Clash and Tremor

Facing the spear hurtling toward him, Chen Chuan stood calmly with his saber in hand, showing no sign of dodging. Just as the weapon was about to reach his forehead, a long staff suddenly darted out from the side and caught the shaft. With a light flick, it batted the missile far away. Yuan Qiuyuan pulled back his long staff and cast a provocative glance at the thrower. The commissioned warrior remained silent. Having cast his spear, he made no other gesture and simply continued marching toward them. Chen Chuan noted that as the distance closed, the trio's speed and tempo noticeably increased, their breathing adjusting and accelerating. To his right, Qin Qingque seemed wholly unaffected. She steadily raised her rifle, fired a shot, cycled the bolt, and fired again. Braving the gunfire, the Iron Demon and his two companions closed the distance to within a hundred and fifty meters. Then the two behind him drew the spears from their backs once more and hurled them toward Chen Chuan and the others. This time, they did not throw just a single spear; they unleashed all their remaining javelins in one breath. At the same moment, the armor on the Iron Demon's body clattered as he leveled his spear and charged forward in huge strides. Behind him, once their spears were away, the two warriors shouted in unison and charged forward right after him. As the three charged together, Yuan Qiuyuan and Qin Qingque suddenly felt an oppressive pressure bear down on them. Their breathing hitched. They did not know where this pressure originated, yet they distinctly felt it. Chen Chuan's eyes flickered; he felt it too. As someone skilled in field techniques, he recognized immediately that the fields of the three men had merged and swept over them, exerting a tremendous psychological oppression. He had only read about this technique in dossiers; this was the first time he had seen it in reality. For this required the participants' fields to be in extreme alignment—sometimes even demanding that one relinquish one's sense of self to submit entirely to another—something exceedingly rare among third limit fighters. Yet considering that these men still maintained the feudal servitude of the old era, it became entirely plausible. At this juncture, if he allowed the enemy's pressure to bear down unchecked, it would inevitably affect his teammates' spirits, forcing them to expend even more changeless mind to resist. This was the Confluence, after all. Aside from the battle itself, they had to contend with the fluctuations of their activation indexes; mental stability was more crucial than anything else. His Xuejun Saber had long since been drawn. He stepped forward now, batting away the plunging spears as he took the initiative to meet the trio. At the same time, he expanded his own field outward to brace against theirs. The moment their fields made contact, it felt as though he had struck an immensely solid barrier—profound, unyielding, seamless, without a ripple, one might even say... completely lifeless. A biological field was an aggregation of a fighter's information. Although each was unique, they all underwent regular, dynamic fluctuations. Yet the opposing field showed none of this. It seemed as if his opponent was not simply human, but something else entirely. To be sure, a person skilled in field techniques could alter their field's characteristics, but he could sense that the enemy had not made any deliberate modification; it had simply been this way from the start. Even if the enemy was not sprinting at top speed, the distance of over a hundred meters vanished in an instant. Just as Chen Chuan stepped up, the Iron Demon directly in front had already closed in, riding the momentum of his charge to thrust his leveled spear straight at him! Seeing the spearhead lunging toward his chest and neck, Chen Chuan timed his movement and swept his saber outward in a parry. Since his opponent was charging directly at him, the thrust was ferociously brave but devoid of variations. If the spear could not be retracted in time, Chen Chuan would push his blade along the shaft and slice straight down the centerline! Yet the moment saber and spear met, a shower of sparks erupted between them. Simultaneously, a domineering jin seeped into his body. This jin was seamlessly integrated, devoid of flaw; though his internal mutated tissue began guiding and dissipating it, the force was tough and solid, stubbornly resisting dispersion no matter how he worked against it. If it could not be fully dissipated, he had no choice but to brace and endure it head-on. His eyes remained deeply calm. Was this the combat prowess of a fighter who possessed near-perfect harmony of mind and body, as described in the dossiers? An ordinary third limit fighter, hit with that combined field oppression and followed immediately by such a jin-laden strike, might have seen their stance shattered in a single blow. Yet with his current physical conditioning, Chen Chuan was fully capable of enduring and neutralizing such force. Likewise, his own jin surged into the opponent in return. Both men sank at the feet, plunging into the muddy ground as a ring of shockwaves blasted outward. Yet this did little to disrupt either of them. With a pull of his rear hand, the Iron Demon retracted the spear. His torso hardly seemed to move as the spearhead stabbed toward Chen Chuan's waist. Chen Chuan was well prepared. Gripping his saber with both hands, he struck downward, deflecting the spear. As their jin collided with a resounding clang, both of their frames shuddered slightly once more. After what felt like a momentary pause, their weapons clashed again. This sort of engagement was a brutal contest of raw strength and physical endurance. Under the repeated shockwaves of jin, both combatants were constrained, leaving almost no