I am a female swordsman.

Why? Why did this happen?!

Unconsciously, he gripped the edge of the wall, his wolfish teeth clenched together, and a chilling aura emanated from him. Resentment, anger, bitterness—all these emotions surged into his brain at once. He couldn't understand why his respected master had made this choice. Was he, this outstanding disciple, also destined to face that laughable, inevitable defeat?!

Just then, the voices of Mado Yomi and Bango finishing their discussion came from inside the house.

The hungry wolf, caught up in its emotions, was suddenly jolted awake!

He was about to hide when he heard Bang leading Yomi out of the living room from another direction. Only then did Garou realize that his eavesdropping outside couldn't have escaped his master Bang's notice. The reason Bang hadn't come out from this side was to protect him and prevent him from being impolite in front of others.

Having figured this out, the hungry wolf felt no gratitude.

Instead, it aroused immense humiliation!

Even though he clearly knew his most prized disciple was right outside, he still intended to give up the spot. Could it be that his master couldn't see how much he longed to become the strongest martial artist? Was he not after the spot itself, but after what lay beyond it…?

The hungry wolf lowered his head, his face, swallowed by shadows, appearing exceptionally obscure and dark. After pausing for a moment, he followed in the direction Bang and Yomi had gone.

"【Scattered Cherry Blossom Sword Style】..."

Softly murmuring about this unheard-of swordsmanship style, recalling the woman's gentle and generous smile, Garou grinned, revealing an unusually dangerous and ferocious smile! As if a demon that had been suppressed within him for a long time had finally been released from its cage, Garou's figure slowly disappeared into the darkness of the corridor!

Chapter Six: Sparring

Bangu, walking ahead, was hunched over and looked like an ordinary old man on the street. No one could imagine that such a thin body could contain such unscientific strength.

Huang Quan keenly sensed something unusual about Master Bang Gu.

It seems that she wasn't the only one who noticed the young man hiding outside the room; Bang, the martial arts master, also noticed his apprentice eavesdropping. Although she felt an instinctive curiosity about the relationship between the master and apprentice, according to her character design, Mado Yomi shouldn't have noticed the eavesdropper.

In this way.

She didn't pursue this topic further, but she believed that the relationship between Garou and Mado Yomi wouldn't end there. Simply put, based on that intense will that could stir her, Yomi believed that the other would one day stand before her. Not before Mado Yomi of the [Scattered Sakura Sword Style], but before [Shinra Chairman] Yomi!

Shinra never rejects warriors who thirst for power!

Anyone with the courage to challenge predetermined fate and a distorted world will find plenty of opportunities within Shinra Corporation!

………………

"The Scattered Cherry Blossom Sword Style is said to be a swordsmanship school that requires extremely high control over both hands and can instantly create cherry blossom-shaped sword flowers. The control over the sword tip must be exquisite. It is truly fortunate to have the opportunity to witness the Scattered Cherry Blossom Sword Style today."

"The Flowing Water Rock-Shattering Fist combines softness and strength, and can penetrate fluids to shatter hard rocks. I am fortunate to learn from it today, and I owe it all to Master Bang Gu's kindness."

On the training ground, the former sparring partners engaged in a round of mutual flattery.

To an uninformed person, it would seem that the two had long admired each other's martial arts styles. However, while Huang Quan didn't actually admire them, the Shinra database does contain numerous records of martial arts practitioners. The fact that it's listed later in the priority list doesn't mean Shinra hasn't taken any action in this area.

Bangu, who had bent over and assumed a fighting stance, looked at Huang Quan and couldn't help but frown.

This is just a friendly exchange; theoretically, it doesn't need to be taken too seriously.

However, Ms. Yomi Mado is a martial artist specializing in swordsmanship. Out of courtesy, she did not carry a sword like other martial artists in this field during her visit. This made Bang feel that Yomi's abilities were somewhat limited. Moreover, as an elder, it would be a clear case of the older bullying the younger if a martial artist did not even allow the younger to use their weapons during a sparring match.

"It's alright. The secrets of the Sakura Sword Style, passed down through generations, are not just about swordsmanship."

With a gentle smile, Huang Quan raised and lowered her hands, displaying the standard Yin-Yang Palm technique. Her originally gentle and dignified aura suddenly gained a touch of unrestrained arrogance! Internal energy flowed through her body; this currently weak but inexhaustible power gave Huang Quan an indescribable, proud courage!

