Celestial Human Diagram

Yuan Qiuyuan and Qin Qingque confirmed their opponents were no longer stirring, then breathed a sigh of relief. They looked up at Chen Chuan together.

They saw him walking slowly toward them, Long Blade in hand. The iron-masked head of a man hung from his waist. Wisps of white steam rose from his body. Although he wasn’t intentionally releasing his Biological Domain, an invisible, oppressive force emanated from him.

Yuan Qiuyuan swallowed hard and tried to even his breathing. He stared at the head again and again, unable to stop himself from asking, "Captain, is it over?"

Chen Chuan walked up to them and nodded. "It is. But there are still a few loose ends to tie up."

Yuan Qiuyuan walked over, tutting. "That was the Iron Demon. The guys at the garrison pale at the mere mention of him. And that aura just now... whoa, that was intense." He reached out and prodded the head. "Look at him now. We still took care of him."

Qin Qingque corrected him seriously, "The Captain took care of him."

"Hey, the Captain said we’re a team. If the Captain takes care of something, it means *we* took care of it."

"Executioner Yuan is right," Chen Chuan said. "We are a team. If you two hadn’t helped tie them down, I wouldn’t have been able to deal with the Iron Demon so smoothly."

Yuan Qiuyuan straightened his back, then chuckled. "Captain, you can say that, but Old Yuan here knows the score. I know who the really capable one is. From now on, you’re the only one I’ll answer to. I won’t listen to anyone else."

Qin Qingque didn’t say anything, but her expression showed she felt the same way.

Chen Chuan smiled slightly, then reminded them, "Watch your Activity Index."

This was the wilderness, after all, with no connection to the garrison’s Domain. If they were too far apart, they wouldn’t be able to see each other’s Activity Index. Now that he was closer, he saw that both of their readings were above twenty. Fortunately, neither had crossed the warning threshold, which was likely the result of their conscious control.

Yuan Qiuyuan and Qin Qingque felt a jolt and both responded, "Yes, sir." They had been on edge throughout the fight, but as soon as they relaxed, they noticed their indexes were climbing again. They quickly began guiding their Breathing Techniques to slowly bring the numbers back down.

At that moment, they couldn’t help but glance at Chen Chuan’s reading. It was still "zero." Their admiration for him grew even deeper.

They knew that while lowering the index was possible, it became progressively harder the lower you tried to push it. Chen Chuan had just fought the Iron Demon, facing pressure that was leagues beyond what they had. It had only been a few minutes since the battle ended, yet his index was already at zero in such a short time. His self-control and mastery over his own body were truly astonishing.

Just then, Chen Chuan suddenly sensed something. Executioner Yuan and Executioner Qin noticed it too. The three of them looked behind them to see the remaining Cavalry Warriors gathered together. They were facing their direction, arranging themselves into formation. A moment later, they assumed a charging stance.

Yuan Qiuyuan was baffled. "What are they trying to do? Charge us with just those men?"

’A group of Second Limit cavalry trying to take on three Third Limit Fighters? Are they trying to commit suicide? Are the Iron Demon’s subordinates really that loyal?’

Qin Qingque observed them for a moment, then thought about it before saying to Chen Chuan, "Captain, their front rank is blocking the view of the soldiers behind them, but I think I saw grappling hooks. They might not be for us, but for retrieving the bodies on the ground."

"We can’t let them have them back. Those are our spoils of war."

Yuan Qiuyuan shouted, then immediately ran to the off-road vehicle. Reaching its side, he placed a hand on it and vaulted over the top. He grabbed the machine gun and said, "Captain, leave this small matter to us. You have to give us a chance to show what we can do, too."

Chen Chuan said, "Then I’ll leave it to you."

"Alright! Just watch me. I’ve been trained for this."

Qin Qingque said, "I’ll drive." She quickly got into the vehicle. A moment later, the engine roared to life, and the off-road vehicle drove head-on toward the cavalry formation.

Seeing the vehicle approach, the opposing formation seemed to falter for a second, but they quickly regrouped and spurred their horses into a charge.

Chen Chuan shook his head. ’Those men probably know full well what happens when you charge a machine gun. Even their armored, Implant-modified horses can’t withstand heavy machine-gun fire.’

’But they probably don’t have a choice. According to the military traditions of the Imperial Family, if a commander dies, his personal guard is to be beheaded. If they fail to retrieve the body, the entire unit will be held accountable. Not to mention, this unit was formed by the Iron Demon himself, so their loyalty is beyond question.’

Soon, the sound of machine-gun fire erupted from behind him, mixed with the agonized screams of horses and the thud of heavy bodies falling. It was all swallowed by a massive cloud of billowing dust and smoke.

Chen Chuan paid it no mind. He stood on the riverbank, resting his Long Blade on the ground, and watched the flowing water. His thoughts, however, were on the changes he had observed in the Iron Demon.

’The perfection of mind and body... it shouldn’t be like what the Iron Demon had.’

’Admittedly, at the beginning of our encounter, he seemed to have no weaknesses in his mind, body, or application of Power Techniques. In reality, though, these aspects were disconnected. As our fight progressed, he found it increasingly difficult to coordinate them all.’

