Chen Chuan rode forward on horseback. The mount was fast, traversing mountains and rivers as if over flat ground, and possessed immense stamina, hardly needing to pause to feed.
Moreover, likely because it had also been fed specialized drugs, many Confluence creatures did not attack during its sprint along the way. No wonder the former imperial house favored them.
Though the Great Shun military bred mounts as well—and he had ridden one on his way here—they were far inferior in comparison. He could sense that the critical factor probably lay in those drugs.
This was an advantage held by the former imperial house.
Yet thinking about it, that was only natural. Without home-field conveniences like these, they would have been wiped out by Great Shun years ago. At the same time, though, he realized that many reasons also stemmed from within Great Shun itself.
If not for so many corporations and internal and external factions being entangled and dealing with the former imperial house in the Confluence, this current state of standoff would likely never have developed.
This situation involved deeper interests and struggles, not something easily resolved.
He pushed the horse relentlessly, galloping in pursuit, and finally rode into the glow of the relic before night fell. This way, he could continue surging outward through the night without needing to stop and make camp.
At present, there was still some distance between him and Xu Chan. Judging by the speed at which the glowing radiance was moving, Xu Chan seemed fine for the moment.
However, though the pursuit from behind had been dealt with, attacks from the front and flanks still had to be guarded against.
According to what Xue Shou had told him, the former imperial house had deployed forces in every direction. Even the Great Shun camp responsible for receiving them at the edge of the unknown area was closely watched by a large army. Thus, no matter which direction they chose to break through, they were bound to run head-on into enemies.
He urged his mount faster, gradually closing the distance to Xu Chan. At that moment, he suddenly spotted an airship flying in from high in the sky to one side.
From its direction, it was heading straight for Xu Chan, likely carrying elite operatives.
Fortunately, part of the former imperial house's army was currently locked in a standoff with the Great Shun base in the rear, and another portion had to maintain pressure on their camp. They could not deploy multiple airships at once to launch strikes from several directions; otherwise, that would have been far more troublesome.
Just then, he noticed that the moving radiance ahead had slowed down. Though not particularly conspicuous, it was immediately apparent to his keen eye.
Xu Chan had undoubtedly run into an enemy interception, and this airship arriving at this moment was likely intended to stage a pincer attack alongside the forces blocking ahead.
Seeing this, he pressed a hand against the side of the dragon-snout horse's neck, lightly stimulating the mutated tissue within its body. Instantly, the horse's eyes turned blood-red, and its hooves accelerated another notch.
Meanwhile, within the Great Shun camp situated at the edge of the unknown area, the military personnel could see the radiance moving toward them.
They judged it highly probable that their own side had secured the relic; otherwise, they would not have taken this route.
An officer remarked, "With such an obvious glow, the former imperial army will surely obstruct them by every means. I suggest we dispatch a squad to meet and support them."
Someone objected, however. "Right now, we're stretched thin just defending the camp. How many men could we spare? The imperial house's forces are waiting right outside. Even if we send people out, it would likely just be sending them to their deaths."
"We came here precisely to facilitate the transport of the relic. If we do nothing, what is the point of remaining here?"
"No, our presence here still serves a purpose."
An officer wearing an overcoat spoke, his voice deep and solemn. "At least we are pinning down part of their army. Besides, the exact situation remains unclear. What we need to do is report the intelligence to the rear. Unless the team carrying the relic arrives right before our eyes, I will not dispatch a single soldier without orders from above."
The speaker was the camp's highest military commander. With him having spoken, no one had any alternative but to wait for a telegram from the rear base.
Within the unknown area, as the airship from the former imperial house caught up behind the radiance, it gradually lowered its altitude, and ropes were lowered down one after another.
Figures climbed down the ropes, and while still some distance from the ground, they leaped down. Their heavy bodies, laden with various gear, thudded onto the ground and swiftly formed up into formation.
Each man was encased in a layer of heavy white armor, standing exceptionally tall at around two and a half meters. Secured to the outsides of their arms were two hand-inserted cannons, while two throwing hatchets hung at their waists. Several ferocious beasts resembling leopards or tigers accompanied them, landing lightly on the ground with almost no sound.
These were tamed Confluence beasts called red-furred leopards. Highly alert with a keen sense of smell and agile movements, they possessed mutated tissue from birth—creatures that even the pioneer teams dispatched by Great Shun had to handle with great caution.
Now, after being domesticated, bred, and rigorously trained by the imperial house, their strength exceeded those living wild, having received more comprehensive nutrition and developed more robust physiques.
