The effect of the technique Pilingzi had deployed this time was that, for a certain period, if an opponent directed two or more methods against him, only one would take effect upon him.
Thus, he had persistently resisted the Two Great Forms, ensuring that no matter what attacks Chen Chuan followed up with, they would have no effect on him.
However, making this secret technique take effect was far from easy. The prerequisite was that the Spirit Accord Technique had to have succeeded at least once, and an esoteric guardian ritual had to have been established in advance on the perimeter to ensure he faced only a single opponent; otherwise, it was exceptionally vulnerable to interference.
It could be said that it could only be used under specific preconditions and in a specific environment.
Yet the secret arts of his Duanchen Sect were virtually all like this, requiring thorough advance preparation to exert their miraculous effects. Sometimes, they were interlocked link by link, with the preceding move paving the way for the next.
Moreover, he considered his timing in releasing this technique to have been quite apt. The duration of the simulacrum was certainly limited, and ordinarily, once an assault began, it would not halt. Yet Chen Chuan had unexpectedly stopped; what was more, he had even withdrawn the Two Great Forms.
This action was equivalent to directly unraveling his secret technique. Now that the simulacrum charged forward again in an isolated assault, he could no longer turn a blind eye to it as he had just done.
Still, Chen Chuan’s brief pause had at least granted him a momentary buffer. Even though it was merely a simulacrum, its speed was simply too fast; had his Visage of the Divine not moved at the very inception of thought, his reactions would never have kept pace with the tempo of the opposing offensive.
At this moment, a disc of bright light appeared behind him, bearing a figure identical to himself. The simulacrum blasted a fist forward, but only the rear figure shattered, while Pilingzi himself remained completely unscathed.
Seeing this, Chen Chuan's gaze shifted slightly. *Is this Lord Anshi's "Mirrored Moon Across the Emptiness" technique?*
Yet he immediately caught the difference. This technique was similar in form but lacked the true spirit—at most, it was merely an imitation. Furthermore, whenever Lord Anshi unleashed it, mirror reflections filled the entire sky, unlike what was before him, which could withstand only a few punches at most.
His judgment was spot-on. Lord Anshi’s secret art required his harbored presence to be executed. Pilingzi's "Form in the Mirror" was merely an imitation at best, and it required a strand of a curious relic prepared beforehand to be cast. Every attack depleted a portion of it; once exhausted, the technique could no longer be maintained.
After several punches from the simulacrum, the figure in the mirror reappeared and shattered repeatedly, quickly verging on dispersion.
Chen Chuan gazed intently at the battle ahead. For the most part, Pilingzi remained on the defensive, his attacks posing almost no threat. The man ought to know that he could never win by relying solely on this, and that a single slip-up could spell defeat.
Tactically speaking, this was quite unwise—unless he had some way to turn the tables. Was it the ritual? Or some other means?
For now, he could not guess, though it was highly likely connected to this ritual. Nevertheless, regardless of what the man planned to do, so long as he defeated him in the shortest time and with the fewest moves, none of it would be an issue.
And after the preceding attacks and probing, he had gained a solid grasp of the situation here.
In particular, when the Two Great Forms expanded outward, even touching the domain's outer limits had not provoked the ritual space into singling them out. Thus, the restrictions placed upon both sides were merely the few observed at the very beginning; so long as he did not trigger those, there was no impediment.
The other party's secret arts were almost all cast using the ritual domain and certain artifacts, appearing extraordinary and peculiar, seemingly impervious to brute force alone. Yet in Chen Chuan's eyes, that was merely because the force applied was not great enough.
His eyes fixed deeply ahead. With a shift of his will, strands of purple qi began churning rapidly within his body. An invisible aura radiated outward from him, causing the surrounding atmosphere to tremble faintly.
Meanwhile, Pilingzi was calculating in silence. He had prepared a total of nine countermeasures for this encounter and had already used six in succession. So long as he held out through the remaining three, the Technique of Nine Thrusts would activate, and he would win this wagered battle.
Just then, the curious relic was exhausted, and the Form in the Mirror technique finally collapsed, vanishing completely.
Bracing his spirit, he prepared himself to receive the next strike. Forming a hand seal, he twisted his body to the left; as he turned, another figure emerged beneath his feet, pivoting toward the right.
This was called the "Mirror of True Form." It projected a strand of divine qi into the ritual, while the body outside was like a reflection in a lake; no matter how the enemy attacked, as long as the true form within the ritual did not scatter, the residual reflection would come to no harm.
Although this technique could endure for only a single breath at most, he estimated that Chen Chuan’s simulacrum, imbued with such potent strength, certainly could not last for very long either. By then, it should be nearing its end. As long as he withstood this attack and weathered the remaining two, he could pass this trial.
On Chen Chuan's side, standing motionless atop the stone platform, he watched the simulacrum swing its fist toward Pilingzi once more.
At that very instant, the colossal phantom of his spiritual visage surfaced behind him, bursting forth with an intense, dazzling radiance. At the same time, a mixture of spiritual impact and a powerful force field expanded outward in a spherical wave.
The light flooded the entire area demarcated by the white smoke in an instant. The moment it crashed into the edge of the field, the entire domain shuddered.
