Xiang Tiancheng cast a glance at Chen Chuan’s uniform and stroked his chin. “You’re from the Resolution Department? That makes you part of the government, doesn’t it? This is a bit tough.”

They exchanged glances. Even if their biofields didn’t touch, based on their experiences, they could guess just how good the other was.

Xiang Tiancheng no longer looked as relaxed as he did when he faced Che Gaoyi, because he could sense danger from Chen Chuan.

Only people at the same level as he was could give him that feeling.

It seemed like the briefcase did contain what he thought it did. Otherwise, the companies and government wouldn’t be placing so much importance on it and send someone so strong to transport it.

He had to take it from them.

Besides, why should he let someone else reap the rewards when he was the one who did the fighting? Just thinking about it pissed him off.

He spread his legs and hands apart.

Just as he let his refined force flow and lifted his heels to attack, the ground in the distance trembled. When he looked there from the corner of his eyes, he saw Nine rushing over, though judging by the direction he was going, he was headed for Chen Chuan.

Clearly, he had been lured over by the briefcase.

Xiang Tiancheng chuckled and planted his feet back down. He stayed still.

Chen Chuan, too, saw Nine rushing over and plunged the Frost King Saber’s sheath into the ground. With one hand free, he stayed still.

Nine was really fast, and since he was heavily built, Chen Chuan could feel a powerful gust blowing at him. Branches broke off and leaves fell while a rolling cloud of dust formed behind him.

Chen Chuan lowered his center of gravity. Once Nine got closer, Chen Chuan reached out and grabbed the wrist of Nine’s outstretched hand. Then, he spun on his feet and threw the puppet far away.

He not only made use of Nine’s momentum, but also injected a throw-type refined force into his movements. Nine crashed into and broke several trees before falling and sliding while leaving behind a deep track on the ground. He only stopped after he crashed into a mountain slope. A large cloud of dust flew up from the impact.

A moment later, Nine’s fibrous bio-skeleton fixed his dislocated arm. The lacerations and contusions healed as well. Then, as if nothing had happened, he stood up.

After he got up and took a step forward, he froze.

When Chen Chuan had grabbed him, he didn’t just inject a wave of grappling-type refined force into him during the throw. He had released it through the Heartbound Force.

Hence, the refined force stayed in the target. If they didn’t negate it in time, it would lead to great damage. Nine suffered secondary damage at that moment, and it was even greater than the damage he sustained during the crash. It was so bad that he couldn’t move.

Xiang Tiancheng moved the moment Chen Chuan threw Nine.

He wasn’t the type to care about a fair fight. The resistance group was enemies with the government, so how could he not attack when the chance presented itself?

They weren’t far from each other, so he drew close in an instant and delivered a side kick.

But Chen Chuan managed to bring his arm up to block it in time. The moment their limbs clashed, a loud explosion sounded. The dirt and weeds around them blasted outward.

Chen Chuan’s gaze turned profound. Heartbound Force, huh?

When Xiang Tiancheng saw that his kick had been completely blocked, his eyes focused as well. Heartbound Force?

The nonchalant expression on his face disappeared. If Chen Chuan knew the Heartbound Force, he was much stronger than the other two. Usually, those who knew the Heartbound Force could end a fight with a single hit, as long as their opponent wasn’t a body hardening expert.

Xiang Tiancheng was an exception. The Rapid Flow Force could convert and neutralize refined forces to a certain degree, so even if his opponent was really strong, he didn’t have to worry too much.

With a twist of his body, he delivered another kick, followed by a torrent of kicks and punches. He seized the moment Chen Chuan was unable to recover from throwing Nine to execute these attacks.

Xiang Tiancheng loved this sort of situation, because it meant that he could keep overpowering his opponent. When his opponent did not know what sort of refined force he used, they usually didn’t counterattack in a hurry. Instead, they defended themselves and only counterattacked once Xiang Tiancheng’s momentum waned a little.

Xiang Tiancheng was incredibly experienced in this. His opponents only released their refined force after composing themselves to counterattack, but that led them right into his trap.

Usually, he sent his opponent’s refined force right back at them. Then, even if his opponent wasn’t heavily injured, the moment they had just built up would be suppressed.

Based on previous experiences, after this happened a few times, his opponent would lose their rhythm and all control of the situation.

After blocking every single one of Xiang Tiancheng’s attacks, Chen Chuan noticed something. After their Heartbound Forces collided, Xiang Tiancheng hadn’t retreated. Instead, he charged forward without hesitation.

He also met every single one of Chen Chuan’s blocks head-on, as if he didn’t care about Chen Chuan’s refined force.

This wasn’t normal, not when both of them knew the Heartbound Force.

Most martial artists couldn’t guarantee not getting injured after an attack from the Heartbound Force, so it just wasn’t worth the cost.

So, if Xiang Tiancheng had the guts to do this, he either had absolute confidence in his own refined force, or his refined force had some sort of unique property, like Nie Guanshan’s. That would explain why he wasn’t scared of fighting Chen Chuan like this.

