Book 3, Chapter 45: Purpose Of The Heart

“There was one more?” Wei Wusheng marveled as he crushed the stone in his hand. He then turned around to face the person walking over.

Chen Chuan took his time. Since the floor was covered in a thin layer of water, the sound of him wading through water echoed through the arena. Behind him, all the other martial artists were lying unconscious.

Only a short time had passed since they went berserk.

Chen Chuan stood in front of Wei Wusheng, right on the platform where Gao Qi and Lu Shiqi had fought. Above his head were the spotlights that had shone on the two martial artists. Now, they were on him.

Chen Chuan met Wei Wusheng’s gaze squarely. “I have a question. Are you here to kill people or to hunt down martial artists?”

Wei Wusheng watched him for a while before he said, “Looks like you still don’t understand.” He motioned at the two unconscious martial artists. “They did, but I don’t mind explaining it to you. This is a necessary step. After I’ve formed my purpose, I have to carry out an act that fulfills it.”

He pointed at his heart.

“It’s telling me that once I’ve defined my purpose, I need to relish in battle and kill enough martial artists to satisfy it. No matter what methods I use, who they are, or where they are, I need to kill them. It’s only after I do it that I will be rewarded.

“I had a feeling that killing all the people here might not be enough, so I’m glad that you showed up. Perhaps after killing you, I will have fulfilled my purpose. It may be satisfied then.”

“What if it still won’t be satisfied?” Chen Chuan asked.

“Then, I will continue killing. The cruise ship is huge. I will surely find a target it will be satisfied with,” Wei Wusheng answered without hesitation.

Chen Chuan said nothing else and brought the Frost King Saber up to position it horizontally before himself. With his other hand, he grabbed the sheath. With a light tug, it flew off.

Then, he turned his body slightly to the side. With his hands around his saber, he brought it next to him. Then, he looked at Wei Wusheng and asked, “What are you waiting for?”

“Coming!” Wei Wusheng roared and charged.

Chen Chuan turned and swung his saber at Wei Wusheng’s head.

Wei Wusheng brought his hammer to the side, and its head rammed against the saber with pinpoint accuracy, but there wasn’t much power contained in the swing. Chen Chuan took a step back, flipped his wrists, and swung the saber diagonally upward.

Wei Wusheng ignored it and swung his hammer at Chen Chuan’s head. With a slight tilt of his body, Chen Chuan let the hammer slam against his shoulder.

Bam!

The power contained in the swing should have shattered his shoulder, but he was completely fine.

Wei Wusheng’s eyes went wide in shock.

At the same time, Chen Chuan saw his second self flicker, and half of his body blurred out intensely. He didn’t waste this chance. With power coursing through his arms, he swung his saber against Wei Wusheng’s ribs. Based on his experience, even if he wasn’t able to cut Wei Wusheng in half, he could still bury his saber into his stomach and heavily injure him.

This time, though, the saber only cut into Wei Wusheng a little before some force clamped down on it, and Chen Chuan could no longer drive it further inside.

Wei Wusheng brought his hammer up high and grabbed its hilt with both hands. They were about the same height, but at that moment, Wei Wusheng’s shadow seemed to have completely enveloped Chen Chuan.

Every fiber of Chen Chuan’s being screamed that danger was incoming, but he didn’t move back. Instead, he charged forward, pressed his fingers together, and thrust them against Wei Wusheng’s exposed neck, only to feel as if he had just jabbed his fingers into a steel wall. He had been hoping to destroy Wei Wusheng’s balance, but the refined force in his attack disappeared without a trace, and Wei Wusheng didn’t even budge.

Wei Wusheng brought the hammer down, as if he was about to hit a pillar.

It was known as the Earth-Shaking Force. Before delivering the attack, the martial artist had to tense up all their mutated tissue, which removed practically all openings. No matter what was before them, with a swing of the hammer, they could bring the person or object down and shatter them along with the ground.

Chen Chuan brought his arms up, crossed them, and pushed them against the hammer.

For this, he didn’t rely on his second self entirely. Instead, he used the negation technique he had recently learned. Even though he had practiced with the saber, the logic behind it remained the same.

Bam!

A strong force came at Chen Chuan, pressing down on him so hard that he sank down a little. Refined force charged into him like a tidal wave, and the floor under his feet rumbled, as if it couldn’t bear the force of the attack. Thin cracks appeared and spread outward.

But Chen Chuan remained standing.

“What?”

Wei Wusheng had poured out most of his refined force into the attack. Because of it, he was frozen in place. Chen Chuan used that moment to raise his knee up and ram it against Wei Wusheng’s chin, making him throw his head back.

Seizing the chance, Chen Chuan stepped back, grabbed his saber hilt, and dragged it down. In an instant, blood gushed out. After a brief pause, he took hold of the hilt with both hands and thrust the blade forward, straight into Wei Wusheng’s heart.

