In the dense woods not far from the beach, Tuner's original body was hidden away, currently propped against a massive tree. Suddenly, he drew a deep, ragged breath and sat bolt upright.
This body was his true self, and so a portion of his spiritual power could never be detached from it. After all, he had not yet cultivated to the stage of severance and shedding within the Visage of the Divine.
However, now that his divine visage capable of leaving its mortal shell had been shattered, he had suffered a devastating blow. His remaining wisp of spiritual power was exceedingly feeble, capable at best of sustaining his self-existence, with virtually no combat capability left to speak of. If he turned and fled right now, there might still be some chance of escape.
Perhaps after returning, relying on secret medicines and nutritional supplements, he could barely restore some fighting strength; after all, this body of his was still that of a genuine martial artist.
Yet he did not choose to do so.
After sitting upright, he executed a reverse-merging secret technique. His originally full, robust physique withered rapidly, and before long he grew emaciated and haggard, resembling a dried corpse.
For a martial artist of the Visage of the Divine, only spiritual power was fundamental. Thus, once he quickly drained all the nourishment and energy contained within this body, he could patch up a fraction of what his divine visage had lost. Naturally, only this true body—honed throughout his cultivation—could be used for such a thing, because at their core, they were one and the same.
Yet after suffering this crushing defeat, his strength could never return to what it once was; he could only be said to have regained a sliver of combat capability.
Before long, the entire body decayed completely. Afterward, a hazy, drifting figure stepped forth from within it, the exterior shimmering with a faint light of spirituality.
A martial artist of the Visage of the Divine could actually still fight without a shell, but unless one reached a certain realm, one possessed hardly any threat. He did not know the exact details of the battle just now, but for his divine visage to be destroyed in mere moments unquestionably showed that the opponent was immensely powerful and possessed means to counter him. Going up like this would be nothing more than throwing his life away a second time.
Fortunately, he had prepared in advance. This wisp of a hazy figure stepped into a case he carried with him.
A moment later, the case suddenly shattered, and a fierce creature resembling both a wolf and a fox, coated in silver-white fur, stepped out from within. This was a high-cliff great silver sable from the Confluence—a backup shell Tuner had prepared beforehand.
The shell for a divine visage did not necessarily have to be humanoid; it could attach to the shells of various living creatures.
However, during battle, each possession consumed a tremendous amount of energy, so preparations had to be made well beforehand. The original owner of this shell was already on the verge of shedding and transformation, and had been fitted with numerous implants for enhancement. Furthermore, after years of tuning and repeated conditioning by him, the compatibility between them was extremely high, virtually eliminating such issues.
The great silver sable moved at astonishing speed, with razor-sharp fangs and claws and a physical resilience that was second to none. Now, fused with his divine visage, its fur rippled as a burst of spiritual radiance flared across its body. With a flash of silver light, it dashed toward the battlefield ahead.
Back on the beach, as soon as Yuexi was struck down, Nuoche had swiftly concealed his body into the air. Originally, the three of them had joined forces in an ambush, yet in the span of a few brief moments, he was the only one left standing, leaving him deeply unsettled.
Two arm blades sprang from his forearms, the Flame of Spirituality within his body poised and waiting. He stood there on full alert, head lowered, doing his utmost to avoid looking directly at Chen Chuan to minimize his presence.
Fortunately, he did not follow the same path as Tuner. What he excelled at most was concealment and exploiting openings, and this "Ghost Leopard" active conscious entity shell was naturally inclined toward that discipline, which he put to excellent use.
Now, he reined in his Flame of Spirituality with all his might, completely concealing every trace of his existence, and began retreating toward a more distant position without making a sound.
He was already considering a retreat. Clearly, there had been an intelligence failure this time. The target's strength far exceeded expectations; even if they failed, blame could hardly fall on them, and they would have plenty of justification once they returned.
The transfer of a divine visage was exceptionally swift. Yet the speed the opponent had demonstrated earlier had terrified him. Moreover, with the man's ability to illuminate and expose a divine visage, Nuoche felt that if he caused even the slightest stir while detaching, the opponent might detect him and run him down.
Chen Chuan stood on the beach, his demeanor completely relaxed. He knew there was still one martial artist of the Visage of the Divine remaining, who was likely hiding now, and hiding well. But unless this person had already fled beyond his line of sight, he could not leave no trace whatsoever.
He focused his senses on his surroundings. Mastering the Grand Radiant Light Forms had not merely boosted his combat prowess; his spiritual power had also seen a substantial elevation.
Hiding for a fleeting moment was fine, but the surrounding environment was constantly shifting. Having stayed here for days, he was intimately familiar with the surroundings; the slightest discordance would not escape his notice.
After a brief moment, he suddenly raised a hand and pointed toward a certain spot. Instantly, a burst of radiance blossomed outward in all directions.
