The uppermost layer of the blasted ground had been practically shorn away, leaving a massive crater that looked as if struck by a meteorite. Chen Chuan stood in its center, still holding the posture of his downward punch, while the light at the tip of his arm gradually dimmed and faded out.
That strike had instantaneously discharged the intensely concentrated "fire of spirituality" within his body, producing immense destructive power.
Although he had never specifically trained in this and no one had ever instructed him how to do so, it came to him as naturally during combat as if it were an ability he had always possessed.
Down in the crater, the black-armored general lay there, more than half-buried in earth, thin wisps of white vapor rising from his exposed flesh.
His body was charred almost like charcoal, the shattered armor practically melted together with his flesh. All that remained was his head and three mangled arms—two long and one short—while his lower body was virtually gone.
Yet even like this, he was still not dead. Tenacious threads of mutated tissue burrowed out from deep within his body, repairing his wounds, while writhing tendrils spread from where his limbs had been severed, seemingly trying to regrow them.
Chen Chuan looked down at him. At that moment, the general's eyes snapped open. With a whoosh, he turned into a black shadow and darted outward, but he had covered only half the distance when he froze midair.
One of Chen Chuan's hands was clamped firmly around his shoulder.
Chen Chuan saw that insect-like legs had sprouted from the back and flanks of this half-torso, paddling at blinding speed. It was thanks to these that he had managed to vault and scurry, and even now, the two remaining hands were still clawing backward, trying to seize Chen Chuan's arm.
Chen Chuan hauled him back, grabbed one of the arms, and wrenched it in reverse. With a sharp crack, the bone broke. He threw the torso to the ground, stomped down to snap the other arm with a crunch, then drew his leg back like a taut bowstring pulled to its absolute limit, and lashed out with a kick!
With a sharp hiss, the light on his toe sheared across the neck like a blade. A head flew high into the air, landed on the edge of the crater, and rolled off to the side.
With the head severed, all the mutated tissue on the ruined torso instantly froze, withered, and shriveled. Whispers of white vapor rose and steamed away, and within moments, the remains crumbled entirely into a pile of charred black powder.
Seeing this from afar, Zhao Zhenye's body surged with dazzling silver-white light. He thrust both hands forward. The expressions of Yao Zhiyi and Xiao Wan shifted at once; sensing an unusually violent surge of force in that instant, they immediately dropped into defensive stances.
The next instant, a massive burst of light flared before them. The shockwave shoved both of them back a long distance, gouging deep ruts into the ground.
By the time they looked up, billows of dust rolled in the distance as a mass of silver-white radiance rapidly receded.
Seeing this, Xiao Wan swept his hand forward, his figure blurring. In that single moment, he unleashed over a dozen long spikes from his waist in one go. A dozen afterimages of him seemed to populate the field at once as more than ten craters blasted into the earth, the air detonating with rapid cracks.
Yet when those spikes wrapped in orange flame plunged into that mass of light, not a sound escaped. After a few flickers, they vanished completely.
He blurted out in startled surprise, "Formidable."
Yao Zhiyi looked grimly at the retreating radiance. When he had seen Wei Guochan move to seize the relic from Chen Chuan earlier, he had intended to rush over to assist. But Zhao Zhenye was unexpectedly powerful; the two of them working together could only manage an even match against him. If either one stepped away, defeat was likely, so neither had been able to leave.
Moreover, he could sense something extremely dangerous coming from Zhao Zhenye. The man was far from ordinary; in raw combat strength alone, he was likely much stronger than the two of them combined.
Xiao Wan said, "What terrifying speed." Then he added with regret, "Shame we let him get away."
Yao Zhiyi shook his head. "Under normal circumstances, the two of us fighting him together might not have won either."
Xiao Wan was taken aback. "Headmaster, you're joking, right?"
Yao Zhiyi said in a deep voice, "I'm not joking. Didn't you sense it? The man was injured. He fought us dragging a wounded body and couldn't have held out much longer anyway. He must have run into someone who intercepted him on his way here."
Since they had known about Zhao Zhenye's existence, how could they not have prepared? They had specifically arranged for someone to counter him.
From the look of things, Zhao Zhenye must have clashed with that person on his way over and suffered injuries, preventing him from bringing his full strength to bear.
Still, since this man had aided the former imperial house, he was an enemy of Great Shun.
Yet having just cornered and eliminated Wei Guochan only to gain an even stronger foe in Zhao Zhenye, the overall situation did not seem to have improved much.
No, there was a difference.
He looked toward Chen Chuan. On their side, they now had another formidable martial artist—one powerful enough to sway the balance of an entire region.
He raised the long saber in his hand and said to Xiao Wan, "Come on, let's go over and take a look."
