Warning

Chen Chuan looked at that nearly contorted face, his eyes remarkably calm. At that exact moment, their free hands collided violently against each other. Chen Chuan unleashed his jin without holding back. Not so for Instructor Wu—he had to suppress the turning of the blade while simultaneously diverting a portion of his strength to counter Chen Chuan's jin. The advantage he had momentarily seized turned into a disadvantage in an instant. As the two clashed, with a loud bang, a shockwave of dust and air exploded out in a ring beneath their feet, and both of their bodies sank down a step into the ground. Before the residual force of this collision could dissipate, Instructor Wu relaxed his abdominal muscles. Borrowing the momentum, he sank down and twisted away, while the hand gripping the blade deflected it outward. Letting the edge slice through half of his abdomen as it slipped out, his expression did not even flicker as he retreated to the side, breaking free of the lock. Though a large gash had been ripped open, the moment he pulled away, the mutated tissue at the wound writhed rapidly, pulling the edges shut. Only a trickle of blood spilled before it was stanched. Once a fighter reached the third limit and their brain mutation advanced to a certain level, they could accelerate the growth of mutated tissue throughout the body, swiftly closing lacerations and mending injuries. Given enough time, he could restore himself entirely to how he had been before. Chen Chuan had noticed the moment Wu attempted to break free, but Instructor Wu's movement at that instant was blindingly fast—undoubtedly utilizing that explosive technique once more. In particular, the timing had been impeccable, borrowing force at the precise instant Chen Chuan burst forth with all his power. Without knowing beforehand that Wu would choose to evade in such a manner, even if Chen Chuan had another chance, he likely still wouldn't have been able to pin him down. Yet escaping so easily would not be so simple! Thanks to the presence of his Second Self, Chen Chuan was able to withstand the jin blasted into his body without stalling in place. With a flick of his wrist, the saber's tip twisted straight forward; his body turned sideways in unison, both hands gripping the hilt. Shifting his legs, one front and one back, he stamped against the earth and lunged forward with explosive momentum, thrusting straight toward Instructor Wu's throat! Instructor Wu's pupils shrank. By his calculation, this retreat should have given him enough distance to pull clear before Chen Chuan could unleash power again, but he hadn't expected to misjudge yet again. At this point, the direction of his momentum could no longer be altered. Seeing the tip of the saber almost touching his throat, he suddenly drew a breath. The mutated tissue throughout his body pulled in unison, jerking his torso backward to dodge the thrust as he flipped away into a backward leap. Yet with that burst of exertion, the wound that had just closed split open once more. Blood ran down from his waist all the way to his ankle. Still, his expression remained unchanged; the moment his feet touched down, he crouched low, settling into a posture ready to charge again. Chen Chuan shifted his saber and took a small step back, widening the distance between them. With one hand braced against the ground in a half-crouch, Instructor Wu looked at Chen Chuan with eyes full of astonishment. He had discovered far too many things about Chen Chuan that defied comprehension. Yet the more this was the case, the more he longed to dissect and study Chen Chuan's brain. His eyes narrowed. Without waiting for Chen Chuan to advance, he suddenly sprinted toward Chen Chuan's flank. Chen Chuan's gaze tracked him, his body pivoting along with him. Right at that moment, with a ripping sound, the persistent wind combined with the gust whipped up by Instructor Wu's sprint finally tore the billboard poster loose, sweeping it up between the two and causing Chen Chuan's movement to pause slightly. In that split second, Instructor Wu executed a roll, snatching a key that had been hanging from a shattered section of plank wall. It was an antique-style key of aged bronze, with a wide bow and a long shaft. He quickly hooked his finger through the loop, gripping the key firmly by its handle. With a rip, the paper poster was torn apart by saber gleam. The blade cleaved down toward his head, but this time, Wu did not retreat. Instead, he met it head-on. With a resonant clang, he actually parried the saber strike with that key. Chen Chuan was unfazed. Maintaining his hold on the saber, he slashed repeatedly, unleashing over a dozen strikes in rapid succession. Instructor Wu stood his ground without yielding, using the shaft and bit of the key to parry and deflect, blocking every slash aimed at him. It was unknown what material the key was crafted from; even the Xuejun Saber failed to shear through it. More importantly, Wu repeatedly employed his exceptional jin to divert a portion of the saber's force, parrying with pinpoint precision each time without the slightest margin of error. Because the exchanges of strikes and parries were so swift, the clashes rang out in a virtually unbroken rhythm. Chen Chuan kept his gaze fixed on Instructor Wu. This sequence of parries demonstrated an extraordinary degree of overall coordination; fingers alone could never have absorbed the sheer force of those saber strikes, meaning Wu had channeled the power of his entire body through his mutated tissue. Whether in eyesight, judgment, coordination, or mastery of jin, this man far surpassed any opponent Chen Chuan had previously faced. Neither Tan Wang nor Luo Qi could have stood rooted to the spot and intercepted more than a dozen of his slashes in a row. He knew Instructor Wu was waiting for a gap in his jin output. With Wu's technical skill, he could easily exploit the briefest lull when Chen Chuan's breath and momentum shifted to burst inward. If that was the case, it was time to deploy