The gaze directed toward them showed not the slightest trace of surprise at the trio's appearance. Instead, it held an indescribable calm, like a pool whose depths could not be plumbed with a single glance.
This stirred a faint prickle of unease within the three of them.
Yet since their target had already spotted them, there was no longer any need to hide.
Yuexi rolled his neck, eliciting a series of dry pops. "The weather is fine, and we've got plenty of time. Let's stick to the plan. Finish this quickly, and we can head back sooner."
Nuoche and Tuner each voiced an assent. At this moment, neither retained their original appearance. They looked like three-meter-long humanoid leopards glistening all over with a faint, blue-black luster, flanked by sets of sharp, translucent, wing-like fins that lent them a lethal, enigmatic aura.
These were the active conscious entity shells prepared for them by the Lianwei Heavy Control Company, similar to the "Shuixian" experimental subject Yang Ling had once used. Such constructs could integrate deeply with the user's mind, allowing them to unleash far greater power.
The difference was that ordinary individuals with mental talent could only strive to adapt to the active conscious entity and merge into it as much as possible, whereas fighters of the Visage of the Divine held absolute dominion. To them, such a shell was at most a handy, disposable tool.
As for their actual physical bodies for this mission, after deducing that their opponent was likely just ahead, they had already stowed them safely in the rear with a portion of their minds anchored within. If necessary, they could still call upon them.
With a leap outward, the faint glow across their forms flickered once, and the two melted seamlessly into thin air.
Yuexi, meanwhile, produced a hardcover volume of poetry, flipped through a couple of pages, and then reluctantly and carefully packed it away into his suitcase. Fortunately, he had spent the journey reading through these verses whenever he had a spare moment, sparing him the need to recite them right before battle just to get into the zone.
From the equipment chest he carried, he drew out his mutated weapon, tore off his coat with a single rip, and strode out toward the beach with heavy, purposeful steps.
To master the final form of the Grand Firmament Forms, Chen Chuan had been accumulating energy over the past few days. With remnants of the rotting phosphor's essence still remaining, he estimated he would be ready in another day or two.
He hadn't anticipated an unwanted interruption at this crucial juncture, which left him somewhat annoyed.
Those capable of tracking him down here could only be from the Yuanren Company or the Municipal Council. Given their efficiency and the fact that more than one martial artist had arrived, the former seemed far more likely.
No matter. They were merely minor nuisances at best. He would dispose of them quickly and resume his progress.
Yuexi had already emerged from the lush trees behind the beach. As a practitioner of the Visage of the Aberrant, his role was to pin Chen Chuan down from the front.
As he drew closer, his body swelled rapidly, shooting up to five or six meters in height in the blink of an eye. Mutated tissues erupted from beneath his skin, weaving and overlapping with the custom-made external armor he had already strapped on. Simultaneously, a single white horn curved slightly outward from the very center of his forehead.
The long-handled melon hammer in his grip had previously looked far too large and unwieldy for him, but now it fit his proportions perfectly.
The outward visage he cultivated was that of General Heavenly Rhino, who, according to legend among the many visages of the Xuan Sect, guarded the mountain passes and ferry crossings of the Moon River. Though his massive frame was colossal and his features ferocious, his jade-white armor, snow-white horn, and the ethereal, pale-cyan Flame of Spirituality flickering around him gave his imposing might a surprising touch of otherworldly elegance.
Once he reached a certain distance, he halted with hammer in hand and steadied his breathing for a brief moment. Seeing Chen Chuan standing motionless, he let out a thunderous roar and hoisted the long hammer overhead with both hands. A dazzling glare instantly blazed across the weapon before he swung it forward with tremendous force. A cluster of pale-cyan light carved a gouge through the beach sand, hurtling straight toward Chen Chuan's position.
He had opened the fight directly with a spiritual impact!
Simultaneously, an almost translucent streak of light manifested from the air on the left, darting toward Chen Chuan in a flash. Just as it was about to reach him, a crimson flash erupted from another direction, and a blazing fire-like burst of spiritual radiance reached him in the blink of an eye.
BOOM!
In the next instant, all three spiritual impacts struck the exact same spot and detonated almost simultaneously!
The seawater in that area was vaporized in an instant, and the blinding glare made the surrounding daylight seem dim by comparison.
Surprise and delight flickered in the eyes of Yuexi and his companions.
It actually hit?!
Could it really be this easy?
Their original plan had been for one person to strike and force the target to evade, followed by a second attack, while the third person timed the most crucial blow.
If they could force Chen Chuan into a defensive, stationary stance, they would seize the initiative, opening up numerous tactical options. After all, there were three of them; with proper coordination, they could continuously suppress their opponent, giving him no opportunity to counterattack.
However, anticipating that their opponent possessed considerable combat skill, they had also prepared for all their initial attacks to miss, which would have triggered their backup plan.
Yet never in their wildest dreams did they expect every single strike to land. Such an ideal opening was far beyond their expectations—could the target truly have been injured previously?
The blazing light raged for several moments before ceasing its expansion and rapidly collapsing inward. When it finally dissipated completely, the sight revealed shook the trio to their cores.
