Chen Chuan had used the Furnace Breathing Technique as the foundation to deliver the destructive refined force that Chen Bitong had taught him.

It could kill even mega creatures in one hit. Besides, he had also laced the attack with the Heartbound Force. So, after taking the hit, Nine was blasted apart.

To make this refined force release enough power, he needed to charge up for it. In a normal fight, Chen Chuan could overlap with his second self to use it, but it wouldn’t produce such an effect.

Xiang Tiancheng was shocked. If such destructive power had landed on him, he wasn’t sure that he could guide it back into Chen Chuan’s body, but after some careful consideration, he relaxed slightly.

This attack did not look normal. As long as he didn’t give Chen Chuan time to accumulate power, he wouldn’t be able to use it.

Logically speaking, he should be staying far, far away from an opponent like this. After all, he wasn’t here to fight, but to liaise with the girls to retrieve something. But he was a martial artist, so how could he just give up on fighting a strong opponent after encountering one?

He brought his hands up, pressed two fingers together, and jabbed into a certain part at the back of his head. His fingers sank in until the knuckles.

His eyes widened, and his heart started racing. His blood flowed faster, and all his mutated tissue became excited.

This was a method taught by the resistance group to its martial artists. It stimulated their bodies by pressing down on a secret acupressure point, which released their bodies’ potential, and increased their fighting prowess.

Xiang Tiancheng exhaled, rolled his joints, and walked over to Chen Chuan.

Once Chen Chuan killed Nine, he put down the briefcase and removed his overcoat before tossing it aside. It revealed the squad captain’s uniform underneath.

When Xiang Tiancheng saw it, all his questions were answered.

A squad captain? No wonder...

Based on what he knew, squad captains usually had team members around. He couldn’t see any of them, which probably meant that the situation in the city was really intense. The government probably didn’t have enough manpower, so Chen Chuan’s team was sent to another place.

He didn’t stop and continued walking toward Chen Chuan.

As he observed Xiang Tiancheng’s rhythm, Chen Chuan noted that while he wasn’t using any exaggerated movements, his strength and speed had increased substantially. His biofield had also turned hot, like scorching fire, and it was spreading out. It was completely different from the stable feeling it gave off earlier.

This usually meant that a martial artist had taken some sort of medicine or activated some kind of dormant power.

This wasn’t strange. Many seasoned martial artists usually had such a trick up their sleeves.

Besides, once their physical abilities improved, they could use their techniques much better than before. This meant that they didn’t just improve a little bit. If they had perfect harmony with their bodies and controlled this additional power completely, they could become a completely different opponent.

When Xiang Tiancheng was ten meters away, he dashed forward and delivered a chop.

Chen Chuan took half a step back and brought his hand up to block it. At the same time, he lowered his center of gravity. When he saw Xiang Tiancheng delivering another jab, he pushed his arm forward to parry the attack before pushing the arm away. Then, he sent his fingers right at Xiang Tiancheng’s face.

Xiang Tiancheng tilted his head to dodge the attack before shifting to the other side.

Their arms had only brushed each other, but refined force seeped into the other’s muscles and bones. If either of them couldn’t endure this, it would lead to their movements deviating or a misstep. Then, they might end up getting killed.

Xiang Tiancheng’s attacks were much swifter and fiercer than before. They formed a continuous stream, and he chained them in an endless but logical fashion.

After he got stronger, his attacks became faster, and he was able to activate his refined force with greater efficiency. Every time they exchanged blows, he would shift the rebound to another part of his body and turn it into fuel for his attacks. His movements would suddenly speed up at times, which created a staggered rhythm.

This was built upon astonishing coordination and mastery over rhythm.

Chen Chuan had almost entirely figured out Xiang Tiancheng’s abilities through their exchange of attacks. His ability to transfer and guide the flow of his opponent’s refined force was incredibly useful, both in individual fights and group fights. This was especially so since this refined force could spread to other parts of the opponent’s body, but wouldn’t explode immediately. Xiang Tiancheng needed a powerful body and exceptional judgment to use it, but he had both.

He was still a little too slow, though.

Chen Chuan’s gaze sharpened, and he sped up. The moment Xiang Tiancheng noticed that, he sped up as well.

It wasn’t as if he couldn’t be faster, but he needed to keep his body at a level where he could control it perfectly. But once Chen Chuan sped up, he was forced to keep up.

The frequency at which their refined forces crashed increased, and it led to him occasionally letting a violent wave of refined force slip into his body.

