The moment Emperor Wenguang took notice of Chen Chuan and his companions, Mu Xiaoren was the first to react.
One of his conscious entity avatars suddenly accelerated, surging forward toward Emperor Wenguang's position.
Chen Chuan did not stop him, knowing Mu Xiaoren was using the avatar to probe ahead and blaze a path.
Just then, an ancient deity emerged from the void. It was a wide-sleeved divine being with hollow, pupil-less eye sockets, crowned with a lingzhi cap and ribbons dangling past his cheeks. He turned his head and cast a single glance at the avatar.
With merely that one glance, the vessel spun around to face Chen Chuan's side. In the span of a single encounter, its vital spirit had been wiped away by the opposing entity, and command of its body had been seized.
Yet just as the avatar was about to launch an attack, it spontaneously shattered into countless fragments.
This was because Mu Xiaoren had taken precautions long ago. He had forged this vessel with his own hands, integrating it intimately with his vital spirit; the moment that vital spirit dissipated, the body would collapse into ruin on its own, an irreversible process.
Chen Chuan also recognized the origins of that divine being at this moment. It was "Gu Weijun." According to legend, his eyes had been borrowed by the Heavenly Emperor and placed before his imperial desk to observe the shifts of past and future.
Moved by his offering, the Heavenly Emperor had granted him the power to seize souls and captivate spirits. What he had displayed just now was precisely this esoteric art.
Having completed this probe, Mu Xiaoren transmitted mentally, "Commander, please leave this one to me."
Chen Chuan immediately responded in affirmation while designating two others to step forward in support. Three streaks of light separated from the main contingent, hurtling toward Gu Weijun.
Advancing a little further, the sound of rending mountains rumbled out. A divine being with eyes like copper bells, protruding fangs, and a bare torso of corded, knotty muscle appeared ahead.
This figure was colossal, appearing a thousand zhang tall, standing upright like a towering mountain peak.
At this moment, he braced his arms outward as if prying open the celestial canopy, leaning forward to glare down at the approaching party.
Mingchengzi immediately warned through mental power, "This is Junba, the Great Mountain-Moving Demon, enfeoffed by my Xuan Sect! He possesses the power to shoulder mountains and dam the four seas. This should only be a wisp of an avatar manifested in the mortal realm through incense and sacrificial prayer. If you confront him, remember never to collide with him head-on!"
Chen Chuan knew that all deities entering the mortal world could essentially be viewed as entities akin to the Visage of the Divine. However, after lingering in the physical realm for an extended period, some would acquire physical bodies of their own.
When combating them, one had to discern this clearly. Due to the constraints of the Ring of the World, they could not project too much power here, and some had long since become self-contained entities, so their upper limit remained capped at the Dongxuan View. As long as the group remained cautious, they would be more than enough to handle them.
He promptly assigned three martial artists who had originally defended the southern border. Having dealt extensively with the Chiluojiaduo Confederation, where gods and monstrosities abounded, they were well-versed in handling ancient deities of this sort.
As they pressed forward, the divine beings seemed to share an unspoken tacit understanding, appearing one after another. Each time one was identified, three or four fighters peeled away to engage it.
Chen Chuan instructed them primarily to preserve themselves, not asking them to achieve any decisive victory so long as they could temporarily stall the foes.
Moreover, he could tell that these ancient deities were not exerting their full strength. After all, anyone pressed into service under duress would hardly give their all. Bound merely by promises, they expended a bit of effort, but no more; counting on them to fight to the death was out of the question.
As people continuously peeled away, only Chen Chuan and Mingchengzi were left in the end.
Ahead of them, nothing remained except Emperor Wenguang within the spiraling pillar of light.
Mingchengzi gave his arm a flick, hurling a bead toward Emperor Wenguang.
The object looked minuscule, yet an immense concentration of the fire of spirituality was condensed upon it. It shot like a fiery bolide straight toward the ascending figure.
Before it could reach the silhouette, however, the figure waved a hand. A burst of purple-red radiance flew out and collided with it in midair, instantly erupting into a massive blossom of spiritual fire.
Mingchengzi formed a hand seal, channeling his own fire of spirituality across the void directly into the relic.
This forced Emperor Wenguang to increase his own output of spiritual fire to prevent the object from drawing closer, locking the two into a proxy stalemate.
Chen Chuan understood Mingchengzi's intent. This was meant to create an offensive opening for him, and the maneuver was indeed seasoned and sharp, instantly pinning down a portion of Emperor Wenguang's power and leaving him unable to free his hands.
Chen Chuan seized the opportunity to close the distance at blinding speed. Before he even arrived, the fire of spirituality across his body surged, and a thick beam of platinum light blasted toward Emperor Wenguang.
Seeing this, Emperor Wenguang raised his palm outward. Another spiritual impact surged from his palm to meet it. The opposing forces collided in an instant, but the moment they met, Emperor Wenguang was clearly outmatched. The platinum light pushed back against the opposing momentum, surging upward and slamming directly into his body.
After a massive flash of explosive light, Emperor Wenguang still stood entirely unscathed, with only a ring of golden light hovering around him—the impact had evidently been halted by this radiance.
Chen Chuan had not expected to kill him with a single blow; he had merely used it to clear a path and divide the emperor's power.
