The arm grasping the long-haired man looked somewhat like a human hand. Aside from being slender, elongated, and considerably larger, there was nothing particularly remarkable about it, yet for reasons unknown, it instilled a profound, chilling terror.
Those present who laid eyes on the thing instantly felt their bodies growing numb and their minds growing heavy and groggy, as if their consciousness was dissolving away.
At that very moment, the Disposal Bureau staff who had retreated into the distance collapsed to the ground one after another. Not only them—all the field organisms in the surrounding area also fell motionless in that instant.
Xu Chan stood where he was, still maintaining his clarity of mind. What was before them had to be the object of their search this time—some higher-tier entity.
At this moment, waves of drowsiness assaulted him as well. On one hand, his spirit could not withstand the mental impact of such a higher-tier entity; on the other hand, it was a self-preservation mechanism of his own body. In truth, however, if one genuinely passed out, all capacity to resist would be entirely lost.
Fortunately, several squad members, including him, had a strand of Chen Chuan's spirit power attached to them, which continually sustained their reason and sobriety. Even so, under the influence at such close quarters, his body felt as though it had detached from him; he could not feel the slightest trace of it, let alone take any action.
Farther back, Lan Shengu leaned against the armored vehicle, wisps of blood nearly trickling from his eyes. A murky yellow world had manifested in his vision, brimming with countless writhing, stacked hands. It sickened him to the point of retching, yet his body refused to move.
The ritual patterns arranged across his body had dissipated the moment that hand appeared. He desperately wished he could just faint, if only to be spared this torment. But he could not.
His innate spiritual talent kept his spirit in a hyper-stimulated state instead. If this continued, it would inevitably drag his entire physical body into total collapse.
He could only watch helplessly as the phantom hands around him closed in.
In the distance, just as that slender, elongated arm was about to drag the long-haired man into the tunnel, the tunnel ceiling overhead abruptly fractured without a sound. A beam of radiant light plunged straight down from above, striking squarely across the middle of the arm. Upon slamming into the ground, the brilliant luminescence spilled outward in every direction.
Only then did a colossal boom detonate like thunder right in everyone's ears. Those slumped over or lying sprawled on the ground were jolted violently upward by the shockwave, and even the surrounding vehicles bounced on the spot.
A surge of outward-rushing air instantly followed, carrying billowing clouds of dust and smoke straight toward them, engulfing them in a heartbeat.
The blast wave knocked Lan Shengu sideways onto the ground, but in that moment he discovered to his delight that he could move his limbs again. Forcing himself up on trembling arms, he fixed his gaze on the epicenter of the explosion.
Amid the swirling dust, a figure stood at the crater's center, surrounded by shimmering, radiant light. Beneath his feet, the force of the impact had caved the ground inward into a deep depression.
Chen Chuan stood at the bottom of the crater. The slender, elongated arm had snapped into two under the shock of his descent, its connecting midpoint completely pulverized.
The severed fore-section was still clamped tightly around the long-haired man, refusing to let go, yet under the bright light radiating from Chen Chuan, it began giving off wisps of smoke, gradually growing limp as though slowly melting away.
The arm's owner seemed to sense that something was wrong and began retracting deeper into the tunnel. Chen Chuan plunged the Xuejun Saber into the ground, dashed forward a few strides, and locked both arms around the severed limb. Planting his feet firmly against the earth, he began hauling backward, step by step.
Lan Shengu and the remaining squad members who had not lost consciousness stared wide-eyed. Though they could not see the arm's owner, they could imagine the immense disparity in size between the two. Yet right now, Chen Chuan had gripped that severed arm and was dragging it out inch by inch, as if locked in a monumental tug-of-war.
The entity on the other end seemed to thrash and struggle, but no matter what it did, it could not resist this overwhelming force, and it was dragged out bit by bit.
As Chen Chuan retreated step by step, the true form of that thing was finally laid bare.
It was an abhorrent monstrosity that induced intense revulsion. Vaguely human in shape, its torso was exceptionally long and spindly. At its crown sprouted over a dozen hairless heads, every single one twisted in an agonizing grimace. Arms grew in rows along both sides of its rib cage, and its underside was densely crowded with human legs. Its skin was completely smooth and hairless, making it appear as though it had been forcefully cobbled together from the severed limbs and torsos of numerous human corpses.
Having hauled it out completely, Chen Chuan exerted the full force of his arms, twisted his hips, and hurled it outward, sending it flying far from the tunnel entrance.
Then, his figure vanished abruptly from the spot. Midair, the monstrous evil was struck as if hit by a falling meteor, crashing violently into the ground. With a thunderous boom, the earth beneath everyone's feet heaved violently, knocking over many who had only just managed to stand back up.
