassian slumped into his seat. Olin walked over, patted him on the shoulder, and looked outside as well. "It seems the agreements previously brokered with the various nations and the Consortium will have to be canceled as well."
With the operation a failure, the competence of the current administration would be severely called into question. It might even collapse entirely, and their political careers were likely finished.
Olin said, "I will bear this with you. Once we return, we'll submit our resignations together."
Cassian sighed. "That's all we can do. By the way, how is Mr. Durant?"
"I checked on him just now. He's stable for the moment."
Cassian breathed a sigh of relief. As long as Durant was alive, the heaviest blame would not fall on their shoulders. After a moment of silence, he spoke with effort: "Let's withdraw."
Chapter 1327