Book 3, Chapter 323: The Flying Dragon Force
Chen Chuan had his feet planted firmly on the ground as he blocked the sudden wave of power rushing into him from the flexible sword.
While the refined force penetrated every part of his body, it lacked power, and Chen Chuan was able to block it without even needing his second self to absorb the damage.
Both Chen Chuan and Nie Guanshan had moved to intercept Chen Bitong. While they had moved at different times, Chen Bitong had moved too quickly, so it looked like both Chen Chuan and Nie Guanshan had intercepted him at once.
When Chen Chuan had exchanged blows with Chen Bitong during the first bout, he had felt a wave of refined force being sent into his body just as he sent his own refined force into Chen Bitong. But Chen Chuan hadn’t been affected. He used his mental energy to pay attention to everything Chen Bitong did, which led to him seeing the flexible sword’s tip moving through the rift. That was how he had intercepted the attack in time.
It was excellent on Chen Chuan’s part. Even Nie Guanshan had to admit that it was a beautiful move. But all of Chen Chuan’s efforts were wasted, because Yang Shen’s chanting had been interrupted.
It wasn’t because Yang Shen didn’t see Chen Chuan moving to stop Chen Bitong’s attack, but because he didn’t trust him. He didn’t believe that Chen Chuan would be able to block both Chen Bitong’s Void String Force and the sword attack. His life was more important than capturing the target, so he gathered refined force to prepare himself for the attack.
But the results surprised him.
Chen Chuan gave him the side-eye. Clearly, Yang Shen didn’t trust him. Not that he cared.
He had his own code of conduct. Right now, they were all carrying out a mission from the World Ring Defense System, so as long as they didn’t do anything out of line, Chen Chuan would cooperate with them and carry out his own duties instead of holding them back.
Upon seeing that his attack had missed, Chen Bitong knew that he wouldn’t have another chance to attack Yang Shen in this round, so he gave up on continuing with this attack. Even though he hadn’t achieved his goal of taking Yang Shen out, it wasn’t as if he had come out of it with nothing to show.
After the two attacks, he had figured out Chen Chuan and Nie Guanshan’s speed, rhythm, and how they used their refined forces. He had also figured some things out about their relationship. Now, he could come up with an even more targeted offense.
Nie Guanshan returned to the Deity Worshipping Stance, while Yang Shen resumed chanting.
Even though Chen Bitong hadn’t chosen to attack Chen Chuan, they weren’t going to lose their composure. Chen Chuan was too obvious of an opening. It was understandable that Chen Bitong would be cautious.
However, as long as their defense stayed true, he would sooner or later try to attack Chen Chuan if he wanted to break the stalemate.
For the sake of the argument, even if Chen Bitong gave up on attacking Chen Chuan, the three of them were working together pretty well, and once the Dragon Binding Force came into full effect, they wouldn’t have to care about teamwork anymore.
As Yu Lie watched the four of them fight, he felt his heart thundering, though he couldn’t tell the origin of his anxiety. His heart was filled with complicated emotions.
Just then, he remembered something and cast a glance at the rift.
It seemed to have gone quiet, as if the royal family had stopped trying to come through after finding out that the cavalrymen they sent had been defeated. They had noticed that something was off.
Had they truly given up, though? Yu Lie didn’t think so. He was sure that once they tried breaking through the rift again, they weren’t going to use the same number of cavalrymen as last time.
Just then, he heard a couple loud thuds and turned his head over in shock. Chen Bitong had thrown both of his blades on the ground.
Yang Shen and Nie Guanshan were surprised.
Since Chen Bitong could make his swords move through the rift, they were incredibly dangerous. While they had come up with strategies to counter it, they weren’t exactly sure whether they would work. Who knew Chen Bitong would be the first to give up on them, though.
That didn’t make them feel relaxed. Instead, they became wary. This meant that Chen Bitong had something even better up his sleeve.
Chen Bitong spread his arms to the sides, like he was a bird spreading his wings, and his mental energy grew stronger. It had been restrained before, but now, it became full of vigor and energy.
After staying still for a moment, Chen Bitong vanished from sight, but this time, he left behind no afterimages.
The trio weren’t just using their eyes to look for Chen Bitong, though. They were also using their minds to sense him. Suddenly, they detected something, and their heads whipped upward.
Chen Bitong was in the sky.
He had shown up about thirty meters in the air with the blood-red, dusky light behind him. He spread his arms and remained levitating in the air.
He hadn’t jumped up. Instead, he had moved through the rift and accessed one of the multiple gaps in the sky to reach that height.
Yang Shen and Nie Guanshan were both shocked. They immediately figured out what Chen Bitong was going to do. He was going to attack from the sky.
That made blocking his attacks difficult. Chen Bitong could adjust the distance whenever he wanted, which made him much more dangerous.
If they wanted to block attacks for Yang Shen, they would have to intercept Chen Bitong halfway through his attack or when he was further away. They would need to be airborne to do so, and while jumping up was easy, they needed to land eventually, which would waste time.
Unlike them, Chen Bitong didn’t need to land. He could move into another gap or rift, and he would be able to return to the ground in an instant. No matter what, he would always be a step faster.
With the light shining behind him, Chen Bitong dropped down, bringing with him the howling wind and rumbling thunder. At the same time, three afterimages of him appeared above them to throw a punch at them.
At that moment, each of their minds was telling them that the Chen Bitong they were facing was the real one.
