By this point, the bracelet in Aunt Yu's hand had turned completely black, forcing her to withdraw outside.
She cast a glance back into the arena, her heart quailing at the sight.
Chen Chuan still lingered within a certain distance before Meng Huang, making no attempt to pull back.
More than a dozen massive limbs flailed and slammed down in pursuit of him, yet he evaded them every single time by the barest of margins. Rumbling echoes reverberated continuously through the entire underground space.
Those limbs were exceptionally resilient and swept down with immense force. Every strike smashed a web of cracks and cratered pits into the floor or walls. Even with the physique of a third limit fighter, enduring such a blow would likely result in immediate, severe trauma.
Most concerning of all, she noticed that the jade bangle and waist ornaments on Chen Chuan probably would not hold out much longer either. Anxiety gnawed at her heart—if those gave out, stopping this thing from penetrating deeper inside would become nearly impossible.
*The master may have backup measures, but still...*
Just as the thought crossed her mind, she suddenly felt a surging biological field expanding outward from up ahead, as if something were brewing there. Surprised, she raised her head. "This is..."
In the center of the grounds, Chen Chuan had ceased dodging and stood firmly in place. Wisps of white mist curled upward from his body, as though he were in a boiling state.
Looking up at the colossal limb crashing down from above, he did not dodge this time. Tightening his fingers into a fist, he shifted his full-body jin and drove a punch straight up into it!
A boom like a thunderclap rang out. Struck head-on by his fist, the limb actually rippled like waves before drooping limply to the floor as if all its strength had been sapped.
Another limb swept toward him right then. Swatting sideways with his palm, he slammed it directly into the ground as well, sending violent tremors beneath his feet.
That limb was larger than his entire person, yet a seemingly light palm strike had battered it into the floor. The sheer contrast was staggering.
Aunt Yu felt a jolt in her heart at the sight. But as a third limit fighter herself, she understood immediately from the posture and rhythm of Chen Chuan's strikes.
This was a masterful application of jin!
Though those limbs whipped around with staggering force, they could not circulate jin like a fighter. As long as one blasted jin into the limb before its power was fully unleashed, its structural force could be thoroughly disrupted, producing this very result.
Yet even knowing the principle, she could never replicate it herself. Technique was secondary; that could be accomplished by studying the opponent's rhythm of movement, and she believed Chen Chuan's earlier evasions had all been preparations for this exact moment. The crucial factor was that disrupting the enemy's power required possessing formidable power of one's own in the first place.
She might manage it once or twice by relying on the explosive burst of a secret art, but she could never achieve Chen Chuan's effortless mastery.
She gazed at Chen Chuan's back. That body harbored tremendous power. No wonder the Disposal Bureau had dispatched him. She suddenly felt that, given the situation at hand, stopping Meng Huang might not be out of the question after all.
She was not one to vacillate. Having reached that conclusion, she immediately retreated several paces, drew out a scarlet pill she carried on her person, and swallowed it. Sitting down cross-legged, she took measured, rhythmic breaths. The vine-like floral patterns across her skin deepened in hue, and a streak of deep violet shadow spread around her eyes.
She prepared to summon and release all of her stored changeless mind and vital essence to enter the coming fray.
Within the span of only one or two breaths, Chen Chuan had completely shattered the force behind over a dozen incoming limbs, sending them tumbling to the floor. Only then did the very first limb he had knocked down begin to writhe once more.
He gave it no opportunity to rise. Sweeping the already poised Xuejun Saber to one side, a semi-arced flash of blade light sheared across several limbs. Twisting back, he swung another arc in the opposite direction. After several rapid flashes, the blade light finally subsided.
A moment later, all the limbs on the ground sheared into multiple severed segments.
Chen Chuan could feel the Xuejun Saber trembling faintly in his grip; the presence residing within it had grown noticeably more active.
He lifted his head, tightened his hold on the hilt, and strode past the severed limbs that trailed wisps of black smoke from their cut surfaces, advancing toward Meng Huang's true body clinging to the door.
As he pressed forward, a patch of shadow glided soundlessly across the floor toward his back. It reared up abruptly, transforming into a limb that whipped around to coil about him, only to be met by several flashes of blade light. In an instant, it was hacked into several pieces midair and clattered noisily to the floor.
Without breaking stride, Chen Chuan continued ahead, quickly arriving not far in front of Meng Huang's colossal true body. An eyeball split open where the entity's back of the head appeared to be, staring at him for several beats before the drifting smoke around its body rapidly withdrew.
This allowed him to see the thing's full form with complete clarity. Standing nearly seven meters tall, it had sprouted two arms above its shoulders and two more along each flank of its waist and abdomen, yet its torso still resembled that of a human. At the moment, it clung there like a spider.
Yet as he drew near, it detached itself from the door. As it turned and landed, its body continued to transform rapidly. Multiple eyeballs and a thick horny layer of cuticles formed across its surface. Eyeballs nestled within the crevices of the keratin, staring down at him one by one, occasionally rolling and twitching in an indescribably eerie fashion.