Martial artists are extremely sensitive to the aura! The moment Huang Quan's aura changed, Bang Gu felt a needle-like stinging pain coming from all thirty-six fatal acupoints on his body. This made him secretly marvel at how murderous the Scattered Cherry Blossom Sword Style was!

"In that case, let's do it."

Please enlighten me.

No sooner had he finished speaking than, in Bang's vision, Huang Quan's swift and decisive strike aimed straight at the bridge of his nose! There was no fancy technique involved; the air itself seemed to become slightly oppressive and slow under the impact of this palm strike!

Nose, nasal bridge?

Bang was puzzled as to why Yomi Mado would choose the bridge of his nose as her primary target. Suddenly, his vision blurred, and Yomi, who had been moving slowly but was now moving at a relatively fast speed, appeared in front of him in an instant. A huge shadow that obscured his vision suddenly covered Bang's face!

boom! !

The two palms clashed solidly together, and a visible white energy emanated from the point of contact!

The stalemate lasted only a moment. Lacking stamina, Huang Quan didn't continue the direct confrontation. With a nimble twist of his foot, he channeled the surging force from his palm through a trembling internal energy to his feet. The blue marble slab, following Huang Quan's skillful shift, instantly cracked under the weight!

'The power of simulated flowing water is more troublesome in its entanglement than in its direct lethality.'

Grasp and lift with palm strike! Cut off the meridians!

With a clever, albeit awkward, twisting motion of her hands, Huang Quan launched another attack that burned like an aggressive wildfire! However, halfway through the grappling and pulling, Huang Quan's smooth movements suddenly froze, and a look of dazed surprise appeared perfectly on her face!

"Not bad technique for channeling internal energy, but..."

Bang's withered arm, as thin as a dead tree, was radiating waves of surging power outwards, as if Yomi was trying not to pull or twist an arm, but a mighty river surging with boundless power! This power could easily split mountains and shatter rocks, and Yomi, her eyes wide open, seemed to see a wave that could engulf everything rising from behind Bang, crashing towards her!

"...The power is too weak!"

The restraints that had bound and pulled Huang Quan, who was unable to break free, were now firmly planted on the ground as if rooted to the spot. The force raised by Banggu was not like arms, but rather like a raging torrent!

A tremendous force, powerful enough to twist steel into a pretzel, erupted from the tremor of his spine! Bang looked at Huang Quan, who was still in shock, and couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. As expected, he was still a young man. Although he had some special skills in the circulation of force, it was still too much for him to fight against an old martial artist like Bang.

In today's world, there are very few young martial arts geniuses.

"It's not over yet."

Suddenly, Huang Quan revealed a wicked smile, and the cherry-colored light on his left hand, which had been restrained, began to flash rapidly!

The Two Elements Technique!

The most basic yet core combat technique of the [Wandering Samurai] is to force internal energy into shape through superior control, condensing it into any type of melee weapon desired. Currently, Huang Quan's pure [Wandering Samurai] power is insufficient to condense a weapon, but detonating unstable internal energy is no problem at all!

This is also the foundation for the various types of palm techniques that followed in the "Wandering Samurai" series!

Fake 【Empty Palm】!!

Buzz! ! !

Cherry-colored internal energy exploded from his palm. Although it was only a single explosion, the high-frequency vibration and booming of the internal energy successfully helped Huang Quan isolate the powerful force of the water and rock-shattering!

Bangu was successfully forced to take a step back.

"Ha!! The Four Symbols Technique!"

Bang, who had just taken a step back, felt the violent pull of internal force again, and his whole body was out of control, with a tendency to fall heavily to the ground! Forces are reciprocal. While being pulled by internal force, Huang Quan did not choose to stabilize his center of gravity, but instead moved with extraordinary agility and speed towards Bang!

Chapter Seven Defeat

Again, it's the bridge of the nose?!

Even though Bang knew perfectly well that Yomi Mado's palm strike couldn't possibly hurt him, he inexplicably had the illusion that his nose would hurt extra much when Yomi's palm struck his nose.

This seems like an established fact.

The pull of the Four Symbols was so successful that Bang was unable to escape from the onslaught of the Yellow Springs. In his self-restraint, he may have overexerted his power in this sparring session with the junior. Under these restrictions, Bang suddenly realized that he seemed to have no other choice but to directly neutralize the attack.

'That's interesting!'

Bang's opinion of Yomi Mado rose considerably. She appeared to be a gentle and harmless person, but in battle, she subtly revealed a shrewd and calculating nature!

Since that's the case, then he should just take it a little more seriously!

Running water breathing method!

