Chen Chuan looked down at the Auxiliary General lying on the ground. He had timed that strike to perfection; it had looked like a slash, but the true technique lay in the thrust.
The moment the two closed in, the light of spiritual perception at the saber's tip had surged forward with the thrust, piercing straight through the skull and destroying the mutated brain within along with it!
The man had appeared to parry the slash, but in reality, he was still a step too late. Everything he did afterward was meaningless—nothing more than reflex before his consciousness had completely faded.
This outcome was no surprise to Chen Chuan. After his spirit reached self-perfection, the spiritual perception he could muster had not just increased by a fraction, but had undergone a massive leap.
Because both body and spirit had achieved perfection, a harmony had formed between them. It allowed him to better channel inner and outer power, with no shortcoming remaining to restrict his performance.
He looked around. With the strongest fighter in this cavalry troop cut down in a single blow, what came next would be far simpler. If he could resolve his enemies efficiently, he never minded using practical methods.
As the young general collapsed, cries of panic erupted around him, and the surrounding cavalry spurred their mounts forward to charge him.
Looking down from the sky, billowing dust kicked up all around as riders closed in from every direction.
Chen Chuan stood motionless. Only the glow upon his blade flared to life. With a turn of his saber, he surged forward, plunging into the surging cloud of dust.
At the same time, the field and mental power across his body burst forth. Across a radius of six to seven hundred meters, an intense mental shock wave rippled outward in an instant.
Even though every member of this cavalry troop was equipped with protective gear this time, beneath the impact of his tremendous mental power, the weaker riders at close range simply could not bear it. Their heads reeled in an instant. A flash of blade-light swept across, cleaving a row of men and horses clean in two.
When their commander was struck down, the subordinate officers instinctively rushed in to save him. But as that silhouette darted across the field, slashing back and forth as figure after figure fell, the unified roars of fury quickly grew ragged and sparse. Only then did they realize that their enemy was far from ordinary.
Yet not one of them showed the slightest sign of retreat. This cavalry troop was the elite of elites, handpicked from an army of tens of thousands. Every single man possessed an iron will and absolute loyalty to the imperial house. Not to mention, losing their commander was not merely an immense disgrace—returning alive would also incur severe punishment. That was something they could not bear. At this moment, their only thought was to slay the intruder and redeem their guilt.
In striking down the commander first, aside from eliminating the strongest opponent and dismantling their command, Chen Chuan had also counted on this. Under the laws of the former imperial house, if a commanding general perished, all under his banner shared the guilt.
Thus, their most likely choice would not be to retreat, but to swarm him. That way, he had no need to chase them down; he only had to wait for them to come to him.
Seeing them stand their ground to the death, it was precisely the outcome he wanted.
He darted back and forth with blinding speed. The mounted men stood no chance against him. In the flicker of a silhouette, riders were cut in two. Only the vice general could faintly track his movements, leaping down from his horse in an attempt to intercept.
Yet it was futile. No matter how he gave chase, even as bloodshot veins filled his eyes and mutated tissue surged across his entire body, he could not catch up to that figure.
Not until the surrounding clamor went completely silent did the figure he was pursuing finally halt. As the man stopped in his tracks, a rumbling wave drove the dust and sand billowing outward.
Gazing at the blurred silhouette in the dust ahead, the vice general steadied his breathing, drew the saber at his waist, lunged forward with rapid strides, and slashed straight down at Chen Chuan's head.
From the opening stance alone, Chen Chuan could tell it was a series of linked slashes, meant to transition with blistering speed to suppress an opponent from the very start. That was clearly why the man possessed the confidence to unleash it face-to-face.
Yet before an absolute disparity in power, technique meant little.
The moment that first slash came down, Chen Chuan turned, the Xuejun Saber already penetrating the man's blade momentum and pointing straight at his throat.
The vice general felt an overwhelming sense of dread.
This incoming strike would inevitably hit him a step faster than his own blade could land. Faced with mortal peril, his instinct was to pull back his blade to parry, but in reality, he could no longer do so.
Because once his blade momentum was set in motion to chain together, his momentum, spirit, and even the mutated tissue throughout his body were all committed to lunging forward. He could not withdraw even a fraction. Yet due to the clash within his consciousness, his body stiffened.
At that very instant, the Xuejun Saber swept unceremoniously across his neck, sending his head flying into the air.
To an outside observer, it would have looked as though he charged up to Chen Chuan brandishing his saber, only to inexplicably freeze in place and allow Chen Chuan to sever his head with a single stroke—a picture of pure suicide.