Chen Chuan believed it was the latter. When they had exchanged blows, he couldn’t detect anything special about Xiang Tiancheng’s refined force, which meant that it was something else.

But that didn’t make Chen Chuan wary. He continued fighting according to his own rhythm. After defending from dozens of attacks from Xiang Tiancheng, he composed himself and noticed Xiang Tiancheng’s offense slowing down. So, he threw a punch without hesitation the moment he saw a pause between his attacks.

Xiang Tiancheng’s eyes lit up. He had been waiting for this exact moment. He pushed his hand forward to block it and drew Chen Chuan’s powerful refined force into his body. Then, he drew his leg up. With the refined force in him, he gathered his power and kicked back.

Chen Chuan brought his hand up and blocked the kick. Two waves of refined force charged into him, but his expression didn’t change. He even had the energy to jab two fingers forward.

Xiang Tiancheng wasn’t expecting his attack to not have the effects he had envisioned, and it shocked him. While his mind was busy processing the misjudgment, his body responded correctly by twisting his waist to avoid the attack. He also brought his elbow up to block the jab.

Chen Chuan’s fingers ended up on his arm. Since Xiang Tiancheng had blocked in a hurry, he didn’t summon enough refined force and couldn’t withstand the Heartbound Force’s damage. The area where the fingers touched tore open as refined force charged in. Then, his bones started cracking as the refined force continued penetrating into his body.

If he let it continue wreaking havoc in him, this one attack from Chen Chuan could heavily injure him. But Xiang Tiancheng managed to compose himself right then.

The Rapid Flow Force allowed him to activate refined force from anywhere in his body. While he used his arm to block the attack, he twisted the mutated tissue in every other part of his body to disperse the attacking force through his body. This saved him from further damage.

But he didn’t dare to send the refined force to his legs, because that would cause the ground to sink, and he would lose his balance. In an intense fight, he would rather withstand the enemy’s refined force than limit his movements.

However, even if he had escaped death, he still lost this round.

Chen Chuan’s second attack came swiftly after. He spread his fingers and grabbed Xiang Tiancheng’s arm and changed the Sanshou-type refined force into a grappling-type refined force.

Earlier, when he was fighting against Che Gaoyi, Xiang Tiancheng had easily transferred his refined force elsewhere, but he was helpless against Chen Chuan.

All his mutated tissue had switched to defense mode and couldn’t restrain any external force. Worse still, this was a grappling-type refined force laced with the Heartbound Force. The moment it entered his body, half of it went numb. The mutated tissue stopped responding to him, and that feeling swiftly spread through every other part of his body.

Xiang Tiancheng groaned in his heart.

In a fight between skilled martial artists, a single misjudgment could determine who lived and who died. Right now, he was cornered and about to meet his maker.

The wind howled, and a shadow closed in. It was Nine. He came charging at them again. This time, he crashed straight into them.

Chen Chuan’s gaze sharpened before he delivered a kick. The powerful impact jolted Nine’s neck so hard that it snapped, and his body flew to the side.

This distraction was a lifeline for Xiang Tiancheng. He seized the chance to activate the numbed mutated tissue and negated the grappling-type refined force inside him. At the same time, he pushed his palm straight toward Chen Chuan’s face.

Upon sensing that his refined force had been drained, Chen Chuan let go instead of insisting on holding onto Xiang Tiancheng. He then brought his arm up to block the palm strike. Xiang Tiancheng hit him, but he didn’t release any refined force. Instead, he pushed at the arm to retreat and widen the distance between them.

Once he landed far away, the wounds on his arm healed, and the numbness in his body rapidly faded away. He cast a glance at Chen Chuan.

This guy sure is impressive. I ran into a tough cookie, he thought.

But he wasn’t going to make the same mistake twice.

This fight was far from over.

Chen Chuan cast him a glance before turning to Nine. The puppet’s twisted neck realigned itself, and he stood up again.

At this point, Chen Chuan had already figured out the general gist of the puppet’s abilities. He was incredibly resilient and was going to keep interfering with the fight if Chen Chuan didn’t destroy him in one hit. So, he sucked in a deep breath, and wisps of white smoke rose from him.

Xiang Tiancheng felt his skin crawl. He no longer cared about attacking and jumped back.

But Nine had no such instincts. All he could think about was his mission. As long as the briefcase was in Chen Chuan’s hands, he would keep attacking him. He charged forward again.

Chen Chuan looked at him with a deep, thoughtful gaze before he vanished. In an instant, a loud snap resembling crackling thunder rang out. It was followed by an explosive rumble that led to a cloud of dust flying up.

When Xiang Tiancheng looked over, his eyelids twitched.

Chen Chuan stood with his palm pushed forward amid the dust. Wisps of smoke rose from his spread fingers.

Across from him was Nine. He lay spread eagle on the ground. His upper body and head had been blasted apart. The manmade mutated tissue squirmed as it tried to repair the body, but the damage was too great.