Thunderfall

After the Thunder Twins were knocked flying, they rolled several times across the ground to bleed off the momentum. Propping themselves up with their hands, they raised their upper bodies and looked ahead. Though the spots where they had been struck were shielded in time by their power of spiritual perception, the penetrating impact of the jin still left their entire bodies numb. Furthermore, parts of their mutated tissue had suffered trauma, rendering them temporarily unable to make any effective moves. Then they witnessed Heros impaled by the spear. Even as astonishment gripped them, a chill rose from the depths of their hearts. Among them, Heros could well be called an absolute leader, an icon they admired and strove to catch up to. If anyone was most likely to break through the current threshold, they unanimously agreed it was only Heros. Yet even someone like him had been defeated after only a brief clash with Chen Chuan. Worse still, in a direct, head-on confrontation—a contest of purest might stripped of any trickery—he had crumbled after just a few punches. The psychological blow this dealt them was colossal. Now, watching that tall, upright figure calmly retrieve the long saber stuck in the ground beside him after finishing Heros off, and seeing his gaze suddenly turn in their direction, the two of them could not help but tense up all over. Yet his gaze merely swept over them before turning toward Qi Qianyang's position, as if he barely paid them any heed at all. For a moment, the Thunder Twins actually felt a wave of relief, but closely on its heels came an infuriated shame at their own cowardice, compounded by the humiliation of being utterly disregarded. Chen Chuan slowly turned around at this moment, facing everyone once more with saber in hand. He stood right at the edge of a fissure. His clothing stirred in the draft, dense plumes of white steam rising and drifting upward from his shoulders, back, and limbs. And as the ground beneath his feet gradually rose, the sky behind him seemed to shift. Set against the colossal Heros slumped on his knees to the side, the scene struck awe into everyone's hearts. In that instant, not just the Thunder Twins, but the dozen or so scattered survivors left standing were all awed by the sheer power and presence he displayed. Major General Therbil's gray eyes were filled with dread. From the very beginning, he and the remaining fighters had stood frozen in place, neither advancing to attack nor attempting to snatch the relic and flee. The others lacked the strength to track Chen Chuan's movements at all. Though he could barely follow some of them, he could find no opening whatsoever; he had the overwhelming sensation that whatever move they made would be useless, as if the youth had prepared for every single one of them long in advance. Moreover, as a commander, while he still possessed martial strength, he had long lost the drive to risk his life in desperate combat. In that hesitation, the outcome before him had already been decided. Now, what he needed to consider was no longer pressing an attack, but how to withdraw safely. Chen Chuan paid little attention to the rest, keeping his eyes solely on Qi Qianyang. By now, Qi Qianyang had climbed back up from the ground. Glancing at the slain Heros, he clicked his tongue in contempt. Yet even if he hadn't been knocked down just now, there was no chance he would have moved to back Heros up; at most, had he spotted a flaw in Chen Chuan's moves, he would have tried to exploit it with an attack. Though he appeared nonchalant on the surface, uncertainty and shock churned within. He truly found it hard to imagine that even after doubling his strength, he had still failed to hold off Chen Chuan's offensive. Just now, Chen Chuan had knocked him down in a genuine, direct clash, not by capitalizing on any mistake he made. If he was still no match under those terms, running it back would likely yield the exact same result. Is my only choice to use that method? Though he hadn't managed to deploy it earlier, he had no choice now. Yet to maximize the characteristics of this secret technique, he needed time to build up his momentum. Right now, he probably wouldn't have the— Even as the thought crossed his mind, he saw Chen Chuan's body flicker—he was moving! Qi Qianyang reacted instantly, snapping his long whip to ripple out a protective ring of whip shadows before him. With an explosive bang, that heart-chilling blade light surged right up to him as expected, clashing against the long whip once more while transmitting a ferocious surge of jin. And this was merely the residual force after the whip absorbed a portion of the shock; the destructive power had it struck directly was easy to imagine. In truth, he could have modulated and varied his jin to disperse and neutralize the incoming force, but Chen Chuan's attack was too fast and overwhelmingly powerful. Qi Qianyang had to exert maximum speed and power with every crack of his whip just to keep pace with those lethal slashes. Under such stifling pressure, there was no time to execute such delicate variations; he could only meet force with force in a pure slugfest. Driven back by the encroaching blade light, he could only retreat continuously to widen his defensive space. Yet by his own estimation based on the clash so far, he feared he could not hold out for long. A sacrifice had to be made. Having made up his mind, he let out a