Book 4, Chapter 25: Brilliant Sun

Yejian Hong only had the short saber left. He stared at Chen Chuan while gasping for breath with shock and excitement in his eyes. The two emotions clashed so much that his expression looked strange.

This was due to him feeling nervous due to his opponent’s strength, but also looking forward to the fight with him. He twirled the short saber and moved into another stance with a grave look.

Chen Chuan yanked off the torn sleeve and strode over. Due to the body-hardening-type Heartborn Force, he practically had no weaknesses to be exploited and gave off an incredibly intimidating air.

Yejian Hong’s breathing sped up, and his blood flowed faster in his body. His nostrils flared, and his pupils dilated.

Once Chen Chuan was a certain distance away, Yejian Hong took an abrupt step forward. An aggressive-looking white fog appeared on the tip of the short saber, and he thrust it forward so quickly that it instantly arrived in front of the target.

Chen Chuan tilted his head and grabbed Yejian Hong’s wrist.

After having suffered a setback during close-quarters combat, Yejian Hong was on guard this time. He moved to the side and back while thrusting his short saber forward again to keep Chen Chuan at a distance where he could control his movements.

The fight so far had given a huge stimulation to his mind and quickened the speed of fusion between his body and the mental energy placed on him. This made his movements much faster.

However, he wasn’t strong enough to get out of his disadvantageous situation. When Chen Chuan continued closing in, all he could do was to avoid him. Meanwhile, once Chen Chuan was able to use the body-hardening-type Heartborn Force, he was no longer scared of thrusts from Yejian Hong’s short saber. He kept using grappling techniques to prevent Yejian Hong from being able to use his mutated tissue for any effective counterattack.

Yejian Hong started getting frustrated. If this continued, he was bound to lose. He needed more power to win against Chen Chuan.

His focus shifted to that single goal, and he forgot everything else, including the damage to his body and the draining of his life force.

Once he did that, something he had been instinctively keeping shut within him snapped open. A few breaths later, his eyes turned bloodshot, and thin holes appeared on his skin. Red mist came out of them.

His strength and speed increased exponentially, and his movements became much sharper. He also became able to use all sorts of techniques he had never used before.

When they drew close and Chen Chuan came into contact with the red mist, he sensed a stinging pain on his skin.

Shiyuan Ba was still kneeling on one knee with a saber plunged into the ground to keep him upright.

The dizziness made him unable to stand up, but it didn’t stop him from watching the fight.

The fight was getting faster, and he was no longer able to follow the exchange of blows, but he could see the red mist coming out of Yejian Hong, along with the red ribbons drifting and spreading outward as he moved at lightning speed.

Shocked, he cried out, “Is this... the Moon’s Illumination?”

The Moon’s Illumination was as strong as the Heart’s Path. During battle, the mutated tissue of this technique’s practitioners would release a unique substance. It would fill the area and attack the opponent’s mind.

This forced the opponent to put more attention into defending themselves, but the substance permeated everything. The slightest lax in guard would allow it to enter the body, and the enemy’s mutated tissue would be affected. It would then turn lax. If this condition wasn’t resolved right away, it would continue accumulating over time. Eventually, it would become hard to return things to normal.

The practitioner’s physical body needed to be incredibly strong to use this technique. According to what Shiyuan Ba knew, no disciple in Serene Radiance School had picked up this technique. At that moment, he remembered just how similar Yejian Hong’s demeanor was to Xiaoyue Zhai’s, and he guessed the reason why he could use this technique. It had to be the effect of the mental energy projected on Yejian Hong.

While fending against the waves of mental attack, Chen Chuan sensed that Yejian Hong was getting faster, and his attacks were growing stronger. There did not seem to be a limit to the increase in Yejian Hong’s strength and speed, so if this continued, before long, Yejian Hong would overpower him.

Chen Chuan decided to no longer hide his true skills. After taking a deep breath, his breath turned scorching hot. Wisps of white smoke rolled off of him and rose up.

The moment he used the Furnace Breathing Technique, he went onto the offensive. This time, he did not use any grappling techniques. Instead, he attacked with Sanshou techniques at a lightning pace. In an instant, powerful strikes and kicks went for Yejian Hong’s body like pouring rain.

The red mist coming out of him became thicker to block Chen Chuan’s offense. The mental energy projected onto him kept making him faster and stronger. His refined force and techniques also grew sharper. He even started growing familiar with his Heartborn Force.

Chen Chuan perked up because of this. He did not avoid Yejian Hong’s refined force but faced it head-on to adjust and polish his own Heartborn Force.

Their fight created constant explosive bangs. The lifeform itself began to tremble.

