Book 3, Chapter 207: Impact

Despite the javelin flying at him, Chen Chuan remained standing still with his ever-present calm expression. He showed no intention of dodging.

When it was about to hit his forehead, a long staff stretched over and positioned itself above the javelin. With a slight twist, the javelin was thrown away.

Yuan Qiuyuan pulled his staff back and gave the one who threw the javelin a provocative look.

The royally appointed warrior remained silent. After throwing the javelin, he continued walking toward them.

Chen Chuan noticed that as the three men drew closer, their speed started increasing. They were also adjusting their breathing.

Qin Qingque didn’t seem affected. She still had her rifle trained on them. Once she fired another shot, she cycled the bolt and continued firing.

Despite the bullets raining down at them, the three continued onward until they were 150 meters away. The two men behind the Iron Monster grabbed the javelins on their back and threw them at Chen Chuan and his team members.

This time, they didn’t throw just one. Instead, they threw all the javelins at once. The Iron Monster’s armor let out a harsh, scratching sound as he positioned his spear horizontally and lunged forward as well.

The two royally appointed warriors behind him shouted and charged forward after him.

Yuan Qiuyuan and Qin Qingque felt a pressure coming down on them. Their breathing stilled. They didn’t know where that pressure came from, but they could sense it.

Chen Chuan’s eyes flickered in surprise. He could sense it too, and as someone familiar with biofield techniques, he immediately recognized the three of them merging their biofields together before enveloping Chen Chuan, Yuan Qiuyuan, and Qin Qingque with them. This put a lot of pressure on their minds.

He had read about this technique when learning about biofield techniques, but it was the first time he saw it in practice.

To use this technique, people needed to have similar biofields. At times, they even needed to cast aside their sense of self and submit entirely to someone else, which was a rare phenomenon among Third Limit martial artists.

But once Chen Chuan considered how these three were from the old era and maintained the master-servant relationships from back then, it made sense.

If he continued letting them put pressure on them, it would affect his team members’ minds, and they would have to use up their mental foundation. This was, of course, only the best case scenario.

They were in the merged space, so they had to worry about vitalization rates, for which the stability of their minds was of utmost importance.

Before the fight even started, Chen Chuan had already drawn the Frost King Saber. He stepped forward and swept aside the javelins while releasing his biofield to hold theirs back.

The moment their biofields came into contact, he felt as if he had run into a solid wall. It was stable, flawless, and calm to the point that it was like a pool of still water.

Biofields were created from martial artists’ information. Each was unique, but all of them fluctuated and changed following some sort of pattern.

But theirs was different.

It was as if the Iron Monster and his two royally appointed warriors were no longer purely human, but something else.

Those who had mastered biofield techniques could change their biofields, but Chen Chuan sensed that the Iron Monster and the other two didn’t change their biofields in any way. This was how they had always been.

Even though they weren’t charging forward at full speed, they crossed the 150 meters in an instant. At the moment Chen Chuan stepped forward, the Iron Monster had already arrived in front of him and thrust his spear.

When Chen Chuan saw the spear going for the area connecting his chest and neck, he parried it.

Since the Iron Monster had come for him with a fearsome momentum, he had also cast aside all possibility of having any sort of variation to his attacks. If the Iron Monster didn’t pull his spear back in time, Chen Chuan could push forward with his saber and close in, then cut him down along the spear.

But the moment the saber and spear clashed, sparks flew forth.

A powerful refined force charged into Chen Chuan’s body. It was smooth, seamless, and absolutely flawless. While his mutated tissue tried to negate it, it was firm and solid. No matter how he tried to wear it down, it refused to disappear.

If he couldn’t completely neutralize it, he would have to endure it head-on.

Chen Chuan’s gaze remained calm. He had read about this before. This seemed like the refined force of a martial artist who had almost perfected his mind and body. If another Third Limit martial artist had been faced with the pressure from the biofield and attacked by that kind of refined force, they would have likely lost their composure.

Yet with Chen Chuan’s current physical abilities, he could withstand and negate the Iron Monster’s power. He even sent his own refined force into the Iron Monster.

Their feet sank into the mud, and a shockwave blasted outward.

This didn’t bother them too much.

The Iron Monster pulled his hand back, and the spear went back. Then, without moving his body much, he attacked Chen Chuan’s waist.

But Chen Chuan was ready for it. With both hands on his saber, he swung the weapon down and knocked the spear off its trajectory. Their refined forces clashed, and they trembled.

After a brief pause, they attacked each other again.

This clash was a crude contest of strength and a battle of endurance. As their refined forces charged into each other’s bodies, their movements became limited, and they practically lost all ability to shift and channel power.

With barely any chance to make adjustments, they couldn’t use any advanced techniques or pure strength to overpower the other’s technique. They could only endure each attack from the other person.

