Book 3, Chapter 235: Brilliance

The wind grew stronger on the public road, bringing with it quite a lot of sand up and blowing away some of the smoke.

After Jiancheng Sheng got out of the car, he put the saber at his waist and stared ahead with a stern expression. After a moment, as the people around him watched, he walked over.

His hair was tied into a topknot, and he wore the white martial arts uniform of Fierce Wave School. It was made in the style of the old era, so his loose sleeves fluttered in the wind.

Even though he looked like he was only around seventeen years old—three years younger than his actual age—because of the Fair Infant Wine, his resolute gaze and the air of determination he gave off made all those who saw him treat him with grim seriousness.

When the Third Limit martial artist saw Jiancheng Sheng walk over, he bowed to him and stepped to the side.

Even though he had been hired from another Central City, Ferris Wheel had invested in him before, so his manners and way of fighting had been learned from the island nations.

Jiancheng Sheng gave him a nod but did not pause.

The marksmen from Ferris Wheel stopped shooting. Even the bioweapons and combatants retreated.

The moment Mr. Yao saw them leaving, he ordered his own people to stop firing as well. He didn’t want them to waste their bullets.

Then, he saw a pretty boy in white walking over.

His gaze changed, and with a grave expression, he stared at the boy. It was another Third Limit martial artist.

The threatening feeling he gave Mr. Yao when he walked over and the enemy’s reaction toward him made it clear that this was no ordinary Third Limit martial artist.

He saw his snipers lifting their sniper rifles, and he quickly ordered, “Don’t do anything yet.”

Such people were highly attuned to danger, and it was impossible for them to hit someone like that. Right now, Mr. Yao was the only one capable of fighting against him.

Jiancheng Sheng continued onward without regard for anything else. When he was three meters past an empty car used to block his path, the car trembled, and its roof slid off.

A Cult Investigation Bureau member who had been hiding inside and the ritual in the car were cut in two. Blood covered the seat, yet most of the people from both sides hadn’t even seen when he attacked.

Even Mr. Yao was only barely able to see his right hand move. When he registered what had happened, the saber had returned to its sheath, and his heart sank. The enemy was stronger than he had imagined.

Jiancheng Sheng only stopped when he was less than twenty meters away from the motorcade and released his biofield.

He didn’t do it to show off. Through his posture, gait, gaze, and demeanor, he could show off his strength and intimidate his opponents. According to Fierce Wave School’s teachings, this was a secret technique called Shocking The Heart.

Mr. Yao’s breathing grew rapid. This was a reaction born from his mutated tissue sensing a powerful enemy.

Even though they hadn’t fought against each other, Mr. Yao already knew that he couldn’t win.

Chen Chuan had returned to the motorcade when he sensed Jiancheng Sheng’s biofield.

It was different from the ones he had sensed before. There was a lot of extra information contained in it, as if Jiancheng Sheng was showing off his strength and asking him for a fight.

The message was clear: If Chen Chuan didn’t step out, he was going to barge in.

Chen Chuan could tell with absolute certainty that this person had come for him.

For the safety of the motorcade and his own pursuits as a martial artist, he wasn’t going to say no to this fight.

𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

He put a hand on the Realm Pass and said, “Mr. Yao, let me fight him. But be careful. I think there’s more of them lurking around. The moment I step away, they might show up.”

“I understand. This is my duty,” Mr. Yao replied grimly.

Then, after a brief pause, he decided to reveal some things to Chen Chuan. “We have a set up here. As long as they don’t have more than two Third Limit martial artists and the fight doesn’t last too long, we should be able to handle them.”

Chen Chuan ended the call. Then, with the Frost King Saber in hand, he walked out of the motorcade to the spacious road ahead. Wind blew at him, and the overcoat from the Cult Investigation Bureau fluttered.

When Jiancheng Sheng saw him coming forward, his expression turned stern. With a hand on his saber and another on his waist, he bowed earnestly to Chen Chuan. “Jiancheng Sheng of Fierce Wave School. I hope we have a good fight.”

Chen Chuan brought his hands up and gave him a fist-and-palm salute as he said, “May the better fighter win, Mr. Jiancheng.”

As if the storm from the ocean had affected the weather, the sky turned grayish-blue. Thick clouds covered the sky, and the wind grew stronger.

There were hundreds of combatants facing off against each other on either side, but both sides left a large space for the two fighters, making it look like they were the only two people in the world.

Jiancheng Sheng took a step back and drew his saber out slowly before positioning it in the front.

Chen Chuan brought his saber up and positioned it horizontally before himself. With a flick, the sheath flew off, revealing the Frost King Saber’s chilling blade. Then, Chen Chuan grabbed the hilt with both hands and turned to the side a little before bringing the saber to the side of his head. The tip of the saber was pointed toward the ground.

His saber was much longer than Jiancheng Sheng’s. Chen Chuan himself, too, was taller than Jiancheng Sheng, which gave him an advantage in terms of reach.

But Third Limit martial artists’ fights weren’t decided by the length of their weapons, especially when great techniques were involved. If Chen Chuan’s attacks were ineffective, his opponent would get a chance to attack.

