Celestial Human Diagram

The Commander’s face was covered by a metal Face Armor, making his expression unreadable, but the gaze behind it was now fixed unblinkingly on Chen Chuan.

As Chen Chuan leaped into the air, the Commander raised his Long Spear, aiming it in the direction of his descent. To his right, the Vice General, who had already switched to a new horse, also raised his Long Spear.

The two Long Spears, one on the left and one on the right, almost completely blocked his path forward. Not only that, but a faint light began to flicker at the tips of both weapons.

Although Chen Chuan’s downward charge was so sudden it caught them by surprise, it still took time for him to reach them. For men of their caliber, that was more than enough time to adjust and gather their power.

They were confident that with their combined strength, not even an opponent of the same level could break through their blockade and joint attack.

The sacrifices of the Samurai and Soldiers before were inconsequential. As long as they themselves survived, they could always recruit and conscript more.

’In their eyes, even ten Duty Samurai are no match for a single Fighter who has reached their level. Besides, killing this man would greatly increase their chances of breaking through the Rift. To them, the trade-off was well worth it.’

But at the very moment they thrust their Long Spears forward, an extreme sense of danger simultaneously rose in both their hearts, making their hair stand on end. And that feeling... was coming from behind!

After coming down earlier, Chen Bitong hadn’t waited on the sidelines. Instead, he had taken a wide detour, circling around to the enemy’s rear. Relying on his vast experience and the unique nature of his Power, not a single person had detected him along the way.

The moment he saw Chen Chuan make his move, he knew his opportunity had come and struck decisively.

The commanders had not expected someone to charge down from above, let alone an enemy to attack from their heavily defended rear.

At this moment, everyone, including the commanders themselves, had focused all their power forward, leaving them with virtually no defense against an attack from behind.

However, as Martial Artists just one step shy of the Overlimit realm, they didn’t lose their composure even in such a sudden crisis. Instead, they instantly took measures to save themselves.

First, the horses beneath them sensed their urgent intent and leaped forward. The men themselves squeezed out every last drop of their remaining power and even forced out their Essence Blood to meet the powerful attack they anticipated.

In the next instant, two palms struck each of them, and they both jolted involuntarily.

However, looks of shock and anger appeared on their faces simultaneously, because they felt nothing from the palm strikes. The power behind them was like a fragile bubble, popping on contact.

Chen Bitong was still far away; he hadn’t charged forward yet. The palm strike he had just delivered was launched by traversing the Rift.

Although he was several kilometers from the Rift at this moment, it wasn’t that he couldn’t use it to dodge and traverse space. It was just that the farther the distance, the slower the entry and exit from the Rift became, making it almost useless in a battle between opponents of the same level.

But now, he had specifically exploited this weakness. By traversing a longer distance and launching an attack, his spirit and power arrived ahead of him. This made the two men in front feel a threat, inevitably causing them to overreact.

He had turned the weakness of his slow traversal into an exquisitely clever tactic. Following that first palm strike, he left an afterimage in his original position while his real body appeared behind the two men. Then, he thrust both palms forward. WHAM! WHAM! They struck both men’s bodies!

The two men never imagined that the person behind them would use a feint at such a critical moment. But it was an overt ploy; they hadn’t dared to gamble that the attack was powerless, and this led to a fatal miscalculation in their response.

Now, as the real attack arrived, they were unable to readjust in time. A tyrannical Power surged into their bodies, and with a series of sickening CRACKS, their spines and limb joints shattered.

The might of the String Void Force ran rampant through their bodies, causing a chain reaction of destruction. The faint light flickering at the tips of their Long Spears instantly dissipated. Not only did that external force vanish, but they could no longer even gather the Power within their own bodies.

And at this very moment, the blade Chen Chuan had raised high finally fell.

A flash of the blade, and it was gone.

Chen Chuan sped past the Commander. After covering several dozen meters, his feet landed with a THUD. He stood firm, still holding the posture of his final slash.

Behind him, the Commander froze for a moment before half of his head and chest slid off his body, landing on the ground with a wet THUD.

At the same time, the large banner symbolizing the Commander’s authority also snapped and fell, kicking up a large cloud of dust.

Only then did Chen Chuan slowly raise his hand, withdraw his blade, and straighten his body.

’He had originally intended to just take the man’s head. However, considering these people were exceptionally different, as if they had transformed into another kind of creature, he worried that the head could be reattached or even put on a new body. So this time, he simply split the man vertically and used his Power to pulverize the brain tissue inside.’