In those fleeting seconds, Chen Chuan had already closed the gap. Yet ripples stirred across the void, and scores of blue-headed, red-bodied demons materialized out of thin air. Emitting bursts of bizarre shrieks, they swarmed toward him. Each one that brushed past ripped away a wisp of his fire of spirituality.
At the same time, even more demons surged from all directions, converging around him and gradually burying him like a boundless tide.
With a resounding boom, an enormous spiritual visage shimmering with platinum radiance rose sharply from within. Sweeping outward with the long mace in its grip, it sent the swarming demons flying, obliterating them into countless scattered clusters of light in midair.
Breaching this barrier, Chen Chuan continued to surge forward. The fire of spirituality that had been torn away rushed back into his body in droves, while every demon caught in their wake disintegrated into flying ash in the void.
He was well aware that these things were born from anomalies merging with certain gods and spirits, much like the entities and objects existing within anomalous domains. They were the most troublesome nuisances here; although they could be scattered and extinguished for a time, they would likely re-emerge before long.
Yet even a fleeting window was more than enough.
His eyes flashed. In an instant, his Visage of Man merged into one with his physical body, doubling his power and speed in a heartbeat. Across the void, a pillar of platinum brilliance pierced straight through the firmament, hurtling directly toward Emperor Wenguang, who was rising gently while stepping upon mist and silhouetted against a luminous nimbus.
Emperor Wenguang was still maintaining his deadlock against Mingchengzi. Even if those demons had failed to stop Chen Chuan, they had bought enough time for the emperor to prepare.
An eye manifested at the center of his forehead, flickering with light.
Chen Chuan felt a tremendous surge of mental power crash into his being. That ethereal, drifting sensation seemed bent on thrusting his spirit straight out of his physical form.
This was "Sheshizhan," an esoteric art from the Chan Sect. It was exceptionally difficult to cultivate, yet if successful, it could instantly dislodge an opponent's spirit from their flesh for a brief instant.
In a duel between experts, that instant was nearly always decisive.
Chen Chuan's gaze grew steely and resolute. Facing this mental esoteric art, he neither deployed a relic nor attempted to evade. Charging straight through, he endured the brunt of the assault purely through his rock-solid foundation.
The radiance of that esoteric art merely stirred a ripple like a gentle breeze around his body, producing no effect whatsoever. Instead, squandering this offensive opening allowed Chen Chuan to close right into Emperor Wenguang's immediate reach.
Seeing this, Emperor Wenguang's expression finally shifted. His frame swelled rapidly as two additional arms sprouted from his back. Simultaneously, a colossal spiritual visage over a hundred meters tall manifested behind him, likewise bearing four arms: the upper pair wielded a long hook and a short spear, while the lower pair each grasped a gigantic war hammer.
Chen Chuan fixed his gaze upon him. Was that guardian vessel the Visage of Man?
He had suspected as much. Although Emperor Wenguang sought to become an immortal, his attitude toward ancient deities made it clear that he placed no real trust in gods or immortals.
Any visualization of the Visage of the Aberrant inherently entangled oneself with immortals, gods, or the Xuan Sect, leaving one vulnerable to their schemes. The Visage of Man, by contrast, carried no such worry.
Yet the emperor's true foundation was the Visage of the Divine. Even if he understood how to employ the Visage of Man, he could never hope to rival Chen Chuan at close quarters.
In the span of a single thought, Chen Chuan gripped the Xuejun Saber with both hands, kicking up a tempest of platinum blade light as he swept a ferocious slash upward toward Emperor Wenguang!
Emperor Wenguang had no room to dodge. The spiritual visage behind him moved to interpose itself, yet Chen Chuan's speed was simply too blinding. What was more, he accelerated once again after closing in, causing the spiritual visage to miss its window to parry. In the end, Emperor Wenguang could only hastily raise his longsword to block.
As Chen Chuan's blade struck, the light seemed to cleave open the void. The momentum built along his entire charge, combined with the full measure of his own strength, discharged completely into his foe.
The instant the blades met, Emperor Wenguang's stance broke apart. His longsword went spinning away, and his upper torso was directly blown into a shower of drifting flesh and blood by the overwhelming force.
Yet no sooner had this gruesome scene unfolded than Emperor Wenguang was restored whole in the very next instant, appearing entirely unharmed, with even the longsword returned to his hand.
Chen Chuan's eyes narrowed. He had sensed no trace of esoteric arts or aberrant tissue at work, meaning this was almost certainly the effect of some relic.
It seemed this object could erase an outcome that had already occurred at a specific moment. Whether it required some heavy price remained unknown, but a relic with so potent an effect could never be triggered consecutively.
In truth, Chen Chuan had prepared himself for such contingencies. As an emperor, the man was bound to possess numerous protective treasures upon his person.
Having achieved his objective of closing in, striking the man once meant he could strike him a second, a third, or as many times as necessary. He would see just how many protective items the emperor possessed.
Still holding the initiative, Chen Chuan snapped his wrists, drawing the blade from his downward slash diagonally upward in a fierce backswing.
Emperor Wenguang had no time to recover his guard, and this time, the relic truly failed to activate. Propelled by Chen Chuan's sheer speed and staggering power, the Xuejun Saber cleanly sheared off the arm holding the sword, sending it tumbling through the air!
Chapter 1437