the Furnace Breathing Technique. Since he was facing a fighter of the third limit this time, he had already ingested medicine to stimulate his potential before coming here. This had originally been a safeguard in case things went wrong—if Instructor Wu's strength proved far beyond his expectations, he could use it to make a timely escape. But as the battle unfolded, he had gained a clear measure of Wu's prowess, meaning there was no longer any need to hold back. Channeling his mutated tissue to sustain his jin and blade momentum through internal breathing, he took a deep breath, and his body suddenly surged with scalding heat. This sudden anomaly immediately put Instructor Wu on guard. No longer remaining in place, he retreated rapidly. Yet he had barely stepped back half a pace when the ground ahead seemed to rupture. As a figure surged forward, a flash of saber gleam burst upon him. Instructor Wu's eyes went wide. The speed of this slash had spiked dramatically. His mutated brain desperately stimulated his body to mobilize its functions even faster. Just as the blade light was about to cleave into his body, the key in his hand was finally thrust into position just in time. Yet under the operation of the Furnace Breathing Technique, Chen Chuan was not merely faster; his power was far beyond what it had been before. The key might have deflected the strike under normal circumstances, but under this blow, the deflection was insufficient. With a sharp crack, half of it was sheared clean off. Then, with another flash of blade light, a second slash followed in immediate succession. Instructor Wu's eyes bulged, and the veins on his neck stood out violently. Left with no choice, he stimulated the mutated tissue in his body once again to force his speed and power higher, raising the remaining half of the key to ward off the slash. Chen Chuan simply continued swinging his blade. His moves were no different from before, but no matter how simple a technique might be, backed by a superior level of speed and force, it was by no means something that could be easily blocked anymore. After parrying merely a few blows, Instructor Wu was visibly straining. At this point, he could barely distinguish the trajectory of the blade light, relying entirely on raw instinct, technique, and experience to deflect. Forced backward, their figures flickered and shifted constantly. Wherever they passed, craters blasted into the earth, grass and dirt churned up in their wake. As the fierce winds swept around them, their roaming duel gradually left the knoll behind, descending into the ruins below. This was also an intentional choice on Wu's part. By now, every single parry required him to rely on explosive techniques, constantly stimulating his mutated tissue, which placed an immense burden on him. Not only was his brain throbbing with waves of swelling pressure, but the wound at his waist could no longer be held closed and had burst open again. He had no choice but to use the terrain to hinder his foe. At last, he retreated into the ruins of a collapsed building. With a sweep of his hand, he sent an entire broken section of concrete wall flying toward Chen Chuan. The next instant, the concrete wall violently shattered, and the blasted rubble came hurtling back. Instructor Wu tried to dodge, but sensed something amiss. He tilted his head as a stone grazed past his cheek. Yet though he had avoided it, that momentary hitch slowed him by half a beat. His shoulder suddenly felt lighter as an entire arm was sliced away. Glimpsing another flash of blade light from the corner of his eye, he managed to thrust the key outward just in time. With a wet rip, the Xuejun Saber severed half of his neck, but because the key intercepted it, the blow failed to take his head off completely in one stroke. Chen Chuan looked up. Instructor Wu was looking back at him, but unlike his ferocious appearance just moments ago, his gaze had softened once more, carrying a calm gentleness and what seemed to be a sense of release. Chen Chuan said slowly, "Instructor Wu, thank you for your guidance." Grasping the hilt with both hands, Chen Chuan spun in a circle. With a ringing hum, the remaining half of Instructor Wu's neck was severed cleanly. The head flew off, rolling several times across the ground before coming to a stop, while the headless body stood upright for a moment before collapsing to the side. Chen Chuan exhaled a long breath, wisps of white vapor steaming upward. Just as he turned to leave, he heard a voice from behind. "Student Chen..." Chen Chuan turned back and saw that it was Instructor Wu's severed head speaking. The sound was produced by mutated tissue vibrating in coordination with the oral muscles, making it sound hoarse and eerie. He knew fighters of this limit possessed robust vitality; as long as the brain had not died, death would not take them immediately. Pausing in his tracks, he asked, "Instructor Wu, is there anything else you wish to say?" Instructor Wu's mouth moved under the tug of the mutated tissue, speaking haltingly: "Student Chen, I'm sorry... I've done wrong before. This is the end I deserve. "All my belongings are kept at No. 47 Liuyu Street. The passcode is..." He recited a string of numbers, then continued, "Beside the generator in my house, there's a large canister of algae oil. Put me in there and burn the house down with me. That way, no traces will be left. Also... beware of Yuan Binshu... beware of Ling..." At that point, his voice faltered, and then fell completely silent. Chen Chuan watched for a moment, then opened his boundary credential and asked, "Brother Wu, did he transmit any messages earlier?" Wu Bei quickly replied, "It looked like he was drafting a message earlier. I was ready to intercept it, but in the end, it seems he canceled it himself." Chen Chuan looked down at the head and said, "Understood. Thanks, Brother Wu." He walked over, picked up the head, and said softly, "Instructor Wu, let's go home." Then, he walked back toward the two-story wooden house.