Nuoche immediately sensed danger. Maintaining his concealment as much as possible, he retreated outward. Yet it was futile; his speed could not keep up with the spreading light, and the edge of his ankle was brushed by its glow.
Knowing at once that things had gone south, he spread his arms apart, and two beams of spiritual radiance surged toward Chen Chuan in an instant.
The spiritual impact earlier had failed to shake the opponent, but he hadn't used his full strength back then. He believed that if he condensed it further, even if it couldn't pierce that outer defense, it could at least give the opponent a moment's pause.
Meanwhile, his divine visage detached from his body and sped away into the distance. As long as he got far enough before the opponent could catch up, his chances of escape would increase dramatically.
Yet the moment he separated, a beam of light suddenly shone over. His originally formless, shadowless visage was exposed instantly. Furthermore, he felt as if bound by some sort of force, and his movement actually grew sluggish.
This was fatal. Without even thinking, he knew the two spiritual impacts had failed to hinder the opponent in the least. Once the man closed in, he would suffer the exact same fate as Tuner.
In this dire crisis, without waiting for Chen Chuan's attack to land, he employed a Moketi separation art from the Sanmawojia Continental Association. He tore his divine visage apart, leaving the vast majority of it in place to be obliterated by the incoming, ferocious punch, while the minuscule remnant seized the opportunity to plunge into Yuexi's body nearby at blinding speed.
Although Yuexi had been beaten unconscious and his body heavily damaged, a martial artist's tenacious vitality meant he hadn't perished on the spot, which made it the perfect vessel to hide within.
Even so, had Yuexi's lingering consciousness resisted in the slightest, Nuoche's currently weakened visage would never have managed to smoothly merge into it. Fortunately, he transmitted a signal via mental intention at that critical moment, and the other man's consciousness did not reject him.
This was actually a tactic they had discussed beforehand. Martial artists of the Visage of the Divine could bestow their power onto other fighters through possession and attachment, provided there was absolute trust between the parties.
If both sides cooperated fully, they could cover each other's weaknesses and unleash power greater than merely joining forces. Not to mention, Yuexi belonged to the Convergence faction; the esoteric traditions he cultivated were naturally adept at incorporating various external forces.
Yet this had only been a last resort, as both harbored misgivings about such a merger. But now, with their lives on the line, there was no reason to worry about such qualms.
After obliterating the bulk of Nuoche's divine visage with a single punch, Chen Chuan glanced behind him. He saw that the body that had collapsed in the seawater had vanished, and thick billows of mist were rising from where it had lain.
General Heavenly Rhino was a great general guarding the Moon River, said in legends to wield the power to control water and summon mist. Having regained a trace of consciousness from Nuoche's mental stimulation, Yuexi immediately relied on his externally projected biological field, using the surrounding seawater to condense dense swaths of mist to conceal himself.
At the same time, he retreated rapidly into the sea along with the receding tide. As long as he reached the water, his Visage of the Aberrant would allow him to move far more freely than on land.
As he drifted down, Nuoche disregarded the toll on himself, using his concealment techniques to mask the disturbances around them.
Yet these efforts did not accomplish much. After all, with such a massive body present, even retreating with the seawater could never be entirely silent.
Chen Chuan had no need to know their exact location; discerning their general whereabouts was enough. Facing a certain direction, a cluster of radiance lit up in his hand.
Right at this moment, a silver flash of light materialized from thin air and struck toward his back. Turning, he swung his palm back. With a booming crash, a flashing light carved a surging torrent across the beach, sweeping away all the seawater and gravel in its path. An instant later, half the mangled carcass of a silver sable hit the ground with a wet slap.
He cast a glance down at it. A moment later, he suddenly heard heavy footsteps echoing from the sea behind him, and turned around to look.
Through the dense mist, a towering figure was striding forward, gradually emerging from the fog as the sound drew closer.
Yuexi's stature had grown even further, reaching eight or nine meters in height. The single horn on his head was longer than before, and the gaping hole in his torso was completely sealed. The armor formed of mutated tissue was far more intricate, and the long-handled golden melon mallet originally gripped in both hands was now held in just one. He looked even truer to traditional portraits of the Moon River General.
And the Flame of Spirituality upon him was even more bizarre, shifting in three distinct colors that drifted and morphed across his form.
Just before using the shell to ambush Chen Chuan, Tuner's final wisp of divine visage had detached in advance and plunged into Yuexi's body. Now, the power of all three had converged into one.
Had the power of both divine visages been whole, Yuexi could never have endured it. But because both had entered with damaged visages, it created a dynamic of one strong and two weak, precariously maintaining a balance.
Chen Chuan slowly turned to face him directly. These three opponents had indeed brought him a rather novel experience. Reaching out with an open hand, the Xuejun Saber planted in the distant ground flew swiftly into his grip.
"Now then, let's see just what this thing is made of."
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Chapter 904