Book 4, Chapter 203: Entering Clear View Hall

The liaison officer was stunned. After a brief moment of hesitation, he said, “Mr. Chen, we don’t know what happened with Mr. Hu. Shouldn’t we wait?”

Hu Kan, the martial arts master, had been in there for a while, and they had no idea what had happened to him. If he was in trouble, they should be more cautious about sending another martial arts master over.

“It’s precisely because we don’t know what happened to him that we need to hurry,” Chen Chuan said.

The liaison officer didn’t say anything else and ordered the airship to get closer to the island.

While the white rocks could block the warships’ path, they couldn’t stop the airship. However, an airship could always be struck down by a martial arts master, so it was dangerous for them to fly in a region known to have one. That was why they usually avoided it. Even if they had a martial arts master with them as well, the airship crew was nervous.

However, they didn’t run into any trouble. Perhaps it was because Hu Kan was holding back Xiaoyue Zhai.

The airship got close to the beach. Further up it were a row of houses and a seemingly neverending stretch of forest. Curiously enough, once they flew closer, right above the island, fog appeared, and soon, they couldn’t see anything down below. It was as if the island had disappeared.

Chen Chuan observed it for a while and believed that this was the effect of a ritual. “Stop here. I can get down now.”

With that said, he jumped down from the observation deck and vanished into the fog.

The liaison officer immediately asked the pilot to fly back and used the domain communication entity in the airship to contact the warships.

“Mr. Chen has gone down. Yes. It’ll be fine. Mr. Chen is strong enough to handle the situation.”

When he arrived on Peaceful Hero Archipelago, he waited on one of the islands for news of Chen Chuan’s fight with Fenghe Shou. Soon, he heard that Chen Chuan had won, and Fenghe Shou had gracefully admitted that he lost fair and square.

The martial arts masters of the three martial arts schools were equally famous, so they should be about the same strength. If Chen Chuan could win against Fenghe Shou, then he should be able to win against Xiaoyue Zhai.

***

After Chen Chuan jumped down, he sank into the fog. When the mist blocking his sight disappeared, he noticed that he was less than twenty meters away from the ground. Layers of light rose from his body, and with a bang, he landed on the earth. Due to the effect of his biofield, the sand around him levitated for a bit before falling down.

He looked ahead. Now that he was on the island, his vision was no longer obscured by the fog. From above, the island looked pretty large, but he couldn’t see the whole thing. On his way, though, he had read up a bit on the island.

Serene Radiance School wasn’t as secretive as Fierce Wave School and Windforest School. This was because the island had quite a lot of residents and believers.

After Master Hongfa set up the school and passed down his teachings, patrons kept coming for a pilgrimage. Serene Radiance School was one of the famous Zen temples among the island nations, so the outside world had quite a lot of information about it.

As Master Hongfa’s successor, Xiaoyue Zhai had plenty of influence, but to the Great Shun Republic, he was a destabilizing factor.

Right now, the Great Shun Republic was actively recruiting and getting rid of the forces of power among the island nations. A martial arts master refusing to join any side was definitely an important target. If Serene Radiance School had really chosen to join the Linacrox Union, it would have a great impact. Since they even killed the negotiator, it was like the school was handing the Great Shun Republic an excuse to attack them.

After looking around for a bit, Chen Chuan found the right path and disappeared from the beach. Sand exploded, and a moment later, loud explosions sounded.

Then, Chen Chuan appeared on a large stone pillar. Rumbling sounds rose, and the trees beside him swayed violently.

Serene Radiance School’s Clear View Hall was located on the highest elevated ground, making it easily identifiable. There were quite a number of residents around, so Chen Chuan was careful. He didn’t just charge down the path, but observed it a little before moving forward.

The disciples in charge of guarding the path to the school noticed the commotion he caused. Startled, they drew their sabers and pointed them at the stone pillar.

However, the moment they looked at Chen Chuan, their hands started trembling. They didn’t know that he was a martial arts master, but their mutated tissue shriveled up, and this caused them a great amount of fear. Even their feet refused to move.

Chen Chuan ignored them. He took a moment more to observe the area before he vanished again. When he showed up again, he was in front of the entranceway to Clear View Hall.

It had a number of Zen pillars and wall niches with eternal lanterns. In the square ahead was a statue of Master Hongfa. Chen Chuan was certain that someone had carved it after his passing.

There wasn’t anyone around. The disciples were nowhere to be found, and it was quiet all around. After a while, he heard a loud rumble in the distance. Dust from the roof tiles fell down, and he heard echoes reverberating off the walls.

Chen Chuan walked down the path at a rapid pace. He was moving so quickly that he left behind faint afterimages. Soon, he saw a broken stone archway. Only two lotus bases remained. The stone beams and plaque above it lay in pieces on the ground.

