After radiating intensely outward for a time, the eerie light finally receded inward. What now appeared before Chen Chuan was an entity that, in outward appearance alone, was colossal and resembled a human face.
It possessed a bone-like outer shell covered in rugged, intricate patterns. At its upper end were massive, cavernous eye sockets packed with countless eyeballs clustered together in a sight that made one's scalp crawl.
From various points on the shell extended tendril-like branches tipped with sharp, hooked structures. Beneath its body were slender, curved, multi-legged appendages, though at this moment it seemed to float in midair, countless tentacles drifting and waving below.
Behind it spun a massive, vortex-like cyclone, from which wisps and ribbons of luminous vapor reached out, connecting to it.
Around its body, distorted light and shadows shifted, as though undergoing some deep integration with or corrosion of the surrounding environment. Yet this appeared unstable, flickering in and out of existence from one moment to the next.
Chen Chuan could tell at a glance that this phenomenon was caused by the entity's sudden entry into the material world, before the two had firmly bonded. What lay before his eyes was both real and an illusion.
Unlike the situations he had encountered before, the breach in the Ring of the World was already sealed. Such an entity suffered severe suppression from the Ring of the World; even if it could briefly pry open a fissure, it still required time to adapt before it could stabilize itself and harness its colossal power.
That membrane earlier had likely been something like a relic, capable of sealing the entity inside so it could rein in its power and maintain a prolonged existence without relying on possession. Now that Chen Chuan had forcibly shattered it and exposed the creature, it had no choice but to undergo this process.
Under these circumstances, an intact Ring of the World played a tremendous role.
Yet even so, that did not mean the thing was easy to handle. In particular, during the brief moment when the fissure was opened, it could draw immense support from beyond. If not dealt with promptly, once it completely transitioned from illusory to real, it would become exceedingly difficult to contend with.
And the opportunity lay within this fleeting window.
Then—
With a shift of his thought, his second self instantly merged into one with him. At that very instant, the light and force field around his body flared outward violently.
In that split second, he pushed both the Grand Radiant Light Forms and Grand Firmament Forms to their absolute peak.
Leaping from where he stood, wrapped in a ball of brilliant light, he slammed directly toward the behemoth.
As he drew near, a dense, web-like lattice could be seen permeating the surrounding air—a hybrid produced by the entity's dissipated spirit coming into contact with the material world. This could be considered its domain, and the deeper in one went, the denser it became.
Yet it could not halt his momentum. The radiant light, blazing like a grand sun around him, rapidly melted and dissolved these barriers, while the whirling force field propelled him relentlessly forward.
He forcibly tore through layer upon layer of obstruction, ultimately crashing heavily into its massive body. Light flashed across the point of impact, followed by an explosion that shook the subterranean space, tearing a gaping hole straight into the entity's form.
In truth, this did not inflict much actual damage on the entity, but it disrupted the entity's firm integration with this world, preventing it from projecting any tangible force upon him.
Moreover, to his surprise, when the bright light surrounding him made contact with this thing, it seemed to ignite spontaneously like fire catching tinder. Clearly, this secret lore of the Purist Faction possessed a potent purifying and restraining effect against such an entity.
Yet even so, owing to the thing's immense size, even if this section was damaged, the rest of it could still continue the process. As long as any single part stabilized over a brief period, that stability could spread across its entire form. When that happened, its full, terrifying power could be unleashed, and what he faced would no longer be an enemy easily handled.
In that event, all the armed forces of Center City might have to be mobilized; forget the Lower City, by the end of the battle, Center City itself could suffer catastrophic devastation.
Therefore, he had to destroy it before that could happen!
Having blasted clean through one side, he remained suspended in midair, kicked against the empty air with a resounding boom, and reversed his momentum to crash back in once more.
In the past, under full exertion, he could maintain such a state for barely a dozen breaths at most. But after subduing his breath, his mastery over his own power had reached a higher plane, nearly doubling that duration.
Even so, this was by no means foolproof. If he misjudged a location or failed to keep pace with the creature's rate of stabilization, all previous efforts could be rendered futile. He had to ensure that every single strike landed on the most critical point.
After his third charge, the red scarf drifted upward, its tip pointing toward a certain direction. His eyes flickered, and he lunged toward that spot. The instant he pierced through the entity's body, he felt that this was indeed where its energy was concentrating.
With this, he no longer needed to spend effort searching for the targets on his own—he only needed to charge straight toward those positions. With Hongfu's guidance, he accelerated his assaults. Beams of straight, blazing light darted back and forth through the colossal entity's body, refusing to allow it even a moment to stabilize.
Under his continuous piercing and destruction, the creature's colossal frame became riddled with holes, turning from solid cohesion into something fragmented and erratic, as if it had become an ethereal mist incapable of condensing into physical substance.