Chen Chuan tilted his head up at the towering figure, his footing solid and steady. The fine tentacles writhing nearby slowly drifted and hovered just outside the reach of his blade.
After dozens of eyes all over Meng Huang fixed upon him for a moment, the creature suddenly bent at the waist. The two arms above its shoulders reared high, and its main left and right hands spread wide before clapping down toward him.
Chen Chuan leaped backward. The two hands slammed together just ahead of him with a loud boom, the gust of displaced air sending his hair and clothes fluttering backward.
A shadow fell abruptly from overhead. He continued his retreating steps as the two arms on Meng Huang's shoulders smashed down viciously, the two massive fists gouging two craters into the floor.
Seeing Chen Chuan evade, the creature dug its feet into the ground and lunged forward with the assistance of the arms along its abdomen. Its hulking silhouette loomed over the space ahead, its stamping strides sending tremors through the floor.
Chen Chuan shifted his feet quickly and dodged to the side. As he moved, he dragged his saber across the keratin layer on one of its arms, carving open a wound that continuously vented smoke.
Using the arms on its flanks for support, Meng Huang's massive body swiveled around swiftly to face him once more. Every eye on its front locked onto him, dripping with malice.
Chen Chuan glanced aside. Under that gaze, his Second Self grew even more insubstantial, wavering as if evaporating away. Clearly, the stare of those eyes was far from meaningless.
He looked back at Meng Huang. From its recent movements, he could tell that although the entity looked thoroughly inhuman on the outside, its movement rhythm and operational habits still stemmed from a human perspective.
After all, whatever entity had possessed him was anchored to a human being, so it had to think and move through a human lens. Perhaps Meng Huang's own consciousness still held sway.
This was a necessary compromise. If control were surrendered entirely to the presence from the other side, normal thought might become impossible, leaving its actions devoid of logic.
Their combination undeniably yielded immense power.
Yet possessing power was not the same as knowing how to wield it.
Even as this thought crossed his mind, Meng Huang was already charging toward him. A leading fist plunged downward in a smash, its colossal silhouette nearly engulfing him.
Watching the fist hurtling down, Chen Chuan lowered his center of gravity, planted his feet one forward and one back, and pushed up with a single hand. With a solid thud, he actually halted the fist's downward momentum.
This time, he didn't yield an inch in a direct clash!
Chen Chuan gazed at Meng Huang, wisps of white mist curling around his bracing fist, his eyes cool and collected. Combat was a contest of brains and technique. While the opponent possessed a massive frame, the fraction of power it could truly apply was limited.
His gaze shifted. Seeing the other arms reaching out to seize him, he eased his resisting force slightly, then abruptly redirected his jin outward in a violent yank.
Meng Huang's center of gravity immediately went off balance. His heavy, hulking bulk stumbled sideways under the deflection. The limbs on one side of his body frantically scrambled to support himself and keep from falling, while the hands on the opposite side refused to relent, flailing forward to snatch at Chen Chuan.
Riding the momentum of that twist, Chen Chuan pivoted outward, shifting swiftly and fluidly to the creature's flank.
Here, the tilted underbelly of the torso was completely exposed. Stamping his rear foot to brake his motion, he gripped the saber with both hands and thrust violently forward. The narrow blade plunged straight in beneath the throat.
Yet this strike did not seem to inflict fatal damage. The arm above Meng Huang's waist lashed out toward him almost instantly. Chen Chuan yanked his blade free and stepped back, simultaneously sweeping the sword upward in a reverse slash, followed by a full-power downward chop. With a crisp slice, half of the thick arm was sheared clean off.
Without waiting for another attack, he retreated rapidly, dodging Meng Huang's heavy, rolling slaps as the creature scrambled after him.
Right then, however, his bangle and waist ornaments blackened completely, shattering and clattering to the floor. The crisp sound served as a warning. The dense thicket of tentacles that had fallen around immediately surged in, attempting to entangle him.
Paying them no mind, he swung his long saber left and right, carving out a path for himself. His eyes remained fixed ahead on the colossal figure, which was rapidly scrambling back to its feet.
Yet when it was only halfway up and had yet to regain its footing, a silhouette suddenly leaped in from the side. The figure moved with astonishing speed, coming in at a tricky angle and timing the strike impeccably; even though the eyes on Meng Huang's flank had spotted her, he could not react in time from that awkward posture to obstruct her.
The silhouette pressed a slender palm against the supporting leg he was using to push himself up. A burst of yielding jin seeped inside, turning the leg limp and sending his massive body tilting sideways.
Seeing the opening, Chen Chuan did not hesitate. He leaped forward, crossing over ten meters in an instant, and drove his shoulder hard into Meng Huang's, knocking the creature staggering back once more.
Landing, he tapped the ground with his toes and vaulted high into the air. Gripping his saber with both hands, he unleashed a massive downward cleave. A crescent of blade light descended straight over Meng Huang's head, splitting the skull clean down the middle!
The massive bulk stumbled back several paces before toppling over backward, its back crashing violently against the floor. From the fissure in its head, a fine, sand-like substance leaked outward alongside plumes of black smoke. But after a brief moment, a burst of blinding light erupted violently from within!
Chapter 396