Gai Er gave no warning whatsoever when he made his move. The strike itself was swift, fierce, and utterly abrupt; an ordinary person facing such an attack would have reacted with caution to some degree.
Chen Chuan's eyes reflected the tip of the staff expanding in his vision, yet he stood there without the slightest intention of moving. When that section of the staff came within a hair's breadth of his face, it snapped taut with a metallic chime and advanced no further.
With his sharp eyesight, he had gauged that this strike's reach ended precisely there. The other man's field also told him this attack was merely a probing feint; the true killing blow lay behind it, to be decided based on his reaction.
Sure enough, seeing that he didn't dodge, Gai Er rapidly executed the follow-up transition. The hand gripping the tail section of the three-section staff thrust forward. Driven by layers of force, the three sections that had already aligned into a single line instantly turned into a true full-length staff. Its tip hissed through the air as it thrust straight forward.
Chen Chuan did not draw his saber. He merely raised a hand slightly, bracing it precisely against the tip of the long staff. With a loud crack, a shockwave of displaced air erupted from the point of contact.
Yet his hand did not waver in the slightest.
Seeing the forward thrust fail, the "long staff" clattered and separated into three sections once more. Gai Er whirled around with tremendous speed, using the power of his waist and back to whip the three sections around in an arc with a howling rush of wind. Drawing power up from the ground and passing it upward through each joint, he lashed out forcefully with one arm diagonally upward!
At that moment, the three-section staff whipped through the air like a steel lash, unleashing a muffled, powerful roar.
This lash and the preceding thrust were, in truth, a continuous technique known as the "Armor-Breaking Whip." First, a thrust with hard jin forced the opponent either to dodge or parry. Once intercepted, the thrusting jin would pour in through the point of contact, freezing the target in place.
At the same time, the recoil would be diffused as the three-section staff split apart, buying an extra sliver of speed before channeling the full power of the entire body into a lash designed to kill the enemy in a single blow.
This was his lethal trump card. He had tested it time and again, and it had rarely failed.
Facing this strike, Chen Chuan seemed unable to dodge in time—perhaps hindered by the previous thrusting jin—so the steel staff slammed cleanly into his neck with a resounding bang!
The two had traded blows at blinding speed; not a soul present had been able to follow the clash when they first engaged. Only when the three-section staff slammed into Chen Chuan's neck did the spectators realize what was happening.
The Lutong personnel were shocked, their hearts violently tightening. The people from Poison Ant Express could not help displaying looks of excitement—they had seen Gai Er cleave a car in half with a single lash before.
Yet having taken the blow, Chen Chuan stood there without budging at all. He merely tilted his head slightly, looked at Gai Er with a calm gaze, and asked, "Is that all?"
Gai Er's pupils shrank violently. He hastily tried to pull his weapon back to strike again.
However, because he had overextended his strength earlier, his whole body leaned forward, causing his recovery to lag by a fraction of a second. At that moment, Chen Chuan took a step forward, suddenly closing the distance right into his face.
Gai Er was terrified and scrambled backward in panic. Yet Chen Chuan matched his speed precisely, sticking right against him as if neither of them had moved at all.
Right then, Gai Er felt a formidable aura roll over him—a force seemingly powerful enough to crush him completely. His breath caught in his throat.
Chen Chuan swiftly raised a hand and locked his fingers around Gai Er's neck. A seizing jin surged into him as Chen Chuan effortlessly lifted Gai Er clean off the ground. Once at the apex, he hurled him savagely down into the ground!
With a thunderous crash, the ground beneath Gai Er shattered into a web of fissures. The bones below his knees snapped cleanly from the shock. Disrupted by the seizing jin, his mutated tissue could offer no protection whatsoever, leaving his body to absorb the entire impact. His skin split across his body, blood oozing out, and crimson seeped from the seven orifices of his head.
Only then did Chen Chuan let go. Gai Er slumped onto his knees with a thud. That brutal slam had virtually knocked the breath out of him, rendering him incapable of movement.
Even so, having clawed his way up from street fighting, he clung to a stubborn ferocity and refused to collapse. His eyes remained fixed on Chen Chuan, while the flesh across his body began to writhe and knit together under the influence of his vital essence.
Chen Chuan looked down at him from above. After regarding him for a moment, he reached out, placed his hand lightly against Gai Er's forehead, and gave a gentle push. Gai Er immediately lost his balance and toppled backward.
Chen Chuan stepped slowly to Gai Er's head. The latter realized what he was about to do. Panic and terror flooded his eyes, and he seemed to want to say something. But from the devastating trauma he had just sustained, his breath had yet to settle; his lips parted and moved, producing only faint whimpers, unable to form coherent words.