Meanwhile, with the other Vice General, after Chen Bitong’s initial strike landed, he had followed up with a dozen more punches in that single instant. Even if the String Void Force’s primary purpose wasn’t to kill, his opponent could not withstand such a powerful impact.

With a final punch to the back of the head—CRACK!—the man’s eyes burst and his head flopped limply to the side. Although his Armor held his body together, the corpse within was now little more than a pile of pulp.

Chen Chuan glanced at the battlefield. According to their plan, the best-case scenario had been killing either the Commander or the Vice General, and they had expected to pay a price for it.

But they had coordinated so perfectly that they had managed to kill both the Commander and the Vice General on the spot.

Their original plan was to retreat immediately after succeeding to avoid being surrounded. But looking at the current situation, with both commanders dead, there was almost no one left on the field who could hold them back.

’Several of the Duty Samurai up front had been nearly incapacitated during the initial clash, and the rest were terrified. These men were the backbone of the army. If he killed them, the remaining ordinary Soldiers would pose even less of a threat.’

So, he looked over to Chen Bitong, seeking his opinion. However, Chen Bitong shook his head.

’His thoughts turned. Chen Bitong was far more experienced. If he didn’t approve of this course of action, there must be a good reason. Chen Chuan wouldn’t stubbornly insist.’

Without the slightest hesitation, he retracted his blade and quickly turned back toward the Rift.

As he passed the Commander’s corpse, his gaze fell upon the man’s personal sword—that of an Assistant General. It had a black hilt and a vermilion Sword Scabbard, adorned with various intricate patterns and hung with tassels and jade. It looked magnificent. As he ran, he used the tip of his Snow Monarch Blade to flick the sword into the air and snatched it.

Meanwhile, Chen Bitong tore down the fallen banner, and together with Chen Chuan, they headed back to the Rift.

Not long after they returned to the mountaintop, they heard the RUMBLE of cannons from behind. Looking back, they saw that the shells were landing exactly where they had just been. Plumes of fire and smoke now billowed from that area.

Chen Chuan asked, "Aren’t they afraid of hitting their own men?"

Chen Bitong shook his head. "They must have known the situation at the front before making that call. If we had stayed there any longer and they hadn’t opened fire decisively, their losses would have been even greater."

Chen Chuan thought it over and couldn’t help but nod.

Chen Bitong added, "Captain Chen, with their Commander killed, they are bound to become even more frenzied. They will likely launch an all-out assault next. Prepare to face them."

Chen Chuan grunted in acknowledgment. He took a moment to feel inside himself. After practicing the Spiritual Reflection Method for so long, its essence had continuously permeated his body, and his spirit had grown considerably stronger.

The recent series of high-intensity battles had stimulated his spirit to an extreme degree. In particular, successfully slaying the enemy Commander had pushed his spirit to a whole new level.

He felt as if he was on the verge of sensing something, but he was still just a little bit short.

He thought for a moment and asked, "Teacher Chen, is there a name for that ability to guide one’s power with their spirit?"

Chen Bitong said slowly, "There’s a line in the Classics of the old era: ’A point of spiritual light knows my nature; true awareness crosses worlds to remake a life.’ That is why you can call it ’Spiritual Sense.’"

"Spiritual Sense...?"

Chen Chuan let out a long breath.

Just then, they heard the sound of propeller blades. Looking up, they saw an Airship appear in the distant sky.

Chen Bitong’s expression turned grim. "Captain Chen, fall back further inside."

Chen Chuan agreed and retreated without hesitation.

Less than five minutes after they fell back, a series of massive explosions erupted from within the Rift.

Following that, more artillery shells screamed down, the bombardment from the rear having extended its range to this position.

At that moment, at least twenty cannons were simultaneously unleashing a barrage on the mountaintop.

Chen Chuan and Chen Bitong had retreated to the very edge of the Rift. One more step and they would likely be outside it.

But they were safe here. The artillery shells were only hitting the middle zone of the Rift; they couldn’t penetrate all the way to the exit on the other side.

It seemed the death of a general had indeed provoked a drastic reaction from the enemy. This round of bombardment lasted a full fifteen minutes.

After the artillery barrage, the Airship moved in closer. Its machine guns went RAT-A-TAT-TAT, spitting tongues of fire down into the Rift.

At the same time, a dense horde of the White Plague surged up the mountain under the cover of the machine-gun fire, scrambling over one another as they rushed into the Rift.

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