Clean Sweep

After bursting forth from his spot, Chen Chuan headed straight for the Linakes Federation's flank. Not only was there a larger concentration of people gathered on their side, but the fighter who had just struck at him with a mental attack was also among them—undoubtedly a priority target to eliminate first. Over a dozen people were gathered on the Linakes Federation's side. Aside from the front-line fighters responsible for direct combat, there were also quite a few tall gunners with fighter backgrounds stationed in the rear. Each wore external implants to assist their movement, wrapped under heavy protective overcoats, and held massive, large-caliber firearms potent enough to rival light artillery. At close range, hardly any fighter at this limit could withstand a single shot. They had kept their muzzles trained on Chen Chuan in the distance from the very start, but when he suddenly vanished from sight, their hearts skipped a beat. Under this acute stress, their external implants instantly injected performance-enhancing stimulants into their bodies, drastically boosting their physical constitution while heightening their senses. Yet merged with his Second Self, Chen Chuan's speed transcended the sensory perception of everyone present. They could only vaguely intuit something approaching. Spurred by intense panic, they fired wildly in the direction their instincts signaled—bang, bang, bang! For a moment, the entire woods reverberated with deafening roars. Dream Master's psychic talent allowed him to preternaturally sense the impending danger. Infusing his mental power into his own senses, he managed to faintly glimpse a blur of a figure hurtling straight toward them at almost imperceptible speed. Yet it was useless. Even though he could perceive it, his body could not react in time. Under the acute stimulus of mortal peril, the world within his mental realm seemed to freeze. Everyone, including himself, was suspended in place—facial expressions and movements halted alike. Only the heavy-caliber bullets spewing from the gun barrels still sped forward through the air, carving visible streaks that tore the atmosphere apart. Yet that silhouette moved just as swiftly, threading through the gaps between the bullets and closing in with inexorable momentum. The reverse-gripped saber was held edge-outward at his side; as his figure swept past their line, the blade drifted effortlessly across their throats. The airflow trailed by the blade's tip carved a perfect arc in the air. Dream Master could even see that Wild Wolf had tried to dodge at the final instant, having already begun to draw his gripped dagger from its sheath; yet his hand had only lifted halfway before the flash of the blade swept across it. In the next moment, everything seemed to return to normal. The world resumed its flow. Suddenly, the world before Dream Master's eyes flipped upside down, collided with the ground, rolled twice, and came to a stop. Then came a succession of heavy thuds. Across his sideways field of view, headless corpses toppled one after another, amidst several rolling heads. To the onlookers further away, after Chen Chuan abruptly vanished from his spot, a streak of light seemed to flash past. Accompanied by a rumbling tremor, the heads of the group from the Linakes Federation dropped cleanly from their necks one by one. The sight struck terror into their hearts, sending chills down their spines. Yet where was he? To maximize his strike's efficiency, Chen Chuan had swept straight along the Linakes formation. At the farthest edge of his sight, he spotted a man dressed in scarlet protective gear with hair tied up in a bun, whose rare red eyes immediately marked him as Spire Biotech's "Blood Diamond," Chauvel Sarthe. Driven by his forward momentum, Chen Chuan hurtled directly toward him. Blood Diamond was currently recovering. Having taken a direct hit from Xu Chan's power of spiritual perception, his injuries were severe enough to leave him hanging by a thread. Even with the finest medicine, full recovery would take several days, making it impossible to return to peak combat readiness anytime soon, which was why he had remained in the rear. Yet as an expert commanding the power of spiritual perception, he could faintly discern Chen Chuan's silhouette. But he never anticipated that after slaughtering part of the Linakes force, Chen Chuan would charge straight for him. A wave of shock struck him. Desperately wringing out every ounce of his potential and paying no mind to the blood spraying from his ruptured wounds, he let out a savage roar, ripping the kite shield from his back to hold it in front of him. But as a gleaming arc of saber light swept horizontally across, a crisp shick rang out. The thick shield was sliced clean in two without the slightest resistance, and his head flew from his neck, tumbling away into the distance. Yet due to the channeling of his jin, the mutated tissues within his body continued exerting force. His headless corpse charged several steps forward, clutching the remaining half of the shield, before crashing facedown onto the ground with a dull thud. This sight sent another chill through everyone present. Such an instantaneous death was exceedingly rare in combat between third-limit masters. Even when an engagement ended quickly, it typically involved tactical gambits and technical clashes; an overwhelming, crushing slaughter like this only happened when the disparity in strength was colossal. Though Blood Diamond was not among the world's top thirty, he was