When Chen Chuan saw the punch coming at him, refined force filled it seemingly out of nowhere, and he felt an overwhelming power from it. It seemed to be real.
Chen Chuan had seen how Lao Hu had lost his ability to fight after a single punch, so even if he had his second self, he didn’t want to endure it head-on and took a step back.
Meanwhile, Nie Guanshan didn’t dodge the attack. He used the Deity Worshipping Stance and let Chen Bitong’s punch land on the crown of his head. A powerful wave of refined force pierced through him, causing his knees to bend slightly, but immediately after, he bent his back and thrust his fists forward, though he only ended up hitting the afterimage.
As for Yang Shen, he narrowed his eyes and gave up on the chanting to use his refined force to dodge. As long as he continued with the ritual, Chen Bitong was going to focus his attacks on him, but he wasn’t like Nie Guanshan and didn’t dare to take a punch head-on. Lao Hu’s death served as a stark reminder as to why that would be a bad idea.
After putting the trio in line, Chen Bitong didn’t stop. Before the first wave of afterimages disappeared, more showed up. There seemed to be multiple Chen Bitongs punching at them at the same time, and they made it hard to figure out where he was even with their minds.
Chen Bitong remained in the air. He moved about with agility and stayed elusive. Every punch was executed from a different stance, but was accompanied by howling wind and rumbling thunder. He looked like a dragon moving through the sky.
Yang Shen and Nie Guanshan figured out what was going on.
Was this... the Flying Dragon Force?
It was a refined force from the royal family that had even been carved into the palace screen wall. [ref]A type of screen wall with reliefs of nine different Chinese dragons. Such walls are typically found in imperial Chinese palaces and gardens.[/red]
Since most of the techniques involved the practitioner attacking from the air, it was an offensive refined force that defied reason. Practically no one used it, and it was believed to be impractical. It was said to have been created solely for the purpose of making the royal family appear mysterious and awe-inspiring.
Chen Bitong used this refined force and his ability to move between gaps and rifts together, which allowed him to bring this refined force to life and make it an incredibly powerful fist technique.
At that moment, he was attacking three people at the same time. He flew around and attacked so fast that the wind howled nonstop. The shockwaves from his punches caused the air to spread outwards in ripples. It was an incredibly imposing spectacle.
Chen Chuan avoided most of the punches, but occasionally also had to block the attacks. He could sense that Chen Bitong was mostly trying to keep him in place. The dangerous attacks were aimed at Nie Guanshan and Yang Shen, especially the latter.
Chen Chuan had no idea whether it was because Yang Shen had mocked Chen Bitong or whether it was because of the Dragon Binding Force, but Chen Bitong was putting most of his attention on him.
Either way, it was going to be quite hard to break out of the stalemate because of Chen Bitong’s attacks. His afterimages were everywhere in the sky. He was moving so fast between gaps and rifts that Chen Chuan had trouble finding his true location.
He wasn’t the only one having that issue. Yang Shen and Nie Guanshan couldn’t locate Chen Bitong either. They were being attacked passively. As time passed, they started sensing something, and that something was catastrophic for them—Chen Bitong’s offense had become even more aggressive.
In the beginning, there was a bit of stiffness to his movements, but as he continued exchanging blows with the three of them, his attacks started to vary, and he began using his arsenal in even more ingenious ways.
Clearly, he was continuously optimizing and adjusting the refined force while fighting. His battle instincts and foundation stunned them. If the fight continued this way, things were going to go wrong sooner or later.
If they spread out and retreated a certain distance away, they could avoid the offense, but then, they wouldn’t be able to support each other anymore. Chen Bitong would be able to target them individually without holding back anymore, so it wasn’t a good choice.
The growing pressure left Yang Shen unable to keep on chanting, which meant that they had to abandon the original plan. Fortunately, they had backups.
Yang Shen exchanged a glance with Nie Guanshan and agreed to change the plan. Then, he swung his arms up, and the cords shot into the sky. They were thin, but once unfurled, they were eight meters long. If he injected refined force into them, every cord would become incredibly agile, and if they spread out, they could cover an entire region.
Once the cords touched Chen Bitong, they would bind him. If he didn’t break free in time, they would keep on tightening their hold over him.
For that to work, though, Chen Bitong had to stop moving for a second.
“Stop him, Captain Chen!” Nie Guanshan shouted and released an invisible wave of mental energy forward.
Chen Chuan would be able to sense what they were trying to do, but that didn’t matter. Rituals were necessary for both the Dragon Binding Force and the Deity Worshipping Stance. The former required the practitioner to chant to activate the ritual. As for him, from the moment he moved into the Deity Worshipping Stance, he had prepared a ritual. By now, it was almost ready.
His ritual could control a person’s mind and make them subconsciously obey the practitioner’s orders. If the target’s mind wasn’t as strong as the practitioner’s, the effect was even greater.
Because of this, Nie Guanshan wasn’t worried about Chen Chuan refusing to work with them. Once the time was right, he wouldn’t be able to control his own body. What they needed now was for him to take a full-powered punch. Once Chen Bitong released his refined force, they would have the perfect opportunity to attack. As for whether Chen Chuan survived? That was none of their concern.
After hearing Nie Guanshan’s words, Chen Chuan saw his second self turning blurry. His gaze turned sharp, and he gripped the Frost King Saber with a reverse grip. With his other hand, he clenched his fist and threw a punch at Chen Bitong.
