Book 4, Chapter 148: Retreat

A human-sized gap was in Chen Chuan’s tent, but he wasn’t sitting in front of it. Only the artifact was positioned there.

Chen Chuan was meditating right inside the gap while basking in the artifact’s light.

It made the nights in the merged space safe. No corruption came from the gap, and no existences came to try and slip over, so he was sure that the light had the effect of hiding things from the other world’s sight.

Hence, Chen Chuan decided to take a look into the gap.

As long as he didn’t go too far away from the entrance, he would be able to come back even if he ran into danger.

When the Fu-Mu Entity propagated, he had gone into gaps to look for the propagated offspring, but he had only stepped inside for a brief period and gone back right after. He hadn’t stayed inside for too long, so he chose to train there this time.

After all, training in front of the gap could never compare to training inside the gap. Even though this meant dealing with a lot more corruption, he didn’t have to bother about it with his second self around. Besides, the light from the artifact also blocked corruption.

To make sure that everything remained safe, Chen Chuan asked Hongfu to notify him if anything odd appeared so that he could run away. However, due to him not being too far away from the gap’s entrance where he was shrouded in the artifact’s light, no existence came to find him throughout the night, as if they had completely overlooked this place.

Dawncall chirped at him.

Chen Chuan opened his eyes, and bright light shone from within them. After training for the entire night, his mind had reached perfection.

Everyone’s degree of perfection was different. Some people lacked talent, so even if they reached perfection, they still had ways to go before they could reach the Fourth Limit. Others had the ability to reach the Fourth Limit but lacked resources to do it.

The higher the limit, the more necessary both talent and resources became.

Right now, Chen Chuan had fulfilled two conditions, which meant that he could reach a higher limit. He also had enough medicine for it. If he wanted to, he could already take that step.

But as Chen Chuan glanced at his second self, he knew that he lacked one last thing: Fusing with his second self. Once they became one, he would have an unprecedented foundation. It was at that point that he should push for the Fourth Limit.

He grabbed the Frost King Saber and stood up. After leaving the gap, he didn’t even look back and just slashed with his saber. The gap instantly closed up.

After washing up, he put on his protective equipment, put on his hat, picked up the artifact, and left the tent.

Xu Chan’s group was already waiting for him. The moment he walked out, they sensed that his aura had become extraordinary. They couldn’t really put it to words, but it made them feel fear in their hearts. It lasted for a moment only, though, before it disappeared.

The trio simply thought that their minds were playing tricks on them or that their minds had come into contact with Chen Chuan’s. Xu Chan was the only one who was surprised. Then, he thought of something and observed Chen Chuan a little longer.

Once Chen Chuan came out, he checked the area underneath. When he saw that there were only some insects scattered here and there, so they were no longer much of a threat, he cast a glance at the birds above, then at the airship. “They’ve gotten closer, it seems.”

Xu Chan approached him and said sternly, “We’re ready, Lead Investigator Chen.”

Chen Chuan nodded and asked, “No problems, I hope?”

“None.” Xu Chan’s reply was firm and resolute.

Based on their plan, Xu Chan was to take the artifact and head as fast as possible to the Great Shun Republic’s campsite. This would force the imperial army to mobilize. Then, Chen Chuan would intercept them and kill the enemy’s elite squad.

Even though the artifact would attract merged space creatures, Xu Chan was strong enough to take them down.

Chen Chuan handed the artifact over, and Xu Chan took it with grim seriousness before putting it into his pack. Chen Chuan turned to the others. “What about your preparations?”

“We’re almost ready.”

“Then, finish up, and let’s get going.” He extended his hand to Xu Chan. “See you at the campsite, Captain Xu.”

Xu Chan shook his hand. “I’ll see you there.”

Once he let go, he took a step back and saluted Chen Chuan. The others did the same.

Chen Chuan saluted them back, and they spread out to go about their final preparations.

