CHAPTER 179: LIMIT

While Jing Lin was airborne, he brought an arm up to his cheek and extended the other arm forward.

The extended arm was still a distance away from Chen Chuan when suddenly, the muscles on Jing Lin’s arm rippled, and his arm became longer. It instantly arrived in front of Chen Chuan and was about to touch his neck.

Chen Chuan shot forward and easily avoided the attack. In the blink of an eye, he arrived in front of Jing Lin’s face. He handled the timing and rhythm with remarkable precision.

Jing Lin smirked. He opened his mouth, and the corners of his mouth split up until they reached his ears, revealing the sharp fangs inside as he lunged his head forward to bite Chen Chuan.

Yet a powerful punch rammed into his stomach, and an explosive refined force blasted its way into his body.

With a grunt, Jing Lin arched from the attack. His arms and legs were thrown forward. Even his long, forked tongue lolled out of his mouth.

Chen Chuan brought his arm up, grabbed his head, and swept it to the side in disdain, thereby sending Jing Lin flying. After he crashed on the ground, he tumbled a few times and lay in a half-twisted pile. His eyes were rolled back, and his mouth hung wide open. It was evident that he was knocked out.

Chen Chuan gave him a cursory glance before looking forward. His attention had never been on Jing Lin. He hadn’t even heard what he said clearly. His attention was on the car in the back, because he knew that the person inside was the one he would have to give his all fighting.

Tan Wang sat in the car throughout the entirety of the fight. He had undergone an implant surgery, and he had also taken Jing Lin with him. Even though the youth was given low-class implants that were about to be discarded and were not suited for him, Jing Lin’s fighting prowess had still increased by leaps and bounds.

Tan Wang had hoped that Jing Lin could kill Chen Chuan, so he wouldn’t have to fight. Even if he couldn’t, Tan Wang would still get an entertaining show, but to think that he would be taken out right after the fight began... It seemed like Chen Chuan’s strength wasn’t exaggerated.

If that was the case, Tan Wang would need to take him down himself.

It did not matter much. Chen Chuan was a martial artist below the Third Limit, so it was going to be easy.

Tan Wang opened the door, stepped out, smoothed his suit, and closed the door behind him. He walked over to Chen Chuan in a leisurely stroll.

When he was close by, he stopped and cast a glance at the fallen Jing Lin. He stroked his chin and grumbled, “You need to pay after trouncing my toy, you know?”

“I know why you’re here, Mr. Tan,” Chen Chuan said calmly.

“Oh, you do?” Tan Wang immediately found the conversation boring. “Why did you have to say it? That’s so boring. You could have lived a little longer if you pretended you didn’t.”

Chen Chuan plunged the Frost King Saber’s sheath into the ground and unbuttoned his collar while saying, “I’m actually very happy to see you today, Mr. Tan.”

“Oh?” His words sparked Tan Wang’s curiosity. He found Chen Chuan’s actions interesting, so he didn’t mind going along with the conversation. “And why is that?”

Chen Chuan unbuttoned his jacket and threw it to the side. Then, he grabbed the saber hilt. His hair and shirt collar danced in the wind as he said, “Because you’re strong. You’re a necessary part of the puzzle.”

At that moment, dark clouds had gathered above the sky. The wind howled, and the reeds swayed violently as the branches and leaves danced. Suddenly, a bolt of lightning crackled in the sky, followed by rumbling thunder. The sound was so loud that it felt like it had struck them.

Tan Wang narrowed his eyes. He didn’t like Chen Chuan’s tone of voice.

But he was also curious. In the past, no matter what sort of reaction his prey gave him, he never felt disgusted. He found their reactions novel and interesting, unlike now.

Tan Wang turned his eyes to the sky and blamed the weather for it.

He put his hands into his pockets. “It’s about to rain, and I don’t want my new clothes to get wet. I’m sorry, but I’m going to have to ask you to kindly die as quickly as possible.”

With that said, he leaned forward and moved. The dancing reeds, whirling branches, and tiny droplets of water seemed to have slowed down at that moment.

Once a martial artist reached the Third Limit, their reaction speed and their body’s coordination got much better than before. The movements made by martial artists below the Third Limit seemed to be in slow motion to them, and no one of a lower level could catch up to them.

Also, Tan Wang had implants. Martial artists only strengthened parts of their mutated tissue, which led to unavoidable weaknesses. They were, in truth, like limping giants.

But with implants, they could make up for many of those weaknesses and gain more well-rounded abilities. Tan Wang could withstand greater strain and stay in his best condition for longer periods of time.

When he faced Chen Chuan, he felt like a cat toying with a mouse.

As he got closer and saw that the latter was still not moving, a mocking sneer appeared on his face. He extended an arm to grab his opponent’s face.

