Atlas of Heaven and Man

Chen Chuan's gaze fixed on the flying head. He reached out, pulled out his martial halberd, and instantly aimed the muzzle at the forehead of the grotesque tale. Then, he pulled the trigger.

Bang!

A burst of fire erupted from the muzzle.

The flying head seemed startled, emitting an 'ee' sound, and abruptly soared upwards. Its long hair, now flying, instantly enveloped his entire field of vision.

Chen Chuan was certain he had hit it, but it seemed to have passed straight through its head, as if it were just a phantom. Meanwhile, his other hand clenched the hilt of his saber, and relying on instinct, he slashed upwards!

The flying head shrieked again. The gunshot earlier seemed to have no effect, but this time, as the blade struck, he felt a slight resistance in his hand, as if he had cut something ethereal. Yet, there was also a vague, unreal sensation, as if he hadn't truly struck anything solid.

Almost simultaneously, he noticed that the illusory quality of his "Second Self" seemed to deepen for a moment. From this, he immediately knew that he had indeed damaged the thing, but the effect seemed minimal.

At this moment, the flying head shot out of the gauze curtain, circling endlessly above.

Chen Chuan glanced to the side and saw that where the flying head had been hovering, there was a pile of flesh and bone fragments resembling rotten mud. It was impossible to make out what it was.

He looked back at the flying head. Gunfire was indeed useless, but the saber could touch it. The difference between the two was likely due to the mutated tissue within the Snow Lord Saber, but perhaps there wasn't enough of it.

In that case…

He took a few steps back. Seeing him leave its position, the flying head hovered in the air for a moment before rushing back towards the pile of flesh and blood.

Chen Chuan thrust his long saber into the ground. As the flying head descended, he suddenly reached out, as if grabbing something. Then, he clenched his fingers, actually seizing the flying head's long hair, bringing it to a sudden halt in mid-air.

His spirits lifted. Sure enough, because he had enough mutated tissue in his body, he could directly touch this thing.

However, this was not without a cost. At the same time, the illusory quality of his Second Self suddenly deepened.

He ignored it, grabbed with both hands, and shouted. His waist and back worked together, and he stepped backwards, pulling the thing slowly away from the pile of flesh and blood. The thing struggled constantly in the process, emitting 'ee ee' cries.

The thing wasn't large, but the force it transmitted was considerable.

Because he needed to preserve the Second Self to withstand unknown invasions and injuries, Chen Chuan didn't choose to merge with it this time. He relied solely on his own strength to wrestle with it. Fortunately, the mutated tissues weren't for nothing. He was already vastly different from before, and even his own strength seemed sufficient for now.

At this moment, he slightly adjusted his breathing, using his hands to alternately pull forward on the hair. He gradually moved closer, and when he was close enough, he shouted, grabbed the head, and tightly wrapped it in his arms!

The flying head seemed terrified, struggling desperately. The force was so great that it seemed to want to lift him up completely, but he remained calm, his grip not loosening in the slightest.

During the struggle, the thing nearly escaped several times, but he managed to control it each time by momentarily merging with his Second Self. After a long time, he suddenly felt emptiness in his arms. He looked down and saw that the thing had suddenly vanished.

He slowly straightened his body and patted his clothes. He didn't believe the thing had been eliminated. Grotesque tales weren't so easily destroyed. It had probably just run out of sacrifice time.

But once the sacrifice was performed again, it would definitely reappear. Only when it could no longer be seen after the sacrifice could it be considered truly eliminated.

He walked to the altar, pulled out the Snow Lord Saber, and turned to leave.

"Expert Chen is out."

Seeing Chen Chuan emerge from within, Gu Mingde stopped the people behind him and walked forward alone. He looked at Chen Chuan and, seeing that he was unharmed, his expression relaxed slightly. "Expert Chen, how did it go?"

Chen Chuan looked at him, then at the people behind him, and said, "Captain Gu, everyone, this is a war of attrition. I stopped the thing from feeding on blood, but the sacrifices here can't stop, or it might run to another place. The next time a sacrifice is made, I will take action again to stop it."

Gu Mingde said, "I sent a telegram to headquarters earlier. The things Expert Chen needs will be brought over soon. And we have plenty of supplies. As long as the method is feasible, we can keep fighting this ghost thing."

