Corva gritted his teeth and snarled, "Aren't you supposed to be in a meeting right now? You didn't show up the previous two times. Why did you come this time?"
Chen Chuan took a small object from his uniform pocket and tossed it onto the ground. It tumbled across the terrazzo floor with a crisp clatter. Corva took one look at it and blurted out, "A demon whale bone?"
It was something he knew all too well. The bones of a demon whale possessed a peculiar property: even when separated, bones from the same whale would influence one another.
Combat personnel in an investigation delegation like theirs typically ingested one beforehand. If one of the fragments experienced an abnormal fluctuation, as long as the distance was not too great, the other bone shards would vibrate violently, signaling that something had happened to that person so others could rush to their aid.
Shocked and suspicious, he looked at Skarson. "You gave it to him? You suspected me all along?"
Skarson's head was growing heavier by the second. His body was drawing heavily upon his life energy to sustain his vitals and mend his wounds, yet he still forced his consciousness to stay awake.
He said, "That day, when you grabbed my boxing gloves, you touched my other luggage. That wasn't a mistake you would normally make. You were checking to see if I brought other weapons."
"Just because of that?" Corva's eyes were filled with disbelief. They had been partners for so long; something like that should never have been enough to make Skarson suspect him.
Skarson said, "I have to ensure every operation is safe. While I may not particularly like Section Chief Chen's style of doing things, he truly is protecting this city. After that spar we had, I decided I could trust him."
Chen Chuan said, "Mr. Corva, there is no need to blame your colleague. During your previous two operations, it wasn't that I wasn't present; I simply didn't wish to disturb you. So no matter what you did, the outcome would have been the same."
As the Chief of the Defense Department, there was no way he would allow two foreign martial artists to roam freely across Center City, even under the banner of the Investigation Delegation.
And when he restrained his presence, using his second self to enter a state of subdued manifestation, it was virtually impossible for others to detect him beyond a certain distance.
Corva finally realized what that meant. He glared fixedly at Chen Chuan. "You were already here just now?"
Chen Chuan nodded. "I've been here for a while." He glanced toward Skarson. "Mr. Skarson, my apologies. If I had stopped him from the start, I doubt I would have learned all of this. Still, I could tell your partner had no intention of dealing you a fatal blow."
Skarson said with difficulty, "Section Chief Chen, you have no need to apologize to me. This wasn't your fault in the first place; it is our Investigation Delegation that owes you an apology."
He drew in a breath and said, "Corva, don't stray any further down this path. Give it up."
"Give up what?!"
Corva roared, his face twisting into a hideous snarl under the glow of the cluster of light. Earlier, he had spoken so much to Skarson because he wanted his partner's validation, wanting Skarson to stand on his side.
Moreover, the field communications here had long since been jammed. Even though Chen Chuan had arrived, the information would not be leaked immediately.
If he could defeat Chen Chuan, this situation could still be covered up. Most importantly, he had no way out—he had to win!
He must win!
Skarson sighed. "You are no match for Section Chief Chen."
"So what?"
Madness washed over Corva's face. True, Chen Chuan had defeated Skarson and was plainly stronger than him; under normal circumstances, Corva would stand no chance at all. But this place was different!
Chen Chuan's mistake was stepping inside.
This entire area was enveloped by the relic "Cold Claw." Aside from him, its wielder, anyone here would inevitably be tainted by it.
Even escaping the relic's range was useless, because once affected by Cold Claw, the lingering effects would persist for a considerable duration. Otherwise, Skarson's first instinct earlier would have been to flee rather than fight back.
And there was more...
His throat bobbed as he swallowed the dose of medicine concealed beneath his tongue. Martial artists rarely relied on drugs in combat, but that did not mean such concoctions did not exist. It was just that to forcefully squeeze out their potential and life energy, the medicine had to be far more brutal, potent, and even self-destructive.
He had originally prepared these drugs as a contingency, but now he had no choice but to use them. As the medicine entered his system, its potency rapidly unleashed. His eyes turned blood-red in an instant, and thick blue veins bulged across his face and body.
At the same time, his entire frame began to swell. The mutated tissue beneath his skin proliferated rapidly, transforming him in the blink of an eye into a monster four to five meters tall, with a pair of ox horns jutting horizontally from his head.
He had thick, powerful limbs, a body draped in snow-white fur, and a shaggy, unkempt beard that trailed all the way to the floor, while a long tail dragged behind him. With a wave of his hand, a short sword and a buckler flew over from his crate, settling firmly in his grasp.
This was his Visage of the Aberrant—the "Doma Giant" of Beisuo Island legend. In the oral epics of the Doma people, whenever a warrior fell in battle, his kin would use his flesh and blood to outline the figure of a giant upon the plateau's cliff faces, leaving it frozen in the ice. When the legendary enemy arrived, they needed only to shatter the ice, and these giants would answer the call, returning to the mortal realm to fight alongside them.
