After finishing off Yuan Congye, Chen Chuan glanced up at the night sky. The surroundings had turned entirely vacant, as if every last adversary had been eliminated.
Yet he knew it was not that simple; the remaining foes were bound to be concocting something.
Crucially, evidence lay in the fact that both the relic restricting his speed and the initial relic interfering with his sensory probing continued to function.
Especially the latter: the other side was striving to conceal something. Perhaps they believed that even if they lost all the fighters currently on the field, whatever was being kept hidden still possessed the potential to overturn the situation.
Then the next natural step was to find a way to ferret them out one by one.
He did have a clue. When he unleashed the Mystic Void Fire just now, a peculiar circumstance had arisen: as the flames burst forth, they had first struck some obstruction before descending onto Yuan Congye.
In high-speed combat, such an obstruction could have cost him countless vital opportunities.
Furthermore, alongside that obstruction, the airspace had appeared as though torn open with holes.
Undoubtedly, the field presently cloaking the perimeter stemmed from a mutated creature—one whose form might even be so vastly diffused as to permeate the entire airspace, which was why the Mystic Void Fire had caught upon it the instant it was cast out.
This had to be that "Zhuanlinghong."
Even if this entity was ubiquitous, it had to possess a primary core; otherwise, it would have no means of coordinating with its master or obeying orders.
How was he to locate it?
Just moments ago, Mu Xiaoren had demonstrated a method: as long as a sufficient sacrifice was offered, one could leverage anomalies to pinpoint its location.
Yet Chen Chuan saw no need for such complications, for he had obtained information from the active conscious entity within his external implant.
Of the three aberrant breeds deployed this time, Yuelong possessed no notable traits beyond immense vitality, rough hide, and thick flesh. Little specific was known about Wushengchong, as the database held no record of it.
However, Zhuanlinghong was recorded as the descendant of a certain god, with an extraordinarily high probability of yielding "precious material." As for whether that material would be of any use, he would only know once it was captured.
With that, he immediately focused his thoughts onto the relic gifted to him by Meteora.
The function of this relic was that whenever something he needed or something beneficial to him appeared nearby, it would emit intense heat and bright light as an alert—the closer he drew, the more pronounced the heat and radiance became.
Right now, he had a need.
The moment his intent settled upon it, he instantly felt a response. Adjusting his heading, he hurtled toward the point of strongest reaction and swiftly reached the site.
Sensing the field below, the phantom manifestation behind him surfaced. Two massive hands reached out and forcefully ripped the field apart.
Before his eyes appeared a colorful creature resembling a butterfly.
It seemed formed of interwoven beams of multicolored iridescent mist, shimmering with dazzling spots from head to toe. Spiral voids were visible throughout it, and upon closer inspection, it looked as if pockets of airspace were continuously generated from within them.
As long as he destroyed this creature, all the personnel of the Former Imperial House veiled by it would be exposed.
He raised his hand and aimed a fingertip forward.
Right at that moment, he felt a sudden intuition and looked to one side, catching sight of a shimmer of flashing radiance.
Thereupon, Tie Rugan and Yuan Zhao emerged into view. Both had unleashed their Visage of the Aberrant, their forms surging with vigorous fire of spirituality. Beneath each was an aberrant mount: one rode an Iron-maned Horse, the other an Eight-Wind Camel—both aberrant breeds cultivated by the Former Imperial House, cutting an imposing figure.
Through all his clashes with the Former Imperial House, martial artists of the Visage of the Aberrant were undoubtedly the ones Chen Chuan had encountered the most. When displayed to the outside world, these aberrant visages truly resembled celestial gods and immortals of the Grand Court.
The moment he spotted the pair, their nerves grew taut as bowstrings.
Chen Chuan had no intention of stepping forward to clash with them. Standing motionless, his aura surged, and the simulacrum visage once more coalesced at his side, rapidly imbuing itself with his power.
This would be the third and final use of this relic within the hour; it remained to be seen whether these two could withstand it.
With a flicker of his intent, the simulacrum visage burst toward the pair in an instant.
Chen Chuan turned back to face forward, a spark of radiance glinting upon his fingertip.
The next moment, as a fierce spiritual impact blasted forward, the aberrant creature dwelling there exploded amidst the brilliance. Yet after a short while, once the radiance fully cleared, the entity reappeared right where it had been, as if whatever had just been destroyed were not it at all.
Chen Chuan raised an eyebrow. It seemed the database had spoken truly: this creature was indeed connected to upper-stratum power. Conventional attacks clearly had no effect on it.
In that case, only the Mystic Void Fire would do.
Upon the phantom figure behind him, a halo of light revolved into existence. Drifting flakes of mystic void flames fluttered outward and descended upon the creature.
Meanwhile, the simulacrum visage charged Tie Rugan and Yuan Zhao.
Although both maintained their external visages, in Chen Chuan's eyes there was virtually no difference from before.
If there was any slight distinction, it was that as they displayed their external visages, the active conscious entity within his external implant swiftly deduced the exact aberrant visages they visualized based on their appearance combined with their earlier performance.