These men belonged to the White Cogongrass Army of the former imperial house. This force was composed entirely of fighters, each an elite selected from various imperial fiefs. The ones present here were all third limit fighters, twelve in total.
Further ahead, another squad belonging to the Soaring Serpent Army was responsible for intercepting the relic's bearer.
That was a rapid-advance squad renowned for its movement speed, capable of utilizing various ranged weapons including firearms, crossbows, and javelins. Skilled at harassing and intercepting, they could delay the person carrying the relic so that the others could flank and encircle them at leisure.
According to their prior plan, another elite cavalry troop led by an Auxiliary General was rushing forward at top speed and should have arrived around this time.
When the time came, the three forces combined would be more than enough to capture the target.
Little did they know that the cavalry unit behind had already been annihilated. No reinforcements would ever arrive; the three-pronged encirclement could never come to pass.
Chen Chuan headed straight toward the airship's location. Surging forward at full speed, he soon arrived at the squad's flank and rear, the thunderous clatter of hooves impossible to conceal.
Although the White Cogongrass squad's objective lay ahead, they did not neglect their rear. Furthermore, Chen Chuan's approach carried astonishing momentum. Initially, they thought it was the cavalry arriving to rendezvous, but they quickly realized something was wrong, because the approaching speed had not slowed at all—in fact, it was steadily accelerating.
Arranging themselves in two rows of six, spaced more than five meters apart, both ranks stood slightly angled. The members inserted their forearms into the cannons on both sides, raised them in unison, and aimed the muzzles toward the newcomer.
Chen Chuan's figure quickly appeared in their sights. They did not fire immediately, but waited until he burst within a hundred meters before pulling their triggers simultaneously.
With a deafening boom, clouds of white smoke erupted together from the muzzles, jolting even their powerful frames.
In an instant, an uncountable storm of canister shot blasted out from the cannons, completely blanketing the space ahead.
Chen Chuan's gaze was fixed forward. In this instant, the world seemed to slow down. He did not clash head-on with them; instead, abandoning his mount, he shifted laterally, instantly appearing at the flank of one rank just as fire and smoke first burst from their muzzles.
Lowering his posture into a sprinting stance, he fixed his gaze on this row of men and stomped down hard. A shockwave of air instantly detonated around him. Under his high-speed impact, the entire row of men was hurled high into the air, their limbs contorted, armor and equipment shattering piece by piece.
What slightly surprised him was that as he reached the other end, a foul scent surged from behind him. One of the red-furred leopards had actually kept pace with his speed, splaying its claws as it pounced toward him.
Yet such an attack was only effective against ordinary men. After attaining the power of spiritual perception, creatures of the Confluence posed little threat to him unless they were massive or attacked in swarms.
He stamped his foot, blasting open a crater beneath him and halting his momentum. Watching the red-furred leopard sail past in front of him, he reversed his grip on the Xuejun Saber and swept it diagonally across, slicing the beast open from the flank.
By this time, the other six-man squad finally reacted, immediately hurling a volley of throwing axes toward him.
Chen Chuan merely parried with his blade. The lead axe detonated upon collision with the Xuejun Saber. Holding his blade horizontally across his front, he leaped forward. Behind him, where the throwing axes flew, rows of trees detonated like incoming artillery shells and collapsed in swaths.
The six men were well trained; having thrown their axes, they immediately fanned out into a semicircle, unfastening long spears from their backs and leveling them forward.
As they executed these maneuvers, Chen Chuan was already before them, slashing out once at every single one of them!
Because of his sheer speed, multiple afterimages of him seemed to appear in the clearing all at once.
When his figure came to a halt, holding his blade horizontally before him, the six men behind him froze in place for a fraction of a second before collapsing to the ground one after another.
Every single one of their heads had been split down the middle with immaculate precision, their mutated brains cleaved in two along with them.
In mere moments, the entire squad had been completely wiped out.
He flicked his blade to the side and straightened up, his chilled gaze lifting toward the sky above. Up high, the airship had not yet managed to fly away, and those aboard had witnessed the scene in its entirety.
A wave of icy dread surged through the hearts of everyone on board. The officer in charge swallowed, then immediately barked orders: "Quick! Send a telegram to General Wei at once, inform him of the situation here! And..."
He glanced down at the dragon-snout horse blown apart by the cannons, his voice trembling slightly. "A mount suspected to be the 'Moon-Chaser Yellow' ridden by Auxiliary General Wei has been spotted. Confirm the status of the cavalry in the rear immediately, and tell them... the enemy is exceptionally fierce. I fear we cannot stand against him..."
Chapter 759