At that moment, inside the honeycomb-shaped structure, the middle-aged man arrived from the rear. Enduring the repulsive discomfort radiating from ahead, he stood at a vantage point looking out into the distance, where a colossal plume of dust and smoke was billowing, a blindingly bright light faintly visible within.
As the dust settled slightly, a tall, upright silhouette could be seen standing atop a bizarre carcass, wisps of steaming platinum-colored luminescence drifting around him. Under the middle-aged man's gaze, the figure seemed to sense something and looked up directly in his direction.
The middle-aged man shuddered violently, his pupils contracting sharply. This person was—
Realizing things had gone terribly wrong, he turned to flee. But after barely taking a few steps, something seemed to streak past from the side. In the next moment, he watched in horror as half of his own torso exploded, sending him collapsing to the floor.
Even as a third limit fighter, losing half his body meant he could only cling to life for a short while; taking any further action was out of the question. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of what had struck him—a gleaming, diamond-shaped object that emitted a low hum before zipping away just as swiftly.
After smashing the monstrosity into the ground, Chen Chuan was about to follow up with another attack when he noticed its body inflating like a balloon. A murky, dim radiance bled from its frame as the arms along both flanks snapped shut toward him simultaneously.
His eyes glinted faintly as he leapt backward, putting distance between them. The creature flipped upright in an instant, its dozens of legs churning frantically as it charged at him. At the same time, the arms of varying lengths on both flanks clenched into fists and rained down toward him in a frantic barrage.
Its strength was tremendous. Every blow that struck the ground sent a colossal tremor through the earth, accompanied by fierce flashes of eerie light. Sparks of this illumination scattered around, instantly corroding the ground into pitted craters that seeped with a faint, ghostly glow.
Chen Chuan chose not to meet the strikes head-on. Leveraging his smaller profile and superior speed, he evaded continuously. Pursuing his movement, the monster pressed relentlessly forward. Everywhere they passed, the terrain looked as if it had been plowed by artillery shells, blasted into one cratered ruin after another.
Chen Chuan's evasions were not in a straight line; he shifted deliberately from side to side, using his footwork to manipulate the creature's momentum and center of gravity. Several breaths later, as another fist came hurtling toward him, he did not dodge this time. Instead, he raised an arm to parry and redirect.
When the fist collided with his blocking forearm, the spiritual radiance and the murky light rapidly eroded each other, and the ground beneath his feet instantly cratered. Yet this deflection was timed precisely at the pivot of the creature's force distribution, disrupting its fluid offensive rhythm and pulling its center of gravity off to one side.
In that very split second, he reversed his grip onto the arm, wrenching downward at an angle to slam the creature's far larger body violently onto the ground with a resounding crash.
The moment it went down, Chen Chuan surged forward to where its heads clustered, leveling a fist ablaze with light straight down into them!
Boom! A massive shockwave detonated across the area, unleashing violent squalls of air that rattled the honeycomb-shaped structure behind them with creaking groans.
Beneath Chen Chuan's strike, the head at the point of impact burst apart instantly. Yet the remaining heads raised in unison, unleashing a chorus of shrieks at him with features twisted in utter agony.
Seeing this, he drove down another punch, cutting their shrieks short. Without pausing, he followed fist with fist in a relentless, continuous barrage. Rapid-fire explosions detonated one after another as concussive waves and billowing plumes of smoke rippled outward.
After pounding it mercilessly for a dozen breaths, he noticed that the dim light beneath him had completely vanished. He paused his assault. What lay below now was nothing more than a limp, mangled hide. All the heads had been smashed to pulp, virtually blended into the crater's dirt and rubble, with only a few lingering wisps of spectral fire flickering atop the ruin.
Yet right at that moment, he sensed a formidable power brewing beneath the surface. He pulled back immediately, retreating in a blur. The very instant he backed away, an immense pillar of light surged into the sky.
Chen Chuan watched as the shredded hide seemed to tear open, and a shadowy form crawled out from within, swelling and expanding at staggering speed.
The thing quickly grew until it was nearly as tall as the honeycomb structure itself. The spectral light emanating from it erupted outward, dozens of times more intense than before, churning with turbulent gusts of wind. For a time, it seemed as if only this colossal thing existed in the area, blotting out everything else.
He stood his ground as the dark oncoming gusts and flying gravel grated against the radiance and force field enveloping him, producing sharp, rasping friction.
He knew that the real fight was beginning now. Extending a hand outward, the Xuejun Saber resting in its scabbard in the distance vibrated slightly, slipped from the sheath, and flew tens of meters across the air into his palm. He gripped the hilt and gave it a flick to the side; instantly, a platinum-colored aura flared along the blade.
He looked toward the colossal dark shadow shrouded in the light.
Well then, let's see what you've got.
Chapter 930