whistle. The giant bird circling overhead immediately dove like an arrow toward Chen Chuan's back. But the moment it drew close, a flash of blade light swept up from below. Amid a shrill screech, Chen Chuan held his long saber diagonally as the bird hurtled past him and rolled across the ground several times, falling still. All that remained in the air was the fading wail and drifting feathers. Qi Qianyang had no time for regret. Seizing the opening bought by the distraction, he unfurled his whip technique and shifted from defense to offense, actively pressing Chen Chuan while shouting toward the Thunder Twins: "Hey, you two! Want to live? If you do, buy me some time! Not much—just a dozen seconds will do!" Hearing his shout and watching the direction of their clash, Sigvard asked, "Svea? What do we do? Do we run?" "Dream on," Svea said. "We can't get away. Night will fall in a few hours, and with those disgusting insects chasing us, by tomorrow you'd be their dung. If we stay and fight here, we might still kill this man—assuming that guy isn't lying. Besides, as company property, surrender was never an option the company gave us. We have no way out, do we?" Sigvard hesitated. "Then... we use that?" Svea said decisively, "Use it!" With their decision made, they retrieved the medication issued by the company from an inner pocket of their protective suits. Tearing open the tight wrappers, they took out deep purple tablets and slipped them under their tongues. This drug was designed to specifically enhance their speed and elevate their spirit, allowing them to draw upon more power of spiritual perception. However, the drug was still in experimental trials, and after use it explicitly led to a period of unconsciousness. Even if they won, they would be left defenseless afterward. But as things stood, if they didn't use it, once Chen Chuan finished off Qi Qianyang, they would be next. As the tablets dissolved beneath their tongues, their hearts suddenly thudded violently, blood racing through their veins. Their senses sharpened abnormally, and surging waves of power welled from every limb and bone, filling them with an urge to vent it. A faint gleam spilled from their eyes as their spirits grew intensely euphoric in an instant. Panting a few breaths, they exchanged a glance, nodded, and vanished from the spot. Chen Chuan sensed something at that moment. Turning his saber, he parried left and right, feeling two streams of jin surge against the blade before a series of rumbling sonic booms tore past him on both sides, leaving behind two billowing trails of dust. The Thunder Twins had never felt so exhilarated. This was a speed they could never have achieved before. Had they not been sprinting at such high velocity, they would have screamed aloud. Having shot past, they crossed behind him, carving a swallowtail arc as they swung around in a wide turn. Stamping hard against the earth and cleaving through the air, they charged back toward Chen Chuan once more. Seeing the two take action, Qi Qianyang felt a surge of renewed hope, yet he did not join the fray. In his mind, these two were not to be trusted, and he knew that even with enhanced strength, they could at best buy a little time. The deciding factor still rested on him alone. Backing away swiftly, he came to a halt and began circulating a certain breathing technique. This was "Extreme Inversion," modified from a secret technique of the Refinement School. It was likewise a method combining spirit and jin. Once unleashed, it would first completely suppress all incoming jin delivered by his opponent, freeing him from any jin entanglements or restraint. What he feared most in clashing with Chen Chuan was the impact of jin. If this shortcoming was removed, he would no longer suffer from such obvious suppression. Furthermore, while bolstering his tolerance, this technique could briefly amplify the explosive power of his mutated tissue. With both enhancements, he would have no fear of fighting Chen Chuan head-on. Because this method also inflicted severe self-harm, consuming his mutated tissue and vitality every second, under normal conditions he could only maintain this state for a few dozen seconds. But in his current state, he could keep it up for roughly two minutes. And now, as the breathing technique circulated, a blood-red light gradually shimmered in his eyes. Chen Chuan raised his arm and held his saber horizontally, his deep, calm gaze looking outward. At that moment, a flash of light streaked past his side with a hiss, tearing an opening in the uniform at his arm. Simultaneously, another flash whipped past his back, leaving a shallow slash across his shoulder. This was gouged out by jin, for extreme speed brought formidable cutting force with it. Yet he remained unmoved, standing there with saber in hand, spirit concentrated. In his eyes, the world abruptly slowed down, and the trajectories of the two figures grew distinct. Just as the two figures closed in once more, he snapped his saber up, first delivering a direct forward slash that cut through one of the figures, then instantly thrusting backward in a reverse-grip stab. Midair, Svea's body was sliced in half by that slash, flying far into the distance under her forward momentum. The reverse thrust pierced straight through Sigvard's head; like a flag caught in a gale atop a flagpole, his entire body fluttered sharply forward before slumping down, dangling there motionless.