Chen Chuan had his eyes trained on Tan Wang, yet the man had still disappeared from his sight. Even so, Chen Chuan didn’t panic. As a bolt of lightning flashed in the sky, his second self vanished and overlapped with him.

Once again, he saw Tan Wang, and he saw his arm getting closer to him. With a twist of his body, he pulled out the Frost King Saber, and a brilliant flash appeared.

When Tan Wang saw Chen Chuan look over to him, he could sense that something was wrong. His long years of training had given him an acute sense for danger, and it made him quickly bring his arms up to block the saber.

Clang!

With his arm, Tan Wang managed to block the blade, but surprise appeared on his face, because Chen Chuan had suddenly sped up.

Before he could figure out what had happened, he saw a flash from the saber again. The blade was coming at him once more. Tan Wang hurriedly stepped back and used various parts of his body to block the slashes.

Scales appeared on his skin the moment he was about to get hit. They came from the scale armor implant. Once it fused with his mutated tissue, it could block small-caliber bullets and slashes through a combination of refined force and highly durable muscles.

Tan Wang didn’t need any weapons because his body itself was a weapon.

After blocking more than ten slashes, he finally recovered from the shock of being attacked. Once he blocked off a thrust, his calf and back muscles rippled, and he jumped backward in an abnormal fashion to leave the saber’s attack range.

He somersaulted in the air before standing on the ground again.

He may have left the saber’s range, but his suit was in tatters. The onslaught of attacks had torn it to shreds even if it did not injure him.

Rumble...

With a thunderous clap, the water that had been gathering in the clouds spilled down from the sky and splashed on the ground.

Chen Chuan raised his saber while caressing the back of the blade and positioning the saber diagonally in front of him. “Looks like you will need to change, after all.”

Tan Wang scoffed and yanked off his torn suit to reveal a scale-covered body.

The muscles around his eyes rippled, and his pupils became slits.

They were mutated snake pupils. Through them, he could receive more light and increase his visual sensitivity. They were especially suited for combat in places that were almost entirely dark.

Chen Chuan cast a glance at the scales on the man’s body. When he cut at Tan Wang earlier, it was hard to land a proper blow. It felt as if a gentle, yielding refined force was making his saber slide away. This wasn’t just the work of the scales. He had to have used refined force to negate Chen Chuan’s attacks.

As a martial artist at the Third Limit, Tan Wang had plenty of experience fighting against weapons masters, so Chen Chuan wasn’t surprised that he could do this.

Chen Chuan didn’t lose out on anything during the onslaught. Using refined force to negate attacks burned away energy. Even if Tan Wang had reached the Third Limit, he could not use refined force nonstop. Chen Chuan had only used normal slashes, while Tan Wang used refined force to block his attacks, so strategically speaking, he came out ahead.

After overlapping with his second self, as long as he didn’t suffer any severe attacks, he could fight for eight hours. As for Tan Wang, even if he was in the Third Limit, Chen Chuan doubted that he could last even half of that time.

Tan Wang stared at Chen Chuan for a while. He no longer felt at ease. His surprise at Chen Chuan being able to catch up to him in terms of speed had made him cast aside the attitude of toying with his prey. Was the youth using some kind of medicine?

Is it something new from Tiancong Baicao? he wondered.

This was the likeliest possibility. The cities outside Central City didn’t have high-grade implants, but they had all sorts of unverified, forbidden medicine. Sometimes, they produced unique results.

Because of it, Chen Chuan had managed to push his reflexes and speed to almost the same level as Tan Wang’s. Due to that, the overwhelming advantage he had over martial artists below the Third Limit was gone.

Fortunately, medicinal effects were temporary. Once they faded, then all that was left was an exhausted, wrecked body.

After all, the body worked as a unified whole. At most, Chen Chuan was just at the Second Limit. It was impossible for him to have the strength of a Third Limit martial artist. Medicine could push him to a higher level, but it would hurt the body. The injuries would accumulate and ruin him.

Still, the medicine was useful. Once the fight was over, he was going to ask where Chen Chuan got it. He might be able to earn some money selling it and cover the losses from the fight.

While thinking about this, he slowly spread his legs apart, though he remained still and didn’t attack Chen Chuan. He was waiting for the effects of the medicine to wear out.

Chen Chuan didn’t attack Tan Wang either. He wanted to force the man to attack him. He had to keep Tan Wang under a certain degree of stress so that he would keep using refined force to ward it off and burn his energy. This would increase Chen Chuan’s chances of winning bit by bit.

He took a step forward and delivered a diagonal slash to create a perfect water arc in the pouring rain.

His action confirmed Tan Wang’s theory. With a huff, he took a step back and moved backward at lightning speed. His body turned indistinct, as if he had disappeared.

Chen Chuan took a step forward and also vanished. Then, a series of loud clashes tore through the air.