Chen Chuan had already walked up from the crater and stood beside the severed head. Just as he expected, the people from the former imperial house had undergone mutation long ago. Even in this state, as long as the brain was not completely destroyed, they would not die right away.
He had left the head intact on purpose, not knowing how Great Shun intended to handle this individual or if they had other plans.
Seeing the two men walking toward him, he stepped forward to greet them, first nodding respectfully to Yao Zhiyi. "Headmaster Yao."
Yao Zhiyi's thick brows twitched. "You're an instructor at Wuyi?"
Chen Chuan nodded. "Student Chen Chuan, instructor at Jibei Dao's Wuyi Academy, concurrently serving as Investigation Supervisor for the Disposal Bureau. I was dispatched by the Defense Department, the Government Affairs Hall, and the Disposal Bureau to rendezvous with our comrades securing the relic."
Yao Zhiyi looked him over and sighed with emotion. "This old man hasn't returned to the academy in a long time. I had no idea our school had produced such a talent."
Xiao Wan's gaze toward Chen Chuan instantly grew much warmer.
"So you're a junior alumnus! I'm Wan Yunshan. I must have graduated about ten years ahead of you, but my records were sealed long ago, so you probably haven't heard of me. Personally, I don't see why that was necessary. Back then, plenty of people knew me—who didn't know how good I was? If they heard another martial artist had appeared, they could have guessed who it was right away..."
"Enough, save your breath. Let's finish dealing with things here first."
Yao Zhiyi cut off Wan Yunshan's excited rambling. He had no choice; otherwise, the man would talk endlessly. In truth, had it not been to eliminate Wei Guochan, he would have preferred Xiao Wan to stay at the Ring of the World a bit longer.
Chen Chuan brought out the sphere hanging at his waist. "Headmaster Yao, this is the relic I retrieved."
Yao Zhiyi could guess that someone must have tipped Chen Chuan off along the way. Even knowing the danger, Chen Chuan had still carried the item straight toward the garrison. Admiring such boldness and grit, Yao Zhiyi said, "Since you seized it, you should be the one to take it back."
Seeing him say this, Chen Chuan did not make any polite fuss and put the item back into his pocket. Stepping aside so both could see behind him, he said, "Headmaster Yao, Senior Wan, Wei Guochan's head is right here. I wasn't sure how to handle it, so I leave it to the two of you."
Yao Zhiyi looked down at the head, filled with mixed emotions. "Leave this to us."
Chen Chuan said, "Then I will excuse myself for a moment." With a nod to them both, he turned and walked toward the fissure.
Meanwhile, at the other end of the Confluence, Mr. Zhuan sat upon a collapsed, shattered slab of stone. The surrounding terrain was severely devastated. The mask on his face was mostly shattered, its remaining fragments barely clinging in place.
His clothes were in tatters, half of one pant leg missing. His exposed calf and various other torn areas were emitting wisps of silver-white vapor.
He spoke slowly: "In the end, I still couldn't hold him back."
A faint light emerged on the mask, and the half of the face beneath it spoke: "Nothing could be done about it. Who would have thought Zhao Zhenye was that strong? Even with you and my mental secret arts combined, we couldn't take him down. What's more, I think he was in the middle of practicing some secret transmission, so he wasn't even using his full strength against us. Looking at the fight just now, over all these years he hasn't just obtained several secret transmissions from the Convergence faction—he's even acquired some from the Refinement School, and he's modified every single one of them to suit himself. It looks like we'll have to raise our evaluation of him."
It sighed. "He truly is a genius. What a pity. He could have been a pillar of our Purist Faction."
Mr. Zhuan waited for it to finish. Once the muscles on his face settled back into stillness, he spoke again: "The stronger the abilities he displays, the greater his destructive potential, and the more it proves that we were wrong back then."
The mask said, "Since things have already reached this point, what else can we do? We can only try our best to make amends down the line. Fortunately, among our newly recruited members, there are quite a few talents—like that Bao kid... And that Supervisor Chen. I have even higher hopes for him; he's very likely to become the next martial artist of our Purist Faction. With him around, our branch in Jibei Dao's Center City can be firmly established. Still, with Zhao Zhenye being so difficult to deal with, the pressure on him going forward won't be light."
Mr. Zhuan stood up, the silver-white radiance clinging to him slowly subsiding. Gazing toward the direction where the relic's rosy glow emanated, he picked up a suitcase beside him and set off on foot in that direction.
The mask hurriedly said, "Hey, listen to me, you'd better find an airship nearby!"
Mr. Zhuan gave a cold sneer. The rosy glow was so glaringly obvious—did it think he could somehow lose his way?
Chapter 769