Even without deliberately venting their power outward, in the eyes of martial artists of their caliber, a Cave Mystery View martial artist shone as brilliantly as a star.
This was far beyond anything the sky-scorching beacons of spiritual fire could compare to.
Thus, although Chen Chuan made no distinctive movement and merely stood there in silence, Wan Ke still sensed his presence immediately and turned the fleet toward him.
Beneath his visor, Wan Ke's eyes locked onto Chen Chuan without blinking, sharp and ferocious.
Just hours earlier, he had received an intelligence dispatch claiming that a Great Shun Cave Mystery View martial artist was suspected to have appeared on the front line. To err on the side of caution, he had hurried over.
Generally speaking, in clashes between Great Shun and the former imperial household, Cave Mystery View martial artists did not take the field; Longevity View was the upper limit.
Cave Mystery View martial artists possessed catastrophic destructive power. Once mobilized, they could level a city or vast encampments in a short time.
And if your side deployed one, mine could do the same, with neither side capable of intercepting them in time. In such an exchange, even the stronger faction could rarely avoid catastrophic losses.
Furthermore, once combat between Cave Mystery View martial artists escalated, it was exceedingly prone to drawing in higher-tier powers. If higher-tier powers entered the fray, the nature of the conflict would fundamentally change. Therefore, barring a war of total extermination, Cave Mystery View martial artists remained idle—a tacit understanding observed by both sides.
In fact, it was for this very reason that when he had conducted his routine annual inspection of the front line earlier, the emperor had recalled him immediately to prevent Great Shun from seizing upon an excuse during negotiations.
Yet now, Great Shun had secretly dispatched a Cave Mystery View martial artist. What was the meaning of this? Were they bent on destroying his nation?
Rage surged within him. Did Great Shun truly not fear paying a ruinous price for this?
As the airship fleet drew nearer, the Great Shun personnel standing upon the high ground realized that this flagship airship was far more immense than they had imagined—four to five hundred meters stem to stern, crafted entirely from biological materials, resembling a living creature.
Wan Ke himself appeared at least seven meters tall, and the mount beneath him was even more gargantuan and fierce. Perched atop the airship, he looked down with pale, ghastly fire of spirituality drifting around him, exerting a crushing pressure.
Moreover, as he approached, a mental field emanated outward naturally. Amid the night of the convergence zone, it took on an almost tangible form, resembling both mist and a ghastly pale glow.
Beneath the mental pressure of a Cave Mystery View martial artist, anyone of a lower threshold was incapable of standing before him. In just a single instant, most people here would lose their fighting capability.
Yet right at that moment, the mist-like mental power suddenly ground to a halt, blocked by a colossal invisible barrier.
Because the enemy's mental force had materialized into visible light and haze, everyone could see the immense span of this invisible barrier—
It encompassed almost the entire region around the Great Shun encampment.
And the source of it all was Chen Chuan.
Such a vast mental field not only shook everyone present, but also caused Wan Ke's pupils to contract.
Just then, deep within the *Sky Whale*, an aberrant creature resembling a white brain suddenly sent him a warning:
"General Wan, an over-limit high-energy field detected. Please raise your guard—"
"Identity confirmed through comparison. This person is highly likely Grand General Xuanji of the puppet court, Chen Chuan!"
The former imperial household possessed no central city and maintained the institutional structure of the old era. The lower ranks made almost no use of boundary credentials or active conscious entities, but mid-to-high-ranking commanders had their own massive aberrant creatures dedicated to data storage and strategic analysis.
Around Wan Ke's neck coiled tentacles called a "neck-wrap," which served to communicate with this field creature. A light screen materialized atop the neck-wrap, displaying various dossiers regarding Chen Chuan.
The former imperial household paid meticulous attention to Great Shun's formidable martial artists, collecting intelligence on them over long periods.
Chen Chuan had slain General of Eastern Subjugation Su Kuo, causing the Jibei Dao counteroffensive to completely collapse and inflicting devastating losses on their military strength. He had long been listed in the imperial household's Crimson Register, and the subsequent battle at Tianji Peak was even more extraordinary.
Contending single-handedly against over a dozen Cave Mystery View martial artists—what kind of feat was that? Theoretically, he alone could pin down more than half of the pillars of the former imperial household. Beneath the higher-tier powers, not a single person could face him in single combat.
Due to the sheer threat he posed, the former imperial household had even elevated him to the very top of the Crimson Register.
Hearing this name, Wan Ke felt his heart tighten, and he asked, "Are you certain?"
"Confirmed. General Wan, this individual's threat level is exceedingly high. Engaging him in conflict is not recommended; retreating is the optimal course of action."
Wan Ke stared at Chen Chuan. He could already faintly sense that the opponent had likely come specifically for him, and that the intelligence dispatch might have been a ruse.
Yet the Anbei Dao convergence zone occupied an extremely critical geographical position. If it was lost, the northern entryway to Youdu would be blown wide open. Now that he was here, retreating was out of the question.
He said coldly, "From this moment forth, I do not wish to hear the words 'retreat' or 'evade' from you again!"
The aberrant creature fell silent in terror.
Wan Ke opened his palm. Soon, gaseous light resembling white phosphorus rose steadily, coalescing overhead into several colossal spherical clusters of vapor that brightly illuminated the entire area.
At the same time, he urged the hairy sea shrimp beneath him, leaping down from the airship as white vapor billowed beneath its four legs, suspending it in midair.