Yet even so, it still stubbornly refused to dissipate.
Chen Chuan realized that there must still be a core consciousness stubbornly holding everything together, hiding deep within. Unlike the anchor points of power, this mental consciousness could not be easily discerned from surface energy flows.
However, he was not entirely without options.
He drew a deep breath, channeling the Heaven and Earth Furnace breathing technique as well. Under this all-out exertion, platinum-colored mist billowed upward from his body, and in an instant, the sunlight-like radiance around him expanded twofold, immediately engulfing the colossal body whole.
In that very moment, he spotted a tiny, glistening spark of light deep within the creature's form.
The moment he laid eyes on it, he leaped into the air and raised the Xuejun Saber high. His power surged to its peak in tandem with his breathing, the brilliant light around him blazing with blinding intensity until he looked like the blazing sun hanging in the sky. Then, he slashed down with all his might. At that split second, he felt as if he had severed something, and a crisp shattering sound rang in his ears.
Following the strike, propelled by the force field around him, he plummeted rapidly. Like thunder falling from the sky, this flash of dazzling light crashed down, blasting a crater into the ground with a deafening boom.
The entity's massive body was torn cleanly in two by the slash. This time, it could no longer reassemble. Under the suppression of the Ring of the World, the churning fumes dissipated uncontrollably, finally dissolving into a sky of drifting grayish-white dust.
And the fissure that had been forcibly torn open shrank rapidly, snapping shut and vanishing in a flash.
At this moment, Chen Chuan sensed that after that strike, the Xuejun Saber seemed to have drawn something inside. The blade vibrated faintly, as though trying to break free, but his hands held the hilt in an iron grip. His breath resonated with the saber, and the Spiritual Fire upon him poured steadily into it.
After about a minute or two, the blade finally fell still.
Chen Chuan looked up and glanced around. The eerie flames scattered nearby flickered for a while longer before extinguishing, leaving behind nothing but a field of craters; the area where the battle had just taken place was utterly ruined.
Fortunately, when he initially threw the entity out, he had deliberately hurled it toward an unoccupied area; otherwise, casualties among the personnel in the rear would have been unavoidable.
With that entity gone, the strike team members in the rear finally came to their senses from their stupor. They looked up to see Chen Chuan standing ahead with his saber, while the colossal being collapsed in ruins before him and crumbled into countless swirling fragments—a spectacle that left them deeply shaken.
Lan Shengu managed to stagger to his feet, his head clearing somewhat. Looking at the fallen entity and then at Chen Chuan's silhouette, he let out a long breath of relief. Suddenly overwhelmed by exhaustion, he simply collapsed back down, sprawling out with arms and legs spread, muttering, "Jobs like this... I'm never taking one again."
Yuan Qiuyuan supported himself with his staff and remarked sincerely, "The captain is truly extraordinary."
Qin Qingque hummed in agreement, nodding emphatically.
Taking in the surrounding situation, Xu Chan's expression relaxed slightly. He took off his hat, patted off the dust clinging to it, and walked forward to Chen Chuan's side. "Section Chief?"
Chen Chuan said, "I'm fine." He glanced at the long-haired man lying in the distance. "I have a bit of business to wrap up here. Old Xu, go take down the final stronghold up ahead."
"Yes, sir!" Xu Chan offered a solemn salute, then turned and left to regroup the team.
Chen Chuan walked over toward the long-haired man. Though the evil god inside the man had not been claimed by that entity earlier, under the illumination of the Grand Radiant Light Forms, not only had the entity's grasping hand vanished, but the evil god had also been mostly dissolved, leaving behind only a meager trace.
He could sense that this remnant was likely something the Xuejun Saber would relish as well, but the saber was evidently full this time; upon sensing his thoughts, it merely stirred slightly before falling inert.
So he simply sheathed the blade into the scabbard at his side, pulled it from the ground, and walked over to the long-haired man, whose eyes were rolled back in unconsciousness.
After studying him for a few moments, Chen Chuan nodded. This was indeed the very person who had attempted to orchestrate the large-scale esoteric ritual back in Yangzhi City.
At the time, this man had disguised himself as an ordinary passenger hiding aboard the train instead of the hot air balloon everyone suspected, ultimately slipping away through that ruse.
Since then, there had been no word of him. Who would have thought he had come to Center City and even participated in setting up the esoteric ritual in the Lower City?
Chen Chuan pressed his boundary credential, attempting to establish contact with the command above. After a moment, the call connected, and Qi Weizhao's voice came through: "Section Chief Chen? What's the situation?"
Chen Chuan said, "That entity was indeed hiding in the Lower City. It has been dealt with now... Yes, no casualties so far. The final cleanup is underway." He turned to watch the personnel charging toward the honeycomb-like building and added, "This operation will be wrapped up very soon."
Chapter 931