Worried that he would get hit, Shiyuan Ba did his best to move back. As for the rest, he had no energy to help them. Fortunately, they had all collapsed at the entrance and were not within the main area of the fight.

Chen Chuan and Yejian Hong had exchanged attacks for around four minutes. Usually, fights between martial artists ended in just a few minutes, while high-intensity fights like this lasted even shorter, because they drained the martial artists’ stamina and mental energy.

The two of them had something supporting them and giving them strength, though. Not only did they not become weaker because of such an intense fight, but their aura also grew stronger. The white smoke and red mist crashed into each other and tumbled about, then twirled around.

Chen Chuan found the fight incredibly exhilarating. He seldom met opponents who could fight him head-on without backing down in the slightest. He could feel his Heartborn Force being refined with every exchange, and he gained greater clarity of mind.

A few more minutes passed, and he sensed something. His eyes flashed, and he threw a punch forward.

His entire arm was wrapped in jets of white smoke.

Yejian Hong sensed it. He widened his eyes and didn’t choose to block the attack. Unlike before, he stepped to the side.

The fist grazed his body, and blood sprayed out. The white smoke trailing behind the punch let out a rumbling, thunderous boom.

Goosebumps broke out on his skin. The extreme shock made his mind grow more. Light shone in his eyes, and the red mist coming out of him grew thicker.

At that moment, one of the Serene Radiance School disciples kneeling on one knee looked up and charged forward. He drew his saber and thrust it at Chen Chuan.

He wasn’t at the level where he could predict Yejian Hong and Chen Chuan’s movements, but the angle of his attack was perfectly executed.

Chen Chuan saw him and threw a casual punch at the saber. White smoke surged from the blade to the person. The saber started cracking section by section, and then the person’s arms shattered. The mutated tissue and muscles involved in executing the attack were also torn to shreds.

The person flew back in a bloody mess. When he crashed on the ground, he was a mangled corpse.

Chen Chuan clenched his fist, and wisps of white smoke rose from between his fingers.

This was the Heartborn Force he had just finished developing. Not only did it contain the explosive refined force taught to him by Chen Bitong, but also some moves from the Cloud Ripping Palm.

The most crucial part of this Heartborn Force was his mental energy seamlessly blending with the execution of his refined force, which allowed him to instantly release a powerful strike.

If Yejian Hong had taken the punch instead of dodging it, his limb would have been blasted apart. Then, he would have had a moment to neutralize the refined force. If he failed, he would have ended up like the other disciple. His body would have been torn apart by the Heartborn Force.

Yejian Hong took the chance to retreat while Chen Chuan got rid of his junior brother. He seemed to be wary of the refined force Chen Chuan had released and no longer went for the offensive. Instead, he crossed his arms and let out a strange cry.

Shiyuan Ba and the other two Third Limit martial artists found themselves having lost control over their bodies.

One of them jumped up and charged at Chen Chuan. Blood droplets seeped out of his skin, which meant that he was squeezing out every bit of his potential and life force without care for anything else.

Shiyuan Ba had started moving too, but perhaps because he was stronger than the others, he managed to stop himself. His face turned red from the effort of fighting against the power in his body. The other disciple noticed something going wrong too and was fighting it, but wasn’t able to resist it for long.

When Chen Chuan saw another disciple coming at him, he cast a glance at Yejian Hong. Then, he remembered what Talu had told him.

The Brilliant Sun, huh?

Serene Radiance School paid a lot of attention to the use of biofields and mental energy. Once one of its disciples became strong enough, they could learn a secret technique known as the Brilliant Sun.

It released an invisible biofield that could affect another person’s mutated tissue. It was similar to Single Flow School’s two-tier refined force, but Serene Radiance School didn’t need physical contact to do that.

After being affected by the biofield and mental energy, the more the target’s mutated tissue fought back, the more torturous the process became, and the mutated tissue would all die within a short period of time. Even though the target could restore the mutated tissue with blood essence, they would be forced into a passive situation.

There was another side effect to this secret technique. It could affect people from the same school. Once they were controlled by the Brilliant Sun, then even if they lost consciousness, their mutated tissue could be activated and turn the person into the practitioner’s puppet.

Chen Chuan watched the disciple rush over and poked at his forehead. The disciple trembled and took several steps back.

This time, Chen Chuan didn’t use the same refined force. The poke was done in a relaxed, casual fashion.

The Serene Radiance School disciple didn’t seem to be badly injured either. After taking a few steps back, he tried dashing forward again, but after taking two steps, explosive bangs came from his body, and he fell on the ground while spasming.

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