The moment Xu Chan grabbed all that he needed, he gave Chen Chuan and the rest a heads-up and jumped off the Sleeping Worm.

When he landed, he immediately dashed away. Soon, there was a trail of smoke going over the uneven terrain. The light from the artifact followed it, so they could tell where Xu Chan was going.

Two of the scouting birds circling above them left the flock to chase after the light.

The team watched Xu Chan for a bit before taking down the campsite, grabbing whatever they needed to, saluting Chen Chuan, and leaving as well.

They were going to take a different path, but they weren’t going to stray too far from Xu Chan. They would also maintain contact with Xu Chan via telegram so that they could liaise with him whenever necessary.

After they left, more scouting birds split off. Only one was left to circle above Chen Chuan to keep an eye on him.

Clearly, the scouting birds couldn’t tell just who was important. All they could do was form judgments based on how much a person stood out and how big a group was. The people on the airship were different, but judging by their reaction, their main priority was the person with the artifact.

Chen Chuan watched the group leave and stood alone for a bit before going back to his tent to put all his things into his backpack. Then, he clapped at Dawncall, who obediently stayed still.

Chen Chuan ran in the direction of the Sleeping Worm’s tail until he reached the tip before jumping, flipping in the air, and landing firmly on the ground.

Then, he cast a glance at the mega creature, tugged at his overcoat, turned around, and ran off.

He was going in the same direction as Xu Chan, but he was maintaining a certain distance between them. There was also another distinction. He chose the path in which he was most likely to run into the imperial army’s elite pursuers.

If he checked the map, he would be at the bottom-most section of it. Above him was a place with multiple ravines and valleys. Most of them weren’t good for swift running. Chen Chuan’s path led to a rather spacious and flat hill that made it easy for a battalion to spread out and chase a target.

If the imperial army wanted to chase after them with their ground forces, they were sure to come from the south.

Of course, they could also send paratroopers, but they would run into the same problem. The valleys in the merged space were full of fearsome birds and flying insects, which wouldn’t ignore any flying objects that entered their territory. They would go after them to chase them out or take them down.

That was why it would be easier to attack from the ground. Besides, the northern section was blocked off by mountain ranges, so there was no need for the imperial army to send another battalion from that direction. At most, they would just station a battalion to block some mountain passes.

Chen Chuan ran for around half a day at his normal speed before seeing a sparse woodland in the valley ahead. The trees showed signs of being chewed, and most of the leaves were gone. Clearly, the insect flood had passed through here. Fortunately, most of the plants survived.

There was also green far ahead, so Chen Chuan’s judgment had been correct. A dense woodland was before him, so he sped up a bit.

The scouting bird behind him sped up as well, but he seemed to be too fast for it. The bird was struggling desperately to catch up.

After around twenty minutes, Chen Chuan saw more leaves around him. Through the gaps, he looked up and saw that the scouting bird was still stubbornly chasing after him, so he decided to kill it.

Chen Chuan sped up again and rushed into the dense woodland.

With the leaves and branches providing cover, the scouting bird couldn’t see where he was going, so it naturally dipped down. Still, it had clearly gone through some training before, since it stayed out of range and didn’t fly any lower. At most, it just slowed down a bit.

Just then, a black shadow suddenly shot down from above. It was Dawncall, which had dived down to stomp on the scouting bird’s neck.

Over the past few days, Dawncall had received plenty of nourishment from the egg artifact from Yang Yuncheng. The light from the gap had also stimulated its mutated tissue’s growth, so it had become larger than it had been when it first came to the merged space.

It didn’t just grow bigger, though. Its mutated tissue had also increased, which made it much stronger. Its dive broke the scouting bird’s neck, causing it to fall from the sky. After breaking a few branches, it crashed on the ground.

Dawncall circled the sky and cried out excitedly.

Chen Chuan went to where the bird fell and saw a bronze ring on its leg. It had the family name “Wei.” As he got closer, he smelled something pungent, and he held his breath as he stopped.

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