When Chen Chuan walked in earlier, he had felt a strange power descending over him. But under the continuous etherealization of his second self, that burden had been entirely absorbed.
Watching Corva's transformations and movements, Chen Chuan did not rush forward. Instead, he planted the Xuejun Saber into the floor, pulled off his gloves, and cast them aside.
Now, blue-and-white flames flickered across the giant's body. Unleashing a roar that shook the entire room, he raised his shield and charged headlong at Chen Chuan. His massive bulk hammered against the violently trembling floor, making the entire building shudder.
Chen Chuan stood rooted in place without moving. He did not even adopt a stance, merely watching the immense figure hurtle toward him.
Relying on his immense reach and stature, once he closed to within range, Corva chopped his short sword downward toward Chen Chuan.
Chen Chuan raised his hand, seemingly preparing to parry. Yet just before the short sword could make contact, light flashed, and the giant before him vanished into thin air, reappearing behind him that very instant! The short sword continued its downward cleave, this time aiming straight for the back of his head!
This was the ability of the Doma Giant's Visage of the Aberrant. A warrior resurrected from the mythical River of Eternal Slumber, he could traverse freely between nothingness and reality.
Yet as the blade plunged down, Chen Chuan reacted as if he had foreseen it all along. He spun around with lightning speed. With that single turn, he slipped past the razor edge and closed in right against Corva's body.
Orthodox Sanshou, Revolving Millstone!
His raised hands never dropped; instead, he scooped and hoisted, utilizing the momentum to lift the giant's enormous frame into the air. The Flame of Spirituality from both sides dissolved and scattered where their bodies collided.
Exerting force through both arms, he hurled the behemoth outward. With a deafening crash, the giant smashed through the building's walls and went flying out, cratering into the ground outside and carving out a deep furrow as he skidded.
Inside the building, amid the occasional shower of falling bricks and masonry, Chen Chuan paced forward a few steps. Then, with a sudden stomp, he burst out and arrived before Corva in an instant, driving a fist downward. Unable to rise in time, Corva hurriedly raised his shield.
A fist gleaming with platinum-gold radiance slammed heavily against the shield. Blue-and-white spiritual fire rippled outward in waves. Despite Corva's desperate resistance, the shield could not withstand the tremendous downward impact. The strike drove the shield back against his chest, and his massive body shuddered violently under the raw, solid force, sinking a good measure into the ground.
And as punch after punch rained down, the crushing blows drove him ever deeper into the earth, until even the shield began to groan under the unbearable strain.
Corva was furious and desperate. He curled his body inward, using the shield to protect himself while gathering strength. But before he was ready, a hand seized the edge of the shield and ripped it outward, flinging it away. With his guard completely blown open, he threw caution to the wind and thrust his short sword toward Chen Chuan's head.
Chen Chuan tilted his head and dodged it with ease. He blocked the sword-wielding arm with one hand, while his other fist drove straight into Corva's face. With a thunderous boom, dust exploded in all directions. That single blow hammered the giant's head straight into the bottom of the crater, burying most of it into the earth, leaving only his body sprawled outside.
The spiritual fire upon him was on the verge of collapsing entirely. Just as Chen Chuan was about to follow up with another punch, the space beneath him emptied. After a cloud of smoke dissipated, the colossal body vanished. Not only that, the spot where he had lain was now completely empty—even the short sword was left behind—leaving only a deep hole burrowed into the bottom of the pit.
Chen Chuan observed this for a moment, then turned around to see the ground swelling upward on the other side. Cracks spread, clods of dirt tumbled down, and Corva emerged from within. His chest heaved violently. Dispersing and re-manifesting was no small drain on his reserves, but fortunately the medicine still sustained him. His form altered even further, swelling larger still; numerous bone spurs jutted out from through his fur, and several auxiliary horns sprouted from his head.
He panted heavily, his eyes completely blood-red.
Chen Chuan glanced at him and said, "Mr. Corva, give up resisting. You have no chance of winning. I will leave some face for the Investigation Delegation."
Corva spoke in a low, muffled voice laced with fury. "You think you've already won?!" At this moment, scalding blood trickled from his nose and mouth.
This was him bursting forth with all his might, completely reckless of the toll on his life energy. He had no choice; when facing Chen Chuan just now, he had felt the exact same helplessness and humiliation that Skarson had experienced.
He unleashed a roar forward. Yet before the roar could even finish, a figure was already before him. A fist slammed heavily into his abdomen. His feet left the ground, and the flames across his body shattered instantly. Then, two hands reached out, seized one of his arms, pivoted, and slammed him down violently.
With a deafening thud, the ground ruptured. Then came a savage downward stomp; another blast erupted, rocking the entire building as dust and rubble cascaded down, sending billowing clouds of dust rolling outward.
"You were a bit loud just now," Chen Chuan said calmly, lifting his foot off Corva's deformed head. "This is much quieter."
Chapter 950