Chen Chuan stood right where he had been, his posture completely unchanged. Encircling him was a brilliant sphere of light radiating outward like a scorching sun, while white-gold luminous vapor billowed upward from the surface of his body. Not a single one of the three spiritual impacts had penetrated the Flame of Spirituality shielding him!
The surrounding seawater rushed in, attempting to fill the blasted void, only to crash against his dam-like field and shatter into wild spray.
Yuexi and the others never imagined that their target could take a barrage of spiritual impacts head-on. Such a level of power was far beyond what a martial artist who had only recently broken through should possess.
This unforeseen and baffling turn of events left them momentarily at a loss as to how to proceed. Yuexi couldn't even be sure whether the other two might use his advance as a distraction to pull back and flee if he pressed the attack.
All three hesitated for a fraction of a second.
And in that very instant, Chen Chuan vanished from where he stood.
Tuner had been relying on the active conscious entity's cloaking function to merge with the atmosphere, but the moment Chen Chuan disappeared from sight, every hair on his body stood on end.
Danger!
He dodged sideways immediately. His reaction was fast enough, yet a fist glowing with white-gold radiance smashed right through his fragile outer field and slammed squarely into the body of the active conscious entity!
With a tremendous boom, the host shell was blown to smithereens by that single punch. The outer Flame of Spirituality was extinguished instantly by brute force, failing to offer even a shred of protection.
However, martial artists of the Visage of the Divine could discard their shells at will. Sensing disaster, the portion of Tuner's divine visage anchored within had already detached from the conscious entity ahead of time and was fleeing at top speed, seeking to return to his true physical body.
Yet the moment it emerged into the open, it fell beneath that sun-like brilliance. His outer Flame of Spirituality melted away at terrifying speed, and the momentum of his flight abruptly stalled.
Shifting through the Visage of the Divine was supposed to be formless, intangible, and impossible to track, yet under this blazing light, it was forcibly laid bare. Then he saw Chen Chuan turn slightly, his other hand clenching into a fist, gaze locked dead onto him. For an instant, everything in the surroundings seemed frozen in place.
He knew this was merely an illusion born of the opponent's absurd speed. As a martial artist of the divine visage, his extraordinary mental strength was able to clearly and faithfully register every detail.
Yet being able to see clearly did not mean he could dodge. The opponent's speed completely exceeded his own upper limit of movement. He could only watch helplessly as that fist expanded before his eyes and smashed into him!
BOOM!
Another violent explosion erupted. The surrounding light warped, and bursts of spiritual fire scattered in all directions like bursting fireworks. The split-off portion of Tuner's divine visage was blown apart on the spot, not a single scrap managing to escape.
Chen Chuan stood in place, wisps of Flame of Spirituality wafting from his outstretched fist, while all around him fell the rustling ash of the destroyed active conscious entity.
This spectacle filled Yuexi and Nuoche with sheer horror. The target's displayed power and speed outmatched them across the board; he was simply not an opponent on the same level. In that instant, an overwhelming sense of pressure gripped their hearts like a vise.
Yet neither thought of running.
Because escape was impossible.
Yuexi's breath came in ragged gasps. When he saw Chen Chuan turn his head and met those deep, quiet eyes, his heart lurched violently.
Roaring maniacally, he sent pale-cyan luminous vapor flaring across the melon hammer. His colossal frame expanded by another fraction as he swung the hammer down at Chen Chuan with momentum that could cleave rivers and dam torrents.
Simultaneously, a slender beam of light shot toward Chen Chuan from the flank.
Nuoche knew full well how dire the situation was. The enemy's strength surpassed all imagination—this was a damn martial artist far beyond their ability to handle! Yet retreat was out of the question; he had no choice but to grit his teeth and press on.
Watching their movements, Chen Chuan sidestepped, appearing directly at Yuexi's flank and effortlessly evading the pincer attack. Realizing he had missed, Yuexi whipped the long hammer around in an instant pivot. The turn was blindingly fast, driven by the coordinated pull of most of his mutated tissues, allowing him to keep pace even with movement as fast as Chen Chuan's.
The rotational force amplified his explosive power several times over, but the maneuver left him with no way to recover. He knew the risks of such an all-or-nothing gamble, but against such a terrifying foe, if he didn't risk everything now, he might never get another chance to strike.
Facing this swing, Chen Chuan didn't dodge. As his figure surged forward, he brought his arm out to parry, effortlessly blocking the blow with his bare hand! The Flame of Spirituality atop the hammer head burst and scattered in violent showers, and before Yuexi's abruptly widening pupils, Chen Chuan drove a fist straight into his abdomen!
The white vapor there dissolved instantly, followed by a torrent of unstoppable force surging into his body. His chest and abdomen erupted into a massive, see-through cavity. Yuexi stumbled back a few steps, his eyes rolling back, before toppling backward and collapsing into the seawater with a heavy crash.
Chen Chuan slowly straightened up. Looking ahead, he said in a calm voice, "You came here hunting plenty of game, didn't you? But the ground you're standing on—this is my hunting ground."
Chapter 903