The key lodged in the rock was conspicuous under the winter light, the emblem of Wansheng Financial Firm clearly visible upon it.
Chen Chuan withdrew his gaze from it and looked toward Qi Huishi. It seemed the man was truly determined.
In general, martial artists would never resort to force if they could avoid it—unless enormous interests were at stake, or they had a reason that left them no choice.
Seen this way, whatever secrets those two ancient martial artists harbored were indeed of tremendous value, enough to make the other party wager such high stakes.
Chen Chuan had no reason to refuse. His Second Self needed tempering, and he himself was more than willing to exchange pointers with someone of his own caliber. The previous two ancient fighters had been far too weakened; he had barely expended any strength against them, hardly even warming up. He hoped this man could offer him a pleasant surprise.
He said, "Mr. Qi, I agree."
Qi Huishi had known nine times out of ten that he would accept. No martial artist could refuse such terms. Moreover, to put it plainly, both were martial artists of Great Shun; having no prior enmity, they might very well end up working together in the future, so whenever face could be given, each would do his best to show courtesy to the other.
In truth, had it not been for certain special reasons, he would not have uttered a single word about Chen Chuan taking the person away. There was simply no need to court trouble like this. But now, he had no choice.
He did not know much about Chen Chuan. He hadn't known in advance that the other man would be here, only learning of his position from the telegram sent by Yuangan Company.
Although he had never heard of Chen Chuan before and was certain this was not one of those renowned figures whose fame had resounded for years, he would never underestimate any martial artist. For Chen Chuan to hold his current position, he was either highly valued by the higher-ups or had achieved immense merit, meaning his strength could not possibly be lacking.
Even so, martial artists always had confidence in themselves. Putting aside whether he believed himself superior, even if he knew for a certainty that an opponent outmatched him, he would still step forward as long as the reason was sufficient. If he lacked even that measure of resolve and shrank back before fighting, he could never have reached where he stood today.
After setting the white-haired woman aside, the two slowly stepped back from each other. As their mental consciousness concentrated and braced for combat, their surrounding biological fields began to expand outward on their own. Under this influence, the falling leaves and dusting of snow around their periphery actually began to levitate.
At this moment, the distinct thrum of propeller blades sounded from behind. Yuangan Company's airship flew over from the distance.
Earlier, their lookouts had spotted the airship from Haixi Dao and realized something might be amiss, which was why they had steered toward this area. But upon drawing near, they saw the two figures confronting each other ahead and the bizarre phenomenon swirling around them. Everyone aboard the airship could not help but grow tense.
Supervisor Bao's heart skipped a beat, and he immediately ordered the airship to halt and advance no further.
He peered ahead. From the look of the situation, the person standing across from Chen Chuan was without doubt another martial artist, and one from Haixi Dao at that. But why would a martial artist from Haixi Dao suddenly appear here? The reply telegram from the other side earlier hadn't given any explanation either.
In that instant, a certain possibility sprang into his mind, causing cold sweat to instantly drench his back.
The assistant beside him also noticed that things were amiss and suggested, "Supervisor, should we... clear out for a bit?" Phrasing it as "avoiding" was, in fact, hinting at whether they should run first to escape the impending danger.
"Avoid what? We can't run! We wait right here!"
Supervisor Bao ground his teeth and said this, even though he didn't know whether the standoff between the two below was merely a mutual show of deterrence or the worst-case scenario he feared.
Yet fleeing was definitively the worst choice. If the other party truly meant to target them, could they escape if Chen Chuan failed to hold the line?
Therefore, it was far better to stay and demonstrate unwavering support for Section Chief Chen.
He instructed his subordinates, "Ready all weapons on the ship! Aim them below! Await my command and be ready to support Section Chief Chen at a moment's notice!"
Whether or not it would actually be of any use, the stance had at least been struck.
Down below, neither of the confronting men paid any attention to what was happening outside.
Qi Huishi stood on one foot, slowly raising his front leg while spreading both hands. One hand extended forward, the other held raised in guard, his lower hem slightly draping over the underside of his lifted knee. Pale blue radiance flickered and drifted around him, lending his entire figure an impression both firmly anchored and ethereal.
Chen Chuan, on the other hand, did not assume a stance; he merely stood quietly in place. Both the Grand Radiant Light Forms and the Grand Firmament Forms consumed massive amounts of energy, and there was no need to employ them here.
Platinum radiance blossomed from his body as well, rising like steaming clouds and mist before dispersing overhead, seemingly draping over the clearing where they stood.
He looked across at his opponent. Qi Huishi's aura was very pure and upright, without the slightest sense of errant instability or mutation.
The Visage of Man, then? Principal Yao had said that the Visage of Man was the mainstream, though those who walked this path tended toward extremes: the vast majority remained rather mediocre, and only a scarce few could achieve high distinction.
He wondered which kind this man was.
Well, let us test it first.
Chen Chuan raised a hand. A cluster of spiritual radiance gathered on his palm, then whiplashed across toward his opponent in a flash.
Qi Huishi's expression tightened when he saw Chen Chuan open with such a technique, for this move was enough to show that Chen Chuan possessed an abundant Flame of Spirituality, allowing him to disregard such minor expenditure.
