A pillar of light crashed down, instantly erupting into an intensely fierce brilliance just north of Youdu's center. Amidst the deafening roar of the explosion, a colossal, churning cloud surged into the sky.
With nearly all the ritual arrays pinned down by attacks from below, the greater part of this strike's power fell directly upon the primary ritual nexus, inflicting fundamental destruction.
Under the violent impact of this immense power, the ritual fields had no time to layer together in defense. In an instant, the rapidly expanding shockwave forced them open and tore them apart, causing layer after layer to collapse swiftly outward from the epicenter.
Thanks to the play of light and dust, the entire process of devastation was visible to the naked eye.
When the spiritual impact struck, Yuchi Bin had not been at the very center, yet he was still caught in the blast wave, hurled violently through the air.
Had the surviving esoteric rituals not shielded him, more than half his body would have been reduced to ashes the moment the shockwave hit.
Now he shook his head and pushed himself halfway up, his heart pounding in utter shock.
In all his long life, he had never witnessed a spiritual impact of such ferocious power. For a fleeting instant, it had felt as though the Old Continent's sun itself had plummeted into Youdu.
He opened his eyes to see nothing but a blinding expanse of white. A moment later, the surrounding atmosphere rushed inward to fill the void, creating violent vortexes of air.
Spiritual fire flared across his body. Seizing his long axe, he brought it down against the ground with a loud clang, and his colossal frame rose to its feet once more.
Looking around, the spot where he had stood was once among the highest elevations in Youdu, yet it had now been almost entirely leveled.
Where the esoteric rituals had been most densely concentrated, an enormous crater now yawned. Everything there had vanished.
He stared silently at the void. Then, as if sensing something, he looked up into the sky to find that the thick fog hanging overhead for over a century had finally dispersed, allowing unobstructed light to stream down from above.
Amidst the rising dust and lingering brilliance drifted a figure shimmering with white-gold radiance. A grave look crossed Yuchi Bin's face, and his grip tightened around his long axe.
At this moment, the dispersal of the dense fog above Youdu struck the city's soldiers and civilians with unprecedented force.
Ever since Great Shun launched its offensive and inflicted steady destruction upon the capital, the entire population had fallen into panic, which had now curdled into extreme terror and despair.
In this instant, the vast majority of soldiers and ritualists in the capital abandoned all thought of continuing the fight. Many stationed at crucial posts were either paralyzed with shock or scattered in panic. Only a handful grimly clung to their stations, and even their mental state was visibly fraying.
For days, everyone in the city had endured crushing pressure, their nerves stretched taut. Now, that string had finally snapped.
Great Shun had estimated that it might take ten days to half a month to properly dismantle the rituals and take the city—a timeframe they considered somewhat protracted.
Yet from the perspective of Youdu's soldiers and civilians, the reality was entirely different. The moment Great Shun's army arrived at their walls, most had already wanted to surrender.
It was only through the firm governance of the Grand Secretaries and the prestige Great General Yuchi Bin had cultivated over more than a century that order and resistance within the city had been forcibly maintained.
Now, whatever resolve had been barely held together collapsed alongside the vanishing fog.
Seated within a pavilion behind the defenses, Grand Secretary Shi watched the light streaming from above. As the distant artillery fire grew clearer, showers of dust shook down from overhead.
He said, "The city's fall is imminent. Gentlemen, you may see to yourselves."
Grand Secretary Fang replied, "Having received the nation's grace, I cannot bear to leave."
The other two Grand Secretaries looked at each other, stood up, and offered a bow. Neither Shi nor Fang showed any sign of blame, returning the bow in kind before the two departed in silence.
The remaining two kept their seats, unmoving. Grand Secretary Fang lifted his teacup and uncovered the lid. Just as he was about to take a sip, a pinch of dust drifted down from above, dispersing across the water. Pausing slightly, he drank it down in one gulp regardless.
He replaced the lid, set down the cup, and asked, "I wonder how things are faring with Grand Secretary Hong?"
Grand Secretary Shi said, "I fear Grand Secretary Hong has yet to behold the heavenly countenance."
He then shook his head. "Even if he does, what of it? Our Emperor sees only himself, never his empire. He levies the entire realm to serve one man. However brilliant his schemes may be, they serve only his own salvation, not that of the world."
Grand Secretary Fang sighed. "We have all received imperial favor for generations. Today, we perish alongside the nation. In this, we have at least done right by the House of Yuan."
High above Youdu, Chen Chuan looked down through the swirling dust and luminous haze.
Now he could sense with greater clarity that four Dongxuan View martial artists remained in the city, scattered in different directions.
A large swath toward the south of the city was still cloaked in thin mist, shielding it from view. That was likely Anye Palace, where Emperor Wenguang resided.