Halfway through, Wei Wusheng regained his composure, and the tip of the saber ran into a great resistance that stopped it from going any further.

With a twist of his waist, Wei Wusheng moved back, brought his hammer up, and knocked the saber out of his body. Once he took a couple more steps back, the flesh around his wounds rippled before closing up.

Chen Chuan brought the saber down to waist level while its tip remained pointed at Wei Wusheng. Meanwhile, Wei Wusheng kept his eyes trained on Chen Chuan. His legs were parted slightly, and his hammer was positioned by his side.

Just then, they heard a series of mechanical clicks. The door behind them opened slowly, and a group of security guards rushed in.

Wei Wusheng scowled before giving Chen Chuan a long, hard look. Then, he turned around and rushed out. The security guards immediately fired at him.

Rapid gunfire sounded in the arena. Even though Wei Wusheng wasn’t wearing any protective gear, the bullets only embedded themselves into his muscles. Not a single one managed to pierce through his body.

Chen Chuan didn’t use the Furnace Breathing Technique because there were other people on the cruise ship, and he didn’t know what was going on outside. He had to keep a trump card hidden instead of showing his full strength.

But he still drew Lightning Shock and aimed it at Wei Wusheng’s back. With a pull of the trigger and a loud bang, the arena trembled.

A fist-sized hole opened on Wei Wusheng’s back. The skin and flesh were torn open, and Chen Chuan could vaguely see the bones inside. Wei Wusheng shuddered violently for a moment but didn’t stop. His running speed didn’t change. After knocking aside the security guards, he broke through, and the sound of intense fighting soon came from outside.

A moment later, Chen Chuan heard the sound of something falling into water.

The security guards trained their guns on him. This lasted until Sun Zhiming walked in. He looked around, then at Chen Chuan before he said to the security guards, “He’s on our side. Lower your guns.”

The security guards did as they were told and stood down.

Medical staff rushed in and began examining and helping the people who had collapsed. Soon, one of them told Sun Zhiming that the two Third Limit martial artists were still alive.

It brought great relief to him.

That was good.

The match was a battle of ideals between two factions and a chance to examine the pros and cons of modifying one’s body. The two parties would only be able to accept the results of whoever died here if they died during the match.

Azure Dragon wasn’t worried about the repercussions if they died from an accident, but Sun Zhiming was most likely going to be treated as a scapegoat in such an event, since he was the person in charge. His future might even be ruined from it.

He straightened his clothes and went up to Chen Chuan. “It looks like you stopped Wei Wusheng, Chen Chuan. You’re the only one here who could, anyway.”

He had read Chen Chuan’s information and knew that he had earned the Resolution Department’s favor. He had also defeated and killed Third Limit martial artists after taking medicine.

By the looks of it, he had relied on medicine to retain his rationality and stop Wei Wusheng.

The opponent was no ordinary Third Limit martial artist. He had a body hardening-type refined force and the recovery unique to Third Limit martial artists. In the Heavenly Pardon Gang, he was practically the epitome of being unkillable.

“It’s also because you came in time,” Chen Chuan replied.

Sun Zhiming smiled at that and said sincerely, “You did me a huge favor. I know just what sort of price one had to pay to fight against a Third Limit martial artist, and I won’t let your efforts be in vain. I’ll give you a satisfactory compensation.”

***

Wei Wusheng got out of the water, and wisps of white steam wafted off his clothes as they slowly dried. The hole on his back also slowly closed, but the wound on his chest and ribs was taking its sweet time. The bullets that had embedded themselves into his muscles were being squeezed out one by one before they fell on the ground.

Just then, he heard a voice in his head, “You didn’t satisfy your heart, Senior Brother.”

The voice sounded like an illusion, but he heard it clearly.

“I’ll fulfill my purpose,” Wei Wusheng said grimly.

When True Treasure had anchored itself to the shore, he had met up with Xiong Jianyi, just as they promised. Xiong Jianyi then offered up half of his heart to him. Once their hearts merged, he would complete the step required to learn one of their master’s secret techniques.

If the merge was successful, Xiong Jianyi’s mutated tissue would grow in Wei Wusheng, and Wei Wusheng would learn the grappling-type yielding force Xiong Jianyi had mastered. He would master both of their strengths and be able to use both firm and yielding forces.

Wei Wusheng had to fulfill the purpose they set in order to completely absorb all that Xiong Jianyi had entrusted to him and reconstruct his foundation. Then, he would be qualified to achieve greater heights.

He cast a glance at the cruise ship behind him and said grimly, “I’ll kill more martial artists to satisfy my heart and all those I saw today.”

Xiong Jianyi did not speak again, as if he had never been there in the first place.

Wei Wusheng cast one last glance at the cruise ship behind him before walking to Central City while leaving deep footprints in the sand.