"That's right, Expert Chen is taking the greatest risk. We're just guarding here. What's there to complain about?"

"That's right, Expert Chen, don't worry, we will definitely be your support!"

Chen Chuan nodded and said, "What you all say is true. With you all as my support, I can concentrate on dealing with that thing in front." He cupped his fist. "I leave the matters outside to you all."

Everyone solemnly returned the fist salute.

Chen Chuan walked to the side. He took out the yellow jade and looked at it. Half of it had turned black. After putting it back, he sat down to the side.

He hadn't noticed it during the battle, but after the flying head was dealt with, he could feel a force stimulating the mutated tissue in his body. He began to guide and regulate it with breathing techniques.

This was much more effective than taking medicine on a normal day. If he hadn't already sorted out the structure of his own mutated tissue, this might have instantly entered the deformed growth that Cheng Zitong spoke of. But now, it would only be his tonic.

Watching him sit there motionless with his saber leaning against him, everyone assumed he was resting and were very understanding. After all, they were easily losing their minds just by getting close to those flying heads, while Chen Chuan was facing a group of them directly, including the source of the flying heads. The pressure must have been enormous, and they didn't know how he had endured it.

So everyone was very careful when moving around at the moment, afraid of disturbing him.

Around noon, someone from the foot of the mountain carried some sacrificial offerings up, and also arranged for some people to be responsible for kowtowing and offering sacrifices. Fortunately, they didn't need to enter the interior, they could do it outside.

As the time approached evening, some people followed Chen Chuan into the old temple and placed the offerings on the altar. When they saw the flying heads all over the ground, they were all shocked. They knew how difficult this thing was to deal with, and their gazes towards him were filled with admiration.

Chen Chuan said, "Thank you all."

"It's no trouble, Expert Chen. How can this little thing we do compare to what Expert Chen is doing?"

After a few polite words, they couldn't care to look around here any longer and had to leave. Because they also knew that they couldn't stay here for long, especially since after only being there for a while, they felt uncomfortable all over and vaguely nauseous, with a feeling of dizziness.

After walking out from inside and standing under the sun, they felt as if they had been reborn. They couldn't help but sigh, and didn't know how Chen Chuan had stayed inside for so long and managed to persevere.

Chen Chuan sat down on the steps to the side. He leaned the Snow Lord Saber against the side and looked at the sky above. The sunlight shining down was probably the only warmth here.

He sat quietly alone in this old-era temple, seeming to blend in with it, yet his gaze remained bright, and the long saber at his side seemed ready to unleash its sharp edge at any moment.

As time passed, the light gradually dimmed, slowly descending into twilight.

The two sacrifices, one at 6:30 AM and another at 6:30 PM, were rapidly approaching.

Chen Chuan raised his hand to check his watch. Seeing that it was almost time, he stood up and lit all the torches stuck to the walls of the old temple, quickly illuminating the area with their light.

The flying head, its sacrificial meal interrupted, emitted a familiar, piercing shriek. It tried to approach the altar again, but Chen Chuan stood his ground, constantly driving it away with kicks, preventing it from getting close. After countless kicks, the flying head finally disappeared once more.

Chen Chuan stood for a while, then took out the yellow jade from his pocket. Seeing that it had turned completely black, he gently squeezed it, and it crumbled into dust, falling through his fingers.

This time, the yellow jade had blocked some of the damage for him. Tomorrow, he would have to bear it all himself.

However, he could clearly feel that the flying head's presence was much shorter than last time, indicating that this method was very effective.

The most ⊥ new ⊥ small ⊥ say ⊥ in ⊥ six ⊥ 9 ⊥⊥ book ⊥⊥ bar ⊥⊥ first ⊥ hair!

He waved his hand and walked out again. After telling Gu Mingde and the others about the situation, he went to the tent they had prepared for him to rest, silently guiding the growth of the altered organization within him.

The next morning, he entered the old temple again. The day's events unfolded almost identically to the previous day. Each time, he successfully kept the flying head away from the sacrificial offering.