This only worked to the simulacrum visage's advantage.
Having received Yuan Zhao's assistance, Tie Rugan's strength had surged considerably. He focused all his senses on the direction from which the simulacrum visage approached. Though this boost was fleeting, if handled adeptly, it was not impossible to shatter this simulated form.
The initial strike was of paramount importance. His aberrant power, "Mountain and River Breaker," could halt an encroaching foe with a single blow.
As a general of punishments, so long as the "Phoenix-Feather Dark General" caused an opponent's momentum to stall for even a breath, his other aberrant power, "River and Mountain Bind," could ensnare them, leaving them entirely at his mercy.
When the simulacrum visage reached him and drove a fist forward, Tie Rugan let out a silent roar, swinging his broadaxe downward right at the oncoming silhouette.
Yet before his axe could fall, a spiritual impact erupted from the opposing figure, striking Tie Rugan's torso first and piercing straight through him in an instant.
Before he could even process the shock, the simulacrum visage had already charged clean through his breached chest, disintegrating his entire body in the process.
Yuan Zhao had been positioned behind Tie Rugan, ready to provide reinforcement at any moment, only to see Tie Rugan's form burst into pieces. Shock seized his heart.
Instinctively, he hoisted the giant hammers on either side to block ahead, but before he could complete the motion, the simulacrum visage had already arrived before him. A single fist smashed his head to smithereens, and the spiritual flames trailing in its wake swept over him, pulverizing his entire body into mush.
Witnessing this, Chen Chuan hooked his finger and flicked. Several streaks of Mystic Void Fire shot forth, landing directly on the mangled flesh and blood of both men and quickly bursting into flames.
Meanwhile, Chu Xianyun was dogged by Jiang Linghuai. Though he employed secret arts multiple times, he could not shake him off.
Seeing that the deadline agreed upon with Mizhu-zi was drawing near, he wheeled around one more time before darting back toward his starting point.
Before re-entering, a faint ritual field flickered over his form, cloaking his body and allowing him to smoothly break free of Mu Xiaoren's sensory tracking.
When he returned to the airship and checked the time, exactly twenty breaths had elapsed—not a fraction more, not a fraction less. He could not tell whether Mizhu-zi had truly calculated this in advance.
Still, the man's display lent him some confidence.
At that moment, he glanced into the distant sky and frowned. "Is that the Zhuanlinghong?"
Mizhu-zi said, "It matters not. Let them be. In the end, that creature is within the furnace as well."
Chu Xianyun fell silent.
After a moment, he said, "Since all have failed, then it falls to me."
He looked toward Mizhu-zi. "The High Adept has always honored his vows. I ask only that you assist in fulfilling this esoteric ritual."
Mizhu-zi nodded. "Naturally. To manipulate such an esoteric ritual is something I could not ask for more."
Just as he spoke, two crisp cracking sounds rang out. Both men turned to look, only to see two more of the jade tablets resting upon the altar shatter.
Now, only a single tablet remained suspended there.
Gazing upon the jade tablet bearing his own name, Chu Xianyun spoke with solemn resolve: "Now that they have perished, it is Chu's turn. High Adept Mizhu, if success is achieved, remember to inform me at the sacrificial cremation."
Mizhu-zi replied, "Entrusted with a task, I shall remain faithful to it. I will naturally dedicate every ounce of my effort."
Chu Xianyun clasped his hands in a formal bow, turned, leapt into the air, and flew down toward the underbelly of the airship.
Before long, he arrived inside a secret compartment.
Resting here was the final aberrant breed: the "Wushengchong."
Although the imperial court had dispatched a cadre of generals to recapture Xianglan Pass this time, the leadership had harbored little true confidence.
Especially after learning that Chen Chuan was the one holding the pass, internal voices had grown thoroughly despondent. Many had advocated abandoning the attempt entirely and holing up to defend Youdu to the death; some had even hoped to cede territory in exchange for Great Shun withdrawing its troops.
Yet not all among the upper echelons of the imperial court were incompetent fools. In the end, they had resolved to send forces to retake the pass, and to guarantee victory, they had covertly ordered the activation of a curse ritual that demanded an immense price.
Since its inception, this ritual had never once failed.
Yet the ritual itself was exceedingly heinous. Fearing that the civil officials, military officers, and imperial clan would become estranged from the imperial house were they to learn of it, only he, Mizhu-zi, and Yuan Congye were privy to the truth this time.
He was the one to initiate the ritual, while Mizhu-zi was the one to guarantee its execution.
As for the ritual's sacrifices, they were none other than all the Former Imperial House generals and aberrant breeds participating in this campaign—which, of course, included himself.
Naturally, slaying Chen Chuan without resorting to the ritual would have been the most desired outcome. But if that proved impossible, Chen Chuan had to be eliminated here at all costs, lest he threaten Youdu in the days to come.
Now that all the generals on the field had perished, the hour had arrived for him to activate the ritual.
Chapter 1410