Roadmap to the Boundless Sky

Book 4, Chapter 223: A Reason To Take The Form

Atamur was more than four meters tall, similar to Fenghe Shou, but he was much more built. His body was as broad as a wall and covered in muscles as tough as rocks. When he stood up, the light from the ceiling shone on him, and the shadow he cast almost reached Chen Chuan’s feet.

When Chen Chuan heard him speak fluently in his national language, he said, “Yes. What would you like?”

“What’s this? You’re here to negotiate with me? Bah!” Atamur spat on the floor. The spit hit the floor so hard that stones flew up, and a shallow pit was left behind. “Cut the crap. You have no intention to talk. I’ve told you the conditions, and you’re now asking what they are? Either you agree, or say no. There’s no room for negotiation!”

Chen Chuan cast him a glance. Atamur spoke firmly, but those who could become martial arts masters weren’t idiots. He should know what kind of power a country like the Great Shun Republic could bring to the table to take him down.

Yet he was still choosing to behave this way. Then, he was either the type of person to refuse to back down even when he knew that his enemy was stronger than him, or someone was supporting him, and he wasn’t worried about turning against the Great Shun Republic.

Either way, Chen Chuan had no intention of talking about who was right or wrong. When it came to fights between nations, such things were never discussed. The complexity of such conflicts couldn’t be resolved with a sentence or two. Nations worked together and fought against each other all the time, so bringing morals to the table wasn’t going to ever reach the root of the issue.

Fortunately, Chen Chuan didn’t need to consider these things.

He cast a glance at the jade piece embedded into the armrest. Since it was here and Atamur wasn’t willing to talk to him, he was going to use the most direct method to solve this problem.

As if Atamur had sensed his thoughts, he tensed up and grew even taller. His shadow spread outward until it reached Chen Chuan, then continued until it covered his head.

Chen Chuan looked up. Atamur’s clothes tore open. His skin had turned a dark green, and his hair became crimson, like dancing flames. Four arms grew out from his back, and crimson light spread out around him.

His teeth turned into fangs, and he glared at Chen Chuan. Under the light, he looked like a fierce evil god.

This was the form of Damolite the War God.

Damolite was a guardian and war god in Veshahan legends whose form Atamur had observed and visualized. In Veshahan history, this god fought against foreign evil gods, and that was how the Veshahan came to be.

Atamur was highly compatible with this form, so he couldn’t accept foreign oppression and humiliation, even for a brief moment. It brought endless, burning anger to him, which he used to torch all invaders to ashes.

At that moment, he leaned forward slightly. As their biofields pushed against each other, sparks like electricity shot out. A moment later, he pushed down, and their biofields shattered. Then, he loomed over Chen Chuan.

Golden-white flames rose around Chen Chuan. As he watched all six arms descending upon him, he didn’t move away. Instead, he lowered an arm to the side. Highly dense spirit flames rose on his palm. They shone with such bright light that it made him look white and would have blinded anyone in the hall.

Atamur had been grinning ferociously a moment ago, but when he saw the light and sensed the power contained within it, his expression changed. He listened to his instincts and gave up on attacking. Instead, he pulled all six arms back to shield himself. The crimson flames flowing around him also gathered in front of him.

Chen Chuan took a step forward. While leaning forward, he moved the hand with the spirit flames. Then, he put one leg behind him with a stomp and threw the spirit flames forward.

The highly concentrated energy instantly crossed the distance between them and rammed into Atamur. Spirit flames slammed into each other with the impact that shook the sandstone cliff, as if an earthquake had happened.

After picking up the basics of one of the stances for the Blinding Blaze, Chen Chuan’s mental energy had grown stronger. His spirit flames had also become more powerful.

Meanwhile, this hall was really cramped for a fight between martial arts masters. This was why he had used his most destructive attack without hesitation.

Every bit of a martial arts master’s stamina was precious, so they would rather test the waters with their enemies before dealing the fatal blow. Unless they had a clear tactical goal of trying to stop or sound out the enemy’s strength, they would seldom use such destructive attacks that would drain their energy at the start.

But Chen Chuan had ways to replenish his energy, and the Great Shun Republic had promised in writing that they were going to provide all that he needed to replenish the energy he spent on the mission. That was why he had immediately gone all out once he found his target.