He raised his long spear high before slowly lowering it, the tip leveling at Chen Chuan in an unmistakable challenge to battle.
Seeing this, Chen Chuan let platinum-gold radiance surface around his body. Borne by churning white vapor, he drifted up from the high knoll.
At that moment, Chaoming let out a shrill cry and suddenly launched itself from his shoulder. Its brilliant plumage shimmered like iridescent twilight mist as its body expanded drastically. Circling in midair, it positioned itself beneath him.
Chen Chuan stepped onto Chaoming's back, planting his feet firmly. The beast flexed its four claws, multicolored vapors and glowing clouds billowing beneath it, surging high into the sky in an instant.
Grasping the Xuejun Saber, the red sash on its hilt fluttering in the wind, he locked gazes with Wan Ke across the empty expanse.
Watching this unfold, Shan Yuchuan issued an urgent command ordering everyone to pull back. He knew full well that a clash of this magnitude was beyond their involvement; even approaching was out of the question.
Meanwhile, on the other battlefield, Hong Ancheng and Zhu Kongqi were locked in fierce combat with Zong Chi.
All three sensed the heavy pressure rolling in from afar almost simultaneously, realizing that higher-tier martial artists had clashed. Yet none could afford to lose focus now, keeping their eyes trained squarely on the opponents before them.
Chen Chuan was in no hurry to strike, instead analyzing his opponent.
Due to the former imperial household's rigid hierarchy and the rarity of circumstances requiring figures like Wan Ke to make public appearances, dossiers concerning him were sparse.
However, Visage of Man martial artists practically did not exist in the former imperial household, and given Wan Ke's physique, he was likely of the Aberrant Visage.
In truth, even facing a Visage of the Divine was merely troublesome at best, whereas an Aberrant Visage was considerably more dangerous, as one could never guess what uncanny aberrant abilities they harbored. An improper response might walk right into their scheme and inadvertently amplify their power.
Yet people like Su Kuo were an anomaly after all, and whatever it was, a single probe would reveal it.
This was a war between two powers, and the sooner it ended, the better. He had no interest in slowly grinding down the opponent. Having formed an assessment, he clenched his five fingers, and platinum-gold brilliance flashed across his knuckles.
Leaning forward, he crossed the vast distance between them in an instant, appearing right in front of Wan Ke.
Then, a punch blasted forward!
It was merely a simple punch, yet it manifested the ultimate speed and power of the Visage of Man to perfection. This had already surpassed the theoretical upper limits of the Cave Mystery View; Wan Ke failed to react before the blow struck him.
With a thunderous boom, a colossal sun seemed to ignite in the sky, illuminating the night of the convergence zone as bright as day.
The onlookers could not help but squeeze their eyes shut. When the light subsided and they opened their eyes, they saw Chen Chuan still holding the posture of a punch thrown forward, platinum-gold radiance glimmering on his knuckles. But before him, empty air was all that remained, save for countless glittering fragments of light drifting toward the earth.
The crowd stood dumbstruck. Had General of Chariots and Cavalry Wan Ke of the former imperial household been slain with a single punch?!
Shan Yuchuan furrowed his brow. He could not discern the particulars, but he sensed that matters had not yet concluded.
Chen Chuan's gaze grew profound and focused. Through that strike just now, he had already verified that what he had hit was no avatar, but Wan Ke's true body.
At most, the man had left behind some aberrant tissue in the rear.
However—
Although that blow had shattered him, Chen Chuan could sense that Wan Ke's presence still lingered. Upon shattering, it seemed to have slipped into some sort of void, fermenting and faintly transmuting into a new aura.
This was undoubtedly the effect of the opponent's aberrant power.
Right in front of him, within that patch of void, a silhouette bearing multiple visages drifted in and out of sight. A moment later, a crazed face suddenly turned to the front and gradually transitioned from illusory to corporeal.
Wan Ke's Aberrant Visage was the ancient god "Formless Demon"—or more accurately, the "Five-Faced Demon."
It was not only the object of his visualization, but also the deity he venerated. A wisp of this ancient demonic god's breath remained within his body, granting him a portion of its power.
The Formless Demon possessed five aspects and five bodies: the Aspect of Wrath, the Aspect of Stillness, the Aspect of Frenzy, the Aspect of Joy, and finally the Aspect of All Manifestations.
Each aspect embodied an extreme temperament, complete with a corresponding independent physical form and fighting style.
Each aspect had strengths and weaknesses. For instance, the Aspect of Joy was erratic, prone to spawning irreverent delusions, and fought in a bizarre, theatrical manner; the Aspect of Wrath saw its strength skyrocket in battle, vastly surpassing normal levels, but its emotions were exceptionally prone to running rampant.
Most formidable of all, each aspect was essentially an independent self. Even if one aspect was destroyed, the others could rotate and take its place.
In other words, only by vanquishing all five aspects could one truly kill him.
This effectively granted him five lives. Under ordinary circumstances, regardless of how powerful an adversary he encountered, by rotating through the five aspects to wage a war of attrition, even if he could not prevail, almost no one could easily slay him.
He usually maintained the Aspect of Stillness. Having been pulverized by that single blow, what emerged immediately after was the Aspect of Frenzy.
Chen Chuan watched in silence. He paid no heed to whatever transformation was taking place. Seeing Wan Ke's body re-manifesting, before the man could even make a move, Chen Chuan blasted another punch straight at him!
Chapter 1389