Chen Chuan flicked his blade, watching the head tumble to the ground. It wobbled once before cracking open with a loud crunch, the mutated brain inside spilling out into a pulpy mush.
The impact of Mind Jin had ruptured it completely, leaving no possibility of reclaiming the body and rising again. In fact, not just him, but none of the riders Chen Chuan had slain before had kept their mutated brains intact.
In truth, whether it was the strike that killed the general earlier or this cut that dispatched the vice general, neither would have been so effortless in the past. But after the elevation of his spirit, everything flowed with effortless perfection. He felt as though he could unleash a full hundred percent of his capabilities—and the more power he could draw upon, the more he could rely on smaller, more precise applications of force to dispatch his foes in actual combat.
As for the others, they had posed no pressure whatsoever. Elite fighters and ordinary fighters were virtually no different before him.
By now, the swirling dust slowly drifted away, revealing severed limbs and shattered bodies strewn across the ground. Only the riderless horses remained standing in the rear.
From the moment he launched his ambush until now, less than three minutes had passed, and the area had already returned to silence.
Back when he defeated an Auxiliary General before, he had needed to join forces with Chen Bitong to break through. While that was partly because of the guards and battle formation in front, the raw strength of an Auxiliary General was undeniable.
Yet now, slaying an Auxiliary General who was visibly even stronger had felt entirely effortless.
He assessed himself for a moment. After this battle, his second self had grown slightly, though not by much. Fortunately, he was unlikely to lack opponents going forward, and there would be plenty of opportunities.
He walked over to where he had set up the ambush, sheathed his long saber, and stepped into the dense forest.
For ease of movement, he had left his packs behind here. Chaoming was currently circling overhead, watching over his belongings.
Once he retrieved them, he turned back. Just then, he noticed a haze gathering in the sky. Was it going to rain?
Rain in the Confluence was no simple matter; it affected both sides. Still, Xu Chan and his group should be fine. They had seized plenty of rainproofing gear from the Corporate United Syndicate earlier, so it shouldn't cause too much trouble.
After a thought, he walked over to several horses. These were likely the spare mounts and packhorses meant for the young Auxiliary General to rotate through, each of them exceptionally tall and sturdy.
He stepped forward, caught the reins, and rummaged through the saddlebags. Sure enough, he found some rain gear, which he untied and draped over himself, then loaded his own packs onto the remaining horses.
Then he returned to the riding mount and swung into the saddle.
Throughout the entire process, the horses remained thoroughly docile, showing not the slightest resistance. Even though these steeds were specially trained, beneath the crushing weight of his spirit and field, they could only submit.
Once settled in the saddle, Chen Chuan looked up at the sky and saw the birds circling overhead scattering outward in unison.
Although he had successfully intercepted a troop, these birds were numerous and fast. Even if he sent Chaoming after them, it would be impossible to kill them all. Word of what happened here would soon reach those in the rear, and they would undoubtedly adjust their strategy.
Not that it mattered. The back-and-forth communication would take considerable time. As long as they kept moving quickly without lingering in one place, any pursuers sent from behind wouldn't catch up anytime soon. On the other hand, interceptors might lie ahead—which made this the perfect time to push forward and break through them.
He gripped the reins and squeezed with his heels. The dragon-snout horse under him was completely obedient, surging forward immediately.
The scout birds sped toward the rear, arriving over an hour later above a trailing cavalry unit.
This cavalry force also belonged to the Auxiliary General's command, but because they were not the elite and were far more numerous, they had temporarily lagged behind.
Now, seeing the scout birds all flying back—one of them being their general's private messenger bird—their expressions changed drastically.
The movements of scout birds conveyed distinct meanings. A situation like this could only signify that their commanding general had fallen and the entire vanguard had been wiped out. How could they not be horrified?
Yet a moment later, disbelief set in. The squad deployed ahead had been carefully composed; even if they couldn't overpower the enemy, there was no way they wouldn't have been able to retreat.
Moreover, the rosy glow of the relic was still at least half a day's journey away. If this had happened an hour ago, their general wouldn't have reached it yet. That meant they must have been ambushed or attacked en route.
Just where had this enemy come from?
The Great Shun government? The Corporate United Syndicate? Or the Linakes Federation?
With the situation murky and information scarce, the remaining officers found themselves at a loss. They could only dispatch fast riders forward to investigate and confirm the situation, while simultaneously sending an urgent telegraph to the forces behind them, instructing them to relay the news back to high command at once.
Chapter 758