Chen Chuan swept his gaze over the front. The firelight produced by the airship's explosion was exceptionally brilliant against the night sky, like a massive plume of rising fireworks, followed by countless fragments showering outward with sparks as they tumbled toward the ground.
Shifting his gaze, he turned toward Yuan Congye. Currently, only this single person remained before him.
Once this man was stripped of the shield that absorbed and divided his damage, taking him down would be a matter of a single strike.
Had the simulacrum not been constrained by a time limit, and had Yuan Congye not possessed a special power capable of withstanding attacks, he would have swept him away along with the rest just now.
If there was any flaw in that recent assault, it was that the simulacrum avatar lacked the ability to release Mystic Void Fire. Consequently, those two had not perished instantly on the spot. But even if they returned, it would be pointless; this window was more than enough for him to settle everything.
All tactical objectives currently displayed by the Former Imperial House revolved around Yuan Congye. As long as this person was dealt with, there would at least be little need to worry about the frontline battlefield.
Just then, Mu Xiaoren's thought registered in his mind from behind:
"Officer Chen, when those two had their bodies pulverized just now, I originally intended to use a secret technique to seize their consciousness and trigger an anomaly, but I was blocked halfway through. I failed to break through the obstruction."
Chen Chuan hummed in acknowledgment. This was hardly surprising. Among the enemy arrivals, the remaining few were likely all practitioners of the Visage of the Divine. They had not participated in the battle from the start and had still not shown themselves, presumably harboring some objective.
Seeing that their side's situation on the field was about to collapse, they were probably forced to intervene and block him.
Yet it held little significance, for Yuepinlong had been eliminated by him.
That creature's regenerative power was indeed formidable; even if only a single piece remained, it could rapidly recover, which was the very reason Tie Rugan and the others could continuously divert damage onto it. But just now, the simulacrum had wiped it out in a single breath, leaving not even dregs behind.
Such variant species were nothing like Dongxuan View martial artists. Though possessing certain special traits, their abilities were exceedingly crude, lacking the meticulously honed techniques, multiple-times-metamorphosed aberrant tissue, and spiritual force of a martial artist. Once destroyed in their entirety, it was absolute finality.
Yuan Congye looked at Chen Chuan at this moment. He had lost the coordination of two people. Though he knew neither was dead, recovery would take time, and during that interval, it was fundamentally impossible for him alone to accomplish their previous objective.
Yet retreat was no longer an option. With matters having reached this point, he had to bring forth his full strength to contend with Chen Chuan.
Seeing that Yuan Congye did not advance, Chen Chuan had no choice but to take the initiative and strike.
This was also necessary, for if he did not act, Yuan Congye would surely want to drag things out.
At this stage, there was no longer any need to hold back. He immediately activated the third relic, the one given to him by the Purist Faction.
The function of this relic was extraordinarily simple: for just over a minute, he would be immune to any direct effects from external special powers, relics, or even ritual fields.
This item was far superior to the copper button Fan Zhentong had given him; it was the relic best suited for a practitioner of the Visage of Man. With it, he only needed to focus on charging and slaughtering to his heart's content, without having to worry about anything else.
Almost the instant the relic released him from all external restraints, he appeared right in front of Yuan Congye.
However, Yuan Congye was clearly on guard. The instant Chen Chuan's aura shifted, Yuan Congye's figure vanished from Chen Chuan's line of sight.
From the rear, the variant beast Zhuanlinghong took effect once again. In a prepared state, it finally generated a field in time to sequester Yuan Congye away, thereby stalling for a bit more time.
Chen Chuan's expression remained unchanged. To someone like him who had mastered Flying Dragon Fist Jin, such separation amounted to nothing at all.
Sensing the location where that sliver of field had vanished, his momentum unabated, he forcefully smashed through the barrier between the fields and burst through to the other side. With his arrival, that sequestered field churned violently, looking as though it would disintegrate in the very next moment.
Though Yuan Congye had been isolated just now, he had not considered himself safe. He did not believe such a measure could hold Chen Chuan back.
Furthermore, Chen Chuan's speed was simply too terrifying. Once Chen Chuan appeared before him, there would be no time to react at all; defeat would come within a single move.
Once his body ruptured, if the opponent unleashed Mystic Void Fire at close range, defeat would be absolute and inescapable.
Therefore, while retreating earlier, he had leveraged the field once more to transform into over a dozen phantom silhouettes, fleeing in all directions.
His goal was solely to stall for a moment to buy himself the time needed to unleash his full power.
Sure enough, the moment he accomplished this, he sensed the field ahead shatter, and that formidable, awe-inspiring figure charged in, carrying a blazing, dazzling platinum radiance.
Then, a burst of clear light radiated outward, and those fleeing avatars popped and dissipated like bubbles one after another, leaving only his true self behind.
He knew the opponent had pinpointed him, but fortunately, at that very instant, a dark shadow slipped beneath him and bore him aloft.
His mind instantly steadied, and simultaneously, the space between his brows flickered as he displayed his Visage of the Aberrant.
Massive amounts of black smoke billowed across his entire body. This ink-like blackness was even denser than the night of the Confluence, its swift outward expansion plainly visible.
What he visualized was the Great Xuantian Demon God. Although bearing the title of Demon God, in reality, this entity did not normally commit evil; it was merely an ancient god exceptionally adept at battle and never weary of it.