Every clash of theirs sent a fully charged refined force into the other person’s body. If their strength waned for even a moment, the other person would be able to get ready for the next attack faster and give them more pressure.

𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

Chen Chuan had a way to win this offense: Have his second self absorb all the damage. Then, he could immediately negate the refined force that entered his body and gain the upper hand.

But he had never encountered an opponent whom he had to attack with his full strength every time. This battle could train his body, mind, and biofield.

Of course, when the time came for him to use his second self, he was absolutely going to use him. His second self was part of him, and he felt nothing about making him absorb damage.

Most importantly, he had a feeling that this was far from the Iron Monster’s true strength. This reason alone was enough for Chen Chuan to wait instead of using his second self right away.

Just then, he heard the sounds of fighting around him. Yuan Qiuyuan and Qin Qingque had also engaged their respective opponents. From this moment on, if anyone became overwhelmed or lost, the balance would be destroyed. One side might even be swiftly defeated because of it.

But Chen Chuan believed in his team members. He also didn’t need to pay special attention to them since he had a clear grasp of their situation by observing their biofields.

Yuan Qiuyuan was burning with fiery enthusiasm, while Qin Qingque moved swiftly and with agility. Overall, they fought with unwavering control and were currently overpowering their opponents. If some problems occurred, Chen Chuan would immediately notice it and make adjustments.

After Yuan Qiuyuan and Qin Qingque engaged their opponents, they noticed that the two royally appointed warriors had strong physical bodies, stable foundations, and a great wealth of fighting experience. They had no obvious flaws in their offense and defense.

Even if they went up against someone stronger than they were, they wouldn’t be defeated instantly. Because of this, Yuan Qiuyuan and Qin Qingque gave up on the thought of ending the fight as soon as possible to help their team members. Instead, they focused on slowly finding an opportunity to strike the fatal blow.

The royally appointed warriors were incredibly impassive while fighting and showed no emotion. Their duty was just to share the Iron Monster’s burden and intercept the enemy. They didn’t need to do anything else, not even win against their opponents. All they needed to do was wait for the Iron Monster to win.

However, at that moment, surprise rose in their hearts.

The Iron Monster’s past opponents were usually unable to withstand his monstrous power. In just a few rounds, they would begin to retreat and start avoiding the Iron Monster’s attacks.

Once that happened, it became harder for them to hold out, and before long, the fight would end. To their surprise, the Iron Monster’s opponent this time was able to fight against the commandant on even footing and hold his ground.

But if that was all, they didn’t need to worry, because the commandant’s strength was far greater than this.

As Chen Chuan and the Iron Monster continued their contest of strength and kept delivering waves of refined force into each other, an obvious pit formed where they stood. Since neither of them were moving, the pit grew wider. If anyone looked from further away, they would only be able to see the top halves of Chen Chuan and the Iron Monster’s bodies.

After a few minutes, Chen Chuan noticed that the Iron Monster’s strength was growing. His gaze sharpened, and he released all restraints over his mutated tissue so that his own strength would increase as well.

As they poured more power into their attacks, their clashes were no longer as straightforward as they were in the beginning. While they didn’t seem to be swinging their weapons quickly, the refined force they sent crashing into each other’s bodies with each exchange was getting stronger.

Each clash came with a dull boom followed by a shockwave. Every time their weapons met, the dirt around them was pushed further away and spread outward like ripples on water.

Yuan Qiuyuan and Qin Qingque took notice and were in awe, but they soon composed themselves in order to not be distracted.

Fortunately, while their opponents were tough and had great control, they weren’t people who liked seizing opportunities to attack. Even if Yuan Qiuyuan and Qin Qingque were distracted for a moment, they continued fighting as usual.

But this also meant that they trusted in the Iron Monster enough to not think that they had to do anything. Their task was just to wait for the Iron Monster to win.

***

Even after exchanging multiple blows with the Iron Monster and using all his mutated tissue in every attack, Chen Chuan showed no signs of tiring.

Due to the All-Encompassing Force, mutated tissue covered his entire body. On top of that, he had been training with special medicine, which had improved his strength at a lightning pace.

Even if he didn’t rely on his second self, he wouldn’t have any problem fighting for a day or two like this, though he was sure that the Iron Monster was the same.

But the Iron Monster clearly didn’t want to drag out the fight, because he had changed his decision to avoid Chen Chuan and came back way sooner than predicted because of the false information. He believed that time wasn’t on his side, so Chen Chuan was sure that before long, the Iron Monster would change his strategy.

It came much faster than expected.

After a few more clashes, Chen Chuan parried the Iron Monster’s spear again, only to find that the refined force that should have kept the Iron Monster rooted in place didn’t seem to be working. The spear came swinging back, rotated around the saber, pushed it away, thrust forward, and arrived in front of Chen Chuan’s face.