still within the top hundred. Even injured, a desperate, cornered struggle from him should not have been taken lightly. Yet Chen Chuan had decapitated him with a single, simple stroke—the psychological shock this dealt them was immense. Having finished off Blood Diamond, Chen Chuan did not spare him a second glance. Tilting his body, he continued sprinting forward. Seen from above, he traced a massive arc around the area where everyone stood, looping outward before cutting back, maintaining extreme velocity the entire way. As one of the few with the keenest senses on the battlefield, Heros was not blinded like the others who could not track Chen Chuan's movement. He shouted at Gray Whale, "Valkoni, stop him!" Gray Whale was among the fastest of them, while also possessing enormous strength and high defense. Even after taking a heavy punch from Qi Qianyang earlier, he had suffered no serious injury. Hearing Heros's shout, Gray Whale instantly grabbed the hammer in his hand and charged toward the direction of Chen Chuan's approach. His colossal, nearly three-meter-tall frame was not slow in the least; rather, as he advanced, he moved with the swift, sweeping feel of a shifting shadow—an effect produced by his unique jin. His momentum was unstoppable and seemingly fearless. It was not that he had failed to witness Chen Chuan's display just now, but precisely because he had: if Chen Chuan was not brought to a halt now and allowed free rein, most of them—himself included—would die. And an opponent whose greatest asset was speed would be far easier to deal with once pinned down. Chen Chuan saw Gray Whale barreling toward him. With no intention of altering course or evading, he charged head-on to meet him. Just moments before Gray Whale made contact with him, Heros surged in from the flank and rear. He knew Gray Whale alone might not suffice, but combined with his own lateral impact, it would be enough to bring Chen Chuan to a halt. Viewed from above, their paths formed an obtuse angle, converging simultaneously on Chen Chuan in the center. Chen Chuan did not look back at all, his eyes fixed purely on Gray Whale ahead. Just as he was about to collide with him, his skin flushed scalding hot, white mist abruptly billowing from his body. His already staggering speed accelerated by another fraction, instantly leaving Heros in the dust. Grasping the hilt of the Xuejun Saber with both hands, he dipped low and lunged. Before Gray Whale could even react, a wet puncture pierced straight through his heart. With a slight exertion of force from his arms, Chen Chuan hoisted that massive body into the air. Then, moving as one with his blade, he slashed through empty air. The three-meter-tall Gray Whale was sliced diagonally in half. The jin surging from the blade blasted the corpse apart, bursting blood and entrails mid-air in a violent explosion. At that very instant, a dense barrage of bullets swept toward him from dead ahead. His gaze flickered. Raising his blade, he slashed in rapid succession, the oncoming hail of bullets severed by flickering beams of blade light. Now he saw that Major General Therbil stood atop a rise opposite him, leveling a heavy machine gun and spraying fire in his direction. Although the bullets failed to inflict any real damage, his unparalleled velocity was inevitably checked. At that moment, Heros appeared behind him, his towering frame bearing down like a colossus, casting a massive shadow overhead. Rather than continuing to push forward, Chen Chuan planted his feet. His free hand clenched into a fist, and he pivoted to strike toward Heros's incoming trajectory. Their Mind Jin collided across the empty air first, followed by the mutual dissolution of the powers of spiritual perception enveloping their fists as they drew closer. At the critical moment, Heros was horrified to realize that even after the radiance on his own fist had completely melted away, an unyielding luminescence still remained over Chen Chuan's knuckles! But he had no time to adjust his posture, nor could he retreat. The two fists collided. Boom! The point of impact between their fists detonated like an exploding artillery shell, sending huge clouds of dust billowing into the air. Through the dust, a figure was violently hurled backward, flying a tremendous distance before slamming into the earth, tumbling and bouncing several times before finally coming to rest. It was Heros. He lay there, one arm mangled beyond recognition, half of his torso collapsed and shattered from the shoulder down. Even the surface of his intact side was spiderwebbed with hairline fractures that crept up to his cheek. For the moment, he showed no signs of movement. Chen Chuan stood rooted in place, maintaining his punching posture. The faint radiance over his fist still had not dispersed. From his body, thick white vapor billowed upward; and not just from him—even along the edge of the Xuejun Saber, wisps of white smoke drifted into the air. Witnessing this, everyone present found their breathing growing ragged. Just then, a splash resounded in the distance. A powerful figure strode out of the river. With each steady step of his robust legs, deep footprints were pressed into the mud, and as he walked, his stature seemed to grow steadily taller. Droplets rolled down Qi Qianyang's body, leaving his sleek musculature completely dry. He wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, surveyed the surrounding scene, and then turned his gaze back to Chen Chuan. Grinning broadly, he said, "Our fight isn't over yet."