Chen Chuan raised his foot and brought it down heavily upon his skull. With a booming crash, a crater erupted below, sending shards of stone and masonry flying as Gai Er's body convulsed violently on the spot.
When Chen Chuan withdrew his deeply sunken foot, what remained below was a twisted, deformed face mingled with broken masonry and gravel.
Watching this through his boundary credential, Old Bian couldn't help flinching upward, as if trying to flee from where he sat, his heart pounding violently in his chest.
On the field, absolute silence reigned, save for the rapid breathing each person could hear within their own chest.
The leader from the Moss Gang stood in a daze before a chill crept up his scalp and spine. Swallowing hard, he spoke into his boundary credential, "Gai... Gai Er is done for. His head was crushed underfoot..."
The person on the other end seemed equally stunned. Without a word, the line clicked dead.
Chen Chuan didn't spare the corpse another glance and walked straight away. From beginning to end, he hadn't even drawn his saber, killing Gai Er with his bare hands.
In fact, strictly speaking, he had subdued the man in a single move; had this been an ordinary sparring match, the fight would have ended the moment he caught him.
As he passed the three-section staff, he casually hooked his foot beneath it. The weapon popped up from the ground, its front section landing in his grip, and with a swift flick, the three sections folded together into one.
On Lutong Logistics' side, Lan Xinnan was the first to recover her senses. Suppressing her excitement, she immediately used her boundary credential to alert everyone in the rear to stay vigilant, warning them to watch out in case Poison Ant Express panicked and lashed out.
Fortunately, everything remained orderly. The people from Poison Ant Express weren't blind; they knew all too well what kind of destructive power a third-limit fighter possessed, and none dared provoke him now.
The Moss Gang leader waved frantically, urging the driver to get them out of there. He didn't want to stay for another second. If that third-limit fighter across the way decided to do anything, he almost certainly wouldn't leave alive.
Lan Xinnan walked forward to meet Chen Chuan, giving him a solemn nod. She then continued past him toward the people from Poison Ant Express. Looking at those sheltering behind the barricades, she said:
"You lost. According to our agreement, Poison Ant Express will yield every piece of territory you've seized. If you break the agreement, Lutong Logistics won't play by the rules either."
After a long pause, no one stepped forward from the other side, but a voice called out, "Captain Lan, we know the rules. We'll honor the agreement, but you have to give us some time."
Lan Xinnan replied briskly, "Two days. That's more than enough. If you aren't gone in two days, we'll take it back ourselves." Having said that, she didn't utter another word, turning and walking back.
By now, Chen Chuan had returned to the RV. Picking up the warm drink he hadn't finished earlier, he took another sip and found the temperature had barely changed.
The clash between the two had ended practically the moment they met, and Gai Er had hardly put up any meaningful resistance, but in truth, the man wasn't weak.
By his estimate, Gai Er was stronger than Xiao Sheng and Xian Quanfeng of the Viper Team. Had the man been given time to prepare fully, taking him down in a single move would have been far from easy.
When their fields had clashed earlier, Chen Chuan had noticed that this man was utterly self-serving. If he sensed anything was wrong, he would abandon everyone and flee without hesitation, paying no heed to duels or agreements.
If such a person managed to escape, it would cause endless trouble for Lutong Logistics. Therefore, Chen Chuan had to ensure he killed him on the spot, and he had to do it quickly.
Deliberately taking that hit earlier was meant to intimidate the man psychologically and blunt his momentum. Moving straight in through the gap while pressing down with his field shook the man's resolve, ensuring a decisive takedown with a single strike.
On the surface, he had subdued his opponent with effortless ease, but behind that lay not only his formidable physique and fighting prowess, but also the choice of the right tactics.
Still, while Gai Er's strike had looked ferocious, it wasn't quite as powerful as Chen Chuan had anticipated. He had originally prepared to absorb it through his Second Self, but in fact, he hadn't even needed to; relying solely on his vital essence and the force-deflection techniques of his mutated tissue, he had dissipated the impact.
Right then, a notification chime sounded from his boundary credential, displaying an incoming call from an unknown source. After a brief thought, he accepted it.
An indistinguishable voice came through the receiver: "Mr. Chen, these waters run extraordinarily deep. Are you certain you wish to wade into them?"
Chen Chuan asked, "And who might you be?"
The other party didn't answer his question, saying instead, "Mr. Chen, we know what you're capable of, and we respect you greatly. However, the affairs of the Lower District are not something you can meddle in at will. Doing so will bring trouble to many people—including yourself and those around you.
"If you withdraw now, we will offer you a generous reward. We hope you will make a rational choice, Mr. Chen. Once you've made up your mind, you can reach me through this signal."
With that, the call was abruptly terminated.
Chapter 409