room to maneuver or redirect momentum. In the tiny margins between exchanges, there was little room for fancy techniques; pure power overrode finesse, leaving them to trade heavy, direct blows blow for blow. Every strike had to deliver a sufficient shock of jin to the opponent. Should one's force wane even slightly, the adversary would recover faster on the next strike and bear down with even greater pressure. Chen Chuan had a way to break this onslaught: by having his Second Self absorb the burden, he could instantly neutralize the jin invading his body and seize the upper hand. Yet he had never encountered an opponent who forced him to mobilize his entire body's power for every single clash. This kind of fight was a tempering trial for his body, his spirit, and even his field. Naturally, when the time came, he would not hesitate to use it. The Second Self was part of him; using it carried no psychological burden. Most importantly, he had a hunch that the Iron Demon's true power went far beyond this. If only for that reason, he wanted to bide his time rather than deploy it prematurely. Sounds of battle now rose from both flanks as his two teammates engaged their respective opponents. From this moment on, if anyone on either side buckled or fell back, the entire balance of the fight could unravel, precipitating a swift collapse for that side. Yet he trusted his teammates. Moreover, under the perception of his field, he did not need to look directly to know their conditions clearly. Yuan Qiuyuan fought with fierce exhilaration, while Qin Qingque moved with swift agility. Overall, both were holding steady and currently keeping their adversaries on the back foot. Even if any minor issue arose, Chen Chuan would notice immediately and adjust. Upon clashing with their foes, Yuan Qiuyuan and Qin Qingque both discovered that these commissioned warriors possessed robust physiques, rock-solid fundamentals, and extensive combat experience, showing no obvious flaws in either offense or defense. Against such adversaries, even a fighter of superior caliber could not achieve a quick victory. Thus, both suppressed any urge to finish their fights rapidly to aid Chen Chuan, choosing instead to bide their time and probe for openings. The two commissioned warriors fought in absolute silence, betraying no emotion whatsoever. Their duty was simply to shoulder part of the burden for the Iron Demon and tie down the enemies. Nothing extraordinary was required of them, nor did they even need to win; they only had to hold until the Iron Demon decided the outcome of his duel. Yet in their hearts, they could not help feeling surprised. Fighters who clashed with the Iron Demon in the past usually could not withstand the copious, pounding power unleashed in each blow; within a few exchanges, they would be forced to give ground and resort to evasive skirmishing. Yet the more an opponent did that, the less likely they were to endure, and the battle was quickly settled. They had never imagined that this adversary would trade blows evenly with the Commandant without giving an inch. Even so, they had no reason to worry, for the Commandant's strength went far beyond what he had displayed so far. As Chen Chuan and the Iron Demon continued to clash, the sinking force of their jin caused the earth beneath their feet to crater noticeably. Because neither man moved from his spot, the depression grew wider and deeper, until from a distance, only their upper torsos remained visible above ground level. After trading blows for several minutes, Chen Chuan noticed that his opponent's power was steadily climbing. His gaze sharpened, and he unloosed the restraints on his mutated tissue, letting his own strength surge to match it. With greater force continuously poured into the fray, their collisions were no longer as simple as when they began. The sweeps of their weapons might not have looked blindingly fast, but the jin transmitted with each impact grew increasingly violent. First came the muffled thud of parting air, followed by the concussive blast of colliding jin. With nearly every exchange, the surrounding mud was shoved outward in rippling waves, spreading like rings across water. The sight drew side glances even from Yuan Qiuyuan and Qin Qingque, though they swiftly composed themselves and refused to be distracted. Fortunately, though the opponents they faced were tough and steady, they were clearly not opportunists; even when Yuan and Qin showed minor openings, the two warriors maintained their mechanical rhythm. From another perspective, however, this proved their absolute faith in the Iron Demon—they saw no need to take unnecessary initiative, only waiting for him to secure victory. Despite clashing dozens of times with the Iron Demon, mobilizing the mutated tissue throughout his entire body for every blow, Chen Chuan felt not the slightest exhaustion. The Zhouyuan Jin technique had spread mutated tissue across his entire body, and subsequent tempering with special medicine had spurred rapid progress. In truth, even without relying on his Second Self, fighting like this for a day or two would pose no problem at all—and he believed the same held true for his opponent. Yet he knew the other side could not afford a protracted stalemate. The enemy had abandoned their previous evasion strategy and sought battle so swiftly precisely because they had been duped by tactical deception. Time was clearly not on their side, so it wouldn't be long before the Iron Demon shifted tactics. The Iron Demon moved even faster than he anticipated. After several more clashes, Chen Chuan had just parried the spear aside when he discovered that the jin meant to stall his opponent's body had apparently achieved nothing. With a fluid sweep, the spear knocked the saber aside, leveled again, and thrust right before his face! ……