Aside from that place, these four Dongxuan View martial artists were likely the last overt forces at the former imperial household's disposal.
Chen Chuan brought out another reconnaissance relic sent from the rear and tossed it upward. Instantly, four beams of light split off toward the targets, and within moments, information regarding all four entered his mind.
From this, he confirmed that the figure staring up at him below, who possessed an immense Aberrant Visage, was none other than the former dynasty's Great General, Yuchi Bin.
Yet barely had he gathered a fraction of the information when intense interference swept in, preventing him from probing any deeper.
Still, what he had just obtained was more than enough.
With a slight flicker in his eyes, Chen Chuan transmitted the information into the minds of everyone present. Then he said, "Leave this place to me. The rest of you, go deal with the other three."
The others immediately dispersed, surging toward their targets.
Chen Chuan turned his gaze back to Yuchi Bin. For a veteran general like this, he would offer the baseline of respect.
Below, Yuchi Bin stared upward with utter solemnity. He chose not to take to the air, sensing that doing so would only expose more openings.
In his more than three hundred years of military service, Chen Chuan was the strongest and most terrifying opponent he had ever encountered outside of higher-echelon forces.
Never had he imagined that a Dongxuan View martial artist could be formidable to such a degree—so much so that before even crossing blows, he had already lost all confidence in victory.
What was even more chilling was his sense that the strength he perceived was likely not yet the true pinnacle this opponent could reach.
All he could do was counter each move as it came.
Chen Chuan remained suspended in the air. Behind him, a colossal spiritual visage materialized and extended a hand toward the ground. With that gesture, a resplendent spiritual impact surged toward Yuchi Bin.
Opening an assault with a spiritual impact was the most expedient tactic; it quickly revealed an opponent's reaction speed and defensive methods, and more importantly, tested whether they possessed aberrant powers that reacted spontaneously.
Yet given Chen Chuan's peerlessly formidable foundation, even a probing strike carried extraordinary might—hardly something an ordinary adversary could hope to withstand.
Yuchi Bin abruptly raised his axe. With a thunderous boom, he unleashed a spiritual impact of his own, colliding directly with the beam of light descending from the sky.
In truth, before Chen Chuan even unleashed the strike, Yuchi Bin's rich combat experience had allowed him to anticipate the likely form of attack from Chen Chuan's posture and the movements of his spiritual visage, preempting it with a swift counter.
He had been forced to act this way. By his reckoning, given Chen Chuan's execution speed, waiting to react until after seeing the strike would leave him too late.
Even if his prediction proved wrong, it would force Chen Chuan to dodge or defend, allowing Yuchi Bin to retain the initiative.
Yet what he had not expected was that his own spiritual impact was pushed back almost instantly.
Alarm written across his face, he frantically marshaled the spiritual fire on his body forward. Even so, it merely prevented the impact from striking him immediately; his entire frame was forced backward by the relentless power bearing down from above.
In the thick of this struggle, his eyes widened in fury. The extreme strain seemed to trigger a change within his body, and a second head suddenly sprouted from his left shoulder.
The true transformation went far beyond merely gaining another head. The external visage he visualized was the Six Spirits Divine Overseer—six spirits representing three powers and three heads. Each time a new head grew upon his body, his strength doubled from its original baseline.
However, the manifestation of these heads was not something he could willingly control; it had to be stimulated gradually in battle.
Had there been a choice, he would have preferred not to rely on it, for it carried a distinct drawback—especially when facing an opponent like Chen Chuan.
Yet the situation gave him no leeway to pause. Under the crushing weight of absolute power, he was left with no alternatives.
With his strength surging abruptly, he barely managed to hold off the spiritual impact and even began trying to blast it apart. Yet before he could do so, another spiritual impact crashed down, stacking atop the previous force.
This blow instantly crushed the advantage he had just gained. Under the renewed pressure, a third head rapidly grew from his other shoulder.
With three heads now manifest, he wielded triple his original strength. Yet in his heart, he knew this was also the most perilous moment. He could no longer afford to remain in place; he had to capitalize on this advantage.
With a furious roar, he twisted his long axe, utilizing a previously concealed property of the weapon to forcibly deflect the spiritual impact aside.
Pushing off with both feet, he leaped straight from the ground, hurtling through the air toward Chen Chuan.
He possessed an aberrant power capable of suppressing and binding any enemy that entered a certain range around him. Paired with the relic bestowed upon him by the late emperor, even an opponent armed with relics of their own might not be able to withstand it.
All he cared about now was closing the distance to Chen Chuan. So long as he reached point-blank range, there remained a chance to turn the tide of this battle!
Chapter 1432