The violent gravitational pull of the Four Symbols Abruptly vanished. Huang Quan, who had transitioned from an extremely fast to an extremely slow pace, was suddenly overwhelmed by a severe, physiologically uncomfortable nausea, and waves of acid reflux seeped from the back of his tongue. Bangu, who had been being pulled by the Four Symbols Abruptly, had disappeared! It wasn't a visual disappearance, but rather that the pulling force had ceased to affect him!

It's like someone trying to hold back a stream of water with both hands.

Doing so will only result in the water flowing through your fingers in vain; even if you use tremendous force, it will be of no use.

boom!!!

Her swift movement, accompanied by a solid palm strike, slammed into the space in front of Yomi's forehead! The shockwave from the rapidly compressed air blew off her black-rimmed glasses, and her long, black hair flew wildly! If that palm strike had landed squarely on Yomi's head, she would probably be a headless corpse standing there right now!

Still feeling scared? Still shaken?

*Thud!*

The sound of the black-rimmed glasses hitting the ground was exceptionally crisp and loud, echoing faintly in the silent training ground. As if waking from a dream, Mado Yomi slowly withdrew her forward-leaning hand, turned around, and bent down to pick up her glasses. Fortunately, Shinra's products were of guaranteed quality, and the glasses showed no obvious damage.

Bangu thought Huang Quan was frightened by him.

Any normal person, experiencing the intensified fear of death firsthand, would be terrified into exhibiting all sorts of unsightly behaviors. For Huang Quan, seemingly just spacing out is actually a commendable response.

In fact?

At this moment, the black-haired, red-eyed girl thought:

'Flowing water? Bang really was like a stream of water just now, I couldn't catch it no matter what I did. Even with Shinra's most advanced real-time combat analyzer, I couldn't get any useful information. Martial arts are truly... amazing!!' Yomi, who didn't take the threat of death to heart at all, firmly grasped death's throat in the numerous battles and claimed it as her own, really didn't take this scene to heart.

Regardless of whether Bang could truly smash her head with a single punch, she concealed her catastrophic power until the very last moment. As a martial artist, Yomi already had a sense of the limits of Bang's strength.

"Ahem, Miss Mado, I hope this will be helpful to your swordsmanship training."

Slightly embarrassed, Bangu coughed twice, then reverted to his unassuming old man persona. He bent down and patted Huang Quan on the shoulder in a gesture of comfort.

"I benefited greatly from it."

This wasn't just polite talk. Based on the records of their recent exchange, Huang Quan was confident that the Shinra Corporation's large team of researchers could definitely uncover something. With the system acting as the central hub, gathering the wisdom of all intelligent life in this world, Huang Quan would one day be able to decipher all the mysteries!

Shinra, founded by Yomi, naturally has limitless potential!

"Haha, I just got carried away and hit a little too hard." Seeing that Mado Yomi quickly returned to normal, Bang's wrinkled face immediately showed a few more relieved smiles. Compared to strength, Bang values ​​mentality more, something that is difficult for ordinary people to cultivate, but is extremely important for martial artists.

He had many disciples, but very few of them valued character development.

Power is easy to acquire, but if one lacks the will to control it, one will be enslaved by it.

"As a young martial artist, Miss Mado is already exceptionally talented. I wish you all the best in the martial arts tournament. I'm really looking forward to the day you pick up a sword." The fact that a swordsman's palm techniques are so excellent has refreshed Bang's understanding of the [Scattered Cherry Blossom Sword Style]. He must believe that Mado's swordsmanship is also extremely remarkable.

"There will be a chance."

When the sword was mentioned, Huang Quan's smile suddenly changed. That subtle smile made Bang raise an eyebrow; he felt that at the moment Huang Quan's smile changed, the person standing before him seemed to have become a different person. His appearance and demeanor were still the same, but something had changed!

It became inexplicable, and Bang's heart even skipped a beat!

He seemed to have had a similar experience somewhere before. That's right! He remembered. It was a long, long time ago, when he was still a naive and arrogant young man, that he encountered a blind swordsman while challenging martial artists. The swordsman also appeared harmless, but in the instant before drawing his sword, Bang had felt a feeling strikingly similar to what he was experiencing now. Later he learned that it was called heart-pounding fear!

Gazing intently at the gentle girl with braided hair, Bang sighed inwardly after a long while. It seemed he was truly getting old, and his perception was becoming somewhat inaccurate. How could Mado Yomi be that kind of person?

………………

"Weak scum!"

Having secretly watched the entire battle between his master Bang and Mado Yomi, Garou revealed a disdainful and sarcastic smile.