’Was it the lack of a force to unify them, or was the thing inside his body hindering him?’

He considered it for a moment. ’It was probably a combination of both.’

’So then, what is true perfection like?’

About half an Hour later, the sounds outside gradually died down. The off-road vehicle drove back out of the swirling dust. As the cloud settled, it revealed a field littered with gore and mangled remains. The limbs of men and horses were indistinguishable.

The vehicle stopped in front of him. Yuan Qiuyuan leaped down from the top and said, "Captain, we’ve cleaned them up. But the numbers are off."

Qin Qingque got out of the driver’s seat. "Captain, two squads broke off and headed behind us earlier. They were probably looking for a shallow part of the river to ford so they could flank us. They shouldn’t have arrived yet."

Chen Chuan said, "Since we’re out here on a hunt, we might as well try to clean them up. It doesn’t matter if we can’t catch them. They won’t be able to escape."

"Yes, sir."

The two team members responded in unison. After this victorious battle, their morale was high, and their faith in Chen Chuan was absolute.

First, however, they had to deal with the things here. In particular, the Iron Demon’s body had to be completely incinerated to prevent any future trouble.

At the same time, his and his subordinates’ Armor, accompanying documents, Jade Seals, and other important items had to be taken back as proof of identity.

By the time they finished packing everything up, another half an Hour had passed. Still, there was no sign of the detached Cavalry Warriors. If they hadn’t circled around by now, it meant they had been warned and had scattered midway. Still, a pursuit was in order.

Chen Chuan gazed at the pile of dying embers, seeing that the body had been reduced to ash. He looked away and said, "Let’s go."

Qin Qingque took a few steps forward, opened the car door for Chen Chuan, and gave a salute. "Captain, please get in."

Chen Chuan grunted in acknowledgment and got into the car. After the vehicle started, he glanced at the sky. ’The battle just now, including the time for cleanup before and after, took about three Hours in total.’

He hadn’t expected the fight to end so quickly. He had previously considered the possibility that if they reached a stalemate, the battle might drag on into the night.

It wasn’t that he was unprepared—he had already drawn the ritual markings on his two teammates’ jackets—but the key issue was the Activity Index. That factor was simply too unpredictable.

’However, based on how the battle played out, the Iron Demon had no intention of dragging it out. Perhaps he was also wary of the night, or maybe he was just eager for a decisive outcome and didn’t want to be surrounded.’

’From that perspective, the intelligence deception cooked up by Advisor Rao was actually very useful. It played a crucial role in pushing things forward. It might even be used to smoke out the mole.’

He then asked, "Executioner Qin, did any of those Cavalry Soldiers have portable radios on them?"

Qin Qingque replied, "No, Captain. They must have moved them beforehand. But if they learn that the Iron Demon was killed, they’ll likely destroy the radios, which would make it difficult to trace them."

Chen Chuan said, "Then don’t force it." It wasn’t their job, after all. Finding a clue would be a bonus, but it didn’t matter if they couldn’t. They just needed to fulfill their own duties.

When they followed the Cavalry Soldiers’ tracks and circled around, they found that the cavalry unit had stopped there before, but had clearly scattered and retreated.

After a brief discussion, they decided that the remaining Cavalry Soldiers no longer posed a significant threat, so they didn’t continue the pursuit.

Chen Chuan said, "Executioner Qin, you can send a report back now. Also, thank Advisor Rao for me." He knew that intelligence deception wasn’t a simple matter; Advisor Rao had definitely taken a risk.

"Yes, Captain."

Back at Garrison No. 73, Advisor Rao had been waiting by the radio. He was deeply worried—worried about Chen Chuan’s team, and also worried about himself.

Just as Chen Chuan had guessed, intelligence deception was a tool to be used at critical moments. If it failed to produce any results, he would be held responsible.

Just then, the radio operator looked up. "Advisor, a telegraph is coming in."

"It’s here? Quick, quick!"

Advisor Rao urged him on. ’A message means they’re okay. At least it’s not the worst-case scenario.’

Once the operator wrote down the code, Rao didn’t even need it translated. He snatched the paper and looked at it directly. His eyes went wide, and then his hands began to tremble. He could no longer suppress the look of joy on his face.

But after reading it several times, he suddenly felt uneasy again. He had another message sent back to confirm. Only after two exchanges, when the other side confirmed they were bringing back the Iron Demon’s head and personal effects, did he finally relax completely.

A smile on his face, he instructed the radio operator, "Send a message to Command. Tell them..."

He paused, slowing his speech to ensure his words were as clear as possible.

"Confirmed: At approximately 10:00 AM today, the Iron Demon and his subordinates were engaged by our elite proactive-strike team at the middle reaches of river section twenty-four."

He paused for a moment.

"After nearly two hours of fierce fighting, our team successfully decapitated the Iron Demon and two of his subordinate Duty Samurai, and annihilated over thirty elite Cavalry Warriors. Only a dozen or so cavalry escaped.

Note: The team was led by First Level Executor Chen Chuan, with team members Yuan Qiuyuan, Qin Qingque, and tactical advisor Rao Qili..."

He then glanced at his watch. "Time: November 26th, 2:23 PM." He looked up at the radio operator. "Report it just like that."

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