This was his confidence in facing Chen Chuan. Once this visage emerged, his combat power multiplied, accompanied by astonishing regenerative abilities; moreover, as long as he could not be killed in a single breath, he would grow stronger the longer he fought.
Yet visualizing such an entity was not something just anyone could achieve. First, one had to achieve affinity with the Demon God, followed by having sufficient natural endowment; otherwise, should visualization fail, the consequence was far worse than simply halting one's progress—it meant instant death on the spot, with one's mind absorbed by the Demon God.
Even more crucially, the Great Xuantian Demon God was an ancient god that still existed to this day. Thus, when visualizing it, one also required its regard and permission. Yuan Congye possessed a certain possibility of channeling this god's divine might.
In an instant, the phantom manifestation of a demon god emerged amidst the boundless black smoke. It stood a full hundred meters tall, eight arms unfurling behind it, each wielding a weapon. Aside from the two eyes beneath its brows, three more eyes were arranged horizontally across its forehead, all gleaming with ferocious, baleful light.
It was clad in heavy black armor, with wisps of crimson twilight drifting around its form like flowing ribbons.
At the same time, a serpentine jiao with a single horn on its head and six wings flanking its ribs appeared beneath him.
This was the mount for this expedition, the "Feilangjiao." This beast was swift as lightning, and he believed that in terms of speed, it could contest Chen Chuan on equal footing.
Once his Visage of the Aberrant manifested, Yuan Congye completely shed his prior cautious and cool-headed demeanor, radiating a tyrannical, savage aura. Gripping the spear in his hands with both arms, boundless battle intent surged from the depths of his heart.
Seeing this, Chen Chuan's expression remained unmoved, a sharp gleam faintly showing in his eyes. Without a pause in his movement, he slashed upward at the man with his blade.
Reasonably speaking, this strike should not have been able to inflict damage on the opponent, yet at this moment, Mystic Void Fire flickered atop the scabbard.
Yuan Congye's five eyes narrowed in unison. An ordinary slash was indeed something he no longer feared, but he could never afford to ignore the Mystic Void Fire burning upon it.
He immediately steered the Feilangjiao to evade. At the same time, his figure began to shrink.
Although immense size could grant greater strength and defense, before absolute speed and destructive force, it was fundamentally useless.
The Feilangjiao indeed flitted like lightning, yet he still underestimated Chen Chuan's speed. Almost the very moment he pulled away to evade, Chen Chuan had already closed in before him. With a resounding boom, as the blade descended, a massive plume of Mystic Void Fire detonated directly upon his body.
Everything touched by the flame began to burn furiously. Mentally and emotionally, Yuan Congye seemed to have completely metamorphosed into the Great Xuantian Demon God. Letting out a colossal roar, billowing black mist peeled away from his body, carrying away the Mystic Void Fire that had already caught ablaze.
Simultaneously, several arms behind him swung weapons downward while others clawed down toward Chen Chuan.
Even as his form continuously shrank, he was still several times larger than Chen Chuan at this moment, making this action immensely oppressive to behold.
Chen Chuan's gaze was calm and profound. All these movements might have seemed swift enough from the opponent's perspective, but in his eyes, they were still terribly slow.
Before the opponent's arms could even descend, Chen Chuan's figure surged upward in a flash, slamming his shoulder heavily into him.
With a thunderous crash, massive plumes of black smoke and spiritual light-fire erupted outside the demon god's form, yet the presence of the "Vajra Body" special power allowed it to withstand Chen Chuan's strike.
Chen Chuan had anticipated this, and his movements did not halt in the least. The moment the special power activated, ignoring the opponent's follow-up motions, he leaped upward with soaring momentum and drove his knee directly into the demon god's jaw.
The full force of this strike was absorbed squarely by the opponent, and the demon god's entire head shattered instantaneously, bursting into black flares and vapor.
Chen Chuan knew that this alone was not enough to destroy it. Even with an ordinary external visage, localized destruction would not compromise the overall situation, let alone for such a demon god; in the next moment, it would undoubtedly regenerate.
However, this step was an indispensable link in achieving his ultimate goal.
Almost simultaneously with his assault, an immense phantom silhouette emerged behind him. Its pair of hands reached down from midair, forcefully parting the perimeter's fire of spirituality through sheer brute force and firmly seizing the demon god's shoulders.
At that exact moment, an endless stream of jin accompanied by wisps of purple qi penetrated into its body.
When Chen Chuan tested him earlier with a spiritual impact, he had discovered that so long as an attack did not disengage from the opponent's body, it meant the technique had not concluded, and the opponent's special power would not take effect.
In this strike, not only did he employ the techniques of seizing jin, but he also utilized his purple qi aberrant tissue, which permeated inward alongside the jin.
While this would not inflict direct damage upon the opponent, the rapid expansion of the purple qi was certain to prompt the aberrant tissue inside the opponent's body to actively reject it, thereby pinning him down.
Beyond the internal penetration, a force field radiated outward externally, binding it securely in place.
He knew he could not give this demon god any chance to wage a prolonged battle. The longer things dragged on, the more advantageous it would be for the opponent; thus, he had to slay it with the utmost speed.
Thus, at the very same moment, the phantom silhouette behind him grew increasingly distinct. A radiant halo of Mystic Void Fire could be seen manifesting high above, followed by a deluge of Mystic Void Fire cascading down from on high!
Chapter 1407