Jiancheng Sheng’s biofield was empty and drifting, making it hard to get a proper read of his real strength. Jiancheng Sheng was clearly skilled in manipulating his biofield. Even if Chen Chuan released the full power of his biofield, it wouldn’t be of much use against Jiancheng Sheng.

The result of their fight would determine the fates of most of the people here.

After a brief standoff, Chen Chuan saw that Jiancheng Sheng had no intention of attacking first. Clearly, he was the type to defend and counterattack. If that was the case, he wasn’t going to hold back. He was going to launch the first attack.

Chen Chuan took a step and shifted his center of gravity forward.

Meanwhile, Jiancheng Sheng kept his gaze trained on Chen Chuan, who had hidden his biofield and made it impossible to get a read on his real strength and come up with a targeted strategy.

Still, as a disciple of Fierce Wave School, Jiancheng Sheng had often sparred against his peers and was used to fighting without having any information from his opponents’ biofields. Besides, even if he couldn’t see any information from the inside, Chen Chuan couldn’t hide the details on his body.

When he saw Chen Chuan shifting his center of gravity, Jiancheng Sheng immediately took a step back, and he did so at the same speed through a technique called Adjusted Pace, which allowed him to adjust his speed based on his opponent’s speed.

The core of all of Fierce Wave School’s techniques lay in the mind. In the words of the Great Shun Republic, their focus was on training their mental foundation and biofields.

Their core concept was: Whatever the enemy does or doesn’t do, I see it all in the biofield.

When Chen Chuan saw him moving back, he found that while Jiancheng Sheng seemed like he had moved at the same time, he had actually moved first, as if he had predicted the movement.

Not only had he come to a decisive prediction, but also to an accurate one. This wasn’t just experience, but a technique he had never seen before, making Jiancheng Sheng different from all the opponents Chen Chuan had faced in the past. He had never met someone like Jiancheng Sheng.

Chen Chuan increased his speed slightly. It didn’t matter how Jiancheng Sheng fought. All Chen Chuan had to care about was securing his own fighting rhythm, because even if Jiancheng Sheng could maintain the same rhythm as Chen Chuan, it was impossible for him to keep retreating.

Besides, the strength of the martial artist’s body decided whether they were going to win a fight or not.

As Chen Chuan continued charging forward, Jiancheng Sheng moved back, but after a few paces, Chen Chuan sped up, and Jiancheng Sheng’s expression turned grave. He quickly adjusted his steps and charged forward to meet him.

Chen Chuan swung his arm and delivered a slash. Jiancheng Sheng met it with a quick swipe of his own saber to the side. The moment their weapons clashed, they sent a wave of refined force into each other’s bodies and froze for a moment. Then, their attacks started rapidly changing while their weapons kept clashing against each other, which led to a nonstop cacophony of clangs.

Chen Chuan was the one delivering most of the attacks. However, Jiancheng Sheng was always able to accurately block them. That wasn’t all. Every parry was used in the most optimal way.

Jiancheng Sheng didn’t spend any energy deducing where the parries should go nor analyzed how he should defend. Instead, he emptied his mind and just let his heart lead his body. By extension, his saber moved alongside it.

This was what “only your mind knows what your heart truly wants” meant.

If Chen Chuan showed no openings, he would be fine, but the moment he lost his cool or had his rhythm disrupted, Jiancheng Sheng would deliver a lightning-quick strike. If he timed it perfectly, the fight would be over there and then.

However, after exchanging dozens of blows, Jiancheng Sheng felt alarm bells ring in his mind. At the same time, goosebumps rose on his skin, and he quickly blocked two attacks.

Clang! Clang!

His saber trembled, and he retreated. The power coming from the saber was swiftly drawn into his body and negated as he moved.

Chen Chuan and Jiancheng Sheng separated and widened the distance between them.

The people watching the fight couldn’t even see their movements clearly. All they could tell was that the two fought for a short while before separating.

A flicker of emotion appeared in Chen Chuan’s eyes. He had increased the strength of his last attacks to the point where even the Iron Monster would have had a hard time parrying them, but Jiancheng Sheng not only managed to intercept them, but also made use of this different parry and his movements to negate them.

Chen Chuan could tell that this was a highly-advanced negation technique. It required both the fighter’s body and saber to negate the power of the attack, and Jiancheng Sheng had performed all of it beautifully. Setting aside his strength, the minute changes in his movements made it clear that he was much stronger than the Iron Monster in terms of mastery and use of technique.

However, they walked down completely different paths. Fighting strength could not be evaluated so easily. No matter who it was, they needed to bring out their strengths and avoid their shortcomings.

It was time to put an end to testing Jiancheng Sheng’s strength.

Chen Chuan brought his saber up again, then sucked in a deep breath to activate his mutated tissue. As he lowered his center of gravity, he expanded his biofield and trained his eyes on Jiancheng Sheng. As the man’s expression changed, the ground under Chen Chuan’s feet cracked, and he vanished from sight.