However, the encroachment on his second self was noticeably more severe this day, though still within a tolerable range. But this was indeed a battle of attrition. The damage to the second self was continuous, and the harm would accumulate. At this rate, even without additional changes, the limit would be within the next day or two.

On the third day, after making some adjustments, Chen Chuan entered the old temple again. When the sacrifice appeared and the flying head manifested, he once again successfully forced it to disappear. This time, the flying head only existed for a few minutes.

He had a premonition that the next time would likely be the moment to completely eliminate this thing.

The days passed, time seeming both slow and fast. As evening approached and the sacrifice was about to begin, a member of the support team outside suddenly shouted, pointing towards the mountains, "Team Leader Gu, look!"

Gu Mingde looked over, his expression one of shock. He saw many black dots flying in from all directions, each one being a flying head. By rough count, there were as many as forty or fifty.

He immediately reacted. "These must be flying heads from other strongholds, drawn here! It seems that Expert Chen's methods are working!" He shouted loudly, "Prepare to engage!" He then added, "Try your best not to let these things enter the temple!"

The support team members responded loudly, raising their guns and firing continuously outside. At this time, no less than a hundred people had gathered on the mountain, and the loud gunfire startled countless birds. Flying heads were shot down from time to time, but about a third of them still squeezed through the gaps and entered the old temple.

Gu Mingde looked towards the old temple, his expression grave. They had done all they could. Those that had entered would have to be dealt with by Chen Chuan himself.

Inside the old temple, Chen Chuan was also waiting for the flying head to reappear. Originally, dealing with it this time wouldn't be difficult using the previous methods, but with the arrival of those flying heads, he immediately felt interference.

He had a premonition that if the source of the flying head came into contact with that fresh flesh and blood, it would likely recover, and that would be troublesome.

In this critical moment, his eyes flashed. He took two quick steps, grabbed the source of the flying head under his arm, then drew his gun, turned around, and raised his hand to shoot. The gunshots rang out continuously, causing the flying heads to scatter in panic. After emptying the magazine, he threw away the pistol, held the head, and charged forward, wielding his blade in a sweeping strike!

With each slash, a flying head would inevitably fall. When the last flash of the blade passed, there was no longer a single flying head in the vast hall.

At this moment, he seemed to hear a deep sigh in his ear, and then felt a lightness in his hand. He turned his eyes to look and saw a pile of ashes falling down, along with many black strands of hair scattered on the ground.

Chen Chuan then saw that his second self, as if struck by a severe blow, was fluctuating like water waves, becoming so ethereal that it was almost about to dissipate.

At the same time, the altered organization within him also felt an unprecedentedly strong stimulation.

He frowned. This degree…

Breathing techniques are no longer enough.

He took a deep breath, tore off his jacket, and began practicing the Orthodox San Shou here. But after practicing it several times, he felt that he couldn't keep up with the growth rate of the altered organization, so he tried to imitate other power stances and the power techniques that He Xiao Xing had specifically taught him.

He tried again and again, time passing in his constant practice. Finally, he realized that it might still not be enough, so he simply took the Snow Monarch Blade into his hand and continuously used the Heavy Strike power technique while coordinating his breathing. For a time, the blade's power overflowed, the light of the blade flashed, and the flying head remains on the ground were shattered under the impact of his remaining power.

He moved like this all night. When the first ray of light shone down from above in the early morning, he finally stopped his blade and stood still. At this moment, when he raised his head, there seemed to be a faint light flashing in his eyes.

He exhaled a long breath, sheathed his blade, and stood up. After thinking about it, he first cleaned up the ashes and black hair on the ground, then straightened his clothes, placed the blade across his shoulder, and walked out.

The people outside had been waiting anxiously. Gu Mingde had grown a circle of stubble on his chin, and they had all been awake all night.

Because after those flying heads entered the old temple yesterday, Chen Chuan had not come out as usual. They didn't know what had happened inside. Now that it was dawn, if he didn't come out again, they would have to find a way to risk rushing in.

At this moment, they suddenly heard footsteps. The people who were sitting couldn't help but stand up, and then one by one looked towards the entrance of the old temple.

As the footsteps became clearer, they saw Chen Chuan, holding a blade in one hand, walking out step by step from the dim light. His figure went from blurry to clear, and finally stood under the morning light.

……

……