Atamur was using all six arms to push against the spirit flames. Every muscle in him was tense. The flickering crimson flames were gathered in front of him to try and stop the golden-white flames.

However, Atamur was pushed back rapidly, and he couldn’t stop it. He could even sense himself losing his balance. The moment he felt as if he couldn’t feel solid ground anymore, he knew that he couldn’t let this continue.

As his body trembled violently, he forced himself to push forward. However, this sudden push destroyed the last of his balance.

Boom!

A huge ball of light exploded in the sand-covered Sarland sky.

Most of the hall had disappeared. After the explosion, a large, empty space opened up in front of Chen Chuan. The building was gone, and where the ceiling had been, he could now see the night sky. A moment passed, and loud howls rose. The air that had been pushed out started flowing back in.

Atamur was swaying before him. His spirit flames were practically gone. Only a few wisps flickered about at his shoulder. His pants were torn and tattered. Three of his four extra arms were severed. Holes were all over his body, while torn and flayed flesh lay everywhere. Most of the wounds had golden-white spirit flames attached to them, which were continuously pushing into them.

Atamur gasped for air. He wasn’t expecting the spirit flames to be so strong. Even if he used every bit of his strength, he still couldn’t block them.

It seemed like the Great Shun Republic had decided to be serious and sent a powerful martial arts master.

Not that it mattered.

He stood up again. Flesh squirmed where the arms had been severed, but due to the invasive properties of Chen Chuan’s spirit flames, Atamur’s mutated tissue was stopped from regenerating. He couldn’t repair his arms.

Yet he still stood straight again and trained his eyes on Chen Chuan. With all caution thrown to the wind, he released his blood essence, and his body grew even larger. This was a sign of him changing into a form he hadn’t mastered. It might lead to him dying or losing control over himself, but he didn’t care.

Chen Chuan stepped forward and stomped down. The air that had returned to the hall was pushed out again as he shot forward. When he arrived in front of Atamur, he kicked forward.

Despite being heavily injured, Atamur wasn’t slow. His body reacted right away. However, his spirit flames were exhausted after the clash earlier and couldn’t block the kick or the light from Chen Chuan’s attack.

Bam!

The kick hit him in the forehead. Refined force gushed into his head, and he fainted as his huge body fell backward. Before he crashed, he started shrinking to his original size. When he eventually landed, he was several dozen meters away.

Chen Chuan didn’t kill him. The central government had told him that if it was possible, he wasn’t to kill Atamur, because it could lead to an international conflict. It would also put the Great Shun Republic’s government into a passive position.

On a personal level, if Chen Chuan killed Atamur, it would be much harder for him to apply to leave the country in the future. Other countries could reject him by citing this as an excuse.

He stepped away and stared at a place. The crushed stones and debris there started moving away, and the jade piece floated up, then rushed toward him.

This jade piece had an obvious crack. On the surface, it looked no different from other jades, but he could sense just how abnormally tough it was. It was also heavy. Yet when it touched his biofield, it became really light, as if it weighed nothing.

Tiny runes were on the smooth surface of the crack. They should be the words of praise used during the day of worship. Chen Chuan put the jade piece into a bag he had prepared beforehand and hid it in his pocket. Then, he walked away. A moment later, a loud, thunderous boom rang out in the distance.

Around ten minutes after he left, a tall person walked in to stand in front of the fallen martial arts master. Atamur grinned. “I knew you were back. Come, kill me, brother. Let my death fill you with strength, and use it to defeat our enemies so that Veshahan can begin anew.”

“Was it worth it?” the newcomer asked.

Atamur didn’t answer. Instead, with dull eyes, he mumbled, “Damolite, with boundless flames, boundless light, and boundless strength, you are freed from all laws. You overcame all tribulations...”

“Corruption from the other form...” The newcomer’s eyes filled with pity.

If a martial arts master walking down the path of the other form couldn’t maintain their self, the other form they observed and visualized would corrupt their personality and thoughts. Atamur had been affected by it. The newcomer empathized with him, but he wasn’t going to show mercy just because of it. This was exactly the sort of power he needed.

He brought a hand up, and indigo light spread out from it. However, he suddenly took a step back. A flash of light grazed his forehead and vanished into the darkness.

When he turned around, he saw Chen Chuan standing on the rubble, as if he had never left.