Rather than taking it head-on, he stepped to the side to evade it. Yet as the radiance grazed past, his biological field was torn open by the passage.
At that exact moment, a rush of wind pressure bore down—Chen Chuan had already closed in. Qi Huishi had only just completed his evasive maneuver, and it seemed he could not dodge in time. Yet with utter natural ease, he turned sideways and thrust his shoulder outward. The Flame of Spirituality across his body converged to the front in an instant, and with a booming shatter from the opposing biological field, his shoulder collided with pinpoint accuracy against Chen Chuan's glowing fist.
The Flames of Spirituality from both sides clashed and unraveled each other, scattering outward. But Qi Huishi had clearly managed the response soundly, marshaling his strength reasonably and in the nick of time, unlike some opponents Chen Chuan had previously faced whose defenses collapsed on first impact.
Having blocked the blow, Qi Huishi took another step aside to dodge a kick sweeping up from below by Chen Chuan. Immediately ducking low, a roaring blast of powerful airflow whipped over his head. Stepping back once more, he raised a knee as his Flame of Spirituality detonated at the point of contact, checking a sweeping roundhouse kick. Riding the momentum of that impact, he retreated a distance, snapped his hands open, and reset his stance as a swirling current of forceful air circled around him.
Chen Chuan slowly lowered his leg. Looking at the highly rhythmic cadence of the Flame of Spirituality around his opponent, he offered an internal assessment: solid, deeply rooted fundamentals.
Almost every move this man made anticipated his attacks in advance—pushing technique to the absolute pinnacle to compensate for deficiencies in strength and speed.
Qi Huishi was inwardly startled as well. Though he had anticipated each of Chen Chuan's strikes, every evasion had been hair-raisingly close, leaving him zero opportunity to counterattack. Moreover, that final retreat had actually been a flaw intentionally offered as bait, concealing a lethal finisher waiting behind it. Had Chen Chuan pressed forward, Qi Huishi could have unleashed it. Yet despite holding the clear offensive initiative, Chen Chuan had deliberately chosen not to press in.
For a moment, he could not tell whether the other man's jin had broken at that juncture, forcing him to pause, or if he had seen through the trap.
Chen Chuan had not pressed the attack because he had indeed sensed that Qi Huishi's momentum was not exhausted, that something lay coiled and unreleased. His intuition in such matters had always been exceedingly precise.
Of course, had he pressed with sheer strength, there still would have been opportunities; there was never only one way to fight or break a technique. It was just that in this spar, he had no intention of squandering too much energy, and so chose to ease off for a beat.
With a shift in thought, Qi Huishi realized that Chen Chuan's offensive was fiercely sharp. If he allowed Chen Chuan to keep dictating the attacks, he would be trapped in complete passivity. This time, he chose to seize the initiative.
Turning his body slightly, his hands shifting back and forth, up and down, he dropped his center of gravity and stepped forward. With that single step, his figure darted forward, swooping in low like a swallow skimming along the ground, poised at any moment to spread its wings and soar high.
Chen Chuan watched him approach, remaining still at first. Only when the man's fist punched toward his abdomen did he reach down with an open palm, pressing it with pinpoint precision right onto the knuckles of the incoming fist.
Qi Huishi's strike carried the momentum of his charge and channeled most of his Flame of Spirituality to the fore. Yet upon impact, before the force had even fully spent itself, his body shifted nimbly. Like a crane spreading its wings, he swept around to Chen Chuan's other side, touched down on one foot, and swung another palm upward.
This palm was likewise blocked by Chen Chuan, spiritual radiance splashing at the point of contact. At that moment, Qi Huishi swept his other foot forward across the ground, shifting his body to instantly pivot at an angle. Leaning back in a reverse spin, he struck another palm toward the nape of Chen Chuan's neck. Just as it was about to land, Chen Chuan drove a backhand across the attack's path, firmly warding it off.
Qi Huishi spun once more, somehow circling around to yet another angle. Pinching his fingers and whipping his arm like a crane's beak pecking forward, he struck toward Chen Chuan's lower back—only to be jolted away by Chen Chuan's descending elbow.
This sequence of movements could truly be called graceful and fluid. With each offensive maneuver, only one foot touched the earth while the other continuously adjusted his balance and drove his body around his opponent, using rapid repositioning and spatial transitions to mitigate the shortfall in the intensity of his Flame of Spirituality as much as possible.
As the attacker, theoretically his shifts in technique should always stay one step ahead of his opponent. In a rapid offensive, should he notice his opponent failing to keep pace or exposing a gap in defense, he could instantly intensify the concentration of his Flame of Spirituality and seize a breakthrough in an instant.
Chen Chuan was entirely different. He barely moved from where he stood, yet every single blow launched at him was parried with unfailing accuracy.
Throughout the exchange, he had used neither superior speed nor overwhelming force; it was entirely governed by his combat judgment in the heat of battle.
And after parrying over a dozen consecutive moves, he had gained a rough grasp of his opponent's offensive rhythm and habits of power delivery. After warding off another strike from Qi Huishi, he turned defense into offense. Ignoring the fingers stabbing toward his eyebrows, neither dodging nor evading, he smashed a fist straight into the man's face!
Chapter 854