A few disciples were kneeling by the sides of the road with their sabers on the ground. Their eyes were shut, and they weren’t moving, but they were murmuring something.

Boom!

Chen Chuan heard yet another loud rumble.

He looked in the direction and hurried to Clear View Hall.

It was vast and spacious. The ceiling was around forty meters high, though a large hole had still been opened near the entrance. The edges of the hole were full of splinters and shattered bricks. Powder and dust filled the air, and a deformed bronze incense burner had rolled to a corner of the wall.

There was yet another rumble.

Chen Chuan slowed down. While the sounds were loud, they happened occasionally, which meant that both sides were fighting cautiously. If they continued at this rhythm, unless one side made a huge mistake, it would be quite difficult for a victor to be decided.

That was why he didn’t hurry anymore. Instead, he pushed his hat down and walked in with his saber in hand.

Once he crossed the entrance hall, a huge square opened up before him, and he saw two people in a standoff.

The one further away was a fit, tall, thin man. His muscles wound tightly around his bones and looked tight and firm. His hair was done in a topknot, and it seemed coarse, since the strands stuck out stubbornly. There was also a five o’clock shadow on his chin and cheeks.

He wore a white martial arts uniform with the hem of the robe touching the ground. It had patterns Chen Chuan couldn’t decipher.

His eyes were unique. They were orange in color and shone with a crystalline glow. In his hands was a horse-cutting saber made in the style of the Eastern Continent.

Right next to him was a man, who was seven meters tall. Most of the ground in front of him was cast in his shadow.

The man’s hair was down. He had a fearsome glare, a tall nose, gilded armor, two large hammers with heads that resembled pots, and he shone with a vermilion light. Clearly, he walked the path of a divine general.

It seemed like he was the one who caused all the damage to the buildings outside.

Strangely, though, there was a severed head on the ground, and it looked exactly the same as the person walking down the path of the divine general.

“Stop staring, brother. That’s my head. It’s so embarrassing. He cut my head off in just one slash, and I fell face first. There was even a loud smack, you know?”

Chen Chuan raised an eyebrow at that. There was no doubt. This was Hu Kan, and it seemed like he had two heads, which meant that he was quite far down his path of the other form. It was no wonder why he dared to come here alone.

“Are you okay, Mr. Hu?” Chen Chuan asked.

Hu Kan didn’t make a fuss about it and just said, “This guy’s pretty strong. I can’t quite hold the line here. I need your help in keeping things under control, brother.”

Chen Chuan didn’t waste his breath again and trained his eyes on the person holding the saber. “Alright, leave it to me.”

“Be careful, brother. I’ll be right here, taking some medicine. I’ll come help you soon. Seriously, you need to be careful. He’s really good with that saber. It’s so fast. It went like, whoosh! And I couldn’t keep up, even though my eyes are so fast—”

Chen Chuan walked past him.

Hu Kan then took two steps back. The light on his body faded away, and smoke spread out from his body. As his armor fell off piece by piece, he returned to a normal height.

He appeared to be a man in his thirties with a crewcut and a bit of a roguish air about him. Hu Kan went to a broken Zen pillar, sat down on it, and started searching through his pockets for something.

As for Xiaoyue Zhai, he watched Chen Chuan walk over, but he wasn’t in a hurry to attack. Instead, he stood with his saber held firmly in his hand.

Chen Chuan stopped twenty meters away from him.

Xiaoyue Zhai cast a glance at the Frost King Saber before asking in a deep, hoarse voice, “Are you going to fight me with that saber?”

“I’m not going to use it. It’s just going to witness the fight,” Chen Chuan replied. Light shone from the sheath, and he stabbed it into a flagstone. Then, he looked up. “It has already witnessed one fight. Now, it’s going to witness another.”

Xiaoyue Zhai observed him for a bit before saying, “You’re the one who fought against Fenghe Shou?”

Before Chen Chuan could answer, Xiaoyue Zhai nodded, as if he already got his answer. “Looks like you won. Fenghe Shou might seem tough, but he’s soft in nature. I’m not surprised that he made this choice. While it looks like he has managed to preserve Fierce Wave School’s legacy by doing this, from the moment he made this choice, Fierce Wave School’s legacy is no more among the island nations.”

“But more people will learn Fierce Wave School’s techniques in the future, and that’s another form of passing down their teachings. We’re in the new era now. Do you actually think that you can protect all that you want by joining the Linacrox Union?” Chen Chuan challenged him.

“The Great Shun Republic can’t promise me certain conditions,” Xiaoyue Zhai replied.

Chen Chuan nodded. “If that’s the case, I understand. It’s the end of our conversation, then.

“Are you ready, Mr. Xiaoyue?”

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