As time passed, Xiang Tiancheng started having trouble guiding the flow of refined force. Before the first wave was out, another came in. Since he couldn’t push it out, it started accumulating in his body.

But he couldn’t stop, because Chen Chuan was the one who sped up, and he had to keep up. If he was even a step slower, Chen Chuan would release that powerful strike from before.

The sight of him killing Nine was burned deep into Xiang Tiancheng’s head. He wasn’t confident that he could withstand that attack, so he could only follow Chen Chuan’s rhythm.

Soon, though, his body started turning red and hot, as if he was boiling. This was because he was enduring too much refined force, and his body could not bear the load.

If he didn’t do anything to change the situation, his body was going to explode from all the refined force, but if he did, it would practically be the same as inviting Chen Chuan to kill him with a punch.

At such a critical moment, Chen Chuan sensed something and brought his hand up to grab a dagger that came flying at him. Meanwhile, his other fist clashed with Xiang Tiancheng’s own fist.

Xiang Tiancheng’s face had started turning purple, but the moment the dagger interrupted Chen Chuan’s rhythm, he got his chance. When his fist collided with Chen Chuan’s, he transferred all his strength to his feet. Then, with a loud blast, he sent all the refined force he could channel outward and jumped back.

His elbow broke with a snap. Blood gushed out like it was coming out of a water gun. That wasn’t all, though. More than ten parts of his body blasted apart, because he was unable to send some of the refined force out, and it could only be released through such a method. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

Once he landed, he didn’t hesitate. He turned around and fled. At this point, he already knew that he couldn’t win. It would be stupid and crazy to stay around.

Chen Chuan watched Xiang Tiancheng leave instead of chasing after him. He stood in silence, not because Xiang Tiancheng had someone covering him, but because he had something more important to do.

When Xiang Tiancheng was defeated and started retreating, Chen Chuan’s mind was elevated once more.

This time, he could sense himself crossing the threshold, and his mind reached a place he couldn’t quite put to words. This place seemed to be able to contain everything and was filled with endless possibilities. Behind it were some existences that could devour him at any moment.

Chen Chuan emptied his mind and regulated his breathing before activating Awakening Clarity to clear his mind.

He could sense that with his current capacity, this was as far as his mind could go. Unless he made his body stronger, he couldn’t push his mind further up. Hence, Chen Chuan went along with his heart and let his mind settle to leave a mark in this place.

Once he was done, Chen Chuan shut his eyes and focused on exploring the place. He also tried to draw some power down.

After a moment, faint light glowed on his palms. He brought them up to his eyes and furled his fingers.

With a spark of spiritual clarity, I know my true nature; with true awakening, I can cross the world and renew my fate.

This was the spirit sense Chen Bitong had told him about.

He had reached the threshold separating him from the next limit and was just a small distance away from crossing it when Xiang Tiancheng showed up and elevated his mind once more. After all, he was pretty decent. He helped Chen Chuan take the final step across the threshold.

Chen Chuan tried getting a better feel of it. He needed to focus and guide this power to be able to use it to its fullest. It also made him feel as if there was a weight on his mind. He needed to push it up all the time, but if his focus scattered, it would disappear.

Of course, this might be because he had only just learned it and wasn’t familiar with it. He would need some time to get used to it.

Still, he needed a strong body and mental energy to use this power. If he was any weaker, he wouldn’t have been able to do it.

Right now, he was forcibly elevating his mind by overlapping with his second self. What he needed to do next was to continue training his mind. But now that he had already arrived at this step, he could fight for the pure essence that was bound to arrive soon.

Chen Chuan could also now see the information Chen Bitong left behind for him, but he wasn’t going to do it. He would check it after he went back.

Chen Chuan lowered his hands to disperse the light and cast a glance in the direction in which Xiang Tiancheng had fled. He didn’t know where the man was from, but he wasn’t weak.

It didn’t seem like he belonged to any company or mercenary group, though...

A theory formed in his head.

But the World Ring Defense System had only asked him to bring a propagated offspring back. Since he had gotten the stuff, everything else was irrelevant.

He headed to the briefcase, grabbed it, opened it, and saw a sealed metal box inside.

He had seen two propagated offspring, so when he touched the metal box with his mental energy, he sensed a familiar domain. It was all the evidence he needed that the creature was inside.

After looking around, he decided that this wasn’t the place to get rid of it, because he was outside the city. The World Ring Defense System and the Department of Administrative Affairs might not be able to monitor it.

He put on his overcoat, picked up the Frost King Saber, and walked back to the tunnel he used to get here.