Upon sensing this, Pilingzi's expression changed abruptly. Although such an attack by Chen Chuan could not break the esoteric ritual, it threw the ritual into immense turmoil.
His secret art required relative stability while interwoven with the esoteric ritual; under this interference, it immediately became impossible to maintain. This struck directly at his soft underbelly.
Right at this moment, the simulacrum's attack arrived.
He instantly knew things were grim. For the Technique of Nine Thrusts to succeed, the enemy had to make a move, and he had to counter with a move. With this art now disrupted, if he were forced to deploy another technique, he would have no hope of completing it successfully.
Crucially, even if he wanted to switch tactics now, it was already too late. Chen Chuan’s attack appeared to be an exercise of pure brute power, but it was in fact meticulously strategic. Had Chen Chuan displayed the strength to rattle the ritual from the outset, Pilingzi would have been on guard and found ways to avoid it. But now...
Just as this thought crossed his mind, darkness suddenly overtook his vision. With a resounding boom, his entire body detonated beneath the simulacrum's impact and was instantly obliterated by the subsequent surge of the fire of spirituality.
Yet in the next moment, as if born from the void, the divine qi that had dispersed swiftly coalesced once again into his form.
This was the Duanchen Sect's life-preserving secret art, the "Restoration to Life Technique." If slain by an opponent, his Calamity-Free Spirit Body would activate it automatically upon sensing that no other avenue of escape remained.
Yet this technique required an exceedingly rare material. Even for a Dongxuan View master like him, he possessed only a single piece, which meant he had only this one chance.
This had originally been a trump card he intended to save for later, yet it had been forced out prematurely by the simulacrum's assault. At this point, the Technique of Nine Thrusts was effectively broken.
Not only that, but the moment that coalesced figure appeared, before he could even do anything, it was shattered once again. The residual qi filling the air merely flickered beneath the illumination of the Grand Radiant Light Forms before scattering completely.
With the vast majority of his Divine Visage completely destroyed, the solitary strand of divine qi he had preserved via the "Shifting and Concealing Technique" was inevitably laid bare. Before it could coalesce or recover, the pervasive, vast radiance shone upon it, dissolving it along with the final stone platform to which it clung.
By this time, three breaths had passed. The time limit on the power invested in the simulacrum had expired; its strength receded rapidly, and it drifted away into a wisp of smoke.
The dazzling radiance around Chen Chuan still filled the entire domain, while the space ahead was already completely empty.
After waiting for a short while, he looked forward. Pilingzi appeared atop the cliff opposite him, bowed to him, and sighed, "Chen Xuanji, I concede defeat."
In this duel, he had lost fair and square, utterly convinced.
In truth, he had long received plenty of information regarding Chen Chuan from Ji Shaoyou. This duel had not been an impromptu decision, but something he had prepared well in advance.
Because of this, he knew that Chen Chuan still had techniques he had not deployed, yet Chen Chuan had withheld them, winning solely by attacking with a simulacrum avatar.
Crucially, Chen Chuan had defeated him within the very rules he himself had set, leaving him with nothing to say.
Yet he could not help feeling a sense of regret. In reality, ever since the Ding Dynasty fell, he had known that the secret vaults here could not be defended forever; Great Shun would never leave this place alone. He had merely wished to attempt one final effort for the sake of his own cultivation. Since he was outmatched and heaven willed it so, matters could only end here.
He said sincerely to Chen Chuan, "Chen Xuanji, I shall honor my promise and depart. As for these secret vaults left behind, from this moment on, they are at your side's disposal."
Chen Chuan said, "Master Piling, please wait a moment."
Pilingzi smiled and said, "What else is there, Xuanji? Could it be that I offended you just now, and you intend to hold me accountable?"
Chen Chuan said, "You jest, Master. You and I were merely sparring in a contest, not mortal enemies. In this battle, the Master unleashed a succession of extraordinary arts, from which I have benefited considerably.
"Nor am I an unreasonable man. Your sect has guarded these secret vaults across two generations for three hundred years, and I truly admire your dedication to keeping faith and honoring your word. Therefore, I must trouble the Master to wait for a short while; perhaps I can find a descendant of the Cao clan."
"Oh?"
Pilingzi's eyes lit up, filled with surprise and joy. He had never imagined that matters could take such an unexpected turn for the better at this juncture.
He looked at Chen Chuan and gave him a solemn bow. "Regardless of whether a descendant of the former imperial lineage can be found, I shall be deeply indebted to you, Xuanji."
Had Chen Chuan been willing to reason with him from the start and bring a descendant of the former imperial line, he might not have felt much emotion. But Chen Chuan had defeated him and was still willing to reason with him. This showed immense breadth of vision and magnanimity, winning his heartfelt admiration.
Chen Chuan was not simply acting out of pure goodwill. In any case, this man was a Dongxuan View martial artist and a member of the Xuan Sect.
The Xuan Sect had long battled otherworldly demons; judging from the materials this man used, the Duanchen Sect had slain no small number of gods and ghosts in the past.
Now, with the Great Impact approaching, he hoped to see as many such capable figures as possible. Under permissible conditions, he was quite willing to do the man a favor.
Chapter 1450